It’s Official, Bayonetta’s OG Voice Actor Won’t Be Returning For The Third

PlatinumGames has confirmed Hellena Taylor – the voice of Bayonetta in the first two games, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and the animated movie Bayonetta: Bloody Fate – will not be reprising her role in Bayonetta 3.

Speaking to Game Informer, director Yusuke Miyata explained how “various overlapping circumstances” meant Taylor was unable to return for the third outing. The company held casting auditions, and that’s how Jennifer Hale scored the role. Here’s the full explanation (via Nintendo Everything):

“Various overlapping circumstances made it difficult for Hellena Taylor to reprise her role. We held auditions to cast the new voice of Bayonetta and offered the role to Jennifer Hale, whom we felt was a good match for the character. I understand the concerns some fans have about the voice change at this point in the series, but Jennifer’s performance was way beyond what we could have imagined. I’m confident that her portrayal of Bayonetta will exceed our fans’ expectations.”

Jennifer Hale has had an incredibly successful career so far doing voice-overs for all sorts of games. She’s perhaps best known for her role as the female Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect series, which recently returned as the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition in May last year. For Nintendo fans, she also voiced Samus Aran in the three main Metroid Prime games.

You can hear her in action in the trailer below and listen to more in a restricted trailer on YouTube.

Hellena Taylor first hinted she might not be reprising the role of Bayonetta in September last year. One other fun fact – Bayonetta’s VA in the Japanese version of Bayonetta 3 is still voiced by Atsuko Tanaka.

How do you feel about this change in the English version of Bayonetta 3? Comment below.