Christopher Ayres

For the journalist, see Chris Ayres.

Christopher Owen Ayres (May 16, 1965, Richmond, Virginia - October 18, 2021, Houston, Texas) was an American voice actor best-known for voicing anime characters. He was the brother of Greg Ayres.

Occasionally his surname was listed as Ayers instead of Ayres, however this spelling is incorrect as his legal name was "Christopher Ayres".

He was best known for his roles as Frieza in Dragon Ball Z Kai and Dragon Ball Super, Kei Kurono from Gantz, Prince Soma from Black Butler and Shingen Takeda from the Sengoku Basara series.

Ayres got his start in voice acting at ADV Films on Kino's Journey as an extra. Chris has since gone onto voicing in many productions by ADV and soon expanding to FUNimation's talent pool; not only as a voice actor, but as a voice director and script writer. Ayres won the 2012 Staff Choice Award for Best Male Vocal Performance in an Anime Title in a Supporting Role as Frieza in Dragon Ball Z Kai at the 1st Annual BTVA Voice Acting Awards.

In 2017, Ayres was diagnosed with advanced COPD and final stage emphysema. This illness kept him from voice acting since March of that year. A fundraiser launched in November of that year raised over $38,000 of a $25,000 goal in fan donations for Ayres' medical expenses. Daman Mills filled in as Ayres' understudy as Frieza in Dragon Ball Super lest he was too ill to perform or something worse occurrede.

In November 2019, it had been announced that Ayres had successfully undergone a double lung transplant.

Ayres died on October 18, 2021, at the age of 56, following years of complications from pulmonary disease. His death was announced on Twitter the following day by his girlfriend and fellow voice actress, Krystal LaPorte, and his friend and colleague, Sean Schemmel.

Anime

 * Air Gear - Okuhira, DJ Plugman
 * Birdy the Mighty Decode - Bacillus
 * Black Butler - Prince Soma
 * Case Closed: The Last Wizard of the Century - Sergei Ovchinnikov
 * Claymore - Dauf
 * Coyote Ragtime Show - Hewlett
 * Darker than BLACK - Masashi Hitotsubashi
 * Diamond Daydreams - Kenji Kurata
 * Desert Punk - Sawada
 * Devil May Cry: The Animated Series - Sid
 * Dragon Ball Z Kai - Frieza
 * E's Otherwise - Kyou; Rick
 * Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Lt. General Raven
 * Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu - Atsunobu Hayashimizu
 * Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid - Wraith
 * Gantz - Kei Kurono
 * Ghost Hound - Takahito Komagusu
 * Ghost Hunt - Reimei Minami
 * Golgo 13 - Dave McCartney
 * Halo Legends - Covenant Commander, Operator (The Package)
 * Initial D: Third Stage - Miki
 * Innocent Venus - Riki, Dr. Nabuto
 * Jing, King of Bandits: Seventh Heaven - Maraschino
 * Kaleido Star - Mr. Patrova
 * Kiba - Morris
 * Maburaho - Yukihiko Nakamaru
 * Megazone 23 Part II - Cujo
 * Nanaka 6/17 - Jinpachi Arashiyama
 * One Piece - Johnny, Mr. 11
 * Papuwa - Oshodani
 * Peacemaker Kurogane - Keisuke Yamanami
 * Project Blue Earth SOS - Kintaro Oyama
 * Romeo × Juliet - Camillo
 * Sengoku Basara - Shingen Takeda
 * Sgt. Frog - 3M
 * Super Dimensional Fortress Macross - Lynn Kaifun
 * Speed Grapher - Chouji Suitengu
 * Spice and Wolf - Assessor
 * Tactics - Hasumi Ryokan
 * Tears to Tiara - Arthur
 * Tokyo Majin - Ryuuzan Arai
 * Trinity Blood - Isaak Fernand von Kämpfer
 * Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle - Nanto
 * Utawarerumono - Niwe
 * The Wallflower - George
 * Xam'd Lost Memories - Kisel-ji
 * Xenosaga: The Animation - Jin Uzuki
 * Yugo the Negotiator - Yusuf Ali Mesa
 * Yumeria - Sousyu

ADR Director

 * Magikano
 * Nerima Daikon Brothers
 * The Wallflower
 * Xenosaga: The Animation

Stage performances

 * Peter Pan (Broadway musical as Slightly)

Video game

 * The Last Remnant - Wagram