Every gamer has heard their voices, but few know their names.

They’re voice actors, the invisible workers who bring the heroes, clowns, and heavies that populate the virtual worlds of computer and video games to life.

Brilliant performances, like those in Mafia and Freedom Force, help totally immerse players in another reality, while on the opposite end of the spectrum, Magic the Gathering: Batttlegrounds and some Resident Evil games have voice work so bad they offer up unintentional B-grade-movie-style chuckles. The best are honored by the industry, while the worst end up in online museums of horrors like audioatrocities.com.