American Dad: Roger’s Best Disguises in the Animated Series, Ranked

American Dad! is a long-running adult animated series created by Seth MacFarlane (who also created and starred in the TV series The Orville). American Dad, which was renewed for a 17th and 18th season in 2020, follows the Smith family with mother and father Francine and Stan raising their grown-up children Steve and Hailey while getting into all types of shenanigans. The oddest additions to the family are Klaus, the German ski jumper who was body-swapped with a fish by the CIA, and Roger, an escaped alien whom Stan decides to house. While American Dad! falls under the same category as Family Guy, it has its own unique feel to it, with special praise in particular for the hilarious yet diverse performances from Roger.

Roger has served as a fan-favourite character since the show’s pilot. In fact, per We Got This Covered, an American Dad film almost happened and would have taken audiences to Roger’s home planet. Between his love of any alcoholic beverage to his endless open advice, both good and bad, Roger is truly a unique character. Part of what makes Roger’s character so interesting is the fact that he must use a disguise every time he leaves the house so that his identity as an alien won’t be compromised. As such, Roger has developed a number of personas armed with an arsenal of costumes. These are Roger’s best disguises in American Dad, ranked.

7

Horse Renoir

Underdog Productions / Fuzzy Door Productions

Horse Renoir is introduced to the American Dad universe when Stan discovers that Jeff is wanted in Florida for illicit activities he carried out for his father. Roger takes matters into his own hands to turn Jeff in and get the reward, taking on the persona of Horse Renoir. Stan must compete with Horse Renoir to get to Jeff first, leading to a great many high-jinx, all while Jeff is completely clueless to the intentions of both Stan and Roger. Horse Renoir is a parody of Dog the Bounty Hunter, obvious by his hair, outfit, and weapons. While Horse Renoir is not an original character, this parody is still hilarious to see, especially considering how well Roger is able to drift in and out of character.

Related: These Are Some of the Best Animated Shows For Adults

6

Chex LeMeneux

Underdog Productions / Fuzzy Door Productions

In one very interesting turn of events, when Stan reveals his heroes to Steve, Roger admits that he was a member of the 1980 U.S. Hockey team that won the even known as “Miracle on Ice.” In a state of shock, Stan refuses to believe Roger until he brings Stan to his reunion party, where everyone recognizes Roger as Chex LeMeneux. Stan continues to idolize Roger after this discovery is made until Roger reveals that he was on steroids when the team won, disproving the authenticity of their win. This leads Stan to eventually find out that U.S. President Ronald Reagan knew and encouraged the steroid use from the team. Part of what makes Chex LeMeneux such a phenomenal disguise is the fact that he was an idol to Stan. In addition, the photoshopped images of Roger on the ice is enough to tickle any funny bone.

5

Sidney Huffman

Underdog Productions / Fuzzy Door Productions

Sidney Huffman is a very unique addition to this list. This soft-spoken bible salesman is sober and straight-edged, focused on doing right by the community. Not only was Sidney Huffman a disguise of Roger’s, but Sidney broke off and became his own person, leading a life entirely separate from Roger’s. When Sidney gets involved in Roger’s life, Roger gets revenge by making the decision to ruin Sidney’s life, leading him to discover that Sidney is a part of Roger. At the end of the episode, Roger comes face-to-face with Sidney and makes the decision to kill him. This hilarious twist of events makes Sidney one of Roger’s most memorable disguises as he literally split off and lived a life that Roger had no idea about.

Related: Seth MacFarlane Explains His Original Vision for The Orville

4

The Legman

Underdog Productions / Fuzzy Door Productions

One of the long-running jokes within American Dad is the joint detective force of Roger and Steve called “Wheels and the Legman.” While Roger had the wish to be Wheels when the idea was first conceived, he eventually gave out so that Steve could play him instead. Legman’s hilarious persona is backed by the presence of Wheels always backing him up or contradicting him, making for an interesting episode. Legman appears multiple times throughout the series when a ridiculous mystery arises that they spend the entire episode trying to solve when the answer is usually blatantly obvious. The chemistry between Wheels and the Legman have lead to a number of wholesome moments between them, but has also led to a number of dumb arguments about nothing, which eventually get solved.

3

Jeannie Gold

Underdog Productions / Fuzzy Door Productions

Jeannie Gold makes her first appearance in American Dad when Stan and Francine make the decision to renew their wedding vows and Jeannie offers her services as a Wedding Planner to them. Thanks to her top-notch level of organization, she continues to help the Smiths plan any big event that they may have coming, going to any means necessary to make sure that the event goes smoothly. However, Jeannie is more than just a wedding planner; she is also a sex worker and has two adult sons. Jeannie has continued to show up over the course of the series and the depth to Roger’s disguise shows how dedicated he is to creating a fully-rounded character, which even means bearing children somehow.

2

Dr. Penguin

Underdog Productions / Fuzzy Door Productions

One of Roger’s funniest personas in all of American Dad! is Dr. Penguin, the psychiatrist. With an office in the attic, Dr. Penguin is open to seeing anyone, so long as they have an appointment. The entire family sees Dr. Penguin for a variety of reasons, seeking guidance from the shrink for how to deal with their problems. Dr. Penguin, unsurprisingly, gives horrid advice that basically entails everyone lying to one another in order to maintain the facade of everyone being happy. Klaus expresses a great deal of frustration with the way Dr. Penguin handles these issues as Klaus actually was a psychiatrist in his human life. However, despite this, everyone in the family still idolized Dr. Penguin, believing him to be a genius.

1

Ricky Spanish

Underdog Productions / Fuzzy Door Productions

Ricky Spanish is by far the most memorable of Roger’s disguises in American Dad! history. When going through his closet to find someone new to be, Roger stumbles upon the costume for Ricky Spanish and falls in love with it. However, he does not remember why he hasn’t been wearing it until he leaves the house. Out in public, Roger is reminded of the horrible things that Ricky Spanish has done, leading to a montage of stills of those horrible things while a whisper of “Ricky Spanish” can be heard in the background. While Roger returns the costume, it becomes clear that the costume causes the wearers to do horrible things, as shown when Stan and Roger put on the costume and embody the horror that is Ricky Spanish.