Top Unique Governor Choices

[TahamiTsunami]

With Ibrahim working really well as a unique governor for the Ottomans, I've started to wonder whether I'd like other civs to have unique governors or not. However, if other civs could have one, here are some ideas I've had for governors of civs both in the game and potential to be in it:

Indonesia - Gajah Mada: While he has been and always has the potential to be a leader for Indonesia, his role as the mahapatih aka prime minister during its Golden age means there's no doubt that he could serve as a really strong unique governor under Gitarja (pretty fitting since she's the one who appointed him in the first place). He'd have a conquest focus.

Powhatan - Pocahontas: If we can have a Powhatan civ led by Chief Powhatan, I think Pocahontas would make a nice choice for a unique governor. I know she technically wasn't a governor or actual ruler with authority but I can easily see her being a beefed up Amani with a lot of diplomatic focus.

France - Cardinal Richelieu: Another figure like Gajah Mada who could also be an actual leader. He seems like a fun choice with plenty of potential in espionage, religion, culture, etc. I guess this could also bring up the question of if you think governors should be tied to a leader (in this case it would be Louis XIII) since my other 2 choices work in well with the leader choices. I would think not but if you think it should then I'd probably start looking into notable figures under Louis XIV, etc.

I probably could mention a few more but those choices were the clearest ones for me and there are many governors, prime ministers, and other influential people who I'm unfamiliar with. With that in mind, I'd certainly like to hear what your choices are! As with my thread on top new city-states, I may eventually make a poll on this as well.

 

[ehecatzin]

Montezuma - Tlacaelel: Pretty much the architect behind the Aztec Empire, after they stablished the triple alliance he rewrote history to tie themselves as heirs of the Toltec Empire, stablished the garland wars as means to get constant sacrifices. He was the Aztec Ciuhcuatl (high priest) and served behind the throne through multiple emperors.

 

[Foxiron]

Chandragupta - Chanakya: Chanakya was basically the guy who propped up Chandragupta on the throne. You see, Chandragupta Maurya was a former general in the tyrannical King Of Magadh's army. The King humiliated him, and he bitter, wanting revenge. Chanakya, a crafty minister who was also humiliated by the King, and he helped Chandragupta overthrow the King and conquer the rest of North India. He could be quite similiar to Ibrahim, with Militaristic and Diplomatic, with a bit of Eleanor-sque loyalty on the side

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

If the Iroquois return I could easily see Deganawida (Great Peacemaker) be a unique governor for Hiawatha or vice versa. They could work well with diplomacy and forging alliances.
Trung Trac for Vienam- Her sister could become a unique governor focusing on military production/conquests.

 

[Michaelf7777777]

Existing Leaders in Game

Saladin - Al-Adil
John Curtin - Ben Chifley
Moctezuma - Tlacaelel
Pedro II - Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil
Cleopatra - Julius Caesar/ Mark Antony
Victoria - Prince Albert/ Lord Palmerston/ Benjamin Disraeli/ William Ewart Gladstone
Eleanor of Aquitaine (Eng) - Henry II/ Richard I
Eleanor of Aquitaine (Fra) - Louis VII
Tamar - David Soslan
Pericles - Aspasia
Gorgo - Leonidas I
Gitarja - Gajah Mada
Alexander - Olympias
Genghis Khan - Tolui
Suleiman - Hurrem Sultan
Jadwiga - Wladyslaw II Jagiello
Trajan - Hadrian
Peter - Catherine I/ Alexander Danilovich Menshikov
Gilgamesh - Enkidu
Kristina - Axel Oxenstierna
Shaka - Mkabayi kaJama

New Leaders

Henry VII - Margaret Beaufort
Justinian - Theodora
Theodora - Justinian
Akhenaten - Nefertiti
Nefertiti - Akhenaten
Hatshepsut - Thutmose III
Thutmose III - Hatshepsut
Ramesses II - Nefertari
Ahmose I - Ahhotep I
Djoser - Imhotep
Alexios I Komnenos - Anna Komnene/ Anna Dalassene
Kublai Khan - Sorghaghtani Beki
Dayan Khan - Mandukhai
Henry VIII - Thomas Cromwell
Darius I/Xerxes I - Atossa
Louis XIV - Cardinal Mazarin
Edward III - Edward the Black Prince

 

[PhoenicianGold]

I'm a little choosey about this because of the naming conventions. The seven default governors generally have a name indicating their purpose:

* Amani - Swahili for Harmony/Peace (diplomacy)
* Liang - Chinese for Bridge/Beam (infrastructure)
* Magnus - Latin for "great" (production)
* Moksha - Sanskrit for "enlightenment" (religion)
* Pingala - the loosest name in the bunch, but roughly correlates to "warmth" and "activity" (amenities)
* Reina - Spanish for "queen" (gold)
* Victor - French-ish, self-explanatory (war)

This was why I actually wasn't against Kristina being the new civ with a unique governor, given that Oxenstierna naturally would be called "Axel" and fit right in with the others. It means "father of peace" in Swedish (fitting the Nobel Peace prize) but also implies some sort of governmental/social infrastructure/intersection, thus making it a bit of a triple entendre.

Even Ibrahim vaguely fits this since his diplomatic abilities serve as a kind of weird recontextualization of "father of many." He's a stretch but I allow it just so my brain can sleep at night.

I haven't really seen any further propositions that, to some extent, communicate their in-game function by their name. I would much prefer that over just jamming X popular historical figure into a governor position. Richelieu might fit the mold, however not as a religious governor since his name communicates a gold-centered agenda, if you see my point.

Theodora is a good one for this if we got Justinian, since her name means "gift of God" and Byzantium would likely be religion-oriented. I think Justinian would make a boring leader, but then when you flip it on its head and realize Justinian could be the "just" governor of a civ led by Theodora, the idea has a lot more potential. Aside from the fact that now we'd have both unique governors co-occupying Istanbul/Constantinople while denying the rest of the world a chance to benefit from the mechanic.

Side note: the Ottomans in GS are kind of conceptually scattered, like a domination kitchen sink. I understand why, because, like Mongolia, they were the "traditional" civ to balance the more unique gimmicks against. But if they didn't have that justification, I would have a hard time believing that the Ottomans were one of the strongest if not the clear frontrunner to be "the one civ that gets a unique governor." A lot of imperial powers had strong figures doing some puppetteering behind the crown. Just some random musing...

EDIT: I further like that the governors are designed to a-ethnically represent very large swathes of linguistically related cultures:

* Amani - Swahili and Arabic speaking countries, so effectively the Middle East and East Africa.
* Liang - the Sinosphere, also appearing in Korea and Vietnam.
* Magnus and Victor - Latin names that spread throughout Europe, specifically in Northern and Central Europe, respectively.
* Moksha and Pingala - the Indosphere, roughly split into the plateau and S/SE Asia.
* Reina - Hispanophones, so effectively all of Latin America
* Magnus - also a Latin name, though seems more common to specifically Northern Europe.
* Ibrahim - also representing the Middle East generally, from a more pan-Semitic (scandalous) angle.

 

[Foxiron]

Existing Leaders in Game

Saladin - Al-Adil
John Curtin - Ben Chifley
Moctezuma - Tlacaelel
Pedro II - Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil
Cleopatra - Julius Caesar/ Mark Antony
Victoria - Prince Albert/ Lord Palmerston/ Benjamin Disraeli/ William Ewart Gladstone
Eleanor of Aquitaine (Eng) - Henry II/ Richard I
Eleanor of Aquitaine (Fra) - Louis VII
Tamar - David Soslan
Pericles - Aspasia
Gorgo - Leonidas I
Gitarja - Gajah Mada
Alexander - Olympias
Genghis Khan - Tolui
Suleiman - Hurrem Sultan
Jadwiga - Wladyslaw II Jagiello
Trajan - Hadrian
Peter - Catherine I/ Alexander Danilovich Menshikov
Gilgamesh - Enkidu
Kristina - Axel Oxenstierna
Shaka - Mkabayi kaJama

New Leaders

Henry VII - Margaret Beaufort
Justinian - Theodora
Theodora - Justinian
Akhenaten - Nefertiti
Nefertiti - Akhenaten
Hatshepsut - Thutmose III
Thutmose III - Hatshepsut
Ramesses II - Nefertari
Ahmose I - Ahhotep I
Djoser - Imhotep
Alexios I Komnenos - Anna Komnene/ Anna Dalassene
Kublai Khan - Sorghaghtani Beki
Dayan Khan - Mandukhai
Henry VIII - Thomas Cromwell
Darius I/Xerxes I - Atossa
Louis XIV - Cardinal Mazarin
Edward III - Edward the Black Prince

Hm, It would be interesting to see a Henry VII- Margaret Beufort match. If your interested in Djoser, there is actually cool mod by civitas that you can check.

 

[darkace77450]

I don't have a specific historical figure to draw inspiration from, but if Portugal were to be included in a hypothetical 3rd expansion and said expansion featured an emphasis on colonization, then I can see them getting a unique governor focusing on colonial cities.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

I don't have a specific historical figure to draw inspiration from, but if Portugal were to be included in a hypothetical 3rd expansion and said expansion featured an emphasis on colonization, then I can see them getting a unique governor focusing on colonial cities.

Henry the Navigator comes to mind which, the way he got his nickname, already makes for a good governor name like the others.