Usually when a game is localized, it’s done in North America. Everyone sounds American, with maybe the odd Canadian or other Anglophone accent if it fits the role. Why does Mimir inGod of Warsound Scottish? Because he’s from Scotland! Why is Henry inNo More HeroesIrish? He’s from Ireland! Simple and straightforward.
That’s not always the case, though. Some characters get accents just for the heck of it. For example, these cast of characters aren’t from England or any other part of Great Britain. Nonetheless, they had British accents for no in-universe reason.
6Balthier — Final Fantasy 12
Final Fantasy’s worlds are unique unto themselves. Some may resemble real life locations (FF7’s Wutai resembling feudal Japan), but otherwise they’re magic lands where its people can look, act, and sound like anything imaginable. So, why not haveFF12’s Balthier and the Archadians sound British? Many Western fantasy games will often feature British actors or accents for that old-timey feeling.
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But this is less common in JRPGs, especially ones that blur past and future tropes like theFinal Fantasyseries.FF12just picked it to be one of its variety of accents alongside Russian, American, and even Icelandic. It was the luck of the draw, whileFinal Fantasy 16’supcoming British voicesare going to be more deliberate.
5Nariko — Heavenly Sword
SinceGod of War 2was bound to the PS2, the PS3 needed an action game for its big launch. Luckily,Ninja Theorywas there to produceHeavenly Sword, a game not unlike Kratos’ adventures. It had its lead Nariko fight against the evil King Bohan with the titular sword in an Asian fantasy setting.
That setting muat have gotten lost on the other side of the world as nearly everyone sounds British, including Nariko herself. Which is interesting as her VA, Anna Torv, is from Australia. The ‘Fantasy = English’ deal generally only works for Medieval Europe-inspired settings. ForHeavenly Sword’s ancient Japan-looking realm, it sticks out a touch or two.
4Shulk — Xenoblade Chronicles & Super Smash Bros series
Sorry Marvel fans, She-Hulk isn’tthe only ‘Shulk’ in town. She is the only one from the States though. When the Heir of the Monado turned up inSuper Smash Brosfor Wii U, he had a curious accent to go with his curious move set. In canon, he’s of Bionis, but by voice, he’s from somewhere in London with a mild Cockney tone to his vocals.
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Shulk’s native game,Xenoblade Chronicles, was a sci-fi adventure, so the British accents weren’t for fantasy flavor like inFF12. The only real reason was outside theXeno-verse and in the hands ofNintendo, as they had their European division localize the game. Then that got carried over intoSmash 4andSmash Ultimate, and has become part of his character.
3Everyone — Forbidden Siren
The originalForbidden Sirenon the PS2 became a cult classic survival horror for its spooky atmosphere and unnerving story. It had to have been phenomenal to overcome the bad voice acting. On top of that, the accents are more British than crumpets, tea, and missed soccer penalties combined.
The game was one of a rare few to be released in PAL territories before the US, so the most likely reason (if any) for the clunky, Cockney audio was that it was also localized in Europe — for a much cheaper price than Ninja Theory or Nintendo paid out for their games. Not that the cast using neutral accents would have improved the acting. It still would have rivaledResident Evilin schlock.
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2The Olympians — God of War
Every game requires some suspension of disbelief for the sake of comprehension. Unless some fans are keen enough to make an Ancient Greek dub for the originalGod of Wargames, they’ll have to make do with their largely American voice cast. But the recording booth hasn’t been afraid to mix it up.
Aphrodite sounded British for her cameo inGod of War 1, then became American forGod of War 3. Athena also sounded like she came from England in the first two games, before gaining a US accent forGoW3andGhost of Sparta. The third game made up for this de-Britting by giving Hermes a British accent instead, which somehowmakes his tauntsthat much more annoying.
1Naomi Hunter — Metal Gear Solid
Out of everyone on this list, Dr Naomi Hunter’s original accent inMetal Gear Solidmay be one of the most inexplicably British ones, even though it’s quite understated compared to Liquid Snake’s Home Counties’ Ham, or Mei Ling’s thick Chinese accent. At least those characters were both English and Chinese-American respectively, so it made sense (albeit arguablyin Mei Ling’s case).
Naomi Hunter was found in Zimbabwe as a child by Grey Fox, introduced to Big Boss in Mozambique, then raised in the US. She knew nothing of her parents or her background beyond a likely Indian connection. So, she should sound American, or at least like a White African. Instead, she was as upper crust English as Lara Croft. This did get rectified inThe Twin SnakesandMetal Gear Solid 4, but as random as her old accent was, it did give her a bit more personality.
