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ā€œHe was a patriot, a good father and one of the best man my family ever produced....ā€
Amelia Black, talking about her father

Nathaniel Black is an American Revolutionary War hero and a member of the Black family. He is the main protagonist of Act I: Fire in the campaign for The WarChiefs.

Biography[]

ā€œRaised by his Iroquois mother Nonahkee and uncle Kanyenke, Nathaniel helped unite several Iroquois villages into a confederation of shared interests and economy. But the rising conflict between the American colonists and the British forces him, and other Iroquois, to choose sides. As the continent descends into war, under whose banner will Nathaniel's wits and courage be tested?ā€

While he is first seen in cameo at the end of Act II: Ice in the Age of Empires III campaign as a baby, Nathaniel is first seen as an adult trying to make peace among Iroquois when the American colonies and the British descend into war, forcing various Iroquois to choose sides. However, his plans are disrupted when the Hessian officer Colonel Sven Kuechler kidnaps his mother.

After rescuing Nonahkee, Nathaniel fights alongside the colonists in the American Revolution, becoming good friends with George Washington. As the war progresses, Nathaniel and Washington fight together in many battles, and Washington helps Nathaniel chase and defeat Kuechler. In return, Nathaniel decides to keep fighting alongside Washington until the war ends at the climactic Battle of Yorktown, which results in American victory.

With Independence won, Nathaniel returns to his village as a poor man having spent all his fortune on clothes and food for his men. He dies in 1812, and a statue is erected depicting him in the final cutscene of the act. Then, Chayton Black is seen paying homage to his grandfather, setting up the plot for Act II: Shadow.

In-game unit[]

ā€œHalf-Iroquois son of John Black and Nonahkee.ā€
—In-game description

Nathaniel Black fights with dual-wielded revolvers and can use Hawk Eye and Eagle Eye; the former is similar to the one used by his father but has a longer cooldown, while the latter is similar to the one used by the Haudenosaunee War Chief but does more damage and has a slightly longer cooldown.

Like other heroes, Nathaniel has many hit points, but if he falls, he will collapse instead of dying and need to regenerate enough hit points to be rescued by allies. Similar to Explorers, he can collect treasures and build Trading Posts, but cannot build Town Centers.

Initially Nathaniel wears Iroquoian attire and speaks in Mohawk like Iroquois units, but after joining the American Revolution, he wears European attire and speaks Modern English.

Abilities[]

  • Hawk Eye Hawk Eye: Nathaniel Black fires a single shot that does 750 ranged damage to the target enemy infantry or cavalry. 30 seconds cooldown.
  • Eagle eye Eagle Eye: Nathaniel Black fires a shot that does 100 ranged damage to the target enemy and other enemies in a radius of 3 around the target. 60 seconds cooldown.

Trivia[]

  • Nathaniel is the second hero in Age of Empires III that has two different versions: an Iroquois Nathaniel and a European-looking version. He has different unit responses for each version. The first was KĆ”:nien.
  • Nathaniel's in-game unit description mentions that he fights with a rifle at range. In actuality, he fights with dual pistols.
  • In the Definitive Edition version of his character profile, one of the instances of "Haudenosaunee" used to replace "Iroquois" is simply "v", likely an error that happened while "Haudenosaunee" was copied and pasted using the CTRL + C and CTRL + V keyboard commands.
  • Nathaniel's name may have been inspired by Nathaniel "Natty" Bumppo, the fictional protagonist of James Fenimore Cooper's pentalogy of novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales. Additionally, Nathaniel Black's in-game model somewhat resembles Daniel Day-Lewis's portrayal of Natty in the 1992 film "Last of the Mohicans."

Gallery[]

Heroes in Age of Empires III
3Icon48px Age of Empires III
Act I: BloodAlain icon aoe3de Alain Magnan Ā· Delgado aoe3de Delgado Ā· Elizabeth ramsey aoe3de Elisabet Ramsey Ā· Morgan black aoe3de Morgan Black Ā· Sahin icon aoe3de Sahin The Falcon
Act II: IceCol washington aoe3de George Washington Ā· John black aoe3de John Black Ā· Kanyenke aoe3de KĆ”:nien Ā· Nonahkee act2 aoe3de Nonahkee Ā· Stuart icon aoe3de Stuart Black Ā· Warwick icon aoe3de Warwick
Act III: SteelAmelia black igc icon Amelia Black Ā· Bolivar icon aoe3de Bolivar Ā· Kanyenke old aoe3de KĆ”:nien Ā· Cooper icon aoe3de Major Cooper Ā· Old Coot icon AoE3DE Old Coot Ā· Beaumont icon aoe3de Pierre Beaumont
3WCIcon48px The WarChiefs
Act I: FireGen washington aoe3de George Washington Ā· Kanyenke twc aoe3de KĆ”:nien Ā· Nathaniel Black icon DE Nathaniel Black Ā· Nonahkee act1 aoe3de Nonahkee Ā· Sven icon aoe3de Sven Kuechler
Act II: ShadowChayton Black icon DE Chayton Black Ā· Crazy horse aoe3de Crazy Horse Ā· Custer aoe3de General Custer Ā· Holmes icon aoe3de Sheriff Holme Ā· Sx warchief aoe3de Chief Brave Wolf Ā· Lakota dog soldier aoe3de Chief Bull Bear Ā· Iro warchief aoe3de Chief Two Moon
3ADIcon48px The Asian Dynasties
Act I: JapanMototada aoe3de Daimyo Mototada Ā· Kichiro icon DE General Kichiro Ā· Tokugawa aoe3de Shogun Tokugawa
Act II: ChinaJinhai aoe3de Admiral Jinhai Ā· Huang icon DE Jian Huang Ā· Chen icon aoe3de Lao Chen
Act III: IndiaBadur icon aoe3de Bahadur Shah Ā· Edwardson aoe3de Colonel Edwardson Ā· Nanib icon DE Nanib Sahir Ā· Pravar icon aoe3de Pravar Patel
Age3DE Icon Definitive Edition
Act II: ShadowFrank Icon Frank Warbonnet (replaces Crazy Horse)
Historical BattlesAhmad al mansur Ahmad al-Mansur Ā· Pecaudy Icon Claude-Pierre Pecaudy Ā· General mx portrait El General Ā· Padre hidalgo aoe3de El Padre Ā· Isaac Brock icon General Isaac Brock Ā· American General Icon General Jackson Ā· Hizir Reis Icon Hizir Reis Ā· Kassa hailu portrait Kassa Hailu Ā· Marine Officer portrait Marine Officer Ā· Militia Officer portrait Militia Officer Ā· Oruc Reis Icon Oruc Reis Ā· Queen Sabla Icon Queen Sabla Wengel Ā· Sir Francis Drake Icon Sir Francis Drake Ā· Sultan malik portrait Sultan Abd al-Malik Ā· Sultan Mohammed II portrait Sultan Mohammed II Ā· Usman dan fodio icon Usman dan Fodio Ā· Yermak Timofeyevich Icon Yermak
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