This week, UW-Eau Claire’s The Forum series hosted Matthew Mercer. Mercer is known for his work in voice acting and as the host of the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) podcast Critical Role.
Wait a minute… that’s how my other article started this week. Yes, I got the opportunity to see Matthew Mercer talk about D&D, One Piece and more. If you want to read about the event itself, check out my article.
I very much enjoyed both attending and covering Mercer’s appearance. My only gripe is how professional I had to remain. As a journalist, I had to keep my personal opinions completely divorced from the content of the article. It’s a good thing this is the opinion section, right?
I discovered Matthew Mercer about 11 years ago. He voiced Chrom, the protagonist of 2013’s Fire Emblem: Awakening. This was my first game in the series that would eventually become one of my all-time favorites.
Mercer would also voice a major character in the next entry of the franchise, playing Ryoma in Fire Emblem: Fates. However, I would like to linger on Awakening for a bit.
The chess-like grids of the Fire Emblem series hooked me immediately, in no small part due to Mercer’s performance. The game starts with Chrom and Robin, the player avatar, fighting the sorcerer Validar. Robin then stabs Chrom with a bolt of lightning, killing him.
Maybe I’ll write a review on Awakening someday and describe how awesome this scene is. But for now, Mercer’s performance is excellent. I can hear the betrayal in his voice as he tells Robin it isn’t their fault, falling to his knees.
Throughout the game, Mercer shows astounding vocal range. When he yells “Anything can change,” I want to pick up a sword with him. When he is emotional and confused due to the death of a loved one, I want to let him cry into my shoulder.
Not long afterward, I started dating a girl that was super into anime. I decided to go down the rabbit hole, watching shows such as “Kill La Kill,” “Sword Art Online” and “Attack on Titan.”
Those who read the Forum article know that Mercer named Levi Ackerman from “Attack on Titan” as one of his favorite characters that he’s voiced. I didn’t immediately draw the connection that Levi and Chrom had the same actor, but I knew I recognized him from somewhere.
At the time, the show only had one season. I liked it, but there was clearly going to be more to the series. The second through fourth seasons were released from 2017-23. I went back and watched the entire series at the beginning of 2024.
I could write an entire article just on how good the voice acting is in Attack on Titan. But, of course, I will focus on Mercer’s performance. Levi Ackerman is a captain of the Survey Corps, frequently leading missions against the fearsome titans outside of humanity’s walls.
Ackerman is shown to be an effective and decisive leader. He cuts down titans left and right. He punishes his subordinates for acting out and praises them for doing well. But beyond all the cool actions, he is a character who is constantly burdened by the choices he is forced to make.
Mercer delivers on all fronts. We can hear him sounding both more tired and determined as the series goes on. I can still hear him giving what had to be the hardest command of Ackerman’s career.
“I’ll make the choice for you. Give up on your dream and charge to your death. Lead those crying children straight to hell.” Watch the clip at your own risk of spoilers.
Chrom fights Validar. Levi battles titans. My eternal conflict is with the word count. I didn’t even get to talk about “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure” and Mercer’s role as Jotaro Kujo. I’ll conclude by listing a couple other roles that I absolutely adore Mercer’s performances in.
He voices Ganondorf in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. He played Yusuke Kitagawa in Persona 5 and Ubuyashiki in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. But more than anything, he plays a guy who has a career I want and will strive for.
Tolbert can be contacted at [email protected]. Ask him to voice act in your next project
