Ok, I'm just gonna come out and say it:
I think Christopher Lloyd was the best VA for Master Xehanort.
Don't get me wrong, I think Leonard Nimoy was great. Rutger Hauer was good too, although his accent was a bit too exotic for Xehanort imo. But as much as Nimoy's performance is lauded in the community (and it's great of course, I mean it's Leonard freaking Nimoy), I actually think Lloyd brings just the right kind of ham to the character.
Let's be real for a minute: Master Xehanort is a very hammy villain. With the evil grin and the finger-wiggling and the hunched back. Most of Xehanort's other incarnations are pretty much your stereotypical anime bad guys, and they all have very solemn, deep, monotone voices to match. Nimoy's voice is just a bit too gruff and gravely to feel like a natural progression of what the other VA's would sound like if they became old men, so there's a slight disconnect between the old Xehanort and his younger incarnations. But Lloyd's voice (and Hauer's too, although the accent is out of place) feels more appropriate, like a withered version of the commanding barritone of his younger selves.
Frankly, as much as I love Nimoy, I think CL would have probably been an overall better fit for the character from the beginning, and it's a shame we only discovered him on the third go-around of VA's for the old coot.
I think Christopher Lloyd was the best VA for Master Xehanort.
Don't get me wrong, I think Leonard Nimoy was great. Rutger Hauer was good too, although his accent was a bit too exotic for Xehanort imo. But as much as Nimoy's performance is lauded in the community (and it's great of course, I mean it's Leonard freaking Nimoy), I actually think Lloyd brings just the right kind of ham to the character.
Let's be real for a minute: Master Xehanort is a very hammy villain. With the evil grin and the finger-wiggling and the hunched back. Most of Xehanort's other incarnations are pretty much your stereotypical anime bad guys, and they all have very solemn, deep, monotone voices to match. Nimoy's voice is just a bit too gruff and gravely to feel like a natural progression of what the other VA's would sound like if they became old men, so there's a slight disconnect between the old Xehanort and his younger incarnations. But Lloyd's voice (and Hauer's too, although the accent is out of place) feels more appropriate, like a withered version of the commanding barritone of his younger selves.
Frankly, as much as I love Nimoy, I think CL would have probably been an overall better fit for the character from the beginning, and it's a shame we only discovered him on the third go-around of VA's for the old coot.