Fans have been waiting reverently since Fire Emblem: Three Houses was announced. However, with its recent release comes controversy concerning one of its voice actors.
Chris Niosi voices Byleth, the male protagonist of the game, and this has been a source of anger amongst fans. Niosi has been accused of abuse and other forms of ill-treatment. These accusations came from past girlfriends, former friends, and colleagues. They’ve referenced his anger management problems and his manipulative attitude. Amy, one of his exes, mentioned that Niosi had no sense of bodily autonomy in regards to her. She said that he acted in a possessive manner, not letting her have any time to herself and also manhandled her on occasions.
Tara Welker, a former friend and partner of Niosi, made a Twitter thread saying that Niosi was “sexually coercive.” On her Tumblr, she has a longer post where she explains that Niosi was physically abusive towards her, among a long list of other horrible things. She also mentions that he broke a non-disclosure agreement by discussing his role before the game launch.
Niosi admitted to everything, confirming his behavior, on his personal Tumblr. He made eight different apology posst addressed to people that he’s hurt. His statement included this:
Fans may have noticed that Niosi was no longer in the voice of Byleth in Fire Emblem Heroes, a mobile gacha game based off of the Fire Emblem franchise. Instead, Zach Aguilar has the role. Nintendo confirmed the same will happen in Fire Emblem Heroes; Byleth’s lines will all be re-recorded. Nintendo of America said that after going over the situation, they “decided to re-record the character’s voiceovers in Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Fire Emblem Heroes with another actor. The new voiceovers will be included in a future patch."
My name is Christopher Niosi; also known as Kirbopher. I am 30 years old and for about half of my lifetime, I have horribly mistreated and abused friends, colleagues, and even my significant others. It is time that I addressed each and every one of those people and responded to their feelings with individual apologies for what I’ve done to hurt them. This will be a masterpost containing all of the appropriate posts in one location, so that the people they have been written for, along with anyone else who wishes to read them, can easily access the information.
