Bellinger became Viking for Assassin's Creed 

You've seen that swing before. You've seen him bash objects far into the distance. You most likely know him as Cody Bellinger, the 2019 National League MVP Award winner and reigning World Series champion.

But now, a whole different generation of fans may get to know him as Otta Sluggasson, the punnily named Viking you'll run into in the brand new video game, "Assassin's Creed: Valhalla."

Yes, the mild-mannered Bellinger -- seemingly made for living in Southern California (though he hails from Scottsdale, Ariz.) -- has been thrust into the past and is now a lumbering Viking smashing rocks with a massive club covered in spikes.

"As I was swinging the axe, the Viking itself was swinging the axe," Bellinger told MLB.com about watching his virtual avatar on the screen. "It was pretty cool. I looked about 280 pounds, jacked full of muscle. So, it's pretty dope."

Bellinger spoke to us from Arizona, where he's rehabbing following surgery on the shoulder he injured after celebrating a homer against the Braves in Game 7 of the NLCS. That homer was a memorable and key part of the Dodgers' World Series run, and he's still feeling the rush of being a champion.

"It still feels amazing," Bellinger said about being a World Series winner. "Feels as good as it did the first day. It definitely hasn't worn off yet."

Though the injury means Bellinger's offseason won't be like those in the past -- he'll be spending most days rehabbing in preparation for next year -- that's just fine for the Dodgers outfielder. His favorite thing to do after a long day is to come home and kick back.

He fondly remembered playing "Need for Speed," and "Ratchet and Clank" while growing up and cites "Call of Duty" and "Fortnite" as games he's played recently when away from the field. While Bellinger is a big gamer, he's not the best on the Dodgers.

"I would say the best gamer is [Max] Muncy," Bellinger admits. "He's a level above everyone else in the clubhouse. And in the [Call of Duty] Warzone world, I'm gonna take second place."

"It's a good bonding experience when you're playing with your teammates, as well," Bellinger said. "It's just an opportunity to get away and play a game that you all love."

That made his decision to appear in the new Assassin's Creed an easy one. So, the outfielder flew up to Ubisoft's offices in Canada to get fitted in the motion capture suit and record his dialogue.

Click here to watch Bellinger in action if the video doesn't load.

"The whole room was set up with cameras and motion detectors," Bellinger said. "And they put me in the motion suit -- I felt like I was an actor in a movie. I had this costume on with a bunch of balls, which is the motion sensor, and up on the big screen was my Viking."

So, when you see Sluggasson swing his weapon in the game? Yeah, those are Bellinger's specific swings.

"It would move with the movements I was doing in the costume," Bellinger said. "I did a lot more than what they posted, but I was doing those motions over and over and over. I got different weapons to choose from and it was really cool to see."

While running around in a motion capture suit was like playing make-believe, the voiceover work was a bit more challenging.

"I did a bunch of different voices, a bunch of different lines," Bellinger said. "I would repeat it in my voice and I would repeat it with an accent and I would repeat it with enthusiasm and all these kinds of different things in order to get the right one. It was cool. I felt like I was an artist making a song. Totally out of my comfort zone, but it was pretty cool.

"It's challenging, man. It's not easy to not be yourself, you know?," Bellinger added. "All that being said, I've done it before, I just did it, so it will probably be easier the next time I do it."

While Bellinger isn't afraid of his next acting challenge, he's now focused on the 2021 season.

"I'm excited," Bellinger said. "I'm going to be ready for Spring Training. That's exciting news. I'm progressing along really well. So I'm excited to get to spring and see everybody again, and hopefully have another successful season."

Still, before we hung up, I had to ask: How does one of the game's greatest superstars -- one with a World Series ring to boot -- react to also being the game's biggest meme?

"It was funny, man," Bellinger said with a laugh. "I tried to not be on social media too much during the playoffs, but I still saw all the memes and I just laugh at them. I'm not trying to be a meme. As I said before, that's just actually how I look. You want to make a meme out of my face? That's cool to me. I think it's funny."