A list of all 20 leaders and their civilization abilities, as well as the bonuses you will receive. Each leader has unique traits and abilities required for effective understanding.
Catherine de Medici
Catherine de 'Medici was an Italian noblewoman who was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559. She wants as many spies as possible and as much diplomatic access as possible.
- Civilization: France
- Civilization Ability: Grand Tour
- Unique unit: Imperial Musketeer
- Unique building: Chateau
- Leader Ability: Flying Squadron
- Leader's Bonus: Has 1 level of diplomatic visibility more than other nations. Having opened the technology of locks, it becomes possible to build additional spies.
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States. He dislikes civilizations that start wars and bully city-states on his continent.
- Civilization: America
- Ability of Civilization: Founding Fathers
- Unique unit: P-51 Mustang aircraft
- Unique building: Film studio
- Leader Ability: Roosevelt Corollary
- Leader's bonus: Units receive a +5 bonus to combat strength on the American continent. By building a National Park, you gain +1 hit to all tiles in the city.
Cleopatra
Cleopatra VII Philopator, more commonly known as Cleopatra, was the last active pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt. Cleopatra is Qin Shi Huang's main rival in the race for miracles, but instead of the Great Wall, she uses her charm to encourage powerful friends and attack on her behalf.
- Civilization: Egypt
- Civilization Ability: Iteru
- Unique Unit: Chariot Archers Mariannu
- Unique building: Sphinx
- Leader Ability: Mediterranean Bride
- Leader's Bonus: Your trade routes to other civilizations provide +4 gold for Egypt.
Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa, also known as Frederick I, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death. Germany under Frederick Barbarossa is a locomotive that can overwhelm its opponents using high performance and military prowess. He dislikes civilizations associated with city-states, as he would like to defeat them.
- Civilization: Germany
- Civilization Ability: Free Imperial Cities
- Unique Unit: U-Boat Submarine
- Unique building: Hansa
- Leader Ability: Holy Roman Emperor
- Leader's Bonus: Additional military policy slot. +7 military strength when attacking city-states.
Gandhi
Mohandas Gandhi was the ideological leader of the Indian independence movement. He is currently one of the few leaders who returned from Civilization V. Gandhi represents the ultimate peacekeeping civilization, never declaring war unless he is going to regain lost ground. He creates big cities and hopes that nobody wants with him. For every civilization it meets that has founded a religion, India receives a significant boost in faith.
- Civilization: India
- Civilization Ability: Dharma
- Unique Unit: War Elephant Varu
- Unique building: Stairway opening
- Leader's Ability: Satyagraha
- Leader bonus: +5 Faith for every civilization (including India) that founded a religion and is currently not at war.
Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh was the protagonist of the Epic of Gilgamesh, an Akkadian poem based on several early Sumerian stories. Gilgamesh is more valuable as an ally than any other leader in the game. He loves civilizations that are willing to form a long-term alliance and dislikes those who condemn or attack his friends or allies.
- Civilization: Sumerians
- Civilization Ability: Epic Quest
- Unique unit: War wagon (Var-Kart)
- Unique building: Ziggurat
- Leader's Ability: Adventure with Enkidu
- Leader's Bonus: Can declare war on whoever is at war with his allies, without penalty.
Gorgo
Gorgo was a prominent Spartan Queen, noted as one of the few female historical figures and known for her political subjectivity and wisdom. She prefers civilizations that do not agree to a peace agreement, and dislikes any civilization that has never been involved in war and resolves all of its issues peacefully.
- Civilization: Greece
- Civilization Ability: Republic of Plato
- Unique unit: Hoplite
- Unique building: Acropolis
- Leader's Ability: Thermopylae
- Leader's Bonus: Culture is 50% of the base strength of the defeated unit.
Pericles
Pericles was a prominent and influential Greek statesman, orator and commander of Athens during the period between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars. He loves civilizations that do not compete for loyalty to the same city-state as him, and hates civilizations that do so.
- Civilization: Greece
- Civilization Ability: Republic of Plato
- Unique unit: Hoplite
- Unique building: Acropolis
- Leader's Ability: Thermopylae
- Leader's bonus: + 5% Culture in a city-state that has sworn allegiance to you.
Harald Hardrada
Harald Hardrada, also known as Harald Sigurdsson or Harald III, was king of Norway from 1046 to 1066. He is known for his part in the Byzantine Varangian Guard and for his invasion and attempted capture of England against the forces of Harold Godwinson. Harald wants to build a strong fleet, respects civilizations with strong fleets, and dislikes civilizations with weak fleets.
- Civilization: Norway
- Civilization Ability: Knarr
- Unique unit: Berserker
- Unique building: Wooden Church
- Leader's Ability: Thunder of the North
- Leader's Bonus: Allows coastal raiding for all naval forces in close combat and grants a unique naval unit.
Hojo Tokimune
Hojo Tokimune was the eighth shikken of the Kamakura shogunate. He prefers civilizations with a strong army and faith or culture. He dislikes a civilization with a strong army but weak faith or culture.
- Civilization: Japan
- Civilization Ability: Meiji
- Unique unit: Samurai
- Unique building: Electronics Factory
- Leader's Ability: Divine Wind
- Leader's bonus: Ground units gain +5 combat strength on land tiles; naval units adjacent to the coast gain +5 combat strength in shallow water.
Montezuma
Montezuma I was the fifth king of Tenochtitlan, and the second emperor of the Aztecs. Montezuma is aggressively expanding and strives to collect all the luxury items he can. He loves civilizations that have the same expensive resources that he does. He hates civilizations that have luxury items that he does not have.
- Civilization: Aztecs
- Civilization Ability: The Legend of the Five Suns
- Unique unit: Eagle warrior
- Leader's Ability: Gifts for the Tlatoani
- Leader's Bonus: Luxurious resources on their territory provide space for 2 additional cities.
Mwemba Nzinga
Mwemba Nzinga, baptized by Afonso I after his conversion to Christianity, was Manicongo from 1509 until her death. Loves civilizations that spread their religion to his cities. However, he does not like civilizations that founded a religion and did not bring it to his cities.
- Civilization: Congo
- Civilization Ability: Nkisi
- Unique unit: Ngao Mbeba
- Unique building: Mbanza
- Leader Ability: Religious Conversion
- Leader's Bonus: Income for all beliefs from any religion that has established itself in most cities.
Pedro II
Pedro II, nicknamed "The Magnanimous", was the second and last ruler of the Brazilian Empire. He desires great people and does not like civilizations that get great people that he does not have.
- Civilization: Brazil
- Civilization Ability: Amazon
- Unique Unit: Minas Jeras
- Unique building: Carnival District
- Leader Ability: Generous
- Leader's bonus: Rjvgtycbhetn 20% of the Great People's points after the person has used the recruitment or patronage of the Great Person.
Peter the Great
Peter, also known as Peter I or Peter Alekseevich, was the king of the Russian Empire from 1682 until his death. Russia can get science or culture from the trade routes of more advanced civilizations.
- Civilization: Russia
- Ability of Civilization: Mother Russia
- Unique unit: Cossack
- Unique building: Lavra
- Leader Ability: Great Embassy
- Leader's Bonus: Get science or culture from the trade routes of more advanced civilizations.
Philip II
Philip II, also known in Spanish as "Felipe el Prudente" ("Philip the Prudent"), was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples and Sicily, and Duke of Milan. Loves Civilizations that follow the same religion as him and wants all of his cities to follow that religion. He hates those who try to spread their religion in his empire.
- Civilization: Spain
- Civilization Ability: Fleet Treasure
- Unique unit: Conquistador
- Unique building: Mission
- Leader's Ability: El Escorial
- Leader's bonus: Units have a +4 bonus to combat strength against players of other religions.
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor of China and the founder of the Qin dynasty. Hates civilizations that have built more wonders than him.
- Civilization: China
- Civilization Ability: Dynasty Cycle
- Unique Unit: Crouching Tiger
- Unique building: Great Wall
- Leader Ability: First Emperor
- Leader's bonus: 15% of the cost of ancient and / or classic wonders.
Saladin
Saladin was the first sultan of Egypt and Syria, and the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Loves civilizations that worship his building and hates civilizations that follow other religions or wage war against followers of his religion.
- Civilization: Arabia
- Civilization Ability: The Last Prophet
- Unique unit: Mamluks
- Unique building: Madrasah
- Leader Ability: Righteousness of Faith
- Leader's Bonus: Less Faith to build and provide bonus Science, Faith and Culture.
Tomiris
Tomiris was the queen who reigned over the Massagetae, a Scythian pastoral-nomadic confederation in Central Asia.
- Civilization: Scythia
- Civilization Ability: Nomads
- Unique unit: Horse archer
- Unique building: Kurgan
- Leader's Ability: Kira's Assassin
- Leader's bonus: All units gain +5 combat strength when attacking wounded units.
Trajan
Trajan was a soldier and emperor of Rome from AD 98. before his death. He tries to include as much territory as possible in his empire. Dislikes civilizations that control a small area.
- Civilization: Rum
- Civilization Ability: All roads lead to Rome
- Unique unit: Legion
- Unique building: Bath
- Leader's Ability: Trajan's Column
- Leader's Bonus: All cities start with an additional City Center building.
Victoria
Victoria was monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 until her death. Wants to expand all continents on the map, loves civilizations on his home continent. She doesn't like civilization on continents where she has no cities.
- Civilization: England
- Ability of Civilization: British Museum
- Unique unit: Privateer "Sea Dog"
- Unique building: Royal Navy Harbor
- Leader Ability: Pax Britannica
- Leader's Bonus: When researching the Warfare technology, it grants a unique Redcoat unit.
