He's quite prolific according to ANN, with fans nicknaming him as "The King of Braves/Yuusha-Oh" for his accomplishment in earning not just one, but two leading roles within the Brave Series franchise; namely, Might Senpuuji from The Brave Express Might Gaine, and, more famously, Gai Shishioh of The King of Braves GaoGaiGar.
For additional heroic bonuses, he is also the man behind the character who wields the Triforce of COURAGE himself—Adult Link from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Fierce Deity Link of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask—accompanied by him also being the first official voice actor for Three, the most recognizable hero of the Dragon Quest series.
However, it was Hiyama's cold and cool-headed characters that gave him his breakthrough to begin with. Namely, Hiei of YuYu Hakusho. While he is capable of doing calculating, and psychopathic characters, his forte resides in Hot-Blooded characters such as Viral from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
Best buds with Toshiyuki Morikawa, and close friends with Hikaru Midorikawa, Ryōtarō Okiayu, and his YYH castmates; this includes Megumi Hayashibara, as hinted in her biography manga, Megumi-Toon
. note
Along with Morikawa, the two of them were involved with the birth of Show Hayami's Super Stylish Doctors Story. Post 2011 Earthquake, Hiyama is also one of the core members of the voice-actor charity organization, “Seiendan (Voice Supporters)” led by Kazuhiko Inoue.
Roles:
- Airs Blue in Infinite Ryvius
- When he's not Blue, you'll catch him most notably as the announcer/reporter for both the ship and news broadcasts, and as one of the elite students.
- The announcer for SNK VS Capcom: SVC Chaos
- Atlas/Daichi Tokukawa in Astro Boy (2003)
- Atsushi Arisawa in Bad Teacher's Equation
- Axel from the Disgaea series
- Batsu Ichimonji in Rival Schools
- Behemoth in Tokyo Afterschool Summoners
- Blood Type-A Daddy in Ketsuekigata-kun! Season 3
- Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook) in the Japanese dub of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
- "Buddy"/Alexander "Sasha" Kozachenko in Resident Evil: Damnation
- Cain in anime adaption of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light
- Cariot in Matoi the Sacred Slayer
- A Church Militant who greatly resembles Hikitsu, minus the eyepatch.
- Crunchy Chip Cookie in Cookie Run Kingdom
- Cyborg Butler in Hayate the Combat Butler (a butler who resembles Viral from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and uses Guy's moves from GaoGaiGar)
- Darnic Prestone Yggdmillenia in Fate/Apocrypha
- Camazotz in Fate/Grand Order
- Explicitly nicknamed in-game as 'the King of Braves'.
- Camazotz in Fate/Grand Order
- Date Masamune, Fuuma Kotaro, Honganji Kennyo (Samurai Warriors)
- Kennyo's one of the rare instances Hiyama voices an older man.
- Demitri Maximoff, Pyron, and Donovan Baine of Darkstalkers (Playing VERY against type in all mentioned roles)
- He was only Donovan in Night Warriors. In Vampire Savior 2, he was replaced by Jurota Kosugi.
- Diabel in Sword Art Online
- The Digimon Franchise:
- BlackWarGreymon in Digimon Adventure 02
- Seraphimon in Digimon Frontier
- SlashAngemon in Digimon Fusion
- Machmon in Digimon Adventure: (2020)
- Shadramon in Digimon Ghost Game
- Dorne Murtough and Ioshua Jerand in Star Ocean (1996 SNES Original and First Departure R)
- The .hack Franchise:
- Balmung of the Azure Sky through full franchise
- Balder (Avatar) in .hack//Beyond the World
- Drake McDonald in The God of High School
- Eclair Ecleir Eicler in Overlord
- Eso in Jujutsu Kaisen
- The Flash in the Japanese dub of Batman: The Brave and the Bold
- Forte/Bass in Mega Man (Classic)
- Franken the Dog and Leader Panda in Hell's Angels
- Professor Franklamb Stein in Magician's Academy
- A teacher who gives Hot-Blooded speeches... about
moe and girls with animal ears and tails. It's a little bizarre, but considering his Harunobu Madarame role below...
- A teacher who gives Hot-Blooded speeches... about
- Future Warrior (JP region’s Male Character Voice option 05) in both Dragon Ball Xenoverse and Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
- Gai Shishioh in King of Braves GaoGaiGar and Super Robot Wars series
- This is the role that won him his "King of Braves" name and is considered as one the most famous roles of his career. Tends to get shoved into the Actor Allusion and Shout-Out pits pretty frequently.
- Gai Tendo in Buriki One and starting from KoF 99
- Since Hiyama also voiced Joe Higashi listed below, this leads to a lot of Lampshade Hanging by other characters, as Joe sat out in KoF XI.
- General Goro in Yatterman Night
- Greg Fou Seburg in Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs
- Gueira in Promare
- Guinness Stout in Galaxy Angel
- Haken Browning of Super Robot Wars OG Saga: Endless Frontier, Project × Zone, and Super Robot Wars: Original Generation
- Hala, Tower Tycoon Palmer, and Noland in Pokémon: The Series
- Attila in The Legend of Thunder
- Harunobu Madarame in Genshiken
- A Hot-Blooded otaku with a 2-D complex, who gives his hobbies a higher priority than eating. Is probably a fan of at least one of the (copyright-infringement-averse analogues) anime the seiyuu has been in.
- Hayato Kobayashi in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam--A New Translation compilation movie series along with a couple of game appearances since 2005. Darrin'd original actor Kiyonobu Suzuki due to his scheduling conflicts.
- Hiei in YuYu Hakusho (Star-Making Role)
- The most memorable and iconic role on Hiyama's resume, but compared to his other characters, Hiei's more of a memes generator than getting actor allusioned because of how iconic the character is.
- The most memorable and iconic role on Hiyama's resume, but compared to his other characters, Hiei's more of a
- Hikitsu of Fushigi Yuugi and Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden
- Hitomonji Kobayashi in Cheeky Angel
- Ichiro Hongo/Cosmo Banchou in G-On Riders
- Ikkaku Madarame in Bleach
- Isato Kaiza/Gowcaizer in Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer
- Jackal in Bravely Default
- Jackal Kuwahara in The Prince of Tennis
- Prince Jamke of Verdane in Fire Emblem Heroes
- Joe Higashi of the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters franchises
- His KoF '98 library was remastered for their collaboration event with Crash Fever.
- Jude in The Seven Deadly Sins
- Ka Da (Chinese pronoun as Hua Tuo) in Shin Koihime†Musou
- Kankuro Nishiyama in Ramen Fighter Miki
- Karen Travers in Scarlet Nexus
- Kasugaigarasu in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
- Kazuma Suzuka in Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side: First Love
- Keiji Ueji in Golden Kamuy
- KEN KEN in Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto
- Kho Cheng-Shin in Planetes
- Khonsu in Shin Megami Tensei V
- Ms King Penguin in Shirokuma Cafe
- Kojyuuro Takeda in They Are My Noble Masters
- We knew long before this role that Nobuyuki could scream in a Hot-Blooded way, but this role is notable for proving that he can whisper that way, too.
- Kora in Legend of Himiko
- Korari in Love Tyrant
- Kouji Tetsuya in Godannar
- Kouki Maeno in Mnemosyne
- Kouta Hirano in Highschool of the Dead
- Hiyama is noted to look similar to Kouta, but this was just a coincidence, and not an Ink-Suit Actor case.
- Kunio Yamanobe the Geography Teacher in Sket Dance
- Shares related voicing style with One Piece's Mr.3.
- Kyokuni Azuma in Diamond no Ace
- Leon in Quiz Magic Academy
- Li Kouyuu in The Story of Saiunkoku Season 1 and 2
- Libra Genbu in Saint Seiya Omega
- Adult Link in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Soulcalibur II (GameCube version)
- Fierce Deity Link in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
- The Hero's Shade in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- Lionel the lion Beast Man in Restaurant to Another World
- Long-Eien Hao of Cooking Fighter Hao: The Blazing Chef (PS1)
- Longarm/Shockwave in Transformers: Animated (Japanese dub)
- Ludwig van Beethoven in Time Bokan 24: The Villains' Strike Back
- Makoto Houdou in NHK's Kyuunkatsu Hotline
- The blue guy. Makoto was one of NHK's four anime Bishounen mascots tasked in promoting their services towards young adults. Dating Sim interactive. Forewarning: Don't let his appearance fool you, he's pretty Hotblooded. Their interactive FAQ service ended on May 31, 2017.
- Makoto Kyogoku in Case Closed
- Masanosuke Date in Lime-iro Senkitan
- The Masked Warrior in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's
- (Actually, Masked Warriors; the Liese twins Lotte and Aria in disguise)
- Might Senpuuji in The Brave Express Might Gaine
- Mr. 3, and Vice Admiral "Chaton" Tokikake in One Piece
- Mr. Gosho in Hero Bank
- Muruta Azrael in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (Playing Against Type)
- The Narrator:
- For Sunrise's entire Gundam MS Douga Zukan series.note
- Hiyama's also the narrator hired for most Super Robot Wars and Tokusatsu related commercials even when he doesn't have any roles in some of their titles. Mainly because Hiyama provides the heroic hype buff that can get the boys to surrender their wallets on impulse.
- He was hired to do just one BD / DVD promotion commercial of Yuki Yuna is a Hero as a narrator who "also wanted to be a hero"
- The minor villain Neon in Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo; reprised in Super Robot Wars GC.
- Would later take on the mantle of Ryoma Nagare himself in the 2008 Aruze Getter Robo pachinko game
- Would later take on the mantle
- Oyage/Voyager in Humanity Has Declined
- Papa Sidney Lewis (Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO 2: The Gravity Front)
- Pedro Kazmaier in Jungle King Tar-Chan
- Pipin Tarupin in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
- Pootan in Cromartie High School
- Pop Team Epic:
- The Hero and As Himself in Season 1 (Ep.02-First Segment)
- Popuko for Season 2 (Ep.02-Second Segment)
- Pretty Cure:
- Rai Ryuuga of Ginga Sengoku Gunyuuden Rai
- This guy is Hiyama's second protagonist role, so old and rare, that it's in much need to Keep Circulating the Tapes.
- Rampage in Beast Wars (Japanese dub)
- Raziel in the Japanese dub of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2
- reXer in Live A Hero
- Sandalphon (Deus Machina Demonbane)
- Saw-Paing Yoroizuka in Kengan Ashura
- Scott Fuller in From Dusk Till Dawn (Japanese dub, and also one of his first dub roles)
- Seiichi (a.k.a. The Director) Kinoshita in Shirobako
- Seox in Granblue Fantasy
- Setsumusho in Thunderbolt Fantasy
- Shin in Cowboy Bebop
- Shiro Amada in Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team
- Shuren of the Flames (Shin Kyuseishu Densetsu (Legend Of The True Savior): Fist Of The North Star movies and Original Video Animation)
- Siegfried Schtauffen of the Soul Series
- He was labeled as Nightmare for Soulcalibur 1 and 2 as the two were one and the same in the story back then. He reprises Nightmare in Soulcalibur VI, albeit with a much deeper voice.
- He was also Yoshimitsu for a time, but then got replaced by Norio Wakamoto in IV.
- Skyfire (Jetfire) in Transformers: Energon
- Souha Tamaki in Taboo-Tattoo
- A good looking anime otaku militant serving in The U.S.Army. Though he's not The Protagonist of the series, he is fully aware of his role as the "Professional-level Protagonist" of his team, and has the powers and qualities traceable amongst his voice actor's resume to back him up.
- Space Detective 556 ("Kogoro") in Sgt. Frog
- Space Patrol Galaxy Commander-in-Chief in Space Patrol Luluco
- Steamliner in Kamen Rider Gotchard
- Su-san / Susanoo in Yokai Watch: Forever Friends
- Suguru Kashiwagi in Maria Watches Over Us
- Super Sentai:
- Boss Kamikaze in Gosei Sentai Dairanger
- Ittan Momen in Ninja Sentai Kakuranger
- Bomber the Great in Chouriki Sentai Ohranger
- Gun Boss Sambash in Seijuu Sentai Gingaman
- Ben G in Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger
- King Glúm do Bridon/Sword of Glúm in Magiranger the Movie: Bride of Infershia
- Hatsuden Banki in Engine Sentai Go-onger
- Sneak Brothers the Younger in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger
- Yabaiker in Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger
- Manta Bayashi in Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger
- Mukaikaze Wald in Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger
- Mutou Mushiten in Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger
- Sulfur Pot in Accel World
- Tachibana of the Anti-Zodiarts Union of Kamen Rider Fourze
- Taisuke Yamori in Seiyu's Life!
- Takeshi Nakazato, leader of the Night Kids in Initial D
- Takuma Yuba in World Trigger
- Taro Haruko (Joi Member), Editor Daitou (In-Universe JUMP Editor), Watch Guard (In-Universe fictional character from manga: Chagesu Note), Pakuyasa (Joi Member) in Gintama
- Teppa Aizen in Grenadier ~The Smiling Senshi~
- Teppei Takamiya in B't X
- Tetsuya Kouji in Godannar
- Three/Arusu of Dragon Quest III in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Tiger the Black in Tiger Mask W
- Topper of the Broodals in Super Mario Odyssey
- Toshizō Hijikata in Intrigue In The Bakumatsu Irohanihoheto
- Ultraman King, and Ultra Capsule Scan/Geed Riser voice in Ultraman Geed
- Uzu Sanageyama in Kill la Kill
- Val in Fairy Musketeers
- The Vegan Mooks in Super Robot Wars Z
- Veigue Lungberg (Tales of Rebirth)
- Viral (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann) (Initially Playing Against Type, until his Heel–Face Turn)
- Wilhelm in the Xenosaga series
- Notable because he's playing against type, since Wilhelm's voice is monotone.
- William "Bill" Matheson (Marmalade Boy)
- The older fanbase would often state the level of similarities between William and Brian's character design to Hiyama and Morikawa's own persona, but this is coincidental.
- The Wolf Imagin in Kamen Rider Den-O
- Yè in Fist of the Blue Sky: REGENESIS (2018)
- Yoshiteru Zaimokuza in My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU
- Yuito Kisaragi/Misty Knight in Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel and Twin Angel Break
- Yuri Gagarin in Time Bokan 24
- Yushiro Gowa in Gasaraki
- Yutaka "Panties" Itazu in Eden of the East
- Specially appointed in need for his Hiroshima accent, and bares a striking resemblance to Hiyama. From their hardcore love of their prefecture baseball team, The Hiroshima Toyo Carp, to their natural brushy wavy hair, down to the close location of their beauty marks note , it's pretty obvious that this was an Ink-Suit Actor case done on purpose.
- Specially appointed in need for his Hiroshima accent, and bares a striking resemblance to Hiyama. From their hardcore love of their prefecture baseball team
- Yuutarou Akebono in You and Me and Her (credited as Nodogashira Houdentei)
Tropes associated with Hiyama's career:
- The Hero: Hiyama’s pigeonholed typecast. Ever since he landed the role of Might Senpuuji, he proceeds to earn the package of at least one Hero Protagonist per year for a total of 7 years straight!Hiyama: I believe I've done a great job fighting for justice in the 90's. note
- Large Ham:
- Hiyama's pretty infamous in the industry for being "annoyingly loud," but Hiyama takes it as a positive compliment than a negative one.Hiyama: "It's not me who's loud, you guys are just way too quiet." note
- Chugoku Regional Accent: The Hiroshima Prefecture is known for breeding pork for generations. And yet Hiyama's the only one from his generation of seiyuus who fully hones the classic Hiroshima Dialect.
- Hiyama's pretty infamous in the industry for being "annoyingly loud," but Hiyama takes it as a positive compliment than a negative one.
- Production Posse: For Director Hiroyuki Imaishi of Studio TRIGGER. Imaishi noted in Kill la Kill's commentary to have come across, and implied to have taken Hiyama’s voice to heart when they were both new meats in the industry.
- Those Two Actors:
- To Hikaru Midorikawa (The Hero vs. The Rival)
- The main difference between Hiyama’s character rivalry relationship with Midorikawa and Midorikawa’s rivalry relationship with Takehito Koyasu, is that Hiyama would pretty much always be on The Hero's side, while Koyasu on the other hand would often switch around the hero-rival roles with Midorikawa.
- Notable works with their relationship: The Brave Express Might Gaine, Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer, Fushigi Yuugi (subverted for once note ), The Story of Saiunkoku note , Saint Seiya Omega (subverted for twice note ).
- While not following their usual dynamic, both star in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as well. Which makes any fight scene between their characters sound like Link and Marth are deliciously hamming it up like there's no tomorrow. Perhaps as a nod to this, Melee has an event match that pits their characters against each other. In Ultimate, Hiyama ended up with another fighter.
- To Katsuyuki Konishi (Those Two Red Oni & Blue Oni Teammates)
- While not necessarily back-to-back teammates, their roles would usually end up in the same alliance. And while in the same alliance, they will be assigned as either a Red Oni or a Blue Oni contrasting each other.
- Notable partnerships include: King of Braves GaoGaiGar, Bleach, Polyphonica, Saint Seiya Omega, Kill la Kill, Promare, Tales Series note , and last but not least, literally, and hilariously paired up in J-Stars Victory VS as default teammates within the story mode.
- Surprisingly, the Odd One Out on their partnership would be in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Hiyama's character (Viral) wound up as The Rival to Konishi's (Kamina) in the first few episodes, then joined the good guys long after Kamina had already left. Although considering that Konishi also voiced another character in Makken JokinNote , it can also be considered partly played straight.
- To Keiji Fujiwara (The Leader vs. Right-Hand Man)
- Their most notable partnership can be dated back to Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, B't X, and Initial D.
- To Sho Hayami (The Hero vs. The Villain)
- Unlike Midorikawa, whose rival roles would end up giving Hiyama's heroes the respect they need, Hayami's roles, while not necessarily be The Big Bad, would be downright evil villains with no redeeming qualities when confronting with Hiyama's heroes. Or shall we put it more simply, just as Hiyama would be The '90s resident hero, Hayami is just playing his usual resident villain.
- Notable projects include: Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, B't X, and Saint Seiya Omega. note
- To Takehito Koyasu (The Hero vs. Elite Mook)
- Compared to Midorikawa, and Hayami, Koyasu's roles were the guys that Hiyama's heroes would defeat-and-forget rather quickly. It'll all happen in less than 3 episodes, not even the audience would notice.
- Projects that we had to do triple takes include: The Brave Express Might Gaine, and B't X.
- To Toshiyuki Morikawa (Friends)
- Notable pairings can be found in Marmalade Boy, The Story of Saiunkoku, Ai Death GUN, and Shirokuma Cafe.
- Notable pairings can be found in Marmalade Boy, The Story of Saiunkoku, Ai Death GUN
- To Yukari Tamura (Moe vs. Hunk ~The Dream Team for Every Man~)
- Notable works together: Fairy Musketeers, Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel, King of Braves GaoGaiGar FINAL (OVA), Soul Series.
- To Hikaru Midorikawa (The Hero vs. The Rival)
- Vocal Evolution: Hiyama's vocal performances have become higher in pitch as the years go by, and an easy way to tell is by listening to his Brave Series roles. Maito Senpuuji and Guy Shishioh have very different vocal tones, but in Super Robot Wars, the two of them sound way more similar to each other than in the decade of their onscreen debuts. Justified with physical age and technical hardware improvements, as men age, the vocal tenderness and flexibility from their youth would slowly fade away, leaving their distinct vocal tones more emphasized; in Hiyama's case, his metallic pitch and texture became dominant and is picked up easily and clearly from advanced recording mics.
