| Chris Niosi | |
| Birth Name: | Christopher Edwin Niosi |
| Birth Date: | 31 December 1988 |
| Birth Place: | Northport, New York, U.S. |
| Alma Mater: | School of Visual Arts |
| Occupation: | Animator, producer, voice actor |
| Years Active: | 2004–present |
| Other Names: | Kirbopher |
Christopher Edwin Niosi (born December 31, 1988),[1] also known by his pseudonym Kirbopher, is an American voice actor, animator, and producer. His voice-work includes Lord Uroko in , Arataka Reigen in Mob Psycho 100,[2] Dezel in Tales of Zestiria, Taira in Queen's Blade Rebellion, Tetsuya Kinomoto in Dr. Stone, Khoury and others in the Pokémon series, Ernesto and others in OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, Pegasus in the Viz Media dub of Sailor Moon,[3] Haruo Sakaki in , , and , and Therion and Mattias in Octopath Traveler.[4]
Niosi was born in Northport, New York, and raised on Long Island. He attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City.[5]
Niosi began making numerous animations for Newgrounds under the name "Kirbopher" in 2004, mostly making Nintendo-based parodies like Rawest Forest, which is a Super Mario RPG-inspired music video based on the song of the same name that vent viral on video-sharing websites like Newgrounds, Youtube, and Japanese-language website Nico Nico Douga.[6] His first professional animation job was for Eduware providing character design, animation and voices.[7] He has also worked as an animator for the video games A Hat in Time, Skullgirls and Cryamore.
Niosi is the creator of the project Terrain of Magical Expertise, also known as TOME. The web series is known for its inclusion of several YouTube personalities and veteran Voice Actors such as Yuri Lowenthal, Jon St. John and Kyle Hebert. The series' concept was based on Niosi's experiences and interactions on internet forums in the early 2000's. The series' second season was eventually crowdfunded through GoFundMe to produce the remaining five episodes. The majority of the animation services were provided by Niosi himself, along with several guest animators and production assistants.[8] [9] TOME was first released on Newgrounds on November 11, 2011,[10] and ran for sixteen episodes and nine shorts. The final episode released on July 7, 2015, while the final short released on November 11, 2016. In 2023, Niosi would later release a special edition version of the web series in the form of three compilations he titled the TOME: A2Z Compilation Movie Trilogy.[11]
On September 30, 2017, a Kickstarter for a video game adaptation was launched.[12] The game features a customizable avatar known as the White Hat Hacker joining the established characters. The campaign was fully funded on November 4, 2017, successfully raising $111,162.63. The game was produced by Niosi's company NEO-C Productions LLC., with Niosi serving as the director, lead designer and character animator of the game, and was published by 1C Company, released on September 9, 2021, on Steam.[13] [14]
Niosi started doing voice acting on amateur productions on Newgrounds, but in 2009, he eventually booked his first professional gig as "Khoury" in five episodes of Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl: Galactic Battles. In 2014, he began voicing anime characters such as Yujiro Hattori in Bakuman, Taira in Queen's Blade Rebellion, and video game characters such as Dezel in Tales of Zestiria (which he later reprised in Tales of Zestiria the X). In 2016, Niosi voiced Arataka Reigen from Mob Psycho 100.[15] [16] In 2017, he was announced as the voice of Pegasus for the Viz Media dub of Sailor Moon SuperS.[17]
In 2016, Niosi became a series regular in Cartoon Network's OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, which started airing on August 1, 2017; he voiced characters such as Nick Army, Neil, Pird and Ernesto. These roles eventually lead Niosi to join SAG-AFTRA and to be represented by Arlene Thornton & Associates.[18] In 2018, Niosi was cast as Therion and Mattias in Octopath Traveler.[19] In 2022, he went on to voice multiple characters in Monster Hunter Rise and River City Girls 2.[20] [21]
In response to Tumblr and Twitter callout posts, on July 18, 2019, Niosi made a post on his Tumblr account confessing that he had been emotionally and sexually abusing colleagues, family and partners for over a decade. Niosi's post highlighted specific instances of abuse for which he issued public apologies.[22] [23] In response to one of these incidents where Niosi violated a non-disclosure agreement by leaking his role as the male version of Byleth in the Fire Emblem series via Discord, Nintendo recast him with Zach Aguilar in Fire Emblem Heroes and Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Niosi's credit was removed from Heroes as of July 25, 2019, and the distribution of the character was delayed.[24] [25] The following day, Aguilar was also stated to have re-recorded Byleth's lines for Three Houses and would be replacing the original voiceovers in the following patch,[26] which went live on September 11, 2019.[27]
Niosi has one half-brother and two half-sisters; one of them is former on-camera actress Alison Fanelli. Niosi was also diagnosed with Asperger syndrome.[28] He moved to Los Angeles in 2014 to pursue a career in the animation industry.[29]
| Year < | -- List the date that the episode was first released in English (video or broadcast). Use DTS format --> | Title | Role < | -- NOTE: Do not list Additional Voices, Extras, or uncredited roles (back it up with reliable sources). Do not list a character's name or assume she voiced it based on your hearing as that is . --> | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Alpha and Omega 6: Dino Digs | Ian | Netflix | |||
| –19 | OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes | Nick Army, Pird, Ernesto, Neil, others | [30] | |||
| 2018 | Cinderella and the Secret Prince | Alex | ||||
| 2019 | Yoohoo to the Rescue | Apo | Episode 48 | Netflix | ||
| 2019 | Camp Halohead | Shrunk | YouTube | |||
| 2022 | Dash | Netflix | ||||
| 2024 | Smiling Friends | TBA | Also animator (S02E5) | Adult Swim |
| Year < | -- List the date that the episode was first released in English (video or broadcast). Use DTS format --> | Title | Role < | -- NOTE: Do not list Additional Voices, Extras, or uncredited roles (back it up with reliable sources). Do not list a character's name or assume she voiced it based on your hearing as that is . --> | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl: Galactic Battles | Khoury | |||||
| Bakuman | Yujiro Hattori | |||||
| 2015 | Lord Uroko | |||||
| Garma Zabi | ||||||
| 2016 | Savarin Canele | |||||
| Tales of Zestiria the X | Dezel | |||||
| The Asterisk War | Wernher | |||||
| Sailor Moon SuperS | Press[31] | |||||
| World War Blue | Zelik | Press[32] | ||||
| 2016–22 | Mob Psycho 100 | Arataka Reigen | [33] | |||
| 2017 | Terra Formars | Akari Hizamaru | [34] | |||
| Blue Exorcist Kyoto Saga | Susumu Yunokawa | |||||
| Kakegurui | Kaede Manyuda | [35] | ||||
| 2017–18 | Fate/Apocrypha | Karna / Lancer of Red | [36] | |||
| 2018 | Julius Juukulius | Season 1 | [37] | |||
| Sword Gai | Toshio Tanabe | |||||
| Kawaki, Magire Kakuremino | Episode 1 | |||||
| Shirota | [38] | |||||
| Mobile Suit Gundam SEED | Romero Pal | [39] | ||||
| Aquarius Degel, Pakia | [40] | |||||
| 2018–19 | Hunter x Hunter | Shaiapouf | ||||
| Hero Mask | Harry Creighton | Netflix | ||||
| 2019 | Dragon Ball Super | Zircor | [41] | |||
| Volo | ||||||
| Isekai Quartet | Julius Juukulius | [42] | ||||
| Fairy Tail | Rung | [43] | ||||
| The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. | Hiroshi Satou | Netflix | ||||
| 2021 | Dr. Stone | Tetsuya Kinomoto | [44] | |||
| Muhyo & Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation | Hirata Zansetsu | [45] | ||||
| Ziero | ||||||
| 2022 | In the Land of Leadale | Skargo | [46] | |||
| Love of Kill | George | [47] | ||||
| 2023 | Talion Drake | [48] | ||||
| Gravimon, NiseDrimogemon | [49] |
| Year < | -- List the date that the episode was first released in English (video or broadcast). Use DTS format --> | Title | Role < | -- NOTE: Do not list Additional Voices, Extras, or uncredited roles (back it up with reliable sources). Do not list a character's name or assume she voiced it based on your hearing as that is . --> | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Patema Inverted | Lagos | ||||
| 2017 | Napping Princess | Morio Sawatari | ||||
| 2018 | Haruo Sakaki | |||||
| 2019 | ||||||
| 2023 | Conrad Leto |
| Year < | -- List the date that the episode was first released in English (video or broadcast). Use DTS format --> | Title | Role < | -- NOTE: Do not list Additional Voices, Extras, or uncredited roles (back it up with reliable sources). Do not list a character's name or assume she voiced it based on your hearing as that is . --> | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| –13 | Jisei series | Mikolaj Gurski | [50] | |||
| The EDUGame | Various | Also animator | Press, website | |||
| 2012 | Skullgirls | Animator | Website[51] [52] [53] | |||
| Moonblood Soldiers | ||||||
| Primordia | Oswald Factorbuilt, 187 | |||||
| Resonance | Ozzy, Officer Johnson | |||||
| 2014 | Smite | K-9 Anubis, Riftshaker Janus, Captain Quick Mercury, Glub Glub Geb | ||||
| 2015 | Disgaea 5 | Void Dark | [54] | |||
| Sick Bricks | Bucky Blastoff, Perfectimus Supreme, Manely Chesthair, Scuttle Bot, Young Deevy, Rusted Stumbler, Stealth Shade, Breaki Smashisan, Knight Rat, Protector Servo | [55] | ||||
| Blackhole | Nejfake | Also voice director | [56] | |||
| Tales of Zestiria | Dezel | |||||
| 2017 | A Hat in Time | Animator and voice director | Website[57] | |||
| Tommy Jarvis | [58] | |||||
| 2018 | Octopath Traveler | Therion | [59] | |||
| Sprint Vector | Voice director | |||||
| Creed: Rise to Glory | Voice director | [60] | ||||
| MapleStory 2 | Lennon, Rolling Thunder, Bobby, Jorge, Springer, Kakalp, MK 52, 50 Meso | [61] [62] [63] | ||||
| 2019 | Combat Core | Zetto | [64] | |||
| Battlewake | Voice director | |||||
| Alex Eggleston | [65] | |||||
| Death end re;Quest | Arata Mizunashi | [66] | ||||
| Byleth (male) | Version 1.0.1 and earlier; replaced with Zach Aguilar from version 1.0.2 onward | |||||
| 2020 | Final Fantasy VII Remake | Additional voices | English version | |||
| The Walking Dead Onslaught | Voice director | |||||
| 2021 | Terrain of Magical Expertise | Additional voices | Also creator, animator, voice director | |||
| 2022 | Monster Hunter Rise | Black Hell Hunter, Pingarh the Sailor, Calgo the Researcher | English version | |||
| River City Girls 2 | Ryuji & Ryuichi | |||||
| 2023 | Company of Heroes 3 | US Engineer | [67] | |||