The Warhammer world would not be what it is without the presence of potent individuals, great Heroes, valiant Champions, mighty Wizards and black-hearted Necromancers. These individuals add an entirely different aspect to the game either as valuable leaders, or powerful individuals able to fight against vast numbers of lesser mortals. These models are known as characters.

Heroic individuals vary tremendously: some are tougher, meaner and more powerful than the average warrior. Others are faster than a typical member of their race, stronger and more skilled with weapons, or are natural leaders with the power to inspire. Whilst others have special powers, skills or abilities, such as the Dark Elf Beastmasters or Imperial Engineers.

In most cases they are known by different names appropriate to their nation or race. Orc characters, for example, are known by the 'Orcy' titles of Big Bosses and Warbosses, while the leaders of the Empire are known as Elector Counts and Warrior Priests.

Of course, these types of valiant individuals cannot really represent every nuance of distinction between mighty warriors, bold leaders and cunning wizards, but it does enable us to fight with comparably powerful characters, whether they are goodly, honourable knights or are the most rotten-hearted perpetrators of evil.

Characters often have superior characteristic values compared to ordinary members of their race. For example:

From these examples it is clear that characters are quite different from ordinary troops.