Chris Niosi

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Chris Niosi
Born
Christopher Edwin Niosi

(1988-12-31) December 31, 1988 (age 35)
Other namesKirbopher
Alma materSchool of Visual Arts
Occupation(s)Animator, producer, voice actor
Years active2004–present

Christopher Edwin Niosi (born December 31, 1988),[1] also known by his pseudonym Kirbopher, is an American voice actor, animator, and producer. His voice-work includes Lord Uroko in Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea, Arataka Reigen in Mob Psycho 100,[2] Dezel in Tales of Zestiria, Taira in Queen's Blade Rebellion, Tetsuya Kinomoto in Dr. Stone, Khoury and others in the Pokémon series, Ernesto and others in OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, Pegasus in the Viz Media dub of Sailor Moon,[3] Haruo Sakaki in Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle, and Godzilla: The Planet Eater, and Therion and Mattias in Octopath Traveler.[4]

Early life[edit]

Niosi was born in Northport, New York, and raised in Long Island. He attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City.[5]

Career[edit]

Animation[edit]

Niosi began making numerous animations for Newgrounds under the name "Kirbopher" in 2004, mostly making Nintendo-based parodies like Rawest Forest, which is a Super Mario RPG-inspired music video based on the song of the same name that vent viral on video-sharing websites like Newgrounds, Youtube, and Japanese-language website Nico Nico Douga.[6] His first professional animation job was for Eduware providing character design, animation and voices.[7] He has also worked as an animator for the video games A Hat in Time, Skullgirls and Cryamore.[7]

Terrain of Magical Expertise[edit]

Niosi is the creator of the project Terrain of Magical Expertise, also known as TOME. The web series is known for its inclusion of several YouTube personalities and veteran Voice Actors such as Yuri Lowenthal, Jon St. John and Kyle Hebert. The series' concept was based on Niosi's experiences and interactions on internet forums in the early 2000's. The series' second season was eventually crowdfunded through GoFundMe to produce the remaining five episodes. The majority of the animation services were provided by Niosi himself, along with several guest animators and production assistants.[8][9] TOME was first released on Newgrounds on November 11, 2011,[10] and ran for sixteen episodes and nine shorts. The final episode released on July 7, 2015, while the final short released on November 11, 2016. In 2023, Niosi would later release a special edition version of the web series in the form of three compilations he titled the TOME: A2Z Compilation Movie Trilogy.[11]

On September 30, 2017, a Kickstarter for a video game adaptation was launched.[12] The game features a customizable avatar known as the White Hat Hacker joining the established characters. The campaign was fully funded on November 4, 2017, successfully raising $111,162.63. The game was produced by Niosi's company NEO-C Productions LLC., with Niosi serving as the director, lead designer and character animator of the game, and was published by 1C Company, released on September 9, 2021, on Steam.[13][14]

Voice acting[edit]

Niosi started doing voice acting on amateur productions on Newgrounds, but in 2009, he eventually booked his first professional gig as "Khoury" in five episodes of Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl: Galactic Battles. In 2014, he began voicing anime characters such as Yujiro Hattori in Bakuman, Taira in Queen's Blade Rebellion, and video game characters such as Dezel in Tales of Zestiria (which he later reprised in Tales of Zestiria the X). In 2016, Niosi voiced Arataka Reigen from Mob Psycho 100.[15][16] In 2017, he was announced as the voice of Pegasus for the Viz Media dub of Sailor Moon SuperS.[17]

In 2016, Niosi became a series regular in Cartoon Network's OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, which started airing on August 1, 2017; he voiced characters such as Nick Army, Neil, Pird and Ernesto. These roles eventually lead Niosi to join SAG-AFTRA and to be represented by Arlene Thornton & Associates.[18] In 2018, Niosi was cast as Therion and Mattias in Octopath Traveler.[19] In 2022, he went on to voice multiple characters in Monster Hunter Rise and River City Girls 2.[20][21]

Abuse controversies[edit]

In response to Tumblr and Twitter callout posts, on July 18, 2019, Niosi made a post on his Tumblr account confessing that he had been emotionally and sexually abusing colleagues, family and partners for over a decade. Niosi's post highlighted specific instances of abuse for which he issued public apologies.[22][23] In response to one of these incidents where Niosi violated a non-disclosure agreement by leaking his role as the male version of Byleth in the Fire Emblem series via Discord, Nintendo recast him with Zach Aguilar in Fire Emblem Heroes and Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Niosi's credit was removed from Heroes as of July 25, 2019, and the distribution of the character was delayed.[22][24][25] The following day, Aguilar was also stated to have re-recorded Byleth's lines for Three Houses and would be replacing the original voiceovers in the following patch,[26] which went live on September 11, 2019.[27]

Personal life[edit]

Niosi has one half-brother and two half-sisters; one of them is former on-camera actress Alison Fanelli. Niosi was also diagnosed with Asperger syndrome.[28] He moved to Los Angeles in 2014 to pursue a career in the animation industry.[29]

Filmography[edit]

Animation[edit]

List of voice performances in animation
Year Title Role Notes Source
2016 Alpha and Omega 6: Dino Digs Ian Netflix
2017–19 OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes Nick Army, Pird, Ernesto, Neil, others [30]
2018 Cinderella and the Secret Prince Alex
2019 Yoohoo to the Rescue Apo Episode 48 Netflix
2019 Camp Halohead Shrunk YouTube
2022 Barbie: It Takes Two Dash Netflix

Anime[edit]

List of English dubbing performances in anime
Year Title Role Notes Source
2009 Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl: Galactic Battles Khoury
2011 Bakuman Yujiro Hattori Facebook
2015 Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea Lord Uroko
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin Garma Zabi
2016 Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Savarin Canele
Tales of Zestiria the X Dezel [31]
The Asterisk War Wernher
Sailor Moon SuperS Pegasus Press[32]
World War Blue Zelik Press[33]
2016–22 Mob Psycho 100 Arataka Reigen [34]
2017 Terra Formars Akari Hizamaru [35]
Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga Susumu Yunokawa
Kakegurui Kaede Manyuda [36]
2017–18 Fate/Apocrypha Karna / Lancer of Red [37]
2018 Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World Julius Juukulius Season 1 [38]
Sword Gai Toshio Tanabe
Boruto: Naruto Next Generation Kawaki, Magire Kakuremino Episode 1
Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan Shirota [39]
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Romero Pal [40]
Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas Aquarius Degel, Pakia [41]
2018–19 Hunter x Hunter Shaiapouf
Hero Mask Harry Creighton Netflix
2019 Dragon Ball Super Zircor [42]
Sword Art Online: Alicization Volo
Isekai Quartet Julius Juukulius [43]
Fairy Tail Rung [44]
The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. Hiroshi Satou Netflix
2021 Dr. Stone Tetsuya Kinomoto [45]
Muhyo & Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation Hirata Zansetsu [46]
King's Raid: Successors of the Will Ziero [46]
2022 In the Land of Leadale Skargo [47]
Love of Kill George [48]
2023 The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel – Northern War Talion Drake [49]
Digimon Adventure: Gravimon, NiseDrimogemon [50]

Film dubbing[edit]

List of English dubbing performances in direct-to-video, feature and television films
Year Title Role Notes Source
2014 Patema Inverted Lagos
2017 Napping Princess Morio Sawatari
2018 Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters Haruo Sakaki
Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle
2019 Godzilla: The Planet Eater
2023 Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King Conrad Leto

Video games[edit]

List of voice and English dubbing performances in video games
Year Title Role Notes Source
2010–13 Jisei series Mikolaj Gurski [51]
2011 The EDUGame Various Also animator Press,[7] website[52]
2012 Skullgirls Animator Website[53][54][55]
Dust: An Elysian Tail Moonblood Soldiers
Primordia Oswald Factorbuilt, 187
Resonance Ozzy, Officer Johnson [31]
2014 Smite K-9 Anubis, Riftshaker Janus, Captain Quick Mercury, Glub Glub Geb
2015 Disgaea 5 Void Dark [31]
Sick Bricks Bucky Blastoff, Perfectimus Supreme, Manely Chesthair, Scuttle Bot, Young Deevy, Rusted Stumbler, Stealth Shade, Breaki Smashisan, Knight Rat, Protector Servo [56]
Blackhole Nejfake Also voice director [57]
Tales of Zestiria Dezel [31]
2017 A Hat in Time Animator and voice director Website[58]
Friday the 13th: The Game Tommy Jarvis [59]
2018 Octopath Traveler Therion [31][60]
Sprint Vector Voice director
Creed: Rise to Glory Voice director [61]
MapleStory 2 Lennon, Rolling Thunder, Bobby, Jorge, Springer, Kakalp, MK 52, 50 Meso [62][63][64]
2019 Combat Core Zetto [65]
Battlewake Voice director
YIIK: A Postmodern RPG Alex Eggleston [66]
Death end re;Quest Arata Mizunashi [67]
Fire Emblem: Three Houses Byleth (male) Version 1.0.1 and earlier; replaced with Zach Aguilar from version 1.0.2 onward
2020 Final Fantasy VII Remake Additional voices English version
The Walking Dead Onslaught Voice director
2021 Terrain of Magical Expertise Additional voices Also creator, animator, voice director
2022 Monster Hunter Rise Black Hell Hunter, Pingarh the Sailor, Calgo the Researcher English version
River City Girls 2 Ryuji & Ryuichi
2023 Company of Heroes 3 US Engineer [68]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Niosi, Christopher (December 31, 2016). "Kirb's Birthday/New Years Commission Stream!". Retrieved August 20, 2018 – via YouTube.
  2. ^ "Mob Psycho 100's English Dub Stars Kyle McCarley, Chris Niosi – News". Anime News Network. December 9, 2016. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  3. ^ Dar, Taimur (November 28, 2017). "Anime NYC Interview: Fighting for Love and Justice – Talking with the "Sailor Moon" English Voice Cast". Comics Beat.
  4. ^ "English Voice Actors and Cast – Octopath Traveler". Shacknews. 13 July 2018.
  5. ^ "Blogger: User Profile: Chris "Kirbopher" Niosi". www.blogger.com. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
  6. ^ "Game of the Year: Newgrounds". Geek.com. May 16, 2017. Archived from the original on January 19, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  7. ^ a b c Oliver, Amy, ed. (December 2013). "Long Island born animation artist Chris Niosi". Aces. Long Island. p. 15 – via Calameo.
  8. ^ Niosi, Chris [@Kirbopher] (October 10, 2014). "#FF The TOME production crew! @JanAnimations @LivingTombstone @Heilos @foolishdude @blizooka @KajmasterKajet" (Tweet). Retrieved August 20, 2018 – via Twitter.
  9. ^ Niosi, Christopher (October 7, 2014). "Episode 12: Secret of the Netkings". TOME. Retrieved August 20, 2018 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ Niosi, Chris (November 11, 2011). "Episode 1: You've Gotta Virus". TOME – via Newgrounds.
  11. ^ Niosi, Chris (December 27, 2022). Have your own BG Character in the TOME A2Z Movie Trilogy!. Retrieved February 25, 2023 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ "'Terrain Of Magical Expertise' Kickstarter Funded In 48 Hours; Stretch Goals Revealed". International Business Times. October 4, 2017.
  13. ^ ""1C Entertainment announces 2D Turn-Based RPG Terrain of Magical Expertise"". Games Press.
  14. ^ @TOMERPG (September 2, 2021). "The "Terrain of Magical Expertise" RPG launches...on September 9th, 2021. This and more announcements in our newes…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. ^ "ComicsVerse talks to Kyle McCarley and Chris Niosi about Mob Psycho 100 at Anime NYC 2017". ComicsVerse. December 26, 2017.
  16. ^ "Mob Psycho 100 Season 2 Announced". ComicsVerse. March 19, 2018.
  17. ^ "Otakon welcomes animation artist, creator, & voice actor CHRIS NIOSI – News & Announcements". Otakon Inc. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  18. ^ "Welcome to Arlene Thornton Agency". Arlenethornton.com. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  19. ^ "English Voice Actors and Cast – Octopath Traveler". Shacknews. 13 July 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  20. ^ Niosi, Chris [@Kirbopher] (June 30, 2022). ""OUT NOW, you can hear me as the voice of the Black Hell Hunter, Pingarh the Sailor and other characters in the MONSTER HUNTER RISE: "SUNBREAK" DLC!! Tons of fun. Thank you @ValerieArem @pcbproductions & @CapcomUSA_ for the great time recording on this <3" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  21. ^ Niosi, Chris [@Kirbopher] (December 15, 2022). ""We only need our feet to defeat you~!"" (Tweet). Retrieved February 25, 2023 – via Twitter.
  22. ^ a b Theriault, Donald (July 26, 2019). "Voice Actor Of Fire Emblem Three Houses Male Avatar Recast". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  23. ^ McFerren, Damian (July 26, 2019). "Fire Emblem Voice Actor Gets Credit Removed Following Admissions Of Abuse". Nintendo Life. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  24. ^ Khan, Imran (July 26, 2019). "Nintendo Replaces Fire Emblem Three Houses Protagonist Voice Actor Amid Sexual Assault Allegations". Game Informer.
  25. ^ Shanley, Patrick (July 29, 2019). "Nintendo to Replace 'Fire Emblem' Star Following Abuse Allegations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  26. ^ "Voice Actor Of Fire Emblem Three Houses Male Avatar Recast – News". Nintendo World Report.
  27. ^ "Fire Emblem: Three Houses Update Replaces Byleth's Male Voice Actor". Nintendo Life. September 11, 2019.
  28. ^ "I'm moving to California. - Kirblog 6/9/14". December 7, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2018 – via YouTube.
  29. ^ Chris Niosi (June 9, 2014). "Have your own BG Character in the TOME A2Z Movie Trilogy!". Retrieved February 25, 2023 – via YouTube.
  30. ^ Cartoon Network Tumblrs:
  31. ^ a b c d e "Christopher Niosi (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved August 17, 2018. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
  32. ^ @vizmedia (July 22, 2017). "Announcement: Chris Niosi (@kirbopher) will voice Pegasus in the English dub of #SailorMoon SuperS! #SDCC2017 #MoonPanelpic.twitter.com/l9gv76JHVc" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  33. ^ "Media Blasters Reveals English Dub Cast for World War Blue Anime". November 19, 2016.
  34. ^ "Mob Psycho 100 English Dub Premiere + Cast Announcement". Funimation Blog. December 9, 2016. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  35. ^ "Viz Media Reveals English Dub Cast for Terraformars Anime". July 1, 2017.
  36. ^ Niosi, Chris [@Kirbopher] (February 1, 2018). "I'm happy to announce that I play DAaaark Magician in Attack Mode!! #Kakegurui" (Tweet). Retrieved October 29, 2019 – via Twitter.
  37. ^ Niosi, Chris [@Kirbopher] (November 7, 2017). "I'm Karna, Lancer of Red on the English dub of "Fate/Apocrypha". Episodes 1-12 are now on Netflix! Happy to be a small part of the legacy!" (Tweet). Retrieved September 21, 2020 – via Twitter.
  38. ^ Niosi, Chris [@Kirbopher] (June 20, 2018). "Prepare for Trouble and Make it Double I'm this guy in Re:Zero go watch it I GUESS IF YOU WAAANT thanks for the fun @Casonworld <3" (Tweet). Retrieved September 21, 2020 – via Twitter.
  39. ^ "Hear Me in Food Fantasy, Octopath Traveler, Dragon Pilot & Osomatsu!". September 29, 2018 – via YouTube.
  40. ^ "New Gundam Seed, Gundam Seed Destiny English Dub Reveals More Cast". October 16, 2017 – via YouTube.
  41. ^ Niosi, Chris [@Kirbopher] (September 5, 2018). "Just got the go-ahead to finally confirm: I voice "Aquarius Degel" and "Pakia" on the English dub of Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas, now streaming on Netflix! Go check it out!!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  42. ^ Niosi, Chris [@Kirbopher] (March 24, 2019). "Last night, a small dream of mine came true. I had the incredible honor of getting to cameo on Dragon Ball Super, voicing one of the fighters from Universe 10, "Zircor". Massively thankful I got to be a tiny part of one of my favorite childhood shows" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  43. ^ Niosi, Chris [@Kirbopher] (July 3, 2019). "'Eyyy, this douchebag makes an appearance in Isekai Quartet! Big props to @InmanJeremy for bringing back the casts of Re:Zero & Konosuba for this cute show. T'was a pleasure! (Now streaming on both @Crunchyroll & @FUNimation!) https://crunchyroll.com/isekai-quartet/episode-11-work-together-field-day-783533 https://funimation.com/shows/isekai-quartet/work-together-field-day/" (Tweet). Retrieved September 21, 2020 – via Twitter.
  44. ^ Phillips, Kyle [@KylePhillipsFUN] (July 8, 2019). "#FairyTail #SimulDub ep 313 is a special one! Irene tells her backstory, including where she got the name Belserion (a dragon by that name, voiced by #PhilParsons). We also meet Erza's father, General Rung, voiced by special guest @Kirbopher!" (Tweet). Retrieved July 23, 2019 – via Twitter.
  45. ^ Niosi, Chris [@Kirbopher] (June 4, 2021). ""I GOT DEADLIIIIINES!!" That's me as Tetsuya the Manga Artist in the season 2 finale of Dr. Stone, streaming now on @Funimation. Incredibly grateful to be a small part of the Kingdom of Science. Thanks so much, @CliffordChapin <3" (Tweet). Retrieved June 4, 2021 – via Twitter.
  46. ^ a b Working on some New Anime! - Kirblog 12/11/21. December 11, 2021 – via YouTube.
  47. ^ Mateo, Alex (February 15, 2022). "Crunchyroll Reveals English Dub Premieres, Casts for Orient, In the Land of Leadale, Love of Kill, More Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  48. ^ Niosi, Chris [@Kirbopher] (April 29, 2022). "Almost forgot this one! I voiced the nice ol' drunkard "George" and a couple other dudes (including THE DOG) in the recent couple epsidoes of Love of Kill! Fun times <3 @ryancoltlevy @erin_yvette @KaijiTang" (Tweet). Retrieved April 29, 2022 – via Twitter.
  49. ^ Dempsey, Liam (January 18, 2023). "The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel – Northern War English Dub Reveals Cast & Crew, Release Date". Crunchyroll. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  50. ^ Chris Niosi ( @Kirbopher) The 2020 Digimon Adventure series is now available on Hulu! I got the voice Gravimon & NiseDrimogemon in Episode 61! Thanks for the fun, RyanInTheStudio!! @ToeiAnimation July 2, 2023, 2:45 AM. Tweet.
  51. ^ "Jisei: A supernatural murder mystery visual novel by sakevisual". Sakevisual.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2017. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  52. ^ The EduGame! - Chris Niosi, 2018
  53. ^ Reverge Labs. Skullgirls. Marvelous. Scene: Closing credits, 1m2s, Animation Contractor.
  54. ^ Niosi, Chris (2012). "Kirb's Rumblin' N Tumblin'". Retrieved August 20, 2018 – via Tumblr. Ms. Fortune's Dashing Heavy Punch. I'm remembering now that the Crouching Block was the first bit of animation I did for Ms. Fortune and this move was the last bit I worked on before moving to Painwheel. This WAS the first time I witnessed how um…bloody, her moves can be. When her first gameplay video came out, I was shocked!
  55. ^ Niosi, Chris (2012). "Tumblr post". Retrieved August 20, 2018 – via Tumblr. Here it is, everyone's favorite (and mine)! The rough animation for Ms. Fortune's victory. Ms. Fortune's the toughest opponent in the game, but I can never be mad when I lose to her, because she always congratulates herself as displayed.
  56. ^ Niosi, Chris [@Kirbopher] (April 29, 2015). "I voice a TON of characters on @sickbricks! First time I've had toys of any characters I've voiced. Nice. ;]" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  57. ^ "BEST QUALITY VOICE ACTING". February 27, 2015.
  58. ^ Gears for Breakfast. A Hat In Time. Gears for Breakfast. Scene: Closing credits, 1m3s in.
  59. ^ Niosi, Chris [@Kirbopher] (April 5, 2018). "Wow, so uh...I completely forgot to announce this because I didn't know when it was officially released: I got to voice Tommy Jarvis in the Friday the 13th game DLC! Here's some of the clips!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  60. ^ Tucker, Kevin (July 13, 2018). "English Voice Actors and Cast – Octopath Traveler". Shacknews.
  61. ^ Niosi, Chris [@Kirbopher] (September 25, 2018). "I had the esteemed pleasure of getting to voice direct this game...and yes, I did indeed get to work with th man himself, MBJ. Huge honor" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  62. ^ Niosi, Chris [@Kirbopher] (October 23, 2018). "Hey I forgot to mention, I voice a bunch of characters in Maplestory 2! @PlayMaple2 – You can hear me as "Lennon", "Rolling Thunder" and about 7 other dudes! If you're playing, lemme know if you find any clips of me voice!pic.twitter.com/1abOAThYmM" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  63. ^ Niosi, Chris [@Kirbopher] (October 26, 2018). "Found a few more of the MapleStory 2 characters I voiced! I'm dungeon bosses "Springer", "Kakalp" and "MK 52"! Defeat 'em all, if you dare!! @PlayMaple2pic.twitter.com/FDxNWkReoF" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  64. ^ Niosi, Chris [@Kirbopher] (October 26, 2018). "...yup, I'm definitely this guy too. Here's a clip of me being the whitest street rapper ever "50 Meso" in MapleStory 2. Chikachiakaaa~" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  65. ^ "Play as Zetto & Kizuna from TOME in "Combat Core" now on Nintendo Switch!". January 10, 2019 – via YouTube.
  66. ^ Niosi, Chris [@Kirbopher] (January 17, 2019). ""YIIK: A Postmodern RPG" is now available for Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4 and Steam! I had the great pleasure of voicing the lead character, Alex Eggleston. I'm super proud of my work on it- please pick up this incredibly creative and visionary game!!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  67. ^ Niosi, Chris [@Kirbopher] (February 19, 2019). ""You can hear me as Arata Mizunashi on "Death end re;Quest" on PS4. Yes, I voice another game dev trying to save his friend from getting killed in a virtual reality MMORPG he helped create. Stop me if you've heard that one before" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  68. ^ Niosi, Chris [@Kirbopher] (February 24, 2023). ""Honored to announce that I voice the US engineer in @CompanyOfHeroes 3, out today!! This was my first high-intensity military game where I got to scream my lungs out on the Warner Bros. lot, directed by the legendary Terri Douglas AND I got to a New York accent! What a treat ;)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

External links[edit]