Vic Mignogna

Name:	Vic Mignogna
Also Known As:
Occupation:	Actor
Medium:	Voice-Acting, Music, Film
Works:	Fullmetal Alchemist, Ouran High School Host Club, Dragonball Z, RWBY, many others
Official Website(s):	https://www.vicsworld.net/
Fan Website(s):	https://www.risemboolrangers.com/
On Fanlore:	Related pages

Vic Mignogna is an American actor, voice-actor, and singer best known for his contributions to Funimation-produced English anime dubs. He voiced Edward Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist, Tamaki Suoh in Ouran High School Host Club, Broly in Dragonball Z, and Qrow Branwen in RWBY.

In 2019, several allegations of misconduct were made against Mignogna, and both Funimation and Rooster Teeth ceased working with him. The controversy over these allegations is usually considered to be part of Animegate.

Fandom

Vic Mignogna worked in voice acting starting in the late 90's, but rose to prominence as a result of his work on the 2004 Fullmetal Alchemist anime. He fully embraced the fandom, naming his personal fanclub "The Risembool Rangers" after a location in the series. He also recorded his own English version of a song from the series, "Bratja (Brothers)," which he occasionally performed at cons.

He continued this trend of posting covers of songs associated with characters he played through his casting in Ouran High School Host Club as Tamaki and in Free! as Rin Matsuoka. He was a popular con guest, and there are many videos of him online interacting with fans and saying various things in-character on request.

Mignogna is a Christian, a fact that he has been outspoken about both in-person and online. He formerly led worship at a church in Houston and has described his voice acting career as a " has opened so many doors for me to get to share my faith with tens of thousands of people." He has discussed his relationship with Christianity during panels and has led church services at cons on Sunday mornings. Several instances in which Vic expressed discomfort with shonen-ai and yaoi involving characters he's voiced led to many fans calling him homophobic and a concerted effort to prevent him from being cast in the dub for Free!, a series that includes a lot of hinting at slash between characters.

Fan reactions to Vic tended to be fairly polarized:

Honestly, he's my most favorite voice actor. Some of my favorite characters are voiced by him. And yes, one of those characters is Broly. Preferably, the canon one. He's even the most charismatic and humble guy I've ever seen. Hell, I even sent him an email once and he answered back!

UltraSaiyan214, date unknown

Vic's Edward is just a little too dry and scratchy. He sounds like he needs some sort of lozenge or throat spray. Sometimes he whispers a bit too much. It's just not all that his fans make it out to be. I've heard Edward Elric, my friends, and Vic Mignogna is no Edward Elric. He may be fine in other roles, but in this one he's substandard. At least he managed to improve somewhat towards the end, and is more tolerable in the movie, but it's still no Romi Paku. An overrated performance.

Penguin Truth, 2009

So, if you don't know who Vic Mignogna is, than you should. End of story. He is the most amazing voice actor in the history of voice actors. Plus, he's got the attractiveness and all. Don't mess with him! Seriously, though. He has a huge fan-following that call him their leader, and they'll beat you up. I'm in that fan-club. So is a lot of people all over the world. That makes Vic a very dangerous man to mess with. Fan boys and girls are second to mobsters. So, he's like the Scarface of voice actors.

willyouloveme, 2009

...a mostly competent cast blotted by one spectacularly wrong voice a la Vic Mignogna in Ouran High School Host Club (every day I am thankful that we’ve moved into an era where that man only works parts that suit him rather than whichever one he decided he liked that week)

Vrai Kaiser, 2009

Discussion of his behavior toward fans at cons also revealed a lot of different experiences:

So right after Sandhal, I pass the Lightspeed booth and VicMignogna was there and no one in line. I’ve passively wanted him for a while. I’ve either missed him or he’s cancelled or I ran out of time or his scheduled changed.

Now was the time. I had nowhere I needed to be at the moment and I still had a little money in my pockets.

He was a super nice guy. He would have talked as long as I wanted. He stood the whole time and really seemed engaged with what I was saying. And even though all those things were going for me, I had nothing to say. I hate that. At times, I’m clever and chatty and other times I’m a dud. Oh well, I got my autograph.

Autograph Hound, 2013

Anyone here have any bad experiences meeting any Anime Voice actor/actresses?

I'm asking out of morbid curiosity as a friend of mine who said they met Vic Mignogna. And he wasn't exactly friendly with them.

He refused to sign a FMA doujinshi she had, claiming he doesn't sign 'that yaoi crap'. When it wasn't and when she tried to show it to him, he just kept saying no and told her to keep the line going. She also said he didn't seem to be in a sour mood because later she saw him laughing and getting along with a few other fans. The experience left her a bit dishearten because she was a really big fan of his.

MahouOkashiShojo, 2011

I have a feeling that Vic insisting that his characters aren't gay might mean he's at least a little homophobic, and this frankly probably does have something to do with his religion, but I'd say calling him an "asshole" is a bit much. There are a lot of clips of him speaking at various cons up on You Tube and I've never seen him be anything but kind and generous to his fans and to other voice actors.

Sporkaganza, 2010

I'm somewhat surprised to see all the Vic hate. I met him at Anime St. Louis about 5 years ago and he seemed like a really nice, friendly guy.

I guess my experience was the exception rather than the rule. How depressing

Enjiru, 2011

Some fans also brought up what they perceived as inappropriate towards younger fans, while others dismissed such concerns:

I saw Vic host the Masquerade at Dragoncon in 2013, and the sexual jokes he mare towards the children entrants made my blood boil. He is despicable.

Nicole Girage, 2014

I got the honor to meet with him back 05' at I-Con and you will catch him flirting with the some of the girls since apparently he's seen by many of the female otaku as a good looker.

chucksanimeblog, 2008

Misconduct Allegations

In January 2019, a twitter user known as @hanleia alleged that Vic Mignogna was a bad guest at cons and "creepy" toward young girls. An Anime News Network article recounting uncomfortable interactions between Mignogna and fans was followed by allegations of inappropriate behavior from Mignogna's co-workers Monica Rial and Jamie Marchi. As a result of this controversy, both Funimation and Rooster Teeth publicly stated that they were no longer working with him.

Fan reactions to the allegations were divided:

It's about time this started getting attention in the mainstream fan press. I remember one of my friends being warned about Vic at a con I attended over ten years ago. He's been getting away with this creepy bullcrap for a long time and it should be brought to light. Fans deserve to know what sort of people they're interacting with.

Wyvern, 2019

Mixed feelings on this, certain things seem harmless, kissing on the cheek is something that while may not be liked, is not something to make a deal out of. I also wonder if that homophobia thing is like what happened with Greg Ayres(who is gay) when some Yaoi fangirls got mad at him for apparently not liking a show. On the other hand his relationship with the children seems rather shady, even if it is innocent, it still lacks tact on his part.

MarshalBanana, 2019

Vic Mignogna has been accused of sexual misconduct, supposedly over the past couple of years. The English VA for Bulma has made claims against him, and now a couple of fans who have seen him at cons have started to share stories of how he acted “creepy” or how he acted inappropriately.

The “evidence” they are using is heresay, and the occasional picture of Vic hugging someone. Many people’s claims are either “I heard someone say….” Or “He hugged me and I wasn’t comfortable with it.”

The only legitimate thing that Vic is guilty of, that has any evidence to support it, is hugging his fans. He thousands of fans requesting hugs and sometimes even a kiss on the cheek; and he of course obliges because he is an affectionate person and he wants to show his fans his appreciation. He got used to the majority being okay with it, and forgot that some people aren’t comfortable with hugs.

Daniela Brinkmeyer, 2019

Legal Issues

Following his firing by Funimation, Mignogna sued the company and the voice actresses who accused him, accusing them of attempting to ruin his career. All involved parties filed countersuits, resulting in a legal battle that is still ongoing. Mignogna filed his most recent appeal in November 2022.

As a Fan

Mignogna is a big fan of Star Trek and was involved in the development of the fanmade webseries Star Trek Continues, in which he also portrayed Captain Kirk.