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ultraericthered · 2 years

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Final Fantasy VII - English Dub VAs

Exactly the kind of post it sounds like.

Cloud Strife:

Steve Burton (pre-Remake content) - Iconic original English dub voice for Cloud. His record is a mixed bag. In the first Kingdom Hearts, about half of Advent Children, almost half of Dissidia,Crisis Core, KH 2.5 Re:Coded, Final Fantasy Explorers, World of Final Fantasy, and Dissidia NT, he does really well. In Kingdom Hearts II, the rest of Advent Children and Dissidia, Dirge of Cerberus, and Dissidia 012, however, he kind of sucked and sounded lifeless.

Cody Christian (Remake continuity) - Hard to believe this isn’t just Steve Burton under a different name! He matches Steve’s voice perfectly and his performance is up there with Steve’s best work.

Justin Briner (Machinabridged Series) - Justin voiced his version of Cloud like Deku well before he actually voiced Deku! It’s normally not the sort of voice you’d imagine Cloud to have in the actual story, but when he gets to play serious and dramatic, he totally fucking kills it.

FANCAST OPTION - Mark Hildreth. While nowadays I doubt he’s gonna get any work due to having been in a horrible cult, knowing exactly what they were doing but keeping silence about it for years and all that, back in the day he would’ve been my go-to voice for Cloud. Just listen to him voicing Heero Yuy, Terry Bogard, and Angel.

And my favorite one is.... Cody Christian! He’s got everything in the quality of his voice that Steve Burton and Mark Hildreth have got, but like Justin Briner he gets to act out a complete character arc for Cloud, even in just his first game! Definitely glad he’s in the role.

Barrett Wallace:

Beau Billingslea (pre-Remake content) - Back in the day, there was really no other black VA in the industry that could’ve fit this role better than him. He’s deep, gruff, rowdy, and delviers his material perfectly. John Eric Bentley (Remake continuity) - When I heard him in the trailers doing this straight up Mr. T-sounding voice, I wasn’t sure I liked it much. But then we all heard his full performance and....yeah, he knocks it out of the park. Really gives Barret a lot of depth.

Anthony Sardinha (Machinabridged Series) - For the most part, he does a very goofy sounding macho doofus voice for Barret, but for this version of Barret that works perfectly and has a lot of charm to it.

And my favorite one is....Beau Billingslea! Definitely no offense to John Eric Bentley, but Beau’s voice was exactly what I imagined Barret to sound like when playing the game, so I’ve got a bias here.

Tifa Lockhart:

Rachael Leigh Cook (pre-Remake content) - Everything about her voice sounds perfectly fitting for Tifa and she nailed it every time she voiced the role, even in lesser showings like Kingdom Hearts II.

Britt Baron (Remake continuity) - So to play off of Cody Christian’s Cloud, they found someone who sounds almost exactly like Rachael Leigh Cook! This is just getting freaky now...

Sarah Anne Williams (Machinabridged Series) - Makes a full journey from this Tifa’s more toxic, vulgar, self-destructive personality to her hidden depths and vulnerability as she develops into a better person more true to the original canon, and she pulls it off flawlessly!

And my favorite one is.....I can’t really choose. They’re all too good!

Aeirth Gainsborough:

Mandy Moore, Mena Suvari, and Andrea Bowen (pre-Remake content) - Wow. Three different actresses in this one role and none of them get it down pat. Mandy could barely voice act when she did this role in Kingdom Hearts, Mena did a dull sweet-sounding voice that could be even more lifeless than Steve Burton’s Cloud ever was, and while Andrea worked well for the younger Aerith in Crisis Core, I can never fully buy her as the 22 year old Aerith in anything else.

Briana White (Remake continuity) - Thank Youtube for this person and her getting cast as Aerith in Remake! They finally got it right!

Kira Buckland (Machinabridged Series) - A VA I can imagine could pull off an excellent canonical Aerith, but for this series she had to play up this ditzy, peppy, sweet and lovable Good Girl personality.

And my favorite one is....Briana White! Does this come as any surprise? She’s as ideal a match for Maaya Sakamoto we could get!

Nanaki/Red XIII:

Liam O’ Brien (pre-Remake continuity) - One spoken line in Advent Children, but spoken in a voice from a VA that suits Nanaki so well.

Max Mittelman (Remake continuity) - Probably one of the best roles I’ve yet heard from this VA. He really delivers on the ambiguous age and the gruff, wisened warrior tone the character speaks in for when we get to know him at first. Rebirth steps it up a notch by having him drop the facade and start talking like the teenager he truly is, with the difference being startling and effective in how it alters perception.

Curtis Arnott (Machinabridged Series) - Undeniably entertaining to listen to, but this Homer Simpson-esque voice is the exact opposite of how you would expect canonical Nanaki to sound like!

FANCAST OPTION(S) - Dan Green. They had Mewtwo’s voice as Nanaki in Japanese Advent Children, so I don’t see why not go with a more literal English counterpart, and c’mon, the voice fits perfectly!

And my favorite one is....Max Mittelman! He’s just brilliant all around.

Cait Sith:

Greg Ellis (pre-Remake content) - British VA who decided to go with a Scottish accent for Cait, reflective of the character’s Celtic roots.

Paul Tinto (Remake continutiy) - Silly Scottish voice, again.

Nick Landis (Machinabridged Series) - Silly Scottish voice, again.

FANCAST OPTION - Tom Kenny. He wouldn’t even need to do an accent, just his typical cartoony voiceover would get the job done! Or, if you really have to go for Scottish, then David Fucking Tennant!

And my favorite one is....I can’t really choose. All of them work.

Cid Highwind:

Chris Edgerly (pre-Remake content) - Honestly, I did not like the way this voice sounded in Advent Children, Kingdom Hearts II, and Dirge of Cerberus. A Southern accent is fine, but not a full on drawl! But as of his recent reprisal in the Kingdom Hearts III DLC, he’s got it down.

J. Michael Tatum (Remake continuity) - He gets it down immediately.

Brien Olvera (Machinabridged Series) - Totally perfect and hilarious.

FANCAST OPTION(S) - Michael Sorich, Fred Tatasciore, or Jack Angel. Sorich is a natural for this sort of role, Tatasciore would’ve been ideal casting due to his voicework as the very similar looking Damon Baird, and Jack Angel actually voiced another Cid later on.

And my favorite one is....Fred Tatasciore! I’ve long held the belief that Chris Edgerly and Fred Tatasciore should’ve had their roles in Advent Children swapped, and I still stand by it and forever shall!

Yuffie Kisaragi:

Christy Carlson Romano and Mae Whitman (pre-Remake content) - Christy voiced the role in Kingdom Hearts and Advent Children while Mae voiced her in Kingdom Hearts II, Dirge of Cerberus, and the DLC postgame of Kingdom Hearts III. They sound pretty much 100% identical to each other...or at least they did. Mae Whitman’s KHIII reprisal sounded notably aged, more like Amity Blight than Yuffie.

Suzie Yeung (Remake continuity) - Sound exactly like how Christy and Mae used to! Holy shit, how does Square Enix find this talent?

Courtney Williams (Machinabridged Series) - She sounds a bit like Mabel Pines or Webby Vanderquack due to the hyperness being played up for this version of Yuffie, and she makes it work great,

And my favorite one is...Suzie Yeung! Out of all of them, she’s the only one who’s actually authentically Asian. Points just for that!

Vincent Valentine:

Steve Blum (pre-Remake content) - Steve does solemn and creepy voices like a pro, and he did great as Vincent in Advent Children. What happened to him in Dirge of Cerberus? He sounded so stiff!

Chris Tout (Machinabridged Series) - As expected, he plays up the melodrama of Vincent’s character for laughs, but in a cool voice!

Matthew Mercer (Remake continuity) - Matt is to the role of Vincent just as he is to Ganondorf; he’s as perfecft a fit as you’d hope for!

FANCAST OPTION(S) - Robin Atkin Downes or Christopher Bevins. Downes using his Baron Zemo voice, and Bevins his own amazingly spot on Steve Blum impression.

And my favorite one is....Robin Atkin Downes! Blum and Mercer are cool and all, but this is closest to what I hear in my head for Vincent, and it’s almost a bad joke that his is the last voice you hear in Vincent’s own game....as Genesis?!?

President Shinra:

James Horan (Remake continuity) - The tone of his voice is perfect, but the voice itself isn’t consistently solid. It sometimes sounds a bit like Jamieson Price, who voiced Reeve back in the older content!

Graham Stark (Machinabridged Series) - Good Southern accented president voice that fits the more legit affable Shinra of this series.

FANCAST OPTION(S) - The late Robert Ridgely or the still living Maurice LeMarche would’ve been ideal, as they could’ve delivered the Orson Welles impressions. Or for the Remake version, I wish they’d cast Richard Epcar in the role, as he’d have matched the late Genzo Wakayama much more perfectly.

And my favorite one is....Robert Ridgely or Maurice LeMarche! Sorry, but I just can’t unhear him sounding like Charles Foster Kane!

Rufus Shinra:

Wally Wingert (pre-Remake content) - Perfect. Everything about it.

Josh Bowman (Remake continuity) - A bit deeper than I’d expect, but pretty solid acting for the small part he got in Remake. Getting to go further into the character with more material in Rebirth really helped him improve, so now he sounds almost as ideal as Wally Wingert.

Xander Mobus (Machinabridged Series) - If he wasn’t doing that Frank Underwood-style accent and goofy delivery, he’d actually be a perfect fit for canonical Rufus. That said, his Rufus is hilarious.

FANCAST OPTION(S) - Geoffery Arend would’ve been an even better casting for Remake Rufus. Given how much his Riddler sounds like Wally Wingert’s, he could’ve easily done the same here!

And my favorite one is....Wally Wingert! They’re all so good in the role, but this initial casting for Rufus was just striking casting gold!

Reno:

Quinton Flynn (pre-Remake content) - He was double-cast as Reno and Axel just like the late Keiji Fujiwara was, and he did perfectly.

Arnie Pantoja (Remake content) - It fits Reno. Just...not as well.

Curtis Arnott (Machinabridged Series) - Same as the above.

FANCAST OPTION - Roger Craig Smith. He took over for Quinton as Deidara in Naruto dub, so I wish he’d done the same with Reno.

And my favorite one is...Quinton Flynn! Got it memorized, yo?

Rude:

Crispin Freeman (pre-Remake content) - Not the role I’d expect Crispin to voice, but he did best he could with a deep, gravelly tone.

William C. Stephens (Remake continuity) - A black VA providing the voice for Rude just naturally fits better, as William demonstrates.

Marc Swint (Machinabridged Series) - And as Marc demonstrated!

FANCAST OPTION - Kevin Conroy. He’s a white guy too, but does anyone else hear an unintended Kevin Conroy impersonation in Crispin’s Rude? Was not able to unhear it after I noticed!

And my favorite one is...William C. Stephens! His Ving Rhames-esque voicework makes for easily the coolest sounding Rude!

Elena:

Bettina Bush (pre-Remake content) - A very nice, very well fitting casting choice for Elena. But she only got like two or three lines.

Piper Reese (Remake continuity) - No voice acting experience to her name, yet she put into her performance everything needed to pull off the ideal Elena and nail both her ferocious and comedic moments.

Morgan Berry (Machinabridged Series) - Cute and hilarious as usual.

FANCAST OPTION - Michelle Ruff. This role is tailor-made for her!

And my favorite one is...Michelle Ruff! See above.

Tseng:

Ryan Yu (pre-Remake content) - Yeah, I get that Tseng is meant to sound stiff and like a pro, but this was just WAY too monotone!

Vic Chao (Remake content) - Another Asian VA, only this one actually has an awesome sounding voice and great delivery!

Scott Ferichs (Machinabridged Series) - He does...an Alan Rickman impression? Even for a parody series, I’m not sure I get this one.

FANCAST OPTION - Eric Vale. When I look at Tseng, I hear Sakyo

And my favorite one is...Vic Chao! He does the all around best job!

Reeve Tuesti:

Jamieson Price (pre-Remake content) - It’s the same performance type as his Janyu Wong from Digimon Tamers. That’s ideal casting

Jon Root (Remake continuity) - Not as distinct as Jamieson Price obviously, but he does very well with what he’s given to work with.

Nick Landis (Machinabridged Series) - The one time Reeve and Cait Sith actually share a VA, and Nick’s versatility makes it work!

And my favorite one is...Jamieson Price! Can’t go wrong with him!

Heidegger:

John DiMaggio (Remake continuity) - John’s no stranger to voicing Final Fantasy characters and he always does it so well. Heidegger is just the latest example of that. His voice and laugh are on point.

Ty Konzak (Machinabridged Series) - He delivers this snarly pirate-like voice that’s about what you’d expect of a parody Heidegger.

FANCAST OPTION - Charles Martinet. German accented Wario. It’s pretty self-explanatory.

And my favorite one is..Charles Martinet! Just listen to Wario’s laugh!

Scarlett:

Erin Cotrieli (Remake continuity) - This is a solid fit for her voice, though she’s not done the “kya-ha-ha-ha-ha!” cackling thing so far.

Amber Lee Connors (Machinabridged Series) - Amber’s talent for voicing sultry femme fatale villains and also being really funny shine here, making her version of Scarlet a very enjoyable character.

FANCAST OPTION - Lani Minella. A super veteran VA (and original voice of Rouge the Bat), she’s just got the voice for it, y’know?

And my favorite one is...Amber Lee Connors! KYA-HA-HA-HA-HA!

Palmer:

William Salyers (Remake continuity) - Another stroke of casting genius. Palmer just plays to all of Salyers voice acting strengths.

Ben Creighton (Machinabridged Series) - Can’t really be sure that Palmer wouldn’t sound like this even if it wasn’t a parody series!

FANCAST OPTION - Jeff Nimoy, sounding like an aged Tentomon.

And my favorite one is...William Salyers! He embodies Palmer!

Professor Hojo:

Paul Eiding (pre-Remake content) - VERY outside-the-box voice casting, and maybe with better direction it coud’ve paid off. But what we got from Paul sure didn’t, being easily THE most ill-fitting original dub voice for a FFVII character. Sounds too feeble and annoying!

James Siei (Remake continuity) - Now THIS is more fucking like it! An actually Asian VA who not only delivers a bone-chillingly creepy performance, but who sounds eerily close in tone to Derek Stephen Prince as Vexen/Even from Kingdom Hearts, who shares a VA with Hojo in the original Japanese language (twice over, in fact!)

Edwyn Tiong (Machinabridged Series) - Another Asian VA who hams it up a lot more but can also be genuinely unsettling to listen to! He’d fit just as well as the psychopathic scientist in a non-parody work!

FANCAST OPTION(S) - Ezra Weisz, Dwight Schultz, Sam Witwer, Udo Kier, and naturally, Derek Stephen Prince.

And my favorite one is....James Siei! Paul Eiding’s was a misfire and with Edwyn Tiong and my Fancast picks they’re all in line with how I’d expect Hojo to sound. James “My Cabbages!” Siei being cast as Hojo and nailing him so hard was a total left field turn and one that puts me in his corner. He’s now the gold standard Hojo voice.

Sephiroth:

Lance Bass and George Newbern (pre-Remake content) - Lance Bass was a huge miscasting by Disney when they were getting star talent to voice FF characters and KH-original characters for the first Kingdom Hearts, and he sounds too youthful and not a thing like how Sephiroth would later sound. George Newbern, on the other hand...casting the dude known for Theodore Rex and Superman in the role of Sephiroth became the stuff of voice acting legend, as he blew all expectations out of the water. He’s THE iconic voice of Sephiroth.

Tyler Hoechlin (Remake continuity) - I get what they were doing, casting another Superman as Sephiroth...but Tyler is a Superman actor, not a Superman voice actor. As such he seems to put the work into making his voice sound sinister and Sephiroth-like while failing to convincingly act the material he has to say in that voice. However, in the first 45 seconds and the very last 45 seconds of this video, we can hear how damn good he’s capable of doing. That capability thankfully carries him through in Crisis Core Reunion and Rebirth, where he steps up his game and improves his voicework in the role, in some areas even shining brighter than George Newbern!

Mike Varker (Machinabridged Series) - Totally obscure VA picked out by TeamFourStar to be their Sephiroth but holy shit, he fucking killed it! Just listen to this villainous monologue and try to NOT get chills!

FANCAST OPTION(S) - Sephiroth is a role that could be easy to cast but difficult to really nail. A handful of VAs I think could do it include: Skip Stellrecht, Crispin Freeman, Paul Dobson, John Rafter Lee, Christian Bale, Michael C. Hall, Mark Whitten, and of course the Newbern Soundalike Supermen Tim Daly or James Denton.

And my favorite one is....a three-way tie between George Newbern, Mike Varker, and Skip Stellrecht.! All three are 100% godly fits!

Biggs:

Gideon Emery (Remake continuity) - A cool, smooth sounding Biggs.

Chris Niosi (Machinabridged Series) - He gets it down alright.

FANCAST OPTION - Michael Daingerfield. His voice fits well when voicing Biggs from Star Wars, and it’d fit just as well for this Biggs.

And my favorite one is....Gideon Emery! Guy’s got too much charm.

Wedge:

Matthew L. Jones (Remake continuity) - Sounds exactly how you’d expect Wedge to sound like.

Chris Zito (Machinabridged Series) - Same can be said of this one.

FANCAST OPTION - Tyler Labine. Same as both of the above.

And my favorite one is....I can’t really choose. All of them fit.

Jessie:

Erica Lindbeck (Remake continuity) - In her more mellow and mature moments she sounds just like Eli Ayase, but then in her cheeky, playful, flirty trolling moments she just goes full Kaori Miyazono. It’s as entertaining as it is kind of distracting.

Jesse Nowack (Machinabridged series) Ha ha. His name actually is Jesse! He did slur-voiced Jesse of this series as well as he could.

FANCAST OPTION - Grey DeLisle Griffin. For whatever reason, I always heard original canon Jessie sounding like Daphne Blake.

And my favorite one is...Erica Lindbeck! She just went SO HARD.

Marlene Wallace:

Grace Rolek and Ariel Winter (pre-Remake content) - They did fine.

Brielle Milla (Remake continuity) - She also does fine.

Corrine Sudberg (Machinabridged Series) - She did fine as well.

And my favorite one is....I can’t really choose. They all did fine!

Elmyra Gainsborough:

Julie Dolan (Remake continuity) - She played this part wonderfully.

Sandra Espinoza (Machinabridged Series) - Works good for the material she’s given, being both funny and painstakingly sincere.

FANCAST OPTION - Barbara Goodson. Back when she was younger in the late 90s, her voice would’ve really fit Elmyra.

And my favorite one is....I can’t really choose. They’re all so suitable.

Don Corneo:

Fred Tatasciore (Remake continuity) - He camps it up like crazy in this role but also can be threatening when need be, not to mention the horse winnying laugh he does. Much better FFVII role than Loz.

Josh Tomar (Machinabridged Series) - Perfect for the Don in every way, about exactly what I’d always been imagining him to sound like.

And my favorite one is....it’s a tie! They’re both perfect in this role!

Zack Fair:

Rick Gomez (pre-Remake content) - Zack’s expanded presence in this sub-franchise is strange for a lot of reasons, but if it’s to be, then he needs a likable enough voice to sell the character. Rick’s got it.

Caleb Pierce (Remake continuity) - Possibly even moreso than Tyler Hoechlin as Sephiroth following George Newbern, this is a huge trade down. I think Caleb could do well as young, up-and-coming Zack “the Puppy”, but his ability to pull off the tougher, more experienced Zack seems beyond him. He just cannot emote well.

Nathan Sharp (Machinabridged Series) - Perfectly cast, and did an ideal job at voicing Zack in the bit part he was originally meant to be.

And my favorite one is...Rick Gomez! Still the definitive Zack Fair!

#Final Fantasy #Final Fantasy VII #voice acting #opinion

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