What Do They Sound Like?

[BronyHeresy]

I've always really struggled with different OOTS characters and giving them consistent voices in my head, so I've recently decided (on my second readthrough of the whole thing) to start trying to give their voices some more character. Here are just a few that I can think of immediately.

Roy and family - Midwestern accent.

Haley and Ian - Thick Kiwi accent (if you've watched Castle in the Sky, think Sheeta all grown up and you've got Haley).

Elan, Nale, and Tarquin - West Country accent (If you've played Portal 2, think Wheatley and that's basically the voice I give Elan. Tarquin would sound more like Hagrid with his voice lowered about half an octave).

Durkon - Scottish (Duh)

Belkar - Duke Nukem if he grew up in the Shire.

Daimyo Kabuto - George Takei. That is all.

Miko Miyazaki - A really raw hoarse voice, like someone who spent too much time screaming when they were young, and still spends too much time screaming.

Xykon - Raspy Ashkenazi New Yorker. (idk)

Redcloak - Crisp Oxford Accent. Think JARVIS from Iron Man, and you're spot on.

Hobgoblins - Football Hooligans, the lot of them. Basically, 40k Orks.

Oracle - Billy Crystal

Thog and Orcs - Russian accent, very deep voice.

I'm trying to keep accents roughly the same for characters of the same place of origin (I guess Greysky City is New Zealand?). What about the rest of you? What sort of voices do you imagine for the characters?

[Vinsfeld]

Belkar - Duke Nukem if he grew up in the Shire.

OMG! I'm laughing so hard right now. My parents must think I've gone crazy.

[EnragedFilia]

I have specific voices that I imagine (and frequently vocalize) for each (major) character, but the easiest one to describe is Belkar, who sounds like Cartman but even more pissed off than usual.

Because seriously, just try saying "I am gonna rip off your stupid bug head and piss down your neck hole!" without sounding like Cartman. It doesn't work!

Notably, none of my voices have any accent as such at all, not even Durkon, beyond a "amateur actor struggling to approximate the sounds represented in the text" sort of way. I therefore find your random assortment of accents from all over the world quite interesting as well as inexplicable.

Edit: Ashkezani New Yorker? That's not a villain accent it's a comedy accent! What kinda villain you ever heard of talks like a overexcited Mel Brooks? I'll tell you what kinda villain, it's a Mel Brooks villain played by Mel Brooks, that's what. And that's what makes it a comedy villain! (for full effect, make sure to read the above as if recited by Mel Brooks)

My Xykon's voice, meanwhile, is vaguely similar to Samuel L. Jackson when he's trying to act friendly, maybe with some extra bass added in post.

My Redcloak's voice (and by extension the voice of most other goblins and hobgoblins, depending on their role and mood and so forth) is fairly high-pitched and very nasal, sort of like either Dinobot or Tarantulas from Beast Wars only without the extra-breathy quality.

My Thog talks like Yogi Bear, or possibly Bizarro from the Superman animated series, if they were really happy all the time. I don't think Thog could manage a Russian accent even if he was speaking Russian. An accent like that requires a much higher int score than verb conjugation.

edit again: My MITD voice sounds like my old friend Jerry, which is kinda like Cartman only if he was half-asleep and smoked a lot of weed, and ended every sentence with a question mark.

[Tiktik Ironclaw]

Well, I read the comic aloud, to prevent losing distinct voices, and these are what I use:

Roy, Redcloak, Daigo, Hinjo, background characters- my normal voice

Xykon- a high-pitched, almost cackling voice

Elan- a ridiculously high pitched, almost inhuman voice

Tarquin, Kubota- "superior" voice, yet not British

Durkon- Scottish

Belkar, other halflings, Nale, kobolds, Demon Roaches, Right Eye- scratchy, nasally voice, but Kilkil's is a little squeaky

All Females(-Miko and orcs)- my best female impression

Thog and Orcs- slow, deep, dimwitted voice

Sabine, Julia, Roy's mom- my best African American female impression

Miko- hoarse, nasally scream

Zz'dtri- hoarse, whispering voice

Vaarsuvius and Inkyrius- airy, mystical elven voice, V's is more feminine, I's is more masculine

Jirix- Barack Obama

MitD- dumb, naive, high pitched voice

O-Chul, Horace Greenhilt- masculine, deep, strong voice

Eugene Greenhilt, Shojo- raspy old man voice

[Katrover_Swatroad]

Belkar always sounds like Gilbert Gottfried in my mind, for some reason. :P

[Sir_Leorik]

I used to read the Oracle with Gilbert Gottfried's voice, but I've since switched to Patton Oswalt. For some reason the Oracle sounds smarmier to me when voiced with Oswalt's voice.

[Tiktik Ironclaw]

I forgot to include these in my first post:

Gnomes- thick Cockney accent

Qarr- same as Belkar and Nale

Yikyik- I do him as if his throat was clogged with mucus and saliva flies everywhere when he speaks. Just to give him a little personality.

[Shred-Bot]

Belkar - Eric Cartman from South Park

Everyone else - Strong Bad's assorted (but functionally identical) Teen Girl Squad voices.

[TheMac04]

Ever since it was suggested in one of the "Movie Cast" threads, I can't imagine anything for Xykon besides James Woods, using the same voice he used for Hades in the Disney Hercules movie. It's just perfect.

[veti]

I have specific voices that I imagine (and frequently vocalize) for each (major) character, but the easiest one to describe is Belkar, who sounds like Cartman but even more pissed off than usual.

Because seriously, just try saying "I am gonna rip off your stupid bug head and piss down your neck hole!" without sounding like Cartman. It doesn't work!

That would be a strong point, except that you had to misquote to make it fit. What Belkar actually says is: "I swear, I am going to rip off your stupid bug head and piss down your neck hole!" Not "I am gonna" (or "I'm gonna", which would be even more Cartmanly).

I know I'm alone in this, but I hear Belkar in the voice of Kelsey Grammer. He's much closer to Sideshow Bob than to Eric Cartman.

[Quackenbush]

Mine are kind of bland.

Roy, Haley, and Elan- No real accent, but American english

Durkon- Scottish, of course.

Belkar- He has a very tough voice, but it's higher than you would expect. Not super high, just enough that it would raise eyebrows on a huge guy.

Vaarsuvius- Very proper english

Thog- He sounds like a monster. No real world accent, just very broken english in a deep, slightly gravelly voice.

Tarquin- He has a radio voice. He always talks like he's on an infomercial or commentating on something.

Malack- Not very loud, but he always sounds sinister, like he's plotting something. Sort of high and whiney, but not unpleasant. Sort of like a more even tempered Joker.

Shojo- Like Uncle from Jackie Chan

Sabine- sickeningly sweet

Julia Greenhilt- pretty stereotypical teen girl. Her pitch rises and falls a lot.

Redcloak- Very educated, but not overly proper. A pretty average guy, similar to Ro/Elan/Haley, but deeper.

MitD- A very young boy, but deeper

Demon roaches- squeaky. like an eviler alvin and the chipmunks.

Xykon- A normal voice, but raspier

Oracle- Like Groucho Marx

So basically, not all of them have distinct voices. Most people just sound like my voice to me.

[KoboldRevenge]

The only consistent one I have is Blackwing as Red Mantle from the Venture Bros. They both have a kind of at the same time clueless and snarky humor.

[Mando Knight]

Xykon's voice, according to SoD, has a bit of reverb, and he can drop his voice a bit to get off a couple James Earl Jones soundalike lines. (Specifically, "Luke, I am your father (http://youtu.be/peh2T2543ec?t=1m6s)," "Simba, you have forgotten me (http://youtu.be/byDN8aoR4TI?t=1m9s)," and "This is CNN (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAKHlStMph8).")

[mistformsquirrl]

The only one I can explain adequately is how I hear Xykon's voice.

That's because every time I read OOTS and Xykon is speaking, I hear Hector con Carne (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KGDKtg5pxA)

Just add a twinge more bass to Hector's voice and *bam* that's how I hear Xykon.

[SowZ]

When I read things, I hear my own voice in my head. So I don't focus on vocal sound for characterization. /:

[CRtwenty]

Ever since it was suggested in one of the "Movie Cast" threads, I can't imagine anything for Xykon besides James Woods, using the same voice he used for Hades in the Disney Hercules movie. It's just perfect.

This is... pretty much how I've always pictured Xykon's voice as well. Though a little bit higher pitched after he became a Lich.

Durkon sounds like Sean Connery in my head.

[deworde]

I started reading the stories to my daughter. To me, Haley sounds sort of Jewel Staite like, Roy's more of a generic upper-middle class American or British accent. Elan's Owen Wilson. Durkon is an aging Robbie Coltrane, and Vaaruvius is Tilda Swinton.

Belkar as Jason Statham was the one my wife couldn't stand. Turns out to her he always sounds like a mischievous little boy type.

[fan4battle]

When I read things, I hear my own voice in my head. So I don't focus on vocal sound for characterization. /:Oh, good. I was starting to think I'm the only one. :smallbiggrin:
Though I have a mental idea for how some characters would sound.

[BronyHeresy]

Edit: Ashkezani New Yorker? That's not a villain accent it's a comedy accent! What kinda villain you ever heard of talks like a overexcited Mel Brooks? I'll tell you what kinda villain, it's a Mel Brooks villain played by Mel Brooks, that's what. And that's what makes it a comedy villain! (for full effect, make sure to read the above as if recited by Mel Brooks)


That's actually precisely why I picked that accent for the character. I feel like it really belies Xykon's villainy - It's the same way as his constant goofiness and polite mannerisms. You just don't expect somebody as chatty and generally prone to silliness (admittedly depraved silliness) as Xykon to be really evil, and yet there it is. The Ashkenazi New Yorker accent just fit. That was my rationale anyway.

By the way, forgot to mention the MitD. I generally would give him a really, really deep rumbling voice, because he's a huge monster, and most of his lines sound pretty funny if read that way.

[wingnutx]

Xykon sounds a lot like Clarence Boddicker.

[Alan_Pehnereas]

:xykon: = Jeff Bridges.

[davidbofinger]

Some of the suggested voice actors for Xykon, such as Samuel L. Jackson, suffer from the problem that they are kind of cool. Xykon is, let's remember, not merely evil but also most of the time a prat. Also his voice should be thin, because he's got no breath or vocal cords.

Redcloak has to have the same accent as the goblins and hobgoblins, but a more dignified version of it. If goblinoids are Russian (as suggested by others, and which I think could work) then Redcloak can be an educated Russian professor type.

Tarquin, Nale and Elan are probably all played by the same voice actor, with different accents? So it has to be someone with some range. I'm tempted to say Jeremy Irons but maybe he's too obtrusive.

For Roy I'd go for an African-American or West Indian actor who can do exasperation as well as confidence. Maybe Sidney Poitier?

No particular ideas for the others.

[EnragedFilia]

That's actually precisely why I picked that accent for the character. I feel like it really belies Xykon's villainy - It's the same way as his constant goofiness and polite mannerisms. You just don't expect somebody as chatty and generally prone to silliness (admittedly depraved silliness) as Xykon to be really evil, and yet there it is. The Ashkenazi New Yorker accent just fit. That was my rationale anyway.




Some of the suggested voice actors for Xykon, such as Samuel L. Jackson, suffer from the problem that they are kind of cool. Xykon is, let's remember, not merely evil but also most of the time a prat.


Indeed, and both of these are significant to that selection (in hindsight anyway. It's not like I thought any of this through when I started reading his lines like that, I just thought it sounded appropriate for a white-on-black speech bubble):

Xykon is indeed prone to depraved silliness, but you can't tell that until you've observed him for a while. Thus, his voice also sounds non-silly initially, which also heightens the inherent dissonance of an undead monstrosity doing things like, say, laughing at a banana cream pie gag (with or without acid-spitting beetles).

And likewise, Xykon thinks of himself as cool, just like Samuel L. Jackson's villains (although the only one that springs to mind is from Lakeview Terrace). This in turn helps draw attention to the dissonance of such a voice perpetrating depraved silliness.

[Trystane_Insane]

Oh my goodness. This is like a dessert buffet for a budding linguist such as myself. Interestingly, for me, I am only capable of hearing voices in my head that I can replicate. So basically all the characters sound like me trying to read the webcomic aloud.

Vaarsuvius sounds like me pretending to be Spock, Elan and MitD sounds like me on sugar, Roy sounds like me trying to exert some modicum of influence over my little sister, etc.

Darn it. Now I have to do a dramatic reading of this (insanely awesome) webcomic. Actually... Is there any way we could co-create one? Like, everyone post the first book's worth of dramatic reading to a site somewhere and then someone with sound-editing skills put the pieces that sound the most recognizable together?

(Just a brain drizzle, not necessarily serious. I imagine there's copyright snarls somewhere preventing that from working.)

[RedneckTex95]

Here's how I hear them:

Elan: Owen Wilson

Haley: Sothern Belle Accent or Sigourney Weaver

Roy: Upper Class African American with an annoyance in his voice

Durkon: John Rhys-Davies (Gimli from Lord of the Rings)

Belkar: Bill Paxton but angrier...?

Vaarsuvius: Liv Tyler (Arwen from Lord of the Rings)

Hinjo: The best Asian accent I can do

Qarr: Sinister Quite/Squeaky New Yorker accent

Thog: Sloth from The Goonies

Tarquin/Nale: Sinister Old Western Accents

Mitd: My own voice but more childish, ADHD, and ADD (I doubt that makes any since)

Xykon: Kinda Average Guy, a little more sinister

Redcloak: My own voice just irritated/annoyed

Malack: Low, whispering, sinister, snake-ish

And I think that's all.

[Option2401]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBeI_bKkmo0

I think most of the voice actors do a great job, for an amateur video. Roy's could be deeper, V a bit more... I don't know, chewing-the-scenery-ish, but they nailed the androgynous feel.

Belkar's voice is right on! He now has a perpetual Cockney accent in the comics for me.

Elan's is great as well; innocent and eager. Durkon and Haley are good as well.

[Rakoa]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBeI_bKkmo0Belkar's voice is right on! He now has a perpetual Cockney accent in the comics for me.


These are awesome. You're right, Belkar has the perfect voice, and V's and Roy's do sound a bit off. But still, very well done.

[Hbgplayer]

Roy: Terrence Howard
Haley: Scarlett Johansson or Emma Watson
Vaarsuvius: Magie Smith
Elan: Some one really annoying
This is perfect:

Belkar - Eric Cartman from South Park
Horace Greenhilt: Morgan Freeman.
Roy's Archon: Same as Roy.

[fan4battle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBeI_bKkmo0

Those don't do it for me at all. I guess I have a different image.

[OctoberRaven]

I always hear Xykon's voice in my head as that of Killface from Frisky Dingo.

Also, if there was ever an animated version of OOTS, Nancy Cartwright should be Vaarsuvius.

EDIT-
:xykon: : And why is the doom in quotation marks? Is it an ironic doom? Is the doom implied?!

[Chantelune]

Belkar - Duke Nukem if he grew up in the Shire.



"It's time to kick gnomes and chew chocolate. And I'm all out of Chocolate !" :smallcool:

[doctavius]

I always imagine Xykon (rhymes with Zyklon) with a German Colonel Klink accent.

[Ranzear]

Tim Curry is my Xykon. Hands down. X's brand of camp seems almost carved of Curry.

And due to this thread, I've now got Owen and Luke Wilson as Elan and Nale.

[oppyu]

Tim Curry is my Xykon. Hands down. X's brand of camp seems almost carved of Curry.

And due to this thread, I've now got Owen and Luke Wilson as Elan and Nale.
:xykon:: I see you shiver, with anticipa-... oh wait, it was because I was killing you. Never mind.