Roger the Alien
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| American Dad! character | |
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| Roger the Alien | |
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| Gender: | His alien biology confuses this issue greatly, however regarded as Male |
| Species: | Space Alien |
| Age: | Unknown |
| Religion: | None |
| Favorite TV Shows: | Dynasty, Simple Life, Cagney and Lacey, 90210, and Melrose Place |
| Favorite Beverage: | Chardonnay Wine |
| Political Leaning: | Possibly Conservative; it's implied in one episode that he voted for George Bush (though how is open to question) |
| Favorite Baseball Team: | San Diego Padres |
| Voice Actor: | Seth MacFarlane |
Roger the Alien (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) is one of the main characters in the animated comedy American Dad!. A space alien (whose appearance resembles that of the greys) living with the Smith family, Roger is sarcastic, surly, and speaks in swish; this and other traits have led some to speculate as to Roger's sexuality, but the discussion might be moot, as he is, after all, an alien. Roger came to live with the Smith family after saving Stan Smith's life in Area 51 in 2001.
Roger's flamboyant speech pattern is a parody of Paul Lynde. He can speak Spanish (though not very well). On his home planet, he was a greeter at a Wal-Mart-type place. His favorite baseball team is the San Diego Padres. His favorite movie is Miller's Crossing.
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[edit] Biography
Little is known about Roger's past; his planet is never seen or described in-depth, though it sounds fairly similar to Earth. In "Of Ice and Men" he mentions that snow reminds him of his home planet, and figure skating apparently exists there; he has also commented that the planet has stores like Wal-Mart (he was once a greeter at one of these places) and colleges (though he claims it's impossible to get in if you're not Asian). Likewise why he came to Earth is never explained, though since arriving he seems to mostly be mooching, and seems in no hurry to go back home (in the pilot he was supposed to try to contact his home world, but got distracted by TV).
[edit] Vices
He spends his time eating (mainly junk foods), smoking, and drinking alcohol (the same things Brian Griffin in Family Guy usually does). He is mischievous, once after finding Dick Cheney's BlackBerry he prank-called several world leaders including a call to India as Pakistan whom he told "FYI, I'm punching a cow!!"
Roger is a film and television buff. He knows a great deal about celebrities.
When something bad happens to him, such as Steve taking a cookie he was promised, he tends to take it very personally, constantly repeating their response, ie "You snooze, you lose." When Steve took a cookie Roger was going to eat, he went so far to convince Steve that he was abducted by the Smith family from a less fortunate family.
He can also be very greedy and cruel, having once adopted a group of foster children to make them work in a vineyard he installed in the Smith's yard as slaves. He even had them dress up for Thanksgiving as indians and pilgrims and shocked them whenever moving out of display. Hayley tipped off Child Services in the end, obeying a promise to God she made.
[edit] Disguises
He is not allowed to leave the house and the family has to conceal his existence, although he has left on a few occasions in various disguises. He did go out once as himself to a sci-fi convention. He has dressed as a Saudi woman twice (once in America, once in Saudi Arabia). He has also dressed as a costumed food vendor and an elderly white woman, a Jamaican in at least two episodes, two kinds of well-coifed white cracker hipster, and as an equally well-coifed "employable" used-car salesman in Francine's pantsuit. While in early episodes he had a hard time coming up with disguises, in more recent episodes he leaves the house often in various costumes, without anyone ever noticing his identity.
[edit] Politics
Unlike most of the main American Dad! characters, Roger's political leanings are unknown. There is some evidence he could be considered conservative; for example, once when Hayley was ranting about George W. Bush, Roger shouted for her to "let it go!"---though this might mean he merely found her annoying without disagreeing with her. Along with Klaus he is probably the most apolitical main character.
[edit] Biological oddities
Every seven hours, a green waste is ejected from the sides of his body. His pancreas is mobile, has fangs and is able to live and move outside his body for several hours at least. After consuming certain foods, such as a microwaved burrito from a convenience store, he excretes solid gold feces studded with gems, although he is currently unaware of the market value of his droppings. His droppings seem to ruin the lives of people who come across them, driving a man to murder his friend and then commit suicide, and later driving an old woman to murder her husband. In times of stress, he goes into a kind of suspended animation totally unresponsive to pain. He sleeps in a noose to relieve back discomfort. Steve says he has more than one stomach. Roger's species of alien is immune to all human ailments, except for cold sores and maybe hemorrhoids. He also can probe people, and learn everything about them.
[edit] Sexuality
Some of Roger's mannerisms and habits seem to imply he may be gay; however, this question is complicated by the fact that while assumed male, Roger's very gender is somewhat opened to question. Roger's species goes through a female reproductive cycle every six years, suggesting he may be a hermaphrodite. Implantation of the egg (or transfer of the fetus) occurs by having direct mouth-to-mouth contact; the gender of the recipiant seemingly isn't a problem, as Steve temporarily carried Roger's child after giving him CPR. During this cycle Roger produces breast milk, which has a consistency and taste like mayonnaise. Making potato salad with this breast milk gives it "an extra zip."
He once "consorted" with a Saudi prince, suggesting that he has some kind of receptacle for a penis, and was not impressed by the prince's, suggesting he habitually used this receptacle on his home planet. On the other hand, Francine once confused Roger's nether regions with Stan's under the covers, suggesting there is a resemblance to human male genitalia. Roger was also very attracted to Steve's girlfriend, Debbie. Roger remarks, upon seeing Steve and his friends almost having sex, "You won't really appreciate this until you are a 35-year-old homosexual looking back on the good days." Essentialy Roger came out of The closet with this quote.
[edit] Family Guy Resemblances
Roger's personality is somewhat similar to Brian Griffin from Family Guy---both, aside from being nonhumans living with a human family, drink a lot and mooch off their families. He is also similar to Stewie in that both are "supernatural" in some way (alien/talking baby), and both have mischevious personalities and ambiguously homosexual tendancies.
| American Dad! | ||
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| On DVD | Episode list | Voice Actors | ||
| Characters | ||
| Stan Smith | Francine Smith | Hayley Smith | Steve Smith | Roger | Klaus | ||
