New Eridu isn't just about the flashy combat or that specific brand of urban-industrial aesthetic HoYoverse nailed so well. It’s the voices. Honestly, the Zenless Zone Zero English voice actors are the ones doing the heavy lifting to make the Cunning Hares feel like a real, dysfunctional family rather than just a group of pixels you use to grind out materials.
But if you’ve been playing since the early betas or even just the 1.0 launch, you’ve probably noticed something. Some characters don’t sound the same as they used to.
It’s not your imagination. The cast list for this game has been a revolving door lately, and the reasons range from standard industry reshuffling to high-stakes stands against AI.
The Core Trio: Wise, Belle, and the Fairy in Your Ear
Most of your time in Zenless Zone Zero is spent at Random Play, the video store front. This is where we meet our protagonists.
Stephen Fu voices Wise. You might recognize him as the English voice of Alhaitham from Genshin Impact, though he plays Wise with a much more grounded, "tired older brother" energy. On the flip side, Courtney Steele brings Belle to life. She manages to capture that high-energy, slightly chaotic vibe that makes Belle the perfect foil to her brother.
Then there’s Fairy. The AI assistant that lives in your computer and occasionally mocks your life choices. She’s voiced by Allegra Clark. Allegra is basically HoYoverse royalty at this point, having voiced Beidou in Genshin and Acheron in Honkai: Star Rail. She gives Fairy this perfectly detached, almost "Siri-but-with-an-attitude" tone that fits the game's retro-tech vibe.
Why Some Voices Suddenly Changed (The Drama)
This is where things get messy. If you played during the technical tests, you might remember Billy Kid sounding... different.
Originally, Billy was voiced by Michael Schwalbe. However, by the time the game actually launched, he had been replaced by Clifford Chapin. HoYoverse never gave a formal reason, but Schwalbe later mentioned on social media that the recording studio itself was changed, leading to a massive recast.
It didn't stop there.
The Version 1.1 Swap
In the 1.1 update, fans were shocked to find that both Lucy and Soukaku had their entire voice libraries replaced.
- Lucy: Originally voiced by Courtney Lin (who also voiced Huohuo in HSR before being replaced there too), she is now voiced by Elsie Lovelock.
- Soukaku: Her original voice actor wasn't even officially credited before the swap, but she’s now voiced by Rogin Rashidan.
Fans were pretty split on this. Some missed Lucy’s original "sass," while others felt the new direction for Soukaku made her sound more like the "gremlin child" she’s supposed to be.
The 2025 AI Strike Fallout
The biggest shift happened in early 2025. You might have noticed a change in Soldier 11 and the fan-favorite wolf-butler Von Lycaon.
Emeri Chase (Soldier 11) and Nicholas Thurkettle (Lycaon) both stepped away from their roles. This wasn't because of "creative differences." It was a protest. During the SAG-AFTRA strikes regarding AI protections in video games, both actors chose to withhold their work because the project wasn't covered by a specific union agreement that protected their voices from being synthesized by AI.
Thurkettle, despite not even being in the union, took a personal stand. He found out he was replaced when he read the Version 1.6 patch notes. Yeah. That’s a rough way to lose a job.
The Current English Voice Cast (As of 2026)
If you're looking for a specific name to put to a face, here is the current lineup for the major factions. It's a mix of veteran anime dubbers and fresh faces.
The Cunning Hares
- Anby Demara: Sam Slade (You've heard her as Topaz in Star Rail).
- Billy Kid: Clifford Chapin (Bakugo from My Hero Academia—he brings that same "loud but lovable" energy).
- Nicole Demara: Nadia Marshall.
- Nekomiya Mana (Nekomata): Alice Himora.
Belobog Heavy Industries
- Anton Ivanov: Alejandro Saab (Cyno in Genshin, Jing Yuan in Star Rail). He basically lives in the HoYo recording booth.
- Ben Bigger: Henry Schrader. Yes, he makes the bear sound like a gentle accountant.
- Koleda Belobog: Katie Cofield.
- Grace Howard: Megan Shipman.
Victoria Housekeeping Co.
- Von Lycaon: Will de Renzy-Martin (Replaced Nicholas Thurkettle in 2025).
- Ellen Joe: Giselle Fernandez.
- Corin Wickes: Chloe Eves.
- Alexandrina (Rina): Morgan Lauré.
Section 6 and Beyond
- Hoshimi Miyabi: Cristina Valenzuela.
- Soukaku: Rogin Rashidan.
- Zhu Yuan: Alaina Wis.
- Qingyi: Kira Buckland.
- Jane Doe: Kelsey Jaffer.
- Alice: Diana Garnet.
The Alice and Sweety Connection
One of the more recent highlights in the community was the reveal of Diana Garnet as the voice of Alice. Diana is actually a singer based in Japan who has done themes for Naruto and Nikke.
People went nuts over her performance because she also voices Sweety (the Vtuber Lumin Tsukiboshi). Her range is honestly ridiculous. She can go from a high-pitched rabbit scream to a passionate rant about asymmetry in a single scene. It’s that kind of personality that keeps the English dub competitive with the Japanese one.
How to Stay Up to Date
Voices in live-service games are never set in stone. Contracts end, studios change, and sometimes, actors just want to move on.
If a character sounds "off" after a major patch, your first stop should always be the official patch notes in the "Adjustments and Optimizations" section. HoYoverse is notorious for burying these changes at the very bottom of a 5,000-word update list.
You should also follow the actors on social media (Bluesky or X). Many of them, like Alejandro Saab or Allegra Clark, are very active in the community and often share behind-the-scenes stories about the recording process.
To see the full history of a character's voice, including the regional differences (Chinese, Japanese, Korean), checking the in-game "Gallery" or the official Zenless Zone Zero Wiki is your best bet for factual, un-faked data.
Check your favorite agent's voice lines in the "File" menu after an update to see if their performance has been re-recorded or tweaked for better "syncing"—it happens more often than you'd think.
