If you’ve spent any time running co-op Void missions in The First Descendant, you’ve definitely noticed Jax’s gruff, commanding tone that cuts through even the loudest Void creature roars. A lot of players end up searching who voices Jax in The First Descendant, because his performance feels so grounded and memorable, it’s hard not to wonder who’s behind the mic. I first noticed his delivery during the opening prologue mission, when he warns your squad about the risk of untested Void energy exposure, and I immediately recognized bits of his tone from other games I love. This guide breaks down everything you need to know about Jax’s voice actor, their past work, how they landed the role, and how their performance influenced Jax’s final design in the game.
Who Voices Jax in The First Descendant? Meet the Actor Behind the Character
The actor behind Jax’s iconic performance is Gideon Emery, a veteran voice actor with over 20 years of experience in video games, animation, and live-action film. When asked about what drew him to the role of Jax in The First Descendant, Emery noted that he loved the character’s complex moral code and his dedication to protecting the people who live on the surface of the Inherit world. Emery is no stranger to the looter shooter and RPG space, so his casting as Jax made perfect sense to long-time fans of his work when Nexon announced the full voice cast ahead of the game’s global launch. He recorded most of his lines over a 6-month period during the game’s final development phase, working closely with the writing team to adjust Jax’s delivery to match the character’s backstory as a former Void Raider who lost his entire squad on a failed mission. I got to see a short clip of his recording sessions during a pre-launch press event, and he mentioned that he intentionally added small cracks in Jax’s tough exterior during emotional lines, to hint at the guilt he carries under his gruff leadership style.
Gideon Emery’s Most Notable Roles Beyond The First Descendant
Most players will recognize Emery’s voice from other popular gaming franchises, even if they don’t realize it at first. His most famous roles span almost every major genre, and his range lets him play everything from snarky sidekicks to intimidating villains. If you’re a fan of how he approaches Jax in The First Descendant, you’ll almost certainly love his work in other titles, since he often brings that same dry charm and quiet authority to every role he takes on.
- Balthier in Final Fantasy XII: One of his earliest breakout video game roles, Balthier’s charming, roguish delivery made him a fan favorite for over 17 years, and many players still cite him as their favorite Final Fantasy character of all time.
- Fuse in Apex Legends: Emery brings the explosive Australian legend to life with his signature rough-around-the-edges charm, a tone he adapted slightly for Jax’s more serious, duty-focused personality.
- Big Boss in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain: He provided additional voice work for the iconic character, honing the quiet, authoritative delivery he uses for many of Jax’s command lines during high-stakes missions.
- Various characters in World of Warcraft, Genshin Impact, and Hogwarts Legacy: Emery has lent his voice to dozens of smaller NPC roles in top-tier games, so you’ve almost certainly heard his work before if you’re a regular gamer.
That range is exactly why the development team picked him for Jax, according to the game’s lead character designer. They needed someone who could sound like a hardened leader that players would trust to guide them through high-stakes missions, but also someone who could convey vulnerability during rare story beats where Jax opens up about his past. He didn’t just read the lines he was given, he added layers to the character that the writing team hadn’t even considered at first.
How Emery’s Performance Shaped Jax’s Final Character Design
A lot of people assume voice actors just read lines off a page, but Emery had a surprising amount of input on Jax’s personality and even some of his in-game lines. The original draft of Jax’s character was much more one-note: a generic tough commander who only barks orders and never shows emotion. But Emery pushed the writing team to add small, human moments for the character, to make him feel more relatable to players who would be interacting with him for dozens of hours of gameplay. For example, the throwaway line Jax says when you revive a teammate mid-mission – “Nice work, that’s how we look out for each other” – was ad-libbed by Emery during a recording session, and the team liked it so much they added it to the game permanently. You can also hear small ad-libs in almost all of Jax’s post-mission dialogue, including little jokes he makes when you turn in a high-level bounty that weren’t in the original script. The team even adjusted Jax’s facial animations to match Emery’s natural delivery, making his in-game expressions line up perfectly with the tone of his lines. That attention to detail is a big part of why Jax feels like such a real, memorable character for so many players.
Fan Reactions to Jax’s Voice Performance
Since the game launched, Jax has consistently ranked as one of the most popular NPC characters in The First Descendant, and a lot of that popularity comes down to Emery’s performance. A lot of fan polls have ranked Jax as the best written NPC in the game, and that win is almost entirely tied to how natural his dialogue feels, thanks to the work of the actor behind Jax in The First Descendant. Fans regularly post clips of his best lines on social media, especially the more emotional moments from the main story campaign where Jax confronts the memory of his lost squad. Many players have said that Jax’s voice is one of the things that kept them engaged with the main story, even when they were just grinding for better loot between missions. There’s even a small subset of fans who have created fan art and custom voice line mods that add more of Jax’s quips to the game, which Emery has shared on his personal social media accounts multiple times. Of course, there are a small number of players who find Jax’s constant lines during missions a bit distracting, especially if you’re running the same repeatable bounty for the 10th time. If you fall into that camp, you can easily turn down NPC dialogue volume in the game’s audio settings, so you don’t have to miss out on other in-game audio cues just to avoid repeated lines. It’s worth noting that the development team has already announced plans to add more unique Jax lines in a future content update, so even if you’ve grown tired of his current lines, you’ll have new content to look forward to soon.
Next time you’re loading into a Void mission and hear Jax’s familiar voice giving your squad a pre-mission briefing, you’ll know exactly who is putting in the work to bring that character to life. Finding out who voices Jax in The First Descendant opens up a whole new layer of appreciation for the care that went into building the game’s cast of characters, and it’s always fun to recognize a voice actor’s work across different games you love. If you want to hear more of Emery’s work, you can check out his full filmography online, or keep an ear out for his other roles the next time you’re playing a new RPG or looter shooter.