The faces behind the game voices we love

What does the world’s most famous video game plumber have in common with the nicest dragon in Skyrim? And what does Batman have to do with Sonic?

They share the same voice, of course.

You may recall that first bit as a question in a recent quiz we had running, but it is by no means the only instance of voice acting trivia you may not be aware of.

Just like normal acting, voice actors fill many roles across many different genres, but not dealing with visual cues and having their faces in the spotlight means their “range” has to be significantly wider.

This means that one man or woman can voice a whole bunch of different characters, and you often wouldn’t even realise. Mad skills, yo.

For instance, Ezio Auditore from the good Assassin’s Creed games is voiced by Roger Craig Smith, the guy who voices Sonic the Hedgehog in most of his titles. Oh, and he’s also Batman.

(Update: in Origins, at least. Our forumites have pointed out that Kevin Conroy voices Batman in Arkham Asylum, Arkham City and the upcoming Arkham Knight).

And John Di Maggio, the gruff voice behind Marcus Fenix in the Gears of War franchise, is also the voice of Wakka from Final Fantasy X, and Bender in Futurama.

Other voice actors are far more prolific (almost to the point of hilarity), but it never fails to impress us how many of these roles – linked to the same person – fly by completely missed.

Which is the point, really.

Check out these video game voice actors, and see if you recognised them across their many roles.

Troy Baker

• Joel – The Last of Us
• Ocelot – Metal Gear Solid V
• Pagan Min – Far Cry 4
• Talion – Shadow of Mordor
• Booker Dewitt – Bioshock Infinite
• Snow Villiers – Final Fantasy XIII
• Kai Leng – Mass Effect

Nolan North

• Nathan Drake – Uncharted
• The Black Hand – Shadow of Mordor
• Desmond Miles – Assassin’s Creed
• Deadpool – Deadpool
• The Prince – Prince of Persia

Quinton Flynn

• Raiden – Metal Gear Solid
• Kolyat Krios – Mass Effect
• Silver the Hedgehog – Sonic
• Axel – Kingdom Hearts
• Reno – Final Fantasy VII

Steve Blum

• Sub-Zero – Mortal Kombat
• Sauron – Shadow of Mordor
• Wolverine – Marvel games
• Grunt – Mass Effect
• Oghren – Dragon Age
• Vincent Valnetine – Final Fantasy VII

Jennifer Hale

• Commander Shepard – Mass Effect
• Crem – Dragon Age: Inquisition
• Galadriel – Shadow of Mordor
• Jean Grey – Marvel
• Naomi Hunter – Metal Gear Solid
• Dynaheir – Baldur’s Gate

Claudia Black

• Morrigan – Dragon Age
• Admiral Xen – Mass Effect
• Chloe Frasier – Uncharted
• Sam Byrne – Gears of War
• Queen Marwen – Shadow of Mordor

Tara Strong

• Rikku – Final Fantasy
• Harley Quinn – Batman Arkham series
• Keira – Jak and Daxter
• Seth Balmore – Lost Odyssey

Roger Craig Smith

• Batman/Bruce Wayne – Arkham Origins
• Ezio Auditore – Assassin’s Creed
• Chris Redfield – Resident Evil
• Sonic – Sonic
• Eddie Gordo – Tekken

John Di Maggio

• Marcus Fenix – Gears of War
• Wakka/Khimari – Final Fantasy
• The Hammer – Shadow of Mordor
• Craig Marduk – Tekken

Here are some other voices you may not know were the same person:

Courtenay Taylor

• Ada Wong – Resident Evil
• Jack – Mass Effect

Tricia Helfer

• Sarah Kerrigan – Star Craft
• EDI – Mass Effect

Jen Taylor

• Princess Peach – Mario
• Cortana – Halo

Charles Martinet

• Paarthurnax – Skyrim
• Mario – Mario

Brian Bloom

• Varric Tethras – Dragon Age
• Alex Shepard – Silent Hill Homecoming

Ali Hillis

• Lightning – Final Fantasy XIII
• Liara – Mass Effect

Note: we have only presented the voice actors’ main headline roles, they have also done many “additional voice” roles in hundreds of titles.

More gaming news

Bank heists and family feuds – Games you can play this week

Will Battlefield Hardline work?

Nvidia unveils GeForce GTX Titan X – most advanced graphics card in the world