Every Main BotW Voice Actor, Ranked by Performance

While silence does speak volumes, as Urbosa told Link, Breath of the Wild wouldn’t be even close to the same without the amazing voice actors behind its characters. It emphasized the audible voices of its main individuals that set it apart from all past Zelda games. Just imagine if the Champions didn’t talk, and their personalities would be nearly invisible – they wouldn’t be characters anymore, but just people closer to NPCs than key figures in BotW’s story. Here is every main BotW voice actor ranked by performance!

7. Patricia Summersett (Princess Zelda)

Don’t get me wrong, Patricia Summersett is an extremely talented voice actress in every way and did her best to voice such an important character in the Zelda series as a whole. But she has received a lot of criticism for the strained, fake British accent she brings to the princess that none ever imagined she would have. It just sounds forced and unnatural in most of the cutscenes, making it sound like she’s always pleading. In Daruk’s words: “She makes it sound like we already lost!”

6. Bill Rogers (King Rhoam)

Rogers brought the usual deep tone you would expect of a noble king to BotW. It sounded much more authentic and natural than his in-game daughter’s, but it lacked character; Rhoam just sounded like some ordinary king. There was nothing really special about his voice as it didn’t bring out his personality that much. He could’ve very well been chosen as an emotionless narrator for the game (even though BotW doesn’t technically need one) if he wasn’t already voicing the King of Hyrule.

5. Amelia Gotham (Mipha)

Amelia Gotham really is a talented voice actress. Unlike Bill Rogers with King Rhoam, she spotlighted Mipha’s shy, selfless, and loving personality and portrayed the character flawlessly. Her voice acting is probably one of the most genuine-sounding and adept in all of BotW. The only downside of Gotham’s voice as Mipha was her volume; some of Mipha’s words are nearly indistinguishable if it wasn’t for the subtitles. I guess it was just what we should’ve expected from the ever-quiet Zora Princess.

4. Andi Gibson (Impa)

Being only in her 30’s when voicing Impa in Breath of the Wild, she was given a challenge that would put her voice acting to the test: bringing life to a grandma-ish, battle-weary elderly Sheikah woman. And she conquered that challenge like no one else could. Surpassing the barriers posed by her natural voice for her age, she portrayed Impa as an extremely formal yet emotional assistant to Link whose impact on the fans’ hearts will never be forgotten. It’s a shame Impa’s story wasn’t fleshed out enough in either BotW or its prequel Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.

3. Joe Hernandez (Yunobo, Daruk)

Joe Hernandez has quite a range, voicing the most different of characters: the childlike, scaredy-cat Yunobo and the rock-hard, humorous, and courageous Goron Champion Daruk. His raspy, big-hearted laughter is precious. And his yelp for help in the Abandoned North Mine is plain hilarious. There’s nothing more Goron than Hernandez’s flawless voice acting in the roles of the two relatives. Just hearing it will make you want to roll up into a ball and have fun with Daruk… What can I say? Nintendo made the right choice.

2. Elizabeth Maxwell (Riju, Urbosa)

While Riju and Urbosa’s voices aren’t exactly as different as Yunobo and Daruk’s, they have unique tones to them. Riju’s is youthful but wise, and Urbosa’s is motherly and enchanting. Elizabeth Maxwell slips into both roles just as charmingly as the women themselves, adding such unmistakable vocal beauty to the two Chiefs that will forever leave a mark on players’ hearts. And, just to add on top of that, her voice appears completely natural and emphasizes the power of strong, inspiring women in the world. It lets empathy and fierceness instantly take control the moment either one of the Gerudo speaks their first word. Elizabeth even has the traditional Gerudo red hair! There is no better female voice in all of BotW than Maxwell, and I say that with no regret.

1. Sean Chiplock (Revali, Teba, Great Deku Tree)

Sean Chiplock is the only voice actor in Breath of the Wild that voices not one, not two, but THREE characters! (That’s a lot.) And to make things even more challenging, each of them has extremely unique voices: the Deku Tree with a deep, wise voice, Teba with a brusque one, and Revali with a charming one. If you think Yunobo and Daruk are already very different, Chiplock was tasked with voicing even more diverse characters – and to no surprise, he pulled off every feat perfectly! He can shed the skin of one character mere seconds before transitioning into another, as shown in an interview with the Champions’ Cast podcast. If you didn’t see the strings behind the puppets, you would’ve had no idea that one man voiced three characters all in the same video game. As Revali says, “You may be good… but I’m better!” Sean Chiplock is truly the pride of the Rito.

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