A Theory for Xander's Voice Actor? What Do You Think? (READ DESCRIPTION)

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Published on October 17, 2022 9:09:00 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SdBduCvEHc

Duration: 1:40

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As mentioned at the end of my last Xander VA video (currently unlisted), I was only convinced of David Stanbra NOT being Xander. I made the case for Michael Gough, not as a definitive option, but as a measure to compare. I admit that I grabbed onto the idea quickly once I looked into him, nearly had myself convinced, but now?

This is different.

While I excused lack of exact voice comparison between Gough and Xander, tossing it up to voice changes over time, direction, range... this new case is a different story altogether. Paul Mercier is an identical match to Xander.

Now, Mercier's voice has certainly changed since his role as Leon in RE4 back in the day, but I first noticed the similarities during a revisiting of Darkside Chronicles. The voice Mercier used for Leon struck me in a certain way, so I looked into it, finding his personal website with voice samples for commercials and documentaries that lined up even closer than what I had heard in the game, and boy did I find another couple interesting tidbits when I dug even further; far more interesting than what Gough had going for him.

For starters, Kris Zimmerman (Fates casting director, who brought multiple VAs she had professional relationships with onto the Fates project) actually did the casting for Resident Evil 4's demo, a fact Mercier revealed himself in an interview with unWIRED. Not anything super definitive there, just some potential contextualization.
Secondly, Mercier is married to fellow voice actress Paula Tiso. Tiso also worked on Fire Emblem Fates, providing voices for Camilla and Orochi. Just thought that was cool, more than anything.
Next, Mercier is a member of the voice over union in the US, which (assuming he is Xander) would explain his usage of pseudonyms in Heroes and Warriors. in fact, George Spelvin (Xander's VA credit in the aforementioned games) is an old, widely used theatre pseudonym. Guess who performed theatre for a majority of his life?
And finally, perhaps the most intriguing bit, if you look into Mercier's profiles online, you can see he had been consistently getting official voice work since his entry onto the scene, from the 90s to 2014. However, after 2014, there's a clean break, one that doesn't really pick up again until 2020-21.

Fire Emblem Fates recording sessions likely started sometime in early-mid 2015, and with his other endeavors in theatre and his comedy troupe, assuming I'm finally right this time, his role as Xander in Fates, Warriors and Heroes likely sufficed for his voice over work in that period.

So, the main question here, as always, is: What Do You Think?