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This article is about a real-life person.
Information in this article is about real-life people, companies, and objects, which do not relate to the in-universe Sonic series.

Jason Adam Griffith is an American actor and voice actor formerly associated with 4Kids Entertainment who has done voice work for English dub of the Sonic X anime series and the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

History[]

When 4Kids Entertainment localized the Sonic X anime series for American viewers, Griffith took on the voices of both Sonic the Hedgehog and Shadow the Hedgehog. When Sega replaced all of the Sonic the Hedgehog series voice actors with the Sonic X voice acting team in order to keep their voices the same in all media forms, 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 who would keep on voicing Dr. Eggman). Sonic's new voice actor was Roger Craig Smith, starting with Sonic Free Riders and Sonic Colors.[1] The new voices for Shadow and Jet are provided by Kirk Thornton and Michael Yurchak, respectively. However, Griffith still voiced Sonic for commercials for the CW4kids' program block, Toonzai, which was recorded after the new cast was announced.[2]

After leaving the Sonic cast, Jason voiced the lead role of gym leader and traveling companion Cilan in the Pokémon: Black & White anime, as well as co-starring in the podcast Casterstheshow as seen on YouTube.

Filmography[]

Anime[]

TV series[]

Credits[]

Voice acting[]

Reception[]

Since the decision to replace the original cast with the 4Kids staff, there has been large debates mainly over the internet on who is the better voice actor for Sonic and Shadow. Primarily in the beginning, 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 older. Sonic the Werehog's voice was mostly praised in Sonic Unleashed, with many 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 Sonic Unleashed and Sonic and the Black Knight than he did in previous games. Despite the rough start Griffith had as Sonic, fans had started to warm up to him more even after the cast change which many fans felt was unnecessary since they felt that he finally perfected Sonic and was receiving fewer complaints about his voice. It should be noted that Griffith is the most favorable voice for both Sonic and Shadow so far, according to polls on the Behind The Voice Actors website.

Trivia[]

  • Griffith voiced Sonic for a total of seven years (two in the anime, five in the video games) and still did so for some promotions until 2014 when the Vortexx block came to an end.
  • Griffith was the first English voice actor to play Sonic in both animation and games.
  • Griffith is often referred to among fans as Jason "Anthony" Griffith, because of his credit under that name. However, this is actually the name of an entirely different actor.
  • Griffith is friends with Sonic's predecessor voice actor Ryan Drummond.
  • The current Sonic Team head, Takashi Iizuka, said he met Griffith when recording for Sonic Unleashed when a fan asked him about it at Sonic Boom.
  • According to an interview, Griffith suffered from strep throat during the recording period for Sonic Unleashed.
  • According to fan questions, Griffith's favorite game to work on was Sonic Unleashed.[3]
  • According to an interview in 2012, Griffith based his voice for Shadow off the voice of a former roommate, a writer who he described as always speaking intensely.[3]
  • Griffith is the youngest person to be the English voice of Sonic in the video games so far.

References[]

  1. Out of the Mouths of Hedgehogs. Sega of America (15 July 2010). Archived from the original on 16 July 2010. Retrieved on 16 October 2018.
  2. zatchfan202 (2 September 2010). Jason Griffith as Sonic in Toonzai Commercial. Youtube. Toonzai. Retrieved on 16 October 2018.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Sonic vs. Shadow: The Story Behind the Voices! (With Jason Griffith). Convention Coverage (16 December 2023).

External links[]


Voice actors of Sonic the Hedgehog

Former English voice actors

Navigation templates to Jason Griffith








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