The Faces Behind Some of Video Games’ Most Notable Characters

gears_of_war_2-600206.jpg

With video games becoming more and more like feature films, there’s a pressing need for voice actors that can lend their talents and help create memorable characters.  I’m really not sure how one becomes a voice actor (wouldn’t that be an incredible job?), but it seems like most of the prominent voice actors in video games have done some real acting themselves.  Anyway, as you’d probably expect, most notable video game voice actors don’t lend their voices to just one or two characters; they have the range and versatility to voice several characters, many of which sound nothing like one another.

For the purposes of this post, I’ve decided to put the faces with the voices.  Below, check out what they guys and gals who voice notable video game characters actually look like.

John DiMaggio

john.jpg

DiMaggio is probably best known for voicing Bender on Futurama, but he’s also the voice of Marcus Fenix in the Gears of War series.  I would have guessed he’d be, I dunno, bigger, but I guess that goes to show how talented DiMaggio is.  DiMaggio also voiced Wakka and Kimahri Ronso is Final Fantasy X, as well as the Brute Chieftain in Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST.

Nolan North

nolan-north-comparison.jpg

Nolan North – what a stud – voiced Nathan Drake in Uncharted and Uncharted 2.  He also voiced Jason Flemming, the protagonist of the criminally underrated Shadow Complex, as well as Hades God of War and Jace Stratton in Gears of War 2.  Although the game is not yet released, North voiced Deadpool in Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

Phil LaMarr

phil-lamarr-216853.jpg

Phil LaMarr has quite a few characters on his resume, including Vamp in Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4, Reddas in Final Fantasy XII, Dr. Ragland in Prototype, and the missing agent John in Prototype’s evil twin, InFamous.  LaMarr also voiced several characters in Marvel Ultimate Alliance: Black Panther, Moon Knight, Colossus, and Uatu.

LaMarr is one of the video game voice actors who has appeared on screen, as well – do you recognize him?  Interestingly, he played Marvin in Pulp Fiction – the guy who gets his head accidentally blown off in the back seat of Jules’ car!

Jennifer Hale

jenniferhale.jpg

What a cutie – her voice goes very well with her looks.  Jennifer Hale could be considered the queen of video game voice acting, as she’s voiced literally dozens of video game characters.  Some of her more notable ones are the female Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect series, Tira in Soulcaliber III and IV, Naomi Hunter in the Metal Gear Solid series, Bastila Shan in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, and my personal favorite, the legendary Samus Aran in Metroid Prime 2 and 3.

Keith David

keithdavidpic.jpg

Surely you recognize Keith David from one of his zillion roles on the big screen, but the Julliard-trained actor is an accomplished voice actor, as well.  He’s voiced Arbiter in the Halo series, Sgt. Foley in Modern Warfare 2, David Anderson in the Mass Effect series, and Julius Little in Saints Row and Saints Row 2.  Still, I’ll always remember him from his ridiculously awesome fight with Roddy Piper.

Mark Hamill

markh.jpg

Obviously, you know who Mark Hamill is.  You also probably know that he, in recent years, has become the guy for Joker voice acting, both in cartoons and in video games like Batman: Arkham Asylum.  In addition to voicing the Clown Prince of Crime, Hamill has voiced Goro Mojima, a lieutenant of the Yakuza family in Yakuza, and The Watcher in Darksiders.  Hamill brought a ton to the table in Darksiders with his voice acting, especially because the protagonist War was such a damn wet blanket.

Jen Taylor

jen4.jpg

Jen Taylor doesn’t quite have the resume of Jennifer Hale, but it’s damn impressive nevertheless.  Taylor provided the voice of Zoey in Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2.  She also voiced Cortana in the Halo series, but she’s probably most known for her voicing of Princess Peach in a whole slew of Mario games, like Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, and, of course, Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Similar Posts

18 Comments

  1. I always thought the dude who voice Uncharted 2 wahe same dude who voiced the main guy in Assassin’s creed, Desmond…..actually checking IMDB now…..aaaaaand Yep. That’s him. That dude get’s an A+ in voicing badass games.

  2. John DiMaggio also voiced one of the commentators in MadWorld

    Also consider Richard Steven Horvitz(Invader Zim). He voiced Raz in Psychonauts, Orthopox in Destroy all Humans & the Zoni in Ratchet & Clank, among others

  3. LaMarr was also Black Vulcan on Harvey Birdman. But maybe I was the only one who watched that epic comedy. Which is why it’s no longer on…..

    *sigh*

  4. @J5

    I loved Harvey Birdman. I guess just you and I weren’t enough to save the awesomeness that was Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law.

  5. @floppy

    I never understood how a show with Bill Lumberg (Gary Cole), Stephen Colbert, John Michael Higgins, Peter MacNicol & Phil LaMarr got cancelled.

    I never thought such a concentrated amount of comedy could ever be defeated…..but I was wrong. Dead wrong.

    Ha! Ha! …..Dangly Parts.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.