Roger Howard is the protagonist of the Dead Island comic book, and the source of the tape recordings which players can find scattered throughout Banoi in the main game. He is an investigative journalist, and is looking into the illegal exploitation of Banoi Island's resources. He is married to Karen Howard, and they have a son, Jakey.
Comic[]
The comic book follows Roger just after his arrival at Royal Palms Resort. After paying off a maid, Roger is able to gain access to the office of Kenneth Ballard, Royal Palms' manager. Inside, he finds detailed files on the four Heroes of Dead Island. After reading them, he hears a knock on the door. While trying to explain that he was looking for the washroom, Roger comes face-to-face with a female zombie. The story ends, leaving his fate unknown.
Dead Island[]
During the events of Dead Island, Roger recorded multiple recordings detailing his attempts to survive the zombie infection, as well as figure out what's causing it and inform the people. The recordings follow him as he flees the resort to the city of Moresby, where he tries to find his contact, Mr. Aonomo. Unfortunately, he is attacked by an elderly infected woman, and beats her to death with a lamp before fleeing the house. The next recording shows that he interacts with an infected driver, but continued to run after witnessing a "terrorist attack." Sometime after that, Roger grouped together with a large amount of survivors and attempted to hold out in the slums district of Moresby. However, the zombies broke through the defenses, and overran the holdout. Roger's next recording shows that he has lost hope. He apologizes to his wife and son, then cuts off.
He calms down, and spots a young girl. Feeling bad for her, and seeing that her parents have likely died, he tries to help her. Turns out the girl has been infected with the virus, and attacks him. It is unknown how Roger escaped, but his next recording explains that he is fleeing into the jungle with another group of survivors. He believes that there is a secret government laboratory where the virus began, and wants to show the people. Unfortunately, the driver crashes the car, and the recording ends. Next, he explains that he and his driver, who has a broken leg, are making their way through the jungle. However, they are attacked by an infected orangutan that grabs hold of the driver.
Roger makes a run for it, until he couldn't hear the driver's screams. He finds the lab, and almost gets shot by the scientists. They trust him, and get ready to go to the prison.
When the Heroes reach the prison, they can find two recordings: one in the lobby and another in a hospital. The first recording reveals he has been bitten by an Infected missing part of its head and does not tell anyone else. In the hospital, the heroes can find a recording where he is close to fully infected. He reveals that he is recording this tape to show doctors the symptoms of the infection. He states that he is very hungry, to the point where he can't think straight. The now insane Roger starts hallucinating visions of his son, Jakob. His final recording is found next to what is presumed to be his corpse. Fully infected and released amidst the chaos in the prison, he was gunned down by prison guards, who left the digital recorder where it fell next to Roger's body, as it was covered in blood and they feared infection.
Appearance[]
Roger is a young to middle aged man.
In the comic, he has shaved blonde hair and a clean shaven face. He wears a blue t-shirt, blue shorts, and possibly sneakers.
In the game, He's completely bald and clean shaven. He wears a white prison shirt, orange trousers, white socks, and white boots. In the Definitive Edition, his hair is longer, revealing it to be brown, he wears a red golf visor, and an orange overshirt. While his clothes could be explained as him changing after reaching the Prison, his hair color appears to be an oversight.
Trivia[]
- Angela Guerra from Riptide is similar to Roger Howard.