Giving voice to the gods
An EXCLUSIVE look at the casting and creation of Too Human's mythic characters
THE CHARACTER
Thor is the Aesir's fiercest warrior. Courageous and loyal beyond all doubt, Thor has gained a reputation as a slayer of Giants, and spends most of his time marshalling the war against the machines in Jotunheim.
Thor is an extreme expression of the Aesir credo with over 95% of his body replaced by cybernetics. This, coupled with his sentient impact hammer, Mjolnir, has made him such a fearsome opponent of the machines that they have begun to fear him.
THE ACTOR
What games, TV or movies might our readers recognize you from?
Dave Fennoy: I've been on a lot of games, but not being a gamer, I don't keep track of my credits the way I probably should. A few are the LucasFilm Pod Racer game of a few years ago, Scarface, That's So Raven, Onimusha and the soon to be released Jason and The Argonauts... there are many more.
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What did you like best about playing your character in Too Human?
DF: I've always loved mythology, so playing the part of Thor was a big treat for me. Loved his character - the hard drinking, loud and lewd war-loving Norse god transformed.
THE CHARACTER
Mimir is a cryptologist, information specialist and the Guardian of Wisdom. He spends his time immersed in the darkest recesses of the World Tree, sifting for forgotten knowledge that has survived the Fimbulwinter and the catastrophes before it.
THE ACTOR
What games, TV or movies might we recognize you from?
Barry Dennen: Here's a listing ofmy workwhich includes a partial list of games I've been really happy to be associated with. But of all the great games I've voiced, I have to say the biggest thrill in the world for me was when they made an action figure of my character Fatman in Metal Gear Solid. Terminally cool.
How would you describe your character in Too Human?
BD: From the way I understand it, Mimir is one of the prime gods in the Pantheon of Norse mythology. Here's the way the Encyclopedia Mythica describes him:
Mimir was the wisest god of theAesirand one of the two gods sent as hostages to theVanir. After the Vanir discovered they had been tricked by the Aesir, they hacked off Mimir's head and sent it back to the Aesir.Odintook the head, smeared it with a mixture of herbs so that it would never decay and placed powerful spells on it. The forces Odin called upon were so great that not only was the head brought back to life, but it was also able to speak to him. From that moment on, he regularly consulted the head, which revealed many occult secrets to him.
What did you like best about Mimir?
BD: Well, the great thing about the way Mimir is written in Too Human is that he's absolutely pissed at having had his head hacked off his body. He is unbelievably bossy, bad-tempered and sorry for himself. It's hilarious!
What's the recording process like for a game?
BD: I audition at the offices of CESD, my voiceover agency. They have several booths busy all day with actors recording scripts that they've received the night before by email, so we can study them at home and come up with what we think is a great voice for the character. The recorded auditions are then sent to the game makers and they choose the actor with the voice they feel is best suited for their character. If we snag the part, we go into proper recording sessions and we're given scripts with just our cues printed on them and voice the whole role. If it's a major character, these sessions might take anywhere from one day to several.