The Rise of Welsh Accents In Video Games Is Beautiful And Needs To Continue

It’s always nice to see different countries and cultures represented in video games, with that in mind there’s been a rather understated trend in fantasy video games of giving characters Welsh accents.

It’s great and shows that there’s far more to Wales and Welsh culture than jokes about humping sheep.

Nia and Mio

The trend really started with the introduction of everyone’s favorite angry Welsh Cat girl, Nia, voiced by Catrin-Mai Huw from Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Her adorable personality mixed with the promise to “Bash you up proper next time I sweeer!” quickly endeared her to fans, even those that aren’t the biggest fans of English dubs.

Nintendo and Monolith Soft obviously recognized the untapped raw power of the Welsh Cat Girl because Xenoblade Chronicles 3 would introduce Mio, not only another Cymraeg-accented feline but the main heroine of the game.

While not quite as tsundere as Nia and faces hefty competition for Best Girl from the rowdy cockney bird lady Eunie, Mio remains one of the most endearing parts of the game. Within Xenoblade’s world, she’s a child soldier with only three months more to live, choosing to use it to uncover the secrets of a never-ending war. She also has the ability to turn into a Robot Angry Welsh Cat Girl. It’s great.

Ranni The Witch

Of course, it’s not just cat girls sporting the language of song, as the ever-popular Elden Ring has introduced a number of characters with authentic Welsh accents. The most notable of these is the enchanting Witch Ranni.

This petite spellcaster is heavily intertwined into Elden Ring’s lore and while you don’t have to speak with her once throughout your playthrough, her side quest is more than worth the undertaking. It’s one of the most involved in the game allowing you to meet multiple important characters, and you also get the chance to hear her call you “My Dear”.

Another nice thing about seeing video game characters with Welsh Accents is that they show the talent of Welsh voice actors. Ranni and Mio are actually voiced by the same Welsh actress Aimee-Ffion Edwards (known for her Television roles on Skins and Peeky Blinders). Between the emotional highs of Mio and the ethereal whispers of Ranni, she can certainly play a wide and captivating range of characters.

Blaidd

Furthermore, many of Ranni’s servants also speak in a Welsh accent, most notably the half-wolf swordsman Blaidd (a word that literally means ‘Wolf’ in Welsh), voiced by Scott Arthur.

While most werewolves or wolfmen tend to speak to feral growling voices, Arthur gives Blaidd the voice of a dignified gentle-wolfman, or at least as gentle as a guy wielding the equivalent of Dragon Slayer can be.

The voice actor was actually shown tweets from users that found Blaidd rather…attractive in an interview with Buzzfeed (via PC Gamer). He said that he felt “warm, aroused, comforted, and very loved. Thank you to everyone who has shown love and horniness for Blaidd.”

The Welsh Origins of the Fantasy Genre

There are other examples of Welsh references throughout several video game series. Drippy from Ni No Kuni has the accent, several Fire Emblem characters have Welsh names, and Edward Kenway from Assassin’s Creed IV is Welsh. Ultimately though, there’s a good reason why Wales is so attached to fantasy works and it’s not just the eldritch scripture that is its language.

A lot of early Fantasy concepts have roots in Wales. For example, the earliest writings about King Arthur come from Welsh poetry, the earliest being the ‘Y Gododdin’ which could have been written as early as the 7th century.

Many Arthurian names derive from Welsh including Arthur, Merlin (Myrddin), Guinevere (Gwenhwyfar), Mordred (Medraut), and Excalibur (Caledfwlch). So basically, the fact that Saber never calls Shiro her “Boyo” in Fate/Stay Night is sad and inaccurate.

Welsh also played a big part in a more modern fantasy franchise: Lord of The Rings. J.R.R. Tolkein was very fond of the Welsh language. He studied it, taught it in schools, and even claimed

“Welsh is of this soil, this island, the senior language of the men of Britain; and Welsh is beautiful”

Tolkein used Welsh as one of the direct inspirations for Sindarin, the language of Elves on Middle Earth. If you’ve ever loved the elegant language of Legolas and his countrymen, a country of elves that would inspire fantasy fiction for generations to come, you have the Welsh language to partially thank for that.

Meddyliau Cloi

I recently spoke to a Welsh friend of mine and asked him what he thought about all the recent Welsh accents in video games. He replied with this:

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