http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/Civilization

This is a list of the various civilizations and their leaders appearing in the Civilization series of games. Originally the differences between the sides were purely aesthetic, but starting with the third game in the series, the nations began to get unique units or qualities, then V additionally gave each civilization a radically different, game-changing ability to distinguish them from their competition. Therefore these entries will go into more detail about civs that appeared in later games.

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A note on Leaders: In II, every civilization had a male and female leader at minimum. In cases where a historic ruling lady couldn't be found, either a similarly famous female, mythical figure, or completely made-up character was used. The mythical and completely fabricated characters are denoted with an asterisk. Additionally, leaders and civilizations from Colonization and Revolution are not listed.

No real life examples related to these civilizations, please.

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Added in Civilization

America

Aztec

Babylon

Babylon Leaders: Hammurabi (I-IV), Ishtar* (II), Nebuchadnezzar II (V) Unique Unit: Bowman (III-V) Unique Buildings: Garden (IV), Walls of Babylon (V) Ability: Ingenuity (V) One of the oldest known civilizations, the city of Babylon had stood in the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) since the 24th century BC. By 1727 BC the old Sumerian civilization had faded away, but under Hammurabi the city-state of Babylon flourished as a center of trade, science and culture, reunifying the surrounding region. More than that, Hammurabi left behind a legal code with explicit crimes and specific punishments that was used for over a thousand years. Though the Babylonian empire went through a decline, Nebuchadnezzar II led it into a renaissance in 605 BC, expanding into Syria and creating wonders like the famed Hanging Gardens. After his death, Babylon declined once more, falling to Cyrus II of Persia in 539 BC, Alexander the Great in 331 BC, until eventually the city and its achievements were reduced to so much rubble. Babylon was a pioneer in writing and mathematics, and in Civ V it appropriately gets a powerful early-game bonus to science. Its Ingenuity ability gives Babylon a free Great Scientist when it discovers Writing, and produces future Great Scientists more quickly, boosts which allow the civilization to edge out almost every other rival in the science race. Babylon was also lousy at making friends, and built its city walls extra-thick to deter invaders; as such, its unique units and buildings are above-average archers and city defenses, useful for preventing early-game rushes. Nebuchadnezzar tends to focus on his defenses and developing his cities as he pursues a Science victory, but while he has no great dislike of warmongers, he also can hold a grudge and is difficult to befriend in general. A God I Am Not: Nebuchadnezzar. "Those fools outside say I'm a god, but that seems unlikely."

Composite Character: A lot of Babylon's city names for their empire are borrowed from the Akkadians; Babylon spent a lot of its time as a part of someone else's Mesopotamian empire during its lifespan, but the Akkadian empire has yet to become its own civ in this game.

Death Seeker: He never acts suicidal, but if defeated, Nebuchadnezzar will remark "It is over. Perhaps now I shall have peace, at last."

The Eeyore: Even Nebuchadnezzar's trade proposal is a gruff, grumpy, "It seems you do have a reason to be here after all: to trade with me." Perhaps he's been having bad dreams lately...

God Empress: Ishtar, Babylon's female leader in Civ II.

Guttural Growler: Nebuchadnezzer's Akkadian is borderline Black Speech.

The Smart Guy: One of the only two civs in V that has a science boost as their main ability.

Stone Wall: Their Unique Building is "Walls of Babylon," which gives a much larger boost to a city's strength and HP than normal walls. Combined with their stronger-than-average archers, Babylonian cities can be a real pain to conquer, particularly in the early game. However, because the Archer obsoletes early and doesn't carry its advantages over on upgrade, it doesn't do anything for offence.

Technicolor Fire: For whatever reason the braziers flanking Nebuchadnezzar's throne are emitting eerie green flames.

Zerg Rush: While in other versions of Civ the Babylonian Bowman is primarily a defensive unit, in Civ IV it gets an attack bonus against melee units, which combined with Hammurabi's Aggressive trait means that Babylon is a viable early-game spammer.

China

China Leaders: Mao Zedong (I-IV), Wu Zetian (II, V), Taizong (III-IV, Chinese version only), Qin Shi Huang (IV, VI) Unique Units: Rider (III), Chu-Ko-Nu (IV-V), Crouching Tiger Cannon (VI) Unique Buildings: Pavilion (IV), Paper Maker (V) Unique Improvement: Great Wall (VI) Ability: Art of War (V), Dynastic Cycles (VI) People have been living in China for over eighteen millennia, while the history of the civilization stretches back at least six thousand years. Qin Shi Huang unified China's warring states in the second century BC, establishing the first of several imperial dynasties that would rule China for much of its history—Wu Zetian stands out for being the sole female who managed to take the throne. Chinese inventions include the crossbow, paper, and gunpowder, and at the height of its power the country sent out exploratory "treasure ships" as far as East Africa only to find that the rest of the world had little to offer. But eventually China fell prey to foreign domination, the Mongols in the 13th century, and various European powers in the late 19th century. Following World War II, Communist leader Mao Zedong retook control of the country and transformed its economy and society, albeit at a staggering human cost. Today China has become one of the world's major economic powers, and the question is whether the country will be content with its traditional regional preeminence or feel the need to assert itself globally. China has been famed for its generals and strategists since ancient times, particularly during the legendary Three Kingdoms period, so its Art of War ability in V both churns out Great Generals faster and makes them twice as effective. The civilization was using the Crossbow centuries before Europe figured it out, and the Chinese variant is a full-on Automatic Crossbow. Instead of libraries, China has Paper Makers that provide research as normal, cost nothing to maintain, and even generate a profit thanks to market receipts and festivities, which will help China fund its army and technological development. Since China was building great empires before most other cultures had gotten the hang of building cities, it's no surprise that in Civ VI it gets powerful boosts to construction, science and civics. China's "Dynastic Cycle" ability improves the effectiveness of Eurekas and Inspirations, while its leader bonus lets you build canals much earlier than anyone else (upon researching Masonry), gives Builders an extra charge, as well as the ability to help rush Ancient and Classical era Wonders. To defend its borders, China can build Crouching Tiger cannons a full era before anyone else has access to gunpowder siege units, as well as Great Wall tile improvements that provide extra defense, gold, and later culture and tourism. Qin Shi Huang takes full advantage of China's strengths to build as many Wonders as possible, and woe to anyone who dares to rival his empire. Automatic Crossbows: The Chu-Ko-Nu. In its most recent incarnation, the unit does less damage per shot than an ordinary Crossbowmen but can attack twice per turn, a trait that carries over to any unit it upgrades into.

Boring, but Practical: In V, the Paper Maker isn't any more effective at helping research as a normal Library, but the fact that it's able to run at a profit means you'll have some extra gold in your pocket - or be able to support more units in your army. In VI, builders having 4 uses instead of 3 for everyone else means you'll probably need to spend less time or money replacing them, which can go to other uses.

Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: While Wu Zetian can be friendly, she's also very deceptive and disloyal, and quite willing to backstab a "friend" if it suits her purposes.

Disc-One Nuke: The Civ IV "Oracle Slingshot." Start building the Oracle wonder as soon as possible, but hold out on completing it until you research Archery and Metal Casting, then choose Machinery as your free technology. This gives you Cu-Ko-Nu at a time when your neighbors probably aren't done with the Ancient era techs.

The Great Wall: A recurring Wonder that became a uniquely Chinese improvement in Civ VI.

Green-Eyed Monster: Qin Shi Huang's agenda, "The First Emperor," makes him dislike anyone who beats him to completing a Wonder or who builds more Wonders than he can.

Hair-Trigger Temper: As mentioned above, his agenda will make him angry to civilizations with more wonders than him. Since building wonders are crucial, expect him to get angry at you.

Herd-Hitting Attack: Another nice thing about the Chu-Ko-Nu in IV is that it deals bombardment damage to stacks of enemy units.

Stone Wall: In Civ VI, China's unique unit and improvement are both geared towards holding its borders while the civilization churns out Wonders.

The Strategist: In Civ V, China's "Art of War" ability makes its Great Generals more effective and appear faster. A few are even named after Three Kingdoms generals like Zhang Fei, Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang, and of course, Sun Tzu.

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Egypt

England

France

Germany

Greece

Greece Leaders: Alexander the Great (I-V), Hippolyta* (II), Pericles (IV, VI), Gorgo (VI) Unique Units: Hoplite (III, V-VI), Phalanx (IV), Companion Cavalry (V) Unique Building: Odeon (IV) Unique District: Acropolis (VI) Ability: Hellenic League (V), Plato's Republic (VI) The record of Greek history begins in 778 BC, when the settlements on the Peloponnese came together to hold the first Olympic Games. Ancient Greece existed as a collection of city-states such as Athens, Sparta, Corinth and Thebes that shared a common culture but retained their independent identities. These poleis were forced to band together against the Persians in the 5th century BC, and afterward the major Greek powers of Athens and Sparta set about creating the rival Delian and Peloponnesian leagues with their neighbors, but it wasn't until Alexander of Macedon came to power in 336 BC that Greece was unified under a single leader. Alexander the Great's conquests spread Greek culture as far east as India, but his empire didn't survive his death, and afterward Greece fell back into infighting and became part of foreign empires until 1829. Few other civilizations can match Greece's contributions to art, science, and literature, and thanks to Athens' experiments with something called "democracy," Greece could be considered the grandfather of the modern world. Greece's Hellenic League ability makes it Civ V's master diplomat, able to effortlessly build and maintain alliances with city-states. This allows Greece to generate more culture, faith, food, and free military units than any other nation, giving it a substantial boost throughout the game as well as a good shot at a Diplomatic victory. One might be tempted to knock Greece out early, but there's a problem with that strategy, namely Alexander the Great. Greece's leader is a born conqueror with access to Hoplite infantry and Companion Cavalry, superior Classical Era units that he's more than willing to use to build an empire. Greece in Civ VI is a well-balanced civilization whose "Plato's Republic" ability grants it a bonus wildcard social policy slot, though it can also generate a lot of culture thanks to its Acropolis improvement, as well as its leaders' abilities. Pericles' "Surrounded by Glory" bonus magnifies Greek culture output based on how many city-states it is suzerain of, while Gorgo's "Thermopylae" bonus generates culture from defeated enemy units. Unsurprisingly the two will have very different play styles, with Pericles focusing on building a new Delian League while Gorgo sends her Hoplites into battle for the glory of Sparta, but however it generates that culture, Greece can use its mastery of civics to pursue whatever victory it feels like. A God Am I: Occasionally Alexander goes into a Heroic BSoD and exclaims "How could this be? I am Heir to the Gods!"

The Alliance: In V, Greece's "Hellenic League" ability makes city-state influence degrade at half the normal rate, letting them get the most out of city-state quests or gold donations. In VI, Pericles gains a 5% boost to his culture for every city state that he is the suzerain of. Naturally, his agenda has him trying to form alliances with as many city states as possible.

Decomposite Character: In VI, there's two versions of Greece, Sparta and Athens, led by Gorgo and Pericles, who gain culture through combat or diplomacy, respectively. Macedon was split off into an entirely different civilization of its own to give Alexander the Great a Civ that focuses on what he does best, conquering everything in sight as fast as possible.

Friendly Enemy: In V, Alexander the Great hopes that you will be a good friend, a deadly enemy, or maybe both at once! He's programmed to be very expansionist, but he probably won't betray you, so long as you don't share a border with him. If you do go to war with him, he maintains the cheery attitude, and if you're the declarer says "Indeed? I too grow tired of peace, let's do this." (in Greek.)

Graceful Loser: "You have defeated me, and in doing so earned yourself a place of honor amongst the gods. Well done!"

Hair-Trigger Temper: Pericles' agenda in Civ VI is called Delian League. He likes civilizations who align with city states... as long as they aren't the city states he is aligned with. He hates it when you compete with him. This can be difficult to avoid when city states naturally gain influence with you due to your actions. Gorgo's agenda in Civ VI is called With Your Shield Or On It. She only asks for peace during a peace treaty and not giving up anything else, and likes civilizations that do the same thing. In turn, she hates it when civilizations give up other things for a peace treaty as well as civilizations who have never been to war. If you're relatively peaceful, she will get angry at you even at early turns.

Historical Beauty Update: Strangely enough inverted in Civ III, where the famously handsome Alexander is portrayed as scrawny and unattractive.

Jerkass: Alexander is loathed by the fandom for his hostile, expansionist ways and his willingness to bribe every City-State under the sun. If you have Alexander on your continent you will wind up having to fight with him at some point. He retains this annoying personality when he got split off into Macedon in VI.

Proud Warrior Race Guy: Gorgo gains culture upon winning any battles, and her "With Your Shield Or On It" agenda makes her never give up items in a peace treaty and despise any civilization that does.

The Power of Friendship: In V, Greece is the only civilization that can form a permanent alliance with City-States (so long as Alexander has the Patronage tree unlocked and the City-State shares Greece's dominant religion). This means that it can be extremely easy to build up and maintain a network of allied City-States feeding you faith, culture, happiness, and units right from the Classical Era through to the endgame. Continued in VI, where Pericles gets a significant bonus to his culture output for every city state that he is the suzerain of.

Zerg Rush: While not as pronounced as the Huns, the Greeks in V have two unique units that are both very strong and come very early. Most civs can't match their Classical Era army until they research Iron Working, and even then they have to hope they have a source of iron for swordsmen.

India

India

Unique Units: War Elephant (III, V), Fast Worker (IV), Varu (VI)

Unique Buildings: Mausoleum (IV), Mughal Fort (V)

Unique Improvement: Stepwell (VI)

Ability: Population Growth (V), Dharma (VI)



Leaders: Mohandas Gandhi (I-VI), Indira Ghandi (II), Asoka (IV), Chandragupta (VI)Unique Units: War Elephant (III, V), Fast Worker (IV), Varu (VI)Unique Buildings: Mausoleum (IV), Mughal Fort (V)Unique Improvement: Stepwell (VI)Ability: Population Growth (V), Dharma (VI)



India is the world's second-most populous nation, but is only a third the size of the United States, and its unique ability in V reflects this. Population Growth means India gets double unhappiness from its number of cities, but only half as much from population, encouraging it to develop "small but tall." Between that, its powerful but slow War Elephants, and its culture-producing Mughal Forts, India tends to be a defensive civilization that quietly pursues a Cultural Victory.



In Civ VI, India is a Faith-focused civilization whose "Dharma" ability grants it the follower beliefs of every religion represented in its cities, while its "Satyagraha" leader ability grants India a Faith boost if it maintains peaceful relations with other religion-founding civs. Its Stepwell improvement, in addition to providing food and housing, generates more Faith when placed next to a holy site, so obviously a Religious Victory is going to look attractive to India. India is another one of those ancient, river valley civilizations - its first known cities date back to 2500 BC, while the earliest religious texts of Hinduism are almost as old. By 500 BC India had developed into a number of states, and though Ashoka the Great led the Mauryan Empire to nearly unite the subcontinent (and converted to Buddhism after seeing the resulting body count), his empire didn't last long after his death in the 3rd century BC. India went through a number of dynasties, including its golden age under the Guptas from 320-540 AD, but soon it came into conflict with Muslim invaders from the west, eventually ending in its conquest by the Mughal Dynasty in 1526. Muslim rule was supplanted by English rule in the mid-19th Century, and for a time India was considered the "jewel of the British crown." This changed following World War II, when Mahatma Gandhi led a nonviolent resistance movement that resulted in India's independence. Today the country stands as the world's largest democracy, a rising economic power, and an exporter of both traditional Indian culture and "Bollywood" films alike.India is the world's second-most populous nation, but is only a third the size of the United States, and its unique ability in V reflects this. Population Growth means India gets double unhappiness from its number of cities, but only half as much from population, encouraging it to develop "small but tall." Between that, its powerful but slow War Elephants, and its culture-producing Mughal Forts, India tends to be a defensive civilization that quietly pursues a Cultural Victory.In Civ VI, India is a Faith-focused civilization whose "Dharma" ability grants it the follower beliefs of every religion represented in its cities, while its "Satyagraha" leader ability grants India a Faith boost if it maintains peaceful relations with other religion-founding civs. Its Stepwell improvement, in addition to providing food and housing, generates more Faith when placed next to a holy site, so obviously a Religious Victory is going to look attractive to India. Memetic Mutation aside, Gandhi isn't going to send his Varu war elephants on any campaigns of conquest, his "Peacekeeper" agenda keeps him from taking any action that would brand him a warmonger and makes him despise anyone who earns such a title. It's just that he tend to roll the hidden agenda of "Nuke Happy", and if Gandhi gets drawn into a war, and he has nuclear weapons, well... don't mistake India's pacifism for weakness. Chandragupta has no qualms about war whatsoever, though. He trades Gandhi's bonus to faith with the ability to declare a war of territorial expansion much earlier than other leaders, and his units get a strength and speed bonus during such a war. He is much more likely to treat faith output as an incidental bonus and use it to purchase units once the appropriate tier 2 government building is unlocked. And Now For Something Completely Different: One update to Civ VI introduced Chandragupta, who is the opposite of Ghandi policy-wise, letting India go on the offense with declarations of territorial expansion.

Badass Pacifist: Of course. To quote Gandhi himself in VI: "There is no shame in deterrence. Having a weapon is very different from actually using it."

Beware the Nice Ones: Despite infamously being known to threaten rivals with nukes in the original Civilization, the Gandhi AI in V is designed to be relatively friendly and is one of the easiest AI to befriend. Thus being said, if you're thinking of pissing Gandhi off one way or another (particularly being a warmonger), please remember that their words are backed with NUCLEAR WEAPONS! AI Gandhi's public agenda in VI prevents him from declaring war if doing so would brand him a warmonger, but he is programmed to prefer to have the aptly named "Nuke Lover" as his second, secret agenda.

their words are backed with NUCLEAR WEAPONS! AI Gandhi's public agenda in VI prevents him from declaring war if doing so would brand him a warmonger, but he is programmed to prefer to have the aptly named "Nuke Lover" as his second, secret agenda. Boring, but Practical: Most civilizations' unique units give their owners a substantial military advantage of some sort, but India's Unique Unit in IV is the Fast Worker - not a worker that works faster, but a worker that gets an extra movement point. That said, that additional point of movement means India's workers can immediately start building improvements on rough terrain (while all other workers have to burn a turn moving onto it), outrun hostile infantry, or just get to new locations faster. The fact that Fast Workers don't become obsolete also means that the unit will always be useful, while other unique units are only usable for a certain time frame.

Composite Character: A combination of ancient India (The War Elephants), the Mughal Empire (their Mughal Forts), and modern India (their unique ability that allows them to have highly crowded cities, and their leader, Ghandi).

Conservation of Ninjutsu: Due to the Population Growth unique ability in Civ V, India will be much more efficient if it focuses on maintaining a small number of densely populated cities rather than many small ones. This also applies to a lesser extent in IV, where Gandhi's leader bonuses are especially handy for running a specialist economy to produce large numbers of Great People.

Grandfather Clause: An comparatively modern figure, deep in the Small Reference Pools, was a common choice for leaders in the earlier games, but they were progressively phased out for earlier, more obscure, or more historically solid leaders. Gandhi, however, has stuck around, largely due to his popularity.

Jerkass: Gandhi's simulataneously pacfisit and nuke-loving nature in Civ VI will leave him pissed at you for not being peaceful OR (in computer logic terms) having nukes... and use them as reason to denounce and declare war on you.

Lightning Bruiser: Chandragupta's ability, Arthashastra, turns his entire army into these: for ten turns after declaring a War of Territorial Expansion, his forces enjoy +2 movement points and +5 points of Combat Strength.

Magikarp Power: India's unique ability in V makes it relatively difficult for them to expand their empire, but will have lower penalties for overpopulated cities. This makes India more vulnerable to be conquered early game since their cities will not be well-defended. However, once late game kicks into the game, they will have enough population in their cities to be well-defended and excessively happy with few cities thanks to their unique ability (as more population means better city defense). This is especially true for Gandhi AI when he will also build nukes as well.

Non-Indicative Name: Despite the name of its unique ability in V, India does not have a bonus to food growth and thus population.

Series Mascot: Gandhi, since he has been in every game in the series as the leader of India and also due to the aforementioned Memetic Mutation.

Memetic Mutation. War Elephants: One of their specialties.

Mongolia

Mongolia Leaders: Genghis Khan (I-VI), Börte (II), Kublai Khan (IV) Unique Units: Keshik (III-VI), Khan (V) Unique Building: Ger (IV), Ordu (VI) Ability: Mongol Terror (V), Örtöö (VI) The nomadic riders of Mongolia had prompted China to construct the precursor to the Great Wall as early as the 7th century BC, but when a chieftain named Temujin came to power in 1206, the Mongols went from a nuisance to the greatest contiguous empire in history. Taking the title of Genghis Khan, "universal ruler," he reformed the Mongols into a disciplined army, united the tribes, and started conquering. Within a hundred years, Mongol holdings and vassal states spanned from China and Korea in the east to Russia and Persia in the west; Western Europe was only spared invasion due to a succession crisis, and it wasn't until the Mongols fought the Mamluks of Egypt that they found a foe that could beat them in battle. Though the Mongols were unbelievably brutal when expanding, their rule was enlightened in some respects, with a merit-based bureaucracy, a legal code that was tough but fair, and religious freedom. The Mongol Empire eventually dissolved into infighting and various Khanates that gradually faded away, but few other peoples can boast of making such an impact on world history. As you can imagine, Genghis Khan is up there with Montezuma in terms of people you don't want to share a continent with. The Mongol Terror ability gives all Mongol units an attack bonus against city-states' units or settlements, as well as a movement boost to Mongol cavalry. Keshiks, the Mongols' horse archers, excel at picking apart foes caught in the open, while the Khan is an improved Great General that can keep up with Mongol riders while healing them. The result is a civilization that can gobble up city-states for an early boost in resources, then launch a medieval blitzkrieg. Still, picking on too many city-states will cause the rest to declare war, so the Mongols require balance and strategy to make the most of their strengths. Genghis Khan is even more effective in VI, with most of his abilities geared for mounted warfare. He has a start bias for horses, ensuring that his Mongol Horde ability will have plenty of units to boost. This ability also gives cavalry units the chance to add defeated cavalry units to his own army. His Örtöö ability automatically builds a trading post in the destination city as soon as the trade route starts, allowing for the quick establishment of a vast trading network to fund his military. These posts also increase diplomatic visibility in the destination civilization, which further increases his combat effectiveness. The Keshig unique unit is a medieval horse archer with the ranged attack and mobility that implies. It can also ferry non-military units in an escort formation, sharing its speed with them, whether theyre great generals or siege towers to help with conquest, or workers repairing the improvements your cavalry pillaged afterwards. The Ordu replaces the stables, and in addition to the experience bonus from stables, gives all cavalry units trained in that city +1 movement. These all add up to one basic plan: trade, build up wealth and a network of spies, build loads of cavalry and run over the map knocking down cities until your Mongol empire is as large as it was historically. Authority Equals Asskicking: Khans replace the standard great generals. They have 5 movement compared to the standard 2, letting them keep up with mounted units, and make adjacent units heal much faster.

Awesome, but Impractical: Mongol Terror gives all of your units bonus damage against City-States and any units they might control. In theory, this sounds like a great way to grab land early on or throw a wrench in the plans of City-State dependent civs like Greece or Siam. However, declaring war on, let alone capturing a City-State is one of the worst diplomatic penalties you could possibly incur, and therefore overzealous warmongering will leave you bereft of any allies for the rest of the game. It does, however, punish players who think they can hide behind their allied City-States as their meat shields.

Blood Knight: Think Aztecs with Horse Archers.

Defeat Means Friendship: It's been reported by many players that Genghis Khan tends to make a Declaration of Friendship almost immediately after he's signed a peace treaty - and it's usually a fairly genuine one, at that. It seems he views you as a Worthy Opponent. And in VI, he gets the ability to recruit any defeated cavalry units.

Face Death with Dignity: As you are about to wipe him of the map, Genghis Khan merely decides to await his execution, resigning himself to his fate.

Four-Star Badass: They don't get normal Great Generals, they get Khans, who not only grant better bonuses, but are significantly faster, which is especially important for the Mongols given their speciality in mounted combat.

Graceful Loser: Genghis Khan. "With my destruction, nothing now stands in your way. Remember me as you crush your enemies and conquer the world!"

Healing Factor: Khans make adjacent units heal 15 additional HP per turn (or 1 in Vanilla). For reference, units have 100 max HP (or 10), and heal 10 (or 1) per turn outside of friendly territory and 20 (or 2) inside friendly borders, meaning you can easily tank a city-state's bombardments.

Hit-and-Run Tactics: Keshiks. Replacing Knights, they have a total of 5 movement and a ranged attack, which, when you consider that non-mounted units have only 2 movement for most of the game, lets them perform hit-and-run attacks with impunity. If that wasn't enough, they also gain experience and generate Khans 50% faster. They slip from "major threat" to "nuisance" later in the game, however, when their ranged-combat specific upgrades become useless after promoting to melee units. In fact, it's not uncommon for Mongol players to simply leave their Keshiks un-upgraded and continue using them as auxillary siege units alongside newly-built Lancers and Cavalry. The same goes, ironically, for the Keshik's predecessor unit, the plain Horseman, which while much weaker and lacking a ranged attack, can keep up with the newer models and retains the ability to capture cities after the Keshiks have shot its HP to zero, so keeping at least one or two in your army is also a good idea.

Horse Archer: One of the deadliest in history, and the deadliest in this game as well.

Proud Merchant Race: Genghis' ability to instantly build trading posts in VI is a reference to how he reconnected the Silk Road. Despite being a conquerer from a society of nomads, he knew not to mess with the merchants, and this ability lets you have a far-reaching trade network much faster than anyone else. This allows you to chain trade routes to distant locations fast, and the trading posts give you vital diplomatic intelligence.

The Spymaster: Surprisingly, yes. Genghis Khan in VI gets a lot of diplomatic visiblity on his rivals easily, and his units gain a ton of combat strength for doing so. The real-life Khan was known for carefully scoping out his enemies before engaging, so this is even in-character.

Undying Loyalty: Much like Shaka Zulu, if you managed to get on his good side, he will remain by your side for the rest of the game.

You Require More Vespene Gas: Horses are to the Mongols what iron is to the Romans. Better hope you have them in your territory or else those Keshiks and Gers aren't going to do you much good.

Rome

Rome Leaders: Julius Caesar (I-IV), Livia (II), Augustus Caesar (IV-V), Trajan (VI) Unique Units: Legion (III, V-VI), Praetorian (IV), Ballista (V) Unique Building: Forum (IV) Unique District: Bath (VI) Ability: Glory of Rome (V), All Roads Lead to Rome (VI) The empire for the western part of the globe, Rome was founded in the 8th century BC and would continue to exist in some form for over two thousand years. After becoming a republic, Rome began expanding its rule into the rest of Italy, eventually bringing it into conflict with the rival Mediterranean power of Carthage, which it finally defeated in 146 BC. In the unrest that followed a general named Julius Caesar took power as a dictator, and his successor Octavian formally declared Rome an empire. At the height of its power in 117 AD, Rome controlled North Africa, Western Europe, southern England, the Balkans, Anatolia, and the coasts and river valleys of the Middle East, but the empire eventually stagnated and fractured. The western half finally fell to barbarian invaders in 330 AD, while its eastern portion would continue as the Byzantine Empire. Rome had an incredible impact on western history thanks to its achievements in law, engineering, language, and tactics, so much so that medieval Europe was largely concerned with trying to match its predecessor, much less surpass it. Rome has always been an all-around solid faction, balancing aggressive expansion with domestic achievements. In Civ V, the Legion is a tougher variant of the Swordsman unit that can also construct roads and forts, allowing Rome to quickly build an infrastructure to fuel its expansion, and its Ballista provides the firepower to take cities in the Classical era. But Rome isn't just about conquest, and its Glory of Rome ability allows its cities to more quickly construct any buildings also present in the national capital; so long as Rome itself stands, the Roman Empire will be the envy of the world. With this early-game strength and enduring organizational skills, its easy to establish a new Pax Romana. In Civ VI, Rome can easily build an infrastructure to support a mighty empire. Its "All Roads Lead to Rome" ability provides free roads and trading posts in Roman cities on top of additional trade route income, its leader ability gives Roman settlements a free building in their city centers, and its Baths provide extra housing and amenities compared to a normal Aqueduct. This lets Rome spend less time connecting its empire and more time expanding its borders, which is where the famous Legions will come into play. Emperor Trajan's "Optimus Princeps" agenda drives him to control as much territory as possible, and while he'll approve of others' attempts to do the same, this doesn't mean his rivals can keep lands he considers properly Roman. Badass Boast: When Rome declares war, Augustus Caesar says (in Latin of course, roughly translated), "My treasury is emptying and my soldiers are growing bored. Therefore you must die."

Disc-One Nuke: The Praetorian unique unit of IV, which replaces the Swordsman, is a melee unit that has the same Strength as a Maceman while being significantly cheaper to build, outclassing every other Ancient-era melee unit on an open field (even the Axeman) and allowing Rome to stay competitive even against medieval-era armies. The Legion in VI is a better swordsman, but more importantly, it doesn't require access to iron, meaning that it's exceedingly easy to do the quick research to unlock them and begin rolling out Legions who can easily crush anything they meet and beat groups of warrior 3 to 1, while other nations scramble to finding iron.

The Empire: Both Julius and Augustus Caesar in IV share the "Imperialistic" leader trait, which provides incentives for both peaceful expansion and conquest. Their secondary traits each also synergize well with an expansionist playstyle. Rome's unique ability in V is geared towards imperialism: they build stuff faster in their satellite cities if it's already been built in the capital. They are one of the few civs that can go tall and wide at the same time. Trajan's agenda in VI is "Optimus Princeps" where he will not respect nations who do not control large territories.

The Engineer: Their unique unit, the Legion, can both build roads and forts in V and fortifications in VI.

The Glory That Was Rome: Since the introduction of Unique Units in III, the Romans have always had some form or another of the exalted legions as theirs.

Jack-of-All-Stats: One consistent theme with Rome has been a balance between a strong military and a well-developed infrastructure, and its bonuses are typically broad enough across the board not to lock it into one particular victory condition.

Nothing Personal: When someone calmly tells you "My treasury is emptying and my soldiers are growing bored. Therefore you must die.", it sorta means they aren't really doing this out of any ill will against you...

Stealth Pun: In IV, Julius Caesar's greeting to you when you first meet him is "Welcome to Rome. Care for some salad? I made it myself."

Stone Wall: Legions in "VI" lean towards this, they aren't fast (although they aren't slower than any of the non-cavalry units) and do pack quite a punch on the offensive (due to being stronger than swordsman) but where they really shine is holding the line against superior numbers. With a base strength of 40 they already have the edge against almost anything on the same level as them and when they plop down their instant build fort under them they gain the standard +4 combat strength that a fort brings as well as instantly gaining 2 turns worth of Fortification for another +6. This means that the strength 35 Swordsman and Horseman your opponents are sending against you are attacking strength 50 Legions... who will usually have a terrain advantage since you're defending and get to choose where your cities are being placed.

The Stoic: Augustus Caesar in V. Everything he says, including a declaration of war or the announcement of his total defeat, comes out bored and monotonous. His body language isn't more vivid either: he sits on his throne and occasionally waves a hand as he speaks. It's possible that this is him after the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.

It's possible that this is him after the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. You Require More Vespene Gas: Up until Civ VI, all of Rome's unique units depend on iron, so getting an iron source early in the game (or multiple sources in V) can make or break them.

Russia

Russia Leaders: Josef Stalin (I, IV), Vladimir Lenin (II), Catherine the Great (II-V), Peter the Great (IV, VI) Unique Unit: Cossack (III-VI) Unique Buildings: Research Institute (IV), Krepost (V) Unique District: Lavra (VI) Ability: Siberian Riches (V), Mother Russia (VI, pre-Gathering Storm), Russian Winter (VI, post-Gathering Storm) Russia has always stood apart from the rest of Europe, due to geography, religion, and history. The Grand Duchy of Moscow broke free of Mongolian subjugation in the late 1400s and quickly began absorbing other Russian principalities, but while Western Europe was moving into the Renaissance, Russia was consolidating under a particularly brutal incarnation of feudalism. Tsar Peter the Great led a modernizing effort in the late 17th century, and Tsarina Catherine the Great brought some reforms and glamor to the Russian aristocracy in the 18th century, but Russia remained a large but backward nation with deep social divisions due to its history of serfdom. A civil war during the end of World War One allowed Vladimir Lenin's communists to terrorize the rest of the country into submission as they pursued revolutionary reforms, and his successor Joseph Stalin refined these practices to make the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics both a modern power and a totalitarian nightmare. For most of the 20th century the USSR waged a global Cold War against the United States of America to see which ideology would prevail, but its economy couldn't maintain the competition, and it turned out that communism couldn't survive without the threat of force. Since the USSR's dissolution in 1991, Russia faces the challenge of democratizing in a country with such a long history of authoritarianism. The Russia of Civ V is modeled after its expansion during the late 1700s under Tsarina Catherine. The Krepost, which replaces the Barracks, provides both the usual experience bonus to military units as well as a discount on purchased land tiles, allowing Russia to expand early and quickly. Taking these lands from Russia in the Renaissance era will prove difficult, as the Cossack, Russia's replacement Cavalry, receives a combat bonus against damaged targets. And you can expect to fight a lot of Cossacks, since Russia's Siberian Riches ability not only boosts the production bonus of strategic resources, but doubles the supply of Horse, Iron and Uranium resources. As for Catherine the Great herself, she's a leader who's easy to befriend but incredibly hard to make peace with - and don't let her smile fool you, she's not about to let your friendship get in the way of Russia's national interest. In vanilla Civ VI, Russia can grow to an enormous size without even trying. Its "Mother Russia" ability takes the sting off of tundra tiles by letting them produce Faith and Production, and more importantly gives all newly-founded Russian cities extra territory. Meanwhile, the Russia of Gathering Storm are well defended from any foreign threat with their "Russian Winter" ability; while enemy units inside Russian borders take damage during a blizzard, the Russians themselves are completely immune. Their unique Lavra district is an improved Holy Site that also generates Great Writers, Artists and Musicians, and when such Great People are expended it adds even more territory to the empire. This lets Russia invest in things other than territorial acquisitions, but if it's still lagging behind her neighbors, Peter the Great's "The Grand Embassy" ability lets Russia gain Science and Culture from more advanced trade partners. True to life, Peter is a Westernizer favorable towards more advanced nations, and has no tolerance for backwards thinking. Camera Abuse: Make an insulting offer in Civ IV and Catherine will slap the player's POV.

Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Catherine, to the extent that in Civ IV she was the only leader who could be bribed to declare war on another civ she was on Friendly terms with, and in V won't hesitate to declare war against someone she'd made a Declaration of Friendship with.

Cossacks: A recurring Russian unique unit. As of Civ VI they hit harder than normal Cavalry and can move after attacking.

Good-Looking Privates: Catherine's depiction in Civ IV is as a young woman in a Russian officer's uniform.

Happiness in Slavery: Catherine in V. "We have been defeated. That makes me your captive. I suppose there are worse fates." (flirty look)

Historical In-Joke: You get an achievement in V for being the first civ to discover Horseback Riding as Catherine the Great. Given a particularly salacious slander about how she died, it's a subtle way of Getting Crap Past the Radar.

Misplaced Accent: The real-life Catherine was raised German, but speaks perfect Russian in Civ V.

Power Up Letdown: "Mother Russia" helps tundra tiles suck less, but there's still little reason to go out of your way to settle on a bunch of permafrost.

Pretty in Mink: Catherine the Great wears a purple cape trimmed with ermine.

Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Russia's unique ability in VI, Mother Russia, is very similar to the Shoshone's unique ability in V, which gives their city more territory.

Zulu

Zululand Leaders: Shaka Zulu (I-VI), Shakala* (II) Unique Unit: Impi (III-VI) Unique Building: Ikhanda (IV-V) Unique District: Ikanda (VI) Ability: Iklwa (V), Isibongo (VI) The amaZulu are South Africa's largest ethnic group, and rose to prominence in 1787 when a chieftain named Shaka transformed the tribe into a regional power. Shaka's reforms included a more centralized state, new weaponry, a new military organization, and new tactics that allowed the Zulu to carve out an empire in southeast Africa. His successors would fall victim to infighting and alternatively ally with, betray, and battle the Boer Dutch and English settlers encroaching on Africa at the time. Though the Zulu were able to give the British Empire its worst defeat at the hands of an African opponent at the 1879 Battle of Isandlwana, at the end of the Anglo-Zulu War they were defeated, divided, and eventually absorbed as a British colony. The Zulu can be thought of as Africa's version of the Aztecs, a civilization that is built for war. Their Impi have always been faster than normal Spearmen, but in Civ V they're capable of making a ranged attack with javelins followed by a melee strike in the same turn. The Ikhanda is a Barracks that gives early-game Zulu units access to unique promotions granting bonuses flanking, attacking on open ground, and surviving ranged attacks, and if that wasn't enough their Iklwa special ability both halves army maintenance costs and lets Zulu units earn promotions faster. Some of these strengths diminish in the mid-game when gunpowder units are introduced, but the challenge for the Zulu's foes will be surviving that long. Civilization VI captures Shaka Zulus innovative historical military training techniques by allowing the Zulus to form corps and armies one civic earlier than usual, and stronger. Whenever a basic unit conquers a city, it gets upgraded to a corps or army if the appropriate civic is unlocked. Sticking around in the city also automatically increases its loyalty, making it much less necessary to mess around with governors to keep newly-conquered cities from rebelling. Their Ikhanda unique district provides housing and allows corps and armies to be trained as soon as theyre unlocked. Other civilizations need a late-game encampment building for this. Their unique Impi unit replaces the pikeman and can be built more cheaply, maintained more cheaply, and gets and experience bonus so it can be promoted more quickly. Blood Knight: Shaka's exactly as hostile and war-prone as Montezuma, in fact. In V, his war theme isn't a Dark Reprise; it's downright a cheerful Bragging Theme Tune.

Bragging Theme Tune: His war theme, "Shaka the Unshakeable", has plenty of lyrics extolling his virtues and why you should be very afraid of him. While most other civilizations have dark, dramatic war themes, his is upbeat and cheerful-sounding, as if he's excited to be waging war against you.

Confusion Fu: The Impi unique units in V can either attack from melee, range, or both.

Crutch Character/Magikarp Power: The Zulus in V fits into both areas. They have a weak early game, very strong midgame (more or less thanks to the Ikanda unique promotions and the Impi), but a very weak lategame. Many players who play the Zulus will use the medieval era mid-game spike to start conquering their neighbors, because once the Zulus have access to gunpowder units, they can no longer access to the Ikanda unique promotions. Thus being said, the Zulus can still have a strong late game Domination presence providing if they find a religion quickly and grab the Holy Warriors belief (which allows recruitment of pre-industrial units) and keep the Ikanda unique promotions. In addition, their Iklwa unique ability with half the maintenance cost for melee units is still useful late-game, as it allows the Zulus to free up their gold production for something else.

Defiant to the End: Defeat Shaka in VI and he'll respond with an impressive Badass Boast: True, you ended my reign. But I will live on in your nightmares.

Difficult, but Awesome: Not the V gameplay, but befriending Zulu himself. Shaka is considered to be one of the hardest leaders to befriend (he has one of the lowest willingness to declare friendship ratings). At the same time however, if you do manage to befriend Shaka, he will end up being one of your most loyal allies, even if you are a warmonger.

Fusion Dance: Due to how "Formations" work in VI, this is effectively Shaka's new gimmick: merging identical units together to make a stronger one. (Since the old Stack of Doom technique does not exist in VI, this is the best way to make use of an abundance of units). He gains the ability to do so way sooner than his rivals, around the Middle Ages, and the Corps or Armies Shaka makes are stronger than those made of other civs.

Gender Flip: The Zulus' female leader in II, Shakala, is a fictional gender-flipped version of Shaka. This leads to the unusual situation where the gender flip and the original person are present at the same time.

Lightning Bruiser: In V, any Impi with all three unique Ikhanda promotions. In addition to attacking twice in one turn, they can have: an additional movement point, increased defense against ranged attacks, and a significant flanking bonus. You do not want to piss off the Zulus. And in VI, any Corps or Army unit made by Shaka will be given +5 Combat Strength, and that's on top of how much stronger those are than singular units. A Zulu Army unit will easily annihilate cities and enemy units on a tech parity.

Scary Black Man: Shaka, very much so.

Undying Loyalty: While getting Shaka to befriend you borders on a Luck-Based Mission, he is actually one of the most loyal leaders in V should you pull it off, unlike many other warmonger civs (*cough*cough*Napoleon*cough*cough). Friendly Shaka is extremely unlikely to backstab you, and will immediately come to your aid if you go to war with another Civ.

Zerg Rush: Remember the special ability the Zulus get in V? Remember the entry in Lightning Bruiser? Combine these two and you have hordes of screaming spearmen overwhelming your enemies. In VI, the Zulu change units of theirs that conquer cities into corps or armies, can build corps or armies faster with their Ikandas and their Impi warriors can be built faster and are cheaper to maintain; all unique abilities, units and districts they have are focused on a Zerg Rush.

Added in Civilization II

Carthage

Carthage Leaders: Dido* (II, V), Hannibal (II-IV) Unique Units: Numidian Mercenary (III), Numidian Cavalry (IV), African Forest Elephant (V), Quinquereme (V) Unique Building: Cothon (IV) Ability: Phoenician Heritage (V) According to legend, Carthage was founded in the first millennium BC by the princess Dido, who gave up co-rulership of Tyre to start her own domain in modern-day Tunisia. Carthage developed into a powerful trading empire that outlasted its Phoenician forebearers, and by the 3rd Century BC it controlled much of North Africa's coast, southern Spain, Sardinia, Corsica, and contested Sicily. But this inevitably brought it into conflict with the rising power of Rome, resulting in a series of wars starting in 241 BC. The first was a loss, and while the renowned Carthaginian general Hannibal led his famous pachyderm assault force over the Alps to deal Rome a crushing defeat during the second conflict, Carthage was forced to agree to a harsh peace. The Third Punic War ended in 146 BC after a three-year siege, and the capital of this empire that once rivaled Rome was annihilated. Carthage has an interesting mix of abilities. Its Phoenician Heritage gives every Carthaginian coastal city a free harbor, helping it build trade routes and keep its empire connected without relying solely on roads, but the ability also lets Carthage's armies cross over normally-impassable mountains once a Great General has been created. Likewise, the Quinquereme allows Carthage to dominate the Ancient seas, while the African Forest Elephant will strike fear in the hearts of enemies and produce those Great Generals faster. By land or by sea, nowhere is safe from Carthage's might. Badass Boast: Dido's war declaration in Civ V: "Tell me - do you know how my army numbers, my trains of elephant or fleets of ship? No? Well, you'll soon find out."

Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Dido's high deceptiveness rating earns her a reputation for one of the most backstabbing leader.

Intangible Man: Sort of; their ability to pass through mountains is effectively this game's equivalent of wallhack.

Jack-of-All-Stats: They receive unique bonuses to both their economy and military ability, but their income isn't as strong as specialists like Morocco, Portugal, and Arabia, while they also lack the power of warmongers like Mongolia or the Zulu.

Loophole Abuse: African Forest Elephants, their version of the Horseman, can be made without Horses. This is incredibly handy as Elephants have a "fear aura" around them that lowers opposing melee damage by 10%, and it stacks with other Elephants. Combined with having more attack power than the Horseman, a group of Elephants is all you need to overwhelm early land units, including Spearmen, who are normally the go-to unit for countering mounted units. A lesser known gimmick of Carthage, after getting a Great General to allow passage over mountains, is to build roads on the mountains. This equates to instantly-passable tiles that only the Carthaginians can use, which gives any of their mountain-based cities a massive defensive advantage. This can also be used as an obscene sneak attack route into other civs protected by mountains, should the Carthage player be bold enough to bring Workers along with their army. It's definitely rare, but sending a herd of elephants tumbling down the mountainside of a city's "safe" zone is as effective as it is hilarious.

Not the Intended Use/Emergent Gameplay: Strangely for a Domination-oriented civ, Carthage has a dirty little tactic that can win them a Science victory. The free Harbors they get with each city form City Connections with the capital for added Gold gain, and with the "Messenger of the Gods" Pantheon belief the connections will also produce Science. With clever city placement and appropriate measures to combat unhappiness, an expansion-happy Carthage can become a huge scientific competitor on par with Babylon while at the same time landlocking any nearby civs. And should another civ somehow jeopardize the Science victory? Now Carthage has a large number of cities from which to produce a military, allowing them to bury the violator in elephants and warships.

Celts

Celts Leaders: Boudicca (II, IV-V), Cunobeline (II), Brennus (III-IV) Unique Units: Gallic Swordsman (III-IV), Pictish Warrior (V) Unique Buildings: Dun (IV), Ceilidh Hall (V) Ability: Druidic Lore (V) The Celtic tribes migrated into Europe around 1300 BC, spreading from Germany into France, Spain and the British Isles. This would later make them one of Rome's deadliest enemies: the Celtic chieftain Brennus sacked Rome in 390 BC, the Iberian Celts allied with Carthage during the Second Punic War, and in the 1st Century AD the Queen Boudicca led the united tribes of Britain in her campaign of revenge against her Roman former captors. Despite this fierce resistance, the Celts were gradually overcome by Rome's legions and absorbed into its empire, with only Ireland remaining a "purely" Celtic nation - at least until Christianity was introduced. The Celts' legacy includes languages in Great Britain and France, influences on art and music throughout Western Europe, and legends of the mysterious druids. The Celts capitalize on the introduction of Faith and religions in Civ V's expansions. Their Druidic Lore ability generates additional Faith from unworked forests surrounding their cities, allowing them to start a religion almost at the start of the game, long before anyone else. The Celtic replacement for the Spearmen, the Pictish Warrior, gets a combat bonus outside friendly territory, can pillage at will, and generates more Faith when it kills something. The Ceilidh Hall, which produces Happiness in addition to the Culture of a regular Opera House, allows the Celts to more easily pursue a Cultural Victory, but with all that Faith there's no wrong way to play them. Boudicca will usually focus on spreading her religion and keeping her people happy, but she knows how to fight, is nearly impossible to intimidate, and doesn't forget a grudge. Action Girl: Boudica all the way. Unlike the other rulers (male or female), she is not at all interested in looking pretty, she's interested in looking like she could gut you like a fish. She's usually fondling a sword and is wearing very utilitarian, unflattering clothing. In Civ V the first thing she says is to warn you that "nobody better try rushing me."

Composite Character: The Pictish Warriors Boudica gets are not of the same Celtic tribe she came from. She's getting help from multiple Britons it seems.

Decomposite Character: VI sees the Celts split into Gaul (representing the Celts of Antiquity) and Scotland (the Celts of the present).

Demoted to Extra: Boudica is only a Great General in VI.

Graceful Loser: Boudica. "I take some small pleasure that it was you who bested my people on this field of battle. Another time, I would have proudly called you my peer."

Green Thumb: In V, they receive bonus faith per city as long there is an unimproved forest tile next to the city. The bonus is doubled if there are 3 adjacent unimproved forests.

Hypocrite: Boudica will denounce you if you try to convert any of her cities into your religion, but will gleefully convert your cities to hers.

Interface Spoiler: In V: if you see someone create a pantheon within 10 turns of the game, you can be certain that the Celts exist somewhere in the game, as they are the only civilization that can naturally gain faith without buildings.

Jerkass: Boudica is known to not only declare war against many civilizations, she's also a backstabber and converts all your cities to her religion.

Rape, Pillage, and Burn: Pictish Warriors can freely pillage tiles and have a combat bonus in enemy lands, making them well suited to early aggression.

Religious Bruiser: They have a strong emphasis on early religion, what with their ability and their Pictish Warriors earning additional faith whenever they kill an enemy.

Japan

Persia

Persia Leaders: Xerxes (II-III), Scheherazade * (II), Cyrus the Great (IV, VI), Darius the Great (IV-V) Unique Unit: Immortal (III-VI) Unique Buildings: Apothecary (IV), Satrap's Court (V) Unique Improvement: Pairidaeza (VI) Ability: Achaemenid Legacy (V), Satrapies (VI) The Iranian Plateau has seen its share of empires over the course of history, from the Medians to the Parthians to the Khwarazmians to the Timurids, but one of its most celebrated was the Achaemenid Empire. By 550 BC, a Median vassal named Cyrus II turned against his master, then played the rival powers of Lydia and Babylon off each other to forge a new empire through a mixture of diplomacy and military might. This was further expanded by successors such as Darius I, and at the height of its power the Achaemenid Empire stretched from modern-day Iran to Egypt and the Balkan coast. Though ended by Alexander in 330 BC, the Achaemenids left behind a legacy of just governance that allowed a centralized authority to peacefully rule a diverse mix of peoples and faiths. Ancient Persia was pretty progressive for its time, and Civ V rewards rulers who can live up to the standards of Cyrus the Great. Persia's Achaemenid Legacy ability means that its Golden Ages last 50% longer, and during one all units receive a bonus to movement and combat. In the early game the Persian Immortal gives the nation an edge thanks to its ability to heal twice as fast as normal Spearmen, while in the mid-to-late game the Satrap's Court, which replaces a Bank, produces both additional gold and more happiness. The end result is an empire that can focus on internal development while remaining competitive on the battlefield, and if Persia decides to expand it may well be greeted as liberators. In Civ VI, Persia gains a focus on consolidating its own empire and quickly assimilating foreign cities right into it. Its Satrapies ability means that internal trade routes automatically gain +2 gold and +1 culture, with Persian roads one level more advanced than normal, with their Pairidaeza improvements spitting out further culture and gold, with bonuses when built next to Holy Sites, Commercial Hubs, Theatre Squares or City Centers, and when advancing through the technology civics tree. Cyrus himself, however, is always looking at opportunities to expand, and his Fall of Babylon ability means that his forces get +2 movement for 10 turns upon declaring surprise wars, while said wars hit Persia with less warmongering penalties and weariness than other civs, and he takes no growth penalties in cities he occupies. Their Immortal unique units, which replaces the Swordsman, are given a range attack along with strong defensive strength, meaning that they can quickly overwhelm any foe. All in all, Persia is an expansionist civ that can easily bring any hapless city into its ever-growing empire. Bow and Sword, in Accord: The Immortals in VI replaces the swordsman and is given a ranged attack, while retaining the swordsman's Melee defence.

Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Encouraged as a gameplay mechanic in VI, as Cyrus's Fall of Babylon means that you are rewarded for springing surprise attacks on your enemies. Much of his dialogue is even along the lines of "I'm sure we'll be good friends... for now."

Clasp Your Hands If You Deceive: In VI, Cyrus poses like this on his diplomacy screen if you've denounced him. Given that you're probably denouncing him because of his deceptiveness...

Cultured Badass: In Brave New World, the Great People abilities were switched around so that only Great Artists could initiate Golden Ages. This doesn't slow Persia down as much as one would think, since the tech that grants Great Artists (Guilds) is only one detour away from the path to Civil Service, which most Persia players want to get anyway for Chichen Itza and to upgrade their Immortals to Pikemen. Combined with the military boost Persia gets while in a Golden Age, it's quite easy for Persia to pursue both Domination and Culture victories simultaneously. Cyrus keeps this up in VI; he gets extra culture from Persia's unique ability and improvement. This actually synergizes with his warmongering; through early trade routes and/or Pairidaezas, he will likely reach Political Philosophy before his neighbors, allowing him to take Oligarchy for the strength boost it will give his Immortals and leverage it before the others can catch up. Like in V, Persia in VI can easily go for Domination or Culture victories.

The Good Kingdom: Life in Persia is pretty damn good. Trade routes to the world, wealth, religious tolerance and generally good public happiness are known to have been many of their popular features throughout ancient history. This is reflected in their trait for V, where they get more golden ages that last longer, and everyone's so buzzed during one that they all get extra movement points and fight harder in battle. Continued in VI, where interior roads are of a higher quality than normal for your era and internal trade routes boost gold and culture, something you normally only get from external trade.

Healing Factor: In V, the Immortal replacement for spearmen heals twice as fast as a standard unit. This carries over when the spearman is upgraded.

Heart Is an Awesome Power: Golden Ages are a nice bonus for all civs in every game, but prior to Civ V, they were usually too brief or infrequent to build a whole strategy around. However, Persia's special ability in V increases the length of their Golden Ages by 50%, and gives all their units a movement and combat bonus when they're in one. Combined with Chichen Itza (the wonder that gives another 50% increase to GA length) and the Freedom ideology, which offers another such stacking bonus, the Persians can stay in a cycle of consecutive Golden Ages for 50 turns or longer!

Insufferable Genius: Darius in V loves talking about how much smarter and better he is than you. Considering how nice life is in Persia he may have a point...

Take Over the World: In VI, Cyrus's ability Fall of Babylon, reduces the penalty for declaring surprise wars and grants all units +2 movement for ten turns allowing you to quickly conquer and expand before the enemy can mount an effective defence.

Weirdness Coupon: Fall of Babylon means people won't get as annoyed at you for doing a surprise attack on someone. Given Cyrus's history, it may well be because, well, it's Cyrus. It's what he does.

Sioux

Sioux Leaders: Sitting Bull (II, IV), Sacagawea (II) Unique Unit: Dog Soldier (IV) Unique Building: Totem Pole (IV) The Sioux consist of seven nations spread across the northern part of the Great Plains of North America, who would meet each summer for religious ceremonies and to settle intertribal issues. These archetypical Indians in tipis and feathered headdresses traded with French merchants in the 16th century, but focused on their old conflict with the Pawnee, until in the 19th century the encroaching United States became the Sioux's greatest threat. A combination of continued white settlement, broken treaties and starvation sparked the Dakota War in 1862, which saw the Sioux driven out of Minnesota. From 1866 to 1868 Chief Red Cloud led a campaign that ended in a treaty granting the Sioux control over central Wyoming, but the later discovery of gold in the Black Hills, and the subsequent rush of settlers, sparked the Great Sioux War of 1876-77. Despite the efforts of leaders such as Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, and the victory at Little Bighorn, the Sioux and their Cheyenne allies were defeated, and the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890 marked the last major armed conflict between the natives and their invaders. In Civ IV Sitting Bull was given command of a generic Native American civilization representing every tribe in North America, so that a Lakota leads a faction that includes a special unit from the Cheyenne and a distinctive structure from the Haida. Sitting Bull is already a Protective leader who grants archery and gunpowder units free promotions to make them better at defending cities, but the Totem Pole gives archers even more experience points, resulting in an civilization that is very hard to invade, or very hard to dislodge if it takes one of your cities. The Dog Soldier replaces the Axeman, and while lacking the latter's raw strength, receives a whopping 100% combat bonus against other melee units. All in all, picking a fight with the Native Americans may be more trouble than it's worth. Composite Character: Imagine a "Native European" civilization where Napoleon leads Hakkapeliitta to defend his Hanse and you'll realize how weird Civ IV's portrayal of "Native America" is.

Injun Country: All of them. A game mod puts a bit more effort into it, including every Native American civilization using their own native names.

Stone Wall: The Civ IV Civilopedia boasts that "Troy can't hold a candle to the Native American Empire."

Spain

Spain Leaders: Isabella (II-V), Philip II (II, VI) Unique Units: Conquistador (III-VI), Tercio (V) Unique Building: Citadel (IV) Unique Improvement: Mission (VI) Ability: Seven Cities of Gold (V), Treasure Fleet (VI) Carthage and Rome colonized and competed for the Iberian peninsula during ancient times, while the Dark Ages brought Visigoth and later Moorish invaders to the region, but in the 8th century the Spanish got sick of this and started fighting back. The struggle between the Christian and Muslim kingdoms of Spain remained a stalemate until the 1469 marriage of Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragaon created a power couple capable of completing the Reconquista. By 1492 the Muslims were out of Spain, the Spanish Inquisition was making sure everyone was a proper Catholic, and an explorer named Christopher Columbus had found new lands to conquer overseas. The Spanish quickly began expanding into the New World for God, glory and gold, becoming the first truly global power and building an empire that spanned the Americas, Caribbean, and eventually the East Indies. European conflicts, imperial overreach, and independence movements gradually cost Spain her colonies, but the fact that Spanish is the world's second most popular language shows the impact this nation had on history. As befitting Spain's status as a explorer and colonizer, in Civ V its Seven Cities of Gold ability grants hefty bonuses for both discovering and controlling Natural Wonders, encouraging the nation to seek out and grab the best real estate. Aiding this goal is the Conquistador, an improved Knight that can not only see further, fight cities effectively, and defend itself while embarked, but can also found new cities on other continents. To help defend these lands, Spain also gets the Tercio, combining the strength of the Musketman with the anti-cavalry bonuses of Pikemen. Like England, Spain in Civ VI excels at developing into a naval empire, but its focus is on faith, not culture. Its "Treasure Fleets" ability improves the yield of trade routes between continents and lets Spain create fleets earlier than its rivals, but King Philip II isn't content with mere treasure and wants to unite the world under Spain's religion, by force if necessary. His "El Escorial" leader bonus improves the effectiveness of Inquisitors and gives Spanish combat units a bonus against enemies of the faith, and his "Counter-Reformer" agenda makes him quite antagonistic towards anyone trying to spread a foreign religion into his lands. Spain's Conquistadors get a further combat bonus when stacked with a religious unit and can actually convert cities they help capture, while the Mission improvement generates additional faith, more if built on another continent than Spain's capital. The other nations of the world will either bow to the One True Faith or feel Spain's wrath. Awesome, but Impractical: Phillip's +4 combat strength to your units when they're fighting someone with a different religion than yours sounds pretty good... until you realize that, for the bonus to apply, both you and your opponent must have a religion, and those religions must be different. Religion isn't much sought after in multiplayer games, so this bonus will rarely apply in such a context; and in single-player, some AI opponents never try to found a religion, and you won't get the combat bonus if you convert them to yours. Unless someone else converts the enemy you're planning to fight, there's not much you can do. Spain's bonuses in general seem contradictory, both pushing her towards and pulling her away from a Religious Victory. To win such a victory, you must convert at least half of everyone's cities to your religion... but you need your opponents to follow a different religion than yours if you want to get a combat bonus against them, and your unique unit (the Conquistador) gets a decent combat bonus if it shares its space with a religious unit... which ties up said religious unit and prevents it from spreading your religion.

Blood Knight: Not quite as aggressive as the likes of the Aztecs or Zulu, but Spain makes up for that in its emphasis on religion, and if you dare have a different religion than they do, they're often programmed to hate you.

Bold Explorer: Encouraged by Spain's "Seven Cities of Gold" ability in V, which doubles the output of Natural Wonders. In VI, this is replaced by a focus on settling or conquering on continents you did not start out on.

Church Militant: Many versions of this civ focus on both military strength and religion, unsurprisingly.

Flaunting Your Fleets: It wouldn't be Spain without the Spanish Armadas, so in Civ VI they gain the ability to combine naval units into an Armada much sooner than everyone else. So during the Renaissance, watch out.

The Fundamentalist: Isabella's relations with you in Civ IV depends on whether or not she shares your faith. If she does, you'll have to actively work to tick her off. If she doesn't, she will devote her life to your destruction. Philip II's "Counter-Reformer" agenda makes him like anyone who shares his religion and hate anyone who tries to convert his cities to another faith.

Graceful Loser: Isabella in V. "...very well. This is, without a doubt, God's will, and I must bow to it."

Large Ham: A bit more understated than Gilgamesh, but it's there.

Luck-Based Mission: Their Unique Ability in V gives them a massive amount of gold if they are the first to discover a natural wonder, and doubles their tile yields. It will either provide a huge advantage, or do nothing at all.

Master of All: The Spanish Tercio in Civ V is stronger than a Musketman but also shares the Pikeman's Anti-Cavalry bonus, making it the dominant military unit of the Renaissance era.

No Blood for Phlebotinum: Scouting around and snapping up Natural Wonders is the key to getting the most out of Spain in Civ V. If there are no Natural Wonders available in neutral territory (they often show up inside the limits of a city-state) then it's time to prepare your conquistadores for some conquistadoring.

Power Up Let Down: The Conquistador is a more expensive knight replacement, and since knights are one of the main unit types (if not the main unit type) in Middle Ages warfare, having to spend more production on them hurts. What does Spain get for that extra production? Some minor special abilities that are already obsolete the moment Conquistadors start rolling out. To elaborate, the Conquistador's bonuses are: extra vision range, better defense when embarked, no penalties when attacking cities, and the ability to found cities on other continents. All of these would make the Conquistador a good exploring unit... if it didn't come out in the early-mid game, when the time for exploration is already finished. The ability to found cities on other continents is especially useless: the technologies required to cross oceans and to build Conquistadors are in different branches of the tech tree, and so, by the time you can finally set sail towards other continents, all the good land will already be settled; and even if you manage to found a city on decent land, it will be a very small, easy-to-capture one.

Pretty in Mink: Isabella of Spain wears a red dress heavily trimmed with ermine in V.

Religious Bruiser: In V they get no inherent religious ability (though Isabella is still programmed to spread her faith around as much as possible). However, if you take "One with Nature" as your pantheon (which grants +4 faith for every Natural Wonder you control), that gets doubled to +8', a huge boost over whatever else anyone could get, and a lot of Natural Wonders also produce faith points on their own, which get doubled too! With a little luck, a properly-specced Spain can produce ten times as much faith points as anyone else in the world and swarm the earth with their religion. In VI, Phillip II is aggressive with religion as his leader ability boosts all his military and religious units against any civilization not following his religion and despises anyone who try to spread their religion to his cities. A common strategy is to have your own religion, attack enemies, then make the local religion your own via inquisitors, which Spain also specializes in.

The Spanish Inquisition: Spain in VI has more effective Inquisitors than other civs, but you really ought to have expected that.

Viking

Viking Leaders: Cnut the Great (II), Gunnhild* (II) Ragnar Lodbrok (III-IV) Unique Unit: Berserker (IV) Unique Building: Trading Post (IV) "Viking" is more a job description than an actual civilization - when the people of northern Europe wanted loot, had overpopulation issues, or were just feeling bored and violent, they'd get in their longships and go on a viking, or overseas raid. This was particularly prevalent during the Viking Age of 800-1050 AD, when Norse raiders sailed up the Seine to threaten Paris, sacked monasteries on the British Isles, and generally made life difficult for anyone near a body of water. But the Vikings also went on trading expeditions, and started settlements in Russia, Iceland, Greenland, and a distant western coast they called Vinland nearly five hundred years before Columbus "discovered" the New World. Eventually the Vikings converted to Christianity and developed into kingdoms like Denmark and Sweden, but the Scandinavian reputation as fearsome seaborne warriors persists to this day. Fittingly, the Vikings' unique unit and structure in Civ IV are about making them more effective naval invaders. The Berserker replaces the Maceman and starts with the Amphibious promotion, allowing it to attack from transports or across rivers without penalty, while the Trading Post replaces the Lighthouse and gives Viking ships a free Navigation promotion, letting them move faster. Add to this Ragnar's Aggressive and Financial traits, and the Viking's neighbors better invest in a strong navy and coastal defenses. Horny Vikings: Ragnar's even depicted with one of those ceremonial and stereotypical Viking helmets.

Obviously Evil: Ragnar's greeting dialogue not-so-innocently asks if your civilization has "any undefended coastal villages".

Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Denmark in V and Norway in VI each have a similar theme, including the Berserker unit.

Added in Civilization III

Arabia

Arabia Leaders: Abu Bakr (III), Saladin (IV, VI), Harun al-Rashid (V) Unique Units: Ansar Warrior (III), Camel Archer (IV-V), Mamluk (VI) Unique Buildings: Madrassa (IV, VI), Bazaar (V) Ability: Trade Caravans (V, pre-Brave New World), Ships of the Desert (V, post-Brave New World), The Last Prophet (VI) The arid Arabian Peninsula has been an important trade center since ancient times, but for most of its history it was a sideshow to foreign empires' struggles over the Middle East. This all changed when the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) brought a new religion to the region, uniting the Arabs under Islam through conversion and conquest. His followers created the first Caliphate in the 7th century, expanding out across North Africa to Spain in the west, and eastward through Iran into northwest India. This was followed by the Abbasid Caliphate which shifted its capital to Baghdad, where the arts and science flourished under wise leaders like Harun al-Rashid. At the height of its power the Caliphate was both astonishingly wealthy and far more advanced than medieval Europe, with achievements in chemistry, mathematics, astronomy and medicine that the Christian kingdoms wouldn't match for centuries. But internal religious conflicts, the difficulties of running such a vast domain, and external foes eventually brought down the empire - the Mongols' sack of Baghdad in 1258 was not only the Caliphate's death blow, but a tremendous loss to science and culture. Arabia was subsequently taken by the Turks and later Europeans, and today faces the challenge of matching its past glory in a world that seems interested only in its oil supply. As befitting a people situated on the nexus of three continents, the Arabs are exceptional traders, and with their Ships of the Desert ability in Civ V, their Caravans have extended range, and also are more likely to spread their religion. The Bazaar is one of the best buildings in the game, boosting overall city income like a Marketplace, granting bonus gold from trade routes, oases and oil, and improving the yield of luxury resources near cities. In the Medieval era the Arabs' Camel Archer dominates the battlefield thanks to its improved mobility and ranged damage, while in the late game the Arabs' doubled oil supply can fuel further conquests or be leveraged through trade. The Arabs in Civ VI are a religious civilization, but one more sophisticated than conquest-happy Spain. Its "The Last Prophet" ability ensures that Arabia will always found a religion, so it has no reason to rush to generate a Great Prophet, and its Madrassa produces more Science than a University as well as additional Faith. Saladin wants to see Arabia's religion spread to other cities, but while his "Righteousness of the Faith" leader ability lets Arabia's religious building boost his cities' Science, Faith and Culture output, it also lets said building be constructed for only one-tenth the normal cost, a discount that applies to other civilizations as well. Arabia's neighbors thus have an incentive to tolerate its evangelizing, but if they don't, that's where the feared Mamluk heavy cavalry comes into play. Arab Oil Sheikh: In III, Abu Bakr's Modern era portrait has him standing in front of several oil wells in the desert. Part of the Arabs' ability in V. Their oil resources provide double, and their unique "Bazaar" building gives them extra gold from oil.

Composite Character: More like "Composite Geography." In VI, the capital of the Arabian Empire is Cairo, better known as modern-day Egypt's capital. This is because Egypt's lands have changed many hands over the years, terminating in "Arabian Egypt" which to this day has its own Arabian dialect. (Arabia's famous intercontinental trade routes are also factored into VI's Egypt, but while Cleopatra gets more money directly, Saladin gains different benefits).

Healing Factor: The Mamluk in VI heals itself every turn, regardless of whether or not it attacked.

Hit-and-Run Tactics: Their Camel Archers in V are similar to Mongolian Keshiks. While they lack the additional movement and faster experience gain / general production rate of Keshiks, they have higher stats on both offense and defense.

Horse Archer: Camel Archers in V. Their high mobility and ranged attack make them very effective at hit-and-run tactics.

Jack-of-All-Trades: Arabia in V is notable for having bonuses to reach different kinds of victory - Domination and Diplomatic - but their bonus to commerce and religion mean you are also likely to become rich and have many friends, which can be useful to secure Research Agreements and reach a Scientific Victory. The only victory road they have no bonus to is Cultural.

Pet the Dog: Defeat Arabia in Civ V and Harun al-Rashid declares that his palace is yours, but he hopes that you'll take good care of the peacocks.

Proud Merchant Race: In V Arabia's "Ships of the Desert" ability gives its Caravans extended range and a greater chance of spreading its religion, while the Bazaar improvement is a Marketplace that doubles the yield of nearby luxury resources for foreign trade.

Religious Bruiser: With its bias on desert terrain, Arabia in V can obtain the "Desert Folklore" pantheon to acquire a religion quickly. Given that trade routes from Arabia have a boost into spreading their religion, Arabia can achieve a dominant power in faith.

Reluctant Warrior: When Saladin declares war in VI, he'll state that "It is a shame that we must resort to violence, it is not the custom of kings to kill kings."

Byzantium

Byzantium Leaders: Theodora (III, V), Justinian I (IV), Basil II (VI) Unique Units: Dromon (III, V-VI), Cataphract (IV-V), Tagma (VI) Unique Building: Hippodrome (IV) Unique District: Hippodrome (VI) Ability: Patriarchate of Constantinople (V), Taxis (VI) As it waned, the Roman Empire split itself in two for administrative purposes, and though the western half would fall to barbarians in the 4th Century, the eastern Roman Empire would continue for another thousand years. From its majestic capital of Constantinople, strategically situated on the waterway separating East from West, the so-called Byzantine Empire continued Roman traditions of art, trade, religion and learning. Under the power couple of Justinian I and Theodora, in 555 AD the empire regained control of not just Greece and Anatolia, but the Italian peninsula and much of the North African coast. Despite such periods of resurgence, the Byzantines gradually lost ground to eastern invaders, while relations with their fellow Christian domains in Europe eventually ended in the Great Schism of 1054, forever separating the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453, but even in its death the Byzantine Empire shaped history - the tide of refugees fleeing west helped start the Renaissance, while the loss of a Christian-controlled passage east led Europe to search the seas for new trade routes and discover a new world. Byzantium was the heartland of Orthodox Christianity, and its ability in Civ V, Patriarchate of Constantinople, allows it to choose an additional belief when founding a Religion, further customizing it towards whichever victory it seeks. When piety is not enough, the Byzantines' special units allow them to dominate the early game - the Dromon uses Greek Fire to annihilate any ships foolish enough to oppose it, while the Cataphract is a slower but stronger Horseman able to make use of terrain and more effectively attack cities. Through faith and Roman arms, the Byzantines will once more rise to glory. Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Theodora in V is one of the easier leaders to befriend. It's just that in the long run being friends doesn't mean very much to her.

Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Theodora in V have a habit of doing this a lot.

Gorgeous Greek: Theodora is depicted like a Femme Fatale in V.

Greek Fire: Dromons replace Triremes as the earliest military ship. They have a useful ranged attack, and a hefty bonus against enemy ships. As a bonus, they also follow the ranged ship upgrade path instead of the trireme's melee path, so their promotions remain useful forever.

Jack-of-All-Stats: Religion is a customizable tool in Civ V, and Byzantium's religion is extra-customizable, so they can be geared for whatever victory type you want. Though they gain no bonus faith to help them generate a religion, once they do, it gets an extra belief from any of the possible categories. Select two founder beliefs and you get double benefits from spreading it around; you want extra money and extra happiness for every believer, you got it! Or you could select two enhancer beliefs and watch as your religion practically auto-spreads around the continent. Make it so your religion generates loads of extra faith and select "Holy Warriors" to blow it on instantly buying an army using faith points instead of money. Make it so you can use all three faith-built buildings at once, then combine with a reformation belief so they all generate free tourism too for a tourism blast! Or use "Just War" and "Defender of the Faith" together at once to ensure that everywhere your religion is, you have a combat bonus, offense or defense. The possibilities are almost endless.

Mighty Glacier: A mild example in Cataphracts: they have lower movement than horsemen, but are stronger and have a smaller penalty against cities.

Ominous Latin Chanting: Justinian I's diplomacy theme , which contrary to popular belief is not Deus Iudex Iustus . Theodora's diplomacy music in V sounds like one as well. Subverted in that it's actually Greek, though still ominous.

, which contrary to popular belief is not Deus Iudex Iustus . Theodora's diplomacy music in V sounds like one as well. Subverted in that it's actually Greek, though still ominous. Reclining Reigner: Theodora is always seen lounging on her sofa.

Hittite

Hittite Leader: Mursilis I (III) Unique Unit: Three-Man Chariot (III) We don't know much about the Hittites beyond what their enemies and trading partners wrote about them. Around 2000 BC they migrated south to establish kingdoms in modern Turkey and Syria, but in 1595 BC King Mursili (or Murshilish) launched a raid against the contemporary power of Babylon. By 1299 BC the Hittites were a major empire, able to fight the Egyptians to a standstill at the Battle of Kadesh and keep control of the Levant. Part of their success was due to hardware such as three-man war chariots, which were nearly enough to rout the Egyptians in themselves. More importantly, the Hittites were one of the first peoples to move out of the Bronze Age, and were forging iron weapons as early as the 14th Century BC. This edge would only last so long, however, and the Hittites were eventually broken and conquered by invaders such as the Assyrians by 1100 BC. In Civ III the Hittites are considered an Expansionist and Commercial civilization, though oddly enough their starting technologies don't bring them any closer to Iron Working than any other given civ. Their unique unit is the Three-Man Chariot, fully twice and strong and tough as a normal Chariot - which is to say that it's a 2/2/2 unit rather than a 1/1/2 unit. Demoted to Extra: In V, which only features them in the Wonders of the Ancient World scenario, and VI, which includes Hattusa as a city-state.

Inca

Inca Leaders: Pachacuti (III, V-VI), Huayna Capac (IV) Unique Units: Chasqui Scout (III), Quechua (IV), Slinger (V), Warak'aq (VI) Unique Building: Terrace (IV) Unique Improvement: Terrace Farm (V-VI), Qhapaq Ñan (VI) Ability: Great Andean Road (V), Mit'a (VI) In the 12th Century the Inca were a pastoral society, but in 1438 they began expanding out from the city-state of Cusco. Under the leadership of their Sapa Inca, Pachacuti-Cusi Yupanqui (literally "earth-shaker"), the Inca subdued their neighbors through conquest and assimilation, creating an empire they called the Tawantinsuyu, "four parts together." Two generations later the Inca Empire reached its greatest extent under Huayna Capac, stretching along the Andes Mountains through modern Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, held together by marvelously-engineered networks of roads linking its cities and fortresses. But in 1526 the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro arrived during a time of civil war and a smallpox epidemic, and within fifty years the Inca Empire was destroyed, its wealth plundered and its people made colonial subjects stripped of their former culture. The Inca can turn mountains and hills from marginal terrain to prime real estate. Their Great Andean Road ability allows Inca units to ignore the movement penalty of passing over hills, and not only halves the maintenance costs of all land improvements, but makes any improvements on hills free of upkeep. On top of that, the Terrace Farm can be constructed on hills to improve food yield, moreso if it borders a mountain. The Inca replacement for the Archer, the Slinger, may not be quite as tough, but will automatically withdraw from the first foe to try and catch it in melee. All in all, the Inca are uniquely suited for taking the high ground, and their foes better remember that those hills aren't going to save them if the Inca are feeling aggressive. In VI, the Inca return in Gathering Storm, and are once again the undisputed masters of the mountains. The Terrace Farms make their return, allowing the Inca to get food from hills much earlier than their competitors, and gets additional food from adjacent mountains as well as production from adjacent aqueducts or sources of fresh water. Their "Mit'a" Ability lets its citizens work mountains, which get +2 production as a base yield and +1 food for each adjacent Terrace Farm, which means Incan cities can quickly dwarf their neighbours. Pachacuti's Unique Ability is "Qhapaq Ñan", and favours a more isolationist playstyle - Domestic trade routes gain +1 food for every mountain tile in the trade route's original city, and gain access to the Qhapaq Ñan improvement once Foreign Trade is unlocked. This improvement allows Incan units to move right through mountains even during the ancient era, while other civs have to wait until the industrial era to be able to match that. The Inca's unique unit is the Warak'aq, their version of the Skirmisher, and not only is it stronger at ranged combat, but it can attack twice if they have enough movement points. In terms of agenda, Pachacuti's "Sapa Inca" means that he appreciates those who stay away from the mountains, but those that choose to settle near them will eventually have to fight off Incan expansion. Badass Boast: When he attacks: Resistance is futile! You cannot hope to stand against the mighty Incan empire. If you will not surrender immediately, then prepare for war! When he is attacked: Declare war on me?!? You can't, because I declare war on you first!

Hidden Elf Village: Their abilities and improvements in VI encourage this playstyle, unless your neighbours have gotten themselves some nice mountainside real estate.

Mega City: In V, the unique Terrace Farm improvement gives a city bonus food based on how many mountains it is adjacent to, speeding early game growth. Since Incan players are wont to settle in hilly terrain anyway, this means that they can create some truly gigantic cities throughout the game. In VI, these bonuses apply both to mountain adjacency and the mountains themselves, giving the Inca a huge early-game advantage.

My Rules Are Not Your Rules: The Inca are able to thrive where everyone else would starve, walk through rough terrain like it's nothing, and can (with a social policy) have completely maintenance-free roads between their cities, resulting in free money from the city connections. (Or, in VI, where roads are free, they can instead build mountain tunnels and have roads go through THEM, letting them use a wall as an avenue.) An Incan game is likely to prioritize completely different things than a normal civ.

Power-Up Letdown: Slingers have the chance of withdrawing if a melee unit gets up close to them, which is awesome in wars... but not so much when you are escorting a civilian, at which point the enemy will easily capture your civilian.

Suffer the Slings: In V, the Slinger. It deals the same ranged damage as the Archer, and while it may be weaker, the trick is catching it... In VI, the Warak'aq is stronger, and can attack twice. Instead of being a weaker Archer, it's a replacement for the Middle Ages-tier Scouting unit, the Skirmisher.



Iroquois

Iroquois Leader: Hiawatha (III, V) Unique Units: Mounted Warrior (III), Mohawk Warrior (V) Unique Building: Longhouse (V) Ability: The Great Warpath (V) Tradition has it that in the mid-16th century the legendary Chief Dekanawidah convinced the warrior Ayonwentah to set down his arms and help forge an alliance between the tribes of the Lake Ontario region: the Onondaga, Seneca, Kanien'gehaga (or Mohawks), Cayuga, Oneida, and later the Tuscarora. Together they formed a league named "the people of the longhouse," or Haudenosaunee, called the Iroquois Confederacy by outsiders. Even though they had no written language, the Confederacy operated under an oral constitution that settled matters affecting the whole nation while allowing individual peoples and tribes to govern themselves. In the 1600s the People of the Longhouse were able to leverage Dutch firearms earned through the fur trade to expand and assimilate other tribes, which brought them into conflict with the French, which drove them into an alliance with the British. This ultimately ended with the Confederacy fighting alongside the British in the American Revolution, and after their allies' defeat in 1783, the natives' territory was ceded to the Americans. Some from the Confederacy migrated into Canadian lands provided by the English, others held out as best they could against the new American nation. If the Inca rule the uplands of Civ V, the Iroquois rule the woodlands. The Mohawk Warrior gets a combat bonus in such terrain, and doesn't even require Iron resources to be recruited. More importantly, the Iroquois' Great Warpath ability means that they treat forests and jungles within their territory as roads (and later railroads!), allowing them to link cities and build trade routes using nothing but the terrain generated by the map. Further encouraging the Iroquois player to abstain from logging is the Longhouse, a replacement Workshop that increases the production yield of forests. If the Iroquois look after their forests, the forests will look after them. Adaptation Name Change: Not just "Ayonwentah" into "Hiawatha", but the whole civilization's name. "Iroquois" is actually a bit of an epithet given by their enemies; it might be a corruption of a Huron word for "snake", or a French-Basque term for "killer people." The Civilopedia apologizes for this, but explains that "Haudenosaunee" wouldn't fit on the game screen.

Bonus Feature Failure: Their unique ability, "The Great Warpath", only works if the unit traverse into forests but not when they exit the forest—units noticably end their movement once they move into rough terrain or rivers. Their longhouse also removes the scaling factor that most workshops have in favor of one additional production for each forest tile. This is great when there are plenty of forests to work on, but completely detrimental to cities that don't.

Crippling Overspecialization: The Iroquois ability to treat unworked forest and jungle as roads is great... until the endgame when you are missing out on mountains of food because you haven't worked half of your tiles. Sadistic Choice: Because of this, the player can have the choice of keeping forest tiles or chopping them and converting them into farms, thus losing the forest tiles forever. It's either losing production for more food or vice versa, and because the longhouse no longer gives a percentage production bonus like the workshop does, it can really be a tough decision. This is somewhat alleviated in Brave New World when internal trade routes are introduced, allowing food to be sent from one city to another. When it comes to their unique building, this is both subverted and played straight: It is subverted because they retain 1 food they get from forests. Interestingly, this puts them in the middle ground, allowing them to grow a bit more while still putting emphasis on production. With any other civilization, cities working on mines will have better production but have a harder time growing, while cities working on lumber mills will have far less production than the Iroquois. It's played straight because they still need forests to make this strategy work.

Green-Eyed Monster: Hiawatha's AI in V has one of the highest expansionist flavors in the game; it's not uncommon for him to "covet your lands" even if your cities are some considerable distance away from him. Fortunately, his Nice Guy tendencies mean he'll be far more likely to befriend you than invade your territory, unlike fellow expansionists such as Montezuma or Shaka.

Green Thumb: Their unique building lets them get extra production hammers from forests; with enough green territory around them the Iroquois can become an industrial powerhouse!

Home Field Advantage: While everyone else is trudging through the rough terrain, the Iroquois are zipping right through the woods to surround the invaders.

My Rules Are Not Your Rules: Much like the Inca (although not to the same extent), the Iroquois can thrive in areas other civs struggle in. They won't generate as much food as the Inca but they are able to move through forests and jungles easily creating a natural defense against expansionist civs, they can generate tremendous production once they gain access to their Longhouses and their Mohawk warriors don't require Iron, unlike the Swordsmen they replace, meaning that if they Iroquois need to get aggressive early on to get the forests they require, they can do that to.

Nice Guy: Hiawatha is one of the easiest leaders to befriend for non-warmongering civilizations.

Korea

Korea Leaders: Wang Kon (III-IV), Sejong (V), Seondeok (VI) Unique Units: Hwach'a (III-VI), Turtle Ship (V) Unique Building: Seowon (IV) Unique District: Seowon (VI) Ability: Scholars of the Jade Hall (V), Three Kingdoms (VI) Korea was first unified in 668 AD, when th