Balthier, the character Emery voiced in the 2006 mainline Final Fantasy title, plays a major role, and is arguably in some ways more of a protagonist than the main player character, Vaan. [25] 1UP.com editor Jeremy Parish called Final Fantasy XII protagonist Vaan annoying, placing the duo of Balthier and Fran above him. Bio: Keith Ferguson is a varied voice actor who has taken some very different roles. [21] A full-colored action figure of Balthier has also been displayed in the Square Enix Japan merchandise page. Born as Ffamran mied Bunansa (ファムラン・ミド・ブナンザ, Famuran Mido Bunanza),[10] he is the son of Dr. Cid (Cidolfus Demen Bunansa), though he grew weary of his father's madness and obsession with nethicite. [1] In an interview, Yoshida stated that all the characters of Final Fantasy XII were designed with a focus on creating an aesthetic found nowhere in the real world. In retrospective, Square Enix members found Balthier as an appealing character and jokingly stated Vaan would need an entire decade to surpass him. Included are their background information and their voice actor/actress. Gideon Emery (born September 12, 1972) is an English actor and voice actor. Best known for being the voice of Balthier and Fenris, Gideon Emery (born 12 September 1972 in Windsor, England) has provided his "honey-gravel" voice for numerous characters and audiobooks.He's usually cast as a bad guy in his live action roles. He was designed by Akihiko Yoshida, was voiced by Gideon Emery and Hiroaki Hirata in the English and Japanese versions respectively, and is one of the most positively received characters of the game, compared by some to the likes of James Bond and Han Solo. [30] Balthier ranked ninth on IGN's top 25 best Final Fantasy characters, ranking higher than any other character from Final Fantasy XII. He also commented that the biggest challenge of voicing Balthier was having to stay consistent, adding that he spent more than four hours in a small booth while doing the voice, which could cause him to "drift away from the character" if he goes on for too long. And besides, Balthier's english voice actor is so good that it's a crime to not use English audio You know, I think I really agree. An award-winning actor best known for his role as the eloquent Deucalion on 3 seasons of cult hit, Cinedigm Acquires Psychological Thriller ‘100 Days To Live’ For North America; Digital Release Coming Early 2021, ‘Dash and Lily’ Trailer: Austin Abrams, Midori Francis and NYC Fall in Love at Christmas With the Help of a Notebook (Video), Dash & Lily Trailer: Netflix's Christmas-Themed Series Launches Romantic Scavenger Hunt Across New York City. Gideon Emery is an English actor, singer and voice actor. [27] Gideon Emery's work as Balthier's English voice actor was acclaimed by Eurogamer writer Martin Robinson as one of the best ones from the entire game as "it's fascinating to think how the game's wider perception might have changed if he was placed as the leading man". "[29] PALGN's Phil Larsen commented that though a lofty prediction, he expected that the duo of Balthier and Fran would "go down in history as one of the greatest duos of modern narrative storytelling". "[1] Balthier has been called a "completely original character" by Yoshida, having not used any previous Final Fantasy character as a reference. Balthier claims to be the "leading man" of the story many times throughout the game, and insists that this status makes him invincible. At MyAnimeList, you can find out about their voice actors, animeography, pictures and much more! He was thankful that he was not aware of Balthier's popularity since his reveal, stating that he would have been "crippled by the fear of not delivering on what the fans expected". Producer Naoki Yoshida had expressed an interest in Balthier appearing in Final Fantasy XIV but the idea was ultimately scrapped. Hiroaki Hirata. [2] During the making of the game, there were some issues with the character's faces; In one scene Balthier asked Vaan how he was feeling which brought laughter to the staff because in that scene Vaan's face was poorly modelled. He then encounters with Vaan when attempting to steal the magicite and caught in a situation of a battle between the Resistance forces and the Imperials. “. It was awarded by "Impressing Sett" (scoring first blood in 10 PvP games) and openable from January 14th, 2020. [24] GameSpot's Greg Kasavin called Balthier the best character in the game, describing him as the "Auron of the cast". Balthier was at first intent to take Lemures' treasure, the Auracite, but knew the truth behind it and attempted to destroy the Auralith, eventually rejoining Vaan's group to fight the Judge of Wings, letting Vaan be the "leading man" while he himself leaves the limelight. I can barely understand what anyone says, especially Vaan and Fran. While attempting to steal the "Goddess's Magicite", they encounter protagonist Vaan, who had already stolen it. Fully updated for The Zodiac Age! [6], Balthier is a Hume sky pirate who pilots the Strahl, a small airship, around the skies of Ivalice. Definitely very impressed with the voice acting in this game, as someone who really hates english voice … Balthier is charming, dashing, cunning and cynical. Good voice quality and they fit the characters overall. Gideon Emery is the English dub voice of Balthier in Final Fantasy XII, and Hiroaki Hirata is the Japanese voice. While cradling her in his arms the ship crashes with them inside. [3] A motion capture actor was hired especially for the North American release of Final Fantasy XII. [22][23], Since his appearance in Final Fantasy XII, Balthier has received mostly positive reception. [18], While Balthier himself doesn't appear in Final Fantasy XIV, players can acquire his attire via the Sky Pirate's Aiming gear set in the Return To Ivalice chapter The Orbonne Monastery. He comes across as cocky and self-centered but his trust in Fran is complete. Emery commented that while voicing the character of Balthier, he developed a "small crush" on Fran, Balthier's partner. In an interview, Yoshida stated that all the characters of Final Fantasy XII were designed with a focus on creating an aesthetic found nowhere in the real world. His voice is no exception. Balthier has been called a "completely original character" by Yoshida, having not used any previous Final Fantasycharacter as a reference. Balthier (English version, voice) The Matrix: Path of Neo (Video Game 2005) Bane (voice) Commander in Chief (TV Series 2005) Jared Lyons (1 episode, 2005) Starslyderz (2005) Mr. Muggles (voice) La belle dame sans merci (Short 2005) The Nobleman GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (Video Game 2004) This video highlights some of Gideon Emery voice acting roles in animation and video games. [15] He makes a crossover appearance in Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions. [14], Both he and Fran intend on finding the Cache of Glabados, which is resolved in Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings when it turns out to be tied to Eternal. And don't think of running off without collecting. [4], For Final Fantasy XII, Balthier was voiced by Gideon Emery in English and Hiroaki Hirata in Japanese. Separating Nolan North from Nate is always super hard, do love when he does other voices though as he has amazing range, probably the actor I've most gone "wait that was him", David from TLoU probably the biggest one, as never would've guess that and there's no computer modulation or over the top accent there, like a few of his more out there roles. He stated that he took no inspiration from anyone else for the role, wanting to ensure that he was unique. Seems best fitting and sounding voice is Ashe, and Balthier. She is proficient with a variety of weapons, yet prefers [7] 1UP.com editor Jeremy Parish compared Balthier to Albus, one of the characters from Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, stating that they share a physical resemblance. [8], Balthier and his companion, Fran, prefer to remain outside the war between the kingdoms of Ivalice. Vaan and Fran above him [ 5 ] Emery auditioned for Balthier, also known as mied! 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