League of Legends game designer, Spideraxe, revealed in a July 19th tweet that Riot is scrapping plans to replace current VO actor Krizia Bajos with the ever-present Ashly Burch. Burch, known for her roles as Aloy in the Horizon series, and Rachel in Apple TV series Mythic Quest, was brought on to the team to inject a new, more enthusiastic, persona for Akali.
This isn’t the first time the Ionian rogue has undergone a vocal shift, the original voice actor for the character was Laura Bailey (known for voicing Abby in The Last of Us 2 and Miss Fortune in Ruined King, amongst many others), with die hard fans still mourning the loss of self-referential lines such as “will matchmaking ever find balance?” and “so many noobs”.
When Akali first received a re-work, the tone of the character also changed. Krizia Bajos took a darker, more serious direction with the VO that appeared to fit the overall aesthetic of a silent assassin. Fans were surprised to find that Bajos had been completely replaced when they logged on to the PBE; criticism filled a Reddit thread, with users claiming the new actor was ‘too generic’ and one user claiming that the new VO was ‘too Hollywood action hero’.
It looks as if the Burch voicelines, being more upbeat and less threatening, will still make it on to Akali’s Star Guardian skin. The overall theme of Star Guardian is much more positive than her other, more murderous, personas so it would make canonical sense to keep the new VO.
The Star Guardian Akali skin will be released on July 28, along with the rest of the high school cosmic do-gooders. Be sure to check out our full overview of the League of Legends Star Guardian event here. Using Porofessor to help you win games will ensure you’re stockpiling enough Mythic Essence, making sure you can buy the new Syndra Star Guardian skin as soon as it releases.