Aspyr Shadow recently released The Lord of the Rings: War in the North – Legacy Edition. It is a remaster of Snowblind Studios’ 2011 action RPG, which means the audio is the same audio from fifteen years ago. And that is the fun part. Back in 2011, half of this cast had not become the household names they are today. You are basically listening to Nathan Drake, Abby, Yoda, and two future Critical Role founders fight orcs together. Here is every notable name in the game’s voice cast and where you know them from.
What You’ll Read:
The Three Heroes
These are your three main adventurers:
Eradan by Nolan North
Nolan North is one of the most recognizable voices in gaming. He is Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series, Desmond Miles in Assassin’s Creed, and Deadpool in pretty much every Marvel game.
Fun fact: he plays two characters here. Besides Eradan, he also voices the dwarf Nordri inside Mount Gundabad.
Andriel by Laura Bailey
Laura Bailey went on to become one of the biggest names in the industry. She played Abby in The Last of Us Part II, Kait Diaz in Gears 5, and Vex’ahlia in Critical Role.
Note: This game came out four years before Critical Role even started streaming.
Farin by John Cygan
John Cygan gave the dwarf his gruff, growly delivery. Gamers know him best as Solidus Snake in Metal Gear Solid 2 and Canderous Ordo in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. On TV, he spent five seasons as Detective Paulie Pentangeli on The Commish.
Cygan passed away in 2017 after a long battle with cancer, so this remaster is one of the last places you can hear his work in a leading role.
The Villains
Let’s see who is the voice behind the bad guys:
Agandaûr by Fred Tatasciore
If the main villain sounds enormous, that is because Fred Tatasciore has been the go-to voice for enormous characters for two decades. He is the Hulk in most Marvel cartoons and games, Soldier: 76 in Overwatch, and Saren Arterius in Mass Effect.
Úrgost by Keith Szarabajka
The dragon is played by Keith Szarabajka, who has one of the most distinctive gravel voices in the business. He was Daniel Holtz on Angel and Detective Gerard Stephens in The Dark Knight, and he voiced Harbinger in Mass Effect 2.
Fun fact: he later returned to Middle-earth as the Witch-king of Angmar in Guardians of Middle-earth.
The Witch-king by Eric Lopez
Eric Lopez has the quietest résumé of anyone on this list, but he only needs a handful of lines. The Witch-king shows up early to hand Agandaûr his orders and then leaves the north to him.
Familiar Faces From the Films
None of the movie actors returned for this one, so every famous face you recognize is being played by someone else.
Aragorn by Chris Edgerly
Chris Edgerly is everywhere, and you have definitely heard him. He is Pathfinder in Apex Legends, Cid Highwind in the Final Fantasy VII games, Advent Children, and Hidan in Naruto: Shippuden. He has also been part of The Simpsons cast since 2011 and now voices Rod Flanders full time.
Gandalf by Tom Kane
Tom Kane is Gandalf here, and his narration in the opening will sound instantly familiar to anyone who watched Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He voiced Yoda for two decades, narrated Clone Wars, and played Professor Utonium on The Powerpuff Girls.
Kane suffered a stroke in 2020 that ended his career and died in May 2026, just three months before this remaster arrived. Reviewers have been singling out his performance for exactly that reason.
Legolas by Crispin Freeman
Anime fans will clock this one immediately. Crispin Freeman is Alucard in Hellsing and Kyon in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
Gimli by Bob Joles
Bob Joles took over Bagheera from Sebastian Cabot for The Jungle Book 2 and voices Bill Green on Big City Greens.
Fun fact: he also replaced John Rhys-Davies as Man Ray on SpongeBob SquarePants. So he has now stepped into a John Rhys-Davies role twice, and one of them was Gimli.
Elrond and Bilbo by Jim Piddock
The English actor Jim Piddock pulls double duty in Rivendell. He is best known for the Christopher Guest comedies, especially Best in Show as the dog show commentator alongside Fred Willard, and he co-created HBO’s Family Tree. In games he played Major Zero in Metal Gear Solid 3.
Fun fact: his grandfather, Harry Piddock, had a music hall act with Charlie Chaplin before Chaplin moved to America.
Frodo by Yuri Lowenthal
Yuri Lowenthal has a short appearance as Frodo, plus the elf Glorhirin. These days, he is Peter Parker in Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man games, and he spent years as Sasuke Uchiha in Naruto.
Arwen by Courtenay Taylor
Courtenay Taylor voices Arwen. You know her as Jack in Mass Effect 2 and as the female Sole Survivor in Fallout 4.
Radagast by Phil Proctor
Phil Proctor is a founding member of the comedy troupe The Firesign Theatre and voiced Howard DeVille across Rugrats. His Radagast is one of the more entertaining side conversations in the game.
Allies in the North
Your allies are not a lot, but they are memorable.
Beleram by John Patrick Lowrie
The great eagle is voiced by John Patrick Lowrie, better known as the Sniper in Team Fortress 2.
Fun fact: he is married to Ellen McLain, the voice of GLaDOS in Portal. They met on a European tour of Show Boat back in the eighties.
Elladan and Elrohir by Liam O’Brien
Liam O’Brien plays both sons of Elrond, along with the eagle Baranthor. He is Gaara in Naruto, Illidan Stormrage in World of Warcraft, and a co-founder of Critical Role.
That makes two future Critical Role cast members playing elves in a 2011 licensed game, four years before the show existed.
Halbarad by Peter Jessop
Peter Jessop plays the Ranger captain at Sarn Ford. His big roles include Sovereign in Mass Effect, Miraak in Skyrim’s Dragonborn DLC, and Paladin Danse in Fallout 4.
Gwaihir and Gorin by Ike Amadi
Ike Amadi voices the Lord of the Eagles and the dwarf lord of Nordinbad. This was fairly early in his career. He later became Javik in Mass Effect 3, Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat 11 and Mortal Kombat 1, and Atriox in Halo Infinite.
Smaller Roles Worth Mentioning
The Bree and Rivendell NPCs are stacked too.
- Idonna Bellflower by Jennifer Hale – the voice of female Commander Shepard in Mass Effect and Bastila Shan in Knights of the Old Republic.
- Adalgar Oldbank by Richard Steven Horvitz – Invader Zim himself, and Billy from The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy.
- Glóin by Steve Blum – Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop and the most frequently used Wolverine voice in games.
- Barliman Butterbur by Jim Meskimen – impressionist, Whose Line Is It Anyway? regular, and the son of Happy Days star Marion Ross.
That is the full Lord of the Rings War in the North Legacy Edition voice cast. Which name surprised you the most? Let me know in the comments below.
