Goku, Pikachu, other anime characters share voices with LoL champs

Japanese League of Legends players get to enjoy their favorite anime voice actors voicing in-game champions, featuring actors from Naruto, Dragon Ball, Pokemon, and more.

When Riot Games recently announced Sett as the first upcoming champion in 2020, as well as his voice lines across all supported languages, League fans were quick to realise Sett’s voice actor is Takehito Koyasu, who is famous for his work as main antagonist Dio in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

Sett is of a similar character to Dio, so it wasn’t hard to figure out that he’s voiced by the same actor. But this isn’t the case with most other champions, and not all League players are aware of the popular cast behind the Japanese voices in particular. Many of those that are aware and are interested in the anime scene wish Riot would allow them an option to use Japanese champion voices while keeping the rest of the client in English.

Pikachu, Elric brothers, and Naruto characters as League of Legends champions

It’s not uncommon for popular anime titles to use the same voice actors, and Riot didn’t want to fall behind and disappoint its Japanese audience. Most of the voices behind League champions are experienced actors with rich anime portfolios.

Many of the League of Legends voice actors performed in Naruto. Yukari Tamura, the voice of Gnar, is also Tenten. Naoya Uchida voices both Madara and Aurelion Sol, and Kazuhiko Inoue is behind both Kakashi and Shen. Kenyuu Horiuchi has voiced Orrn as well as Tobirama and Yahiko, and he also contributed to Gintama, Hunter x Hunter, and Black Clover.

Another Naruto cast member is Ryze, as he is voiced by actor Wataru Takagi, who worked on Obito and also plays an important character in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

Kenta Miyake, who voices Aatrox, is mostly known for his work as All Might in My Hero Academia. He also worked in Bleach, One Piece, Gurren Lagan, and many more popular series. Both of the Elric brothers from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood are in League as well, and so are a number of voice actors from Attack on Titan.

The League of Legends Japanese cast includes many more anime stars, coming from the casts of Hunter x Hunter, Gintama, Bleach, Madoka Magica, and more. Even Pikachu, the most popular Pokemon voiced by Ikue Ootani, is in League of Legends as Teemo.

Perhaps most appropriately, Masako Nozawa, known as Goku in Dragon Ball series, performs as Wukong.