Many intriguing mysteries are raised in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom‘s epic third trailer. Fortunately, there’s one we didn’t have to wait too long into gameplay to solve: the identity of the figure chilling with and reassuring Zelda. That would be Rauru, a Zonai sage. Yes, from the opening moments of Tears, the Zonai are clearly central to the game! The memes were right!
Now, we’re not here today to discuss or solve what connection this Rauru may have to Ocarina of Time‘s Rauru, who happens to be the Sage of Light. No, we’re here to discuss today how Rauru’s voice is kinda sexy—at least in the Japanese version, which is what I’m playing. I assume the English voice actor is also giving an alluring and soothing performance as well. But who are these mystery men?
Well, in English, Rauru’s voice actor is Chris Hackney. If you engage with the world of JRGs and/or anime (and watch/play them with the English voice cast), odds are you’ve heard Hackney before. He’s played Dmitri Blaiddyd in Fire Emblem: Three Houses (and all other spinoffs), and he’s played a lot of roles in the anime world. Some of his most prominent roles are Khun Aguero Agnes in Tower of God, Mameta Inugawa in Mob Psycho 100, and Nanashi in The Seven Deadly Sins.
I had to do some digging on Japanese outlets to find the seiyuu (voice actor) for Rauru in Japanese, but I have deduced that it’s Toshiyuki Morikawa, which is great, because Morikawa’s biggest role in gaming is goddamn Sephiroth—you know, of Final Fantasy VII fame, one of the most notorious gaming villains of all time.
There’s any number of other channels through which Morikawa’s voice might seem familiar to you. Elsewhere in gaming, he’s Dante in Devil May Cry, and he just played Leon in the Resident Evil 4 remake. Morikawa has had tons of anime roles, too. The biggest are probably Yoshikage Kira in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Minato Namikaze in the various Naruto series, and both Hachi and Eneru in One Piece (literally learning right now they have the same voice actor). He’s also Kyutaro in Buddy Daddies, which I mention purely to pique your interest in Buddy Daddies, because it’s great.
Clearly, Rauru’s going to serve a central role in Tears of the Kingdom. He serves in many ways as the game’s central guide, taking the kind of role that Impa served in Breath of the Wild. Exactly what twists the story takes can only be answered by placing more TotK.
(featured image: Nintendo)
