Sean Schemmel
Schemmel in 2016
Born (1968-11-21) November 21, 1968 (age 55)
Waterloo, Iowa, U.S.
Occupations
  • Voice actor
  • ADR director
  • screenwriter
Years active1997–present
Spouses
Melissa Cox
​
​
(m. 1993; div. 1998)​
Melodee Lenz
​
​
(m. 1998; div. 2001)​

Sean Schemmel (born November 21, 1968)[1][2] is an American voice actor, ADR director, and screenwriter known chiefly for his work in cartoons, anime, and video games. His most notable role is the teen and adult voice of Son Goku in the Funimation dub of the Dragon Ball franchise.

Career

Initially, Schemmel never planned on becoming a voice actor; he trained to be a classical French horn player. When a friend persuaded him to audition for Dragon Ball Z, he tried out for a minor character who was going to be killed in the first season of the show. He had been recording for two weeks before he was told that he was going to be the lead.[3] Since being cast as Son Goku by Funimation in 1999, he has been the most consistent English voice actor for the main protagonist of the Dragon Ball franchise, having voiced the character's older teen and adult incarnations in every anime series produced to date (Dragon Ball, Z, GT, Kai and Super) and most Dragon Ball animated movies and video games, as well as other characters such as King Kai and Goku Black.[4]

Besides voicing Goku, Schemmel has lent his voice to several other anime characters including Amidamaru in Shaman King (2001), Lucario in Pokémon and Elliot Grant in Mew Mew Power. His other roles in animation include Firefly in G.I. Joe: Sigma 6, Gonard in Kappa Mikey and Hawkman in DC Super Friends. In video games, Schemmel has provided his voice to Makuta in Bionicle, Black Doom in Shadow the Hedgehog, Maxwell in Bullet Witch, Horace in Skullgirls, Batman in The Dark Knight Rises, Sun Wukong (whom Goku was originally based on) in Smite, and Marc Wilson in Fallout 4.

In addition to his voice acting career, Schemmel was also an ADR Director and scriptwriter for NYAV Post, where he had directed and adapted for English dubs of several Japanese anime series. In the field of narration, he has won two awards for his audiobook recordings.

Personal life

In 1993, Schemmel married Melissa Cox. The couple separated in 1998. He married actress Melodee Lenz the same year. They divorced after three years of being together in 2001.[3]

Filmography

Anime

List of dubbing performances and production work in anime television series and OVAs
Year Title Role Crew Role, Notes
1999–2003; 2005 Dragon Ball Z Goku, King Kai, Nail, Vegito

[5]

2001 Dragon Ball Z: Bardock – The Father of Goku Goku (adult) TV special
2001–03 Dragon Ball Goku (teen)
2001 Blue Gender Rick
2002 Berserk Gaston, Conrad, others [6]
2002 Ultimate Muscle Bone Cold
2002 Yu Yu Hakusho Shigeru Murota, Roto, Mr. Akashi
2003 Hades Project Zeorymer Gisou OVA
2003 Samurai Deeper Kyo Nobuyuki Sanada ADR voice director, script writer
2003 Space Pirate Mito ADR voice director, script writer
2003 Sadamitsu the Destroyer Junk/Helmet ADR voice director, script writer
2003–05 Shaman King Amidamaru, Rio, Nichrom
2003–15; 2020–present Pokémon Morrison, Archie, Cyrus, Sir Aaron's Lucario, Lampent, Dracovish, Sawk, Thundurus

[7][8]

  • 4Kids dub
  • DuArt dub
  • Iyuno Media Group dub
2003–05 Dragon Ball GT Goku (adult, Super Saiyan 4), King Kai, Gogeta (SS4)
  • Funimation dub
  • Goku (young) voiced by Stephanie Nadolny
  • Gogeta shared w/ Christopher Sabat
2004 Dragon Ball GT: A Hero's Legacy Goku TV special
2004 Kiddy Grade Carvo Episode 4
2004 Seven of Seven ADR voice director, script writer
2004 Case Closed Kowalski Episode 8
2004 Giant Robo Tetsugyu OVA
2004 Domain of Murder Dispatch OVA
2004 The Gokusen Minoru Tatsukawa, Kouhei Iwamoto
2004 Fullmetal Alchemist Clause's Father Episode 4
2004 Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning Takashi Sonobe Episodes 1-4
2004 Munto Munto OVA
2004 Shura no Toki: Age of Chaos Shinzaburo Kuki
2004 Shrine of the Morning Mist Naonori Hieda ADR voice director
2004–07; 2013–present One Piece
  • 4Kids dub
  • Funimation dub
2005 Mobile Police Patlabor: The New Files Hiromi Yamazaki OVA
2005 Magical DoReMi Mirabelle's Father, Simon
2005 Mew Mew Power Elliot Grant, The Blue Knight 4Kids dub of Tokyo Mew Mew
2005 Midori Days Jigoru ADR voice director, script writer
2005 Piano: The Melody of a Young Girl's Heart Seiji Nomura
2005–06 The Galaxy Railways Humanoid B Episode 10
2005 Samurai 7 Genzo Episodes 9, 11-12
2005 Ah! My Goddess 3rd Class Earth Spirit ADR voice director
2005–06 Yu-Gi-Oh! Bobasa, Karim [7]
2005–08 Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Vellian Crowler, Ojama Yellow, Thelonious Viper, T-Bone, Mad Dog, Elemental Hero Neos, Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth, Dr. Collector [7]
2005 Lupin III: Island of Assassins Gordeau TV special
2006 Pokémon Chronicles Jimmy [7]
2006 Munto 2: Beyond the Walls of Time Munto, Munto's Father OVA
2006 Ninja Nonsense Onsokumaru
2006 Outlanders Tetsuya Wakatsuki, Geobaldi OVA
2007 BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad Hiroto Episodes 23–24
2007–10 Dinosaur King Zander, Spectre, King Louis
2008–11 Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Zigzix, Greiger, MC, Rudolph Heitmann, Hans, Mr.Pitts (season 3)
2010–13;
2017–18		 Dragon Ball Z Kai Goku, King Kai, Nail, Vegito

[5]

  • Includes The Final Chapters
  • Vegito shared w/ Christopher Sabat[citation needed]
2010 Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn Flaste Schole OVA
2011–15 Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal Bronk Stone, Orbital 7(episode 13–75), Kazuma Tsukumo [8]
2016 Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn RE:0096 Flaste Schole
2017–19 Dragon Ball Super Goku, King Kai, Goku Black, Vegito
  • Funimation dub
  • Vegito shared w/ Christopher Sabat[9]
2020 Radiant Pen Draig Knight B Second Season
2021 Mars Red Yoshinobu Maeda [10]
List of dubbing performances in feature films
Year Title Role Notes Source
2006 Padre Pio Prefect
2014 Time of Eve Katoran
2014 Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods Goku, King Kai Limited U.S. theatrical release [11]
2015 Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' Goku Limited U.S. theatrical release [12]
2019 Dragon Ball Super: Broly Goku, Gogeta Limited U.S. theatrical release
Gogeta shared w/ Christopher Sabat		 [13]
2022 Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Goku Limited U.S. theatrical release [14]
List of dubbing performances in anime films
Year Title Role Crew Role, Notes
2001 Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug Goku, King Kai Funimation dub
2002 Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge Goku Funimation dub
2002 Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler Goku Funimation dub
2003 Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13! Goku Funimation dub
2003 Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan Goku, King Kai Funimation dub
2003 The Weathering Continent Guard 2 ADR voice director
2004 Blue Gender: The Warrior Rick Compilation film
2004 Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound Goku, King Kai Funimation dub
2005 Kakurenbo: Hide & Seek Noshiga
2005 Dragon Ball Z: Broly – Second Coming Goku
2005 Dragon Ball Z: Bio-Broly Goku
2005 Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone Goku Funimation redub
2006 Negadon: The Monster from Mars Ryuichi Narasaki
2006 Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew Lucario
2006 Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn Goku, King Kai, Gogeta Gogeta shared w/ Christopher Sabat
2006 Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon Goku
2006 Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest Goku Funimation redub
2006 Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might Goku, King Kai Funimation redub
2011 Yu-Gi-Oh!: Bonds Beyond Time Paradox [8]
2011 Pokémon: Zoroark: Master of Illusions Grings Kodai [8]
2012 Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I – The Egg of the King Gaston, General Gien
2013 Berserk: The Golden Age Arc II – The Battle for Doldrey Gaston
2013 One Piece Film: Strong World Dr. Indigo [15]
2014 Berserk: The Golden Age Arc III – The Advent Gaston, Conrad

Animation

List of voice performances in animation
Year Title Role Notes
2003–09 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Nobody, Yukio Mashimi, Constable Biggles, Sh'Okanabo, Master Khan, Zippy Lad, Various characters
2005–06 G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 Firefly [7]
2006–07 Winx Club Valtor 4Kids version
2006–08 Kappa Mikey Gonard [7]
2006 Wulin Warriors Scar
2006 Viva Piñata Bart, Chortles Chippopotamus, Hamilton Horstachio
2006–11 Thumb Wrestling Federation Colonel Cossack, Face-Off Phil, Mr. Extremo, Dorsal Flynn, James Montgomery Flag, Lucky O'Leary, Pierre Pamplemousse, Knockout Ninja, Evil Ira, Flashback, The Visitor, The Scorchion, Mugsy Thumbscrew, Scoutmaster Scott.
2006–10 Chaotic Maxxor, Ulmar [7]
2008–09 Three Delivery Various characters
2008–09 Speed Racer: The Next Generation Dickie Ranford, Racer X / Rex Racer, Dr. Chezko / Sparky, narrator
2009 Pat & Stan Stuart
2009–12 Huntik: Secrets & Seekers LeBlanche, Mr. Mactavish, Ghost of Sir Lancelot
2011 Shaktimaan Animated Tock English dub
2015 DC Super Friends Hawkman
2015 Sofia the First Slim, King Habib [16][17]
2015 Lego Scooby-Doo! Knight Time Terror Charlie, Treasure Hunter No. 2
2016 Trip Tank Wayne, Announcer [18][19]
2016 Star vs. the Forces of Evil The Box of Truth [20][21]
2017 Spider-Man Sal Salerno [22]
2020 - present Lego Monkie Kid Monkey King, Syntax, Jin
2022 The Casagrandes Mr. Vanderspeed Episode: "Race Against the Machine"[23]
List of voice and dubbing performances in direct-to-video and television films
Year Title Role Crew Role, Notes
2006 Impy's Island King Pumponell the 55th
2009 TMNT: Turtles Forever Raphael 84
2010 Animals United Biggie the Rhinoceros [24]
2011 A Car's Life 2 Fender
2013 A Car's Life 3: The Royal Heist Fender, Otto, Pinion
2015 A Car's Life 4: Junkyard Blues Fender, Otto
2016 DC Super Hero Girls: Hero of the Year Dark Opal
2017 Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Mr. Salt, Mr. Turkentine

Live Action

List of dubbing performances in Live Action
Year Title Role Notes
2023 Ultraman Z Ultraman Zero English Dub

Video games

List of dubbing performances in video games
Year Title Role Notes
2002 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Son Goku, King Kai
2003 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 Goku, Vegito, Gokule
2003 Bionicle Makuta
2004 Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors Goku
2004 Yu Yu Hakusho: Dark Tournament Roto
2004 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 Goku, King Kai, Nail, Vegito, Gogeta
2005 Dragon Ball Z: Sagas Goku
2005 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi Goku, King Kai (Narration), Vegito, Gogeta
2005 Shadow the Hedgehog Black Doom [7]
2006 Shadow Hearts: From the New World Ricardo Gomez
2006 Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai Goku, Vegito, Gogeta
2006 Super Dragon Ball Z Goku
2006 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 Goku, King Kai, Vegito, Gogeta
2007 Bullet Witch Maxwell [7]
2007 Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai – Another Road Goku, Vegito, Gogeta
2007 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 Goku, King Kai, Nail, Vegito, Gogeta
2008 Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit Goku
2008 Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World Goku, King Kai, Vegito, Gogeta
2009 Dragon Ball: Raging Blast Goku, Vegito, Gogeta
2010 Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team Goku, Vegito, Gogeta
2010 Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 Goku, Nail, Vegito, Gogeta
2011 Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi Goku, King Kai, Vegito, Gogeta
2012 Skullgirls Horace
2012 Dragon Ball Z: For Kinect Goku, Vegito
2012 The Dark Knight Rises Batman Mobile game
[25]
2013 Gangstar Vegas Jason Malone, Radio Ads [26][27][7]
2014 Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z Goku, Vegito
2014 Smite Sun Wukong, Thor (Heavy Metal)
2014 Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Lucario [28]
2015 Dragon Ball Xenoverse Goku, Tokitoki, Vegito, Gogeta
2015 Fallout 4 Strong, Marc Wilson, Male Ghouls
2015 Halo 5: Guardians Additional Voices
2016 Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle Goku (Narration) Mobile game
2016 Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 Goku, Nail, Tokitoki, Vegito, Gogeta, Goku Black [29]
2018 Dragon Ball FighterZ Goku, Goku Black, Vegito, Gogeta [29]
2018 Dragon Ball Legends Goku, Vegito, Gogeta, Goku Black, Nail Mobile game
2018 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Lucario Archive audio
2020 Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Goku, King Kai, Nail, Vegito [29]

Awards

Year Award Work Category Result
2008 Earphones Award The Big Splash by Jack D. Ferraiolo Won[30]
2013 Audie Award I Suck at Girls by Justin Halper Audie Award for Humor Won[31]
2019 Guinness World Records Kamehameha Guinness World Record for most people performing a Kamehameha Won[32]

References

  1. ^ Sean Schemmel [@SeanSchemmel] (November 21, 2019). "Birthday! Galaxycon! #yousayitsyourbirthday #itsmybirthdaytoo" (Tweet). Retrieved March 14, 2022 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Sean Schemmel [@SeanSchemmel] (November 22, 2020). "I was very moved by all the birthday wishes yesterday from everyone! Truly made my birthday special! Amazed it happens every year thank you!!!" (Tweet). Retrieved March 14, 2022 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ a b "Dragon Ball's' voice of Goku speaks for himself". Los Angeles Times. June 30, 2017. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  4. ^ "Sean Schemmel Teases His Approach To Goku Black In 'Dragon Ball Super'". ComicBook.com. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Sean Schemmel - 259 Character Images | Behind the Voice Actors". Archived from the original on May 7, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  6. ^ Hanson, Brian (November 13, 2010). "Hey, Answerman! – Hentai Schmentai". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on February 27, 2017. Retrieved January 20, 2017. Perhaps worse is realizing that one voice actor has multiple roles. As Hope Chapman noted, Steven Blum voices a police officer talking with Onizuka. Sean Schemmel voices every third character in Berserk. When you hear the same voices over and over in the same show, it makes it immediately obvious that you're being entertained instead of being part of a story.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Sean C. Schemmel". arlenethornton.com/. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  8. ^ a b c d "Sean Schemmel Awesome Con". awesome-con.com. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2017.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ^ "Funimation Reveals Dragon Ball Super English Dub Cast". Anime News Network. November 30, 2016. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  10. ^ "MARS RED English Dub Announced, Cast and Crew Revealed". Funimation. March 28, 2021. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  11. ^ "'Battle of Gods' will please 'Dragon Ball Z' fans". Los Angeles Times. August 7, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  12. ^ Leydon, Joe (August 12, 2015). "Film Review: 'Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F'". Variety. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  13. ^ Holub, Christian. "Watch Vegeta fight Broly for the first time in exclusive 'Dragon Ball Super: Broly' clip". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  14. ^ Friedman, Nicholas. "Dragon Ball Super: SUPER HERO Reveals Global Theatrical Release Dates, English Dub Cast [UPDATED]". Crunchyroll. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  15. ^ "Brook's English Voice Actor Revealed! – Funimation – Blog!". Archived from the original on November 8, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  16. ^ "Cool Hand Fluke". Sofia the First. Season 3. Episode 1. August 5, 2015. Disney Junior.
  17. ^ "New Genie on the Block". Sofia the First. Season 3. Episode 7. October 16, 2015. Disney Junior.
  18. ^ "How the Sausage Is Made". TripTank. Season 2. Episode 12. June 27, 2016. Comedy Central.
  19. ^ "Deuce Ex Machina". TripTank. Season 2. Episode 17. August 2, 2016. Comedy Central.
  20. ^ "Sleepover". Star vs. the Forces of Evil. Season 2. Episode 22. September 26, 2016. Disney XD.
  21. ^ "Butterfly Trap". Star vs. the Forces of Evil. Season 3. Episode 51. March 10, 2018. Disney XD.
  22. ^ "Venom". Spider-Man (2017 TV series). Season 1. Episode 13. October 21, 2017. Disney XD.
  23. ^ "Race Against the Machine". The Casagrandes. Season 3. Episode 61. June 10, 2022. Nickelodeon.
  24. ^ "Sean Schemmel". Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  25. ^ "The Dark Knight Rises: The Mobile Game (2012) - 12 Cast Images | Behind the Voice Actors". Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  26. ^ Gameloft Divertissements Inc. (June 21, 2013). Gangstar: Vegas (Android). Gameloft S.A. Scene: Closing credits, Cast, 22:57.
  27. ^ "Sean Schemmel at WasabiCon 2016 (Schedule)". wasabicon.com. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2017.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  28. ^ Sean Schemmel [@SeanSchemmel] (May 30, 2014). "I'm voicing Lucario in that game..." (Tweet). Retrieved February 8, 2017 – via Twitter.
  29. ^ a b c "Sean Schemmel (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved September 22, 2021. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.((cite web)): CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  30. ^ "THE BIG SPLASH by Jack D Ferraiolo Read by Sean Schemmel | Audiobook Review | AudioFile Magazine". AudioFile Magazine. Archived from the original on January 25, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  31. ^ Tanya (June 3, 2013). "Winner of the 2013 Audie Awards | Industry News – Awards | Voices.com Blog". Voices.com Blog. Archived from the original on June 28, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  32. ^ "Most people performing a Dragon Ball Kamehameha". Guinness World Records. Retrieved March 15, 2022.

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