Balthier » Voices

Balthier is voiced by people. Yeah.

Hiroaki Hirata voices Balthier in the Japanese original of Final Fantasy XII. Okay, to be honest, he does an awesome job. Then again, Japanese seiyuu tend to take their line of work very seriously, no? Anyway, he's got more than a few roles under his belt. He's voiced Sha Gojyo in Saiyuki, Sanji in One Piece, Suikotsu in Inuyasha, Genma Shiranui in Naruto, Allen Ridgeley in Xenosaga, and Captain Jack Sparrow in the Japanese dub of Kingdom Hearts II and Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Supposedly he has a penchant for voicing character who smoke. You can find out more roles he's done at the Seiyuu Database.

Gideon Emery provides the voice of Balthier for the International releases of Final Fantasy XII. It's likely that Square-Enix has chosen him not only because of his talent, but also because he's relatively unknown in the voiceover industry (much like how most of the main cast in Final Fantasy X wasn't done by popular voice actors). This was most likely done to prevent associating Balthier's voice with any other characters. From what I've seen, though, he has done a lot of live action acting. He's a good actor, and is good choice to voice Balthier. You can view his resume at Now Casting and also view his official website.