Frederick Reginald Ironside (born February 12, 1950), known as Michael Ironside, is a Canadian actor and voice actor, hailing from Toronto. He is the DEFINITIVE iconic voice for Darkseid, the Lord of Apokolips himself. He is many things, tropers, but here... he is God.
Ironside is best known for playing military types, villains and anti-heroes due to his deep voice and his eyebrows setting off the Obviously Evil meter, a type he established in his breakthrough performance as the villainous telepath Darryl Revok in David Cronenberg's 1981 film Scanners; it was his character's Psychic Powers that resulted in the film's most famous moment. He also plays military officers or government agents in at least half of his roles, most notably as Sam Fisher from the Splinter Cell series.
His characters seem to have a strange recurring tendency to lose or damage their limbs, as evidenced here.
Ironside is a self-admitted lover of Science Fiction, Dune in particular.
Tropes in his roles include:
- The Dragon: He is usually this rather than the Big Bad when he is a villain (which would be 90 percent of his roles.)
- Fingore: A quite a number of his roles have his character lose or damage their limbs, usually an arm, hand, or fingers. Including his role in The Machinist, Ultra Magnus, and so forth.
- Mean Character, Nice Actor: Although he's usually cast as villains or tough guys, Michael Ironside has a reputation for being a friendly and generally mild-mannered man.
- Meaningful Name: One of his most iconic roles is Darkseid, the god of Apokolips. His stage name is Michael, which means "Like Unto God."
Live-action roles:
- The Alphabet Killer: Captain Nathan Norcross
- American Nightmare (1983): Sgt. Skylar
- Children of the Corn: Revelation: Priest
- Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars: General Jack Granger
- Desperate Housewives: Curtis Monroe
- Extreme Prejudice: Major Paul Hackett
- The Falcon and the Snowman: FBI Agent
- The Flash (2014): Lewis Snart
- Free Willy: Dial
- Highlander II: The Quickening: General Katana
- Justified:
Sarno - Jett Jackson The Movie: Dr. Kragg.
- Lake Placid 3: Sheriff Tony Willinger
- The Machinist: Miller
- Major Payne: Lt. Col. Stone
- Masters of Horror: Mr. Chaney in "The V Word"
- The Next Karate Kid: Colonel Dugan
- The Omega Code: Dominic
- The Perfect Storm: Bob Brown
- Hello Mary-Lou: Prom Night II: Bill Nordham
- Red Scorpion 2: Colonel West.
- Scanners: Darryl Revok
- Smallville: General Sam Lane
- Seaquest DSV: Captain Oliver Hudson
- Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone as Overdog
- Starship Troopers: Lieutenant Rasczak
- Terminator Salvation: General Ashtown
- Top Gun: Jester
- Total Recall (1990): Richter
- Turbo Kid: Zeus
- V (1983): Ham Tyler
- Visiting Hours: Colt Hawker.
- X-Men: First Class: A Navy Captain. His face is revealed almost as a homage to his many military roles.
- Walker, Texas Ranger: Nolan "The Chairman" Pierce.
- Young Blades: Cardinal Mazarin
Voice roles:
- DC Animated Universe: Darkseid
- Harley Quinn (2019): Darkseid
- LEGO DC Super-Villains: Darkseid
- Heavy Metal 2000: Tyler (No relation.)
- Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Samuel Leo "Sam" Fisher
- Transformers: Prime: Ultra Magnus
- Wolverine and the X-Men (2009): Colonel Moss
