Troy Baker | |
---|---|
![]() Baker in 2019 | |
Born | Dallas, Texas, U.S. | April 1, 1976
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1994–present |
Spouse |
Pamela Walworth
(m. 2012) |
Children | 1 |
Musical career | |
Genres | Alternative rock |
Instrument(s) |
|
Troy Baker (born April 1, 1976) is an American voice actor and musician. Baker is known for his video game roles, including Joel Miller in The Last of Us franchise, Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite (2013), Samuel "Sam" Drake in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2016) and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (2017), Rhys Strongfork in Tales from the Borderlands (2014), Snow Villiers in Final Fantasy XIII (2010), Kanji Tatsumi in Persona 4 (2008), Talion in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (2014), and Middle-earth: Shadow of War (2017), Pagan Min in Far Cry 4 (2014), Ocelot in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015) and Higgs Monaghan in Death Stranding (2019). Troy Baker currently holds the record for the most acting nominations at the BAFTA Games Awards, with 5 between 2013 and 2021.
Baker has also voiced Batman, The Joker, Hawkeye, and Loki in various media, and has provided voices for a number of English dubs of anime, including Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Naruto: Shippuden, Code Geass, and Soul Eater. He was previously the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the alternative rock band Tripp Fontaine, with whom he released an album titled Random Thoughts on a Paper Napkin (2004). He then released the solo album Sitting in the Fire (2014) before he and his backing band changed their name to Window to the Abbey and released the album Moving Around Bias (2017).
Baker began his voice acting career doing radio commercials in Dallas. He was recruited by Christopher Sabat to do voice-over work at Funimation for the English adaptation of the anime Case Closed. He went on to work in dubbing anime such as Bleach, Dragon Ball Z, Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Naruto, Naruto: Shippuden, and the Funimation dub of One Piece. He then moved to Los Angeles and began working on Marvel-based animated series, providing the voice of various characters in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, as well as Hawkeye and Loki in Ultimate Spider-Man and Avengers Assemble.[1]
Baker's career in the video game industry began when he voiced Matt Baker in the tactical shooter series Brothers in Arms. In an interview with The Griff, he said, "It was starting to become necessary for actors to become involved [in gaming], so I got into that and it was literally stumbling from one job into the next. That was kind of my first snowball effect."[2] His most notable roles came in 2013, when he provided the voice of Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite and the voice and motion capture of Joel in The Last of Us. Both games earned critical acclaim, gaining scores over 90% on GameRankings[3][4] and Metacritic,[5][6] and widespread commercial success.[7][8] He was nominated for both of these roles at VGX 2013, winning for The Last of Us. He then worked on Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, playing Nathan Drake's older brother Sam. He reprised the role in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.[9]
In 2011, Baker became the voice of Siris, the hero of Chair Entertainment's blockbuster mobile game series Infinity Blade, and in 2014 he was the voice of Talion, the protagonist of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, which earned a rating of 9.3 on IGN. He also voiced Ace (Experiment 262) in the English dub of the anime Stitch! He was listed on Entertainment Weekly's in their best of 2013 issue for best breakout actor in the video game industry for his performances in The Last of Us, BioShock Infinite, and as the Joker in Batman: Arkham Origins. He is one of the few actors to have portrayed Batman (Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, Lego Dimensions, Batman: The Telltale Series and Batman: The Enemy Within), the Joker (Batman: Arkham Origins), and the three major iterations of Robin (Tim Drake in Batman: Arkham City, Dick Grayson (as Nightwing) in Injustice: Gods Among Us and Jason Todd (as Red Hood and the main antagonist) in Batman: Arkham Knight).[10]
In May 2018, Baker and voice actor Nolan North began hosting the weekly YouTube series Retro Replay. In April 2020, due to an apparent disagreement on the future direction of the show, Baker left to start his own series.[11]
Main article: 15.ai § Troy Baker / Voiceverse NFT plagiarism scandal |
Troy Baker @TroyBakerVA I'm partnering with @VoiceverseNFT to explore ways where together we might bring new tools to new creators to make new things, and allow everyone a chance to own & invest in the IP's they create. We all have a story to tell. You can hate. Or you can create. What'll it be?
January 14, 2022[12]
On January 14, 2022, it was discovered that Voiceverse NFT,[by whom?] a company that Baker announced his partnership with, had stolen voice lines generated from 15.ai as part of their marketing campaign without permission.[13][14][15][16] Log files showed that Voiceverse had generated audio of Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash from the show My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic using 15.ai, pitched them up to make them sound unrecognizable from the original voices, and appropriated them without proper credit to falsely market their own platform—a violation of 15.ai's terms of service.[17][18]
The initial partnership between Baker and Voiceverse was met with severe backlash and universally negative reception.[13] Critics highlighted the environmental impact of and potential for exit scams associated with NFT sales.[19] Commentators also pointed out the irony in Baker's initial tweet announcing the partnership, which ended: "You can hate. Or you can create. What'll it be?" This was hours before the public revelation that the company in question had resorted to theft instead of creating their own product. Baker responded that he appreciated people sharing their thoughts and their responses were "giving [him] a lot to think about".[20][21] He also acknowledged that the "hate/create" part in his initial tweet might have been "a bit antagonistic", and asked fans on social media to forgive him.[14][22]
Two weeks later, on January 31, Baker announced that he would discontinue his partnership with Voiceverse.[23][24][25]
Before pursuing acting, Baker was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the alternative rock band Tripp Fontaine, which released the radio single "Burning Out" from their debut album Random Thoughts on a Paper Napkin in 2004.[26][27]
Baker's first solo album, Sitting in the Fire, was released on October 14, 2014.[28][29][30] On October 6, 2017, Baker and his backing band, also called Sitting in the Fire, released his second album Moving Around Bias under the new name of Window to the Abbey.[31]
In 2012, Baker married photographer Pamela Walworth, also from Dallas. They reside in Los Angeles.[1] They have a son who was born in 2018.[32]
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref.[33] |
---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | Mr. Meaty | Mr. Wink | ||
2010 | Gormiti: The Lords of Nature Return! | Magor, Old Sage | ||
Monster High | Mr. Lou Zarr | Episode: "New Ghoul @ School" | [48] | |
2010–12 | Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated | Blue Falcon, Red Humonganaut, Krod, others | [49] | |
2010–12 | The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes | Clay Quartermain, Whirlwind, Grey Gargoyle, Constrictor, Groot, Glenn Talbot, others | [46] | |
2010–13 | Generator Rex | Van Kleiss, Biowulf, Roswell, Etude, Weaver, Additional Voices | [46][50] | |
2011 | G.I. Joe: Renegades | Dr. Kurt Schnurr / Airtight | Episode: "The Anaconda Strain" | [46] |
2011–17 | Regular Show | Dr. Rueben Langer, Klorgbane the Destroyer, Park Avenue, David, others | [46] | |
2012–14 | NFL Rush Zone: Season of the Guardians | Wild Card, Warren, Coach Wildwood, Charles Reynolds | [51][52] | |
2012–17 | Ultimate Spider-Man | Loki, Hawkeye, Montana, Shocker, Web-Slinger, others | [53][54][55] | |
2013 | Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload | Loki | Television special | [46] |
2013–19 | Avengers Assemble | Hawkeye, Loki, Whiplash, Kraven the Hunter, Red Guardian | [1][46][56][57] | |
2014 | Clarence | Troy, Keith Mack, Laser Game Voice | Episode: "Money Broom Wizard" | [58] |
2014–15 | Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. | Loki, Asgardian Guard | [46] | |
2015 | Batman Unlimited | The Joker | Web series | [59] |
Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Avengers Reassembled | Hawkeye | Television special | [60] | |
2015–17 | Transformers: Robots in Disguise | Steeljaw, Vector Prime, Vladd Gastlee, Arnold | [61][62] | |
2016 | Guardians of the Galaxy | Loki, Hermod, Hawkeye | [46][63][64] | |
Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! | Jack, Josh, Jester | [65] | ||
2017 | Justice League Action | Hawkman, Jonas, Kanto | [66][67][68] | |
Ben 10 | Lord Decibel | [69] | ||
2017–18 | Spider-Man | Kraven the Hunter, Hot Dog Guy | ||
Stretch Armstrong & The Flex Fighters | Mortar | |||
2019 | Carmen Sandiego | Dash Haber | ||
2019–22 | Amphibia | Grime, Waiter, Additional Voices | ||
2019 | American Dad! | The Narrator, Ernie | ||
2019–22 | Young Justice | Geo-Force, Guy Gardner, Dr. Simon Ecks, Blue Devil, others | Seasons 3–4 | [70] |
2020 | Lego City Adventures | Snake Rattler | Season 2 | |
2021 | Dota: Dragon's Blood | Invoker, Dark Moon Order Guard, Crazed Soldier | Netflix series | [71] |
Family Guy | Jorah Mormont | 2 episodes | ||
Rick and Morty | Timmy Timtim | 2 episodes | ||
2022 | Love, Death & Robots | Torrin | Episode: "Bad Travelling" | |
2023 | The Legend of Vox Machina | Syldor Vessar |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref.[33] |
---|---|---|---|---|
2005–07 | Race Car Driver | Narrator, Announcer | ||
2015 | Halo 5: Guardians: Hunt the Truth | Anthony Petrosky | ||
Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana | Opening Intro Voice Over | |||
2020 | DC FanDome | Himself | ||
Fungeons & Flagons | Voldred | 2 episodes | ||
2023 | War Thunder: "Air Superiority" Update Trailer | Narrator | [240] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref.[33] |
---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | Striking Range | Brice Billings | [241] | |
2008 | Comanche Moon | Pea Eye Parker | Miniseries | [242] |
The Imposter | Jerome | Also producer | [243][244][245] | |
2013 | Shelf Life | The Boyfriend | Episode: "Night Terrors" | [246] |
2016 | The Phoenix Incident | Ryan Stone | [247][248][249][250] | |
2023 | The Last of Us | James | Episode: "When We Are in Need" | [251] |
Year | Award | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | NAVGTR Award for Lead Performance in a Drama | Catherine | Nominated[118] |
2012 | BTVA Voice Acting Award for Voice Actor of the Year | Himself | Nominated[255] |
BTVA Anime Dub Award for Voice Actor for the Year | Nominated[256] | ||
BTVA Anime Dub Award for Best Male Lead Vocal Performance in an Anime Movie/Special | Yuri Lowell in Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike | Nominated[257] | |
2013 | NAVGTR Award for Lead Performance in a Drama | The Last of Us | Won[160] |
VGX Award for Best Voice Actor | Won[152] | ||
BioShock Infinite | Nominated[151] | ||
VGX Award for Best Song in a Game | "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" (ft. Courtnee Draper) | Won[152] | |
New York Videogame Critics Circle Award for Best Overall Acting | The Last of Us | Nominated[159] | |
BTVA Voice Acting Award for Voice Actor of the Year | Himself | Won[258] | |
BTVA Voice Acting Award for Best Male Vocal Performance in a Video Game | The Joker in Batman: Arkham Origins | Nominated[259] | |
Joel in The Last of Us | Nominated[259] | ||
2014 | D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Character Performance | Nominated[161] | |
BAFTA Games Award for Performer | The Last of Us | Nominated[158] | |
The Game Award for Best Performance | Talion in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor | Nominated[178] | |
NAVGTR Award for Lead Performance in a Drama | Delsin Rowe in Infamous Second Son | Nominated[260] | |
2015 | NAVGTR Award for Lead Performance in a Comedy | Rhys in Tales from the Borderlands | Won[261] |
D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Character | Pagan Min in Far Cry 4 | Nominated[170] | |
Delsin Rowe in Infamous Second Son | Nominated[170] | ||
Talion in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor | Won[176] | ||
BAFTA Games Award for Performer | Pagan Min in Far Cry 4 | Nominated[190] | |
2016 | Sam Drake in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End | Nominated[262] | |
2020 | BAFTA Games Award for Performer in a Supporting Role | Death Stranding | Nominated[263] |
2021 | BAFTA Games Award for Performer in a Supporting Role | Joel in The Last of Us Part II | Nominated[264] |