Roger (American Dad!)
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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: | At least 60 |
| Religion: | None |
| Favorite TV Shows: | Grey's Anatomy,Dynasty, The Simple Life, Cagney and Lacey, Beverly Hills 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 |
| Best Friend : | Stan Smith, Steve Smith ( His best human companions) |
| Voice Actor: | Seth MacFarlane |
Roger (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) is one of the main characters in the animated comedy series American Dad!. He is 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. He has lived with the Smiths for four years. He is possibly based on Dr. Roger Adelson, one of MacFarlane's former professors.
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. It should be noted that, if Roger took the surname of his adopted family, as Brian Griffin did, his name would be Roger Smith, the same as the former CEO of General Motors who is pursued by Michael Moore in his first documentary, Roger & Me.
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[edit] Biography
Little is known about Roger's past; his planet is never seen or described in-depth, though according to him, it sounds fairly similar to Earth. In "The Best Christmas Story Never", he says he landed on Earth sixty years ago. 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). According to Roger, he has lived on Earth for sixty years ever since the Roswell UFO incident, supposedly the reason why he is here. Likewise why he came to Earth is never explained: he does state that the reason he came was to collect a sample of hepatitis, although 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 a TV re-run of 90210). It is also known that Roger "invented" disco and became a millionaire in the 1970s after he discovered a cassette tape from the future, but he lost his fortune after disco died.
Four years prior to the series, he was incarcerated by the CIA in Area 51, when Stan Smith, then an intelligence officer, was on duty at the base. Tired of living in a laboratory, he escaped his holding cell, thus triggering off a lockdown investigation. Stan tracked him down in a kitchen and was about to kill him before Roger pleaded for mercy, but the security team riddled the room with gunfire, from which Roger pulled Stan to safety. They leaped down a garbage chute into a garbage truck just as a thrown grenade blew up where they previously had been standing. Grateful to Roger for saving his life, Stan offered to repay him in anyway at all, obviously leading to his being added to the family. As a means of convincing the family to let him stay, Stan presented him as a birthday present to Steve for his tenth birthday. Hayley and Francine were horrified of him at first sight, as was Klaus, but Steve was delighted in having his own alien.
[edit] Vices
He spends his time eating (mainly junk foods like Pecan Sandies, Dunkaroos, and Chocodiles), 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!!". He also rang British Prime Minister Tony Blair and called him a "Chicken butt!".
Roger is a film and television buff. He knows a great deal about celebrities.
Roger is also very petty and spiteful. When something bad happens to him, even something rather minor, he tends to take it very personally, constantly repeating their response, e.g. "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. However, this scheme ended when Hayley tipped off Child Services in the end, obeying a promise to God that 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 without any suspicion. 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, a television anchorman similar to Ron Burgundy, 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.
"Camp Refoogee" expands upon Roger's disguises - to save himself from boredom, he invents characters to play, including detectives, Asian delivery men and professors.
[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. His genitals are located in his armpit. After consuming certain spicy 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 including radiation poisoning and measles, except for cold sores and maybe hemorrhoids. He also can probe people, and learn everything about them. In a daydream of Klaus, he was shot and he had yellow blood. He doesn't have any bones in his arms so he has a natural talent for being a drummer. His heart is in his anus.
[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 open to question. His species goes through a female reproductive cycle once 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 recipient seemingly isn't a problem, as Steve temporarily carried Roger's child after giving him CPR when he nearly choked on candy. 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 in order to save the Smith family, 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 having a "grope fest": "Ah, Steve. You won't truly appreciate the awkwardness of this moment until you're fondly reminiscing as a 35-year-old homosexual", possibly relating to himself, although he is far more than 60 years old by his own admission, having been a product of the Roswell incident of 1947. Roger has also had what Hayley described as a "boy crush" with Stan Smith's father. In the episode, when it was revealed Stan's father was a jewel thief, he could not see past his infatuation and despite the truth, he left Francine locked in the basement prison cell. Being non human, sexuality may be an irrelevant to Roger, although like Stewie Griffin of Family Guy, while he is almost certaintly hinted to be gay, he does occasionally exhibit bisexual behaviour.
[edit] Relations with Humans
In the episode "All About Steve", Roger went with Hayley to a sci-fi convention where he met someone whom Roger has probed him before, causing his family to leave him as they thought he was turning crazy. His best friend is undoubtly Steve, as he is the best human companion who do stuff together. Roger accidentally passed his egg to him during Roger's reproductive cycle. He also tried to kill Steve in the episode "Star Trek", enslaving foster children together in " Tears of a Clooney", going to New York City together to make a fortune in " Irregarding Steve", and saving him when Roger is being abused in another human in " A.T. The Abusine Terrestrial". Other than that, Roger also becomes Stan's Buddy in the episode, "Roger and Me". Other than all these, Roger has also interacted with other non-recurring characters in some episode.
[edit] Family Guy similarities
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 and talking baby respectively), and both have mischievous personalities with ambiguous sexual tendencies. He is also in many ways similar to Peter Griffin with whom he shares a great love of alcohol and extensive knowledge of television and film.
| On DVD | Episode list | Voice actors |
| Characters |
| Stan Smith | Francine Smith | Hayley Smith | Steve Smith | Roger | Klaus |
