It is a sad day for Sonic The Hedgehog fans. The titular character’s voice actor has officially departed from the role, thanking fans for their support.
Roger Craig Smith, the man who voiced Sonic in Sonic The Hedgehog has finally resigned from the iconic role. This decision comes after voicing the character for a decade.
Leaving the iconic Sonic The Hedgehog role
It truly is a sad day for Sonic The Hedgehog fans as Roger Craig Smith announces his retirement from the character. According to the 45-year-old, he made the decision to leave so that he could focus on other ventures. And while many may be saddened by this decision, he did take to Twitter, posting a video of him thanking his fans for all of the support.
Sad as it may be, it would seem like the reception for his retirement is really warm. Many fans replied to the video thanking him for voicing out one of gaming’s most beloved characters. Some even expressed their love for some of his other works.
🙏🙏🙏🤘🤘🤘🙏🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/FXjmrOoXow
— Roger Craig Smith (@RogerCraigSmith) January 29, 2021
Smith did clarify that while he is leaving the role, he is in no way done with voice acting.
While many had voiced Sonic in the past, Smith held the position for about a decade, starting in 2010. And throughout the years, fans have surely grown to love his take on world-travelling speedster.
Bringing to life other iconic characters
Sonic The Hedgehog may be one of the most popular of gaming characters but it’s not the only iconic role that Smith had voiced. In fact, the actor has featured on a number of big-name titles such as Assassin’s Creed, Resident Evil, and Arkham Origins. Smith lent his voice to other iconic characters such as Ezio Auditore di Firenze, Chris Redfield, and Batman respectively.
Smith has also had a considerable career in animated films and television shows such as Ben 10, The Powerpuff Girls, and Disney’s Wreck-It-Ralph.
So far, fans have yet to learn who will replace Smith in Sonic The Hedgehog.
The importance of voice actors
Game developers and studios may be the brains and the brawn of the gaming industry but games, as a whole, wouldn’t be successful without talented voice actors. It takes considerable talent to bring to life video game characters, more so for iconic roles.
One might even say that the iconic characters beloved by fans today wouldn’t be what they are without their voice actors. Just imagine Nathan Drake of Uncharted and Joel of The Last of Us without Nolan North and Troy Baker? It would feel wrong, right?
With this, it isn’t at all surprising for fans to feel sad whenever a renowned character’s voice actor departs from his/her role.
Featured image courtesy of Sonic The Hedgehog/Facebook