Summary
- Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario, has voiced various other characters in video games, including an announcer, referee, and boxers in Super Punch-Out!!
- Martinet also lent his voice to characters like William Shakespeare and Ludwig van Beethoven in the Carmen Sandiego PC game and Admiral Holtz, a rebel pilot in Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance.
- In addition to Mario, Martinet has provided his voice for characters in games like Skies of Arcadia, Shadow of Memories, The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, Virtua Quest, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
After 30 years of voicing the world’s most famous plumber in gaming history, it can be hard to picture Charles Martinet playing anyone other than the beloved Mario. However, you may be surprised to hear that Charles Martinet’s voice talents stretch far further than yo𒊎u might imagine.
Believe it or not, back in his college days in California, Charles Martinet used to really struggle with a fear of public speaking, having 𒁃to take acting classes to combat his phobia. Imagine if the world had been deprived of his talent! It wouldn’t have been just the Mario franchise that would have looked very different, but also some of the characters in 🍨these games.
Updated on August 22, 2023 by Gabrielle Castania: With the breaking news of Charles Martinet 🍃stepping away from the role of Mario after 30 years of voicing everyone's favorite plumber, we wanted to come back to our list of Charlie Martinet's other work to touch it up in honor of the legendary voice actor hanging up his red cap.
10 Announcer, Referee, Boxers - Super Punch-Out!! ꦚ
It’s wild to think that one of Charles Martinet’s earliest voice appearances was featured in a boxing ring! Released by Nintendo in 1994 for the SNES (just 2 years after 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mario Teaches Typing launched), Super Punch-Out!! features Charles Martinet as the main boxing ring announcer, as well as the referee and the boxers themselves.
The game received plenty of praise, with gamers applꦍa♍uding opponent characters and simple gameplay with a surprisingly challenging difficulty. Players enter the game as Little Mac, taking part in the boxing tournament to become the World Video Boxing Association champion.
9 William Shakespeare, Ludwig van Beethoven - Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time
While every gamer of the 90s knows the iconic theme song, few people remember that Charles Martinet lent his voice to two characters in the 1997 Carmen Sandiego PC game. Both William Shakespeare and Ludwig Van Beethoven offered M🍸artinet mino🐬r roles in the point-and-click adventure game.
The mai𝔉n plot revolves around thief Carmen Sandiego, who uses her Chronoskimmer time machine to prevent historical events from happening. This was in the middle of a stint of educational games that used Charles Martinet’s voice talents.
8 𒁏 Admiral Hoꦓltz, Rebel Pilot - Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance
This 1999 sci-fi space simulation game was the next in the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Star Wars game series, and was a direct sequel to Star Wars: TIE Fig𒊎hter and Star🃏 Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter. Players enter the game as Ace Azzameen, youngest of a famil༺y of space traders, who enrolls as a fighter pilot for the Rebel Alliance to save his family in a galactic civil war.
Charles Martinet can be heard as Admiral Holtz, commander of the Imperial Star Destroyer ‘Corrupter,’ which players in the Rebel Alliance are tasked with destroying. Martinet also provides voices for an unnamed rebel pilot, straddling both sides of the civil war.
7 ꦇ Vigoroꦬ - Skies of Arcadia
For its Western release, Charles Martinet voiced the character of Vigoro, the air pirate and optional boss on Dangral Island in the 2000 JRPG, Skies of Arcadia. Players explore the world from their flying airship, with turn-based battle gameplay similar to that of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dragon Quest and early 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Final Fantasy titles.
When rewriting 🔜the script for Western audiences, the localization team were influenced by the work of Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly). The team used this to elaborate on the previously straightforward dialogue by including more sarcastic responses, including for Vigoro’s character.
6 Ho🦩munculus - Shadow of Memories
This mystery adventure game from Konami was released for PlayStation 2 in 2001, and stars Charles Martinet as Homunculus, a djinn. When the main character Eike is stabbed and killed, Homunculus is summoned and resurrects✨ Eike, offering to take Eike back in time to prevent his own death with the use of a time-traveling digipad.
The farfetchedness of the game is only seconded by the creepy tones of Homunculus through the medium of Charles Martinet. With an English accent reminiscent of any sel❀f-respecting anime villain, Martinet sounds different.
5 Eaoden, 🌜Gimli - The Lord oꦍf the Rings: The Third Age
Just when you think Charles Martinet’s range couldn’t get any wider, he performs as both Eaoden the rider of Rohan and Gimli the dwarf in the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Lord of the Rings: The Third Age. Released in 2004, the game loosely adapts the plot from the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, although some fans spotted similarities in gameplay with 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Final Fantasy 10.
This isn’t the only time Charles Martinet has been featured in a Lord of the Rings game, though. As well as the Third Age, he is also credited as the Easterlings in EA’s 20🦂03 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King game.
4 Announcer, Snaꦰke Eyes, Lau Chan, Shu🍸n Di - Virtua Quest
Charles Martinet’s penchant for voicing multiple characters in the same game continues in Virtua Quest, a 2004 spin-off of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Virtua Fighter by Sega released for ꦉGameCube and PlayStation 2 in Japan and the US.
As well as the announcer, Martinet voices Snake Eyes (from the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:G.I. Joe series), Lau Chan (a Chinese chef specializing in the "Tiger Swallow Fist" combat style), and Shun Di (a wizened Chinese man who us♕es the ‘Drunken Kung Fu’ fighting style).
3 Orvus - Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time 🐷 🐠
Fans of the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Ratchet and Clank series may be surprised to see Charles Martinet credited as a character at all, let alone as Orvus.𒀰 As the designer of the Great Clock, located in the center of the univ💝erse to keep time, Orvus leaves Ratchet and Clank various heartfelt video messages - our first opportunity to hear Martinet’s voice in all its glory.
Both the story and visuals on A Crack in Time 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:received critical acclaim, as did the fun gameplay elements. A Crack In Time was also the 🅠penultimate installment to the Ratchet & Clank Future series, followed by Into The Nexus in 2013.
2 The Elder Brother - Kane & Lynch: Dead Men ꦅ
Who would’ve thought the sweet voice of Mario could also be a cruel, brutal gangster villain? Published in 2007, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men was launched for PC, PlaySꦇtation 3, and Xbox 360 to mixed reviews.
Charles Martinet voices the Elder Brother (also known as Vaultbreaker) in a gang called T🔴he Seven, the antagonist group of the game. Having kidnapped the main character’s wife and daughter, they blackmail Kane and Lynch, giving them three weeks to retrieve their money.
1 Paarthurnax - ♏The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
Perhaps the most famous deviation from his usual Mario role (and the most impressively diverse) is Charles Martinet’s performance of Paarthurnax in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. This immortal dragon lurks at the summit above High Hrothgar as leader of the Greybeards, a faction sworn to worship the gods in utmost silence, de▨spite possessing Words oℱf Power.
Players encounter Paarthurnax as part of the main quest in Skyrim, and Charles Martinet's voice as Mario is almost completely unrecognizable with deep, booming tones as he helps the Dovahkiin on their quest.