Takeshi Aono was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator that affiliated to Aoni Production. His frequently known role in the Ultraman Series was Alien Zarab.
Death
In May 2010, Aono checked into a hospital for an aortic dissection and suffered a stroke shortly thereafter, thus ending his career as a voice actor. His ongoing roles were replaced with other voice actors.
At about 4:38 pm on April 9, 2012, Aono suffered a bout of post-operative multiple cerebral infractions and was found dead. Voice actress Eiko Hisamura announced Aono's death via her Twitter feed, and video game designer Hideo Kojima stated via his Twitter that he will retire the Roy Campbell character from the Metal Gear series out of respect for Aono. Aono was 75 years old at the time of his death.
Roles
Voice acting
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Ultraman | Alien Zarab | Also suit actor Episode 18 "Brother from Another Planet" |
| 1979 | The☆Ultraman | Man A | Episode 20 "This is the Ultra Star! Part 2" |
| 1986 | Ultraman Kids Proverb Stories | Grosser | |
| 1989 | Ultraman: The Adventure Begins | General Cooper | Japanese dub |
| 1991 | Ultraman Kids: 30 Million Light-Years in Search of Mother | Grosser | |
| 1997 | Ultraman Dyna | Himala | Episode 12 "Mysterious Thief Himala" |
| 2006 | Ultraman Mebius & the Ultra Brothers | Alien Zarab | |
| 2009 | Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle: Never Ending Odyssey | Episode 8 "Shoot the Infiltrator!" | |
| Mega Monster Battle Ultra Galaxy: The Movie |
Other Roles
- Space Battleship Yamato - Voice of Shiro Sanada
- Fist of the North Star - Voice of Rihaku
- GeGeGe no Kitaro - Voice of Nurarihyon
- Kiteretsu Daihyakka - Voice of Kumahachi Kumada
- Ninja Scroll - Voice of Dakuan
- Tekken 5/Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection - Voice of Jinpachi Mishima (Demon form)
- Chibi Maruko-chan - Voice of Tomozō Sakura
- PlayStation-era Mega Man games - Voice of Dr. Wily
- Metal Gear Solid - Voice of Colonel Roy Campbell
- Transformers Victory - Voice of Deathsaurus
- Dragon Ball & Dragon Ball Z - Voices of Kami, King Piccolo, Ninja Murasaki
- One Piece - Voices of Dracule Mihawk and the second voice of Mayor Woop Slap
- GinTama - Voice of Gengai Hiraga
- Inuyasha - Voice of Kaijinbō
- Naruto - Voice of Tazuna
- Mega Man 8 - Voice of Dr. Wily
- Mega Man X6 - Voices of Isoc and Ground Scaravich
- CLANNAD - Voice of Toshio Komura
- Outlaw Star - Voices of Gwen Khan and Swanzo
- Shaman King - Voice of Asakura Yohmei
- Yu-Gi-Oh! (1998 version) - Voice of Sugoroku Muto
- Yu-Gi-Oh! GX - Voice of Albert Zweinstein
- Batman: The Animated Series - Dub voice of Joker
Trivia
- Takeshi Aono provided narrations for Ultra Kaiju Great Encyclopedia, a series of short videos made in the 1980s at some point after the end of Ultraman 80 in home video releases to document the appearing Ultra Kaiju and their features. In the segment for Alien Zarab, Aono instead reprised his role, appearing as if the alien gave his self documentary and how he came close to succeeding in his plans had it not been for Ultraman's intervention.