Neil Kaplan
| Neil Kaplan | |
|---|---|
| Born |
March 9, 1967 Bayonne, New Jersey |
| Other names | Neil Caplan, Bob Bobson, Bob Johnson |
| Occupation | Voice actor, comedian |
| Notable credit(s) |
Transformers: Robots in Disguise as Optimus Prime Digimon as Hawkmon Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue as Diabolico Naruto Shippuden as Tobi, Madara |
| Website | http://www.nekap.net |
Neil Kaplan (born March 9, 1967) is an American voice actor, entertainer and comedian.
Biography
Kaplan grew up in San Jose, California. He got his start as a comedian doing impressions of presidents such as Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. He also impersonated a little-known journalist at the time, Dan Rather. He then started work on video games, including many Star Wars titles. From there he went on to do such shows as Power Rangers, Digimon: Digital Monsters, and most recently, Transformers: Robots in Disguise. One of his most famous voices is Hawkmon from Digimon. His favorite role was the "utility guy" on a show called The Mouse and the Monster, which aired on UPN in 1996–1997. He played stomachs, ghosts, and Sappy the Clown, among dozens of other characters on that show. Kaplan was also once a contestant on the popular comedy game show, Street Smarts. On that appearance, he showed off some of his other impressions, including one of Gilbert Gottfried. Kaplan was invited as a guest to the Power Morphicon (in Los Angeles) in June 2007 as well as August 2010, and to Armageddon (in Australia and New Zealand) in October 2007. He created the TV show,The Way it WASN'T!, as well as the graphic novel, I, of the Wolf.[1] He also voices the main character in the "Adult" video game BoneCraft.[2]
Voice Roles
Anime
- Bleach – Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, Ruzaburō "Enryū" Enkōgawa, Gesell, Tenken, Zommari Rureaux (ep. 195+)
- Blue Dragon – Saber Tiger
- Brigadoon: Marin & Melan – Shuta Alan, Poyon Silver, Detective Chunen
- Daphne in the Brilliant Blue – Lun Shibazaki, Additional Voices
- Digimon Data Squad – Pumpkinmon #1 (Eps. 30-34), Ninjamon #3 (Ep. 31), Piximon (Ep. 32), Franz' Agent #1 (33), Desk Man #1 (33)
- Digimon Adventure 02 – Halsemon, Hogan, Ilya, Hawkmon, Shurimon, Silphymon (shared with Edie Mirman)
- Digimon Frontier – Eldest Mushroomon/Woodmon (Ep. 4), Kokuwamon/Kokuwamon Elder (Ep. 5), Baromon (Ep. 40)
- Digimon Fusion – Lord Bagra, NeoMyotismon, Anubismon
- Digimon Tamers – Indramon, Babel
- FAKE – Drake
- Marvel Anime: Iron Man – Minister Defense Kuroda
- Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin – Dozle Zabi
- Naruto – Kiyoyasu
- Naruto Shippuden – Obito (acting as Madara) and Madara Uchiha (Ep. 125+)
- Rein: The Conqueror – Ibn
- Tokyo Pig – Principal
- Transformers: Robots in Disguise – Optimus Prime, Ro-Tor
- Zatch Bell! – Belgim E.O.
Animation
- Higglytown Heroes – Mover Hero
- Make Way for Noddy – Big Ears
- Muhammad: The Last Prophet – Amr Ibn Al'as, The Spy
- Robot Chicken – Albus Dumbledore
- The Happy Cricket – Toad #1
- The Little Polar Bear – Bert
- The Mouse and the Monster – Utility Guy
Video Games
- Baten Kaitos Origins – Wiseman
- Bioshock Infinite – Thursday Warren, John Hammond, Ezekiel Price
- BoneCraft – Captain Fort Worth
- Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion – Grim, Johnny Bravo
- Conan – Bone Cleaver
- Final Fantasy XIII – Additional Voices[3]
- Final Fantasy XIII-2 – Additional Voices
- Guild Wars 2 – Various Charr and Norn NPCs, Edrick Thorn
- Heroes of the Storm – Tychus
- Infamous First Light – Additional Voices[4]
- Jaws Unleashed – Cruz Ruddock
- Justice League Heroes – Gorilla Grodd
- Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII – Additional Voices[5]
- Marvel Heroes – Sabertooth, Venom
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – Nemesis Orcs, Humans
- Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 – Obito Uchiha (Ninja War Tobi), Madara Uchiha
- Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution – Madara Uchiha, Obito Uchiha (Ninja War Tobi)
- Ninja Gaiden II – Genshin
- Skylanders: Giants – Batterson, Hatterson
- Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure – Nort, Weapon Master
- Skylanders: Trap Team – Batterson, Hatterson[6]
- Spider-Man: Battle for New York – Green Goblin/Norman Osborn
- Spider-Man 3: The Game – Kraven the Hunter
- StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty - Tychus Findlay, Reaper
- Star Wars: The Old Republic – Skadge
- The Last of Us – Additional Voices
- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – Long Haul
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Retribution – Ork Nob
- World of Warcraft: Cataclysm – Cenarius
- World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor – Additional Voices[7]
Live-action roles
- Beetleborgs Metallix – Hornix, Witch Doctor (voice)
- Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy – Destruxo (voice), Mutantrum (2nd voice)
- Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue – Diabolico, Gold Beaked Monster (voices)
- Power Rangers: Time Force – Gluto (voice), Recap Narrator (voice, uncredited)
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie – Oozemen (voice, uncredited)
References
- ↑ The concept for I, O The Wolf was initially developed while Kaplan was in attendance at the Transformers convention Auto Assembly over a meal in a Chinese restaurant with some of the conventions other guests. Source: convention organiser
- ↑ http://bonecraft.net/bonecraft/voice-actor-neil-kaplan-signs-on-to-bonecraft-as-captain-fort-worth/
- ↑ Square Enix. Final Fantasy XIII. Scene: Closing credits, 2:15 minutes in, Cocoon Inhabitants, Additional Voices.
- ↑ Sucker Punch Productions. Infamous First Light. Scene: Closing credits, 1:18 minutes in, Additional Voice Acting by.
- ↑ Square Enix. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. Scene: Closing credits, 5 minutes in, Voice Actors, Additional Voices.
- ↑ Toys for Bob. Skylanders: Trap Team. Scene: Closing credits, 8:40 in.
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor. Scene: Closing credits, 11:30 in, Voice Over Cast.
External links
- Neil Kaplan - official website
- Neil Kaplan's Facebook
- Neil Kaplan at the Internet Movie Database
- Neil Kaplan at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
| Preceded by Peter Cullen 1984-1987 Original Series |
Voice of Optimus Prime 2001–2002 Robots in Disguise |
Succeeded by Garry Chalk 2002–2006 Unicron Trilogy |
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