The final episode of Dragon Ball Super aired last week in Japan, paving way for an upcoming film based on the show, which already has fans buzzing. In the U.S., however, the English dub of the series has yet to reach its end, only just recently entering the "Goku Black" saga. Without spoiling too much, this saga introduces us to Zamasu, the supreme kai-in-training of Universe 10 who has a difficult time understanding the affairs of mortals.

Of course, that's not what makes this character of particular interest for Dragon Ball fans as much as the mystery surrounding who will provide his English dub. There's an online theory that he is being voiced by former Buffy the Vampire Slayer actor, James Marsters. And while the Wikipedia entry for the character might list his english voice actor as "David Gray," but we have reason to believe this is a pseudonym for the current Runaways actor.

Were this true, it wouldn't be Marster's first foray into the Dragon Ball franchise; in 2009 he played Lord Piccolo in the universally hated Dragon Ball: Evolution, a critical failure that indisputably butchered the source material. So, has Marsters stepped back into the world Akira Toriyama's hit anime, or is this nothing more than an Internet rumor? We investigated to find out the truth behind Zamasu's English voice actor.

The Rumor

So, where did this rumor start? It goes back to the third DLC package for Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, which was released in April 2017 and included Zamasu as a character. This DLC predated Zamasu's appearance in the American release of Dragon Ball Super by ten months and thus was the first time we heard the character's English voice actor. In the interactions and battles with Zamasu in Xenoverse, some players, perhaps Buffy fans, thought the character's voice sounded familiar.

These suspicions were not "confirmed" until the release of Dragon Ball FighterZ, in which Zamasu appears as a support character for Goku Black. The credits of FighterZ list the voice actor of Zamasu as "Sam Majesters," a not-so-subtle play on "James Marsters." This was our first clue that the Buffy actor might be voicing the character, though it could just as easily be a pseudonym used by another voice actor. Perhaps some more substantial evidence is required.

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Evidence

The first piece of evidence comes from the pseudonyms themselves. A quick Google search will reveal that there is no "Sam Majesters" with a claim to fame. In fact, the search will redirect you to Marsters' IMDB page. Additionally, a Google search for "David Gray" yields similarly sparse findings, most results leading to a musician whose higher-pitched voice and lack of acting/VA credits rule him out as being Zamasu's English voice.

Further evidence comes from the Twitter account of Clifford Chapin, who provides the voice for Cabba in Super's English dub. In April of last year, he tweeted about the English voice actor of Zamasu and, without revealing specifics, stated it was his favorite casting for Xenoverse 2, and that he hadn't seen anything like it since Asami from The Legend of Korra.

What does this mean? Well, let's take a look at Asami Sato's voice actress, Seychelle Gabriel, who previously played Yue in the critically panned The Last Airbender. Gabriel went from being part of a failed adaptation to starring in a beloved sequel, and if Chapin is comparing her role as Asami to the the casting of Zamasu, then this might actually confirm Marster's involvement as well. How so, you might ask? Well, if Marsters truly is voicing Zamasu, then his tale of redemption — from Dragon Ball: Evolution to Dragon Ball Super — would completely mirror Seychelle Gabriel's.

Another piece of evidence comes from Marsters' reality series, Vidiots. The show follows Marsters and co-host Mark Devine as they travel around the world and play video games. One of the episodes, titled "Anything Is Possible In Texas," found Marsters meeting up with Chris Sabat, who we all know as the English voice of Vegeta, Piccolo and a whole bunch of other Dragon Ball characters. Marsters asked Sabat to help him with a voice reel so he could get the chance to impress him and hopefully get a role in Dragon Ball Super.

This episode of Vidiots all but confirms Marsters' role as Zamasu by showing how it came about. However, if you need even more proof, then listen for yourself. In this clip, Marsters is voicing Lex Luthor in DC Universe Online, a return to a role he previously played in Superman: Doomsday. Now, compare that voice to Zamasu's in this clip. Sounds pretty similar, right?

Another thing that can be taken from the clips of Zamasu conversing with his mentor, Gowasu, is the quality of the dub. No disrespect to the acting skill of James Marsters, but he is not a dub voice actor by trade. It takes a lot of practice and experience to be able to match the animation's "mouth flaps" in such a way that the English dialogue seems to fit naturally. Zamasu's speech isn't much different from the other characters, but there are a few tiny slips that imply the voice actor is new to the process of dubbing.

Motivation

Dragon Ball Evolution Piccolo Goku

If you still need convincing, then let's look at the final, and perhaps most conclusive, piece of evidence pointing to James Marsters as the English voice of Zamasu; the motivation. After the failure that was Dragon Ball: Evolution, Marsters wanted to redeem himself and contribute a proper performance to the Dragon Ball franchise. The main reason for this is that Marsters himself is a huge fan of the franchise.

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Yes, you read that right, James Marsters loves Dragon Ball, and he wanted to do right by the fans from the very start. In a CBR interview conducted way back in 2009, Marsters stated that he had been a fan for years, that he had seen all the episodes and shared a love of the series with his son. In fact, Marsters claimed his son would kill him if he got the role wrong, even if he had to grow up first.

Of course, despite the heart Marsters put into his role as Lord Piccolo, Evolution still bombed. But Marsters didn't lose his love for the series, and he carried the weight of the film's failure for years to come. In the aforementioned Vidiots episode, Marsters stated his motivation for trying to land a role in Dragon Ball Super was because he felt that even a bit part could redeem him for Dragon Ball: Evolution. This motivation is a rather heartfelt one, another layer of proof that Marsters is indeed the voice of Zamasu.

So, if Marsters does voice Zamasu, and if his motivation for doing so was to redeem himself for Evolution, then why the pseudonyms? Well, we can only speculate on this part, but our theory is that Marsters wanted to quietly contribute to the franchise so that his actions, quite literally, speak for themselves. Perhaps Marsters just wanted to keep things on the down low. Most likely, it has to do with the union-related limitations that come about when dubbing anime in English. If any of these are the the case, then we're sorry for this (admittedly, comically over-researched) exposé on the matter.

Conclusion

So, with all this evidence, it's no secret that our conclusion is we believe James Marsters does indeed provide the English voice for Dragon Ball Super's Zamasu. He can use all the pseudonyms he likes, but there's no denying the sound of his voice, and his potential motivations make it seem all the more likely. Of course, we'll be the first to admit that most of our evidence is not concrete, so in the end, it's up to the fans to decide what they believe.

But if Zamasu really is voiced by James Martsters and he's reading this now, then we'd like to say that you absolutely nailed the role, so keep up the good work. Oh and one more thing, since we know you're a fan and all, who's your favorite Dragon Ball character?