[[CodeGeass http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cit_norio_wakamoto_-_ALL_HAIL_EMPEROR_WAKAMOTO!!_ALL_HAIL_BRITANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!.jpg]][[caption-width:170:'''''ALL HAIL EMPEROR WAKAMOTO!''''']]

->''[[AzumangaDaioh HARRO, EVERY-NYAN!!]] [[GratuitousEnglish HOW AH YOU! FAIN SANKYUU!]]''

If there's one voice actor who is extremely pigeonholed, but is just so awesome at doing his pigeonholed job, this man is that voice actor. Norio Wakamoto is a policeman turned voice actor (we assume he just had to yell "HALT, CRIMINAL!" and they'd immediately stop), so well known for his quality, grandiose voice as a villain. So if you want a menacing, great BigBad (or just non-{{Mook}} bad guys in general) role, contact him. And his range of villain roles also varies, either manipulating and scheming, or TheBerserker type. Or whether it's of a high position, or an underling (as long as it's no {{Mook}}). Beware...they can become [[EnsembleDarkhorse Ensemble Darkhorses]] or [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bastards]] greater than the BigBad himself.

Villains, however, aren't his only forte (though it's undoubtedly what he's really good at). He is also capable of doing humorous, perverted roles, or rarely, heroic types.

Norio Wakamoto is an expert in martial arts, and he will ''kick your ass''.

Also, thanks to his recent role as {{Darwinist}} [[TheEmperor Emperor]] [[CodeGeass Charles zi Britannia]], he has reached a certain MemeticBadass status amongst anime fans. There are people who state that any anime can turn out instantly good if he is participating (or that any character he voiced will always be perceived as {{Badass}}). It's even gotten to the point where instead of having him "work his voice to fit a character," they work the character to fit his voice.

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NorioWakamoto...

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lzG9MnkVlA ...is now available in GPS form.]]
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB6o6FAgVyI ...is a regenerative nanotech suit ("Mashimam shpeedo!")]]
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3zJjaEHU9w ...sings the Lucky Star opening.]]
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hDNcIgXYs0 ...supports breasts]] (a parody of his first "ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!!!" speech, dialog taken from [[http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/225262/ this 4koma]]).
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrDw-3xBGN0 ...performs the Giga Drill Break.]]


For his Western (if less Pigeon-holed) equivalent, see SteveBlum.

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!!Norio Wakamoto can be heard in these works as the villain role:

* Cell in DragonBallZ.
* Vicious in CowboyBebop.
* Alexander Anderson in {{Hellsing}} Ultimate. ([[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDnu0giUS00&NR=1 If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accused! O Lord, come! Ahhhhhmeeennn!]])
* Emperor Charles zi Britannia in CodeGeass.
* Dracula in the {{Castlevania}} series (from Symphony of The Night onward). This role utilizes his famous Evil Laugh better than most.
** He has a '''''VARIETY''''' of them in Dracula X Chronicle, depending on battle stage and how much Richter is going to get demolished if the attack connects.
* Igniz in TheKingOfFighters 2001. In 2002, he did Rugal Bernstein, but in 2002 Unlimited Match Rugal's voice was reprised by the original actor, Toshimitsu Arai.
* M. Bison / Vega (Dictator) in the StreetFighter series.
* Barbatos Goetia in TalesOfDestiny 2 ('''[[ThisIsSPARTA AITEMU NAZO! TSUKATTEN JA!! NNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!]]''')
* OdaNobunaga in SengokuBasara.
* Shapiro Keats in {{Dancougar}}.
* Tekkaman Omega in TekkamanBlade.
* Denpa Shogun in MyselfYourself, the BigBad of a sentai ShowWithinAShow.
* Overlord Zenon in {{Disgaea}} 2.
** The narrator for the opening crawl in the original. Well, at least the DS remake, to this troper's knowledge. "There exists a place they say is blacker than any darkness, deeper than any ocean..."
* Gene in MetalGearSolid: Portable Ops.
* Hol Horse in the OAV of JoJosBizarreAdventure.
* T-Bag in the Japanese dub of PrisonBreak.
* You call that an {{I Am Not Making This Up}}? Here's one for you: [[ZatchBell Victoream]]. Yes, ''[[MemeticMutation that]]'' [[VillainSong one]].
** Before Victoream, he was a minor CanonFodder villain but was still awesome.
* Mr. Sinister in the Japanese dub of XMen.
* Kagato in TenchiMuyo and TenchiUniverse
* Xemnas in KingdomHearts.
* Stern Neue Regisseur in SuperRobotWars
** He also did Maier V. Branstein.
* Chaos in Dissidia: FinalFantasy
* Although not in any of the anime, he also voices Dio Brando in an obscure radio drama version of JoJosBizarreAdventure
* Golba in SamuraiShodown: Edge of Destiny
* Shredder in the Japanese dubs of the first two live action TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles movies.
* Black Shadow in ''FZero Legend of Falcon/GP Legend'' (''[[MemeticMutation WATASHI WA SHINEN!]]'' '''''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome SHINEN ZUU!!!]]''''')
* Gntarl in the TV remake/expansion of {{Munto}}.
* Shurara in KeroroGunsou. The resonance ritual has never been this creepy.
* Conrad Viscuess in InfiniteRyvius.
* Makuta Teridax in the Japanese dubs of the {{Bionicle}} movies.
* (I kid you not) Vince [=McMahon=] in the Japanese-dubbed {{WWE}}.
* He voiced Gambino in the {{Berserk}} anime.

For his non-villainous roles, here's a bit of his portfolio:

* The shapeshifter Nagamimi in KyogokuNatsuhikoKosetsuHyakuMonogatari.
* Johnny in GuiltyGear X and XX.
* Al-Cid Margrace in FinalFantasyXII.
* Coach Ohta in {{Gunbuster}}.
* The Narrator/Voice of Heavens in HayateTheCombatButler.
* Onsokumaru in NininGaShinobuden — a role which must have been written with him in mind. He's given license to steal the show, and does it with gusto.
* Chiyo-chichi (the orange cat...thing) in AzumangaDaioh.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UucITQR0SrQ "I wish I were a bird."]]
* Woodchuck in RecordOfLodossWar (but note that Wood [[spoiler:ends up victim of a Karla-induced GrandTheftMe]]).
* Diao Chan in KoihimeMusou
** [[AmbiguouslyGay Er...]]
* Matsudaira Katakuriko, the violent nutcase director of the Shinsengumi in {{Gintama}}.
* Lando Calrissian in the Japanese dub of StarWars.
* [[LargeHam King Drake the Third]] in MakaiKingdom.
* Mechazawa in CromartieHighSchool
** "Such a sober voice!"
* General Winters Socalo in [[DGrayMan D.Gray-Man]].
* In SailorMoon he was a recording artist in love with a woman, and ended up as a youma target. His sexy voice attracted all da ladies.
* Gargoyle the dog statue from GargoyleOfTheYoshinagas.
* Ooshima, the Kuroda group's second-in-command in {{Gokusen}}. He's very funny.
* He voiced the minor hero character Shuren in [[FistOfTheNorthStar Fist of the North Star]], though not for long, since storyline reasons demanded Shuren's failed HeroicSacrifice against Raoh. He also did Raoh for a very short time in his silhouette debut.
* Duke Duffau in ChronoCrusade, leader of the demon pursuers. Interestingly, the character was an antagonist of sorts in the manga (although he mostly ignored the heroes and went straight for Aion), but in the anime adaptation he got upgraded to an uneasy ally with the Magdalene Order.
* Non Human Sidekick Chew Toy Koujun from Ryofuko-chan.
* Oskar von Reuenthal in LegendOfGalacticHeroes, one of his earliest (and in this troper's opinion best) roles.
* Yoshimitsu in SoulCalibur IV, replacing NobuyukiHiyama. This has cemented Yoshimitsu's status as an EnsembleDarkhorse.
** Ironically, in that same game, Yoshimitsu suddenly jumped from JokeCharacter to [[CharacterTiers Top Tier]].
* The voice of the nanosuit OS in the Japanese version of {{Crysis}}. No, really. And in very good {{Engrish}}, as well.
* Gustave St. Germain of {{Baccano}}.
* Taisou from GiantRobo.
* Ashlay Barnbalt in ''[[StarOcean1 Star Ocean]]: [[VideoGameRemake First Departure]]''
* Gigalt Gangaragash in {{Planetes}}
* The Nabuu brothers in GaReiZero.
* Raiden in the first ''Film/MortalKombat'' movie.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HohUMYmw-6U Onsokumaru]] is a fantastic comedic role of his. Note that I saw this before I saw him as Reuenthal. {{Legend of Galactic Heroes}} was a somewhat... different experience for me.

Tropes associated with Norio Wakamoto:

* EnsembleDarkhorse (Because he is that badass, any characters he voiced always have a chance to become one)
* HilarityEnsues (If he's not being the bad guy and instead is landed with comical roles... this is guaranteed to happen)
* LargeHam
* LemonyNarrator
* MemeticBadass
* PigeonholedVoiceActor (Pigeonholed, yes, but he is, to put it simply, [[WolverinePublicity the best there is at what he does, and what he does is AWESOME.]])
* SureWhyNot (Which explains why he supports boobs)
* {{Villain}} (Whether it's Big Bad, The Dragon, or just anything listed there)
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'''''[[MemeticMutation ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!!!]]'''''