Brice Armstrong

For millions of American kids who grew up on the Funimation dub of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, Brice Armstrong's voice was the first thing they heard when the show started and the last thing they heard before the credits rolled. As the English narrator of the franchise, the Texas-born Armstrong delivered those cliffhanger tags and saga recaps with a warm, theatrical authority that made every episode feel like the next chapter of a serialized adventure novel. His narration set the tone for the whole English-language run of the series, stitching together the Saiyan, Namek, Android, and Cell sagas with a voice that fans still quote from memory.

Alongside the narration he voiced Captain Ginyu, the body-swapping leader of the Ginyu Force, in the Funimation redub of Dragon Ball Z and in nearly every subsequent video game appearance from Budokai through Raging Blast.

Armstrong worked deep inside the Funimation Texas dubbing scene through the 1990s and 2000s, and his credits fan out across the era's biggest titles. He also turned up as Lord Slug in Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug, voiced Senbei Norimaki in the original Dragon Ball crossover episodes with Dr. Slump, and played the narrator for Dragon Ball: The Path to Power. Outside of the Z world he appeared in Yu Yu Hakusho as Master Metamira and The Principal, as Tim Marcoh in Fullmetal Alchemist, as Lord Ieyasu in Basilisk, and as Chairman Victor in Blue Gender, along with a long list of one-off roles in Case Closed, Samurai 7, and Kiddy Grade.

Within the original Dragon Ball itself, Armstrong voiced so many minor townsfolk, commentators, and bit players that his name appears beside dozens of characters in a single season.

Armstrong retired from voice acting in 2009, and several of his recurring roles were quietly recast for later Dragon Ball projects. He passed away on January 10, 2020, at the age of 84, survived by his wife Marianna Ash, six children, and nine grandchildren. The reaction from the Dragon Ball fan community was immediate and heartfelt, with tributes pouring out from former castmates and from fans who had grown up listening to him set the stage for every Goku transformation and every Ginyu Force pose.

His narration remains preserved on every classic Funimation broadcast and home video release of Dragon Ball Z, a permanent voice memory of the show's first English life.