Vic Mignogna

Sorry for the delay! Expect another post Sunday evening!



This week, I'll be talking about a legend of the anime industry.




Vic Mignogna (min-YAH-nuh) is a celebrity among the anime community, having voiced several beloved characters. His most well-known role in anime is most likely that of Edward Elric, the main and title character of Fullmetal Alchemist and a role that he reprised in the movie Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa, the 2009 reboot series Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and the movie Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos.



Vic Mignogna as Edward Elric (The blond guy with the red coat.) from Fullmetal Alchemist:



His voice is easily distinguishable from other voice actors and is one that is easily pointed out among fans. Apart from the Fullmetal Alchemist continuity, he has appeared as a major character in several other anime, including Spirit "Death Scythe" Albarn in Soul Eater, Tamaki Suou in Ouran High School Host Club, Ikkaku Madarame from Bleach,



Mignogna has had extensive credits in video games as well. He reprised his role of Edward Elric in two of the Fullmetal Alchemist video games (Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel and Fullmetal Alchemist 2: Curse of the Crimson Elixir). In Star Ocean: The First Departure, the PSP re-release of the first Star Ocean game, he voiced the optional party member T'Nique Arcana. In 2010, he replaced the late Maddie Blaustein as the voice of E-123 Omega from the Sonic the Hedgehog video games.



Tamaki Suou from Ouran High School Host Club



Luciano Bradley from Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

Spirit "Death Scythe" Albarn from Soul Eater

Mignogna has been consistently used by Funimation Entertainment to play characters of varying importance in their franchises, ranging from the hero of the series (Edward Elric) to a major supporting character (Spirit Albarn) to a maniacal minor villain in the series (Luciano Bradley). He's proven time and time again that he's suited for all kinds of roles, but one role that he really did not like is that of Brolly from the Dragon Ball franchise. He played the character three times, each in a different Dragon Ball Z movie. First in Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan, Broly: Second Coming, and Bio-Broly. Broly's voice was very rough on Mignogna's vocal processors, as he was nearly always screaming when he spoke.

In addition to his career as an actor, Mignogna also makes music. To his musical credit, he has a Christmas album full of classic holiday carols, in addition to a song of his own, called Vader, Did You Know? He also has a couple of albums with songs of his own creation. One of my favorites is Je n'ai pas de mots.

Music video for Je n'ai pas de mots by Vic Mignogna:



Mignogna is a big "fan" of his fans, always willing to go the extra mile to do things for them. On the topic of his music career, he says that it's only because of his fans that he even has it.



Don't ask me how it happened, but I remember hearing the voice of Zagi on Tales of Vesperia and thinking that Mignogna played him. True, Zagi may be voiced by Roger Craig Smith, but I thought I heard Mignogna play a similar character in the past; bloodthirsty, completely insane. I think my mistake somewhat demonstrates Mignogna's versatility as an actor. Personally, I'd like to see him in a few non-anime roles. Who's to say that Mignogna wouldn't be great for some American cartoons? He's pretty well-known in the anime industry as it is, but I think if he branched out, Mignogna could really show us what he's made of.
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