Tricia Helfer Takes Over as Kerrigan in StarCraft 2

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Tricia Helfer Takes Over as Kerrigan in StarCraft 2


Blizzard has revealed that Battlestar Galactica hottie Tricia Helfer will be providing the voice of Kerrigan in the upcoming StarCraft 2 [http://www.starcraft2.com/].

Glynnis Talken, who provided the voice of Sarah Kerrigan in the original StarCraft, revealed in February [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/89700-Kerrigan-Voice-Actor-Dropped-From-StarCraft-2] that she wouldn't be reprising the role in the upcoming sequel despite apparently providing voice work for early StarCraft 2 promotional trailers. Blizzard's decision to cut Talken loose was rather surprising given her long history with the company but, as she said at the time, "That's showbiz."

Her replacement has finally been revealed as none other than Tricia Helfer, better known to the world at large as Number Six, the red-clad Cylon of Battlestar Galactica fame. It won't be Helfer's first foray into videogames; she's previously appeared in in the Command & Conquer 3 games and Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. But following her introduction at Blizzcon, she admitted that she was unfamiliar with StarCraft and Kerrigan when she was cast in the role.

"It's intimidating to come into a game and do a job that you don't really know the history of it, I'm kind of a video game virgin in terms of playing. Personally I'm not technologically savvy," she said. "At the time, I didn't know what Zerg and all these things were. It was fun to find out all these little differences."

There's no reason to think that Helfer won't do an admirable job in the role of Kerrigan but how this can be seen as anything but cheap stunt-casting is beyond me. Voice actors Robert Clotworthy and James Harper, who appeared in the original game as Jim Raynor and Arcturus Mengsk respectively, are both returning to their roles, yet Talken, who has appeared in a decade's worth of Blizzard games ranging from Diablo to the Burning Crusade expansion for World of Warcraft, finds herself supplanted by the admittedly very attractive and instantly recognizable Cylon sex machine.

So... Is anyone else catching a distinct whiff of Activision in all this?

Source: IGN [http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/101/1017259p1.html]


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IrrelevantTangent

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Oct 4, 2008
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Oh my God.

Number Six is voicing Sarah Kerrigan. :O

This is officially the greatest news I've heard this week since that 'Use the Force' EEG toy.
 

Radeonx

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Apr 26, 2009
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Interesting. Although, Kerrigan still looks creepy. I prefer the Starcraft 1 look much, much more. And they better keep the guy who did Raynor. Raynor is awesome. AWESOME.
 

Slycne

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Feb 19, 2006
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So... Is anyone else catching a distinct whiff of Activision in all this?
I would go as far as to bet on it, which strikes me as a little funny because it's not like Starcraft 2 needs any help hyping itself. It's a little unfortunate that they would bring back the rest of the cast, but then pander to thinly veiled marketing for this role. But like she said "That's showbiz." However, I'm sure Tricia Helfer will do a fine job though.
 

IrrelevantTangent

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Slycne said:
So... Is anyone else catching a distinct whiff of Activision in all this?
I would go as far as to bet on it, which strikes me as a little funny because it's not like Starcraft 2 needs any help hyping itself.
It's all Bobby Kotick's fault, clearly. We must form a lynch mob, yesss.
 

L.B. Jeffries

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Nov 29, 2007
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I'm confused, Tricia Helfer knows how to voice act? Starcraft 2 is still animated CGI, right? I get C&C 3 and I'm all for it, but my understanding of voice acting is that it's really hard to do without practice.
 

Omgsarge

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May 11, 2009
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*sigh* That is sad. I always loved Kerrigan's voice. It gave her so much character. But i guess if you replace her voice actress with one who is good looking, sexy and famous right now her role could be significantly improved....or something...
Not saying she won't do a good job. I just have to ask why. Why replace such an iconic voice with someone else. Just like when they changed Arthas's voice in WoW. Just why? (and don't give me that "not available, too expensive" crap, it's Blizzard for crying out loud)
 

Anton P. Nym

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Sep 18, 2007
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L.B. Jeffries said:
I'm confused, Tricia Helfer knows how to voice act? Starcraft 2 is still animated CGI, right? I get C&C 3 and I'm all for it, but my understanding of voice acting is that it's really hard to do without practice.
She can voice act; she plays the Naval Intelligence officer Dare in Halo: ODST and, from the snippets of her performances I've heard, holds up well playing against Nathan ("Mal Reynolds/Richard Castle") Fillion.

-- Steve

PS: I just noticed, both actors are Canadian. Woot! We're takin' over!

edited to add: I just looked up Ms. Helfer's filmography on IMDB [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1065454/] and I see she has done voice acting before; playing the Black Cat in Spiderman and Boodikka in Green Lantern.
 

dalek sec

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Jul 20, 2008
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She's a great actress, hopefully she can do a good job voice acting wise.
 

Pendragon9

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If she can muster the role of a seductress who stabs people and commands legions of zerg, I think it will work. But who's going to Duran? Will he even be in the game? I hope so. And I hope he's voiced by Samuel Jackson. :D
 

hansari

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May 31, 2009
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I don't see what the big deal is... she's the attractive celeb, but she is only voicing a character. Not like we're gonna get a nude photo spread with our purchase of Starcraft...

*wait a minute...
 

KazNecro

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I feel like Blizzard just kicked me in a very soft spot. This is total fan service that Blizzard didn't need. I've been a huge fan of Glynnis Talkin ever since she did the voice of Julie Winters in The Maxx Animated Series. To have Blizzard kick her to the curb after a decade of contributions, just to have someone more recognizable and famous take her place, stinks! It'll take alot more than a blonde sci-fi tart to get me interested in this game again.
 

Ultrajoe

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Apr 24, 2008
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And now my super-geek mind is already churning out the BSG/Starcraft crossover jokes. This is a good day for loosely related humour.

Opponent: Fucking zerg rushes, every damn time I play there's a goddamn zerg rush!
Me: ...I think you mean
Opponent: Don't you dare
Me: All this has happened before...
Opponent: You bastard
Me: ...And will happen again.
 

TsunamiWombat

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Sep 6, 2008
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Slycne said:
So... Is anyone else catching a distinct whiff of Activision in all this?
I would go as far as to bet on it, which strikes me as a little funny because it's not like Starcraft 2 needs any help hyping itself. It's a little unfortunate that they would bring back the rest of the cast, but then pander to thinly veiled marketing for this role. But like she said "That's showbiz." However, I'm sure Tricia Helfer will do a fine job though.
I have a theory that Blizzard is just doing outrageous things to frighten people at this point, having become bored with their omnipotence.