Critical Role’s Matt Mercer voices Ganondorf in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Matthew Mercer from Critical Role has revealed that — as many suspected — he supplies the voice of Ganondorf in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Following the release of Thursday’s new trailer for the game, which confirmed the return of Ganondorf in his (super hot) human Gerudo form, Mercer announced his involvement on Twitter.

“I just got the go-ahead from Nintendo, so I can FINALLY announce my absolute pleasure to be voicing Ganondorf in the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom,” Mercer said. “An immense honor that I have thrown myself into doing justice.”

Mercer shared pictures of himself dressed as Link as a child, and cosplaying as Ganondorf in a web series. “I have been an immense Legend of Zelda fan since I was a child, and Ganondorf has been one of my favorite antagonists… to the point where I portrayed this green-skinned menace for my webseries over a decade ago!” he said.

“Many of you know the weight of expectation on my shoulders for this, and I hope to do you proud. A huge thank you to [Nintendo] and the entire Tears of the Kingdom team for entrusting me with such a badass.”

Fans suspected the role had fallen to Mercer after hearing snippets of what seemed to be Ganondorf’s voice in an earlier trailer for the game. As well as acting as dungeon master for the wildly popular Dungeons & Dragons actual play series Critical Role, Mercer is a prolific voice actor who has portrayed Leon Kennedy in Resident Evil 6, Chrom in the Fire Emblem series, and Cole Cassidy in Overwatch, as well as voicing parts in numerous English anime dubs including Attack on Titan, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Naruto, and Dragon Ball Super. Of course, he also supplies a number of the voices for the Critical Role spinoff animated series The Legend of Vox Machina.

Ganondorf’s return wasn’t the only thing teased by Thursday’s Tears of the Kingdom trailer, which also showcased a dizzying array of new characters and gameplay possibilities. Nintendo’s next Zelda epic is out for Nintendo Switch on May 12.