Video game characters are more than just pixels to gamers. They're rivals, companions, even friends — and their voice actors are too. And to us, they're more real than some of the people we know in real life. Tragically, we've lost some of our favorite video game voice actors of all time this year.
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00:00Video game characters are more than just pixels to gamers.
00:03They're rivals, companions, even friends, and their voice actors are, too.
00:08And to us, they're more real than some of the people we know in real life.
00:12Tragically, we've lost some of our favorite video game voice actors of all time this year.
00:16Tony Todd passed away in November at the age of 69, bringing an end to an illustrious career
00:21both on-screen and in the recording booth.
00:24Best known to movie-going audiences as the titular Candyman, Todd carved out a niche
00:29for himself in the world of horror, appearing in the Final Destination franchise, Night
00:34of the Living Dead, and many, many more.
00:37His distinctive gravelly voice also lent itself perfectly to voice acting, leading to a number
00:41of juicy video game roles.
00:43In addition to reprising his live-action role of Kern from Star Trek The Next Generation
00:48in multiple games, other notable voice roles included the horrific Vortigaunts in Half-Life
00:532 and Half-Life Alyx, Admiral Briggs in Call of Duty Black Ops 2, and Venom in Marvel's
00:59Spider-Man 2.
01:00"...We are Venom."
01:08The latter would prove to be one of Todd's final voice acting performances, and Spider-Man
01:12developer Insomniac Games paid loving tribute to the actor after his passing, posting on
01:18social media,
01:19"...he brought so much joy to our studio during the production of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and
01:24to many fans around the world with his inimitable voice and presence."
01:28Mark Dodson landed an iconic voice role in a live-action movie so early in his career
01:33that many people might not even realize how consistently he worked in video games.
01:38Dodson's career got off to an auspicious start in 1983, with his first role being the voice
01:43of Salacious Crumb in Return of the Jedi, a role he reprised many times over the years.
01:49Dodson started showing up in video games a few decades later, making his gaming debut
01:53in 2010's Star Trek Online.
01:55From that point, he appeared in all kinds of video games, including horror titles like
02:00Lucius and epic fantasy RPGs such as Neverwinter.
02:04He also stayed closely tied to the sci-fi genre through roles in Rebel Galaxy and Ghostrunner.
02:09In fact, one of his very last video game roles was in Galactica, a game in which players
02:14manage a hospital in the depths of space.
02:16Sadly, Dodson died after a heart attack at the age of 64 in March.
02:22John Mowry is a recognizable voice actor for many gamers, but most fans probably only
02:26know about half of his story.
02:28Mowry spent most of his life living in Portland, Oregon, where he was heavily involved in the
02:32local theater scene.
02:33Throughout his career, Mowry spent a huge chunk of time performing on stage, in everything
02:38from Shakespeare plays to modern dramas.
02:41Mowry's voice acting career dates back to the mid-'90s.
02:44His video game debut was the 1996 mech combat sim game Earth Siege 2, in which he voiced
02:49the narrator.
02:50From there, video games began getting more and more of the actor's attention, and he
02:54voiced characters in the Gauntlet, Sly Cooper, and Penumbra franchises.
02:58In particular, plenty of gamers will recognize him as the voice of Alexander in Viral Horror
03:03Sensation, Amnesia, The Dark Descent, and even more will know him as Ra's from League
03:07of Legends.
03:08Mowry died on July 20, 2024, after going into cardiac arrest.
03:13He was 64 years old at the time.
03:15In the wake of Mowry's death, his wife shared a message in his honor.
03:19Find each other and share stories and hugs, and maybe a glass of whiskey or some bacon.
03:24"...Take the side, Doc, you're driving me crazy!"
03:31Rachel Lillis is an actor that millions of people love, whether they realize it or not.
03:35She voiced Misty and other characters like Jessie in Jigglypuff and the Pokemon animated
03:40series, so countless kids grew up listening to her performances.
03:44Lillis will always be best known for her work in animated series like Berserk, Winx Club,
03:49and the aforementioned Pokemon.
03:51But she also lent her voice to several different video games over the years.
03:54She started doing voice work for games back in 1999, picking up roles in Super Smash Bros.
04:00and Valkyrie Profile.
04:01Her last video game role was in 2015's Lego Jurassic World.
04:05In May 2024, fans were crushed to learn about a tragedy in Lillis' personal life.
04:10She'd been diagnosed with breast cancer, and despite her years of steady work, she struggled
04:15to make ends meet.
04:17Lillis' sister shared a GoFundMe page to pay for her treatment, and some of her Pokemon
04:21co-stars helped promote the fund.
04:23But in August, fans were further devastated to learn that Lillis had passed away.
04:27Friend and Pokemon castmate Veronica Taylor shared the news on X, writing,
04:32"...Rachel was an extraordinary talent, a bright light that shone through her voice,
04:36whether speaking or singing."
04:38Fans showed up in the comments in droves to share their love for Lillis, and to talk about
04:42just how much her characters meant to them.
04:45If you only play games with English voice actors or dubs, you'd be forgiven for not
04:49knowing Atsuko Tanaka by name.
04:51In Japan, however, there's probably not a single gamer who hasn't heard her voice at
04:55one point or another.
04:56Tanaka was an incredibly prolific actor who began doing voice work in the early 1990s.
05:01She quickly landed roles in landmark animated shows and movies, voicing the main protagonist
05:06in 1995's Ghost in the Shell, and it didn't take long for that work to lead her to video
05:11games.
05:12She began by voicing characters in fairly niche games, but by 1997, she was voicing
05:16Lara Croft in Tomb Raider 2.
05:18Her list of acting credits is downright dizzying.
05:21Fate Stay Night, Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy, Armored Core, Street Fighter, and Persona,
05:28just to name a few beloved franchises.
05:30Tanaka worked nonstop through the 2000s and 2010s, taking roles big and small in some
05:35of the greatest video games of all time.
05:37In the later years of her career, Tanaka started voicing one of her most iconic characters,
05:42Bayonetta, which will be a large part of how gamers remember her.
05:45Gamers and anime fans everywhere got the news that Tanaka had died on August 20th, 2024.
05:51Her son shared the sad update on social media, though he didn't say what specific illness
05:55Tanaka had been fighting in the year leading up to her death.
06:00In September, the world lost one of its voice acting greats.
06:03After receiving a call for a wellness check, police in Burbank found that Peter Renaudet
06:07had died of natural causes in his home at age 89.
06:11Renaudet began acting back in the 1960s, but before even getting to his video game
06:15career, there's no way to mention Renaudet without talking about the original Teenage
06:19Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series.
06:22My four young wards nicknamed me Splinter, for obvious reasons."
06:29Renaudet voiced Splinter throughout the series, as well as a slew of minor characters.
06:34That series began in the late 80s, and then Renaudet's video game career kicked off in
06:38the 90s when he voiced Kingpin and Mysterio in The Amazing Spider-Man vs. the Kingpin.
06:44After that, Renaudet's voice acting career didn't slow down.
06:47In addition to many more TV voice roles, he began adding more video games to his busy
06:51schedule.
06:52He joined the Metal Gear Solid universe as Richard Ames in Sons of Liberty.
06:56He also voiced characters in the Dead Rising, Ninja Gaiden, and Gears of War series, as
07:01well as crushed roles in Fallout New Vegas and Dragon Age Origins.
07:05Basically, if you've loved a nerdy property in the past three decades, you've probably
07:10heard Renaudet's voice countless times.