Troy Baker

Lore & Background

Sam's sudden reappearance — fresh out of a Panamanian prison, owing a debt to a drug lord — sets the entire plot of Uncharted 4 in motion, pulling Nathan back into the world of treasure hunting for one last adventure. Baker's performance captures Sam's reckless charm, his complicated history with Nathan, and the desperate need to finish what their mother started. The character's dynamic with Nathan is central to the story, with Baker and Nolan North (Nathan Drake) sharing scenes that range from brotherly banter to raw emotional confrontation. Baker reprised the role in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (2017), where Sam appears as a supporting character working alongside Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross — still cocky, still scheming, but with a hint of the vulnerability that made his first appearance so memorable.

In Their Own Story

The prison cell stinks of salt and rust. Sam Drake leans against the wall, arms crossed, watching his younger brother pace. Fifteen years. Fifteen years of letters that went unanswered, of stories half-told, of a debt that's been compounding interest in a Panamanian jail cell. 'You think I wanted this?' Sam's voice is low, almost a growl, but there's a crack in it—something raw that's been buried under years of survival. Nathan stops pacing. They stare at each other across the grimy floor. Sam uncrosses his arms, lets them fall to his sides. 'I'm not asking you to trust me. I'm asking you to remember.' The words hang in the salt air. Outside, the Pacific crashes against the rocks, and somewhere in the distance, a door slams. Sam's eyes don't leave Nathan's. They haven't seen each other in fifteen years, and already the old patterns are back—the push and pull, the love and the resentment, the unbreakable bond that no amount of time or distance can sever.

Reader's Guide

Baker's performance as Sam required him to match the emotional intensity of Nolan North's Nathan Drake, creating a believable sibling dynamic that had been absent from previous games. The motion capture work for Uncharted 4 was extensive, with Baker and North performing many scenes together in Naughty Dog's performance capture studio. The game received critical acclaim, with particular praise for its character work and storytelling. Baker's Sam Drake appears in approximately half of the game's chapters, serving as both a driving force for the plot and a foil to Nathan's more cautious approach. In Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (2017), Sam returns as a supporting character, providing comic relief and combat support during the game's open-world chapter in the Western Ghats of India. The source confirms Baker worked on Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, playing Nathan Drake's older brother Sam, and reprised the role in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.

Did You Know?

• Troy Baker holds the record for the most acting nominations at the BAFTA Games Awards, with seven between 2013 and 2026.
• Baker is one of the few actors to have portrayed Batman, the Joker, and three major iterations of Robin (Tim Drake, Dick Grayson as Nightwing, and Jason Todd as Red Hood) in various media.
• Baker was previously the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the alternative rock band Tripp Fontaine, which released the album Random Thoughts on a Paper Napkin in 2004.
• In 2022, Baker announced a partnership with NFT company Voiceverse, which was later discovered to have plagiarized from the free text-to-speech service 15.ai; Baker ended the partnership two weeks later.
• Baker began his voice acting career doing radio commercials in Dallas and was recruited by Christopher Sabat to do voice-over work at Funimation for the English adaptation of the anime Case Closed.