< Age of Empires III

Age of Empires III/Characters


Introduced in Age of Empires III

The Black family

  • Awakening the Sleeping Giant: The Circle does this to them thrice over.
  • Badass Family: The most notable members are great fighters, even Stuart Black.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: If you mess up with them or their beloved ones, they'll make you pay. HARD!
  • Doom Magnet: They have a tendency to attract problems wherever they go, however...
    • Determinator: ...they always find a way to solve said problems.
  • Generational Saga: The campaigns in Age of Empires III and The WarChiefs focus on them.
  • The Gump: Tend to find themselves smack dab in the middle of various important events on American soil.
  • The Hero
  • The Protagonist: Of Age of Empires III and The WarChiefs campaigns.

Morgan Black

"Why do you call me "Frenk"? I’m Scottish, you Turkish dog!"

A Scotsman born into the Black family, he joined the Knights of St. John at an early age.

In Blood, he's defending the last bastion of the Knights on the island of Malta from the soldiers of the Ottoman Empire, led by Sahin the Falcon. After driving them out of Malta, he and his superior Alain Magnan discover records of the Circle of Ossus, who sought eternal life. Believing that the Ottomans were after the "Fountain of Youth", Morgan is sent to the New World to thwart them. On his way there, he tangles with Elisabet "Lizzie" Ramsey, Sahin's entourage, and the Spanish, before unearthing a plot far more sinister than he'd originally suspected.

After all's said and done, Morgan and Lizzie have another encounter and have four sons, two of which were Phillippe (father of John) and Stuart Black.

Tropes related with him:

  • Awful Truth: After discovering that Alain is a member of the Circle of Ossus, he swears his revenge for the traitor's manipulation.

"This is Knights' business now. Alain made me a pawn in the Circle's game. He has betrayed the Knights of St. John, and he'll answer for it."


John Black

Kanyenke: "Too slow, John Black. You were faster once."
John Black: "And your eyes were better once. Your arrow missed the mark. My shot was the one that took him down."

Morgan's grandson, and the protagonist of the Ice campaign. John is a rough-and-tumble woodsman who runs a mercenary company oft employed by the colonists. It's said that he has more enemies than friends.

Tropes related to him:

  • Back-to-Back Badasses: With Kanyenke. The player spends the entire campaign (sans the last mission) controlling both of them.
  • Bash Brothers: With Kanyenke again.
  • Berserk Button/Beware the Nice Ones: He is said to hold grudges for a long time, and nowhere is this more apparent when he tracks Warwick all the way across the North American landmass in retaliation for killing his uncle Stuart and kidnapping Nonakhee.

"Nonakhee goes home. This will end badly, and I don't want her to see it."

  • Cold Sniper
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Since he gets cornered in the mountain by Warwick and his troops, he blows the mountain and dies in the process. Amelia, her granddaughter, mentions that he died as a hero.
  • Private Military Contractors: He leads a company of these guys.
  • Rummage Sale Rejects
  • Taking You with Me: In the climax of Ice, he takes with him Warwick's soldiers, most of the Circle's troops present in the mountains, and most of the Russian army with him. As Amelia said in the narration, he made a lot of enemies in life, but he died as a hero, and the Circle took a hit so hard that it took decades for them to recover.


Stuart Black

"Stuart may not be the commander my grandfather Morgan was, but if he thinks the colony is threatened, I believe him."
-- John Black

The only member of the Black family who appears in a campaign but isn't the main character of it. John's uncle, Morgan's forgotten son, and a keen businessman. He leads a small colony which has recently come under attack from the Natives, causing him to call for John's mercenaries, which kicks off Ice.

Tropes related with him:

  • Good Old Fisticuffs: He fights with his bare fists.
  • Killed Off for Real
  • The So-Called Coward: He's a total wimp in every manner imaginable and has nowhere near the esteem of the rest of his family. But he will fight for you if you order it, and it's implied that he resisted the Circle's torture for a fair while before they finally killed him.
  • The Unfavorite: Morgan's least favorite kid.


Amelia Black

The protagonist of Steel, and the narrator of all the campaigns in both Age of Empires III and The WarChiefs, Amelia runs the Falcon Company as it falls on hard times following the expensive battles waged by her father Nathaniel. She seeks to regain some pf the family fortune by building a railroad straight to the west coast, but gets caught up in the Mexican War. While helping to defend a fort, she meets a French woodsman named Pierre Beaumont, who promises her a cut of his claim to a gold mine in exchange for the cooperation and use of her workers and equipment. Little did she know of what lay in store for her...

She's the daughter of Nathaniel Black and mother of Chayton Black. Her husband is a Sioux, but he does not make an appearance.

Tropes related with her:


Their allies

Sahin the Falcon

"We do not have to fight, Frenk. Do you never question foolish orders?"

The leader of the Ottoman army which invaded the last bastion of the Knights of St. John. After he is repulsed by Morgan Black, he sets sail for the New World, in search of the Fountain of Youth.

Tropes related with him:

  • Badass Mustache
  • Enemy Mine: He fights alongside Morgan in the final mission of Blood.
  • Impossibly Cool Clothes: Among the finest combat-capable wear the Ottomans have to offer.
  • Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: He menaces Morgan in Blood. Or would be menacing him if it weren't for the fact that, in addition to being less competent than Morgan, his troops tend to get offed in large numbers by the wildlife, the Spanish, Pirates and the environment itself (Morgan's troops go without saying). He fails to defeat Morgan in any of their engagements in spite of numerical and technological superiority and (more often then not) the advantage of defense, and ends up getting captured by the Spanish treasure fleet to be burned alive in Spain. He only escapes this fate by being rescued by Morgan, who happened to be raiding the treasure fleets at the time.
  • The Musketeer: He is able both in ranged attacks and hand attacks. He has a special attack with his sword.
  • My Name Is Not Durwood: He always refers to all Europeans, but especially Morgan as 'Frenks', much to Morgan's annoyance.
  • Nice Hat
  • The Rival: To Morgan.
  • Sobriquet: "The Falcon".
  • What the Hell, Hero?: He calls out Morgan for blindly following Alain Magnan's orders, before the reveal.

"Open your eyes! The Circle wants the lake because they think it is the Fountain of Youth! All I have been trying to do is keep it out of the hands of the Circle! And Alain Magnan!"


Elizabeth "Lizzie" Ramsey

"Oh, come now; you sent my best ships to the bottom. The least you can owe me is a little civility. Are you going after the treasure fleet?"

Leader of a large band of pirates, she first meets Morgan Black as he's making his way to the New World. After her band was defeated, she escapes with the remnants of her forces to Cuba, where she encounters Morgan again.

Tropes related with her:

  • Action Girl
  • Arranged Marriage: She escaped from one in her backstory.
  • Babies Ever After: It's implied by both the events after the Circle's defeat in Blood and by the narrator herself (Amelia) that she's the mother of Morgan's children. Several sources also tell that Lizzie kept with her two of them, while Morgan kept with him both Philippe and Stuart Black.
  • Cool Ship: Paris Burning. It's named for the city she hates the most.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: The second time Lizzie and Morgan meet, Lizzie is willing to help Morgan... if he does heroic things in Havana.
  • Enemy Mine: She assists Morgan in the last two missions of Blood.
  • Guns Akimbo: She fights with a pair of pistols.
  • Pirate Girl: She became the leader of a group of pirates to escape from an Arranged Marriage.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: She has noble blood.


Kanyenke

John Black's most trusted ally.

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Nonakhee

Kanyenke's sister and John Black's "unofficial" girlfriend.

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Major Cooper

Amelia's ally during most of Steel.

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Colonel/General George Washington

A Colonel in the British Army during Age of Empires III, General of the Continental Army in Fire, future President of the United States.

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Simon Bolivar

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Their enemies

Francisco Juan Delgado de Leon

A spanish conquistador who wants the treasure of the natives for his own personal gain.

Tropes related with him:


The Circle of Ossus

Alain Magnan

"You and your band of misfits will be wiped from the New World, Morgan!"

Morgan Black's mentor in Blood.

Tropes related with him:


Warwick

"You’re delaying the inevitable. The New World belongs to the Circle of Ossus now."

The Big Bad of Ice.

Tropes related with him:

  • Aristocrats Are Evil: A British governor among the Colonies, though he prefers force and intimidation to diplomacy and subtlety.
  • Exclusively Evil
  • Kick the Dog: Attacks a village to capture John Black, who is away. When he sees the John isn't there after all, he burns the village to the ground and kidnaps, and later kills, Stuart Black.
  • Killed Off for Real
  • Self-Made Orphan: In his backstory, it's implied that he has something to do with the death of his parents.


Pierre Beaumont

"I will show you how I like to kill."

A mysterious French trapper who has a claim to a gold mine in the mountains. Having no means to mine it out himself, he offers Amelia a cut of the gold in exchange for the use of her equipment. With his sinister manner and fondness for knives, however, he's not as he appears...

Tropes related with him:


Introduced in Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs

The Black family

Nathaniel Black

"General Washington, my father gave his life to protect the colonies. I would do the same, without hesitation."

The half-Iroquois son of John Black and Nonahkee and the protagonist of Fire. A devoted patriot who fights for the colonists when the revolutionary war breaks out, Nathaniel devotes a great deal of his time (and his family's fortune) for the cause and is eventually memorialized for his efforts.

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Chayton Black

Amelia's half-Sioux son, and the protagonist of Shadow.

Tropes related with him:

  • Badass Native: He's part Iroquois, part Sioux, and has the Black family's blood in his veins.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Finally comes to the realization that he's been helping Holme murder innocent Sioux for Holme's personal gain, and thenceforth resolves to correct his mistake by tearing down the fort he just helped build.
  • With Us or Against Us: After Holme's death, Custer decides that the time for negotiation with the Sioux is over, and that Chayton will have to side with either the Americans or with the Sioux. He chooses to stay with the Sioux.


Their enemies

Sven Kuechler

Leader of the Hessians hired by the British during The American Revolution. He raids an Iroquois encampment and captures Nonahkee, resulting in a grudge from Nathaniel.

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William Holme

"Their blood's the same color. It's gold that matters, kid. Only gold."

Tropes related with him:

  • Ambition Is Evil: He wanted to get the gold from Sioux terrains. He has no problem on killing them for getting that, even if they are innocent.
  • Big Bad/Evil All Along
  • Big Bad Friend: He uses Chayton for his own ends and turns on him the moment he can no longer manipulate him.
  • Disney Villain Death
  • Gameplay Ally Immortality
  • Mook Maker: He can train Pistoleros.
  • Nice Hat
  • Poisonous Friend
  • Too Dumb to Live: He ends up cornered by his ex-partner Chayton Black and chooses to back into a cliff face surrounded by TNT. After talking for a bit, Holme attempts a Quick Draw shot on Chayton, forgetting that A) his gun was at his back while Chayton had his at his side and B) Native Tribes have a quick reaction time and Chayton was half Sioux. You can guess how it ends.


General George Armstrong Custer

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Introduced in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties

Japan

General Sakuma Kichiro

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Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa

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Daimyo Mototada

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Other daimyoes and generals

Tropes related with them:

  • Mook Maker: As daimyoes, they can create several class of soldiers.


China

Captain Huang Xian

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Lao Chen

"Every time that boy opens his mouth, I want to fill it with my fist."
-- Talking about Jinhai in the cutscene prior to the first mission. And not without reason.

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Admiral Jinhai

"I have already had my fill with crowded ports and foreigners. I crave conquest. I crave glory."

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"You know as well as I do that the Emperor is a pompened old fool."

  • Jerkass: He mistreats all his subordinates and is an insufferable person.
  • Loophole Abuse: He tries to do this before the final mission:

"It is not mutiny when you are the Admiral!"


India

Lt. Nanib

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Colonel George Edwardson

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Sepoy Pravar Patel

Tropes related with him:

  • The Lancer: To Lieutenant Nanib.
  • The Musketeer: Somewhat more literally. A Sepoy is the unique Indian version of the regular Musketeer unit.
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