The leaders in the game Halo Wars are characters that lead the player's full army. Also known as Hero Units, the different leaders provide different advantages, leader powers and bonuses to the gameplay.

Just like in most real-time strategy games, Halo Wars has leaders or hero units. These characters lead the player's entire army and offer unique advantages and disadvantages. Part of the strategy involved in the game is picking an appropriate leader for your play style.

There are a total of 6 leaders to choose from, three for each of the two playable factions. The leaders are familiar characters from the Halo universe, including the Arbiter, Captain Cutter and the Prophet of Regret. All of the Covenant leaders appear on the battlefield along with the rest of the unit and have special fighting abilities. The UNSC leaders, on the other hand, do not appear on the battlefield, but instead offer super units and economic bonuses to the entire army.

Each individual leader has a unique ability called a leader power that is a very powerful attack, either in the form of a special weapon or magical power, that can do substantial damage to the enemy. Picking the right leader and knowing how to take advantage of their special power is key to playing the game well.Halopedia: Halo Wars Hero Units

• Abilities:

1. Leader Power - MAC Blast
2. Unique Unit - Elephant

• Upgrades

1. Base Bonus - Base starts as Fortress.
2. Super Unit - ODST

• Abilities:

1. Leader Power - Carpet Bomb.
2. Unique Unit - Cyclops

• Upgrades

1. Super Upgrade - Grizzly: a superior version of the Scorpion tank.
2. Economy Bonus - All supply pads start as heavy supply pads.

• Abilities:

1. Leader Power - CryoBomb
2. Unique Unit - Gremlin

• Upgrades

1. Super Upgrade - Hawk: a complete upgrade to the Hornet.
2. Economy Bonus - cost and research time for unit upgrades reduced by half

• Abilities:

1. Regret's Sentence
2. Regret's Doom
3. Regret's Condemnation
4. Unique Unit - Elite Honor Guards

• Upgrades

1. Blessed Immolation: upgrades to fuel rod cannons for damage increase
2. Ancestral Perversion: dual protector units hover near Prophet and defend him
3. Divine Absolution: upgrades chair so Prophet becomes a full-fledged flying unit

• Abilities:

1. Defiant Rage
2. Spiteful Rage
3. Blinding Rage
4. Unique Unit - Kamikaze Grunts

• Upgrades

1. Fiendish Return: allows the Arbiter to reflect attacks back at the enemy
2. Vicious Blades: increases damage inflicted by the Arbiter
3. Ghastly Vision: increases Fiendish Return reflection, but also equips the Arbiter with active camouflage

• Abilities:

1. Inheritance
2. Birthright
3. Destiny
4. Unique Unit: Brutes

• Upgrades

1. Tsunami
2. Hurricane
3. Singularity