Zelda Cast Explains Why Nintendo Doesn't Let Them Do Custom Voice Lines (2024)

Don't expect to be able to buy a Cameo from Zelda anytime soon. The Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom voice cast is forbidden from impersonating their characters outside of the games, a ban which extends to fan requests to read out custom voice lines.

While this was known by some in the community already, particularly those who may have tried to request a line from the actors in the past, it was confirmed to attendees at MCM Comic Con in London this weekend. Here, several actors from the Zelda series answered fan questions at one of the panels and discussed Nintendo's protectiveness over its brand.

The conversation started when the panel host recalled speaking with longtime Mario voice actor, Charles Martinet. The host said that Martinet was restricted when it came to discussing his Mario performances - something which the Zelda cast says extends into how they interact with fans.

Zelda Voice Actors Explain Why They Can't Record Voice Lines For Fans

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"You sign these very strict NDAs, [but] you know what you're signing into," says Patricia Summersett, who plays Zelda. "It is very much about respecting the IP and doing it the way that Nintendo does it, which works very well for them.

"I know it can be disappointing sometimes when people want to record [us]. But when we're recording and we're doing lines, you can extract that, you now have AI and all these things. That's not for us to do."

However, she does have a solution for those who really want to hear her say something in Zelda's voice: "Come up to the table, we'll give you a little sample. I do whisper in people's ears, that sort of thing." In other words, just don't have your phone out, ready to record what she says.

This was echoed by Sean Chiplock, who plays Revali, Teba, and The Great Deku Tree. However, he adds that punishments would not be as harsh as fans may expect. "I don't think Nintendo would ever actually sue or take us to court if we were doing unofficial performances as the characters," he explains.

He then went into detail on why Nintendo placed this restriction on the cast in the first place."It's more [about] understanding the mindset of the company because they are very much a collaborative team player thing. A successful production from them is a team effort - the creatives, the directors, the art designers, the musicians, everybody. So it's one of those things where you have to recognise that if they ask you not to do something, and you go and do it anyway, they're probably not going to take you to court over it, but what you have sent them the message of is, 'I am not a team player'.

"The easiest solution to that is they just won't work with you anymore. And as you might imagine, Nintendo's pretty cool to work with, and we'd like to continue doing it."

True enough, Chiplock says on his Cameo page that he is unable to impersonate any of his Nintendo roles, so it looks like the company takes this seriously across the board. Most other gaming actors do not appear to be under the same restrictions, so we'll have to see if Nintendo ever softens its approach.