The Energon Pub

Being a bit of a rookie voice chaser, I've always enjoyed the variety of actors and voices/accents for all the characters. So I was curious as to which voices in the various series (and movies) people considered their favorites and why. (I have my own thoughts, but I was curious to see what other people pick first.)

My favourite voice has to be Starscream for the way noone has ever really been able to recapture the uniqueness of that voice, followed by Devastator from the animated movie. Something about the way he says "Prepare for extermination." is just chilling and for me is one of the most memorable lines in the movie.

Frank Welker's characters are also good favourites, as no matter who he's doing you can always tell which character it's supposed to be. (Even though you can always tell it's him.)

I love the way Scatman Crothers did Jazz's voice in the G1 series. I don't think anyone will ever be able to recreate the way he did it.

Tekka wrote:Frank Welker's characters are also good favourites, as no matter who he's doing you can always tell which character it's supposed to be. (Even though you can always tell it's him.)

Yeah, I love Soundwave's voice. I agree with the fact you can spot Frank's voice in almost everything he does. I watched the Futurama movie the other day, and I'm almost positive that he did the voice of the 2nd alien conman thing.

Aside from Peter Cullen and Frank Welker, i have to say Gary Chalk, the best Optimus Prime/Primal voiceover since Cullen and the OP of the new generation.

I like Megatron's voice in the Unicron trilogy. Or Armada anyway, never saw the other 2.

Love Welkers voices, but mostly Rumble and Frenzy. Oh and whoever voiced Seaspray, his was fun to hear.

David Sobolov's and Campbell Lane's Depth Charge & Rampage were just so beautifully played ^_^ I thought those 2 did a great job

David Kayes Megatron from beast wars.

The Beast Wars Cast as a whole were all top notch, not a weak performance among them.

MaikeruSama wrote:David Kayes Megatron from beast wars.

In TOTAL agreeance....yeeessss!


Excellllent!


I am currently working on making a voice-mail message with that LOVELY voice....taking time compiling so it sounds continuous! It is just THAT cool! My boss will hate it, but on her!!!!

i_amtrunks wrote:The Beast Wars Cast as a whole were all top notch, not a weak performance among them.

Also truth! No better cast for TF voices ever assembled (and maybe never will be...time will tell)

My favourites are Frank Welker's Megatron and Galvatron and Lionel Stander's Kup. I also really like Cullen's Optimus and Carmel's Cyclonus.

Chris Latta! RIP, Starscream. He gave Starscream a voice that could be a total bad arse and a split second later a total wuss...loved it! Scatman was awesome too!

I have always been a fan of Frank Welker who Voiced Megatron and Glavatron but Also did other voices as well such as Soundwave, Skywarp, Rumble, Ravage, Frenzy,Trailbreaker, even Wheelie for Christ Sake! As well as Casey Casem who did Cliffjumper, Bluestreak and Teletran 1. But Hands down for me has to be Chris Latta who voiced Strascream. His voice to me became one of those Signature voices that you just knew everytime you heard it. He did Starscream and many others on the Transformers but also was Snake eyes on G.I.Joe. His voice was always so Scratchy, Emotional, Over dramatic. So much Personality to it. it was great!

i_amtrunks wrote:The Beast Wars Cast as a whole were all top notch, not a weak performance among them.

With u 100%. Hell even the VA's ad-lib stuff that is now seen as classic.

Pyrostrata wrote:

i_amtrunks wrote:The Beast Wars Cast as a whole were all top notch, not a weak performance among them.

Also truth! No better cast for TF voices ever assembled (and maybe never will be...time will tell)

as a whole, no better cast....

what?!?!?

no love for Gary Chalk? come on, people!

zemper wrote:what?!?!?

no love for Gary Chalk? come on, people!

I like Gary Chalk
Pretty much the all the voice actors for Beast Wars did a brilliant job, I especially like Gary Chalk, David Kaye, Scott McNeil and Venus Terzo (Blackarachnia).

jacksonspade wrote:Chris Latta! RIP, Starscream. He gave Starscream a voice that could be a total bad arse and a split second later a total wuss...loved it! Scatman was awesome too!

Chris Latta's Starscream and Cobra Commander.....there is not a more recognizable, and oddly endearing, voice in animation...............or more annoying!

I never even realized how important Frank Welker was to the original series until they chose not to use him in the movie. I have great respect for a guy that can do awesome villain voices as well as Curious George.

Cullen will always be my fave though. Prime was my hero growing up, so no other can come close.

TaiPoh wrote:

zemper wrote:what?!?!?

no love for Gary Chalk? come on, people!

I like Gary Chalk
Pretty much the all the voice actors for Beast Wars did a brilliant job, I especially like Gary Chalk, David Kaye, Scott McNeil and Venus Terzo (Blackarachnia).

oh yeah, now that's what i'm talkin' about here.

Cullen for G1/Movie, Chalk for Primal/New generation TF series. perfect combo for me!

though i myself (GASP!) never DID like Blackarachnia's voice...too much whiney and high-pitched for an evil skank.

I have to say latta as G1 Starscream and basically the whole Cybertron cast. I loved the fact that they made transformers an "International" show. (metroplex, quickmix, red alert, jetfire, the crane guy i can never remember the name of) cullen as prime and soundwave. I thought shockwave sounded a bit gay (literally) or like a stuck-up snob bot.

Kill me if you must, but Brent Miller as Hot Shot and Michael Dobson as Starscream in Armada are my favorite voices ever!!!

But the original G1 voice for Optimus rocks too.

Hmm. A lot of love for the Beast Wars folks it seems... makes me even more excited to be watching more BW eps for the first time soon.

As for me, lessee.

Agreed with Peter Cullen and Frank Welker love. I especially like how Welker could, yes, voice something like 15 different characters on both sides and make them all sound different. (Contrast this with some of the other actors... I could never tell Gears' voice from Ratchet's, for instance. :X )

I think my favorite Welker voices were Soundwave (a bit of voice F/X goes a long way, it seems) and Rumble/Frenzy (it was just the perfect diminutive punk voice).

Also agree with Latta as Starscream... I think:

jacksonspade wrote:He gave Starscream a voice that could be a total bad arse and a split second later a total wuss...loved it!

...sums it up perfectly. I liked Latta's psuedo-NY accents for Sparkplug and Wheeljack, too.

There's Buster Jones as Blaster and Scatman Crothers as Jazz... Jazz had the "hip and cool" sort of voice, while Blaster had the "radio DJ" voice happening (and much cooler rhymes than Wheelie ).

I also agree with liking Cyclonus' voice... there's something delighfully dangerous about the calm, quiet formal-ness of it. (Plus Roger Carmel gets extra props from me for having played the lovable scoundrel Harry Mudd in the original Star Trek series.)

And yes, Lionel Stander as Kup. I didn't mind the change in voice actors from the movie to the series, for the most part, but I miss Stander as Kup. It was just the right combo of kind and crotchety.

Now for some folks who haven't gotten any love yet...

Cosmos' accent is just... cute, even if nobody can tell what it is.

I like Hoist's voice just because I like British accents.

Then there's Paul Eiding's Perceptor, which I find endearing. It sounds scholarly without being snotty (contrast this with, say, Sky Lynx or Smart Grimlock in "Grimlock's New Brain"), is generally pleasant and friendly, and has that little accent. He manages to take a character stuck spewing a lot of exposition and give him some personality, as opposed to sounding like, say, a walking Teletraan-1. (Although Eiding *does* voice several computers in the G1 series. Heh.)

Speaking of voice F/X, Shrapnel's voice is fun, is fun.

mosh wrote:Oh and whoever voiced Seaspray, his was fun to hear.

I think I read somewhere that Alan Oppenheimer did that effect with just his own voice (wish I could remember *where* I read that...) He's also the voice of Skeletor from He-Man and Falkor from The Neverending Story, so... I guess he's good at unique voices.

*looks up at her lengthy ramble, and notes sheepishly that she did warn she was a rookie voice chaser...*

Pyrostrata wrote:

jacksonspade wrote:Chris Latta! RIP, Starscream. He gave Starscream a voice that could be a total bad arse and a split second later a total wuss...loved it! Scatman was awesome too!

Chris Latta's Starscream and Cobra Commander.....there is not a more recognizable, and oddly endearing, voice in animation...............or more annoying!

May Latta's voice be known as long as human pop-culture still matters to someone. That is one voice i will never forget, whether i want to or not. It is more lasting, in a primal (literally, not the character) kind of way than even Primes.

Jeysie wrote:Hmm. A lot of love for the Beast Wars folks it seems... makes me even more excited to be watching more BW eps for the first time soon.

oh, please do! They are fantastic! Start from the beginning! Don't leave Season 1 out (even though, in my opinion, it is not the greatest of the seasons...it lays down a great many ideas for the rest of the seasons)..and, even though it is not quite as good, continue on with Beast Machines.

Jeysie wrote:As for me, lessee.

Agreed with Peter Cullen and Frank Welker love. I especially like how Welker could, yes, voice something like 15 different characters on both sides and make them all sound different. (Contrast this with some of the other actors... I could never tell Gears' voice from Ratchet's, for instance. :X )

I think my favorite Welker voices were Soundwave (a bit of voice F/X goes a long way, it seems) and Rumble/Frenzy (it was just the perfect diminutive punk voice).

Also agree with Latta as Starscream... I think:

jacksonspade wrote:He gave Starscream a voice that could be a total bad arse and a split second later a total wuss...loved it!

...sums it up perfectly. I liked Latta's psuedo-NY accents for Sparkplug and Wheeljack, too.

There's Buster Jones as Blaster and Scatman Crothers as Jazz... Jazz had the "hip and cool" sort of voice, while Blaster had the "radio DJ" voice happening (and much cooler rhymes than Wheelie ).

I also agree with liking Cyclonus' voice... there's something delighfully dangerous about the calm, quiet formal-ness of it. (Plus Roger Carmel gets extra props from me for having played the lovable scoundrel Harry Mudd in the original Star Trek series.)

And yes, Lionel Stander as Kup. I didn't mind the change in voice actors from the movie to the series, for the most part, but I miss Stander as Kup. It was just the right combo of kind and crotchety.

Now for some folks who haven't gotten any love yet...

Cosmos' accent is just... cute, even if nobody can tell what it is.

I like Hoist's voice just because I like British accents.

Then there's Paul Eiding's Perceptor, which I find endearing. It sounds scholarly without being snotty (contrast this with, say, Sky Lynx or Smart Grimlock in "Grimlock's New Brain"), is generally pleasant and friendly, and has that little accent. He manages to take a character stuck spewing a lot of exposition and give him some personality, as opposed to sounding like, say, a walking Teletraan-1. (Although Eiding *does* voice several computers in the G1 series. Heh.)

Speaking of voice F/X, Shrapnel's voice is fun, is fun.

mosh wrote:Oh and whoever voiced Seaspray, his was fun to hear.

I think I read somewhere that Alan Oppenheimer did that effect with just his own voice (wish I could remember *where* I read that...) He's also the voice of Skeletor from He-Man and Falkor from The Neverending Story, so... I guess he's good at unique voices.

*looks up at her lengthy ramble, and notes sheepishly that she did warn she was a rookie voice chaser...*

agree on all points!