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, amoral, self-centered, hedonistic, alcoholic, and speaks in swish. Spending his time watching trash TV, eating junk food, doing drugs, and dressing up a variety of personas, Roger is considered by many to be the breakout character of the show.
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. Speculation exists regarding Roger's sexuality, but the discussion might be moot, as he is, after all, an alien. Roger's flamboyant speech pattern is a parody of Paul Lynde.
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, although Roger claims the climate of his home world is 400 degrees colder than most ecosystems of Earth, with the possible exception of Antarctica. In "The Best Christmas Story Never", he says he landed on Earth sixty years ago at Roswell. 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. For a long time, his reasons for coming to Earth were a mystery as well: he does claim 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 an "I Love The 80s" marathon. It was revealed in "Weiner of Our Discontent" that he believes he came to earth to be "The Decider", seeing of the planet was worth saving or to destroy it. This belief was crushed horribly when he discovered in his spaceship a note that stated that the ship was a test model and he was in it as a "crash test dummy", meaning his own species had abandoned him on the planet. It is also known that Roger "invented" disco and became a millionaire in the 1970s after he discovered a cassette tape from the future, thereby creating a time paradox, 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 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 threw a grenade into the room, from which Roger pulled Stan to safety. They slid down a laundry chute into a waiting truck. Grateful to Roger for saving his life, Stan offered to repay him in any way 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 to have his own alien. By the start of the series, however, the family seems to have come to terms with him.
Roger was also used in Planet 51 as Skiff with different looks of his skin and other body parts of himand new firends besides the Smith Family.
In February 2012, Roger announced he was running for President of the United States for the 2012 election. [Skiff Xounellius Smith (Planet 51)]]//getglue.com/jasonbres/stickers/fox/american_dad_roger_smith_2012] [1]