Reiziger's Voice, Take Two · 6:57pm Feb 1st, 2015
I am a writer, both of fanfics and of less amusing works. I constantly strive to assess and reassess my work, attempting as best I can to achieve perfection, impossible a goal as that may be. Thus, I sometimes find myself revisiting an earlier conclusion I have drawn, and when I do, I find that I have cause to reconsider it.
Specifically, I am thinking of my assertion that the best match for Reiziger's voice was Corey Burton's Megatron from Transformers Animated. I still believe that voice is fantastic, and if you have taken to hearing Reiziger's dialogue in it, I won't discourage you from doing so. More and more, however, I have been thinking of a different sort of voice, one my readers will be much more familiar with: Benedict Cumberbatch's titular dragon in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
The thing that draws me to Smaug's voice is the particular area in which Smaug and Reiziger are united- something I will call 'breeding.' Smaug, as readers of The Hobbit and watchers of the movie trilogy know, is a very compelling union of brutish violence and aristocratic refinement. Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey puts it quite well: "[Smaug] speaks in fact with the characteristic aggressive politeness of the British upper class, in which irritation and authority are in direct proportion to apparent deference or uncertainty." Smaug might well be the scion of old money, educated at all the best schools in Europe and possessed of the self-assurance that only comes from being born into wealth and power- which, of course, he has both of. He has excellent manners when he wants to, hence the very refined conversation he carries on with Bilbo.
Reiziger has similar origins. Recall that, when he was a deer, he was no mere citizen of the deerfolk. He was royalty, growing up a prince (and later becoming crown prince through nefarious means). The deerfolk as a whole valued education, courtesy, and elegance; Reiziger received the finest schooling available in one of the greatest cultures of learning the world has ever known. I suspect he also received formal training in etiquette, as good manners are essential for a royal. As you readers have seen, when he wants to be he can be quite polite indeed.
But of course, the good manners of both Smaug and Reiziger are facades. Their social refinement and aristocratic bearing hide fundamentally murderous natures, and their etiquette only lasts as long as their good humor. Smaug, when irritated, reveals the teeth and claws and fire that make him a dragon, and in his foul heart he desires nothing more than death. Reiziger, likewise, will drop his politeness the moment he is angered, revealing the monster beneath the manners. As Pinkie Pie says, he is a 'meanie,' and as much as he may pretend otherwise, that's all he is.
Mr. Cumberbatch's performance does an excellent job capturing this blend of aristocracy and viciousness, thanks in no small part to Mr. Cumberbatch growing up as something of an aristocrat himself. Having illustrated the similarities between Smaug and Reiziger, then, I think that the voice of the one would also fit for the other. But of course, I leave it to you, my readers, to make up your own minds.
Yes, I always imagined him sounding like a brilliant and very bored lion playing with his food. He knows how things will play out generally, so he entertains himself by guessing how many details he'll get right.
I guess because you mentioned Reiziger sounds like Corey Burton as Megatron in Transformers: Animated, I've taken to imagining him sounding like Frank Welker as Megatron in Transformers: Prime. (It could just be because I've been watching a lot of Transformers: Prime lately. Oh well.) This version of Megatron doesn't really share Reiziger's aristocratic breeding though. Prime's Megatron started off as a gladiator in the Pits of Kaon before starting off this Decepticon revolution. (Sort of like a much more successful Spartacus.)
(Ironically, Prime's Optimus Prime started off as an archivist at Iacon before he received the Matrix of Leadership. He's kind of like Twilight Sparkle!
)
Man, Animated Megs was hella scary and thus awesome. :D
I've taken to hear him sound like Doctor Doom from Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, in the titular episode he showed up. He has the tone and attitude of a true overlord who is mostly superior to his opponents and has the brains to show it. While Cumberbatch does have a natural deep voice with the accent of an aristocrat, it is however, more suited for a dragon of Smaug's size and class. Reiziger is a terrifying entity but he doesn't give off the same impression as a dragon set on destruction.
So it's Doom for my part.
I've been hearing Malcolm MacDowell. An absolute Gentleman right until the moment he's ripping your face off.
That or Billy Drago, who made a career out of playing the most utterly contemptable, yet very likable jerks.
I think of his voice as a cross between Tim Curry and the English dub voice of the spiral king from gurren lagann.
I always heard him with Scar's voice myself. Distinguished, Nobel, cultured a bit snyde and ,when he wants it to be, terrifying.