Historical figure

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In world generation, due to memory constraints, most population numbers have to be treated abstractly. However, a small percentage of the population is treated explicitly, i.e. the game keeps track of all of their history. These people are called historical figures, or histfig for short.

Historical figures mainly relate to what is abstractly offloaded (i.e. forgotten) or explicitly tracked by the game. The game can't keep track of every single creature in the world, but it has to keep things interesting for your fortress, adventurer, or legends; as such, there are a number of rules that define who gets and who doesn't get to become a historical figure. These rules are mostly there to guarantee a consistency of gameplay experience, so that people you encounter don't suddenly disappear from the game as they are offloaded.

In world generation (and after)

In each site, a percentage of the actual population is tracked. This includes nobility and their entourage. Their family relationships, titles and heroic feats (e.g. kill lists) are stored for you to discover. All (semi-)megabeasts, unique demons, forgotten beasts, titans and other such [POWER] creatures are historical figures. Other "villainous" creatures such as necromancers, vampires, werebeasts, night trolls, bosses of criminal organisations (along with all their families and other such relationships) are also historical figures. Likewise, animals that somehow become enemies of a civilization become historical figures.

In fortress mode

Your seven starting dwarves are generated ex nihilo (out of nothing - "void dwarves"), and so are the first two hardcoded migration waves. However, all fortress citizens become historical figures as they appear, and the game will keep track of them if they leave the site, or you retire or abandon your fortress. The game attempts to pull subsequent migrants from actual histfig populations, but it will continue to generate 'void dwarves' as necessary. Caravans and invasions can instantiate non-historical populations, though those generated creatures may become historical figures during their time on site. Nobles (including diplomats and liaisons), workers requested from holdings, and visitors will generally only be selected from existing historical figures.

Wildlife is abstracted away, except if an animal gets a name for some reason (e.g. killing one of your dwarves), in which case they also become a historical figure.

In adventure mode

Similarly to fortress mode's starting dwarves, your adventurer is also generated ex nihilo, but they become a historical figure if they die, or you retire them. Anyone with a name the adventurer encounters also becomes a historical figure, if they weren't already. This includes companions, people you take quests from, people in your kill list and people you talk to.

In legends mode

You may browse the history of every single histfig in the world, as well as their relationships with other histfigs. Special objects of note (namely artifacts and other such objects that have gotten a name from one of your dwarves or adventurer) also have their history tracked.