Jason Griffith



Jason Anthony Griffith (born November 29, 1980, New York City, New York), (also known as J. Griff and Adam Caroleson) was the voice actor for Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Jet the Hawk from 2005-2010. He worked as a voice actor for 4Kids Entertainment, where he voiced a several characters in a variety of shows. When 4Kids localized Sonic X for United States viewers, Griffith took on the voices of both Sonic and Shadow the Hedgehog. When Sega replaced all of the Sonic the Hedgehog voice actors with the Sonic X voice acting team, Griffith took over the voices of Sonic and Shadow from their previous actors, Ryan Drummond and David Humphrey respectively. When Jet was introduced in Sonic Riders, Griffith began voicing that character as well.

In 2010, Sega announced that they were replacing the entire voice cast (except for Mike Pollock). Sonic's new voice actor became Roger Craig Smith, starting with Sonic Free Riders and Sonic Colors. The new voices for Shadow and Jet are provided by Kirk Thornton and Michael Yurchak, respectively. However, Griffith has still voiced Sonic for commercials for the CW4kids' program block, Toonzai, which was recorded after the new cast was announced.

Sonic the Hedgehog Series and Crossovers Voice Credits

 * Sonic X - Sonic and Shadow
 * Sonic Rush - Sonic
 * Shadow the Hedgehog - Sonic, Shadow and Shadow Androids
 * Sonic Riders - Sonic, Jet and Shadow
 * Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) - Sonic and Shadow
 * Sonic Rivals - Sonic and Shadow
 * Sonic Rivals 2 - Sonic and Shadow
 * Sonic and the Secret Rings - Sonic and Shadow
 * Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games - Sonic and Shadow
 * Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity - Sonic, Jet and Shadow
 * Sonic Rush Adventure - Sonic
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Sonic and Shadow
 * Sonic Unleashed - Sonic/Sonic the Werehog, Professor Pickle's Assistant
 * Sonic and the Black Knight - Sonic, Shadow/Lancelot, and Jet/Lamorak
 * Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games - Sonic, Shadow, and Jet
 * Sonic & SEGA All-Star Racing - Sonic and Shadow

Reception
Since the decision to replace the original cast with the 4Kids staff, there has been a much debated war mainly over the internet on who the better voice actor for Sonic and Shadow is. Griffith's voice has been highly criticized for lacking the emotion that Ryan Drummond had brought to Sonic, but some have also praised it for making him sound more teenage. The Werehog voice was mostly praised in Unleashed, saying Griffith fit the role perfectly. His voice for Shadow has been received with much praise, some saying he has captured Shadow's dark, emotionless, and somewhat smug demeanor perfectly. Many fans also felt Griffith did a much better job as Sonic in Unleashed and Black Knight than he did in previous games. According to the Behind the Voice Actors Sonic voice comparison, as of 29 January 2011, Jason Griffith has 937 votes, the highest number of votes for all the Sonic voice actors, with 63.8%.

Chat Session

 * On July 2009, Jason and Mike Pollock (the current voice actor for Eggman) attended a chat session with over 120 fans.
 * In the session, he said he originally auditioned for Chris Thorndyke because he was a huge Sonic fan and wanted to see what it felt like to be Sonic's human companion, but a producer and represenitive from SEGA felt he sounded more like Sonic and ultimately got the role.
 * He also stated that there is no tension between him and Ryan Drummond. In fact, he is good friends with Ryan.
 * He also told about how he became Shadow during a recording of One Piece. A recording engineer told him he should audition for Shadow using a dark voice trying to match David Humphrey's and got it.
 * He also said that the role of Jet The Hawk was something that SEGA wanted him to do.
 * He says the Sonic Games he owns are Sonic 1-3 & Knuckles, Sonic CD, and Unleashed (which is his favourite).
 * He also says out of all the roles he has done, Sonic is his favorite.
 * He also said that Sonic was his first ever voice acting role. He originally came to New York to study theater and heard about the Sonic X auditions which lead to his career as a voice actor.