Shaman - the almighty Shaman is the leader of your tribe. She can cast spells to wreak havoc upon an opponent, while using spells to help make her base a better one.  She casts spells by using mana, (which generates from huts), and her ultimate destiny is to become a God.

Warrior - the Warrior is the strongest of your people.  He can fight off 5-7 braves by himself.  Although he can't really help out in building stuff, Warriors are very good for helping to guard your base against enemy attacks.  The Warrior's one weakness are Preachers, so if you are attacking, send a good number of Preachers with them to keep them safe from being converted to your enemy's cause.

Firewarrior - although not good in hand-to-hand combat, Firewarriors can be very helpful to guard your base.  Stationed in guard towers, Firewarriors can defend your base from long ranges, while taking the enemy out.  Firewarriors are basically useless against warriors though, so they aren't the best choice if you decide to attack.  Firewarriors stationed in balloons however, can be very effective against an unsuspecting enemy because if they don't have any Firewarriors of their own, you could possibly take a whole base out.

Brave - Braves are the heart and soul of your base.  They build everything you need to have in your base, they upgrade huts to larger and even larger ones, (if at least 1 brave is inside a hut), and they generate the needed mana for your Shaman.  Although not very effective in battle, braves can easily kill Spies.

Preacher - being the religous leaders of your tribe, Preachers try to convert enemy followers to your cause.  Preachers can be very effective in attacking if the enemy doesn't have any Preachers of their own.  A few Preachers could convert an entire settlement if the enemy isn't prepared. Preachers can detect invisible enemies making the Preachers very useful in defending your base against a sly opponent.

Spy - the little thorn-in-your-side in this game is the Spy (my favorite character).  Spies can be very dangerous if not detected, because they could set your whole settlement up in flames, and then burn all your trees down!  Spies are by far the weakest of all your followers, being weaker than a brave.  If your Spy is detected though, he's basically useless.  Spies in guard towers can help to detect other enemy Spies so it is smart to station a few in guard towers.  To detect a Spy, you just simply have to run your mouse pointer over him. Also, Preachers can detect Spies, so it's also smart to put them in a few guard towers.

Wildman - being very important in online games, Wildmen can make, or break you, depending on how many Wildmen your Shaman converts.  Once converted, Wildmen are Braves.  Note: Preachers can't convert Wildmen because they are "neutral" until converted by an enemy Shaman.  The only way to convert a Wildman is to use the Convert spell on him.