Background[]
"Whatever Happened To..." is a weekly feature highlighting celebrities and other newsworthy individuals who have dropped out of the limelight. Has-beens who have faded into obscurity. Former stars who have crawled into the dark corners of the galaxy with the desire to be left alone to start a new life away from the prying cameras of the paparazzi.
This feature is dedicated to all those who wish to leave their miserable pasts behind them forever, living in fear of the day some skanky reporter roots them out, dredges up all the forgotten pain and misery, and holds it up for the universe to see.
"Roger Who?" you ask. Roger Wilco. His name may not be a household word anymore, but it wasn't that long ago that a mild mannered janitor stationed on the research vessel Arcada, saved our bacon from being burnt to a crisp. You remember, the trusty broom jockey who foiled those unpleasant Sariens in their plot to turn the StarCon star generator against our little system as a weapon of destruction. Tsk, tsk, tsk! How soon we forget.
By saving Xenon and its surrounding planets, Wilco had won the hearts of an entire star system. To show their gratitude, he was accorded the coveted Golden Mop award for "cleaning up the galaxy," making it safe once again for all life forms. He was even granted the title "Custodian of Xenon" for a day. His day in the artificially generated sun seemed as though it would never end, he was an instant celebrity.
Soon, Roger found himself making the talk show circuit appearing as a guest on such programs as David Letterdroid and Ophra Wingnut. Then came the endorsements. You couldn't pick up a toilet brush or scum scraper without seeing Roger's face on it.
Indeed, Roger Wilco, Janitor to the Stars, had arrived! Next stop - HOLLYROID. Roger was soon offered a contract to write and direct a movie based on his experience with the Sariens. It looked as though everyone's favourite sanitation engineer had wrung his last mop. Or so it seemed.
It was during the filming of what was to be Wilco's first feature film, "The Sarien Encounter", that things began to go terribly wrong. There were always problems on the set. Darth Lumix - the hulking, tree stump-necked actor who was to play Wilco was always at odds with Roger over the script. Then one day the special effects team, having accidentally destroyed the Orat monster suit, tried to cover themselves by secretly substituting a real, snarling Orat. This led to disaster as the large beast, taunted by Darth in a fight scene, raged out of control, ravaging the set and tearing the actor to shreds. Darth was hospitalized. Luckily they were able to find all the pieces. Not so luckily, millions of dollars in models and sets were lost. The studio scrapped production and tore up Roger's contract.
Needless to say, Roger became disenchanted with Hollyroid. And as time passed, he began to fade, as so many stars do. Making only the occasional talk show appearance, he found himself longing for the pine-clean scent of a janitorial supply closet and the feel of a lacquered hickory mop handle in his hands. He was heartsick for Sanitation, his one sure talent.
Roger returned to his first love by obtaining a commission aboard a Xenon spaceport where, as a janitor, he was able to find inner peace through his work. But, once again, fate reared it's ugly head. One year into his new job, Roger is abducted by unknowns while cleaning the interior of a transport. He is never heard from again.
Though there have been rumoured sightings during the last few years, Roger Wilco's disappearance is, to this day, a mystery. This reported wanted to find out what happened so I began asking questions. What I've found is that, for the most part, nobody really CARES what happened to him. Buy hey, my editor says I have to fill a whole page with this swill so...
There are all sorts of rumors and much speculation as to what became of our fallen hero/janitor. Some say he's responsible for charting the first safe route through Mondorian blackhole, long thought to be the toilet bowl of the universe, flushing galactic sewage into that cesspool known as the Milkyway galaxy. Others claim they've seen him in bars on back worlds spinning yarns of his adventures to anyone who'd listen.
Perhaps we'll never really know what became of that dauntless mopjockey, Roger Wilco. But this reporter believes he's out there somewhere, waiting for his next adventure.
Plot Inconsistency[]
In the Space Piston magazine supplied with Space Quest IV there's an interview with Roger Wilco about his past adventures. Also in the two editions of Official Guide to Roger Wilco's Space Adventures are additional interviews An Interview with Roger and the The Original Roger Wilco: The Man Behind the Mop.
However, in this article (supplied with SQ5), it says that nobody has seen or heard of Roger ever since he began working on the Arcada!
It is possible however, considering the prevalence of time travel in SQ4 that the Time Pistons Magazine that was included with the game was in fact written after the publishing of that issue of the Galactic Inquirer. This would mean that there is no inconsistency, just a really flummoxed timeline.
This however doesn't explain his interviews in Official Guide (although these appear to take place after he returned to StarCon, either before or after he joined the Academy). However its possible that he's so much of a 'nobody' that expose didn't bother to research that much into things to see if there were any interviews out there. Besides that expose also talked about rumors of what he was doing between SQ1 and 3, which seems to indicate some people kept track of what was going on with Roger.