Egoraptor

Egoraptor
Personal information
Born Arin Joseph Hanson
(1987-01-06) January 6, 1987
West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
Nationality American
Residence Glendale, California
Occupation Internet personality, animator, voice actor
Website egoraptor.net, Egoraptor's channel on YouTube
YouTube information
Pseudonym Egoraptor
Years active 2006–present
Genre
Subscribers 2.4 million subscribers (May 2016)
Total views 371 million views (May 2016)
Associated acts
Subscriber and view counts updated as of 1 May 2016.

Arin Joseph Hanson (born January 6, 1987), more prominently known by his internet pseudonym, Egoraptor, is an American animator, cartoonist, songwriter, voice artist, and Internet personality. He is known for his animated webseries, The Awesome Series, in which Hanson parodies various video game franchises, including Pokémon, Metal Gear, Ninja Gaiden, and Final Fantasy.[1] The series was originally published on Newgrounds. Hanson occasionally participates in sketch comedy and collaborations with fellow animators, such as Ross "RubberNinja" O'Donovan. He is also known for being the co-star of the popular YouTube Let's Play webseries, Game Grumps,[2] his video game parody band, Starbomb, and for his animated comedy video game review series, Sequelitis.

Early life

Arin Hanson was born and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida. He attended Wellington High School in Wellington, Florida, however he had dropped out during his junior year of high school in order to pursue a later failed writing career.[3]

Hanson later moved from South Florida to Los Angeles to pursue a career in voice acting.[3]

Career

Animation

Hanson first joined Newgrounds under the name of "Egoraptor" on September 16, 2001. After joining, he submitted his first Awesome Series animation, "Metal Gear Awesome," on February 23, 2006.[4] Hanson went on to upload various comedic video game-related animations, as well as four separate animated webseries (of which he then uploaded to YouTube); The Awesome Series, short animated videos that parody video games, Lemon 'n Bill, a comedic series in which an anthropomorphic bullet and lemon get trapped within video game worlds, Girlchan in Paradise!!, a series that parodies shōnen anime, and Sequelitis, a series in which Hanson compares a video game and its sequel along with minor animations throughout the video.[5] Hanson was also an early storyboard artist on the show Axe Cop.

Due to the success of "Metal Gear Awesome," Hanson was approached by MTV to produce animated shorts in the style of "Metal Gear Awesome" for MTV's online video gaming show, The G-Hole.[6] MTV gave Hanson four guidelines: the shorts must be poorly drawn, the shorts must have violence, the shorts must have swearing, and the shorts must be 30–40 seconds long. MTV also restricted him from submitting these movies to anywhere but The G-Hole, a restriction which Hanson constantly fought believing that all of his fans should have easy access to his work.[7] He went on to create 1 to 3 Awesome Series episodes a month for The G-Hole before the show was put on hold and eventually canceled. It is now survived by its sister blog, MTV Multiplayer, of which the management has opted not to include any new Awesome Series episodes due to budget restraints.[8] The Awesome Series continues online, on Hanson's YouTube channel.

Voice acting

In 2006, Hanson provided the voice of Bruce Banner in the video game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance as part of a competition held by Activision. However, his voice went ultimately unused and the character was played by Robin Atkin Downes, though VGFacts and Hanson's own website claim that his voice is heard in the PlayStation 3, Wii and PlayStation Portable versions of the game.[9]

In 2009, Hanson provided the voice for the character John Gore in the video game Minigore,[10] and later reprised the role in the 2011 remake of Death Rally.[11]

In 2012, Hanson provided his voice for the game Detective Grimoire, a Kickstarter project which was successfully funded on August 3, 2012.[12]

Hanson has also provided his voice for Dragon Age: Inquisition, Target Acquired, Red vs. Blue, and Rick & Morty.[13][14][15][16]

Game Grumps

Main article: Game Grumps

In late July 2012,[17] Hanson and his colleague Jon Jafari, known for his video game critiquing webseries, JonTron,[18] created a joint YouTube show, called Game Grumps. On this show, both Hanson and Jafari played video games that were typically retro or nostalgic in style.[19] This new series was instantly acclaimed by fans of both Hanson's animation channel and Jafari's channel. However, in late June 2013, just under a year after the show's inception, Jafari left Game Grumps to focus on his own channel, and was replaced by Leigh Daniel Avidan of the musical comedy duo Ninja Sex Party,[20] who continues to work on the show to date.

Apart from the YouTube series, Game Grumps moved to live performances at Hollywood Improv in late March of 2016.[21] Completely sold out, the event led to future performances in New York and other locations on the East Coast.

Collaborations

In February of 2012, Hanson appeared as a contestant on the Sony game show, The Tester, during its third season, as a community-voted contestant, but was eliminated in the third episode after being accused of using the show to promote himself.[22] When asked about his experience, and whether or not he would do it again, he replied negatively.[23] Many defend Arin Hanson, saying that The Tester used his popularity to get more views on Sony's YouTube channel, and that the judges were unfair to him.

Hanson appeared as a contestant in the third season of the dance competition webseries Dance Showdown, alongside professional dancer, Maxine Hupy.[24] Hanson was announced the winner of the season.[25]

Hanson has also done narration work for several episodes of Did You Know Gaming?,[26] a webseries dedicated to video game trivia, including episodes covering Star Fox, Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, Mega Man, Pokémon and Kirby. He also narrated an episode on the show's secondary series, Did You Know Movies?, where he talked about the development of Jurassic Park.

Besides providing additional work for online series on YouTube and Newgrounds, Hanson has been featured in several videos for the website ScrewAttack, including a collaboration with James Rolfe and Keith Apicary.[27] In 2008, Hanson worked together with O'Donovan on the animated webseries Gamer Tonight where he provided the voice of the host, which was broadcast on the Australian television show Good Game.[28]

As of 2015, Hanson has been working with O'Donovan on a reboot of O'Donovan's Gameoverse, doing boarding work, primarily.[29]

Music

Main article: Starbomb

In 2013, Hanson, along with Game Grumps co-host and Ninja Sex Party member Leigh Daniel Avidan and Ninja Sex Party instrumentalist Brian Wecht, formed the band Starbomb. They released their first, self-titled album in December 2013.[30] Starbomb went on to release their second album one year later December 2014, titled Player Select.

In early 2016, Hanson performed with Starbomb at their first live event at SXSW to positive reception. [31]

Other work

In 2013, Hanson made an appearance on the webseries Hot Pepper Gaming. He reviewed Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate after eating a habanero pepper. In 2014, Hanson returned to the show, reviewing the game Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes whilst eating a Bhut Jolokia.[32]

Hanson will be a playable character in the game Hex Heroes for the Wii U. He will also be providing voiceover work for his character.[33] He was also going to be voicing a character in the fighting game Beast's Fury,[34] before the game was cancelled on 9 January 2016.

Hanson appeared as a guest in the Nintendo World Championships 2015.[35] He came in 5th overall, losing in the third round of Balloon Fight.

Personal life

Hanson lives in Glendale, California with his wife, Suzy Berhow, who cohosts the Game Grumps segment Steam Train, as well as Hunting Monsters and Table Flip.[36][37] Hanson also acts as the creative director of the online marketplace, 1 Shirt.[38]

His father, Lloyd Hanson, is a musician, and runs Old Farts With Guitars, discussing his "lifelong affair with music." His mother, Maurette Hanson, runs the Healing Horse Therapy Center. It is dedicated to providing on-site equine-assisted therapeutic and psychotherapeutic wellness programming to combat veterans, survivors of military sexual trauma, special needs persons, and all individuals needing a safe and nurturing environment to heal from mental, physical and emotional challenges.[39]

Credits

Television

Year Title Role Episode
2015 Rick and Morty Cyborg photographer "The Wedding Squanchers"
2016 Scare PewDiePie Himself "The Ultimate Hang"
2016 Mighty Magiswords Additional voices TBA

Web series

Year Title Role Episode
2010 Eddsworld Super Guy "WTFuture"
2010 Cyanide & Happiness Shorts Cliff Miller "The Man Who Could Sit Anywhere"[40]
2010 Cyanide & Happiness Shorts Ted Bear "Ted Bear"[41]
2015 Cyanide & Happiness Shorts Ted Bear "Ted Bear 2"[42]
2015 JonTron Himself/Darth Vader "JonTron's StarCade: Star Wars Holiday Special"[43]

Video games

Year Title Role
2009 Minigore John Gore
2011 Death Rally John Gore
2012 Detective Grimoire Agent Folder
2014 Dragon Age: Inquisition Additional voices
2016 Target Acquired Officer Spike
2016 Hex Heroes Himself

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Awesome Series". Egoraptor. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
  2. ↑ Amini, Tina (2013-03-01). "Watch This Silly Source Filmmaker Re-Creation Of Two YouTubers Absolutely Losing It". Kotaku. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
  3. 1 2 Hanson, Arin. "I dunno what to say.". Egoraptor Takes A Wizz. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
  4. ↑ Egoraptor's newgrounds page: http://egoraptor.newgrounds.com/
  5. ↑ Ponce, Tony (2012-03-03). "Makin' faces and talking game design with Egoraptor". Destructoid. Retrieved 2014-10-01.
  6. ↑ "Arin "Egoraptor" Hanson Interview". jfreedan. YouTube. Retrieved 2014-10-01.
  7. ↑ "Investigating Anime". Carey Martell. Veoh. Retrieved 2014-01-16.
  8. ↑ "Arin Hanson - Voice Actor". Arin Hanson. Voice123. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  9. ↑ "Marvel: Ultimate Alliance". VGFacts. Retrieved 2014-10-01.
  10. ↑ Zibreg, Christian (2009-09-10). "Review: Minigore for iPhone – unleash the beast within". Geek.com. Retrieved 2014-10-01.
  11. ↑ "Death Rally". GameFAQs. Retrieved 2014-10-01.
  12. ↑ "Detective Grimoire: Adventure Game Win/Mac/Linux/iOS/Android". Kickstarter. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  13. ↑ https://twitter.com/HollyConrad/status/535520104776073216
  14. ↑ TouchTen Games (2014-11-12). "@EGORAPTOR will be in our game! A Tribute to all MEGAMAN fans out there!". Kickstarter. Retrieved 2014-11-15.
  15. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq-ykFPQQek
  16. ↑ https://twitter.com/egoraptor/status/650890317575491584
  17. ↑ "Game Grumps Announcement". Egoraptor. YouTube. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  18. ↑ "JonTronShow". YouTube. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  19. ↑ Ponce, Tony (2012-07-18). "Egoraptor & JonTron twiddle their sticks, play some games". Destructoid. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
  20. ↑ Amini, Tina (2013-06-26). "Fans Are Upset Over YouTube Duo 'Game Grumps' Break-Up". Kotaku. Retrieved 2013-12-25.
  21. ↑ "Game Grumps LIVE". IMPROV. Hollywood Improv. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  22. ↑ Noble, McKinley. "Sony’s Utter Hypocrisy: Egoraptor & The Tester". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2014-01-09.
  23. ↑ Valentaten, Daav. "Egoraptor: Tester Entry Was "A Joke"". N4G. Retrieved 2014-01-09.
  24. ↑ Klima, Jeff (October 30, 2013). "Lindsey Stirling Talks Competing On DanceOn's 'Dance Showdown' Season 3, New Album [Interview]". New Media Rockstars. Retrieved 2014-01-14.
  25. ↑ "Dance Showdown Season 3 Finale". DanceOn. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
  26. ↑ "Things You Might Have Not Known About Starfox". Dueling Analogs. 2012-08-06. Retrieved 2014-10-01.
  27. ↑ "This Weird VHS Tape We Found". ScrewAttack Entertainment LLC. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
  28. ↑ "11 February 2008 Gamer Tonight". ABC. 2008-11-02. Retrieved 2014-11-01.
  29. ↑ "What are Arin's/Ross' Plans for Animation? • /r/gamegrumps". reddit. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  30. ↑ Napierski, Steve (2013-12-19). "Luigi’s Ballad". Dueling Analogs. Retrieved 2014-09-02.
  31. ↑ Aviles, Estevan. "STARBOMB AND TOUGH CODED PERFORMING AT SXSW GAMING AWARDS". SXSW.com. SXSW LLC. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  32. ↑ Fahey, Mike (2014-03-18). "The Hottest Ground Zeroes Review Involves A Ghost Pepper". Kotaku. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  33. ↑ Prismatic Games LLC (2014-09-04). "OUR GRUMPIEST ANNOUNCEMENT YET". Kickstarter. Retrieved 2014-12-04.
  34. ↑ Beast's Fury Team (2014-06-20). "Keep Beast's Fury Going! - WE DID IT!!!!". Kickstarter. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  35. ↑ Lada, Jenni (2015-06-10). "Nintendo World Championships 2015 special guests announced". technologytell.com. Retrieved 2015-06-14.
  36. ↑ "Table Flip: Flip tables with the Game Grumps!". Maker Studios. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
  37. ↑ "Hunting Monsters". Polaris. YouTube. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
  38. ↑ Co-Owner of 1 Shirt
  39. ↑ "I WON!! A big THANK YOU!! And Charities!!". Egoraptor. YouTube. Retrieved 2014-01-02.
  40. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHKiGl02NmU
  41. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDCNJdeM9PE
  42. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0WbP2uLJPo
  43. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL5gMWcl9FU

External links

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