The Tiger appears in Age of Empires II HD: Rise of the Rajas, and is one of several hostile animals that the player may encounter in unexplored areas. In the Tiger's case, it appears mostly in maps set in Southeast Asia. It holds no food and attacks Villagers and even some military units on sight. As it will most likely prevail against Villagers that do not have the Loom upgrade, it is recommended to research it before sending them in unexplored areas.
The Tiger in Age of Mythology: Tale of the Dragon is a huntable animal, but also a dangerous predator that will attack any nearby workers. It is less dangerous than the Crocodile or Lizard, but also only provides half as much food.
The tiger is one of thirty-six cat species, and most closely related to the lion, leopard, and jaguar, all of which evolved from a common ancestor over 5 million years ago. The tiger is the largest species in the cat family, and the only wild cat with stripes in its fur. Up until the twentieth century, nine different subspecies of tiger roamed the earth, but with the extinction of the Caspian, Javan, and Bali tigers, only six subspecies remain. However, since most tigers are similar both physically and genetically, subspecies are commonly used only to designate a particular tiger's geographic range. For example, the Sumatran tiger is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
A tiger's body is built specifically for the hunt. Certain physical features allow them great advantages when pursuing, catching, and then consuming its prey. A tiger's large eyes gather more light than the eyes of other animals, and a special structure called the tapetum lucidum reflects this light, making objects appear brighter than they actually are. A tiger can turn its ears toward the source of a sound to enhance hearing sensitivity. While in pursuit of a smaller animal, a tiger can tighten its stomach muscles and bend its flexible spine like a bow, so when the muscles relax the spine snaps back into position with explosive force, hurtling the cat forward. It even uses its flexible tail as a rudder to aid in steering.
Axehilt the Tame Tiger is a pet in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. He is the most powerful of all pet animals that can be trained by Explorers but is also the most expensive (135 food) and has the longest train time (22 seconds). He is very similar to Wagner the Pet White Tiger but has more attack damage and less hit points. As all pets it receives free upgrades upon every Age up.
Compared to other pets, Axehilt the Tame Tiger is not extremely good at killing treasure guardians due to his small multiplier, but it is better at fighting human combatants. Against treasure guardians, Axehilt the Tame Tiger has approximately the same damage per second as Fang the Tame Coyote that is a lot cheaper (50 food).
Axehilt the Tame Tigers do not cost population but has it own population limit (10). Using Axehilt the Tame Tigers is an indirect way of increasing your population limit similar to natives. Indian players may have access to both Axehilt the Tame Tigers and White Tigers giving them a population advantage over their enemies once population capped. It is also important to note that Tigers can be trained directly on the battlefield (similar to Daimyo, Chinese Monks, or other Explorers who have access to pets).
Upgrades[]
Axehilt the Tame Tiger, like all other pets, upgrades automatically each Age:
For the next 30 seconds, military building training and research work rate +400%, unit speed +10%
Colegio de San Nicolas
Delivers 1 Large Collection of Books (500 XP); unit Line of Sight +4; building (except Wall) Line of Sight +8; reveals enemy units' positions for 20 seconds
National Servant
Unit (except herded animals) hit points +10%; Padre heal work rate +200%
With update 13.58326, Axehilt the Tame Tiger gives 14 XP when trained or killed.
Trivia[]
The Tiger's help section in Age of Mythology is a direct copy of its history section in Age of Empires III, the only difference being that a spelling error has been fixed ("allow them great advantageous when pursuing" was changed to "allow them great advantages when pursuing").
Although commonly associated with East Asia, the tiger's distribution reached west to the Caucasus and eastern Turkey during the period covered by the Age of Empires games. They were limited to forested areas, however, while in the plains they were replaced by the Lion.