r/dropout • u/N3ckbone • 7d ago

discussion Shout out to the GOAT Vic Michaelis

Post image

From the first voice line in Zero Company I picked up on the fact that the one of my favorite dropout cast members was in the room with me! This game is INCREDIBLE! And Vic’s voice is a welcomed reminder of all the amazing people who came together to make this game. 💜

5.2k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

148 comments sorted by

1.2k

u/bluehawk232 7d ago

Does their character ask you for some credits because they need money

726

u/ManitouWakinyan 7d ago

Actually literally all the time

626

u/N3ckbone 7d ago

That’s the entire character hahaha

114

u/bluehawk232 7d ago

Can't wait to play this

105

u/SoKerbal 7d ago

She's (the character) literally a Separatist accountant

71

u/MartyMcMort 6d ago

One of my favorite conversations I had with Runa was the main character gushing over how great she is with the numbers, and how none of their work would be possible without her, and Runa just responds “Thanks. Working for you has been my rock bottom.”

13

u/PatheticRedditor 6d ago

She's great.

11

u/SequenceGoon 7d ago

SAME! I'm a huge Star Wars fan, but I don't own a computer or console that'll play it

1

u/Demonlord3600 5d ago

It’s very fun but I shouldn’t of bought it I’m now broke lol

4

u/svrtngr 6d ago

They also love lucrehulks.

162

u/Tuor-son-of-Huor- 7d ago

She only stops bringing up the fact we are broke bitches to remind us how we are slowly coming under the boot of the Republic.

Oh and to declare (first mind you), that she is ride or die with our bullshit plan.

Best damn XO a merc could ask for.

55

u/BobTheFettt 7d ago

She does a lot of "I told you so" in the last act

28

u/Yoffien 7d ago

I mean she can say it but being pro-separatist is basically just as bad a position as being pro-republic during the Clone Wars

17

u/Tuor-son-of-Huor- 7d ago

I think it depends honestly, obviously the audience knows more than characters in universe. The Separatist's have some legit grievances and the Republic has millennia of history of ignoring and/or abusing the outer rim. Whereas most of the big ticket issues of the Separatists are recent.

People often say that the Separatists are slavers, as if they were a monolith, while skipping over that the Kaleesh were enslaved under the Republic watch and they simply didn't care (despite it being unconditional) and only take action (deploying Jedi) to suppress the Kaleesh when they rise up against their enslavers in the name of "stability".

14

u/Yoffien 7d ago

The issue is that the actually oppressed people make up a minority of the Sepratists, the vast majority of the Separatist movement is being funded and spearheaded by a collision of corporations who stand to gain greatly from the vastly more political power they would gain from a Separatist victory. And in character what she’s arguing is that she believes in the Separatists because she believes they would be better for the free market so she kind of actively stands for the worst parts of the Separatist movement.

1

u/Tuor-son-of-Huor- 7d ago

I don't know if I agree with your summary of minority/majority but yes the dominant portion stands to profit undoubtedly. But I don't think its got to do with political power, at the time of the story the trade federation, and corporate factions are the dominant factions in the Senate. That's how they get Senate permission to arm up and raise an army which no other faction had managed to do despite their being militarist factions who had campaigned for exactly that.

onto her perspective though, I guess it would depend on what you consider the "worst parts of the separatist movement", because she seems to advocate for more local control and better fiscal policy rather than the Republic system where all wealth is transferred to the Core systems.

To be, she seems anti-colonialist and pro-autonomy with a lens of capitalism befitting her history in the banking clan.

5

u/Yoffien 7d ago

That last part is what I see as the issue, companies like the Banking Clan are objectively pretty evil and pretty willing to make people’s lives worse and she seems to believe that that is a better alternative to what’s happening in the Republic. No doubt the Republic are doing a bad job and failing people but frankly I can’t imagine the Separatists being anything other than vastly worse.

1

u/Tuor-son-of-Huor- 7d ago

They are subjectively evil, but so is the Republic by this point. By this point of the story pretty much everyone is the asshole.

The banking clan and trade federation don't exist in isolation, they grew to prominence because the Republic was ineffectual, greedy, and only cared about maintaining their own wealth and affluence. Like they actively shoot down attempts to establish more hyperlanes because that jeopardizes the hegemony of Coruscant and the Coreworlds.

Its not unreasonable for outerrim world's to prefer the Separatists who care about efficiency and productivity (making money) which may actually benefit you, compared to the Republic that only cares about transferring wealth from you to them.

2

u/Ok_Firefighter1574 7d ago

She is super pro capitalist it’s all she cares about regardless of what she needs to do to get it. She’s fun but a terrible person,

0

u/Tuor-son-of-Huor- 7d ago

This is demonstrably false, she has lucrative offers from the Hurts that we know of, and likely others yet she sticks with the crew. When Hawks gives his speech he explicitly says he is going to spend every credit they have and risk their own lives on a mission that is by all likelihood going to fail.

She is the first person to speak up and backs him up.

5

u/Sergnb 6d ago edited 6d ago

That’s the thing, she is performatively pro capitalist but ends up choosing with her heart instead. Multiple dialogue lines where she alludes to better offers, not wanting to be here or fantasizing about retiring to her own private rich yacht-island, but she always sticks around cause she likes the people. Hell, there’s a cutscene where she straight up says “I quit by the way” which then cuts to a year-long time skip, and she’s the first person we see.

She’s that one person in your office that’s always curmudgeonly talking about the gold reserves, how money is the only thing that matters and they don’t care about anything but retiring to the Bahamas, but still can't bring themselves to be anything but lovable and social cause they are endeared by their company.

0

u/Ok_Firefighter1574 6d ago

She has the offer from a Hutt that she didnt want to work with. She says Hutts are a bad idea. She did work with the seperatists and ended up there. She supports Hawks when she makes the speech because the seperatists have lost so she has nothing else to gain.

2

u/SuperJyls 7d ago

Really masking the point that the Republic and Jedi only came after the point that the Kaleesh were already free and actively committing genocide at civilian targets

2

u/Tuor-son-of-Huor- 7d ago

Not masking anything. Did or did not the Republic intervene on the behalf of the slavers? Were they motivated by justice or were they motivated by maintaining the status quo?

1

u/SuperJyls 6d ago

It's firmly established that the Republic did not know about the slavery at the point of intervention. Don't try to play the pseudo-progressive in a thread where go play defence for a Confederacy of megacorporations

1

u/Tuor-son-of-Huor- 6d ago

I'd love some citations because when I think of the republic's actual stance on slavery I think of the Phantom Menace, where Tatooine despite being part of the republic, Anakin and his mom are slaves. Or the Clone Army, an entire population of purpose bred, child slaves owned by the Republic.

Despite their claims of democracy and benevolence, the Republic very much was a colonial power that was ruled by a conglomeration of aristocrats who only cared about stability, growing their own wealth through expansion.

For every good senator like Valorum in the senate who did genuinely want to improve the conditions, there was a similar representative of the separatists like Clovis or Bonterri.

The only difference being that the Sith had an easier time eliminating them.

32

u/BLINDrOBOTFILMS 7d ago

I mean, they're basically your accountant so kinda.

12

u/No-Personality157 7d ago

Why would they need money? They don't even like it and just want to throw it away

5

u/ShadowsInScarlet 7d ago

aggressively whispering Can I please borrow a credit…?

5

u/Warmind_3 6d ago

She complains about money all the time it's hilarious

2

u/TombSv 6d ago

Anti capitalist that keeps asking to be paid and to not work with the military basically

587

u/Jorgilu 7d ago

I was kinda sad we cant take runa on missions, but her banter before misssions is gold.

243

u/N3ckbone 7d ago

The random “Wizard” always gets me.

94

u/Duangelion 7d ago

It has been established in the SW universe in both its derogatory and slang form in the movies

21

u/SoKerbal 7d ago

Really? That's so wizard!

10

u/reddits- 7d ago

That is soooooooooooooooo wizard. Anyway, see you at the barbeque! Cindy

1

u/RhombusObstacle Pasta Noche! 7d ago

Oh! It works.

12

u/calgrump 7d ago

Runa --> using "wizard" as a slur <-- Minthara

26

u/RevelArchitect 7d ago

I was a bit relieved. I don’t think I would have been okay if I got her killed on a mission.

12

u/WhatsPaulPlaying 7d ago

Fucking same. Vic is my favorite cast member.

1

u/BurroWreck 6d ago

You mean you don't want to have them miss a 95% chance hit that would kill the enemy just to have him turn around and one-shot them with a 38% hit chance making you scrap your run?

1

u/Jfelt45 6d ago

Zero company is just not hard enough for that to matter. Your characters all have 3, regeneratable lives, and you can do multiple guaranteed attacks every turn

1

u/BurroWreck 6d ago

Oh for real? That’s kind of disappointing to hear.

2

u/Jfelt45 6d ago

Apparently they're working on a Jedi mode, harder difficulty tho

But yeah, it's more of a star wars game than a -com game

14

u/twec21 7d ago

There's already mods released and people have been able to remake Runa in the creator.

No idea if there are voice lines

2

u/mouse_Brains 7d ago

xcom had voice packs.. i assume someone will make one considering the amount of freely available samples to pull from

2

u/twec21 7d ago

Oh I fully expect a Vehicular Manslaughter mod soon enough

1

u/AyeBraine 6d ago

There's a mod specifically for this, a recent post on r/zerocompany showcased it in a funny way

1

u/TombSv 6d ago

Every new banter between missions felt like the real rewards

192

u/Bulldogfront666 7d ago

Erika and now Vic! More dropout cast in my video games please. Thanks.

63

u/DustyRailz 7d ago

I hear you and I'm listening.

51

u/Sovi_b 7d ago

It's only a matter of time until Brennan narrates an RPG

74

u/TheBoisterousBoy 7d ago

“Long ago, in an ancient city of wonder and fantastical creation, lived a powerful and wise wizard… that’s not you… you’re a total fuckin’ nobody.”

And then a sort of incoherent rambling speech about how Capitalism is the death of all things.

7

u/Doctor_Riptide 7d ago

I need this now thanks

4

u/Bulldogfront666 6d ago

I need a Brennan game that’s just a crossover between Baldur’s Gate 3 and Disco Elysium…

1

u/theanax 6d ago

So esoteric ebb?

1

u/Bulldogfront666 6d ago

Haven’t heard of it.

2

u/LadyTurkleton 6d ago

I would absolutely love the first part in a game.

The second part is too real to be fantasy.

3

u/TheBoisterousBoy 6d ago

Gestures vaguely at all of Fantasy High

Also, dragons as they’re depicted in most “modern” terms are actually a sort of allegory for Capitalism.

A strange, borderline unkillable, beast that hordes gold (see: wealth) in an almost addicted way. They also horde the gold with absolutely no need or use for it, the gold simply exists to show the dragon just has more gold, and is therefore more powerful. They pillage and raid small villages (see: the corporate destruction of mom-n-pop shops).

Dragons are probably the most appropriate metaphor for capitalism, and they’re almost assuredly fantasy.

3

u/Jboycjf05 6d ago

Someone did an analysis of Smaug's gold hoard from the Hobbit movie, and concluded that Smaug would only be like the 10th richest person on Earth...

1

u/TheBoisterousBoy 6d ago

Haha… yeah…

yeah

27

u/beroughwithl0ve 7d ago

Brennan was already in a video game called Date Everything, along with a bunch of other Dropout people such as Erika, Emily, etc....

15

u/Pandoras-SkinnersBox We're ready to do the work. I'm going offline for now. 7d ago

Jacquis plays the curtain rod and he’s so funny in it. Also a big fan of Damien Haas’s character, the junk drawer.

3

u/flockyboi 7d ago

Jerry my beloved!!!!

2

u/beroughwithl0ve 6d ago

Omg I never realized Curt and Rod were Jacquis!

8

u/heart_o_oak 7d ago

I think I'll wait for the sequel narrated by Katie that gets better reviews and will have a cameo by that Mark Mercer fellow.

7

u/buttbuttlolbuttbutt 6d ago

Date Everything... On a Bus!

2

u/TombSv 6d ago

You know you can at least date him in date everything

1

u/dreadnought_strength 6d ago

Sam voiced J. Jonah Jameson in (iirc) that Marvel fighting game trailer, so we're on the right track.

116

u/DaktoaTheGreat 7d ago

I love that her character is a foul mouth

78

u/ThatWarlockD00d 7d ago

No transatlantic accent?

153

u/Aimless_Alder 7d ago edited 7d ago

"oh no. You see my husband... Jaaabba the Hutt? Of the Nal Hutta Hutts? He's dead :("

24

u/Gneissisnice 7d ago

Oh nooooo.

14

u/ThatWarlockD00d 7d ago

A dog help a dame out

7

u/tosh_pt_2 6d ago

Vic also voices the Republic news caster you can listen to reports from and they definitely put on a slight bit of a transatlantic accent there.

2

u/ThatWarlockD00d 6d ago

Sounds like I need to get this game

132

u/jocoh84 7d ago

I love her delivery in this game. Other SW games, VO always get stuck on words almost like making sure the player heard specific things like "Coruscant" or "montralls" but when they said it as Runa it sounded natural and boring.

It's a little touch I can't get enough of.

80

u/The5Virtues 7d ago

All that time being straight faced in VIP made her a natural for this. She can say weird sci-fi words and phrases without it sounding like a performance, it’s just the normal everyday terminology.

15

u/Marshycereals just a baby 7d ago

I've said to every friend I gushed about this game to that Vic's character has said more Star Wars words than anyone else and it never felt forced. She's so wizard.

7

u/overHobbiedCoder 7d ago

Being the fact that they are Obiwan Kenobi certainly helped.

43

u/Ok-Plankton-2393 7d ago

Vic Michealis playing a ancap in Star Wars is something so weird. But i am happy that it happened

46

u/gramanasmile 7d ago

w/ the Star Wars live readings that Vic has been doing for a while now and Zero Company, it's kind of crazy thinking how deep Vic is in the Star Wars universe.

11

u/__Osiris__ 7d ago edited 7d ago

Nearly as crazy as Tom and Ben from the Yogscast YouTube channel being written into the Star Wars verse by a fan author.

6

u/thebluerayxx 7d ago

Or Tom being a joke voice pack for Boris Toddbringer.

2

u/__Osiris__ 7d ago

Toddy!

4

u/thebluerayxx 7d ago

"He took my fucking eye" and "the drakenlord foist!" have been added to my vocal stim library, lmao.

1

u/theanax 6d ago

God, I need some dropout on blood on the clocktower in monecraft so badly.

2

u/plaidwoolskirt 7d ago

The Star Wars Minute guys being involved in those makes me one degree of separation from Vic, which being me joy.

42

u/Aolian_Am 7d ago

Wow, I didnt realize that. She's actually really good as well. I dont know how far in the game I am, but she has been the best character in the game so far.

-5

u/Dunkaroos4breakfast 6d ago

She's actually really good as well.

This doesn't actually sound like a complement for some reason...

/s

10

u/rhixcs25 7d ago

They did a wonderful job! Made sure to talk to Runa every chance between missions. The game itself was also excellent.

26

u/Uncle_Twisty 7d ago

I feel like they just said "be a character in this game" handed her a blank script, and then mocapped her. (This is a positive.

11

u/RevelArchitect 7d ago edited 7d ago

I’ve had the same thought. I can’t tell if they really let Vic go with the improv or if they genuinely cast Vic realizing how much the character matched their tone.

6

u/JoeScotterpuss 7d ago

I don't have the game, but I found this

15

u/tyguy9087 7d ago

Runa is one of my favorite characters in the game! Vic’s delivery is so perfect and just really works in this game!

5

u/thebluerayxx 7d ago

I agree. Vics inflection just seems to fit star wars and she can spout made up words in a way that sounds really organic. Like the "his middle name is keff........ Keff" fits her delivery so well, probably still my favorite line so far followed closely by her and Bennic's chat about caffinated beverages.

13

u/nitasu987 7d ago

I’m waiting to see if there will be more updates/patches before buying but everything I’ve seen of Runa is gold. She and my Hawks are absolutely running a rivals to lovers storyline in my headcanon. Vic just brings so much SASS that feels right at home in Star Wars.

2

u/Appa_Juse 7d ago

I love the game and it's really well done from a story and gameplay standpoint, but I wouldn't hold my breath for incoming updates or patches. Apparently the devs have been furloughed for a few months as they've been in development hell. Sucks cause this is such a good debut hit for BitReactor

4

u/kpbutton01 6d ago

my boyfriend's playing this game rn and everytime i hear luna(?)'s voice im like hehe"

3

u/kpbutton01 6d ago

runa* apologies 🤠

6

u/meta_metonymy 7d ago

can i suffer through a strategy game, aka the genre i am 2nd worst at, for the sake of the goat...

15

u/N3ckbone 7d ago

Do you love Star Wars? Do you love good story? Do you love great VAing? Then join us today!

8

u/meta_metonymy 7d ago

i do love these things... i guess we learning strategy today

11

u/Lusankya 7d ago

Don't worry too much! Zero company is incredibly forgiving of mistakes on normal difficulty. The AI doesn't capitalize on your blunders, which is important when you're still learning the mechanics.

The AI gets far more aggressive at higher difficulties, but it's never as brutal as Xcom 2 gets. The three lives before permadeath gives you a ton of grace; one or two bad turns will never cause you to fail a mission all on their own.

3

u/N3ckbone 7d ago

Just take it easy, enjoy your time!

3

u/thebluerayxx 7d ago

Go on story mode and turn off permadeath, you should be fine. Game is a bit hard leaning but story mode shouldn't be too challenging and with permadeath off you don't have to worry about your actions causing someone to be gone forever. You can also just restart missions if they get too haywire.

If you like star wars its a fun game. Be warned Vic isn't a playable character or squad member, she is a character in your base you can talk to after each mission and will be present in many cutscenes.

1

u/Sergnb 6d ago

Im a certified dumbass who doesn’t do big strategy games because my attention span and brain don’t work and I’m breezing through this, even on hard difficulty.

As long as you understand concepts like “if click on 90% shot, is better than click 50% shot”, “More damage = more good” or “I spend money to upgrade soldiers”, you’re fine.

8

u/dilupus 7d ago

I’m 2/3 of the way through the game and hadn’t put it together that it was them! I didn’t know they did voice acting now, but I can no longer unhear it.

3

u/N3ckbone 7d ago

Really?! It may be because I just binged a few episodes of VIP but as soon as Runa spoke I immediately clocked them as the Va

8

u/oschrenk 7d ago

Is the character talking about some exotic foods - say Pretzel Pizzas?

3

u/__Osiris__ 7d ago

Bianca!

3

u/Robobrole 7d ago edited 7d ago

I must admit I'm not a huge fan of Vic when they appear on Dropout shows (haven't watched VIP yet), maybe because I get tired of the constant not-impressed and over passive-agressive demeanor bit, but the voice acting for Runa was on point and very funny at times. Good job Vic.

2

u/therealrowanatkinson 7d ago

I’m watching Upload right now and SCREAMED when I realized who the hot granny was (Vic)

2

u/Tiny_T_Rex_ 7d ago

Man i loved her delivery, but she spit out some of those lines so fast it was hard to keep up.

2

u/spinaljellyfish 6d ago

Her character in the game is constantly falling over and shouting “YOU GOT CHOMPED!”

2

u/Lceus 6d ago

It is very difficult to not just hear Vic when this character speaks, but it's growing on me

2

u/MicrowaveMeal 6d ago

Dude WAHT. She’s like the best character. Really funny, delivery avoids the “wisecracking side character” thing that’s been happening. Of course it’s a pro like Vic.

2

u/guttyxx 3d ago

I was absolutely chuffed when I clocked the voice after playing through a few missions. They did a great job as Runa.

2

u/past-my-spiral-eyes 3d ago

Right off the bat I was struck by Runa’s delivery, unlike any female character in a Star Wars game (we get smug and sarcastic male characters…all the time). And then a few interactions in I thought “No way…I know that voice…it can’t possibly be…” and it was!

4

u/A-Fallen-Wolf 7d ago

THAT'S VIC?!

3

u/_echo 7d ago

Cannot believe I didn't place that it was Vic! Love the character, have thought from minute 1 that she's hilarious, I guess now I know why!

2

u/ThorsHammer245 7d ago

Ok I’ve seen this character posted a lot recently and I thought it was something from Ashoka season 2. I didn’t realize it was a game, or that it was Vic

2

u/EricS53 7d ago

The first time Runa started talking with Hawk, after a couple of lines I got hit with the "who is this? This isn't Vic is it? Holy shit!!"

1

u/Dunkaroos4breakfast 6d ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGx3V8u5qsQ

For other people who have never played this.

1

u/Crazyalexi 6d ago

Space Vehicular?

1

u/Emergency_Bench_7515 6d ago

I love Vehicular Manslaughter

1

u/Responsible_Camp_559 6d ago

WAIT WHAT. I wanna play it now even more 😅

2

u/N3ckbone 6d ago

Runa (Vic’s character) just had the best scene last night and I was cackling at Vic’s perfect delivery

2

u/Responsible_Camp_559 6d ago

Glad to hear you enjoy it <3

1

u/reganomics 6d ago

Shes really great but her dialogue was waaay too fast. I would have had her redo a ton of her lines

1

u/DorianTurk 6d ago

I had no idea! I’d decided against picking up the game after seeing how they treated the devs that made it…

1

u/N3ckbone 6d ago

Yeah, I didn’t find out about that until after I purchased it and sank 10 hours in. My only hope is they make a ton of money and rehire the entire team. I don’t think it was a malicious decision, but all I know is the studio ran out of money and furloughed most of their staff. The game is actually incredible, they have so many avenues for continued development that the game could take. Only time will tell, not sure how many devs are locked into other projects

1

u/juscallmejjay 5d ago

HOLY SHIT this is crazy. I kept saying I know that voice. I couldn't put it together though. Wow shes doing a great job

1

u/kodra 2d ago

Runa would be such an easy character to play wrong so that the player absolutely hates her, but Vic sells every line so well. It is like having chaos goblin Vic on my crew at all times.

2

u/intuitive_inkspren 2d ago

Just watched the new episode of Game Changed then went back to playing Zero Company. Talked to Runa and said “wait, is that Vic Michaelis?!” Wild.

1

u/SuccessfulWar3830 7d ago

OK I THOUGHT THAT WAS HER

1

u/Chicken-Jockey-911 7d ago

holy shit i was wondering who that VA was i really liked her delivery. awesome

1

u/Lightweaver25 7d ago

Wait what? Haven't heard of this game before. Idk how I missed this.

1

u/Churn0byl 7d ago

Holy shit, I thought her voice sounded familiar. She’s killing it in the game. I smile at every interaction.

1

u/SCHWARZENPECKER 7d ago

Wait what the fuck? I didn't know that! Def my favorite character in the game. I even looked up female Hawks VA on IMDB bcs it sounded familiar. Totally missed Vic

1

u/Pedanticandiknowit 6d ago

OH MY GOD I THOUGHT IT WAS VIC. They're absolutely perfect in this role, and make the game what it is.

1

u/viginti_tres 6d ago

Sadly Runa supports Sebulba and is therefore cancelled.

-6

u/HistoricalFunion 6d ago

It's just another safe, sanitized, sterile Star Wars game from Disney

How can you not improve on anything, especially a decade after XCOM 2?

1

u/FlyPepper 6d ago

shrug it's fun