@@glencocohh ik i'm tardy to this party- but when do you hear empy's human voice in game? idc about spoilers, have done 4 playthroughs now haha and just feel like i wasn't paying attention close enough to catch this!
@@summerkoo7289 Ok heavy spoilers follow: When you do Wyll's personal quest in Act 3, you eventually get asked to go to the Wyrmway and awaken the dragon Ansur. There you encounter statues of Balduran that speak to you. Since the Emperor is Balduran, the voice you hear is his original human voice.
My favourite Emperor line has to be the "I'm going to miss you too" when one of the companions tells them something along the lines of "You were a strange friend, but a friend nevertheless, I suppose". It's just the perfect delivery somewhere between being amused, indifferent and genuinely touched.
@@WolfgangRP The line is said by whichever companion you have in your party. I got Astarion and Shadowheart on different playthroughs. (When was he a rapist tho? Genuine question)
If you're here, Larian. PLEASE, we need more Empy! Scott is just phenomenal. Would love to have him as a companion, and a little more fleshed out romance. He's such a fantastic character. Everyone who loves the Origins is eating well, but us Empy lovers are left pretty hungry. >:D (Also, we love you SO much, THANK YOU!!)
Such a mind-blowing character, a multi-layered personality with a story that isn't just told in your face but rather unfolds itself as you read through scattered notes and books. Once it all falls together in your head, click! The Emperor is everything, everyone, everywhere.
The Emperor is probably my favourite character. Such a beautifully crafted and wonderfully acted creation! The grey neutrality and the complexity of them was perfectly embodied and voiced by Scott's (seductive, some might say) tones. I'm also with them on the Illithid love, I had my mind blown and not ashamed of it. Scott definitely nailed it there, as everywhere else :D Which is saying something. Give Illithids a chance! Scott seems like an absolute delight. As a fellow 80s child I loved the little nostalgia trip in the middle and he seems like he would be such a great guy to have a nerd out with! Great choice in music too (was listening to the chara playlist earlier). Thanks for the interview!
i love your interviews with the cast, it's so cool to see the people behind the performances. the emperor had me question my allegiances so many times throughout the game.
Honest to goodness, I wish we had an option for truly romancing the Emperor in the same way you can romance Gale or the other Origins. Same with Halsin and Minthara. Of course, if everything that I wanted was in the game, I'd need a whole computer running solely BG3. LOL. Loved the interview and have enjoyed all of them so much. Excellent stuff. :)
Hell yes! I did a maniacal cackle the first time I had the scene - but I would totally love getting more of his ‘Nnnnghh’-sounds 😆 it’s really interesting, I started out very open minded and friendly towards him, ate the tadpole(not really - but loved the option) and had the scene; but with the reveals in Ansur the Dragon quest and the subsequent things he wanted me to keep away from has made me more wary of him and his truth telling as well as his intentions, which my answers reflected and now he’s all lofty and dare I say, spiteful! (I have yet to finish the grand finale tho)
Also Emperor is definitely one of the biggest character in this game, no? Like you could literally kill everybody in your party, but when you kill him before his time, game over! Scott is such a gentle and a little shy person, it's amazing to see him play emperor, someone so calm, controlling and strategic.
I cannot imagine what went through his head when they pitch him this character ... like he is a giant humanoid octopus that used to be a human thief, can talk to your brain directly, he gaves you a worm that controls you but he save people from it, oh he is also a guardian angel for the main character and he can(spoiler alert) become the villain at the end... oh and he used to be the ruler of the city without anyone knowing and he thinks octopus are superior to human beings... like whhaaaaattt?????? how are you suppose to play that character??, he did a brilliant job somehow.
The funny thing in my playthrough, I did NOT trust the dream guardian one bit but as soon as Act 3 started and you get the truth, I actually started to trust the Emperor. Such a complex character because he really does change depending on how you treat him. Like, if you think him to be a villain then he will be. Same thing if you treat him like a friend. Makes me think there truly is no right answer as Scott says. I ended up really like the character a lot more than I anticipated, such an amazing job by the Larian writers and Scott Joseph's performance!
there is subjectivity and there is fact, the Emperor's morality IS NOT SUBJECTIVE, the fact is he is the boss of a terrorist organization who manipulates you from the get go, he fakes vulnerability to make you trust him, he makes it seem like he and Stelmane had a romance and like he is mourning her when in fact he is not at all, he mind controled her and was slowly killing her, his dog didnt matter to him, his equipment from his old life, his first weapon, Ansur, NOTHING, it was all lies, if you doubt it read his letter to ansur and the mindflayer book.
he doesnt betray you because his goal of taking down the brain so he can return to being the head of a terrorist organization aligns partially with the player goal of destroying the brain so they can rid themselves of the parasite, but he keeps trying to make you indulge in the parasite because that furthers his goal even if that jeopardizes the players own goal, he doesnt help the player out of the kindness of his heart but because HE MUST do it to survive.
Interesting, because it's total opposite for me. I trusted him to the grave in Act 1 and 2, in 3 he just become an absolute manipulation machine. After he turned sides so fast if you try to break Orphis out, i was just like "ye, you're dead alright"
The Emperor is my absolute favourite character next to Ketheric Thorm! Both J. K. Simmons and Scott Joseph did a phenomenal job breathing life into both characters.
I love how the Emperor was written, definitely one of my favorite characters in the game. Even after 500 hours of gameplay I learned new stuff about his character that surprised me. Amazing work.
The Emperor is by far my favorite character, I love him so much! Truly truly hope Larian calls Scott back in to record more Emperor content, it is so sorely needed
Emperor such an underrated character, it requires talent to make such a subtle emotions for emotionless on the surface character, that is very good to manipulating emotions. Also it's basically additional core companion. I wish he could reviel it's true identity in earlier acts, just to listen it speaks openly😊
I adore the Emperor in my own way. Scott did an amazing job in his portrayal. There are so many layers and surprises and it was exciting to keep learning about him as I kept playing.
37:10 Having Henry Cavill as the Dream Guardian & Emperor, in a hypothetical movie or (more likely) tv series adaptation, would be fantastic casting. Plus, considering Henry is indeed a big fan of gaming, I'd like to think he'd be up for the challenge.
I'm right in the middle of romancing Emperor in game and gotta say that I love his voice 🖤 I actually started liking him more after he revealed himself 😅
Yes , he must’ve been a sexy male back then before becoming illitid and even more sexy and alpha in Illithid form. He awesome . I love the voice , it’s sexy and relaxing
The Emperor is such an incredible, complex, well written and awesome character... I'm afraid of tentacles and squid etc, but seriously, he was so awesome I fought back against it - I knew who he was before meeting him, and I found him SO DAMN COOL, I couldn't wait to hear more and see more of him. I'm not going to start a random debate, but I do love the moments of vulnerability, he is a grey area for sure, but a very very good character and so complex, it's awesome. And Scott sounds so sweet and such a sunny energy, I was grinning from start to finish just because he was ! I am fascinated by voice acting, and I'd definitively love to hear more of him :D Very nice interview, thank you for doing it ! ♥
It was a combination of things for me that made really like this character. SPOILERS AHEAD 1) I created a VERY attractive guardian. That's on me. 2) The guardian saved my life several times and asked for nothing in return, until the goblin camp/options to accept parasites etc. 3) The guardian kept me alive and unchanged despite several orders given for my character to change by the Absolute (now that's Guardian's words ofc, but somehow in the midst of all the turmoil it's not hard to believe) 4) When I saw the mindflayer, I immediately remembered the explanation of "I'm the same as you, an adventurer" and "you're giving me a chance to stand against them" and realized this probably wasn't a voluntary transformation 5) The basic illithid powers were great, but half-illithid are just OP 6) When I saw Orpheus, the narrator did tell me that he'd kill me without a doubt, so locked he stays I'm still in act 3, beginning - I don't know much at all, but many of my decisions made before the Emperor speaks out somehow coincide with him. I won't romance him - he's a mindflayer now, and he was no Halsin, there can only be one Halsin, but...This is a fantastic character. Shocking, memorable and really difficult to figure out!
Orpheus doesn’t kill you when you free him. Also, if you do free him Voss doesn’t attack you at the end and you have the gith troops as an ally force. Plus, Orpheus as an illithid (if you tell him to turn into one) is way more OP than the Emperor.
He seems like such a great guy! Nice to see the person behind the voice. And what a voice! I can't get myself to betray my squid buddy in any run. I plan on exploring O.' side and always give up. I wish Larian had added more dialogue and the option to talk to the Emperor at camp like the rest of the companions (even if it was just act 3), because really, he's been with us throughout the whole journey, he must have some opinions on what we've been doing... all the stupid, weird stuff Tav can get up to.
So awesome to see him in this series of interviews. The character of the Emperor added so much to this brilliant game. Absolutely love the voice acting, as well
I would love to see an interview with Dark Urge's "canon" VA. When I heard him during Dark Urge's introduction... Man, I couldn't pick another voice for my draconid sorcerer.
I so hope Scott does make that cameo. I've been trying to spread the love far and wide for him since I originally beat the game back it back in August. His fans love him, and I'm willing to spend money for voice lines 😩🙏
Aw I love Scott's personality, he's such a ball of sunshine! He did a great job and it's fun hearing his thoughts on the Emperor's mannerisms and psyche, knowing he's the actor behind the tentacles now lol ☺Thanks for the interview, Dan and Scott!
It'll be a loooong while before I try a playthough where I don't involve the Emperor 😌 I love him (AND HIS VOICE UGH)- such a wonderful and complex character!
SO WONDERFUL!! Thanks Dan for yet another amazing interview. Scott did such an amazing job in BG3, it was so great to hear him talk about his experience
I thought Emperor would betray me, and therefore he freed Orpheus, and now I have found out the truth and I feel like Keanu Reeves, who is crying with a glass of wine in his hand. "I am sorry!"
Thank you so much for doing an interview with Scott Joseph! The emperor is such a cool character, definitely one of my favorites. I managed not to spoil his reveal and it made my jaw drop. Wish we had more personal dialogues with him, seems like some interesting revelations about his past go unmentioned after the first time you find out about them. Although I suppose it's a part of his character, no point in talking about something that wouldn't bring him closer to achieving his goals.
I started this game for Karlach but when the emperor came on screen I just instantly fell in love with the character amazing voice, looks adorable, and just helps out a lot I like the emperor they're really silly :)
I love-love-LOVE The Emperor. At first, i didn't trust him at all, but as the story progressed and after romancing him, I just couldn't help, but fall completely in love with him as the character and his story. A remarkable voice acting, thank you so much, Scott! 💜🐙 I hope we'll have more scenes with The Emperor in the future.
I love that you took time to interview Scott! He deserves to be recognized for all his work too and I wish him all the best. I found the Emperor to be by far the most nuanced and intriguing character in the entire game, whose true motives I was questioning all the way up until the end. Hell, I still am. I ended up going the route of "trust the mind flayer and see where it leads", complete with trying underdark sushi for the sake of dark curiosity and deciding it fit my gameplay narrative. (Albeit I wish the devs had locked THAT scene behind certain act spanning choices rather than throwing it on everyone no matter what, which is what it appears to be in base game. Correct me if I'm wrong?) The Emperor actually ended up becoming my favorite character by the games conclusion and I often think on that character and his motives where all others - Origin characters included - haven't even occupied a single thought since, despite enjoying all the characters through my 1st playthrough. I'm fixing to start my second and I look forward to scrutinizing the Emperor's lines, honestly, and i would be more than happy if Larian would eventually give the Emperor more content in some way. I'd be fine with a comic that outlines a certain adventurers final adventure. Just something. The character really is interesting enough to warrant SOMETHING.
Finding out the origins of the Emperor was one of the most mind blowing parts of the game. I really like the themes around becoming Illithid, and how much humanity and self of self is, or is not, preserved. He's very complicated, and I'm SO happy I kept him for the majority of the game. He's one of my favorite characters, beating out a fair number of the origin characters even.
I've always felt that the Emperor is one of the best characters, especially once you learn who they used to be. The game doesn't throw in your face what the Emperor's ulterior motives are, but you learn quite a bit as you learn about Duke Stellmane and her past, along with the discovery of a few areas. It's suggested that while The Emperor probably liked the Duke, he also made some objectively immoral choices regarding her. I think we can safely deduce only a small bit of certainties. Primarily: That the Emperor has his own designs and his own plan and very much views the the world as pieces in his game. Pieces he's willing to sacrifice, no matter how he might feel about them, should the need arise in order to achieve his plan. He probably likes the main character, but he's a "mission comes first" type of character, it seems. Just my take anyway. A real pleasure to watch this interview -- thank you to Scott Joseph for speaking about it and to Dan Allen for conducting it.
Next time I develop a dream-version of the Emperor I will try to model it on Scott for the next play through. I never romance the Emperor in mine but love the character and think it will be a cool nod to the wonderful talent that makes him possible. Always go for Karlach and no spoilers but I'd go to hell and back for her. heh
Loved the interview! Love or hate the Emperor is such a great character! Scott did a amazing job! I loved this game so much that is so hard to say goodbye.
The Emperor is such a fantastic character and the whole plotline keeps you on your toes throughout the game. The voice was just perfect for the character and lent a huge amount of character to him. And his ambiguity was so well written and acted. In my playthrough it was constant fencing with him with words to find out what he actually wanted and what was true about him. *Spoiler warning* And interestingly the Emperor has been introduced in the D&D Forgotten Realms universe quite a bit earlier than Baldur's Gate 3 although unnamed and undeveloped. The same mind flayer was already mentioned in 2014 in D&D 5E playtest (back then D&D Next) "Murder in Baldur's Gate" adventure's sourcebook on the city of Baldur's Gate , where one of the Dukes of Baldur's Gate Belynne Stelmane is mentioned to have had a rather unfortunate encounter with an unnamed illithid that caused her current feebleminded condition. This same information appears more recently in 2019 D&D adventure Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus. It was absolutely brilliant to be able to connect these dots during the game as the Emperor's backstory unfolded as the information from the above mentioned previous sources contradicts his own personal spin on the events, which made me suspicious of the character. What was originally rather small piece of adventure hook material for DMs and players to spin their own story around it in the RPG sourcebook was taken by Larian and woven brilliantly to be a major part of the game's story.
The more of these you do just keeps proving how awesome all of the people that worked on this are. They are all so interesting and really love their craft and glad I could here them speak about the passion they all have and I love relatable they all are.
I love the Emperor, such an interesting character. They ares easily one of the best characters in the game. And maybe in general? And to still not know where you have them. I'll be writing this comment as I watch in btw. I was not prepared for that voice change when he talked about the Emperors voice, I was looking at my phone and that really startled me. Get out of my head! xD And speaking of choices and anxiety - NEVER have a game given me such decision anxiety. I had several moments when I was literally pacing back and forth in my home not knowing what to do - and most of it was related to the Emperor. I always go in blind and make the choices on instinct. I didn't know what to do, honestly. I don't know if any character has made me question my choices as much lol. I went fully loyal to them all the way, just not the tentacle version - my Tav had to draw the line there and ask them to...put the tentacles away I guess you can say. And not regrets, it was great. I loved every interaction from the very start, despite all the anxiety xD Wonderful interview, I am so glad you interviewed Scott. This was great. And that ending, nooo, out of my head! :P
We don't see Marcus that much, but he's great for the part he is there. I loved to defy him and save Isobel each time. He never got to kidnap her in two play throughs for me, though. The Emperor is played so perfectly manipulating, you want to believe him every word he says in the beginning. But in Act 3, without spoilering too much, there's a lot of hints and red flags, that basically tell you what game he's playing. The actor makes him very muich deserving to be betrayed in the end.^^ The only thing that shocks me a bit each time: I would like a chance to say No to seing a topless Mindflayer throughout most of a certain scene. Maybe one could romance him in the Guardian form instead, as an option earlier on. Tentacle romance isn't for everyone ;)
wow nice to see positive comments about the emperor as a character. on some social media sites it’s all ‘the emperor is evil and i hate him’ blah blah blah. made me wonder if people actually do want complex characters like they say they do. glad there are emperor appreciators out there. i hope to see more from scott joseph!
Really cool that the whole time I thought "This guy is gonna turn on me" the whole time but he never did, at least in my playthrough. Really cool character.
I didnt trust the emperor in my goody two shoes run. But wow in Dark Urge I felt he was much more compassionate toward Tav, I didnt expect that! Loved Durge Emperor.
The best romantic line I've ever listened in a game was: "Sometimes I felt like we were dancing our way toward something deeper..." During the astral plane scene, this really made my heart beating faster ! 😘
Well performed and they were walking a very fine line on it. I do want to be clear though, they have a bad reputation for a reason. If you read the books throughout the game even, the lore is very clear about why. I think the interesting challenge was trying to convince the player to trust them when literally everything else in the lore and game are very clear that they should not do that. Then the whole fact that you have no choice but to work together.
I initially did not trust the Dream Visitor. Then we met them in the Prism, in Act 3. I quite liked them. Instantly started a new game, and was explicitly nice to them. 10/10 would ceremorphosize for them.
This interview is great, the Emperor is a great character! Love the ways things can develop with him. Is there any chance you'll interview Emma Gregory?
Doug Jones (Abe Sapien in Hellboy 1 & 2) would play well as the Emperor, or any mind flayer in a live action adaptation. Of course, Scott would be perfect for the Emperor, since he's already the voice/mocap, and he has the physique too.
There is a gem of a book you find I believe by the Morphic pool where Gortash is interrogating the Emperor. Imagining his voice reading what it says is awesome because of the vision of this VA for the character. Loved the Emperor. Excellent performance
Lol. A few hours i went to search who voiced the emperor because i loooooove his voice!❤ Ps, i am new to this world, so i knew nothing about mindflayers. I thought; they cant be that bad because the emperor sounded so genuine
Amazing voice! He was brilliant! Scott can read the dictionary for all I care - I’ll listen! I still get so excited when the Emperor’s voice pops up in game and says something. I grabbed all his crap in his hideout just so he would keep talking to me. I blame his voice for talking me into things 😂🦑❤️
thank you for this lovely interview! I was hoping to see it :) will you ever interview the voice of the ones who worked on the " traveler" version of the emperor?
I had a crush on the squid I'll admit
Well, me too, man, me too
Squid man _is_ oddly alluring 🤨
‘Nnngghhh’ - if you know, you know 😆
I am in love with the squid, I'll admit 😔
It's hard to not fall for his amazing brains 😂
It's really cool to hear his voice without the filters and effects. I like to imagine it's how he sounded before becoming illithid in a way.
It's pretty close, minus the accent he does for the emperor. You can hear his human voice in game in a certain place
Oh yeah! I actually forgot about that.
@@glencocohh
@@glencocohh ik i'm tardy to this party- but when do you hear empy's human voice in game? idc about spoilers, have done 4 playthroughs now haha and just feel like i wasn't paying attention close enough to catch this!
@@summerkoo7289 Ok heavy spoilers follow:
When you do Wyll's personal quest in Act 3, you eventually get asked to go to the Wyrmway and awaken the dragon Ansur. There you encounter statues of Balduran that speak to you. Since the Emperor is Balduran, the voice you hear is his original human voice.
My favourite Emperor line has to be the "I'm going to miss you too" when one of the companions tells them something along the lines of "You were a strange friend, but a friend nevertheless, I suppose". It's just the perfect delivery somewhere between being amused, indifferent and genuinely touched.
How could anyone think of that rapist and murderer as a friend?! :O
@@WolfgangRP The line is said by whichever companion you have in your party. I got Astarion and Shadowheart on different playthroughs.
(When was he a rapist tho? Genuine question)
Mine was that silent nod with eyes closed when you ask him you like being touched on the tentacles 😂😂
Such a brilliant character that added so much to the BG3 story
If you're here, Larian. PLEASE, we need more Empy! Scott is just phenomenal. Would love to have him as a companion, and a little more fleshed out romance. He's such a fantastic character. Everyone who loves the Origins is eating well, but us Empy lovers are left pretty hungry. >:D (Also, we love you SO much, THANK YOU!!)
The Emperor is such an interesting and well realized character, I was really hoping to see that interview!
Such a mind-blowing character, a multi-layered personality with a story that isn't just told in your face but rather unfolds itself as you read through scattered notes and books. Once it all falls together in your head, click! The Emperor is everything, everyone, everywhere.
Mind blowing 😏
Especially when you revisit the opening cinematic!
🖤🖤🖤
Please do interview with Ethan Reid(male guardian)! His Guardian’s voice is truly something out of this world 🤍 We need to hear more from him!
OOOOOF finally someone mentions him! I agree with you a hundred percent.
Both guardians, while we're at it. I especially want to know if the Guardian-VAs were told who their character really was.
The Emperor is probably my favourite character. Such a beautifully crafted and wonderfully acted creation! The grey neutrality and the complexity of them was perfectly embodied and voiced by Scott's (seductive, some might say) tones.
I'm also with them on the Illithid love, I had my mind blown and not ashamed of it. Scott definitely nailed it there, as everywhere else :D Which is saying something. Give Illithids a chance!
Scott seems like an absolute delight. As a fellow 80s child I loved the little nostalgia trip in the middle and he seems like he would be such a great guy to have a nerd out with! Great choice in music too (was listening to the chara playlist earlier).
Thanks for the interview!
I support your thoughts. Amazing character and amazing Scott Joseph :)
‘Nnnngghh’ - if you know, you know 😆
i love your interviews with the cast, it's so cool to see the people behind the performances. the emperor had me question my allegiances so many times throughout the game.
Honest to goodness, I wish we had an option for truly romancing the Emperor in the same way you can romance Gale or the other Origins. Same with Halsin and Minthara. Of course, if everything that I wanted was in the game, I'd need a whole computer running solely BG3. LOL. Loved the interview and have enjoyed all of them so much. Excellent stuff. :)
Yes, the possibility of a full-fledged romance is sorely lacking. Whatever it is :D
Hell yes! I did a maniacal cackle the first time I had the scene - but I would totally love getting more of his ‘Nnnnghh’-sounds 😆 it’s really interesting, I started out very open minded and friendly towards him, ate the tadpole(not really - but loved the option) and had the scene; but with the reveals in Ansur the Dragon quest and the subsequent things he wanted me to keep away from has made me more wary of him and his truth telling as well as his intentions, which my answers reflected and now he’s all lofty and dare I say, spiteful!
(I have yet to finish the grand finale tho)
If the game had everything I wanted for it, the whole cast would have to work for the rest of their lives at that point 😂😂
Also Emperor is definitely one of the biggest character in this game, no? Like you could literally kill everybody in your party, but when you kill him before his time, game over! Scott is such a gentle and a little shy person, it's amazing to see him play emperor, someone so calm, controlling and strategic.
I cannot imagine what went through his head when they pitch him this character ... like he is a giant humanoid octopus that used to be a human thief, can talk to your brain directly, he gaves you a worm that controls you but he save people from it, oh he is also a guardian angel for the main character and he can(spoiler alert) become the villain at the end... oh and he used to be the ruler of the city without anyone knowing and he thinks octopus are superior to human beings... like whhaaaaattt?????? how are you suppose to play that character??, he did a brilliant job somehow.
The funny thing in my playthrough, I did NOT trust the dream guardian one bit but as soon as Act 3 started and you get the truth, I actually started to trust the Emperor. Such a complex character because he really does change depending on how you treat him. Like, if you think him to be a villain then he will be. Same thing if you treat him like a friend. Makes me think there truly is no right answer as Scott says. I ended up really like the character a lot more than I anticipated, such an amazing job by the Larian writers and Scott Joseph's performance!
there is subjectivity and there is fact, the Emperor's morality IS NOT SUBJECTIVE, the fact is he is the boss of a terrorist organization who manipulates you from the get go, he fakes vulnerability to make you trust him, he makes it seem like he and Stelmane had a romance and like he is mourning her when in fact he is not at all, he mind controled her and was slowly killing her, his dog didnt matter to him, his equipment from his old life, his first weapon, Ansur, NOTHING, it was all lies, if you doubt it read his letter to ansur and the mindflayer book.
he doesnt betray you because his goal of taking down the brain so he can return to being the head of a terrorist organization aligns partially with the player goal of destroying the brain so they can rid themselves of the parasite, but he keeps trying to make you indulge in the parasite because that furthers his goal even if that jeopardizes the players own goal, he doesnt help the player out of the kindness of his heart but because HE MUST do it to survive.
Interesting, because it's total opposite for me. I trusted him to the grave in Act 1 and 2, in 3 he just become an absolute manipulation machine. After he turned sides so fast if you try to break Orphis out, i was just like "ye, you're dead alright"
Eeeh, not really, I feel he always acted in self-preservation instead of what was right, even after the whole truth was revealed.
@@Marksman3434 As he always told Tav.
The Emperor is my absolute favourite character next to Ketheric Thorm! Both J. K. Simmons and Scott Joseph did a phenomenal job breathing life into both characters.
his actual voice is so lovely to listen to!!! phenom work as the emperor :-)
I love how the Emperor was written, definitely one of my favorite characters in the game. Even after 500 hours of gameplay I learned new stuff about his character that surprised me. Amazing work.
This is the man responsible for The Emperor's Spotify Playlist.
The Emperor is by far my favorite character, I love him so much! Truly truly hope Larian calls Scott back in to record more Emperor content, it is so sorely needed
Emperor such an underrated character, it requires talent to make such a subtle emotions for emotionless on the surface character, that is very good to manipulating emotions. Also it's basically additional core companion. I wish he could reviel it's true identity in earlier acts, just to listen it speaks openly😊
I adore the Emperor in my own way. Scott did an amazing job in his portrayal. There are so many layers and surprises and it was exciting to keep learning about him as I kept playing.
37:10 Having Henry Cavill as the Dream Guardian & Emperor, in a hypothetical movie or (more likely) tv series adaptation, would be fantastic casting. Plus, considering Henry is indeed a big fan of gaming, I'd like to think he'd be up for the challenge.
There honestly should be an ending where you could actually end up with the Emperor with a good romantic ending or something.
A mind flayer that ended up being my bestie. In more ways than one....
I'm right in the middle of romancing Emperor in game and gotta say that I love his voice 🖤
I actually started liking him more after he revealed himself 😅
Yes , he must’ve been a sexy male back then before becoming illitid and even more sexy and alpha in Illithid form. He awesome . I love the voice , it’s sexy and relaxing
I cannot.
The Emperor is such an incredible, complex, well written and awesome character... I'm afraid of tentacles and squid etc, but seriously, he was so awesome I fought back against it - I knew who he was before meeting him, and I found him SO DAMN COOL, I couldn't wait to hear more and see more of him. I'm not going to start a random debate, but I do love the moments of vulnerability, he is a grey area for sure, but a very very good character and so complex, it's awesome.
And Scott sounds so sweet and such a sunny energy, I was grinning from start to finish just because he was ! I am fascinated by voice acting, and I'd definitively love to hear more of him :D
Very nice interview, thank you for doing it ! ♥
It was a combination of things for me that made really like this character. SPOILERS AHEAD
1) I created a VERY attractive guardian. That's on me.
2) The guardian saved my life several times and asked for nothing in return, until the goblin camp/options to accept parasites etc.
3) The guardian kept me alive and unchanged despite several orders given for my character to change by the Absolute (now that's Guardian's words ofc, but somehow in the midst of all the turmoil it's not hard to believe)
4) When I saw the mindflayer, I immediately remembered the explanation of "I'm the same as you, an adventurer" and "you're giving me a chance to stand against them" and realized this probably wasn't a voluntary transformation
5) The basic illithid powers were great, but half-illithid are just OP
6) When I saw Orpheus, the narrator did tell me that he'd kill me without a doubt, so locked he stays
I'm still in act 3, beginning - I don't know much at all, but many of my decisions made before the Emperor speaks out somehow coincide with him. I won't romance him - he's a mindflayer now, and he was no Halsin, there can only be one Halsin, but...This is a fantastic character. Shocking, memorable and really difficult to figure out!
So what did you do😅?
Orpheus doesn’t kill you when you free him. Also, if you do free him Voss doesn’t attack you at the end and you have the gith troops as an ally force. Plus, Orpheus as an illithid (if you tell him to turn into one) is way more OP than the Emperor.
Scott was right, you’re a fantastic interviewer! I have loved these Baldur’s Gate 3 ones
Appreciate that, thank you
He seems like such a great guy! Nice to see the person behind the voice.
And what a voice! I can't get myself to betray my squid buddy in any run. I plan on exploring O.' side and always give up. I wish Larian had added more dialogue and the option to talk to the Emperor at camp like the rest of the companions (even if it was just act 3), because really, he's been with us throughout the whole journey, he must have some opinions on what we've been doing... all the stupid, weird stuff Tav can get up to.
The Emperor is a wonderful character 👏😊 Thank you 💙
So awesome to see him in this series of interviews. The character of the Emperor added so much to this brilliant game. Absolutely love the voice acting, as well
I cant never ever ever hurt the Emperor now, can i? What a sweet, charming guy! 💜
Awesome to see this interview. Scott killed it as The Emporer and is arguably one of my favorite characters in the game.
I love his work as The Emperor, such a great performance. Superb work, very on point on how a human turned illithid would be.
So this is the face behind the tentacles I caressed. XD ♥
SO glad to see an interview with Scott Joseph. He deserves the recognition for both The emperor and Marcus.
Fantastic interview, Dan! 😄
I was knocked out of my boots when I heard how deep his voice can actually become! Wow! So much talent and training!
I would love to see an interview with Dark Urge's "canon" VA. When I heard him during Dark Urge's introduction... Man, I couldn't pick another voice for my draconid sorcerer.
I'm so happy you were able to get this interview! Wonderful to see the VA of The Emperor and Marcus!
He did a stellar job bringing a lot of nuance to a very ambiguous character! I wonder what game was the one that got cancelled
I so hope Scott does make that cameo. I've been trying to spread the love far and wide for him since I originally beat the game back it back in August. His fans love him, and I'm willing to spend money for voice lines 😩🙏
I love all these interviews of BG3’s voice actors . Thank you ! Emperor is so fine
You had me at ON-soor 😊
Aw I love Scott's personality, he's such a ball of sunshine! He did a great job and it's fun hearing his thoughts on the Emperor's mannerisms and psyche, knowing he's the actor behind the tentacles now lol ☺Thanks for the interview, Dan and Scott!
They are all such kind, passionate and funny people. No wonder they nailed it !
The voice that made us all consider a tentacular spectacular!
What a great guy. Love his personality and he did a great job voice acting.
It'll be a loooong while before I try a playthough where I don't involve the Emperor 😌 I love him (AND HIS VOICE UGH)- such a wonderful and complex character!
SO WONDERFUL!! Thanks Dan for yet another amazing interview. Scott did such an amazing job in BG3, it was so great to hear him talk about his experience
Glad you enjoyed it!
I thought Emperor would betray me, and therefore he freed Orpheus, and now I have found out the truth and I feel like Keanu Reeves, who is crying with a glass of wine in his hand. "I am sorry!"
Thank you so much for doing an interview with Scott Joseph! The emperor is such a cool character, definitely one of my favorites. I managed not to spoil his reveal and it made my jaw drop.
Wish we had more personal dialogues with him, seems like some interesting revelations about his past go unmentioned after the first time you find out about them. Although I suppose it's a part of his character, no point in talking about something that wouldn't bring him closer to achieving his goals.
I started this game for Karlach but when the emperor came on screen I just instantly fell in love with the character
amazing voice, looks adorable, and just helps out a lot I like the emperor they're really silly :)
I love-love-LOVE The Emperor. At first, i didn't trust him at all, but as the story progressed and after romancing him, I just couldn't help, but fall completely in love with him as the character and his story.
A remarkable voice acting, thank you so much, Scott! 💜🐙
I hope we'll have more scenes with The Emperor in the future.
Awesome interview I love the emperor
I love that you took time to interview Scott! He deserves to be recognized for all his work too and I wish him all the best. I found the Emperor to be by far the most nuanced and intriguing character in the entire game, whose true motives I was questioning all the way up until the end. Hell, I still am. I ended up going the route of "trust the mind flayer and see where it leads", complete with trying underdark sushi for the sake of dark curiosity and deciding it fit my gameplay narrative. (Albeit I wish the devs had locked THAT scene behind certain act spanning choices rather than throwing it on everyone no matter what, which is what it appears to be in base game. Correct me if I'm wrong?)
The Emperor actually ended up becoming my favorite character by the games conclusion and I often think on that character and his motives where all others - Origin characters included - haven't even occupied a single thought since, despite enjoying all the characters through my 1st playthrough. I'm fixing to start my second and I look forward to scrutinizing the Emperor's lines, honestly, and i would be more than happy if Larian would eventually give the Emperor more content in some way. I'd be fine with a comic that outlines a certain adventurers final adventure. Just something. The character really is interesting enough to warrant SOMETHING.
The shape of water actor would probably nail a live action version, as long as you still get the original vo
That would be Doug Jones.
Finding out the origins of the Emperor was one of the most mind blowing parts of the game. I really like the themes around becoming Illithid, and how much humanity and self of self is, or is not, preserved. He's very complicated, and I'm SO happy I kept him for the majority of the game. He's one of my favorite characters, beating out a fair number of the origin characters even.
He deserves the interviews too! 💜
The Emperor is my favorite character. Unfortunately there was very little of it.
I've always felt that the Emperor is one of the best characters, especially once you learn who they used to be. The game doesn't throw in your face what the Emperor's ulterior motives are, but you learn quite a bit as you learn about Duke Stellmane and her past, along with the discovery of a few areas. It's suggested that while The Emperor probably liked the Duke, he also made some objectively immoral choices regarding her.
I think we can safely deduce only a small bit of certainties. Primarily: That the Emperor has his own designs and his own plan and very much views the the world as pieces in his game. Pieces he's willing to sacrifice, no matter how he might feel about them, should the need arise in order to achieve his plan. He probably likes the main character, but he's a "mission comes first" type of character, it seems.
Just my take anyway. A real pleasure to watch this interview -- thank you to Scott Joseph for speaking about it and to Dan Allen for conducting it.
I hate that we had to choose between The Emperor and Orpheus :(
Next time I develop a dream-version of the Emperor I will try to model it on Scott for the next play through. I never romance the Emperor in mine but love the character and think it will be a cool nod to the wonderful talent that makes him possible. Always go for Karlach and no spoilers but I'd go to hell and back for her. heh
Loved the interview! Love or hate the Emperor is such a great character! Scott did a amazing job! I loved this game so much that is so hard to say goodbye.
The Emperor is such a fantastic character and the whole plotline keeps you on your toes throughout the game. The voice was just perfect for the character and lent a huge amount of character to him. And his ambiguity was so well written and acted. In my playthrough it was constant fencing with him with words to find out what he actually wanted and what was true about him.
*Spoiler warning* And interestingly the Emperor has been introduced in the D&D Forgotten Realms universe quite a bit earlier than Baldur's Gate 3 although unnamed and undeveloped. The same mind flayer was already mentioned in 2014 in D&D 5E playtest (back then D&D Next) "Murder in Baldur's Gate" adventure's sourcebook on the city of Baldur's Gate , where one of the Dukes of Baldur's Gate Belynne Stelmane is mentioned to have had a rather unfortunate encounter with an unnamed illithid that caused her current feebleminded condition. This same information appears more recently in 2019 D&D adventure Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus. It was absolutely brilliant to be able to connect these dots during the game as the Emperor's backstory unfolded as the information from the above mentioned previous sources contradicts his own personal spin on the events, which made me suspicious of the character. What was originally rather small piece of adventure hook material for DMs and players to spin their own story around it in the RPG sourcebook was taken by Larian and woven brilliantly to be a major part of the game's story.
The more of these you do just keeps proving how awesome all of the people that worked on this are. They are all so interesting and really love their craft and glad I could here them speak about the passion they all have and I love relatable they all are.
I love the Emperor, such an interesting character. They ares easily one of the best characters in the game. And maybe in general? And to still not know where you have them.
I'll be writing this comment as I watch in btw.
I was not prepared for that voice change when he talked about the Emperors voice, I was looking at my phone and that really startled me. Get out of my head! xD
And speaking of choices and anxiety - NEVER have a game given me such decision anxiety. I had several moments when I was literally pacing back and forth in my home not knowing what to do - and most of it was related to the Emperor. I always go in blind and make the choices on instinct. I didn't know what to do, honestly. I don't know if any character has made me question my choices as much lol.
I went fully loyal to them all the way, just not the tentacle version - my Tav had to draw the line there and ask them to...put the tentacles away I guess you can say. And not regrets, it was great. I loved every interaction from the very start, despite all the anxiety xD
Wonderful interview, I am so glad you interviewed Scott. This was great. And that ending, nooo, out of my head! :P
Scott is such kind, funny and great human being 😊❤️
I didnt know he was also the VA for Marcus... Damn. He really is good!
I want to be able to keep both the Emperor and Orpheus alive ! After all, both are against the Absolute.
My best dialogues with Emperor is the parts where he reacts to your incredibly stupid decisions
The way Scott portrayed the Emperor was so enigmatic, such a wonderful performance!!
Scott Joseph is hereby nominated into the wholesome actor's club. Wow what an amazing guy!
every actor in this cast is super sweet and lovely and genuinely loves the project so much ❤
We don't see Marcus that much, but he's great for the part he is there. I loved to defy him and save Isobel each time. He never got to kidnap her in two play throughs for me, though.
The Emperor is played so perfectly manipulating, you want to believe him every word he says in the beginning. But in Act 3, without spoilering too much, there's a lot of hints and red flags, that basically tell you what game he's playing. The actor makes him very muich deserving to be betrayed in the end.^^
The only thing that shocks me a bit each time: I would like a chance to say No to seing a topless Mindflayer throughout most of a certain scene. Maybe one could romance him in the Guardian form instead, as an option earlier on. Tentacle romance isn't for everyone ;)
Thank you Scott! ❤
Well,
Now Orpheus won't have a chance
😭oh he is really just so perfect
loved his character! so complex and the big plot twist by the end? literally jaw dropping 🤌🏼
wow nice to see positive comments about the emperor as a character. on some social media sites it’s all ‘the emperor is evil and i hate him’ blah blah blah. made me wonder if people actually do want complex characters like they say they do. glad there are emperor appreciators out there. i hope to see more from scott joseph!
he's so nice ;-;
Really cool that the whole time I thought "This guy is gonna turn on me" the whole time but he never did, at least in my playthrough. Really cool character.
Yessss tentacle kissing 😂❤
His real voice is great !
Love his voice !
Such a fun interview!
What lovely person! I enjoyed the interview so much
I didnt trust the emperor in my goody two shoes run. But wow in Dark Urge I felt he was much more compassionate toward Tav, I didnt expect that! Loved Durge Emperor.
He’s not that much different - except for a few lines in dialogue.
The best romantic line I've ever listened in a game was: "Sometimes I felt like we were dancing our way toward something deeper..." During the astral plane scene, this really made my heart beating faster ! 😘
Well performed and they were walking a very fine line on it. I do want to be clear though, they have a bad reputation for a reason. If you read the books throughout the game even, the lore is very clear about why. I think the interesting challenge was trying to convince the player to trust them when literally everything else in the lore and game are very clear that they should not do that. Then the whole fact that you have no choice but to work together.
I initially did not trust the Dream Visitor.
Then we met them in the Prism, in Act 3.
I quite liked them.
Instantly started a new game, and was explicitly nice to them.
10/10 would ceremorphosize for them.
This interview is great, the Emperor is a great character! Love the ways things can develop with him. Is there any chance you'll interview Emma Gregory?
Doug Jones (Abe Sapien in Hellboy 1 & 2) would play well as the Emperor, or any mind flayer in a live action adaptation. Of course, Scott would be perfect for the Emperor, since he's already the voice/mocap, and he has the physique too.
I used to play that Lord of The Rings card game, and it was awesome.
There is a gem of a book you find I believe by the Morphic pool where Gortash is interrogating the Emperor. Imagining his voice reading what it says is awesome because of the vision of this VA for the character. Loved the Emperor. Excellent performance
i would love a deep dive interview about the emperor's character in a year or so! this was a delightful interview 😁
Lol. A few hours i went to search who voiced the emperor because i loooooove his voice!❤
Ps, i am new to this world, so i knew nothing about mindflayers. I thought; they cant be that bad because the emperor sounded so genuine
amazing work
Amazing voice! He was brilliant! Scott can read the dictionary for all I care - I’ll listen! I still get so excited when the Emperor’s voice pops up in game and says something. I grabbed all his crap in his hideout just so he would keep talking to me. I blame his voice for talking me into things 😂🦑❤️
thank you for this lovely interview! I was hoping to see it :) will you ever interview the voice of the ones who worked on the " traveler" version of the emperor?
Oh wow the actor is surprisingly hot🥵
awesome!