Neil Kaplan

Neil Kaplan
Neil Kaplan
	Kaplan in 2023
Other names	Neil Caplan; Bob Johnson;
Occupations	Voice actor; entertainer; comedian;
Years active	1993–present
Website	nekap.net

Neil Charles Kaplan is an American voice actor, audiobook narrator, entertainer, and comedian. His most well known voice roles are Hawkmon from Digimon, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto from Bleach, Emperor Zarkon from Voltron: Legendary Defender and Madara Uchiha from Naruto.

Biography

Kaplan got his start as a comedian doing impressions of presidents such as Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. He also impersonated a little-known journalist at the time, Dan Rather. He then started work on video games, including several Star Wars titles. From there he went on to do such shows as Power Rangers, Digimon: Digital Monsters and Transformers: Robots in Disguise. He was once a contestant on the game show Street Smarts. On that appearance, he showed off some of his other impressions, including one of Gilbert Gottfried. He was a guest to the Power Morphicon (in Los Angeles) in June 2007 and August 2010, to Armageddon (in Australia and New Zealand) in October 2007, and to AVCon: Adelaide's Anime & Video Games Festival (in Australia) in July 2018. He also created the television series The Way it WASN'T! and the graphic novel I, of the Wolf.^[1]^{[better source needed]} He voices Captain Fort Worth in the adult video game BoneCraft.^[2]

Filmography

Anime

List of English dubbing performances in anime
Year	Title	Role	Notes	Source
1999	FAKE	Drake
2000–01	Digimon Adventure 02	Halsemon, Hogan, Ilya, Hawkmon, Shurimon, Aquilamon, Silphymon (shared with Edie Mirman)
2001–02	Digimon Tamers	Indramon, Divermon, Babel
2001–02	Transformers: Robots in Disguise	Optimus Prime, Ro-Tor
2002–03	Tokyo Pig	Principal
2002–03	Digimon Frontier	Eldest Mushroomon, Woodmon (Ep. 4), Kokuwamon, Kokuwamon Elder (Ep. 5), Baromon (Ep. 40)
2003	Reign: The Conqueror	Ibn	As Bob Johnson
2003–04	Brigadoon: Marin & Melan	Shuta Alan, Poyon Silver, Detective Chunen	As Bob Johnson
2005–06	Daphne in the Brilliant Blue	Lun Shibazaki, Additional Voices
2006	Zatch Bell!	Belgim E.O.
2007–14	Bleach	Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, Ruzaburō "Enryū" Enkōgawa, Gesell, Tenken, Zommari Rureaux (Ep. 195+)
2008	Digimon Data Squad	Pumpkinmon #1 (Eps. 30–34), Ninjamon #3 (Ep. 31), Piximon (Ep. 32), Franz' Agent #1 (Ep. 33), Desk Man #1 (Ep. 33)
2008	Naruto	Kiyoyasu	Episode: "Laughing Shino"
2008–10	Blue Dragon	Saber Tiger
2011	Marvel Anime: Iron Man	Minister Defense Kuroda
2012	Marvel Anime: Blade	High Council Chairman, Additional Voices
2012–19	Naruto Shippuden	Tobi, Madara Uchiha (Ep. 125+)
2013–15	Digimon Fusion	Lord Bagra, NeoMyotismon, Anubismon
2016	Sailor Moon	Edwards	Episode: "Usagi Dancing to the Waltz", Viz dub
2017–18	Lupin the Third Part IV	Robson Zuccooli
2018	Terraformars	Kaiki Kouno	Episode: "War - All-Out War"	^[3]
2019	Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin	Dozle Zabi		^[4]^[5]^[6]
2020	Cagaster of an Insect Cage	Adham
2020	Great Pretender	Lewis Mueller
2021–22	Attack on Titan	Theo Magath
2021–22	How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom	Sebastian Silverdeer
2022–present	Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War	Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, Asuka Katakura, Tetsuzaemon Iba, Robert Accutrone, Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio

Animation

List of voice performances in animation
Year	Title	Role	Notes	Source
	The Mouse and the Monster	Utility Guy
2006	Higglytown Heroes	Mover Hero
2014	Robot Chicken	Albus Dumbledore, Lt. Stone
2016–2018	Voltron: Legendary Defender	Emperor Zarkon
2017	Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero	Club Owner
2017	Wacky Races	Sheriff Longarm D. Law	Episode: "Smokey and the Racers"
2019	Love, Death & Robots	Hank	Episode: "Suits"
2021	Star Wars: Visions	Narrator	Episode" "The Ninth Jedi", English dub	^[7]

Films

Digimon: The Movie – Hawkmon, Halsemon
Dragon Quest: Your Story – Dr. Agon, Zenith Dragon
Ghost Cat Anzu – Old Man Mushroom^[8]
Muhammad: The Last Prophet – 'Amr ibn al-'As, The Spy
The Happy Cricket – Toad #1
The Little Polar Bear – Bert
Promare – Vulcan Haestus^[9]

Video games

Baten Kaitos Origins – Wiseman/Verus Wiseman
BioShock Infinite – Thursday Warren, John Hammond, Ezekiel Price
BoneCraft – Captain Fort Worth
Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion – Grim, Johnny Bravo
Conan – Bone Cleaver
Conan Exiles - Nunu the Cannibal, Additional Voice
Destiny 2 – Dominus Ghaul
DreamWorks Voltron VR Chronicles – Emperor Zarkon
Fallout 76 – Biv, Derrick Taylor, Dr. Emerson Hale, Hubert, Lev, Marcus, Intercom, Raiders, Blood Eagles^[10]
Final Fantasy XIII – Cocoon Inhabitants^[11]
Final Fantasy XIII-2 – Additional Voices
Final Fantasy XV – Additional voices
Gears of War 3 – Stranded Crew #7^[12]
Guild Wars 2 – Various Charr and Norn NPCs, Edrick Thorn
Hearthstone – Cenarius
Heroes of the Storm – Tychus
Honkai: Star Rail – Duke Inferno
Infamous First Light – Additional Voices^[13]
Justice League Heroes – Gorilla Grodd
League of Legends – Aurelion Sol, the Star Forger
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII – Additional Voices^[14]
Marvel Heroes – Sabretooth, Venom
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – Nemesis Orcs, Humans
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 – Obito Uchiha (Ninja War Tobi), Madara Uchiha
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 – Madara Uchiha, Obito Uchiha (Ninja War Tobi)^[15]
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations – Madara Uchiha
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution – Madara Uchiha, Obito Uchiha (Ninja War Tobi)
Ninja Gaiden II – Genshin
Omega Strikers - Drek'ar
Red Dead Redemption 2 – The Local Pedestrian Population
Skylanders: Giants – Batterson, Hatterson
Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure – Nort, Weapon Master
Skylanders: Trap Team – Batterson, Hatterson^[16]
Spider-Man 3 – Kraven the Hunter
Spider-Man: Battle for New York – Norman Osborn / Green Goblin
Star Wars: The Old Republic – Skadge
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty – Tychus Findlay, Reaper, Vulture
StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void - Herc
Tell Me Why – Tom Vecchi / Alexander Kershwin
The Last of Us – Additional Voices
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – Long Haul
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II – Retribution – Ork Nob
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm – Cenarius
World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor – Additional Voices^[17]

Live-action

Beetleborgs Metallix – Hornix, Witch Doctor (voices, credited as Bob Johnson)
Big Bad Beetleborgs – Venus Claptrap (voice, credited as Bob Johnson)
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie – Oozemen (voice, uncredited)
Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue – Diabolico, Gold Beaked Monster (voices)
Power Rangers Lost Galaxy – Destruxo (voice), Mutantrum (2nd voice)
Power Rangers Time Force – Gluto (voice), Recap Narrator (voice, uncredited)

References

^ The concept for I, of the Wolf was initially developed while he was in attendance at the Transformers convention Auto Assembly over a meal in a Chinese restaurant with some of the convention's other guests. Source: convention organiser
^ "Voice Actor Neil Kaplan Signs On to BoneCraft as Captain Fort Worth". Archived from the original on November 24, 2011.
^ "Viz Media Reveals English Dub Cast for Terraformars Anime". Anime News Network. July 1, 2017. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
^ "Gundam the Origin I's 1st 7 Minutes English-Dubbed & Subtitled". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
^ "'Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin – Sorrowful Artesia' Anime Episode Gets English Language Trailer". The Fandom Post. March 16, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
^ "Second 'Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin' Anime Episode Titled". The Fandom Post. March 2, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
^ "Stunning New Star Wars: Visions Trailer Debuts". StarWars.com. August 17, 2021. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
^ @GKIDSfilms (October 30, 2024). "Say meow and ribbit to the English cast of GHOST CAT ANZU! 🐱🐸Meet the whole village in theatres starting November 15. Get tickets now: http://brnw.ch/21wO0zG" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ "Promare Anime Film's English-dubbed Trailer Streamed (Updated)". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
^ Bethesda Game Studios Austin (April 14, 2020). Fallout 76: Wastelanders DLC. Bethesda Softworks. Scene: Credits: Voice & Music - Cast.
^ "Final Fantasy XIII (2010 Video Game)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
^ "Gears of War 3 (2011 Video Game)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
^ Sucker Punch Productions. Infamous First Light. Scene: Closing credits, 1:18 minutes in, Additional Voice Acting by.
^ Square Enix. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. Scene: Closing credits, 5 minutes in, Voice Actors, Additional Voices.
^ CyberConnect2. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4. Scene: Closing credits, 0:48 in, English Cast.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ Toys for Bob. Skylanders: Trap Team. Scene: Closing credits, 8:40 in.
^ Blizzard Entertainment. World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor. Scene: Closing credits, 11:30 in, Voice Over Cast.

External links

Neil Kaplan - official website
Neil Kaplan's Facebook
Neil Kaplan at IMDb
Neil Kaplan at Anime News Network's encyclopedia

Preceded by Peter Cullen 1984-1987 Original Series	Voice of Optimus Prime 2001–2002 Robots in Disguise	Succeeded by Garry Chalk 2002–2006 Unicron Trilogy

[1] The concept for I, of the Wolf was initially developed while he was in attendance at the Transformers convention Auto Assembly over a meal in a Chinese restaurant with some of the convention's other guests. Source: convention organiser

[2] "Voice Actor Neil Kaplan Signs On to BoneCraft as Captain Fort Worth". Archived from the original on November 24, 2011.

[3] "Viz Media Reveals English Dub Cast for Terraformars Anime". Anime News Network. July 1, 2017. Retrieved July 5, 2017.

[4] "Gundam the Origin I's 1st 7 Minutes English-Dubbed & Subtitled". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 13, 2015.

[5] "'Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin – Sorrowful Artesia' Anime Episode Gets English Language Trailer". The Fandom Post. March 16, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015.

[6] "Second 'Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin' Anime Episode Titled". The Fandom Post. March 2, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015.

[7] "Stunning New Star Wars: Visions Trailer Debuts". StarWars.com. August 17, 2021. Retrieved August 17, 2021.

[8] @GKIDSfilms (October 30, 2024). "Say meow and ribbit to the English cast of GHOST CAT ANZU! 🐱🐸Meet the whole village in theatres starting November 15. Get tickets now: http://brnw.ch/21wO0zG" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

[9] "Promare Anime Film's English-dubbed Trailer Streamed (Updated)". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 29, 2019.

[10] Bethesda Game Studios Austin (April 14, 2020). Fallout 76: Wastelanders DLC. Bethesda Softworks. Scene: Credits: Voice & Music - Cast.

[11] "Final Fantasy XIII (2010 Video Game)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved January 8, 2024.

[12] "Gears of War 3 (2011 Video Game)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 23, 2023.

[13] Sucker Punch Productions. Infamous First Light. Scene: Closing credits, 1:18 minutes in, Additional Voice Acting by.

[14] Square Enix. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. Scene: Closing credits, 5 minutes in, Voice Actors, Additional Voices.

[15] CyberConnect2. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4. Scene: Closing credits, 0:48 in, English Cast.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[16] Toys for Bob. Skylanders: Trap Team. Scene: Closing credits, 8:40 in.

[17] Blizzard Entertainment. World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor. Scene: Closing credits, 11:30 in, Voice Over Cast.

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Authority control databases
International	VIAF WorldCat
National	United States