| Norio Wakamoto | |
| |
| Born | October 18, 1945 Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Occupation | Voice Actor, Narrator |
| Years Active | 1972-present |
Norio Wakamoto (若本 規夫 Wakamoto Norio, born October 18, 1945) is a Japanese voice actor and budō expert affiliated with the Sigma Seven Talent Agency. He was born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and was raised in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. He graduated from Waseda University. He was the original Japanese voice for Captain Custer in X-Bomber.
After graduation from Waseda University, Wakamoto initially found employment as a police officer assigned to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Anti-Riot Squad division before becoming a voice actor.
The quality of Wakamoto's voice is known for uniting astringency and sharpness, usually leading him to villain roles in dubbing work and games. Examples include Oskar von Reuenthal in Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Johnny in the Guilty Gear series, Barbatos Goetia in Tales of Destiny 2, Charles zi Britannia in Code Geass, Black Shadow in F-Zero GP Legend, Xemnas in the Kingdom Hearts series, Oda Nobunaga in Sengoku Basara, Cell in Dragon Ball Z, Dracula in the Castlevania series, M. Bison (Vega in the Japanese releases) in the Street Fighter series, Igniz and Omega Rugal in The King of Fighters series and many others. On adult animation titles and dating sims he goes by the alias "Hiruma Kyounosuke".
He holds the rank of 3-dan in both Shorinji Kempo and Kendo.
Filmography[]
Japanese Media[]
- Gatchaman (1972) as Various Characters
- Future Boy Conan (1978) as Dōke
- X-Bomber (1980) as Captain Custer
- Acrobunch (1982) as Tatsuya Randou
- Aura Battler Dunbine (1983) as Narrator and Alan Brady
- Dancouga – Super Beast Machine God (1985) as Shapiro Keats
- Legend of the Galactic Heroes (1988) as Oskar von Reuenthal
- Dragon Ball Z (1989) as Cell
- Cyber City Oedo 808 (1990) as Juzo Hasegawa
- Record of Lodoss War (1990) as Woodchunk
- Giant Robo (1992) as Taisou
- 801 T.T.S. Airbats (1994) as Mitsuri Konishi
- Dragon Ball GT (1996) as Cell
- Case Closed (1996) as Inspector Gorō Ōtaki
- Berserk (1997) Gambino
- Oh My Goddess! (1997) as Senbee
- Appleseed (1998) as A.J. Sebastian
- Cowboy Bebop (1998) as Vicious
- Seijuu Sentai Gingaman (1998) as Narrator
- Cyborg 009 (2001) as Skull
- Hellsing (2001)
- Metropolis (2001) as Pero
- PaRappa the Rapper (2001) as King Kong Mushi
- Azumanga Daioh (2002) as Chiyo's Father
- Digimon Frontier (2002) as IceDevimon
- Cromartie High School (2003) as Shinichi Mechazawa
- Chrono Crusade (2003) as Duke Defeaux
- F-Zero: GP Legend (2003) as Black Shadow
- Basilisk (2005) as Yagyū Munenori
- Code Geass (2006) as Charles zi Britannia
- Ghost Slayers Ayashi (2006) as Torii Yōzō
- Baccano! (2007) as Gustave St. Germain
- Antique Bakery (2008) as Tadahiro Akutagawa
- Birdy the Mighty (2008) as Skeletsuo
- Ga-Rei (2008) as Nabū Brothers
- Dragon Ball Z Kai (2009) as Cell
- Dororon Enma-kun (2011) as Great King Enma
- Blood Lad (2013) as Wolf-Daddy
Japanese Dubbing Roles[]
- Thunderbirds Are Go (1966) as Captain Greg Martin (TV Version)
- Space: 1999 (1975) as Paul Morrow (Prentis Hancock)
- Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) as Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams)
- The Dark Crystal (1982) as SkekZok
- Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) as Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams)
- Licence to Kill (1989) as Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi) - VHS Version
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) as Shredder
- Twin Peaks (1990) as Ed Hurley
- The Mask (1994) as Mitch Kellaway (Peter Riegert)
Video Games[]
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997) as Dracula
- Guilty Gear (1998) as Johnny
- The King of Fighters 2001 (2001) as Igniz
- The King of Fighters 2002 (2002) as Rugal Bernstein
- Kingdom Hearts (2002) as Xemnas
- Tales of Destiny 2 (2002) as Barbatos Goetia
- Sengoku Basara (2005) as Oda Nobunaga
- Street Fighter IV (2008) as M. Bison (Vega)
- Street Fighter X Tekken (2012) as M. Bison (Vega)