Top 20 Greatest Tara Strong Voice Roles

Tara Strong is one of the most well-known voice actors working today and these are her absolute best roles! For this list, we’ll be looking at the best animated roles that this legendary performer has brought to life. We’ll include multiple characters in one entry if they were from the same show. Our countdown includes Bubbles from "The Powerpuff Girls” (1998-2005, 2014), Ben Tennyson from the “Ben 10” Franchise (2005-), Boh from "Spirited Away" (2001), Mary Jane Watson from “Ultimate Spider-Man” (2012-16), and more! What’s your all time favorite quote from a Tara Strong character? Sound off in the comments.

“Transformers Animated” (2007-09) Although Tara Strong provided the voices for about ten different characters on “Transformers “Animated”, her performance as Slipstream is most memorable. The character was a clone of classic franchise villain Starscream. Like the original, Slipstream has a scratchy and aggressive voice. Outside of just resembling Starcream, Strong ensures the character comes off as ruthless, sassy, angry and even funny at times. This clone is definitely not disguising how threatening she really is. Maybe she’s mad because no one ever uses her name in the series. In any case, in a franchise full of robotic antagonists, it’s impressive that Strong’s Slipstream is still so memorable.

“American Dragon: Jake Long” (2005-07) During the short-lived and criminally under-rated “American Dragon: Jake Long” series, Strong was brought in to provide the voice of the Oracle Twins Kara and Sara. While they certainly look similar, they’re definitely not the same. Strong helps by using her vocal talents to make it easy to tell them apart. While Kara is quieter and more downbeat she uses the upper register of her speaking voice to make Sara sound more friendly. The performance choices definitely match the personalities. While Kara is dark and miserable as she predicts positive outcomes, Sara remains spritely and happy while foreseeing negative events. We’d honestly forgive viewers for thinking the twins are voiced by two different people.

#18: Boh

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Top 20 Best Tara Strong Voice Roles

“Spirited Away” (2001) After viewing Hayao Miyazaki’s animated fantasy “Sen and Chihiro's Spiriting Away,” then-Pixar animator John Lasseter set about bringing an English adaptation to Western shores. The Academy-Award classic was full of eccentric characters for English-speaking voice actors to dub. When casting was all said and done, Strong was tasked with bringing the big baby Boh to life. Since the actress already had experience voicing infants, she had no problem delivering a believable performance with plenty of range. The baby could go from being an obnoxious child to a seriously threatening presence. Strong definitely make us believe that you wouldn’t want to make Boh cry.

“Young Justice” (2010-) Strong lent her talents to a range of characters in “Young Justice” while keeping each one of them distinct. Her Serling Arquette character came off as an authoritative and somewhat humorless. This Strong role sounded nothing like her performance as the headstrong Markovian Princess Terra. Not only is there an accent, but there’s layers to the young metahuman’s personality that are brought out by small vocal nuances. Although Strong’s smaller roles as an Atlantean and EMT were great, her funniest cameo came in the “Nightmare Monkeys” episode. During a “Teen Titans Go!” inspired scene, Strong’s Negative Woman sounds a lot like a young magical dc heroine Strong typically plays. It’s fantastic that “Young Justice” let her pioneer new characters and pay homage to her career.

#16: Mary Jane Watson

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“Ultimate Spider-Man” (2012-16) Upon jumping across dimensions and landing in the Spider-verse, fans can hear a familiar voice as MJ. During the “Ultimate Spider-Man” series”, the role of Peter Parker’s enduring love interest and partner was played by Strong. What made her time on the show stand out from other MJ portrayals is that she played different versions of the character. Fans were treated to a Noir version who talked like a classic film star. When MJ was bonded with Carnage, she sounded a lot more sinister than usual. Speaking of dark roles, Strong also appeared as the villain Thundra in one of the character's few animated appearances. Whether she was good or bad, it was fun having this actress hang out in the Spider-Verse.

#15: Barbara Gordon / Batgirl

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Various DC Projects Whenever an animated version of Batgirl pops up in Gotham, there’s a chance Strong might be involved. She first played the smart and driven heroine in the excellent “New Batman Adventures”. After starring in truly great stories, Strong kept playing different iterations of the character in what felt like every medium. The voice actress has voiced Barbara in a web series, video games, and movies. Strong has the range to play a young and inexperienced Barbara like she did in projects like “Beware the Batman”. But when the stories get as dark as "Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker", the actress sounds more grounded. Strong always seems ready to play Batgirl at any stage of her career.

"Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends" (2004-09) Although Strong is great at playing up-beat and positive characters, viewers of “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends” heard an entirely different side of her vocal range. Strong played Terrence, the nasty teenage brother of protagonist Mac. This antagonist was often an absolute nightmare to his younger sibling and the other main characters. To make Terrence sound distinct, he got a deeper and more gravelly voice that Strong nails perfectly. Every cruel insult and groan comes off as completely realistic. It’s such a good role that we almost feel bad for Terrence whenever he got his comeuppance. Emphasis on the world almost.

Various Games When “Final Fantasy X” decided to take the series to a new level and add voice acting, Strong was brought on to play Rikku. This energetic character is known for her upbeat persona and constant optimism. Soon after the sunny Rikku was introduced, she quickly became a favorite amongst fans. Strong also received professional praise for the role when she was given an award for Outstanding Character Performance for her work in “Final Fantasy X-2”. After achieving this honor, Strong returned to play Rikku in video games like “Kingdom Hearts II”. No matter if she returns to the role in the upcoming years, she can always say she played Rikku at a pivotal time in the “Final Fantasy” franchise.

#12: Hello Kitty

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Top10 Tara Strong Voice Roles

"Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater" (1987) Strong got her career off to a strong and impressive start at the age of 13 when she played one world famous feline. The ridiculously adorable show revolves around Hello Kitty putting her own spin on classic fairy tales and stories by inserting herself into the narratives as various characters. This gave Strong the opportunity to play several roles in an episode while still sounding like Hello Kitty. Even though this role was early in her career, she plays the title character as though she was a voice acting veteran. Although the show didn’t last for too long, what Strong accomplished in this role proved she was destined for greatness.

“Drawn Together” Franchise (2004-10) Two hilarious satires for the price of one. Toot and Clara are pretty what you’d expect in a series about characters from all forms of fictional media, living in a shared house, whilst getting into all kinds of wacky and depraved adventures. Toot is what happens when you take Betty Boop, add a drop of insanity and make her an unabashed nymphomaniac. Whereas Clara, despite having the appearance and singing voice of a Disney Princess, is actually a religious nut-job who hates everything that doesn’t match her “traditional values”. Needless to say, Ms Strong slays it as both. Can’t have been easy to switch between two crazy cartoons on the fly, but she pulled it off effortlessly.

“Fillmore!” (2002-04) “Fillmore!” was a clever children’s show that followed a middle school safety patrol while referencing and occasionally spoofing mature detective stories. One of the co-leads on this three dimensional kids program was Strong’s Ingrid Third. During every mission for the safety patrol, she demonstrated her smarts and grounded nature. Strong kept Ingrid from being just a one note genius by layering her voice with compassion and a touch of sadness. Unfortunately, the show’s short run didn’t give the actress a ton of time to portray the character. Decades after it ended, Ingrid is still remembered fondly as both a fantastic safety patrol officer and memorable protagonist.

#9: Dylan ‘Dil’ Pickles

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The “Rugrats” Franchise (1991-) Since audiences were so used to the Rugrats consisting of four main babies, it was a big change when Tommy’s little brother Dylan ‘Dil’ Pickles was introduced during “The Rugrats Movie.” Strong initially played the new character as just bratty and a bit obnoxious. However, she ensured we also saw the sweet and fun side of Dil too. After playing the character with a very limited vocabulary, she got to give him a deeper voice when he aged up in “All Growed Up.” Strong also kept fans entertained by fully leaning into how weird the older Dil had become. While it’s unknown if she’ll ever return to the role, she’d definitely be welcomed back into the “Rugrats” family.

"The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea" (2000) In the second “The Little Mermaid” film, audiences were introduced to Ariel’s daughter Melody. Strong played this new character as someone who was every bit as headstrong and curious as her mother when she was younger. In a clever reversal of the first film, Melody makes a deal with Morgana the Sea Witch to become a mermaid…without knowing the potential consequences. While this movie wasn’t exactly beloved by fans, Strong once again crushed the role. Both her singing voice and vocal performance were widely praised. Despite plot shortcomings, Strong showed Melody could be a worthy successor to Ariel.

#7: Ben Tennyson

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Top 10 Tara Strong Voice Roles

“Ben 10” Franchise (2005-) Over the course of the “Ben 10” Franchise, Strong has voiced almost too many characters to count. But none are more important than the lead character Ben Tennyson. While the young hero started off as cocky and brash, he slowly matured into a more capable and responsible fighter. Ben was also so energetic that he was always fun to watch. Although the title role was recast when the character was aged up in various follow ups, it wasn’t the end of Strong’s journey. She was brought back to lead the reboot series from 2016 to 2021. At this rate, we feel positive that Strong will put on the omnitrix sometime again in the future.

#6: Miss Minutes

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"Loki" (2021-) While the God of Mischief’s solo series wasn’t animated, it still managed to house one of Tara Strong’s finest voice performances. She played the superintelligent A.I. known as Miss Minutes. It was hilarious to hear Strong deliver heavy and dark concepts about time and reality with a cheery Southern voice. And when it came time for her to get really dark, audiences wondered how an animated clock could look so scary. Thanks to Strong, Miss Minutes became a favorite MCU character overnight. There's no telling when or where this clock themed character might pop up next to make another great impression.

#5: Twilight Sparkle

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“My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic” (2010-19) Originally, producers believed that Strong would play the bubbly “Pinkie Pie” in the “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic” show. However, the actress really impressed the production team when she read for Twilight Sparkle. The intelligent and naturally gifted character began her journey by valuing gaining knowledge more than forging personal relationships. But her adventures and alliance taught her to appreciate friendship more. Once again, Strong brings a lot of fun and nuance to one of the franchise’s main characters. Not only did she voice the character between 2010-19 consistently, but she’s also reprised the role in multiple films. The character Strong wasn’t originally intended to be has ironically become one of her most iconic roles.

#4: Dr. Harleen Quinzel / Harley Quinn

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Various DC Projects There are a multitude of great takes on the famous anti hero/psychologist out in the world. However, there’s something special about Strong’s take on Harley that we can’t get enough of. The main positive of her equally manic, emotional and darkly humorous performance is that it sounds identical to a pioneer. Actress Arleen Sorkin set the bar when she became the first person to bring Harley to life with a Brooklyn accent that came with very distinctive vocal patterns. Strong captures those vocal nuances so well that fans may not have even noticed when she stepped in for Sorkin as Harley in between the first two Arkham games. This swap was the start of Strong’s long and prosperous career as the beloved Harley Quinn.

“The Powerpuff Girls” (1998-2005, 2014) “The Powerpuff Girls” were notably created from sugar, spice, everything nice and a little chemical x. Strong definitely represents the sugar aspect of the trio by playing Bubbles. This light-hearted, sprightly and high pitched superhero constantly made us smile. She instantly lit up a room and reminded her siblings to embrace joy and laughter. And if anyone dared to threaten her siblings, Bubbles would use her considerable powers to keep villains in check. After the original series ended, Strong returned for a ten year special in 2014. Her long involvement with the character made fans angry when the role was recast in 2016. There are members of the audience who will always see Strong as the one and only person who can voice Bubbles.

#2: Raven

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Various DC Projects Raven is a troubled magical teen whose abilities are strongly tied to her emotions. In order to keep her powers under control, she tries to heavily control every interaction. Strong reflects this struggle by keeping her voice relatively monotone and devoid of energy. While that could come off as flat, the actress keeps the heroine interesting. Strong injects life and emotion into Raven’s tones at crucial moments with incredible subtlety. Her incredible performance made the character someone deserving of sympathy and absolute respect. And to make matters more impressive, the actress was also able to show off the character’s comedic side. It’s no question why Strong has voiced Raven almost non-stop in almost every animated medium for two decades and counting.

“The Fairly OddParents” (2001-17) One of Tara Strong’s longest running roles saw her playing one of Nickelodeon’s most popular characters of all time. Timmy Turner’s sad life turned around when he was given fairy godparents. After the magical encounter, the hyperactive and sometimes selfish boy has to learn how to be careful what he wishes for. Strong always managed to portray Timmy's wide range of emotions and characteristics while using a lower register of her voice. By the end of ten seasons and a few iconic crossovers, she’d taken the character to fantastic places. Fans will always want to see more of Strong in this role. She made all our wishes come true by voicing a character that will always be a part of Nickelodeon and animated history.