Who is Erika Ishii? Ghost of Yotei protagonist voice acting career explored

With the reveal of Sucker Punch's latest project, we now know that the Ghost of Yotei protagonist will be voiced by Erika Ishii. The voice actor is no stranger to the gaming scene and is known for their past roles across many video game and TV show projects. They have a rather impressive portfolio featuring some massive AAA games in the mainstream spotlight.

Despite that, they have found themselves in a bit of a controversy surrounding the upcoming feudal Japan open-world game Ghost of Yotei. Read on to learn more about it as well as their past works.

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Who is Erik Ishii and what has the Ghost of Yotei protagonist worked on before?

Ghost of Yotei protagonist Erika Ishii has also voiced Valkyrie from the popular sci-fi battle-royale game Apex Legends (Image via Electronic Arts)

Erika Ishii is an American voice actor born on March 7, 1987, in California. Their acting career began young with a guest appearance on Full House. They veered into voice acting after playing Sony's The Last of Us video game and even went on to star in The Last of Us Part 2 as Additional Voices.

While Erika Ishii may be a new name for many gamers, they will undoubtedly have heard them before. After all, Ishii has starred in many iconic games, including

• Apex Legends - Valkyrie
• Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (2023) - Captain Amy Fang
• Cyberpunk 2077 - Ruth Dzeng
• Destiny 2 - Ana Bray
• Deathloop - Dr. Wenjie Evans
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth - Additional Voices
• Halo Infinite - Lumu and Additional Voices
• Horizon Forbidden West - Additional Voices
• Mortal Kombat 1 - Sektor (New Era)
• Starfield - Kumiho, Rikkard, Va'Runn Robot (Model A), and more

There are many more games from various publishers like Bandai Namco, Nintendo, and even indie titles that Erika Ishii has lent their voice to. They have also starred in TV shows, shorts, and TTRPG (Table Top Role Playing Game) web series. Examples include

• Dimension 20 - Ava, May Wong, Karen 'K' Tanaka, Danielle Barkstock, and more
• Dragonfly - Miyoko
• Fena: Pirate Princess - Artemisia
• Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths (Part Three) - Doctor Light and Huntress
• Oddballs - Liv and Jenna
• Sailor Moon Cosmos - Sailor Juno
• Sunny - Koko
• Vampire The Masquerade: L.A. By Night - Anabelle
• Werewolf The Apocalypse: Vancouver By Night - Karina Ogami
• Young Justice - Child, Mary Bromfield, and Sergeant Marvel

On top of these credits, and being the Ghost of Yotei protagonist, they will be one of the several voices behind Rook, the customizable main protagonist of the upcoming BioWare action RPG Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

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What is the controversy surrounding the Ghost of Yotei protagonist Erika Ishii?

After it came to light that the Ghost of Yotei protagonist Atsu will be voiced by Ishii, many gamers have voiced their displeasure. This is not just because the sequel to the beloved Ghost of Tsushima will feature a female protagonist over the beloved hero Jin Sakai of the previous game but also due to Ishii's political views.

When they began their work as a voice actor, Ishii was specifically told to hide their sexual and gender identity from the public. For those unaware, Erika Ishii identifies as genderfluid and queer, therefore going by all pronouns and having no preference for sexual orientation labels either.

Now that they can express themselves freely on social media, they have been very vocal about their views, including unabashed support of sexual and gender minorities as well as being for the abolishment of the police force, and other forms of activism. This has led to flak from gamers against them even under Sucker Punch's official post.

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Ghost of Yotei is coming exclusively to PlayStation 5 in 2025