Chris Niosi

Christopher Edwin Niosi (born December 31, 1988), also known by his pseudonym Kirbopher, is an American voice actor, animator, and producer. His voice-work includes Lord Uroko in Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea, Arataka Reigen in Mob Psycho 100, Dezel in Tales of Zestiria, Taira in Queen's Blade Rebellion, Tetsuya Kinomoto in Dr. Stone, Khoury and others in the Pokémon series, Ernesto and others in OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, Pegasus in the Viz Media dub of Sailor Moon, Haruo Sakaki in Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle, and Godzilla: The Planet Eater, and Therion and Mattias in Octopath Traveler.

Early life Niosi was born and raised in Northport, New York. He attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He has one half-brother and two half sisters. One half-sister, Alison Fanelli, is a former child actor who went on to become a physician.

Career Animation Niosi began making numerous animations for Newgrounds under the name "Kirbopher" in 2004, mostly making Nintendo-based parodies like "Rawest Forest", a Super Mario RPG-inspired music video based on the song of the same name that vent viral on video-sharing websites like Newgrounds, YouTube, and Japanese-language website Niconico. His first professional animation job was for Eduware providing character design, animation and voices. He has also worked as an animator for the video games A Hat in Time, Skullgirls and Cryamore. TOME was first released on Newgrounds on November 11, 2011, and ran for sixteen episodes and nine shorts. The final episode released on July 7, 2015, while the final short released on November 11, 2016. In 2023, Niosi would later release a special edition version of the web series in the form of three compilations he titled the TOME: A2Z Compilation Movie Trilogy.

On September 30, 2017, a Kickstarter for a video game adaptation was launched. The game features a customizable avatar known as the White Hat Hacker joining the established characters. The campaign was fully funded on November 4, 2017, successfully raising $111,162.63. The game was produced by Niosi's company NEO-C Productions LLC., with Niosi serving as the director, lead designer and character animator of the game, and was published by 1C Company, released on September 9, 2021, on Steam.

Voice acting Niosi started doing voice acting on amateur productions on Newgrounds, but in 2009, he eventually booked his first professional gig as "Khoury" in five episodes of Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl: Galactic Battles. In 2014, he began voicing anime characters such as Yujiro Hattori in Bakuman, Taira in Queen's Blade Rebellion, and video game characters such as Dezel in Tales of Zestiria (which he later reprised in Tales of Zestiria the X). In 2016, Niosi voiced Arataka Reigen from Mob Psycho 100. In 2017, he was announced as the voice of Pegasus for the Viz Media dub of Sailor Moon SuperS.

In 2016, Niosi became a series regular in Cartoon Network's OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, which started airing on August 1, 2017; he voiced characters such as Nick Army, Neil, Pird and Ernesto. These roles eventually lead Niosi to join SAG-AFTRA and to be represented by Arlene Thornton & Associates. In 2018, Niosi was cast as Therion and Mattias in Octopath Traveler. In 2022, he went on to voice multiple characters in Monster Hunter Rise and River City Girls 2.

Personal life Niosi is autistic. He moved to Los Angeles in 2014 to pursue a career in the animation industry.

Abuse controversies

In response to Tumblr and Twitter callout posts, on July 18, 2019, Niosi made a post on his Tumblr account confessing that he had been emotionally abusive to friends and colleagues and sexually coercive to partners. Niosi's post highlighted specific instances of abuse for which he issued public apologies. In response to the allegations, Nintendo recast him with Zach Aguilar in Fire Emblem Heroes and Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Niosi's credit was removed from Heroes as of July 25, 2019, and the distribution of the character was delayed. The following day, Aguilar was also stated to have re-recorded Byleth's lines for Three Houses and would be replacing the original voiceovers in the following patch, which went live on September 11, 2019.

On July 17, 2024, Niosi was revealed to be the voice of Moze in Honkai: Star Rail, with many fans of the game wanting him recast. In response, voice actors Griffin Puatu and Kyle McCarley decided to speak out in support of Niosi's casting, leading to Puatu losing out on a role in Lost in Limbo and McCarley deleting his X account due to the backlash. Niosi eventually stated a week after the announcement that he was stepping down from the role.

Filmography

Animation + List of voice performances in animation Year Title Role Notes Source 2016 Alpha and Omega 6: Dino Digs Ian Netflix –19 OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes Nick Army, Pird, Ernesto, Neil, others 2018 Cinderella and the Secret Prince Alex 2019 Yoohoo to the Rescue Apo Episode 48 Netflix 2019 Camp Halohead Shrunk YouTube 2022 Barbie: It Takes Two Dash Netflix 2024 Smiling Friends Also animator (S02E5) Adult Swim

Anime + List of English dubbing performances in anime Year Title Role Notes Source Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl: Galactic Battles Khoury Bakuman Yujiro Hattori Facebook 2015 Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea Lord Uroko Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin Garma Zabi 2016 Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Savarin Canele Tales of Zestiria the X Dezel World War Blue Zelik Press 2016–22 Mob Psycho 100 Arataka Reigen 2017 Terra Formars Akari Hizamaru Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga Susumu Yunokawa Kakegurui Kaede Manyuda 2017–18 Fate/Apocrypha Karna / Lancer of Red 2018 Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World Julius Juukulius Season 1 Sword Gai Toshio Tanabe Boruto: Naruto Next Generation Kawaki, Magire Kakuremino Episode 1 Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan Shirota Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Romero Pal Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas Aquarius Degel, Pakia 2018–19 Hunter x Hunter Shaiapouf Hero Mask Harry Creighton Netflix 2019 Dragon Ball Super Zircor Sword Art Online: Alicization Volo Levantein Isekai Quartet Julius Juukulius Fairy Tail Rung The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. Hiroshi Satou Netflix 2021 Dr. Stone Tetsuya Kinomoto Muhyo & Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation Hirata Zansetsu King's Raid: Successors of the Will Ziero Love of Kill George 2023 The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel – Northern War Talion Drake Digimon Adventure: Gravimon, NiseDrimogemon

Film dubbing + List of English dubbing performances in direct-to-video, feature and television films Year Title Role Notes Source 2014 Patema Inverted Lagos 2017 Napping Princess Morio Sawatari 2018 Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters Haruo Sakaki Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle 2019 Godzilla: The Planet Eater 2023 Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King Conrad Leto

Video games + List of voice and English dubbing performances in video games Year Title Role Notes Source –13 Jisei series Mikolaj Gurski The EDUGame Various Also animator Press, 2012 Skullgirls Animator Website Dust: An Elysian Tail Moonblood Soldiers Primordia Oswald Factorbuilt, 187 Resonance Ozzy, Officer Johnson Blackhole Nejfake Also voice director Tales of Zestiria Dezel Friday the 13th: The Game Tommy Jarvis 2018 Octopath Traveler Therion Sprint Vector Voice director Creed: Rise to Glory Voice director MapleStory 2 Lennon, Rolling Thunder, Bobby, Jorge, Springer, Kakalp, MK 52, 50 Meso 2019 Combat Core Zetto Battlewake Voice director YIIK: A Postmodern RPGAlex Eggleston, Anthony Eggleston Death end re;QuestArata Mizunashi Fire Emblem: Three HousesByleth (male)Version 1.0.1 and earlier; replaced with Zach Aguilar from version 1.0.2 onward 2020 Final Fantasy VII Remake Additional voices English version The Walking Dead Onslaught Voice director 2021Terrain of Magical Expertise Additional voices Also creator, animator, voice director 2022 Monster Hunter Rise Black Hell Hunter, Pingarh the Sailor, Calgo the Researcher English version River City Girls 2 Ryuji & Ryuichi