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
''The Last of Us'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players control Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, across a post-apocalyptic United States. ' ...
'' (2013) and
its sequel (2020),
Booker DeWitt
The ''BioShock'' series is a collection of story-driven first-person shooters in which the player explores dystopian settings created by Ken Levine and his team at Irrational Games. The first two games, ''BioShock'' and its direct sequel, ''Bio ...
in ''
BioShock Infinite
''BioShock Infinite'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by Irrational Games and published by 2K Games. The third installment in the ''BioShock'' series, ''Infinite'' was released worldwide for the Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, ...
'' (2013), Samuel "Sam" Drake in ''
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'' (2016) and ''
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy'' (2017), Rhys in ''
Tales from the Borderlands
''Tales from the Borderlands'' is an episodic interactive comedy graphic adventure sci-fi video game based on the '' Borderlands'' series. It was developed by Telltale Games under license from Gearbox Software, the developer of the ''Borderland ...
(2014),'' Delsin Rowe in ''
Infamous Second Son
''Infamous Second Son'' (stylized as ''inFAMOUS Second Son'') is a 2014 action-adventure game developed by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. The standalone sequel to the 2011 video game ...
'' (2014),
Snow Villiers in ''
Final Fantasy XIII
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles and later for the Microsoft Windows operating system. Released in Japan in December 2009 and international in March 2010, it is the ...
'' (2010),
Kanji Tatsumi
is a fictional character introduced in the 2008 PlayStation 2 video game ''Persona 4'' by Atlus. In the game Kanji is a high school student who becomes famous in television after fighting delinquents in the streets. Kanji becomes a victim of a ...
in ''
Persona 4
released outside of Japan as ''Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4'', is a 2008 role-playing video game by Atlus. It is chronologically the fifth installment in the ''Persona'' series, itself a part of the larger ''Megami Tensei'' franchise, and was ...
'' (2008), Higgs Monaghan in ''
Death Stranding
''Death Stranding'' is a 2019 action game developed by Kojima Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. It is the first game from director Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions after their split from Kona ...
'' (2019), and Talion in ''
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor'' (2014) and ''
Middle-earth: Shadow of War'' (2017). Baker currently holds the record for the most
acting nominations at the
BAFTA Games Awards, with five between 2013 and 2021.
Baker has also voiced
Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
,
Joker,
Hawkeye, and
Loki
Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi or Na ...
in various media, and has provided voices for a number of English dubs of anime, including ''
Bleach
Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color (whitening) from a fabric or fiber or to clean or to remove stains in a process called bleaching. It often refers specifically, to ...
'', ''
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood'', ''
Naruto: Shippuden'', ''
Code Geass
, often referred to simply as ''Code Geass'', is a Japanese anime television series produced by Sunrise. It was directed by Gorō Taniguchi and written by Ichirō Ōkouchi, with original character designs by Clamp. Set ...
'', and ''
Soul Eater''. He was previously the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
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
''Sitting in the Fire'' is the debut solo studio album by American voice actor and alternative rock musician Troy Baker, released independently on October 14, 2014. It debuted at No. 26 on the iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that act ...
'' (2014) before he and his backing band changed their name to Window to the Abbey and released the album ''Moving Around Bias'' (2017).
In early 2022, Baker was the subject of controversy after an
NFT
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the ...
company that Baker announced his partnership with was revealed to have
plagiarized voice lines generated from
15.ai, an
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
text-to-speech
Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware products. A text-to-speech (TTS) system converts normal languag ...
project developed by the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
(MIT), as part of their marketing campaign.
Career
Acting
upBaker in January 2011
Baker began his voice acting career doing radio commercials in Dallas. He was recruited by
Christopher Sabat
Christopher Robin Sabat is an American voice actor, voice director, ADR engineer, and line producer working for Funimation, and OkraTron 5000. Some of his prominent roles in animations and anime include Vegeta and Piccolo in '' Dragon Ball'', R ...
to do voice-over work at
Funimation
Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
for the English adaptation of the anime ''
Case Closed
''Case Closed'', also known as , is a Japanese detective manga series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' since January 1994, with its ch ...
''. He went on to work in dubbing anime such as ''
Bleach
Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color (whitening) from a fabric or fiber or to clean or to remove stains in a process called bleaching. It often refers specifically, to ...
'', ''
Dragon Ball Z
''Dragon Ball Z'' is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the ''Dragon Ball'' media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 '' Dragon Ball'' anime series and adapts the latter 325 chapters of the original ...
'', ''
Fullmetal Alchemist
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. It was serialized in Square Enix's shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga anthology magazine ''Gangan Comics#Monthly Shōnen Gangan, Monthly Shōnen Gangan'' between July 20 ...
'', ''
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood'', ''
Naruto
''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...
'', ''
Naruto: Shippuden'', and the Funimation dub of ''
One Piece
''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual chapte ...
''. He then moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and began working on
Marvel
Marvel may refer to:
Business
* Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company
** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment
** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe
** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics
...
-based animated series, providing the voice of various characters in ''
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes'', as well as
Hawkeye and
Loki
Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi or Na ...
in ''
Ultimate Spider-Man
''Ultimate Spider-Man'' is a superhero comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2011. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Spider-Man comic book franchise as part of the company's Ultimate ...
'' and ''
Avengers Assemble''.
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
n 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."
His most notable roles came in 2013, when he provided the voice of Booker DeWitt in ''
BioShock Infinite
''BioShock Infinite'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by Irrational Games and published by 2K Games. The third installment in the ''BioShock'' series, ''Infinite'' was released worldwide for the Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, ...
'' and the voice and motion capture of
Joel Joel or Yoel is a name meaning "Yahweh Is God" and may refer to:
* Joel (given name), origin of the name including a list of people with the first name.
* Joel (surname), a surname
* Joel (footballer, born 1904), Joel de Oliveira Monteiro, Brazili ...
in ''
The Last of Us
''The Last of Us'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players control Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, across a post-apocalyptic United States. ' ...
''. Both games earned critical acclaim, gaining scores over 90% on
GameRankings
GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
and
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
,
and widespread commercial success.
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''.
In 2011, Baker became the voice of Siris, the hero of
Chair Entertainment
Chair Entertainment Group, LLC (stylized as ChAIR) is an American video game developer based in Salt Lake City. The company was acquired by Epic Games in 2008.
History
Chair Entertainment was formed in 2005 by Donald Mustard and Geremy Mustard ...
's blockbuster mobile game series ''
Infinity Blade
''Infinity Blade'' is an action role-playing game developed by Chair Entertainment and Epic Games and released through the Apple App Store on December 9, 2010. It was the first iOS video game to run on the Unreal Engine. In the game, the unname ...
'', 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
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
. He also voiced Ace (Experiment 262) in the English dub of the anime ''
Stitch!
is a Japanese anime television series. It is a spin-off of Disney's ''Lilo & Stitch'' franchise, serving as the franchise's second television series after '' Lilo & Stitch: The Series''. The anime series aired in Japan from October 2 ...
'' He was listed on ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' 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
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
(''
Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes'', ''
Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham'', ''
Lego Dimensions
''Lego Dimensions'' is a Lego-themed action-adventure platform crossover video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox One and Xbox 360. It fo ...
'', ''
Batman: The Telltale Series'' and ''
Batman: The Enemy Within''), the Joker (''Batman: Arkham Origins''), and the three major iterations of
Robin (
Tim Drake
Timothy Jackson "Tim" Drake is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Created by Marv Wolfman and Pat Broderick, he first appeared in Batman: Year Three, ''Batman' ...
in ''
Batman: Arkham City'',
Dick Grayson
Richard John "Dick" Grayson is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman and Teen Titans. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane, he first appeared in ''Detective Comics' ...
(as Nightwing) in ''
Injustice: Gods Among Us'' and
Jason Todd
Jason Peter Todd is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in '' Batman'' #357 in March 1983, Todd was created to succeed Dick Grayson as Robin, the superhero Batman's vigilante partn ...
(as Red Hood and the main antagonist) in ''
Batman: Arkham Knight''.
In May 2018, Baker and voice actor
Nolan North
Nolan North (born October 31, 1970) is an American actor best known for his voice acting roles.
After his breakthrough role as Dr. Chris Ramsey on the ABC soap opera '' Port Charles'' in 1997, North moved into voice acting when the show ended ...
began hosting the weekly
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
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.
15.ai / Voiceverse NFT plagiarism scandal
On January 14, 2022, it was discovered that Voiceverse NFT, a company that Baker announced his partnership with, had stolen voice lines generated from
15.ai as part of their marketing campaign without permission.
Log files
In computing, logging is the act of keeping a log of events that occur in a computer system, such as problems, errors or just information on current operations. These events may occur in the operating system or in other software. A message or l ...
showed that Voiceverse had generated audio of
Twilight Sparkle
Princess Twilight Sparkle, commonly known as Twilight Sparkle, is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation (also referred to as the fourth generation or "G4") of Hasbro's My Little Pony toyline and media franchise, beginni ...
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.
The initial partnership between Baker and Voiceverse was met with severe backlash and universally negative reception.
Critics highlighted the
environmental impact of and potential for
exit scam
An exit scam is a confidence trick where an established business stops shipping orders while receiving payment for new orders. If the entity had a good reputation, it could take some time before it is widely recognized that orders are not shipping ...
s associated with NFT sales.
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
ima lot to think about". 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.
Two weeks later, on January 31, Baker announced that he would discontinue his partnership with Voiceverse.
Music
Before pursuing acting, Baker was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
band Tripp Fontaine, which released the radio single "Burning Out" from their debut album ''Random Thoughts on a Paper Napkin'' in 2004.
Baker's first solo album, ''
Sitting in the Fire
''Sitting in the Fire'' is the debut solo studio album by American voice actor and alternative rock musician Troy Baker, released independently on October 14, 2014. It debuted at No. 26 on the iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that act ...
'', was released on October 14, 2014. 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.
Personal life
Troy Baker was born in
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...
, on April 1, 1976.
In 2012, Baker married photographer Pamela Walworth, also from Dallas. They reside in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.
Their son, Traveller Hyde Baker, was born on May 3, 2018.
Filmography
Anime
Animation
Film
Video games
Other
Live-action
Discography
Studio albums
* ''Random Thoughts on a Paper Napkin'' (2004, with Tripp Fontaine)
* ''
Sitting in the Fire
''Sitting in the Fire'' is the debut solo studio album by American voice actor and alternative rock musician Troy Baker, released independently on October 14, 2014. It debuted at No. 26 on the iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that act ...
'' (2014, solo)
* ''Moving Around Bias'' (2017, with Window to the Abbey)
Singles
* "Burning Out" (2004, with Tripp Fontaine)
* "My Religion" (2013, solo)
* "Merry Christmas" (2015, solo)
* "Water into Wine" (2017, with Window to the Abbey)
* "The Promise" (2017, with Window to the Abbey)
Video game performances
* "Take Me to Hell (Broken Dream)" in ''
Shadows of the Damned
is an action-adventure video game developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game follows the story of Garcia Hotspur, a Mexican demon hunter who goes to the City of the Damned t ...
'' (2011)
* "
Will the Circle Be Unbroken?
"Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" is a popular Christian hymn written in 1907 by Ada R. Habershon with music by Charles H. Gabriel. The song is often recorded unattributed and, because of its age, has lapsed into the public domain. Most of the cho ...
" (with
Courtnee Draper) in ''
BioShock Infinite
''BioShock Infinite'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by Irrational Games and published by 2K Games. The third installment in the ''BioShock'' series, ''Infinite'' was released worldwide for the Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, ...
'' (2013)
* "
Cold, Cold Heart
"Cold, Cold Heart" is a country music and pop song written and first recorded by Hank Williams. This blues ballad is both a classic of honky-tonk and an entry in the ''Great American Songbook''.
Hank Williams version
Williams adapted the melod ...
" in the ''
Batman: Arkham Origins'' DLC of the same name (2013)
* "
Happy Birthday: Congratulations" in ''
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain'' (2015)
* "
Wayfaring Stranger" (with
Ashley Johnson) and "
Future Days
''Future Days'' is the fourth studio album by the German experimental rock group Can, released in 1973. It was the last Can album to feature Japanese vocalist Damo Suzuki, and sees the band exploring a more atmospheric sound than their previous ...
" in ''
The Last of Us Part II
''The Last of Us Part II'' is a 2020 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. Set five years after ''The Last of Us'' (2013), the game focuses on two playable charac ...
'' (2020)
Awards and nominations
Notes
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Troy
1976 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American male singers
21st-century American singers
American alternative rock musicians
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
Male actors from Dallas
American male YouTubers
YouTubers from Texas
Spike Video Game Award winners