I’m Sorry, WHO is Voicing Ganondorf??
At the most recent Nintendo Direct, we finally got some gameplay footage of the next Zelda title, Tears of the Kingdom. It looks incredible, obviously, and there’s still so many story crumbs for us to anticipate and theorize over. But one consistent story beat that we know of is that Ganon will be the main antagonist (or, at the very least, one of the main antagonists).
And with that, we’ve finally gotten a voice for Ganon. Now, nothing’s been 100% confirmed yet, but many people heard the voice and immediately knew who it was:
Yes, that’s why you’ve been seeing Matt Mercer’s name trending on Twitter. Not because of any voice actor drama, but because he’s probably very likely our next Ganondorf. And yes, I’m very congratulatory of that fact, but I also find it kind of funny. It’s not because he’s not a great voice actor—au contraire, there’s a reason people could tell who he was (allegedly) on the spot! He’s got an incredible range and is wildly talented at invoking all sorts of characters, so hiring him for any role (Critical or otherwise) is often considered a prestige.
Where I’m laughing is in the fact that I’m so used to hearing his voice coming out of the mouth of a specific type of character. You know. Dipshit, slightly-effeminate men with hearts of gold, like Chrom from Fire Emblem Awakening, or Yusuke from Persona 5. I mean, yes, he’s also voiced characters like Levi Ackerman from Attack on Titan, but even Levi wasn’t what I’d consider a “traditionally masculine” character.
Ganon, though? Ganon has always been this bombastic, grandstanding evil guy. He’s big and mean and full of darkness. That’s his whole MO. You’d normally expect a naturally bassy voice coming from him, à la Patrick Seitz (Castlevania, Mortal Kombat), yet Matt’s voice is fairly casual in cadence, which you can pick up on if you listen closely. As someone who grew up near where he went to high school, a place close to the Valley in California, I know this cadence very well. It’s warm and expressive, which suits characters like Overwatch’s McCree. To hear it from a character like Ganon is surprising, to say the least.
But I’m obviously here for it. I love Matt and I love Zelda, and I think most people in this sphere of interest feel the same! Plus, it’s not like he hasn’t been in a Zelda game before:
Clearly Matt’s been everywhere. He’s got this.
… If that is him, at least. If not, well. It was good while it lasted.
(Featured Image: The Escapist)
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