Roger as an idiot....

[SierraDude81]

One of the funniest aspects of the SQ series is it's treatment of it's protagonist, Roger Wilco, who we all know is slightly inept, and a bit of an idiot. But was he always?

Space Quest 1 portrays Roger as a lazy, clumsy janitor who would much rather nap in dark closets than do any actual cleaning, the jokes seem to be on how you, the player are the idiot, rather than Roger himself.

The same can be said of Space Quest 2.

Space Quest 3 has a few cracks about Roger being clumsy and a bit of a wuss, but not really shown to be an idiot. Just a guy who gets very lucky without really trying

Space Quest 4 has a few cracks about Roger being slightly dimwitted, courtesy of our friend Gary Owens, but again, most of the cracks seem to be about Roger being a clumsy wuss.

Space Quest 5 shows Roger to be sure of himself, a bit cocky, and even intelligent at certain moments, however, still very clumsy.

Space Quest 6 is where we really see "idiot Roger", and he's entertaining and fun, but does he seem like the same guy who defeated the Sariens, Vohaul twice, pulled the plug on the pukoids, and infiltrated ScumSoft?

[Tawmis]

I think in Space Quest 1 (can't recall in Space Quest 2) - it wasn't even "Roger Wilco" - that was the default name. If I remember correctly, in Space Quest 1, they had the option of naming your character. (So that it would randomly do things like, "Great Job, Borgonsocks! You managed to bathe in sulfuric acid and survive - for about three seconds! [Q]uit or [R]estore!"

As technology/programming/computers advanced, it went from that (SQ1 & SQ2) to developing Roger (SQ3), then it got cartoony (SQ4) and we really got to see a lot more with Roger. SQ5 seems to stand on its own. But then in SQ6, it had a TON of voice acting in it (rather than just a narrator) - which allowed the developers to really explore Roger.

[Datadog]

Something I thought was interesting about Roger as a character was how from SQ1-4, he's completely fearless. It's like he just wanders around wanting to do his own thing - until someone needs help. Then he just drops everything and comes to the rescue without questioning anything. He didn't have to go to the Deltaur - he could've stayed in the bar. He didn't need to rescue the Two Guys - he could've just called the police on ScumSoft. He didn't even need to save the future when he had access to a time machine the whole time. Either he was very selfless, or he got some high off of being reckless. Maybe both. Maybe he's a robot.

I liked him in SQ5. He's still selfless and reckless, but he's not always confident or super-noble (i.e. cheating on a test or shoving a banana up a robo-lady's exhaust pipe.) At least in this one, it finally struck home that Roger was a wannabe hero who didn't know what he was doing.

In SQ6, Roger basically turned into Guybrush Threepwood. Full of ego, snappy comebacks, and pop culture references. Still a funny guy, but a different kind of hero than in the last five games. Instead of plowing into adventure, he's now more of a people person. Although, I do rather like that this is the game where he acknowledges the voice following him around. Threepwood never had that. I was also amused at the "Tango & Cash" and "Hudson Hawk" references. Definitely helps pin down Roger's personality.

[DeadPoolX]

Although I think SQ4 was probably the best in the series, I feel Roger was best portrayed in SQ5.

[MusicallyInspired]

I agree. And while I think that SQ6 was the funniest in the series Roger was the worst portrayed.