Rat King finally crawled out of the sewers on October 2, and the community immediately started the classic Deadlock game: I know this voice … but who the hell is it?
It is not officially confirmed yet, but for several reasons, I say that the strongest candidate is Nolan North. Follow the text and decide at the end.
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The Strongest Candidate: Nolan North
If I had to put money on one name right now, it’s Nolan North. Here’s why he sits at the top of the list:
The Valve Connection is Massive
North has a long, weird and very Valve-friendly resume. He voiced the Space Core, Fact Core, Adventure Core and Defective Turrets in Portal 2.
In Dota 2 he played an absurd number of characters (Brewmaster, Earth Spirit, Gyrocopter, Keeper of the Light, Lone Druid, Lycan, Meepo, Ogre Magi, Shadow Demon, Troll Warlord, the list goes on).
He also did Merasmus and the Mann brothers in Team Fortress 2. Valve clearly loves handing him exaggerated, transformative, disappear into the character roles, exactly the kind of job Rat King is.
The Voice Match Hits Hard
Honestly, Rat King sounds a lot like North’s Rocket Raccoon (from the Telltale Guardians of the Galaxy game). I’m not the only one who thinks like this, a lot of people in the community think the same.
The Performance Style Fits Perfectly
Rat King’s lines (Listen up, crumb bums! Your king is here! I ain’t here for the ballet. Long Island is gonna be mine.) are theatrical, sarcastic, slightly obnoxious, and full of fast comedic energy.
That’s the same lane as North’s Penguin (Arkham City), Deadpool, Rocket and a bunch of his more cartoonish Dota work. He loves doing voices that make people go I know that voice but I can’t place it, which is exactly the reaction Rat King is getting.
Put all of that together and Nolan North becomes the clear frontrunner.
Other Possible Options
Another strong candidate for Rat King voice actor is Frank Todaro. I also list the other possible options.
Frank Todaro
This is the strongest alternative. Rat King sounds like the English Caster from Fate/Strange Fake and that role is officially Todaro.
He’s New York-born, does a lot of exaggerated character and creature work (Starscream, Mugman, Rattrap, etc.) and has the kind of theatrical, improvised energy that fits a rat king barking orders at Frankie and Lou. The only thing holding him back is the lack of any known Valve history, while North has over a decade of it.
The Rest of the Pack
The same discussions also threw out Travis Willingham, William Salyers, Daniel Brochu, David Lodge, Tom Kenny, and even Steve Buscemi.
That scattershot list is actually useful information, it tells us the performance is distinctive enough that people are hearing different familiar voices in it. Anyway, none of these have the same combination of vocal match and Valve track record that North does, so they’d be bigger surprises if one of them turned out to be correct.
What We Can Safely Say Right Now
Valve hasn’t revealed Rat King’s voice actor yet (the same is true for Baba or many other characters). Nolan North is currently the most plausible and most commonly suggested candidate, with Frank Todaro as the most interesting secondary lead. A bunch of other names are floating around too, but none have the same weight of evidence.
Until Valve (or the actor) confirms it, the king remains anonymous, which somehow makes the whole thing even more fun. The rats know. They’re just not telling us yet.
