Travis Willingham is an American voice actor. His most notable roles include Roy Mustang in the '' Fullmetal Alchemist'' franchise, Portgas D. Ace in ''

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 chap ...

'', Ginko in '' Mushishi'', Knuckles the Echidna in the ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers m ...

'' franchise and

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, ...

in several Marvel projects. He is a cast member of the web series ''

Critical Role ''Critical Role'' is an American web series in which a group of professional voice actors play '' Dungeons & Dragons''. The show started streaming partway through the cast's first campaign in March 2015. Campaign one ended in October 2017 aft ...

'', in which he and other voice actors play ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...

''. He is also the chief executive officer of

Critical Role Productions Critical Role Productions, LLC is a multimedia production company incorporated in 2015 by the members of the creator-owned streaming show ''Critical Role''. The first two shows from the company, ''Critical Role'' and ''Talks Machina'', originally ...

Early life

Willingham was born in Dallas. He became interested in acting in fifth grade, and after sixth grade, he moved from private school to J.R. Long Middle School. He graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1994, and studied at

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Discipl ...

. He eventually 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 ...

in the early 2000s to pursue an acting career.

Career

Willingham rose to prominence in the voice acting world for his portrayal of

Roy Mustang is a fictional character from the ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' manga series and its adaptations created by Hiromu Arakawa. In the series, Mustang is a State Alchemist of Amestris' State Military, as well as the superior of the series' protagonist, Ed ...

in '' Fullmetal Alchemist'', which he later reprised in '' Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood''. His other notable roles include

Yu Kanda is a character from ''D.Gray-man'', a manga series created by Japanese artist and writer Katsura Hoshino. Kanda is a young adult who is an exorcist from an organization known as the List of D.Gray-man characters#Black Order, Black Order. Like th ...

in ''

D.Gray-man ''D.Gray-man'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Katsura Hoshino. Set in an alternate 19th century, it tells the story of a young Allen Walker, who joins an organization of exorcists named the Black Order. They use an a ...

'', Cleo in '' Glass Fleet'', Ginko in '' Mushishi'', Portgas D. Ace in the

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 ...

re-dub of ''

'' and Takashi Morinozuka in '' Ouran High School Host Club''. He also voices

in several Marvel projects and King Roland II in

Disney Junior Disney Junior is an American pay television network owned by the Walt Disney Television (part of Disney General Entertainment Content) unit of The Walt Disney Company through Disney Branded Television. Aimed mainly at children two to seven ...

's ''

Sofia the First ''Sofia the First'' is an American animated fantasy children's television series. The show follows a young peasant girl named Sofia (Ariel Winter), who becomes a princess after her mother marries the king of Enchancia. Episodes focus on her adv ...

''. From 2010 to 2018, he was the voice of

Knuckles the Echidna is a fictional character in Sega's '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' series. He is a red anthropomorphic short-beaked echidna who is Sonic's best friend and former rival. Determined and serious, but sometimes gullible, he has the ability to punch enem ...

in the ''

'' series. Willingham is also a cast member of the popular ''

'' web series ''

'', where he played Grog in Campaign One, Fjord in Campaign Two, as well as Sir Bertrand Bell and Chetney Pock O'Pea in Campaign 3. ''Critical Role'' was both the Webby Winner and the People's Voice Winner in the "Games (Video Series & Channels)" category at the 2019

Webby Awards The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories includ ...

; the show was also both a Finalist and the Audience Honor Winner at the 2019

Shorty Awards The Shorty Awards (also known as “The Shortys”) honors the most innovative work globally in digital and social media by brands, agencies, nonprofits and creators. The Shortys’ mission is to celebrate, inspire and push the boundaries of exce ...

. After becoming hugely successful, the ''Critical Role'' cast left the

Geek & Sundry Geek & Sundry is a commercial YouTube and Twitch channel and multimedia production company. It was launched on April 2, 2012 by actress Felicia Day with Kim Evey and Sheri Bryant as part of YouTube's 100 million dollar original channel initiat ...

network in early 2019 and set up their own production company,

; Willingham serves as

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

. Soon after, they aimed to raise $750,000 on

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

to create an animated series of their first campaign, but ended up raising over $11 million. In November 2019,

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service pr ...

announced that they had acquired the streaming rights to this animated series, now titled ''

The Legend of Vox Machina ''The Legend of Vox Machina'' is an American adult animated fantasy television series produced by Critical Role Productions, Titmouse, Inc., and Amazon Studios, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video on January 28, 2022. It is based on camp ...

;'' Willingham will reprise his role as Grog.

Personal life

Willingham married voice actress

Laura Bailey Laura Bailey is an American voice actress. She made her anime debut as Kid Trunks in the Funimation dub of ''Dragon Ball Z''. Her other anime credits include Emily / Glitter Lucky in ''Glitter Force'', Tohru Honda in ''Fruits Basket'', Lust in ...

on September 25, 2011 at Maravilla Gardens in Camarillo. They reside in

. They have one son. He has a brother named Carson. Willingham is a lifelong fan of the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

. He has participated in some

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...

Filmography

Anime

Animation

Animated film

Video games

Film

Television

Web

References

External links

* * *
Travis Willingham
at CrystalAcids Voice Actor Database * * – 2018 video interview by ''

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Willingham, Travis Living people Place of birth missing (living people) American male film actors American male television actors American male video game actors American male voice actors American male web series actors Texas Christian University alumni 21st-century American male actors Year of birth missing (living people)