I was just wondering

[Popertop]

Does/Did anyone read Xykon's lines in the voice of James Woods?

[hamishspence]

In SoD- it's suggested that Xykon's voice is like James Earl Jones's- all he needs to do to do an impression of him, is pitch it slightly deeper:


Xykon:
"Luke, I am your father." Sweet! Sounds just like him, right?
"Simba, you have forgotten me"
"This is CNN."

[Ancalagon]

Therefore, Xykon probably sounds like this. He just says more unfriendly things:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZfeR-QE5io&feature=related

[LuPuWei]

In SoD- it's suggested that Xykon's voice is like James Earl Jones's- all he needs to do to do an impression of him, is pitch it slightly deeper:

Oh! I've always read him with a misleadingly pitched, callous, talk show host voice...

[Popertop]

doesn't his script seem too witty and sardonic to be voiced by james earl jones?
I mean, doesn't exactly fit the types of characters he usually voices.

[Swordpriest]

doesn't his script seem too witty and sardonic to be voiced by james earl jones?
I mean, doesn't exactly fit the types of characters he usually voices.

I agree -- I can't imagine him with a James Earl Jones voice at all, really. A vicious-sounding talk show host would be a bit closer to what I picture as well. :smallwink:

[hamishspence]

doesn't his script seem too witty and sardonic to be voiced by james earl jones?
I mean, doesn't exactly fit the types of characters he usually voices.

Thulsa Doom- only with a nasty sense of humour?

[Bliu Skye]

In my opinion, the voice of James Earl Jones seems too rich to be that of Xykon. I always imagined Xykon with a raspy, breathy voice that generally doesn't carry well until he gets serious, and it loses a little of the breathiness and becomes more resonant. But that's just me.

[Capt Spanner]

I always imagine Xykon to sound more like Luke Skywalker's Mark Hamill's rendition of the The Joker:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c1R3V93bOc

[Temotei]

I always imagine Xykon to sound more like Luke Skywalker's Mark Hamill's rendition of the The Joker:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c1R3V93bOc

That's basically exactly what I thought. Huh.

[Popertop]

I dunno, maybe it's the similarity to Hades from Hercules that does it for me.

[Obani]

I always did think of Xykon's voice as having a sort of sleazy quality... James Woods should voice him in the movie :smallbiggrin:.
What about Redcloak? I think he might have a British accent.

[Temotei]

I always did think of Xykon's voice as having a sort of sleazy quality... James Woods should voice him in the movie :smallbiggrin:.
What about Redcloak? I think he might have a British accent.

Welcome to the Playground. We've got fun and games.

I want a movie with OotS-style stick figures in it. That would be so awesome.

[Trickywiggy]

Everyone's voice sounds like my inner monologue.

[Gift Jeraff]

I imagine Xykon like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcmSCf2uYMw

with a hint of Skeletor and some reverberation effect that sounds like James Earl Jones.

[Larkspur]

I always imagine Xykon to sound more like Luke Skywalker's Mark Hamill's rendition of the The Joker:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c1R3V93bOc

Yeah, that sounds right to me too. Except with a bit more of a modern American accent. His voice needs to be deep enough that he can pull off respectable charisma, so I don't think it can go too far off the reedy, high-pitched end of the spectrum, but James Earl Jones has way too much gravitas.

Part of what makes Xykon so unpleasant and creepy is that on some level he's very normal; his dialogue is written like he's an average American 20-something. I think you'd lose that if his voice-actor makes him sound too unnatural, and that would be unfortunate. Evil talk show host is just the right tone- chatty and charismatic but totally soulless.

[JoeSkull]

I dunno, maybe it's the similarity to Hades from Hercules that does it for me.

this is the closest I can think of that his voice sounds like to me.

[Starscream]

When I first started reading this strip, I had (for reasons that evaporated as soon as I got back to normal sleep hours) just downloaded every episode of Samurai Pizza Cats. So I decided he sounded like Big Cheese. Basically Paul Lynde, or, if you don't know who that is, Roger from American Dad (whose voice is based on him).

Nowadays I try to give him Frank Welker's excellent Megatron voice, since he has impressed me so much as a villain. Every now and the, though, he starts sounding like Big Cheese again.

[apenpaap]

I always imagine Xykon with Earl Boen's voice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E77DR9JzI4#t=8m23s

[LuPuWei]

...What about Redcloak? I think he might have a British accent.

Hmmm, I dunnow about British, I've always sort of heard Redcloack as very no-nonsense but normal, like an american corporate accountant with balls. Maybe like the accountant from The Untouchables, only evil.

Now that you mention it, British might be interesting- especially if we up the irony by making all goblins have very refined upperclass British accents...

[hamishspence]

Charles Dance (Benedict from Last Action Hero) as Redcloak?

[Kislath]

I always "hear" Xykon talking with the voice of an evil John Cleese. Is that weird?
As for Redcloak, he's easy. His voice is Alan Rickman, you know, Hans Gruber from the first Die Hard movie?

[sirveaux]

I've always heard Xykon as Strong Bad from Homestar Runner, maybe pitched a little deeper. The level of sarcasm may help this comparison.

[LuPuWei]

I always "hear" Xykon talking with the voice of an evil John Cleese. Is that weird?
As for Redcloak, he's easy. His voice is Alan Rickman, you know, Hans Gruber from the first Die Hard movie?

Alan Rickman as in Severus Snape? Yes! Yes! Yes! Better than the AmericanAccountantwithBalls!

Also John Cleese would make a great Evil Giraffe (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYcnEonB04E).

[veti]

It's a well-known fact I just made up that Xykon's true voice (including accent and mannerisms) is, in fact, indistinguishable from Jerry Springer.

And if anyone has an English accent, which I don't personally think they do, it would be Vaarsuvius. Redcloak is more David Schwimmer.

[jidasfire]

Actually, I think James Woods would make for a really good Xykon voice. He can go from charming and approachable to psycho in no time at all.

[Squeejee]

this is the closest I can think of that his voice sounds like to me.

Thirded. It has all the smooth-talkiness, insanity and pure evil necessary, and when he gets angry his text bubbles get louder (wait...).

[Obani]

And if anyone has an English accent, which I don't personally think they do, it would be Vaarsuvius. Redcloak is more David Schwimmer.

:mitd: Um, Ross can't be Redcloak, because there's no one to be Rachel!

[The Wanderer]

In SoD- it's suggested that Xykon's voice is like James Earl Jones's- all he needs to do to do an impression of him, is pitch it slightly deeper:


Xykon:
"Luke, I am your father." Sweet! Sounds just like him, right?
"Simba, you have forgotten me"
"This is CNN."

Well, technically all it establishes is that Xykon thinks he sounds like James Earl Jones. I can think that I sound like Pavarotti all I want when I sing, but that doesn't necessarily make it so. :smallwink:

While I only picture Xykon with James Earl Jones' voice when he's particularly serious or upset, I think everyone who says that they can't imagine Jones as Xykon is suffering from a lack of imagination. I'm guessing a lot of you aren't too familiar with Jones' versatility, or at least not the the early films that made him famous. Take his breakthrough role, for example, in the 1970 film The Great White Hope. Watch a couple of segments of it on youtube and I think you'll see there's more to JEJ than just sitting around and sounding grave. (I wouldn't recommend watching it you're easily offended though, it's a film about a prominent black man living in a horribly racist time, with all that entails. And apparently it's still very watered down from Jack Johnson's real life).

[Cealocanth]

I always imagined him with a cliche evil mastermind voice. extremely low pitch, able to make dramatic entrances, etc.

[Zwums]

I dunno, maybe it's the similarity to Hades from Hercules that does it for me.

Fourthed? That'd be perfect.

[Popertop]

Well, technically all it establishes is that Xykon thinks he sounds like James Earl Jones. I can think that I sound like Pavarotti all I want when I sing, but that doesn't necessarily make it so. :smallwink:

While I only picture Xykon with James Earl Jones' voice when he's particularly serious or upset, I think everyone who says that they can't imagine Jones as Xykon is suffering from a lack of imagination. I'm guessing a lot of you aren't too familiar with Jones' versatility, or at least not the the early films that made him famous. Take his breakthrough role, for example, in the 1970 film The Great White Hope. Watch a couple of segments of it on youtube and I think you'll see there's more to JEJ than just sitting around and sounding grave. (I wouldn't recommend watching it you're easily offended though, it's a film about a prominent black man living in a horribly racist time, with all that entails. And apparently it's still very watered down from Jack Johnson's real life).

it's not that I'm doubting Jones' versatility, I just don't think A PILE OF BONES can have that rich of a resonance.
There is a science behind sound you know.
And I know you're just going to come back with, "He's a sorcerer, he can just use magic to alter his voice and whatever."
I'm also talking about his personality too.
Jones is just too damn epic to voice a snarky lich.

[The Wanderer]

it's not that I'm doubting Jones' versatility, I just don't think A PILE OF BONES can have that rich of a resonance.
There is a science behind sound you know.
And I know you're just going to come back with, "He's a sorcerer, he can just use magic to alter his voice and whatever."
I'm also talking about his personality too.
Jones is just too damn epic to voice a snarky lich.

There's a science to why a skeleton can't walk as well. It's not like The human body is one long bone, they're separate bones that require ligaments to connects to each other and hold them together, tendons to connect bones to muscle, and muscle to actually move the bones and make moving possible. By all indication Xykon and other undead skeletons have none of that, yet they never seem to have problems moving. So every time that happens, there are violations of science going on. (Speaking of violations of science, an early comic joked about Xykon being unable to do a proper evil laugh because he, y'know, doesn't have lungs. If he can speak without lungs, it's rather lamely nitpicky to say that he can't get the proper resonance because he's a bag of bones).

As for the sorcerer angle, I (sadly) have played very little D&D, but from what I've read here on this board apparently Liches and the undead are supported and given life by channeling energy from the "Plane of Evil". It's this negative energy that keeps them alive, functional, and it's this which gives Xykon his voice. So is a guy channeling energy straight from hell epic enough for you? :smallwink:

Also, reread my post and you'll notice that I agree that I largely don't see Jones as a voice for Xykon, and that maybe Xykon doesn't even sound like him, he may well just think he does.

And besides all that, does anyone seriously think that all James Earl Jones does is sit around and sound epic all day? The man probably does mundane things too y'know, like ask someone to pass him the butter at dinner, cheer on a favorite sports team, or make jokes with his family and friends. If he does it in real life, not every role he does has to be epic for his voice to be used. There are plenty of people whose voices don't match their appearance or personality, and it can happen in fiction too.

[LuPuWei]

And besides all that, does anyone seriously think that all James Earl Jones does is sit around and sound epic all day?

But it would be so cool if he did!

Luke! Please pass the butta! It would be very unwise for you to displease me in this regard...

How do you guys here the MitD, btw?

[Bongos]

James Earl Jones? Evilgasm? No way!

[Popertop]

on another note, have any of you seen those terrible
street fighter cartoons they had in the 90's?
I always read Thog's voice as blanka from those cartoons.

[Darcy]

I imagine him more like a snarkier, more excited version of Doctor Weird from ATHF. Maybe the leader of the Deadite army in Army of Darkness, or perhaps Ugluk from LOTR: TTT. I can't imagine him with too "classy" a voice, he's got to have some grit and snark.