I was recently made aware of the fact that one of the voice actors for your protagonist inWarhammer 40,000: Rogue Tradersounds remarkably similar toWhat We Do In The Shadowsstar Matt Berry. Now my world has imploded, and you must join me on my mission to create a Rogue Trader in the mould (note the ‘u’) of the iconic British comedian.
If you don’t know who Matt Berry is, I’m not sure why you clicked on this article. But also, I’m not sure where you’ve been for the past couple of years. Since hitting the cult comedy scene in the ‘00s with the likes of Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, The Mighty Boosh, and The IT Crowd, he’s since gone from strength to strength starring as the titular character in his own creation, Toast of London, and then reaching international audiences with his portrayal of eccentric vampire Laszlo Cravensworth in What We Do In The Shadows.
The thing about Matt Berry is that he isn’t a regular comedian. He’s not about quippy one-liners or insightful observations, he just speaks funny. Much like Rowan Atkinson having such control of his mouth muscles that he can make words like ‘egg’ and ‘Bob’ inherently hilarious, Berry’s wild pronunciations of mundane words or phrases just makes you laugh. Add into that the great writing he’s supplied with, and you’re onto a winner.
What I’m saying is, Matt Berry would make the perfect Rogue Trader. While millionsfancast Henry Cavill as Gregor Eisenhorn, I want to see Berry given a Warrant of Trade and let loose to navigate the Warp. Luckily, Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader can help that dream come true.
The most important thing to do when creating Rogue Trader Berry is to select the right voice. The male ‘bold’ option is the one that really sounds like the English actor’s flamboyant tone, and the rest is down to roleplaying. I’m going for a mix of his characters: terrible boss, eccentric aristocrat, and… struggling voice actor? We’ll work on that last one.
My Berry build is not built for combat, at least aesthetically. I picked the most pompous-looking old money Rogue Trader I could find a picture of, imagined some mutton chops, and created my character from there. The Noble origin is a no-brainer, and an Imperial World makes sense for a support character and for the lore of this trader. However, just because Berry’s barding his way through the warp, buffing his allies as he goes, doesn’t mean he can’t hit hard when necessary.
This isn’t a zombie game, so there is no baseball – or, more appropriately for an English gentleman, cricket – bat to swing at the foul spawn of Chaos, but what is a Thunder Hammer if not an incredibly heavy bat? Whatever you’d categorise it as, I yell “BAT!” at the top of my lungs before every swing to go Full Berry.
It’s amazing how well the likes of Laszlo Cravensworth and Steven Toast fit into the 41st millennium. This is a universe of over-the-top caricatures and lawless lords intent on showcasing their limitless splendour. Rogue Traders can embody so many characters, you could equally imagine Sean Bean playing a grizzled veteran of Cadia or Zendaya as an up-and-coming smooth operator.
“Drive me closer so I can hit them with my sword!” - 40st millennium proverb. Now imagine Matt Berry reading that.
Matt Berry works particularly well though, in large part thanks to the homage – intentional or not – that ‘male bold’ pays to his voice. It also helps that he’s leant his actual voice to countless voice roles in his storied career, and no I’m not counting anything he recorded for Clem Fandango. From Asterix and Obelix, to Spongebob, to reading the Luton Town FC team sheets at Kenilworth Road in 2014, Berry has applied his vocal cords to all manner of characters and media. It feels natural to hear an approximation of his voice as a virtual Rogue Trader.
As the Lord Captain Berry playthrough continues, I’m going to roleplay to the extreme, whenever the opportunity presents itself. I’ll dip into a couple of ranks of Medicae to represent Dr Lucien Sanchez, and open the character up to any possible romance – xenos included – to honour Shadows’ Cravensworth. It’s just a shame that there are no Blood Angels in this game, because some bloodsucking Space Marines would be the final piece of the Matt Berry puzzle.
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