Roger is usually insensitive and careless; he often takes advantage of, cheats, and ridicules people. Over time, the character has also exhibited increasingly sociopathic, cruel, selfish, devious, and depraved behaviors.[1][3] Due to that, Roger has a love-hate relationship with the Smith family, who care about him despite being his most frequent victims. His most important relationships are with Stan, who is annoyed by Roger's antics despite the fact that he saved his life; Klaus, who is Roger's frenemy; and Steve, who is Roger's best friend and partner in many of his misadventures. In early episodes of the show, Roger was disallowed from leaving the Smith house in order to conceal his being an alien.[4] This restriction was soon abandoned and Roger begins adopting disguises and fictitious personas in order to have a life outside the house.
Roger's personas have become a major plot device, with his myriad of alter egos frequently being the subject or facilitator of an episode's main story or subplot. This also helps to amplify his bisexuality and androgynous nature, which varies depending on the plot situation and persona he has adopted. Aside from catalyzing the plot or subplot with his various personas, and despite his increasingly evident self-interest, he often serves to counsel the show's main characters, by humorously affirming or bluntly disregarding their opinions.
When voicing the character, MacFarlane speaks in a swish accent intended to resemble that of Paul Lynde.[5] In April 2014, Roger was voted "Gayest Cartoon Character of All Time" in a first-ever March Madness style competition held by Logo TV.[6]
Character
Roger loves drinking wine. He is currently single and is also bisexual[citation needed]. Roger is slightly shorter than Hayley though he was also described as being 3 foot tall by Stan but this was likely just an insult. Having his feelings hurt usually spurs the creation of his alter egos and schemes.
Roger typically displays a lighthearted, carefree temperament while at the same time engaging in his freakish grossness, outrageous malice, and rascally shenanigans.[1][3][7] Crude and brazen, Roger has no qualms with randomly saying and doing whatever is on his mind, having little to no sympathy for anyone who might suffer as a result of his actions, and regularly misleading and finagling others to achieve his desired ends. He will engage in complicated schemes for comparatively minor results, such as nearly marrying a woman he finds intolerable in order to get a new blender as a wedding gift, or getting Stan elected mayor of Langley Falls to construct a bullet train, to persuade Urban Outfitters to construct a store in the city. However, according to the episode "Frannie 911", Roger is not this unpleasant by choice; his species of alien must let all unpleasantries out, for if they don't, it will turn into poison and kill them. He is the best friend of Steve Smith, and several subplots revolve around them, most notably the Wheels and the Legman episodes. Roger and Steve have a love-hate relationship, in which they constantly bicker and insult each other, but show affection for each other several times.
History
According to "Frannie 911", Roger has been on earth for over 60 years, having arrived in 1947 as a result of being tricked,[8] led to believe he was "The Decider" in whose hands the fate of mankind rested, when in fact he was serving the role of a crash test dummy. Earlier, after causing his aunt's spaceship to crash, Roger lived with a family of pioneer fur trappers that died traveling on the Oregon Trail in the episode "OreTron Trail". There is also the possibility, he or another member of his alien race came to earth in early antiquity, evidenced by the premiere of season 13: in the episode, a stone carving is depicted as an alien bearing physical similarities to Roger, the alien squatting above a pyramid with two Egyptians presumably praising him and hieroglyph characters surrounding them. In the episode "Naked to the Limit, One More Time" however, it is evidenced that Roger remains on Earth by will, the episode revealing that he can simply call for his alien kind's spaceship to return him to his birth planet if he so desires.
Details on Roger's actual family and pre-Earth life have yet to be shown on the series. Although in the episode "Lost in Space", a brief clip revealed that prior to Roger's life on Earth, he was involved in a homosexual romantic relationship with another member of his alien race, Zing; however, Roger cheated on Zing, blatantly making out with a human male in front of him. It's also been revealed in the episode "I Am the Walrus" that Roger ate his father when he turned 15. Roger revealed in the episode "OreTron Trail", that he once visited Earth before in the 1800s after crash landing with his aunt Caroline and she died on impact.
Roger came into contact with the Smith family when he saved Stan's life back when Roger was a fugitive of Area 51 (four years prior to the show's beginnings). Feeling he owed Roger a life debt because of this, Stan rescued him from government capture and allowed him to live in his home. Stan has allowed this in defiance of his employer, the CIA. Roger now lives in the Smith home and uses the attic as his hideout/room/bar.
Roger's disguises/alter egos
After Stan took Roger in for saving his life, he felt that it would endanger him and the rest of his family if it were to be discovered that Roger is an alien and living with them. Consequently, Stan forbade him from leaving the house when the series first began, even in disguise. Confined to the house in the first couple of episodes, Roger was miserable and malcontent.[4] However, Roger is able to skillfully use disguises to exist in the outside world, which has become a major plot device in following the first few seasons. Adding to this, he has created countless alter egos to go along with them.[7]
7 of Rogers different disguises in the episode ''The Two Hundred''.
Roger has, however, abused this practice, leading numerous lives and outrageously deceiving numerous people. In fact, some of Roger's characters are in prison, while others are widely despised, and others inexplicably have full-fledged human families and are even married; several of his characters somehow have birth children while others are graduates of Howard University. Roger also uses several of these personas to act in a criminal manner, as several of his alter egos have been seen to engage in robbery, sexual assault, police corruption, identity theft, drug trafficking, child abuse, and with one persona even admitting to being wanted "for a series of prostitute murders".
As the series has progressed, Roger's personas have inexplicably developed their own lives that even Roger himself can be unaware of and his control has been shown to be tenuous at best. In "The Horse Whisperer" he realizes seconds before walking into a room (to see a horse therapist) that he is the one inside. In another episode, both he and Stan express surprise that a character introduced by Roger wasn't one of his personas.
Despite his numerous disguises consisting of only a different set of garments and hair with no effort to disguise his gray skin, non-human face and body features (with some exceptions, like additional bodyweight, facial hair, or wrinkles), Roger has been capable of deceiving virtually every single person he interacts with without ever being discovered as an alien; not even by Stan's colleagues from CIA, who according to him, have "an entire floor" looking for Roger. The Smith family is the only exception; however, for each member of the family, there is one individual alter ego they cannot recognize as Roger. On top of that, Roger has been sent to the hospital several times over the course of the series, and medical personnel, for some reason, have never found out that he's not a human; although they have questioned his strange anatomy.[9]
Relationship with Stan
Stan and Roger's relationship is best described as a sibling rivalry. At times Roger and Stan dislike each other and at other times they get along well. Roger is seen to be incredibly spiteful toward Stan and frequently makes fun of him when his ideas don't work well. However, unlike the rest of the Smith family, Stan is able to put Roger in his place in several occasions, usually by assaulting him in anger.
Although Roger and Stan seem to hate each other, they do get along in a few times. In "You Debt Your Life", Stan's complaints about Roger's behaviors forced Roger to move out after Stan paid his life debt by saving him from being run over, but later admits that he really missed Roger when he moved out.
Relationship with Klaus
Klaus and Roger's relationship is best described as a sibling rivalry. Like with his relationship with Stan, at times Roger and Klaus dislike each other and at other times they get along well. Roger is seen to be incredibly spiteful toward Klaus and insists on trying to make him feel despised, saying things like "You can't participate Klaus, I hate you. I say that not out of anger but as a fact" in "Great Space Roaster" and "It's like you want to be kicked out of this family" in "The One That Got Away". Klaus does things to get Roger into trouble for his amusement, like when he tricked him into eating Francine's potato salad in "Deacon Stan, Jesus Man". When a horrified Roger asked why Klaus would do something like that he just laughed and said "I'm German, it's what we do." In "A Piñata Named Desire", after Klaus made a comment about acting, Roger simply knocked Klaus's fish bowl across the room, smashed it against the wall, and walked out of the room as if nothing had happened while the fish lay gasping on the floor.
Among everyone else living in the Smith household, Klaus is very much the most aware and sensible of Roger's contemptuous, abusive, and insanely-vindictive nature of selfishness and lack of morality and occasionally tries to warn the rest of the family against listening to or getting involved with him. Such instances, however, are ignored by everyone's naivety and general inability (or lack of interest) to take most matters seriously or remember that Klaus is a "man in a fish's body" rather than just a mere talking goldfish, as said in "Dr. Klaustus".
Although Roger has claimed to hate Klaus in the past, they do have a bond and are capable of being civil to each other such as when they head to Europe together in "Red October Sky". Further evidence of this can be seen in "Pulling Double Booty", as Roger and Klaus are quite content to watch a movie together and show annoyance when they must pause it as Stan intrudes with the cookie dough. Another example is that Klaus is often shown in the attic with Roger as he tends his fake bar in many disguises while in "Live and Let Fry" Roger dresses up as Klaus, the human, to help him get access to a family member's will. In the end, it turns out to be a trap to lure Klaus out of hiding and Roger gets beaten up because Klaus owed some money to the East German Mafia. However, Klaus stays with him and keeps him company during his recovery, making sure Roger has sufficient pain medication to help him through it. Klaus was also the only member of the Smith family to remember Roger's birthday in "1600 Candles" and the alien seemed genuinely touched that he had bothered to prepare a birthday surprise for him.
Klaus and Roger engage in a sexual relationship in "Kloger", but Klaus breaks it off when Roger starts to want to act like a real couple, as Klaus was only interested in the taboo aspect of sneaking around the family for their relationship.
Cancelled spin-off film
At Comic-Con 2013 on July 20, Mike Barker revealed that an American Dad! film centering on Roger and set on his birth planet would possibly take place in the future. Barker did not announce any specifics as it relates to the nature and type of film he and the rest of the show's creators had in mind for the series; however, he strongly suggested that a film is where the show's staff and creators would like to take things. Barker further hinted that an American Dad! film was already in the works and partially written.[10] No further information about the movie was released following Barker's exit from the series in November 2013,[11] and in August 2022, it was confirmed by Matt Weitzman that the project had been canceled.[12]
Reception
In April 2014, Roger was voted "Gayest Cartoon Character of All Time" in a first-ever March Madness style competition held by Logo TV.[6]
Related Research Articles
American Dad! is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series was moved to TBS in 2014 and continues to air new episodes to this day. American Dad! is the first television series made to premiere on Fox's Animation Domination block. The series premiered on February 6, 2005, following Super Bowl XXXIX, with the rest of the first season airing three months later beginning May 1, 2005.
Francine Lee Smith is a fictional character on the American animated sitcom American Dad! She is the wife of the main character, Stan Smith and the mother of Hayley and Steve Smith. Francine is voiced by Wendy Schaal.
Stanford Leonard "Stan" Smith is a fictional character and the title character protagonist of the animated television series American Dad!. He is voiced by the series' co-creator and executive producer, Seth MacFarlane.
Steven Anita "Steve" Smith is a fictional character in the animated television series American Dad!, voiced by Scott Grimes. He is Stan and Francine Smith's 14-year-old son and Hayley's younger brother as well as the youngest of the series' six main characters.
Hayley Dreamsmasher Smith-Fischer is a fictional character from the animated television series American Dad! She is voiced by Rachael MacFarlane, the younger sister of one of the series' co-creators, Seth MacFarlane. She is Stan and Francine Smith's 19-year-old daughter and Steve's older sister.
"The One That Got Away" is the second episode in the fifth season of the American animated television series American Dad!. The 60th episode of the series overall, it originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 5, 2008. In the episode, Roger's credit card is maxed out and he is certain it is identity theft. He vows revenge and discovers that a man named Sidney Huffman is responsible. When he is about to burn down Sidney's apartment, he realizes that Sidney is not who he seems to be. Meanwhile, the rest of the Smith family gets sucked into a game of Simon.
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"You Debt Your Life" is the twelfth episode of the seventh season of American Dad!. It aired on Fox in the United States on February 20, 2011. The episode focuses on two of the show's main characters, Roger the Alien and Stan Smith. After he saves Roger from being run over by a bus, Stan has repaid what Hayley calls his "life debt", which forces Roger to moving out of the household, and Stan replaces him with Andy Dick. Roger intuitively figures out he can get reaccepted by Stan and move back in by forcing him into a new life debt, by getting him attacked by a polar bear at a zoo and then saving his life at Area 51. Meanwhile, Steve and his friends abuse the power of being public announcers at Pearl Bailey High School.
"I Am the Walrus" is the thirteenth episode of the Seventh season of American Dad!, first airing on Fox in the United States on March 27, 2011. It mainly centers around Stan and his son Steve, who are both competing for the dominant role of the house. Steve is the first person to finish his meal, much to Stan's dismay. Stan becomes intimidated by his son, and he is afraid that he will lose his status of alpha male. Meanwhile, Hayley and Jeff are suffering marital relationship problems, so they seek marriage counseling.
"Hurricane!" is the second episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series American Dad!. It first aired on Fox in the United States on October 2, 2011. The episode's plot mainly revolves around the Smith family, who prepare for evacuation in response to an oncoming hurricane. Reluctant to leave his home, Stan encourages his family to ride out the storm in their house with him. The hurricane sends a flood to the city of Langley Falls, which puts the entire family in danger.
"Virtual In-Stanity" is the fifth episode of the seventh season of the animated comedy series American Dad!. It aired on Fox in the United States on November 20, 2011. The episode plot mainly revolves around Stan making a desperate attempt to bond with his son, Steve by creating an avatar in the form of a teenage girl.
"The Scarlett Getter" is the sixth episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series American Dad!. It aired on Fox in the United States on November 27, 2011. The episode plot mainly revolves around Francine, who accidentally leads Roger to a dangerous alien hunter while trying to get revenge on Stan.
Klaus Heisler is a fictional character from the animated television series American Dad! The Smith family's hapless and mostly hated goldfish, he is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, when American Dad! initially premiered on Fox on February 6, 2005 with the series' pilot episode. Klaus is actually a man in a fish body. He was once an East German Olympic ski-jumper until his brain was transferred into the body of a goldfish.
"Ricky Spanish" is the seventeenth episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series American Dad!. It aired on Fox in the United States on May 6, 2012. The episode plot mainly revolves around Roger rediscovering his alter-ego "Ricky Spanish" and Steve helping Roger's alter-ego make amends with everyone he has wronged.
"Toy Whorey" is the eighteenth episode and season finale of the eighth season of the animated comedy series American Dad!. It aired on Fox in the United States on May 13, 2012. The episode plot mainly revolves around Stan trying to stop his fourteen-year-old son, Steve from playing with toys. The title and Steve's fantasy parodies Toy Story.
"The Missing Kink" is the fifteenth episode of the ninth season and the 148th overall episode of the animated comedy series American Dad!. It aired on Fox in the United States on April 14, 2013, and is written by Jeff Chiang and Eric Ziobrowski and directed by Pam Cooke and Valerie Fletcher.
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