The Destiny universe has long been building to Beyond Light, an expansion that brings something for newcomers and veterans alike. Now that it has arrived, players are getting answers to the game’s wildest questions and mysteries.
While there are plenty of Easter Eggs to investigate in-game, there are a few things worth knowing from the outside as well. Who are the people behind these beloved characters? Why does Ana Bray sound different in her last few appearances than she did before? How many games can a single person sneak their way into before fans begin to catch on?
10 Anastasia Bray’s Voice Change
Ana Bray is a fan-favorite Hunter who continues to play a major role in the unfolding story of Destiny. After being mentioned multiple times across the series, she debuted in Warmind, officially bringing a legend out of the shadows and onto our screens. While the character was originally voiced by Jamie Chung, Bungie ultimately recast the character with voice-actor Erika Ishii in Season of the Worthy.
While no official reason has been made public, Chung did have a recurring role in HBO’s Lovecraft Country last year, which filmed through the summer and into the fall of 2019. Season of the Worthy released in March of 2020, scheduling conflicts may have created the need for a change.
9 Ana’s New Voice Actor is a Tabletop Wizard
Erika Ishii is a massive Tabletop role-playing game fan. She’s played characters on several popular platforms, including two appearances on Geek and Sundry, and one on Dimension 20.
Whether playing socialite Hanako Hayashi in the Call of Cthulu based Shadow of the Crystal Palace or Sasha Murasaki in the high-fantasy high school world of Cinderbrush, Ishii has proven herself to be an avid fan of all things RPG.
8 Eramis Contains Multitudes
Eramis, the Destiny universe’s resident Kell of Darkness and the main antagonist of Beyond Light, is a corrupted member of the Fallen who escapes the Prison of Elders and immediately strikes up a fight upon her release.
While she’s a fierce and frightening character in Destiny, Eramis’ voice actor, Salli Saffioti, tends to play a lot more on the light side though. She notably voiced the Hero of Bowerstone in Fable II and even returned to voice the Female Hero in Fable III.
7 The Drifter’s Reach Is Widespread
Todd Haberkorn, the voice of The Drifter, has been a staple of the Destiny universe. While his role comes into the spotlight again in Beyond Light, this isn’t the first time that fans have seen him play a key role in a Bungie connected property.
In 2015, Haberkorn voiced Fred Keyes in the Halo animated series The Fall of Reach. In terms of non-Bungie related roles, he recently voiced Android 19 in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot and Metodey in Fire Emblem: Tree Houses.
6 The Exo Stranger is Powerful on Every Plane
The Exo Stranger may be a mystery inside of the Destiny story, but her voice actor is quite the opposite. With roles as Karliah, a Thieves Guild associate that the player character befriends in Skyrim, and the field medic Elara Dorne in Star Wars: The Old Republic, Moira Quirk has established a reputation for strong, impressive female characters across her career.
Quirk’s other credits include Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, The Elder Scrolls: Blades, and World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth.
5 Morn Than Meets The Eye
The former Hunter Eris Morn is voiced by Morla Gorrondona, the voice of Battery from Call of Duty’s highly successful Black Ops franchise. Like, Eris, Battery is tough as nails, though she’d rather blow stuff up than seek cold cruel revenge on The Hive.
Morla has also featured in a diverse range of games, with her role as the Narrator in the VR adventure game Moss standing out in her resume.
4 Nolan North Has Earned His Keep With Bungie
Nolan North has put in some serious work with the Destiny universe. First appearing in Destiny as the voice of Ghost after replacing Peter Dinklage in the role, he has since managed to take the place of Nathan Fillion as fan-favorite Cayde-6 as well.
North adds another notch to his resume in Beyond Light, as he voices The Drifter for the quest Stealing Stasis. While on the mission Ghost briefly impersonate The Drifter and barks out a few commands, raising his share of the Destiny universe voice-over credits even higher.
3 Voice Actor Roulette
While Nolan North may have a claim to “most in-universe voices” for Destiny, Brian T. Delaney isn’t far behind. While he first voiced Saint-14 in the divisive Shadowkeep expansion, the development of Beyond Light saw him take on the role of both Praksis, the mad scientist of the Fallen, and Clovis Bray, the patriarch of Anastasia’s family.
Erika Ishii also has credits for three roles, specifically Ana Bray, Kridis, and Anjoli-7.
2 Even Guardians Were Affected by COVID-19
Previously in Destiny, each race of Guardian carried a different voice actor along with it. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic making it harder to get voice-actors in the studio, the Bungie team had to make some changes.
Voice-acting responsibilities were cut down to one male and one female to cover all three perspective races for the two available genders. Zehra Fazal, previously the voice of the Exo Female, voiced the women and Peter Jessop, the Exo Male, took on the responsibilities for the men.
1 The Voice of Variks, The Loyal is Legendary
Dee Bradley Baker is widely known in voice-over circles as being one of the best in the business. While his role as the cold and calculating Variks in Destiny may lead you to believe that he is at his best when portraying evil characters, his list of accomplishments says otherwise.
Baker has been the voice of several lovable characters, most notably Daffy Duck, Taz the Tazmanian Devil, and Toro the Bull in the classic basketball movie Space Jam.
NEXT: Destiny: 10 Facts You Didn’t Know About The Franchise
