Animation is one of the media's most inventive and affecting mediums. It creates caricatures of life that do well to both accentuate and re-imagine the everyday life so that it can entertain and provoke people in a way that live-action simply can't. And as central and important as the visual sensibilities of the medium are, a nearly equal trait that has defined the experience for decades has been the voices of their characters.
Cartoon and anime characters have the tendency of sounding like no other human being, allowing some idiosyncrasy with both a particular character as well as the medium as a whole. And while there are certainly many talented voice artists behind the sound booth, few can match the auditory and tonal identity of those with a genuinely unique voice.
This can mean the high pitched tones of Tom Kenny or the groans of H. Jon Benjamin. However, this list will be looking at a voice a little lower than the rest. In celebration of the many faces of animation's best baritone, let's look at some of the most iconic voice acting roles of one Patrick Warburton.
10 Buzz Lightyear, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
While there is certainly no replacing Tim Allen's iconic role as Pixar's leading spaceman, there certainly wasn't a budget to include him in the direct-to-DVD spinoff. However, that doesn't mean that Patrick Warburton couldn't do a great job to make up for the absence.
This being his first-ever voice acting role, Warburton launched a new legacy in voice acting as he took hold of the reliable, inspirational, yet ever so arrogant tones of Star Command's leading Space Ranger.
9 Rip Riley, Archer
While a small and inevitably temporary role, there certainly isn't such a thing as a forgettable character in Archer. When Archer takes a turn for the worse and goes AWOL on his spy agency, it was up to Rip Riley, an ex-agent of Archer's ISIS, to hunt him down and take him back.
Such an interaction could only lead to action-packed slapstick between the two adventurers and the unsuspecting world around them, as well as a legendary rapport between Patrick Warburton and H. Jon Benjamin.
8 Hugo Vasquez, Tales from the Borderlands
Hugo Vasquez is Warburton's dive into the bloody streets of Wallstreet or, in this case, the Borderlands. Taking a slight sidestep past Rhys for a promotion in Hyperion, Hugo kills Saul Henderson to take the Vice President role, subsequently launching a plot to buy a Vault Key.
Essentially the main instigator for the events of Tales from the Borderlands, Warburton does a great job of portraying the classic, corporate creep in another addition to the video game franchise's long line of memorable characters.
7 Lok, Tak Franchise
Continuing Warburton's iconic stab at the cowardly, arrogant, yet charmingly self-centered, he is also the voice of the Tak video game franchise' resident warrior and knucklehead, Lok.
At his worst, Lok is just a vocal side character in the games, and, at his best, is the funny sidekick of the animated series who lightens the mood for Tak's adventures. Yet, in any case, he is a beloved addition to a series that disappeared all too soon. Using that sultry voice of his, Lok could, at least, be counted on to make the fans laugh.
6 Steve Barkin, Kim Possible
Using that naturally gruff tone for some tough authority, Warburton enters the education system as Middleton High's favorite substitute teacher and the administrative bane to a certain cheerleader of espionage.
Steve Barkin can raise his voice to bark out the worst commands or bring them to an all too intimate and unnerving low for more nuanced taunts, masterfully and comically voicing orders to his students. With all the panache of a drill sergeant, Warburton plays the most threatening and intimidating character in Kim Possible's super villain filled world.
5 Ken, Bee Movie
For someone often utilized for his very extraordinary voice, Warburton somehow played the most normal character in Bee Movie, a film where bees can take people to court and fall in love with humans.
He is the self-centered and lively friend of Vanessa who's major scenes involve a comically competitive tennis game and him making that shocked face at Vanessa. While a small part, the internet has more than immortalized Warburton's role in some timeless memes.
4 Royal Pain, Sky High
Sky High is a Disney classic that is nothing without its characters, whether that means its goofball main cast, eccentric teachers, or, of course, its villains. And while Patrick Warburton may not have necessarily been moving around as Royal Pain, he certainly played the much more prominent and objectively terrifying role as her voice.
Playing a huge part in how surprising it was that Royal Pain was a girl in the first place, Warburton masterfully played the classic, cartoony villain in this one, cursing his enemies and yelling at his goons with uncanny bravado.
3 Brock Samson, The Venture Bros.
For all the super spies and supervillains that he's portrayed on this list, no part could ever match the level of raw intensity and primal anger that is The Venture Bros.' brooding bodyguard, Brock Samson. A secret agent turned protector of a bumbling scientist, Warburton plays all the right keys here between his seen-everything, done-with-this deadpan to his shocking scream like a crazed soldier of slaughter.
The writing of this series certainly helps in giving him plenty of material as it only adds more fond memories to one of Warburton's most lasting and defined characters.
2 Joe Swanson, Family Guy
With all that being said about Brock, there's certainly a warm place in Warburton's and the fans' hearts for his most consistent and longest-lasting role. The wheelchair-bound, overly-energetic cop and neighbor to the Griffins, Joe has certainly given Warburton plenty of diverse material to work with.
This includes his eccentric, tribal energy when cheering in a group, the dry delivery of overdone jokes, and the pitiful cries from a torn life and marriage. As a central character to the series, it really is hard to imagine Peter's gang or the series in its entirety without Patrick Warburton's involvement.
1 Kronk, The Emperor's New Groove
Quite possibly the main role that's gotten Patrick Warburton stopped on the streets, Kronk was his other entryway into a Disney classic that certainly played out a lot better. Kronk is the charmingly dimwitted henchmen to the film's main villain, Yzma, whose Abbot-and-Castello-like rapport with her serves as some of the golden points in the movie.
Whether it's that organic conflict with his cold-hearted boss, sincere delivery of dumb lines, or his overall sense of innocence, Kronk is a character that has earned people's love, certainly enough of it anyway to get his own movie, giving Warburton another leading.