Female rulers

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j51

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I actually think we are getting Louis XIV for France. I think he is the wonder addict that Ed Beach was referring to. That goes on the guess that it is indeed the turn of Hatshepsut for Egypt.

There are many other possibilities for wonder hogs: Ramesses II, Khufu, Pachacuti, Shah Jahan, Qin Shi Huang, Yongle, Nebuchadnezzar, Javaryaman.

Dido is semi-mythical, but as far as she existed she most certainly was a ruler. The main thing here is that there's no better alternative for Carthage : yes Hannibal, but he wasn't a ruler at all, just a (great) general. Given that, the tiebreaker of Dido being a woman makes sense.

Theodora I'm slightly more bothered by... having her and Justinian be co-leaders could be a fun twist : both are very well-known, having a power couple as a leader would be a nice novelty.

Hannibal served as a Shophet: similar to Roman Consul.

Also, hooray for Power couples! :goodjob:
 

Zaarin

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While I think Cleopatra is perfectly justified in the sense that she was certainly a cunning leader, I'd prefer Hatshepsut simply because she was in fact Egyptian, she was a pharaoh, and by all accounts (in spite of suffering damnatio memoriae) was a brilliant ruler. However, Ramesses was strongly hinted at in one of the articles.

I really, really hope that Boudicca is not the leader of the Celts. In fact, I hope we get Gaul rather than the Celts. The Civ5 implementation of the Celts was extremely confusing--having Boudicca speak Welsh rather than Britonic was a bizarre choice especially given how easily reconstructed Britonic is, then having the capital in Edinburgh with a smattering of Scottish and Irish cities was even stranger. I'd much prefer to see Vercingetorix and Gaul with a capital in Bibracte.

While I personally hope to see a Northwestern tribe like the Tlingit, Haida, or Tsimshian for our Native American civ this time around, if we do get the Iroquois again I think Queen Alliquippa wouldn't be a horrible choice, though she was only the leader of the Seneca not the Iroquois Confederacy.

As far as a historical alternative to Dido goes, I'd nominate Hannibal's father, Hamilcar Barqa.
 

AlphaShard

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I think it's better when they pick a female leader that was a good representation of their respective CIV and not just a effort to check a box.
 

AtlantaMarty

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I'll be blunt; I find it stupid to hunt down specific rulers to represent a civilization simply because they're one gender or another. I'd prefer the best possible/most well-known/most successful ruler of any given nation to represent it, not some figurehead shoehorned in because somebody decided that the game needed more women.

Agreed

The only female leaders I would actually want to see in the game the ones who are the best representation for their civ:

Catherine for Russia
Elizabeth/Thatcher for England
Theodora for Byzantium (though Justinian would be fine as well)
Isabella for Spain
I could go either way with Dido and Maria Theresa

I would rather see T'ai-tsung or Shih Huang-ti for China than Wu Tse-t'ien.
Henry would be my first choice for Portugal
I think it's Brennus's turn this time
 

Haig

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Some leaders have the "Gandhi" effect that they are simply classic Civ leaders, like Elizabeth or Isabella, so that adds their odds to be included.

Weirdest choice in civ history was Jeanne D'Arc leading the French in Civ III. :o
 

Westwall

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There should be female versions of the male rulers.

That way we can have a female Gandhi, female Washington, female Shaka and so on.

Japan had the right idea when they did this for one of their games. They even made a female Kublai Khan.

Spoiler :
 

Cerilis

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There should be female versions of the male rulers.

That way we can have a female Gandhi, female Washington, female Shaka and so on.

Japan had the right idea when they did this for one of their games. They even made a female Kublai Khan.

Spoiler :

I won't complain if female rulers look like that, hua hua hua. :goodjob:
 

Louis XXIV

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Dido and Hannibal both have their problems (one is legendary, the other was a general not a political leader), so I'm fine wih Dido getting the edge there.

Hannibal was a political leader after the Second Punic War. It wasn't for a long time, but he ended up being a great reformer (his problem was he did too much too quickly and pissed off both rival political leaders and the Romans). On top of that, he ruled New Carthage as his own little fiefdom and the Barcids were influential political actors in the Carthaginian oligarchy for generations. He's a far better choice than Dido, who may or may not have existed (I make the same argument for Gilgamesh, fwiw). Hell, while I'm not a fan of Cleopatra, she is clearly a stronger choice than Dido. She's actually a stronger choice than Theodora too (I wouldn't go with Justinian either, I'd prefer an unequivocally medieval/Greek ruler rather than the guy known as "the last Roman Emperor.").

I was giving this some thought on how to make suggestions beyond the usual ones. Europe seems to come the easiest with Elizabeth, Isabella, and Catherine being just as good as any male choice. I also think Boudicca is a no-brainer if the Celts are included. But I wanted to think of some choices outside of Europe.

To me, it's likely we'll have one Southeast Asian Civ. In the past, Firaxis has gone with Khmer in Civ4 and Siam in Civ5. For Civ6, I would go with Vietnam with Trung Trac as the leader. Usually, the Trung sisters are portrayed together but, if one is considered the primary, it's Trac. I think she would be a fun change of pace (plus, she'd be riding an elephant, which is badass). I also think, if they bring back Indonesia, that there are some strong candidates for female leaders. ETA: Tribhuwana would probably be the most obvious example, but some of the Muslim Kingdoms had female rulers, iirc.

I personally would also pick Indira Gandhi if we're picking a Gandhi, but I know that's not happening and probably would be controversial anyway.
 

Teproc

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Well, I stand corrected on Hannibal.

The problem with Cleopatra isn't that she wasn't a great leader, it's that she's as Egyptian as George Washington was Iroquois. If she's in the game leading the Ptolemaics, great... otherwise, no.

Indira Gandhi is too controversial. Besides, they don't go for 20th century leaders much... they've kept Gandhi because he's iconic for the franchise, and I think the only other modern leader in CiV was Selassie, who is a similarly consensual figure (and also doesn't have incredibly strong competition as far as Ethiopia goes).
 

Louis XXIV

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Egypt was invaded and conquered many times. Other times, it was home to migrants (were the Pharaohs of the New Kingdom related to the Pharaohs of the Old Kingdom?). Cleopatra, to her credit, at least embraced the fact that she was ruler of Egypt and styled herself after the old Egypt more than any of her predecessors among the Ptolemys. She's not close to my first choice (generally, people famous because their kingdom ceased to exist on their watch aren't ideal choices), but she deserves at least more than no credit.
 
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Well, I stand corrected on Hannibal.

The problem with Cleopatra isn't that she wasn't a great leader, it's that she's as Egyptian as George Washington was Iroquois. If she's in the game leading the Ptolemaics, great... otherwise, no.

Indira Gandhi is too controversial. Besides, they don't go for 20th century leaders much... they've kept Gandhi because he's iconic for the franchise, and I think the only other modern leader in CiV was Selassie, who is a similarly consensual figure (and also doesn't have incredibly strong competition as far as Ethiopia goes).

You're kidding right? Ethiopia is OLD. There's been a crapton of people in it's history that are worthy for the slot. That's like saying Qing Shi Huang has no competition for Chinese Leader.
 

poom3619

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There should be female versions of the male rulers.

That way we can have a female Gandhi, female Washington, female Shaka and so on.

Hmm, somebody who care about real-life history will go mad because of "Shakala. But I can get behind that if it don't force mod to do the same. :D

I think the only other modern leader in CiV was Selassie, who is a similarly consensual figure (and also doesn't have incredibly strong competition as far as Ethiopia goes).

Zara Yaqob, Menelik I and Menelik II
 

Red Menace

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stop asking questions.
I don't really like it when they go for a woman just because "women" for example Wu Zetian and Theodora, I don't like Boudicca either I think she is a bad choice but everything they did with the celts in Civ V was a bad idea, Catherine I don't mind but someone else would be cool.
I'm sure they will find good female leaders but they shouldn't cut out someone who was much better and more interesting.
 

bite

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Boudicca is a good choice, but just not for the 'Celts', but then the Civ games have historically been a bit off when it comes to them. Even Wu Zetian was a good choice because she had a really grate story and she did start her own dynasty even if it died with her
 

Civciv5

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I don't really like it when they go for a woman just because "women" for example Wu Zetian and Theodora
Both ruled as Empress at one time.

Wu Zetian ruled China 35 years as Empress regent, then 15 years as Empress regnant. Don't underestimate her, she was very competent and vilified by later generations.

Theodora probably ruled jointly with Justinian and had a lot of influence on him. A dual-leader could be cool! Imagine them discussing in-game!:lol:
 

bite

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Both ruled as Empress at one time.

Wu Zetian ruled China 35 years as Empress regent, then 15 years as Empress regnant. Don't underestimate her, she was very competent and vilified by later generations.

Theodora probably ruled jointly with Justinian and had a lot of influence on him. A dual-leader could be cool! Imagine them discussing in-game!:lol:

Actually I would like them to go down that route for people that ruled jointly
 

Civciv5

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Actually I would like them to go down that route for people that ruled jointly
But how would we call them in-game? :D:lol:
Justinian and Theodora?
Justin and Thea?
Justidora?
Theotinian?
The Byzantine Duo?
Justinian feat. Theodora?
Theodora feat. Justinian?
Mr. and Mrs. Haghia Sophia?
 

bite

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Mr. and Mrs. Haghia Sophia? gotta be respectful
 

Red Menace

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stop asking questions.
Boudicca is a good choice, but just not for the 'Celts', but then the Civ games have historically been a bit off when it comes to them. Even Wu Zetian was a good choice because she had a really grate story and she did start her own dynasty even if it died with her
She is respectable but out of all the leaders of China many of whom have very cool history behind them she isn't my first choice. and when it comes to Boudicca, Vercingetorix who led a mighty (but still failed) resistance against Julius Caesar, or Brennus who sacked Rome are higher on the list than boudicca who was just in Civ V and was also in IV.

But how would we call them in-game? :D:lol:
Justinian and Theodora?
Justin and Thea?
Justidora?
Theotinian?
The Byzantine Duo?
Justinian feat. Theodora?
Theodora feat. Justinian?
Mr. and Mrs. Haghia Sophia?
I like the last one, Theotinian is a close second though
 
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