Roman Roy

**Roman Roy** is the deuteragonist of the show as the youngest son and third-eldest child of Logan Roy. He is portrayed by Kieran Culkin.

## Personality

Roman Roy is a snarky and scrappy individual who thrives on both his own humiliation and that of others. Roman frequently belittles and is crude to those beneath him. Underneath this brash exterior, however, is a deep insecurity brought on by his father, bleeding into both his work and personal, sexual life. He eventually becomes more tactical, using the methods of bullying learned from his father to secure major business deals for the company. Despite this, Roman's immaturity may still cost him a seat at his father's table.

## History

### Early life

He was nicknamed Romulus by his father, after the founder and first king of Rome.

It is implied that, during his childhood, Roman was the target of most of his father's physical abuse. Towards the end of the series, Kendall confronts Logan about this, but Roman rebuts by saying, "No. I mean, everyone hit me. I'm f\*\*king annoying."

He was once, or frequently, locked in a dog cage and given "dog food" as a child. His brothers insist that he asked to be put in the cage and enjoyed it, though he remembers being unwilling. Roman began wetting the bed after this incident, which he believes to be the reason he was sent to military school. Connor, however, confirms that Roman was sent away because Logan viewed him as the "weaker dog."

He attended the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

Roman previously worked for Waystar in California alongside Frank, before being relocated to New York.

### Season 1

Roman shows up at Waystar Royco while Kendall Roy and his team are trying to salvage a deal. Roman interrupts but Kendall then ensures that Roman stay out of the loop.

Marcia suggests that they have their traditional game of softball after dinner. On their way to the fields, Roman agrees to sign the papers, but only if he is brought in as COO. Logan agrees to fire Frank. The family arrives at a baseball field, accompanied by employees ready to play. During the game, Roman offers a caretaker's son $1 million if he can hit a home run. The kid hits the ball, but is tagged out by Tom before he can reach a home run. Roman then rips up the $1 million check in front of the boy. Meanwhile, Kendall tries to negotiate with Roman and Shiv but they both reject his proposal and decide against giving him the role of COO.

Before they leave the field, Logan asks Shiv, Connor, and Roman that they fly with him back to New York City. While in the plane, another fight breaks out but stops as soon as Logan begins having a stroke. The plane lands and they head to the hospital.

Kendall asks Roman what triggered the stroke, to which Roman blames Shiv's hardball tactics. Everyone at Waystar is already preparing for Logan's death, even drafting an obituary at ATN, and the boys are in charge of damage control.

Roman pulls Shiv aside into an empty auditorium. He tells her that he feels guilty about not signing the papers, as its what their father wanted. Roman asks her to sign them, but Shiv declines and the two begin slapping each other and tussling on the ground. Back in the waiting room, Marcia tasks Greg with retrieving some things from the apartment, solely to get rid of him for a little while. Roman asks Greg to bring the trust paperwork as well, but Shiv calls Greg and tells him not to.

Kendall then informs Shiv and Roman that he will be taking over, but Shiv shuts down the conversation entirely. Shiv and Roman then offer the position to Gerri, but she declines. Kendall and Roman come to an agreement of Ken as CEO and Roman as COO, leaving Shiv out. This decision is confirmed.

Roman arrives at Waystar, after working with his personal trainer, and heads for his new office. After closing the shades, shielding him from the rest of the building, he walks over to the window and masturbates.

Roman is in the bathroom when Grace enters and tries to get intimate, aggravating Roman. Tom and Shiv are having breakfast when Roman calls Shiv with news. Pictures have surfaced of the husband of Shiv's political candidate's anus online, and ATN is already prepared to broadcast the news. Frank is rehired to overshadow Roman, but Roman is very opposed to the idea and repeatedly insults him.

Frank calls Kendall, who grabs Roman, into their father's office. Logan has been discussing acquiring local TV stations with Karl and Gerri. Kendall and Roman are avidly against the idea of "local news." Logan tells calls Roman a moron and calls the meeting over, all but Frank and Roman leaving. They then witness Logan pour himself coffee, overfilling the cup while seemingly unaware of it. Later, Roman is exercising with his private trainer when he informs Kendall of the coffee incident. Roman suggests that, during Thanksgiving, they do their "family tradition" of destroying Logan.

With the vote of no confidence against their father approaching, Kendall and Roman must ensure that everything is set for them to win the vote. Roman attempts to sway a neutral board member, Lawrence Yee. However, Logan later berates Roman into voting in his favor. Ultimately, Logan wins the vote and Kendall feels betrayed by his brother. Kendall then takes legal action against his brother, as well as his father. Logan decides to allow Roman more responsibility and puts him in charge of overseeing an upcoming satellite launch out of Japan. While the family is away in New Meixco, Kendall has a drug and alcohol relapse. Roman, concerned, picks him up and takes him back to the ranch.

Roman had previously been recruited as Tom's bachelor party planner. He decides to scrap the previous bachelor party in Prague, after Stewy invites them to a private party held in an abandoned New York railway. Kendall shows up late and on drugs. Two of Tom's friends have arrived, but Roman informs them that they aren't allowed in. While at the party, Roman searches for Sandy himself, revealing his true intention of coming to the party. He eventually finds him and offers him a proposition. Sandy agrees but after Roman leaves, tells Stewy only to yank his chain for a while before dropping him.

Kendall and Roman begin arguing, and Roman decides to confront him about being locked in a cage and forced to eat dog food when he was four years old. Kendall insists that Roman enjoyed it. When Kendall mentions this to Connor, Connor also confirms that Roman asked to be put in there, and that the dog food was only chocolate cake. Roman claims the incident led him to start wetting the bed, which resulted in their father sending him to military school. Again, Connor claims that their father sent him away because Roman begged to go, yet later admits to Kendall that their father did it because he viewed Roman as "the weaker dog."

Roman is revealed to be dating Tabitha Hayes, the same Tabitha that Tom had a sexual encounter with at this bachelor party. After Tom and Shiv's pre-wedding party, Roman and Tab back in their room and getting ready for bed. He tells her how much he likes her, and then proposes to her, to which she playfully declines. Later, as she sleeps, he watches her longingly.

During Tom and Shiv's wedding reception, Roman finds a place to watch his space launch go off in Japan. He watches alone in a small bathroom as the entire spaceship explodes on the screen. He immediately turns off his phone and avoids all responsibility, telling no one. Gerri confronts Roman about his spaceship launch in Japan. She demands to know why he hasn't been doing anything, and he lies, pretending to be shocked upon hearing of the explosion. Gerri immediately begins going over any legal ramifications with him. He confesses that he had the launch moved up so that it would be on his sister's wedding day. She tells him that he's looking at corporate manslaughter if anyone dies.

Gerri later informs Roman that no one has died in Japan. The details are still unclear, but it seems two people have lost their thumbs and a third might have to have an arm amputated. Roman is overjoyed to not receive any major consequences.

### Season 2

Tom and Shiv are honeymooning on the Roy's yacht while watching the interview. Roman and Gerri watch from a hospital in Japan, where they are visiting patients from the shuttle explosion. Roman and Shiv are on the phone together, observing and discussing possible repercussions following the interview. Later in Japan, Roman makes a public appearance to discuss the satellite explosion from days earlier. He is visibly nervous and dances around most questions.

Roman is upset to learn that he now has to share his work position with his brother, since Kendall was welcomed back into the family.

Logan tasks Kendall and Roman with scrutinizing Vaulter. The next day, Kendall informs Lawrence Yee that he, alongside his brother, must perform a routine check of Vaulter for their father. Roman, feeling out of his comfort zone, briefly calls Gerri and requests that she visit Vaulter to help him. When she refuses, Roman hangs up on her. In attempt to halt his investigation, Lawrence gives Kendall an overwhelming amount of company material to work through. Meanwhile, Kendall is unaware that Roman has taken a few Vaulter staff members out for drinks, hoping that once they're drunk, they may gossip and revel information that would be helpful to him.

Kendall and Roman attend a meeting with their father, regarding the results of their routine check of Vaulter. Kendall claims that Vaulter shows potential and he believes they should keep it. Roman, however, offers a contrasting opinion. He cites his discovery of systemic low-productivity, in addition to efforts underway by the workforce to unionize; an action that, in his opinion, would only reinforce the existing negative behaviors exhibited by the employees. Ultimately, Logan commits to Roman’s suggestion, and moves forward with his decision to dissolve Vaulter. Kendall is tasked with shutting it down, and reluctantly complies.

Shiv and Tom meet with Roman and Tabitha at Roman's place for a double date. Shiv and Roman begin mocking Tom’s taste in clothes and mannerisms, which eventually upsets Tom.

Tabitha and Roman are looking over Connor Roy's presidential campaign video. He wants to rid of taxes and threatens the government try and sue him for not paying his. Roman also asks his girlfriend if she can get him in contact with Naomi Pierce, as they are friends and previously had a sexual encounter. Later, while everyone is hunting, Ken and Roman also discuss the book agreement. Ken confides he got a call from Pantsil as well and was considering talking when Roman suspiciously takes a private call, leaving the others confused.

The men are fighting it out physically when Ken discovers it would his brother Roman who has been in contact with Naomi Pierce. Roman claims that he was just trying to help his father, but Logan is furious and calls him a moron. Logan then asks the room who backs him on the PGM deal and Kendall sees that Logan is alone, yet he plans to go ahead with it anyways.

Roman, dressed in more casual wear, starts his six-week training program, as advised by Gerri to hopefully impress his father. The program starts with a video featuring Logan and Kendall, and he notices that his own speaking role has been cut out. He quickly excuses himself to call Gerri and find out why. She promises to look into it before Roman takes it back and hangs up on her. As part of his management training, Roman is required to dress up as one of the characters from the parks. He finds himself in a large turkey costume and, growing tried of the training program, insults a visiting couple that asks for their photo with him. Afterwards in the dressing room, he befriends another trainee named Brian, giving himself a fake name.

Later, Roman is in class sitting beside Brian, who suspects something is suspicious with Roman. The two work together on their assignment to create an idea on a new ride that would interest park-goers. Roman is then informed of the shooting and is asked if he would like to leave the room. Roman uses the excuse to skip class while Brian presents. Later, Brian finds him to let them know they won. Roman insists it was just the family name.

Later that night, Roman calls Tabitha to talk to her about his first day. They make a small attempt at phone sex but Roman hangs up the phone in frustration. He then calls Gerri to ask if his winning idea can become a real attraction. Gerri scolds him, saying that it's a dumb suggestion. Roman beginnings touching himself to the sound of this.

Logan tells Roman that he's very proud of him for finishing his business training, but not to bring it up because it's embarrassing. Roman is later reminded to be more polite while at dinner by Logan. Roman attempts to seem more classy by lying about a book he's reading, only to be caught when Mark asks him the author and plot.

Roman is in his room with Tabatha and the two are bickering. They decide to have sex for the first time in a long time, but it doesn't go well. Tabitha isn't enjoying it, and Roman appears to have a fantasy about a dead body. He then goes to Gerri's room and the two have a conversation about the night's events. It quickly becomes clear Roman came over to continue their erotic session. Gerri begins to say demeaning things to Roman, which arouses him. She then orders him to get inside her bathroom and Roman obeys, masturbating beside the bathroom door as Gerri stands outside to listen. At breakfast the next morning, Roman "jokes" that he was with Gerri while he masturbated in the other room.

Roman is suggested to be a "white knight" throughout the cruise-line scandal.

Gerri finds Roman and tells him that he must secure a position with Eduard Asgarov, as things within the company seem rather uncertain now. Roman reluctantly agrees. That night, he follows Eduard into the bathroom and speaks with him. Eduard says he will comply, only if Waystar's media company will quietly propagate about his home country Azerbaijan and the city of Baku. Roman, again reluctantly, agrees. He later asks Gerri how legal or illegal that was of him, but she isn't too worried about it. Roman also proposes to Gerri that they should work together more. Insinuating she is brilliant but that no one pays attention to her, she needs him because he's willing to be the loudmouth rockstar.

Not long before presentation, Shiv arrives and tells her family that she wants to be on the panel. Everyone argues and they try to knock Roman off. Gerri shakes her head, indicating Roman fight to stay on. Logan eventually decides all three of them will go on the panel together. During the conference, Roman remains mostly quiet on stage. After, they all get into a fight, where Roman makes another smart-aleck comment only to be struck in the face by his dad, knocking out a tooth. Ken immediately stands up for his brother, yelling at his father to never do that again. Roman brushes it off by saying "it's just a tooth."

Frank and Gerri call for a private meeting with Logan, Ken, and Roman to discuss their strategies and ensure that all shareholders are on their side. Logan then decides to, while in London, send his children to make arrangements with his ex-wife, Caroline, who has 3%. Shiv is downstairs talking with Tom when Roman comes to confirm she has been left out in the cold. Logan and Roman share a car to the airport where Logan debatably apologizes for striking Roman at the conference days earlier.

Shiv and Roman go to a convenience store to buy some junk food before visiting their mom. They arrive together and hug their mom, but she is quick with her passive-aggressive behavior. She cuts to the reason they are there and asks how much money Logan is offering. Roman reveals that he was previously informed by his father he could go between 10 and 50 million dollars. Caroline is immediately confident that was a lie. She demands the Summer Home, worth $150 million, or a simple 20 million but she gets the kids every Christmas. She says she wishes for the decision to be left up to Logan.

While Roman and Gerri discuss their future work together, Roman subtly proposes marriage to her, though she is left uncertain of his question. He recently also confirmed that the two have a confident working future together. At Logan's anniversary celebration, Rhea tell Roman that she always thought he was the most intelligent and shows a lot of potential.

Logan takes himself out of the room and is soon joined by Roman in the hallway. Wanting to help his father, he agrees to go on a business trip for him in attempt to make a deal with Eduard Asgarov. Rhea joins the party rather late, and after a quick appearance in a feeble attempt to rally the troops, departs again.

Roman, Karl, and Laird find themselves in Turkey, watching the soccer team Roman had just bought for his father a few days prior. He and Eduard are trying to barter a deal with each other. Things seem to be going well when they're interrupted and confronted by men with guns. It takes a minute for Roman to realize that they are being held up by terrorists, and are soon ushered downstairs to the lobby with all the other rich guests of the hotel. Their group is then soon re-located to the dining area. Although Karl admits to having a bit of a panic attack, everyone is acting rather calm, given the high-stress situation. During their time in holding, which is just over 24 hours, Roman continues to try to broker a deal with Eduard. It appears they come to an agreement, yet not long after this, the men with guns demand to know who are foreigners. After Karl raises his hand, the rest of them follow suit and they are soon led away by the men.

The rest of the Roys are vacationing on their yacht when Roman, Karl, and Laird arrive via helicopter, having returned from Turkey. The men seem a bit shaken up, but Laird says that Roman did good in terms of handling the deal.

At breakfast the next morning, Logan is taking suggestions for who should be sacrificed following the cruise-line scandals. Kendall and Karl suggest Gerri, but Roman defends her, saying that Tom is the logical choice due to his previous involvement with the cruise-line. Roman also adds that Greg could be sacrificed as well. Several others agree.

After Kendall is chosen to be the scapegoat, Roman is promoted to COO.

### Notes

1. ↑ The "dog food" was actually just chocolate cake, according to Connor.
2. ↑ Roman realizes that he actually bought the wrong soccer team.

## Relationships

### Logan Roy

Similarly to his siblings, Roman had an unhealthy and abusive relationship with Logan. It is implied that Logan violently abused him during his childhood, and throughout the series Roman is continuously emotionally, physically, and verbally abused by his father. In spite of this maltreatment, Roman is shown to respect and love Logan, and, like Kendall and Shiv, is willing to go to great lengths to earn his approval.

### Siblings

Roman maintains a close relationship with all of his siblings, although the bond often becomes strained as he competes with them for the CEO position. It is implied that Connor, the oldest of Logan’s children, acted as a sort of father figure to Roman growing up. For example, in “The Disruption”, Roman tells the press about a childhood memory in which he went fishing with his dad, but it is later revealed that Connor was the one who actually took him on the trip. Roman is also close with his sister, Shiv. Despite his frequent attempts to provoke or bicker with her, it is implied that Roman genuinely cares for her.

### Tabitha

Tabitha is first introduced in the Season 1 episode “Prague”, where she performs oral sex on Tom during his bachelor party. Soon after she and Roman begin a romantic relationship. Although Roman seems to like Tabitha to some extent, their relationship quickly becomes strained due to Roman’s reluctance to have sex.

## References

1. ↑ Kieran Culkin Explains Roman's Missing Wife & Kid in 'Succession' (esquire.com) (Grace was written as Roman's wife in the pilot episode but as his girlfriend thereafter, before being written out of the series entirely.)
2. ↑ Rehearsal
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Prague
4. ↑ See this image
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Celebration
6. ↑ Sh\*t Show at the F\*\*k Factory
7. ↑ Lifeboats
8. ↑ Sad Sack Wasp Trap
9. ↑ I Went to Market
10. ↑ Which Side Are You On?
11. ↑ Austerlitz
12. ↑ Pre-Nupital
13. ↑ Nobody Is Ever Missing
14. ↑ The Summer Palace
15. ↑ Vaulter
16. ↑ Hunting
17. ↑ Safe Room
18. ↑ Tern Haven
19. ↑ Argestes
20. ↑ Return
21. ↑ Dundee
22. ↑ DC
23. ↑ This Is Not for Tears