A native of Oregon, Kirk Thornton worked his way into anime taking the traditional path: classical actor training (U of Washington) – Oregon Shakespearean Festival – New York off broadway and regional theatre – Los Angeles film and television – dry cleaners where he met an anime director he had worked with in theatre. Over 20 years in the trenches and some of the roles he has to show for it are Jin (Samurai Champloo), Don Patch (Bobobo),Tazuna (Naruto), Saidoh (Bleach), Gabumon and Mummymon (Digimon), Kuze (The Ghost In the Shell), Blackjack (Blackjack) Monsuno, (Beyal, One Eyed Jack & Hargrave, among others). Other credits include Gungrave (Brandon Heat), Kikaider (Hattori), Planates as Hachirota, IGPX as Mark, Duel (Dr. Sanada), Duel Masters, Last Exile, Stellvia, Vandred, Heat Guy J, Love Hina, Stelvia, Wolf’s Rain, Akira, The Mysterious Play, and Kenshin.

His voice has also appeared in video games, such as Skyrim, Resident Evil: Revelation, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Saints Row: The Third, Kingdom Hearts, Batman Arkham Asylum, Kane & Lynch 2, Guild Wars 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Dragonage 2, Resident Evil Outbreak, Mission Impossible, Catherine and Monsters Vs Aliens among others.

Kirk has directed the English dubs of S-CRY-ED, Gad Guard, Cosmo Warrior Zero, Tsukihime, Mars Daybreak, Otogizoshi, and Destiny of Shrine Maiden all of which he was the lead script adapter and story editor.

Some of the video games that he has directed are Dirt 2, Operation Flashpoint, Tom Clancy’s Hawx, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, The Tale of Despereau, Enchanted Arms, Rogue Galaxy, Samurai Champloo, Time Crisis 4 & WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 & 2012 plus several soon to be released that he’s not at liberty to mention.

Chris is “the guy you've heard but haven't heard of.” He started his career in the original Robotech and Captain Harlock series' as third-guy-from-the-left-who-screams-when-he-blows-up. These days he plays characters who have actual names.

He's the voice of Hantengu in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc, Ouro in Attack on Titan, Spandam in One Piece, John Balks in Future Diary, Lehm in Jormungand, Raizer Phoenix in High School DXD, Do'on in Sankarea: Undying Love, Yamaoka in Eureka 7:AO, and Ren Goto and Ryuho Kamo in “K.” He's Molag Bal and Foresworn Briarheart in Skyrim, and has recently stepped into Mark Hamill's role of The Joker in the game Lego Batman 2, and the movie Lego Batman: DC Heroes Unite. He's also heard as Bren, Jon Ace, and a dozen other characters in the American anime series Monsuno on Nickelodeon.

He recently played Luke Skywalker in the Phineas and Ferb Holiday Special.

Saturday morning viewers can hear him as Jijimon in Digimon Fusion, and as Dracyan in Crossfire: B-Daman.

Along with playing Hot Shot in the SYFY tie-in game Defiance, Ray Santos and Erik Tan in State of Decay, Captain Curnow in Dishonored, and Rocket Launcher in Dead Space 3, he's the new voice of Iconic Jonny Quest hero Race Bannon in Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated.

Some of his prominent anime roles include Aimaru in Toriko, Captain Bright Noa for Gundam: Unicorn, and King of Midlands in Berserk. He's also the voice of Major Peter Soyuz in Full Metal Alchemist: Sacred Star of Milos, and Lucius Isaac for the Marvel anime adaption of Blade. He's Kinnosuke in DuRaRaRa, Matoko Kibune, Rose, and Wonderweiss in Bleach, Headmaster Kaien Cross in Vampire Knight, Kittan in Gurren Lagann, Ishidate, Akhaboshi, Ibiki, and Shuura in Naruto, and The Puppeteer in Ghost in the Shell. He's about 25 characters apiece in Code Geass, Monster, and Redline. He's Hanamoto-Sensei in Honey and Clover, The Mikado in Moribito, Abe in Ghost Slayer Ayashi, and his characters feature prominently in Hellsing: Ultimate, Persona 4, The Lat Exile, Overman King Gainer, Tenjho Tenghe, Gundam Force, Samurai Champloo, and about a dozen more that he can't talk about just yet.

In games, he's Satanael in Guided Fate Paradox, the playable Avatar, Vincent, and Yarne in Fire Emblem: Awakening, Rufus in Street Fighter 4 (Super SF, & SFXTekken), Superman in Mortal Kombat vs DC, and Emperor Mateus in Final Fantasy: Dissidia, and Dissidia: Duodecim, Agent Smith in Matrix: Path of Neo, and Professor X for the Marvel Pinball Games. He was Tenebrae in Tales of Symphonia 2, Commander Cadigan in Dead Space, and Supreme Commander Gaghan in Star Ocean 4. He's Fandrel Staghelm, Mal Ganis, and Razslo Crushcog (plus a dozen others) in World of Warcraft, Nobunaga Oda in the Samurai Warriors franchise, Sun Wu Kong in Warriors Orochi, and Yuan Shao in Dynasty Warriors. Scalpel and Firehawk in Command and Conquer 4, and he voice-matched Hugh Jackman, Hugo Weaving, and Anthony LaPaglia for Happy Feet. He's Juda in the newest Fist of the Northstar, and Sgt “Gunny” Garrity in Steel Battalion. He's multiple characters in Devil Summoner-Soul Hackers, Vandal Hearts 2, Ratchet and Clank, God of War, Atlantica Online, Lunia, Skycrawlers, Xenosaga, and over 100 other games.