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Dimension-Dino

Sarge Ray
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As was announced on Twitter earlier today, Warner Bros announced that it will be shutting RoosterTeeth down. RWBY, Camp Camp, Red vs. Blue, and Gen: LOCK are among the many shows that will suffer under this decision. While RT's fall is one that many people saw coming, it doesn't make this ordeal any easier to watch. And seeing so many entertainers, projects, and jobs get left off on the wayside is just hard to look at. I do encourage you to archive and download what you can. We do NOT want a repeat of what happened to Machinima not too long ago--tldr; entire website went down and it took almost two decades' worth of content into the void with it, never to be seen again. (hate the heads of RT, not the artists whose only crime was doing their job) All of this applies to Death Battle, a mainstay of RT's since they merged w/ScrewAttack and one of their biggest draws for years. What does all this mean for Death Battle Arena going forward? ...I don't know. DB's future is uncertain. I'll have to know more before I start making proper preparations. There's tons of scenarios that could play out, but I narrowed it down to three. Scenario 1 - It gets canceled, dies with RoosterTeeth. Scenario 2 - The show DOES continue, but has to undergo significant budget cuts. Scenario 3 - Ben and Chad make a kind of "spiritual successor" in the event a rights issue. The scenarios differ, with Arena either closing shop, continuing forth, or..."God only knows". When the chips are down, though, I think the possibility of Death Battle's end is very real at this point. I don't believe DB will die overnight if it DOES happen. It will take months for a decision to be made and for effects to truly start coming to light. I also don't think it will go out without a fight. Former ScrewAttack member, StutteringCraig, has expressed interest in reacquiring the show, and Ben and Chad have said that they're not prepared to let DB die yet, whether it be continuing w/less budget or having to rebrand. Not trying to be pessimistic here, more of "realistic". And in case you're wondering, I'm still working on applying the new logo to the bios, because even with all this happening, I'm not going to let it go to waste now that I have it. Same applies to the applying of Normals. I plan on buckling down and doing what I can while I can. I will make a more final decision once things start to clear up. What will come will come. And we will have to be ready for it when it does.

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I've teased the idea for a while, but now it's time to put it to work. The basic idea of how DB Arena's roster would work is to choose a select number of fighters, and I'm curious as to what those of you who follow it would do with almost 400 characters to choose from. So, here's the challenge: "BUILD YOUR OWN ROSTER". There are really only two rules... -Pick 20-30 characters max from Death Battle's vast history. Don't just choose characters solely because "I like them". Pick them if you think you'd be good playing as them or if you think you'd have a lot of fun with their moveset (based on your personal experiences w/fighting games). -You may pick ONE "DLC" character: a character you hope will be in DB but hasn't shown up. I'll start off with mine. Also, these are in no particular order. 1. Bayonetta 2. Megaman.EXE 3. Ryu 4. Deadpool 5. Fulgore 6. Strider Hiryu 7. Darth Vader 8. Yang 9. Hawkeye 10. Mewtwo 11. Tracer 12. Madara 13. TJ Combo 14. Spider-Man 2099 15. Sephiroth 16. Crash Bandicoot 17. Carnage 18. Jiraiya 19. Ghost Rider 20. All Might 21. Booster Gold 22. Saitama 23. Blue Team 24. Iron Man Prime 25. Kool-Aid Man 26. Dracula 27. Scarlet Witch 28. SpongeBob 29. Sauron 30. Silver DLC: Banjo and Kazooie

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The guy writing the Arena's TVTropes page (or whatever fan-wikis exist) probably hates me for doing this so much, but... I can explain. Ever since its inception, changes have been steadily made to the choice voice actors I have for some of these characters. There are many reasons for this, so I'm going to explain it to the best of my ability. Some of these are simple enough, some are disheartening, others will scar you for life, and there are one or two happy endings among them.


The first and foremost reason I make occasional changes is one I kinda make clear...

AVOIDING CELEBRITY CASTING...

I don't entirely hate celebrities (though in this day and age, they DO test my patience a lot) and some can actually be solid voice actors-when they're NOT just being themselves solely to act as a draw for whatever they're in-but I came across this bit in a director's commentary for the animated movie "Ultimate Avengers".


In short, it basically said they wanted voice actors that could breathe life into the characters rather than just hire celebrities. That way, the viewer can focus more on the characters without spending most of the movie guessing who was voicing them. It's something I took to heart very quickly and it's still part of my work ethic to this day as someone who occasionally dabbles in casting. So, yeah, that's part of the reason I went with these...

Boba Fett: Temuera Morrison -> Dee Bradley Baker

Terminator: Arnold Schwarzenegger -> Mark Moseley Robocop: Peter Weller -> David Sobolov

Afro Samurai & Ninja Ninja: Samuel L. Jackson -> Dave Fennoy & Keegan Michael Key The Mask: Jim Carrey ->Rob Paulsen James Bond: Daniel Craig -> Robin Atkin Downes

John Wick: Keanu Reeves -> Troy Baker


I listened to their respective performances and went with an actor I felt could best emulate them, given their track records. That or I gave it to someone who played the characters in other media. Yeah, it sometimes is just that simple.

Luke Skywalker: Mark Hamill -> Bob Bergen -> Matt Mercer I gotta be honest with you, people. Mark Hamill, iconic as he is as Luke Skywalker, is past his prime where the character is concerned and I'm just going to say I was of this opinion WAY before Last Jedi came out, so don't even try to go there. I gave the role to Bob Bergen who would hold it for awhile, as he played Luke in a few choice Star Wars video games.

That all would change when I heard Matt Mercer's performance in Battlefront II. Controversial game, I know, but he was actually really good and captured a lot of Luke's character and the intonations Hamill used in his prime. I hate to rob Bob of his time in the sun, but Mercer's take felt a bit more natural the more I listened to it.

Harry Potter: Daniel Radcliffe -> Jason Spisak -> Kyle McCarley This, back in the day, was a "no" for me to use Radcliffe, especially since his career exploded even after he departed from the Harry Potter movies. From "The Woman in Black" to the Weird Al Yankovic biopic, Daniel's been on a roll when it comes to Hollywood roles...and it meant I couldn't list him. Also, he expressed no real desire to return to the role and that is a whole other can of worms; one I don't want to delve into. I went with Jason Spisak for the longest time, partly because he was the first voice that came to mind and partly because Harry's voices in the accompanying video games were...kinda hit or miss. That all would change when I heard word of Kyle McCarley's performance in "Wizards Unite". He radiated the same energy Radcliffe did in the movies to the point I had to pick him as my choice voice for the Boy Who Lived.

Scrooge McDuck: David Tennant -> Enn Reitel I have to be reasonable. Considering Alan Young, who voiced Scrooge for decades, passed away a year before Scrooge clashed with Shovel Knight? Shot that idea dead before it even arrived. So, when DuckTales got rebooted in 2017, David Tennant took up the torch. Guy definitely has a flare for acting and knows how to deliver a memorable performance. That said, I always kinda felt guilty of giving him the role while most other celebrity-type characters get a pass.

That would change when he actually appeared in the long-anticipated Kingdom Hearts III and voiced Scrooge McDuck. He sounded hale and hearty as Alan Young, while giving him a distinct performance that fit well with KH's vibe and atmosphere. It's no perfect impression, but it was fine enough by my standards.


There are exceptions I'm willing to make for some of these castings, such as...

Elijah Wood as Sigma (The Meta) Haley Joel Osment as Sora Oded Fehr as Dr. Fate/Rachel Weisz as Inza Brad Garrett as Lobo

Karl Urban as Butcher

Jack Black as Po JK Simmons as Omni-Man Because these stars DO have solid track-record as voice actors and can play characters other than themselves. That and some of them can be genuinely awesome, like Jack Black.


FOUND BETTER ALTERNATIVES...

This is something more akin to a lightning-round with an occasional bit of explanation, so don't expect TOO many details this time around. That said...

Shang Tsung: Keone Young -> Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa What happened? Mortal Kombat 11 happened. It brought back Cary Tagawa from the original 90's movie and he was really good at capturing Shang Tsung while also having fun callbacks.

Mai Shiranui: Sheryl Stanley -> Jeannie Tirado Sheryl's voice performance in King of Fighters Destiny wasn't "great", as it was from that time when English dubs of fighting games were only just testing the waters. However, it was the only one that stuck to me--a "meh" voice among other "meh" voices.

Then one day, V-The-King suggested Jeannie and used her performances as Piyori in Disgaea 6 and Android 21 in DragonBall Fighterz, and she ticked enough boxes for me to give her the gold. For me, though, the one true English Mai voice has to go to my voice acting friend named Snowlette (or Snowsie/snowxanya in some cases).

Tails: Kate Higgins -> Colleen O'Shaughnessey Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate Kate Higgins as Tails. I actually thought it was an upgrade from the previous actor. However, Sonic Boom and the second Sonic movie helped change my mind. Colleen not only portrays Tails very well, she actually got a named credit on movie posters and a spot on the red carpet during Sonic 2's premiere. It seems like no big deal, but things like this are VERY rare for voice actors and for reasons I'll explain later. This movie is kinda a win for those in the voiceover industry, so I had to make the change to honor that.

Sektor: Andrew Kishino -> Vic Chao This one is pretty straightforward. Listened to Vic as Tri-Borg, which has Sektor as its default personality, and I just liked the sound of it better.

Nightmare: Michael McConnohie -> Kirk Thornton Long story short, Soul Calibur 6 happened, to the disbelief of many, and I felt it necessary to update, seeing as I liked Kirk's take more than Michael's.

Darth Vader: Matt Sloan -> Evan Michael Lee Yeah, I was never going to cast James Earl Jones because he was old even back then. He had some semblance of the character for shows like Star Wars Rebels, but nowadays he has lost so much of his luster. I remember Matt Sloan from Chad Vader back in the day and he absolutely killed it in "The Force Unleashed", but in light of recent events? I had to change it again, this time to Evan Michael Lee. When it was announced Vader's voice would be replicated through A.I., Evan took to Twitter to show just how much better hiring an actual voice actor could be. And he absolutely WRECKED HOUSE. I can only suggest you find his Twitter page and give his Vader videos a look/listen. You won't be disappointed.

Ganondorf: Gerald C. Rivers -> Jamieson Price Gerald was my ideal voice actor for Ganondorf--basically his Exdeath voice for the King of Evil. However, as my scope expanded, I found Gerald was a better fit for just a few choice iterations like Wind Waker or Twilight Princess. In the last few years, though, Jamieson Price has really grown on me as a voice actor. Take his Iskandar voice, make it evil, and it fits a broader amount of Ganondorf portrayals across the series.

Flash: Grant Gustin -> James Arnold Taylor What happened? The Flash show fell from grace years ago, that's what. Now they have the budget and aesthetic of a ChannelAwesome skit--and not one of the good ones. Grant Gustin can only salvage so much and I feel it's time to let the guy go, and the show he's attached to.

Captain Marvel: Jennifer Hale -> Erica Lindbeck This isn't a hatepost at all. I actually liked Hale as Carol Danvers in "Earth's Mightiest Heroes", but I had to change Erica Lindbeck down as the character because her iteration of Captain Marvel in "Future Avengers" frankly puts the abomination created by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Brie Larson to shame. She's fun, likable, encouraging, a lot of the things Carol just...isn't anymore.


Smokey: Peter Cullen -> Jim Cummings This was more or less my memory catching up to me. I revisited a few Smokey commercials and realized just how much he sounded like Pete from Disney. The changes were made immediately.


Silver Samurai: Keone Young -> Paul Nakauchi I feel a lot of Silver Samurai's voice actors and portrayals haven't aged particularly well. Some overplay the accent or completely ham it up. Paul, the voice of Hanzo from Overwatch, just felt like he would do a more authentic portrayal of the character.


Aang: Zach Tyler Eisen -> Emily Fajardo Puberty hit Zach like a ton of rocks and he doesn't sound like a kid anymore. Plain and simple. Now, onto the next segment...

DEAD... Yeah, I know that this is supposed to be "fictional" or "fantasy", but no matter how you guys try to paint it... Death is still a permanent and tragic thing on our mortal coil. To deny that aspect in life is incredibly unhealthy and to proclaim that "they're still alive in MY world" is delusion talking. For this segment, we honor the fallen. It was a difficult task choosing actors to take up the torch, but I do believe they'd do good jobs.

Taokaka: Philece Sampler -> Tia Ballard (1953-2021, died of a heart attack) Batman: Kevin Conroy -> Troy Baker (1955-2022, died of cancer) Tigerzord: Jason David Frank -> Christopher Niosi Dragonzord: Jason David Frank -> Nick Andrew Louie (1973-2022, committed suicide) Frieza: Christopher Ayres -> Daman Mills (1965-2021, died of pulmonary disease)

On a slightly-lighter note, but one that can be seen as sad all the same...

RETIRED...

These next few individuals are still among the living, but their days as voice acting (or as certain characters at least) is over all the same. Some by choice, and others by events beyond their control. I wish to respect their retirement, hence I recast them.

Akuma and Oni: Dave Mallow -> Richard Epcar This is a pretty straightforward one. After a career spanning decades and starring in classic titles like Digimon and Gurren Laggan, Mallow retired from the voice acting scenario in 2019, but the most interesting detail about it is...we don't know anything beyond that. Why did he retire? No one knows. Where is he now? No one knows. What're his plans and intentions for the future? No one knows. When you stop and look back at it all, though, the guy's kinda been an enigma for years. Only a few pics and video clips of him exist, and a lot of it was taken down on sites like BehindTheVoiceActors and wikis, so if he preferred living with relative anonymity, it only makes sense he'd retire in relative secrecy, too. In short, Mallow up and peaced out and Epcar from Street Fighter 5 took his place. His reasons are his own, though, and I'm willing to respect that. Enjoy your retirement, Dave. Renamon: Mari Devon -> Marissa Lenti This was one that actually surprised me because of how recently it happened. Apparently, Mari has been retired since 2020 and is no longer in the voice acting community. Why did she retire? Where is she now? I direct you to Dave Mallow. No one really knows and it's none of our business. Best to let her enjoy her retirement. Marissa, a huge Digimon fan, and who voiced Renamon in the episode should do the role just fine.

Peppy Hare: Tom Kane -> Jaz Adams Magneto: Tom Kane -> Dwight Schultz Tom Kane was a prominent voice actor from my childhood to my adult years, and I'm sure he was part of yours, too. From Powerpuff Girls to Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends to the Batman Arkham games, odds are you've heard him at some point or another. I remember seeing one fateful report and it was just heartbreaking to read. For those who missed my status update during "Magneto vs. Tetsuo", Tom Kane suffered a stroke in 2020 and a year later, his daughter announced that the stroke left the right side of his body weak and affected his ability to read, write, and speak, which would lead to his early retirement.

Guy had been an actor since 1977, so a career spanning almost 45 years means his life was anything but dull or uneventful. But his fate is still a depressing one--it's like a painter going blind or a musician going deaf. The happy ending to all of this? Kane got a lot of letters from fans, wishing him a long, healthy retirement and thanking him for making their childhoods memorable. His daughter said that he really appreciated them for that.

Professor Xavier: Jim Ward -> David Kaye Way Big: Jim Ward -> Dee Bradley Baker Jim Ward actually kinda flew under my radar for a while, but I knew him as a solid actor. Long-time voice of Captain Qwark from Ratchet and Clank, more than a few aliens in the original Ben 10, and even had a solid Professor X performance in "Wolverine and the X-Men". Why did he retire? I'm not cutting corners, it's a tragic one-two-punch. In 2021, he was diagnosed with both Alzheimer's AND COVID. After learning such information, I can't really blame the guy for retiring when he did. If that isn't a sign that the end is nigh, I don't know what is.


The Joker: Mark Hamill -> Lucas Schuneman

Kevin Conroy's passing affected a lot of people. The guy had been the go-to voice of Batman for almost 30 years, and that isn't something people are going to be forget quickly or easily. This applies to fellow castmates, as Mark Hamill demonstrated. Mark recently announced he's not going to be playing the Joker anymore, and that Kevin's passing is a big reason why. He'd been the go-to voice for the Joker for basically as long as Kevin had been Batman, and he felt that the two were just...a team, for lack of a better word. To make a long story short, with Conroy gone, Hamill felt that playing Joker without him as Batman would just not feel the same. Through that reasoning, I can perfectly understand, and hereby let him hang up the gloves as my headcanon Joker. Enter Lucas Schuneman, who voiced Joker in his battle against Sweet Tooth. Honestly? Lucas does a solid enough job as Joker, being a believable stand-in for Hamill's performance while also finding subtle ways to stand out on his own.

Caboose: Joel Heyman -> Michael Malconian Joel had been a long-time member of the RoosterTeeth team as the voice of fan-favorite Blue Team cadet, Michael J. Caboose. In 2019, however, he ended up getting fired from RoosterTeeth after 16 years. I'm not gonna delve TOO deep into this topic, partly because I don't know the full details and partly because the story will change depending on who you ask. It's a BIG can of worms and I don't want to open it. Whatever the reason, Joel refused to reprise the role of Caboose both for the Death Battle and for future Red vs Blue content, and the torch was passed to Michael Malconian (who happens to be an acquaintance of mine, not lying). You can thank SilverJenkins, one of the guys who helped with the Blue Team's Arena bio, for adding that detail to the voice actors. And another, but we'll talk about her later. I will say, to anyone who has known Joel as Caboose for all these years, Michael isn't a bad replacement in the slightest. It's not a perfect impression, but he captures enough of the comedic timing and vocal intonations to be a solid stand-in, to the point that he continues to voice him in Red vs. Blue PSAs. But as this episode was meant to celebrate the good ol' days at Blood Gulch, doing it all without a last hurrah from Joel felt dirty in a way. I have no issue with Michael as Caboose, but it was one of the details that kept the Red vs. Blue Death Battle from being "great". Not too relevant to the topic, but I just had to say it. Mario: Charles Martinet -> Kevin Afghani Luigi: Charles Martinet -> Kevin Afghani Wario: Charles Martinet -> Kevin Afghani After voicing Mario for decades, many were shocked to learn that Charles Martinet stepped down as the voice of Mario and other characters in the franchise. He'd still do promo work for the character, but his days voicing the video game icon, his brother, and his long-time rival are over. Starting with "Super Mario Wonder" and "WarioWare: Move It!", Kevin Afghani has taken up the mantle as all three. And he honestly does a great job channeling the energy that Charles did for all this time. I feel confident in his ability to carry these guys in the foreseeable future. Korra: Janet Varney -> Jacqueline Lopez Not too long ago, Janet Varney publicly announced so that, though she was honored to play the character, she would be stepping away from the role for representative reasons. How good or bad a move this is is largely up to debate, but that is one I'm NOT prepared to take up. I'mma just leave it as "she made her decision, and I'm going to respect it". Her replacement came in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl in the form of Jacqueline Lopez and, from what I hear, she is actually a very close voice-match. Will Jacqueline offer more to the future? Where will she take the character going forward? We don't know. Hopefully, it will be good.


On a happier note...and no, that's not bait. This is legitimately wholesome.

RETURNED... Sometimes, you don't recast someone because an actor leaves. You recast them because they come back after an extended absence.

Tai Kamiya: Todd Haberkorn -> Joshua Seth This one is actually uplifting for me to see and hear, and this has a genuinely-happy ending. Joshua Seth has been the voice of Digimon's Tai Kamiya for years, but things took a turn for the worse in the 2000's when Josh left voice acting. His reason? The SpongeBob movie paid him more for a bit-part than any anime company in his entire career up to that point. It was because of this inherent bitterness and his resulting departure that I kept him away from the character for so long, choosing Todd Haberkorn from the Death Battle episode instead. Recently, though? He's returned to the voice acting scene to reprise the part of Tai in some Digimon OVAs, which caused a resurgence in his popularity, and he seems happy about it too if his social media is anything to go by. It was why I decided to list him as Tetsuo's VA and only recently, I decided to let him make his grand return as my choice for Tai's voice too.


Welcome back, man.

And now for the tough stuff. And I'm gonna warn you now... This may hurt to read. ACTOR CONTROVERSY... You shouldn't follow your favorite voice actors too closely on social media, and for the same reason you shouldn't room up with your best friend. After a week or so, you'll learn something about them that you would've been happier not knowing.

Leonardo: Seth Green -> Cam Clarke

Seth Green is a general funny guy, a huge nerd, and a manchild in both the good and bad ways. In his better times, Green could be a solid voice actor for things like Robot Chicken, Family Guy, Mass Effect, and of course, Ninja Turtles 2012 where he took over the role of Leonardo. (I know about Jason Biggs. Go away.) But it's the worse parts of his manchildhood that ultimately got him the boot from the role of Leonardo. It's a tragedy of stupidity in the following parts... Part 1: He decided to get invested in NFTs. That act alone was enough to get him off the role, but it somehow gets worse. Go watch CynicalReviews' explanation on just how bad NFTs are. He explains it better than I ever could. Part 2: He decides to make a SHOW about NFTs. Because looking at ONE ugly picture in animated format wasn't bad enough. Part 3: He loses his NFT because of a phishing scam, causing him to cancel the show he wanted to make. Maybe you shouldn't have clicked that sketchy link, dude? Part 4: Guy who stole his NFT sold it off to someone else and Seth desperately tried to bargain to get it back. He did, but it cost him over 300,000 USD to do so. At this point, he should've been asking himself if it was SERIOUSLY worth it. Yong Yea has some great videos chronicling just how bad Seth had it in this scenario. It was just a big comedy of errors and shows just how awful and scammy NFTs are. BY NATURE. In short, this entire saga coerced me to dump him as the voice of Leonardo in favor of Cam Clarke, who still occasionally voices him for things like Nickelodeon All Star Brawl and Shredder's Revenge. And Seth Green isn't the only one to suffer the NFT curse. As you'll see REALLY soon...

Iron Man: Chuck Huber -> Mick Wingert Hiei: Chuck Huber -> Howard Wang

I used to like this man. I really did. He genuinely felt like "one of the good ones" after Funimation's controversies started to pile up. Guy even held semi-frequent contests for voice actors with prizes including small roles in anime, free classes hosted by him, and production of voiceover reels to market your ability. I should know because I participated in these contests, once actually getting into the semifinals. But recently, this has all changed and a side of Chuck has been revealed that genuinely make people raise an eyebrow. The "suspicious" fashion, not the "amused" fashion. For starters, the guy shills for cryptocurrency and NFTs to the point you'd think his account was hacked. I kid you not, it's genuinely-creepy how it happened basically overnight.

Secondly, it was revealed that a lot of the contests he held were rigged. If you took one of his voice acting classes, which were "just okay" from what I heard, he'd show favor to you and get you a higher chance of advancing or outright winning.

Last but not least, he's a conspiracy nut who thinks that the Earth is flat. At times, it feels like Dale Gribble from "King of the Hill" took over his account, only...it's not funny.

The final straw for me was when he left the contest he created and the first thing it tried to do was rope aspiring voice actors who competed...into auditioning for an NFT-based anime. I can't help but think he slipped it into their paperwork before he departed and just "conveniently forgot" to tell anyone. Needless to say, when the backlash hit, the competition was canceled and they reorganized their entire structure to look into the backgrounds of what they sign on for. I know some of you at least are fans of Android 17, Hiei, Kurogiri, Franken Stein, and others. And I'm sorry you have to learn this from ME of all people.

Dante: Reuben Langdon -> Joe Zieja

Ken Masters: Reuben Langdon -> David Matranga I'll be straight with you. I'm not the guy to talk to when it comes to political opinions. I find that, once they DO come up-especially in fields that really have nothing to do with them and from people who aren't politically savvy-enemies get made and wars begin. Reuben's situation is...complicated to say the least. Without going into too much detail, he leaned a BIT too heavily into his political beliefs and posted them where anyone could see them. Controversy emerged, lines were crossed, and he was thrown into the proverbial blender. Because politics and political affairs are something I NEVER want to delve into-for the sake of artistic integrity AND the sanctity of my sanity-and because of the lack of details, I more or less recast his characters as a means to "err on the side of caution". Also, I know he associated with another controversial actor, and you'll see him later down the list, don't worry. Although, the thing that genuinely made me shake my head at him? Guy is a conspiracy nut. Aliens and UFOs, 9/11 theories, the kind of stuff Dale Gribble and a few unfortunate aging parents live for? Those kinds of things. It's not even in a charming or cute way, like the Ancient Aliens guy. Guy was inducted in the early 2000's and has been unhealthily obsessed with them ever since. Willy: Tara Strong -> Kath Soucie Raven and Twilight Sparkle: Tara Strong -> Kira Buckland Harley Quinn: Tara Strong -> Hynden Walch

THIS is where it's really starting to hurt, people. Tara Strong has voiced so many iconic childhood characters across so many genres and fields, but it genuinely hurts that the majority of the time...she's not as nice as one might think.

For starters, she backs PETA and Autism Speaks. These "charities" are about the last ones you would want to support. PETA pulls the most awful stunts imaginable in the name of animal rights, from claiming milk gives you autism to celebrating the death of Steve Irwin to stealing dogs from homeless people. And Autism Speaks treats autism like a disease and a thing to be feared, like if you or your child have it, your life as you know it is over (it isn't).

Next, she's toxically-vegan. If you don't want to eat meat, I won't shame you for it. You do you. It's when you try to make it everyone else's problem that I'll start having issues. Guess what Tara's all about? Now that I know this, suddenly, this quote from Raven makes me envision Tara having to profusely wash her mouth afterward...

"I respect the fact that you don't eat meat. Please respect that I don't eat fake meat." -Raven, "Sum of His Parts" As early as 2021, though, Tara just crossed the line. Around the holiday season, she announced she was creating a show/franchise called "Orna-Mints" and was offering people to voice act for it. There were just 2 problems with it. 1. It was an NFT project. I don't care how "environmentally-friendly" they are. They're still scams at the end of the day. 2. Tara was making it a "free, unpaying project". She'd basically walk away with whatever money she got while not giving a cent to the actors she brought onboard. Voice actors have it rough enough, we don't need you making it worse, Tara. After she was rightly called out, she wept crocodile tears and whined about "understanding" and "acceptance" like she HADN'T pulled one of the biggest F-U's to voice actors. I can testify, she got cursed out in ways you wouldn't think possible. How she still has followers after this debacle is beyond me. The bullet dodged here is that she ALMOST got Rob Paulsen roped into this project. Good news is Rob has a son who's VERY anti-NFT and he talked his pops out of it. Rob himself said he'd neglected to research the topic and that he'd research unfamiliar topics next time he's confused about it. And now... UUUUGH, it's time to talk about THAT guy. Elephant in the room... Edward Elric: Vic Mignogna -> Josh Burner Broly: Vic Mignogna -> Johnny Yong Bosch I tried, people. I've really tried.

Ever since this whole controversy started, I've done my best to stay on-the-fence and give Vic Mignogna the benefit of the doubt. But my patience has reached its end.

If you don't know what the whole situation with Vic is? Firstly, get off DeviantArt, it's no place for a three-year-old. Long story short, a prolific and popular anime voice actor since 2003 got blacklisted and deplatformed because of allegations of sexual misconduct. In just three years, he's basically become the Charlie Sheen of anime voiceover. I'm not here to talk about the legitimacy of these claims, I'm here to talk about the stuff he's done in his efforts to try and get back in the spotlight.

-Went in and out of court trying to get his reputation back, with no plan of attack, no substantial evidence in his favor, and all with lawyers who did not give a crap. -Signed on for an NFT project and only quit when the project head was arrested, rather than by discovering the dubiousness of NFTs in general. -Attempted to house an autographing session in a parking lot, without the property owner's knowledge OR consent, and threw a fit when he was caught in the act. and (this is when I just gave up)... -Went pantsless to a stream held by people who were still fans of him and flashed his leopard-patterned underwear to those very fans. Like I said, I've tried to be patient with the whole Vic scenario, but he just kept making all the wrong moves. Even if he turned out innocent the whole time, his reputation is likely forever-tarnished because he has not behaved like an innocent man. He didn't acknowledge his wrongdoings and vow to better himself like Chris Niosi, or lay low and find solid investigators or tangible evidence to clear his name like Quinton Flynn. Every method he tried, every approach he took, he just kept making things worse.

If you think I'm happy about this and am 100% onboard with Funi now...I assure you I'm not. Funimation has its fair share of skeletons in its closet that I'm not gonna forget anytime soon (like the Scott Freeman incident for example), but I'm also just done ignoring what Vic's done to try and stay relevant. I really am on nobody's side anymore.

BAD BLOOD...

What is this, you ask? These last few entries I've saved for last because they genuinely just made me angry. Some of the previous choices came down to political beliefs and controversy that make me feel pity towards them, apathetic, or annoyed (though SOME made me angry). These following entries not only made me angry, but the actors involved did these acts out of nothing short of pure SPITE.

Bayonetta: Hellena Taylor -> Jennifer Hale This revelation not only hurt me, it ANGERED me. I cannot stress how bad voice actors have it, especially in this day and age. The actors of the Jujutsu Kaisen movie that came out not too long ago? They got paid 150 USD for their roles, and that movie made it BIG. I want to go on record and say that I know comic dubbers on Patreon who made more than the VAs of that movie did. Also, Sean Chiplock earned more for Freedom Planet 2-an Indie game-than he did for all of his roles in Breath of the Wild-a AAA game from Nintendo-COMBINED. It is THAT bad these days, and the sudden rise of AI-generated voices isn't helping ONE. BIT. So, when Hellena Taylor, the longtime voice of Bayonetta, claimed that she turned down the role because she was only offered 4000 USD for the entirety of the game, voice actors naturally took up arms. PlatinumGames and Hideki Kamiya didn't handle the whole situation well either, so it looked like she might have been in the right... Or was she? Not even a few days later, other stories started to emerge and the waters began to clear. Such revelations included Hellena... -Asking for EXORBITANT amounts of money (at least SIX figures) -Manipulating an important cause and her fanbase to rally behind her -Trying to throw Jennifer Hale-who constantly fought for voice actor rights-under the bus -Breaking NDA and making herself liable to get sued -Making things needlessly difficult for PlatinumGames and Kamiya -Demanding a boycott for Bayo 3, only to ironically skyrocket its sales -Asking her fans to donate to charities that are WAY too political for me take confidence in tackling In short, Taylor went from spearheading a revolution to becoming the Amber Heard of voice acting in less than a week. And it's this cynical exploitation of a noble cause that led to me booting her from the role in favor of Jen Hale.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen...


Tex: Kathleen Zuelch -> Elizabeth Maxwell This is similar to the Caboose incident, and I thank RaccoonBro for basically being the white rabbit leading me down the rabbit hole. Unlike the Caboose incident, there is notably more bad blood in this backstory.

Unlike the Joel Heyman incident, there is VERY damning evidence against Kathleen Zuelch and stuff that dates back to FAR before she was fired. Kathleen was the longtime voice of the Number 1 Freelancer, Agent Texas, but left RoosterTeeth in 2014, though she still voiced her (and Glynda Goodwitch) in future productions. That all would change because, in an alcohol-fueled bout of impulsivity, she openly insulted RoosterTeeth's female staff members on social media, basically calling them whores who only got there by sucking up to the male employees. And she ESPECIALLY had it out for Ashley Jenkins (who was dating Burnie Burns and later became his wife). Kathleen deleted the Tweet, but it's Twitter, just having that up for a few minutes is too little and too late. She was fired almost on the spot. Thing that makes me angry, though, is that she didn't just cut her losses and quietly slink away into obscurity. She proceeded to double, triple, and quadruple down, effectively burning all bridges before she left it all behind to pursue production in the entertainment industry. I can't even pity her. She made her bed, now she has to sleep in it. So, SilverJenkins, who helped make the Blue Team's bio suggested Elizabeth Maxwell-a regular among RoosterTeeth's voice cast-to replace her. With roles like Winter Schnee from RWBY, Agent Ohio from Red vs Blue, Nikki from Camp Camp, and Skout from Nomad of Nowhere, Elizabeth definitely has range on her. I could see her doing justice to Tex. Rick Sanchez: Justin Roiland -> Ian Cardoni

Much as I enjoyed Roiland as the titular characters of "Rick and Morty" (or at least the first two seasons), I couldn't deny that something felt a bit off about the guy. From his overreliance on childishly-unsubtle metahumor and improvisation of varying quality to the way he'd almost always get inebriated for recording sessions, there was the underlying sense that something was up. That all came to light last year when text messages were leaked of Justin getting involved with domestic violence and asking women for..."favors" of a nature that would get ANYONE on a watchlist, and some of them weren't even in their 20's. He was arrested in 2023 for multiple felonies, and all shows he was associated with from Rick and Morty to Solar Opposites to Koala Man announced they had cut ties with the guy, announcing they'd go onward without him. Cut to today where Adult Swim announced the new voice of Rick--Ian Cardoni. Honestly, the guy's Rick impression is spot-on and takes a trained ear to spot the differences. Still...Justin Roiland's actions are just plain disgusting. Rumors did go around that his friend, Alex Hirsch, was also involved in some way. But Alex has managed to stay in the projects he was assigned and no word has emerged about the legitimacy of those claims. He's also quietly cut all ties with Justin, but whether that's total severance or just shifting away to avoid trouble is yet to be seen, so I'll take "no news is good news" for now at least.

And that about wraps it up. I hope this offers you the explanation of why so many voice actors had to be changed up. Odds are I'll have to update this list sometime down the line, but time will tell. I hope this has been enlightening to you all.

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Pardon my brief break. I needed time to gauge my situation, measure my options, and test a few approaches to the situation at hand. Now that I have an idea of what’s going on, I owe you all an explanation. There’s a reason I haven’t been tackling quote suggestions or working on Arena Bios like I used to. First of all, I had a LOT of comments to go through from several contributors and it took a lot of time and effort to get through all of them. Don’t take this the wrong way—I’m happy to get them most of the time, but it still requires a lot of time and effort to go through them all, especially when you have a day-job that can leave you exhausted like me. What really put me in this situation, however, was a more recent development. Basically, if I stay on a single deviantart page for too long (a few minutes, from what I’ve observed), the tab I’m on will slow down and eventually crash. It’s the worst when you’re editing a page and the screen suddenly just whites out and converts to a basic “Oops! Something went wrong!” page. This never happens anywhere else for me, just deviantart. I can still see and interact with the site just fine on my phone. But on my laptop, deviantart business has become something of a chore, as it’s the only real way I can edit Arena profiles or write literature as a whole. The mobile version doesn’t have a Literature function to my knowledge and it’s a REAL hassle to edit existing profiles otherwise (especially in the pre-Eclipse entries). Luckily, threstic2020 and I have found a way to cope with this until it (hopefully) gets sorted out. Such practices include… -Keeping only one tab active when doing any dA work -Going through and deleting certain comments on my phone -Editing quickly and updating frequently to refresh the page -Writing stuff in advance before posting it, as I’ve done with this Worst part is, I don’t really know what the deal is. I don’t know if it’s a problem with the site, a problem with my computer, or both. I don’t know if this is happening to anyone else, the most I got being that threstic2020 suffers similar things if he edits his work and plays a YouTube video at the same time. This is making me think back to one post I saw—that DA is becoming less and less hospitable to writers and literary artists alike. This sounds like it could well be another setback thrown at us. If you’re a writer on this site and suffered similar setbacks to those I’m plagued with, please let me know. Don’t worry. I’m not about to leave DA. Not until I absolutely have to. But if all of this is yet another bump in DA’s VERY rocky history, then it’s becoming easier to see why so many people have migrated away from the site.

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As you all know, I've decided to implement fighting styles into Arena bios. Season One's roster has just finished up and been implemented properly, so I figured I'd include a list of terms and what they mean.


Some of these are basic Fighting Game terms, but some are actual inventions thanks to Arena's diverse roster and a little outside help. Please note that this will change as more characters from future seasons are added. Before we go, you may notice two or more in the same style. A brief explanation. "/" Means the two styles go hand-in-hand. ">" Means that one is more prominent, the other less so.


Here we go... ALL-ROUNDER Sports a well-rounded moveset that covers all manner of ranges. They have no overwhelming weaknesses, but are not the best in any category either. Prime Examples of All-Rounder characters include Leonardo, Red Ranger, or Shovel Knight

SHOTO The "Ryu" style, boasting an anti-air, a projectile, and a distance-crosser, usually using similar moves to Street Fighter's Shotokan karate. Similar to All-Rounders, but being more distinct in their movepool. Prime examples of Shotos include Ryu, Ken, and Akuma

ZONER Heavily-reliant on projectiles and controlling the distance between certain opponents, often hampered by subpar health and few melee options. Prime examples of Zoners include Spawn, War Machine, or Dracula

GRAPPLER Heavyset, high-health combatants that like to get in close to the opponent and defeat them in just a few hits, also have a preference for command grabs and tend to hate projectiles. Prime examples of Grapplers include Haggar, Zangief, or Goro

RUSHDOWN Fast and aggressive fighters who get in close and barrage opponents with swift and vicious combo attacks. Known for very straightforward movesets. Prime examples of Rushdowns include Sabrewulf, Wolverine, or Raiden

COMPOSITE Uses moves or specials from other fighters, either from the roster or from their home series.

Prime examples of Composites include Rogue, Shang Tsung, and Kirby MIXUP Has a moveset that start out familiar but with lots of deception potential, or use moves that are highly unusual or bizarre, in order to throw off opponents.

Prime examples of Mixup characters include Deadpool, Thanos, or Popeye.

TRICKSTER

Relies on moves that either hamper an opponent's playstyle-paralysis, slow, sleep, etc.-or rely on trickery and deception-counter teleports, slipaways, surprise attacks, etc.- to keep the opponent guessing. Prime examples of Trickster characters include Joker, Zatanna, or Aizen.


STANCE

Has two or more interchangeable fighting styles, with the core mechanic being to learn how to balance the stances and adapt to the situation. Prime examples of Stance characters include Wonder Woman, Todoroki, or Jake Long.


HEAVY

Heavyset characters that lay down punishing strikes to the opponents and are fairly hard to push around at the cost of mobility.

Prime examples of Heavy characters include Bowser, Shao Kahn, or Darth Vader.


SWORDFIGHTER

Uses a sword that gives more range than standard fisticuffs and has moves that mirror actual swordplay techniques, such as fencing.

Prime examples of Swordfighter characters include Link, Samurai Jack, or Silver Samurai.


POKER

Uses a pole-type weapon like a staff or spear to maintain a good mid-range game through sweeps or jabs. Unlike most Zoners, their melee game tends to be more solid.

Prime examples of Poker characters include Donatello, Sephiroth, or Sun Wukong.

COMBO-HEAVY

Playstyle revolves around racking up high-number combos, often by juggling foes. Similar to a rushdown, but not as ferocious or straightforward.

Prime examples of Combo-Heavy characters include Michelangelo, Spider-Man, or Goku


POWER-UP

Can modify the nature and strength of their base abilities using an item, usually attained through a certain special move.

Prime examples of Power-Up characters include Mario, Jak and Daxter, and Star Force Megaman.


INSTALL Specializes in changing form, usually in the form of a Super Move, to drastically increase their stats and grant them access to new Specials or Super Moves.

Prime examples of Install characters include Sol Badguy, Madara Uchiha, or Might Guy

SPEEDSTER

High-speed character who is very good at evasive tactics or traversing the arena, usually by running really fast. Similar to a Rushdown, but lacks the aggression and moves much faster.

Prime examples of Speedster characters include Sonic, Flash, or Quicksilver

AGILITY

Utilizes acrobatics as a quick and easy means of getting around or performing attacks--flips, rolls, jumps, etc.

Prime examples of Agility characters include Cammy, Renamon, or Harley Quinn

LARGE BODY

Large in size with high health and astounding reach, often proving difficult to maneuver behind. Mobility is their weak point, and they're a bit of an easy target.

Prime examples of Large Body characters include Optimus Prime, Gundam, or Tigerzord


SETUPS

Lays and sets off traps to chip away at opponents' health or has a movepool that can set the foundation for more damaging attacks/combos.

Prime examples of Setups characters include Gaara, Green Lantern, or Edward Elric


AERIAL

Specializes in attacking the opponent in the air, sometimes by flying and other times by maintaining a solid air-combo game.

Prime examples of Aerial characters include Astro Boy, Tails, or Mikasa

UNORTHODOX

Uses a moveset and playstyle that is highly-unusual, making it difficult for opponents to quickly analyze or accustom to.

Prime examples of Unorthodox characters include Star Butterfly, Frank West, or Sanji


SLUGGER

Uses powerful attacks with lots of knockback potential, usually powerful punches, kicks, and weapon strikes. These will often require windup to be truly-effective.

Prime examples of Slugger characters include Balrog, Donkey Kong, or Saitama


CHARGE Has moves that require a brief charge-time, by holding the joystick in one direction and springing it the opposite along with the press of an attack button.

Prime examples of Charge characters include Blanka, M. Bison, or Koopa Troopa


UNIQUE

The character uses a mechanic that is unique only to them and is so unusual that it makes it difficult to classify it as any particular archetype.

Prime examples of Unique characters include Mob, Broly, or Megaman.EXE


TECHNICAL

The effectiveness of the character's moves depends on the opponent they're fighting, as well as timing, precision, and knowledge of the game's mechanics/hitboxes on the player's part.

Prime exapmles of Technical characters include Sasuke, Daredevil, or Solid Snake

EXECUTION They have lots of powerful abilities in their movepool, but it comes at the cost of having lots of, or very specific, input commands.

Prime examples of Execution characters include Dante, Bayonetta, or Jin Kazama


WRECKER Utilizes body-blows like shoulder-charges, headbutts, and tackles to ram into opponents with surprising speed and great knockback/wallbounce potential. This lets otherwise-heavy characters move fast, but only in one single direction.

Prime examples of Wrecker characters include Hulk, All-Might, or Po


DEFENSIVE Relies on defensive moves that let them power through, negate, or block attacks, opening them up for counter offensives. May have a shield as a weapon, but not always.

Prime examples of Defensive characters include Captain America, Steven Universe, or Queen Maeve


FOOTSIE Relies on mid-range combat, sometimes relying on kicks over punches, and having moves that can push enemies back. Also categorized by a fast walking speed, a floaty jump, a lack of projectiles, or any combination of the three.

Prime examples of Footsie characters include Chun-Li, TJ Combo, or Sonya Blade


PUPPETMASTER

Uses an extension-type entity to act sort of like a secondary player, making your opponent feel like they're fighting two characters at once. Can be kind of hard because it requires multitasking.

Prime examples of Puppetmaster characters include Jotaro, Naruto, or Reverse Flash


REKKA

A ground-based melee fighter with heavy emphasis on some Specials flowing into each other, sometimes through extra button pushes or chaining right into another special.

Prime examples of Rekka characters include Iron Fist, Zuko, or Korra


REVERSAL Has lots of moves that offer counterattack potential or can be used during recovery, useful for punishing unsuspecting opponents after they land good hits. Prime examples of Reversal characters include Geese Howard, Kakashi, or Obi-Wan

BLOODLET Movepool can be strengthened by sacrificing fractions of health rather than Super Meter. High-risk, High-reward in terms of difficulty. Prime examples of Bloodlet characters include Crona

SPEARHEAD Has a lot of moves that grant them "armor", letting them move onward while powering through attacks (sometimes minimizing damage, and sometimes not). Prime examples of Spearhead characters include Terminator and Michael Myers.

JOKE The character is not particularly practical and tend to have moves that are either very weak or completely-useless. More used as a means of comedy than a genuinely good fighter. Prime examples of Joke Characters include Dan Hibiki, Hercule Satan, and Goomba.

MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

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