Elizabeth "Liz" Parker

Written by Jerry D., updated by MyrnaLynne

In the first season of Roswell, Liz Parker was the heart of the stories, as each of the early episodes was basically told from her point of view. Through voiceovers of her insightful reflections in her diary, she recorded her feelings towards Max Evans and the people and events in her life. Liz has grown up in this small town, in a very sheltered and protected environment, living with her parents, Jeff (John Doe, lead singer of the band X) and Nancy Parker. She has a very warm and close relationship with her dad, although she seems a little more distant with her mother. In "Leaving Normal", we meet Jeff's mother, Grandma Claudia (Carol Baker), to whom Liz is very close - only to have her suddenly die, a tragic event that brings her closer to Max. She lives above the diner her family owns, the Crashdown Café, and works as a waitress after school there. Her room looks out on a balcony, handy for star gazing, studying - or midnight visits from Max. Up until the time that fate intervened and Max saved her life, she enjoyed the sense of having an ordinary life in a very structured world. She is good in school, especially science, and planned to go into molecular biology.

Liz is a complex character, very sweet and kind, but also driven to control every aspect of her existence, as exemplified by her honor roll status and the way she balances school, work, and her friendships. Liz is very smart, sensible, levelheaded and confident. Liz's best friends are Maria DeLuca and Alex Whitman. She is a wonderful and loyal friend, and a warm and giving person. Her carefully planned life is turned upside down by the discovery that the boy who saved her life, Max, is, in fact, an alien.

Liz very quickly grew to return Max's love (he had loved her from afar from the first time he saw her as a child in school). Through her love for Max, and trying to protect him and his secret, she has been forced to abandon the perfectly ordered world she has created for herself, to 'leave normal' and take actions to protect the person she loves. Liz has found herself lying to her parents, sneaking away down 285 South or off to the Indian reservation to help Max and his friends. In "Heat Wave", Liz takes the lead in encouraging the shy Max to move forward with their relationship, refusing to accept that it is too dangerous or they are too different. She unmasked FBI plant Ms. Topolsky and was frightened by the return of the apparently deranged Ms. Topolsky in "Crazy."

Liz also endured the even greater terror of being kidnapped by Nasedo (Jim Ortlieb) - who had assumed the shape of Max. But, even worse, was having Max be taken into custody (at the end of 'Max to the Max') and tortured by Agent Pierce (David Conrad) and the Special Unit of the FBI (in 'White Room'). Liz enlists the aid of Sheriff Valenti, and in "Destiny" she and Max make a daring and frantic escape, pursued by the FBI. Max again vows his love for her, but when his 'destiny' is revealed, that he is supposed to lead his alien race and to be with Tess, Liz runs away crying to leave Max to his duty.

The second season finds Liz has spent the summer away from Roswell visiting an aunt in Florida, while Max has moped around Roswell missing her. Liz returns and takes a job with Congresswoman Whitaker as an intern in her office. Even though she loves Max, she is not ready to take him back, despite the encouragement and meddling of Maria. In "The End of the World", Future Max comes back to tell Liz she must make Max fall out of love with her, in order to change the future and save the world. Liz does this by pretending to sleep with Kyle, although it causes her, Max and Future Max a great deal of pain. The Skins, a new alien enemy, arrive in town, with more fear and uncertainty for everyone. Liz and Max slowly resume their friendship, and Max repeats to Liz his feelings for her - but events so far conspire to keep them apart. Alex's exchange student trip to Sweden rekindles some of Liz's earlier dreams and ambitions and might lead her in new directions this season.

Maxwell "Max" Evans

Written by Jerry D., updated by MyrnaLynne

Max, along with Liz, is the core character of "Roswell." The action of the story revolves around him. Max, in a spontaneous moment of love and concern for Liz, risked his very existence to save her life. He used his unique alien powers to heal the wound left by a stray bullet fired during an argument in the Crashdown Cafe. With this heroic and selfless act, Max was forced to expose his carefully guarded secret -- that he, along with his sister Isabel, and their friend Michael, were aliens. Although they seemed like regular 16-year-old high school students, they were kept in incubation pods after the famous 1947 crash of an alien spaceship in Roswell, and had emerged as six-year-olds from these pods only a decade earlier. Max and Isabel had the good fortune of being adopted by two loving parents, Phil Evans (a lawyer) and his wife Diane (Mary Ellen Trainor), who have no idea of the origins or special abilities of their mysterious adopted children. Max, along with Isabel, loves and feels loyal to their parents and has a sense of home right here on Earth. They have been raised as humans, they have no idea who or what they really are or where they came from, and Earth and Roswell are the only home they have ever known.

Max has always lived cautiously and quietly, in fear of his secret being revealed, trying not to bring any attention to himself. But along with this fear, Max possesses an overwhelming love for Liz, and this love causes him to both be attracted to her, and to resist his attraction to her. He fears the repercussions of a romance - and also, not even knowing what he is, he is unsure whether romance between them would even be safe or possible. Max is the most cautious of the alien characters, but he also has an innate trust of Liz, whom he has loved from afar from the moment he met her.

Max also possess a kind heart that often conflicts with his desire to protect his secret, as when he healed Liz and when he tried to help Grandma Claudia when she was dying. Liz and Max become closer and closer, from their first tender kiss in "Heat Wave" to their passionate intimacy induced or heightened by an alien orb (and the involvement of Nasedo?) in "Sexual Healing."

Their time of happiness is brief, as Max decides to take a 'step back' from Liz in "The Balance" and their lives become more complicated and more endangered toward the end of the season. A new girl arrives in town, Tess, and he is strangely drawn to her. The aliens discover Tess is one of them, and her father, Ed Harding, is actually the mysterious shapeshifting Nasedo. Ultimately Max is kidnapped by the FBI special unit and tortured by Agent Pierce. He manages to escape with the help of his friends, but he has been scarred by this terrifying experience. At the end of first season, the aliens' background and destiny are revealed by a holographic message from their mother. Michael and Isabel are supposed to be together and Max is supposed to be with Tess. More than that, the aliens are some sort of human-alien hybrid reincarnated from genetic material from an alien king (Max), his bride (Tess), his sister (Isabel), and his second-in-command (Michael). Liz sees that Max has a destiny bigger than their teenage romance and she runs away crying, not wanting to hold him back from his fate.

The second season continues to be difficult for Max. In the opening episode, Max's parents have sent him to a psychologist for help with his problems - problems he can't even begin to talk about. The pace of events speeds up. Someone new - Brody Davis (Desmond Askew) -- replaces Milton at the UFO museum and fires Max from his after-school job (but later rehires him). They discover that Nasedo's killing touch deposits an alien element called Cadmium X, a fact which Max must cover up. Michael chafes under Max's new role as leader, and Max -- just a small town high school boy -- worries about his ability to assume this leadership. Congressman Whitaker also causes them trouble. Nasedo is killed by a new enemy - the Skins - and Max is frightened and in shock. They learn more about their past lives and discover a Skin enemy in the form of a human boy, Nicholas (Miko Hughes). Liz continues to reject and resist Max, even though he has no feelings for Tess. Still, the group eventually accepts Tess as one of them, especially after Liz drives Max away so forcefully in "The End of the World." There is an enemy among them, who turns out to be Courtney, a new waitress at the Crashdown - but she turns out to be more of a friend than an enemy.

The four aliens discover there was another set of identical pods that hatched in New York, leading them all to meet punk rock 'dupes' of themselves. Max visits New York City with Tess to attend an alien summit of representatives of other planets in his home system. These duplicate pods are not nice people - Michael's duplicate Rath has killed Max's duplicate Zan. Max finds out that in their past life Isabel was Vilandra and she may have betrayed him.

Max slowly regains his faith, grows in confidence as a leader, and slowly is rebuilding his friendship and closeness with Liz - yet at the same time, he does not want to hold her back from reaching her potential as a person. New revelations come about the human half of their alien origin as they continue on their journey of discovery in the second season.

Isabel Amanda Evans-Ramirez

Written by Jerry D.,; updated by MyrnaLynne

In many ways, Isabel Evans is the most unknowable, but yet most intriguing, character on "Roswell." She is Max’s sister, but more importantly, his confidant and friend. In some subtle ways, she has encouraged Max in his relationship with Liz, and showed a kind side that she tried to hide behind an air of haughtiness and unapproachability. On the surface, Isabel seemed cold, aloof, and unfeeling - the unattainable, perfect, sophisticated beauty. Deep down, however, Isabel is at heart a vulnerable soul, longing to have a normal life, and to fit into the world that she calls home.

On one hand, she’s fiercely protective of Max and Michael, and will use her considerable powers to literally "get inside the head" of people that she considers to be a threat. On the other hand, she’s also the most popular and outgoing of the aliens, and she blends in with her chosen environment through her beauty and apparent participation in school and civic activities.

When Isabel "dreamwalked" Alex and found out that he genuinely cared for her as a person, she was touched by this revelation and grew closer to him. In "The Balance", Isabel was fiercely protective of Michael when he fell ill and showed how much she cared about him. In "Toy House" Isabel shows how much she loves her parents, especially her mother, and how much she wanted Max to confess to her parents that they are aliens - something he was unwilling and unable to do, even to their mother, which broke Isabel's heart. Isabel used her strength to help rescue Max from the White Room, and it was an especially moving moment for her to "meet" the hologram of her alien birth mother - who is blonde and beautiful and looks like Isabel -- who explained their destiny.

In the second season, Max throws Isabel a surprise birthday party but she ends up getting strange flashes and rescuing Tess and killing Congresswoman Whitaker, who turned out to be an evil Skin. She goes to meditate in the pod chamber, where she encounters the spirit of her mother, and discovers the Granilith chamber - another room in the cave, with some enormous and mysterious alien machine. She does not reveal information to Max that Whitaker gave her about her past, and this begins to drive a subtle wedge between the sister and brother. Isabel begins to secretly fear that her role will be as betrayer of her brother and her people.

Rugged geologist Grant Sorensen intrigues Isabel and they date. Alex still remains close to Isabel, but she does not really return his romantic interest. In "Harvest", Isabel encounters Nicholas, a Skin from Vilandra's past in the body of a 14-year-old boy. She is both intrigued and repelled by him, and she wants to find out the truth.

For the most part, Isabel has put aside her haughty girlish ice queen personality and is now a strong and brave warrior for her alien cause. She suggests killing Brody when they suspect he is an evil alien. She knocks people unconscious when necessary and uses her wiles to distract security guards and is no longer afraid to 'get her hands dirty' as the old Isabel might have been. Even stronger is Isabel's 'dupe' from New York, Lonnie.

Still, Isabel is a sensitive person. We find out she is fanatical about Christmas. We see that she can be very funny. Her dreamwalking and her visions of people in trouble disturb her and she turns to Max and Sheriff Valenti for help. Isabel and Michael have rejected the possibility that they are meant to be together and they have returned to their almost brother/sister relationship. Alex returns from his exchange student trip to Sweden more self-confident and mature, and Isabel sees him with new eyes. Grant Sorensen begins to act suspicious and comes to a bad end - a very painful experience for Isabel, who feels responsible for his death. Isabel learns more about their past and continues to stay at her brother's side to face their future as his sister, friend and ally.

MIchael Guerin

Written by Jerry D., updated by MyrnaLynne

Michael Guerin is in many ways the most complex character on "Roswell," and the most driven as well. Unlike Max and Isabel, he has grown up in a very unhappy environment, being bounced around from various foster homes with neglectful caretakers who have given him no support or encouragement. He lived in a trailer park with his latest foster dad, Hank, who was a mean and abusive drunk. As a result, Michael has become a complete outsider, coming close to flunking out of school despite his hidden brilliance, and trusting no one but Max and Isabel. He has become obsessed with finding out the truth about his origins as a means to escape the world that he has come to despise, and he often acts in an impetuous way to achieve this goal. Michael is also the most emotional of the alien trio, and the one most likely to act on his feelings. Michael has the least amount of control of his powers, due to his insecurity and inability to control his emotions.

His feelings for Maria threaten to disrupt his carefully maintained alienation from everyone except Max and Isabel. These feelings for Maria scare him a great deal, and he simply doesn’t know how to deal with them. Because of Michael's unhappy and uncertain childhood, he has not learned many of the niceties of human interpersonal behavior and also has built a shell around himself to protect him from being hurt. He is totally unskilled in relationships and his feelings for Maria are disturbing and frightening to him, so he wants to keep her at arms' length.

However, Maria is a very warm and accepting and loving person and, in spite of himself, they grow very close, especially after his mean foster dad Hank threw Michael out and threatened him with a gun (in "Independence Day"). Michael ended up crying in Maria's arms, coming to her as the only person who could comfort him. Hank disappeared after that and Michael was granted legal independence (Hank was killed by Nasedo, but Michael was unaware of this). Michael got a job as a cook at the Crashdown Cafe and an apartment and began to build a life on his own. He and Maria continued to grow even closer.

However, events soon conspire to push Maria and Michael apart. Tess arrives in town and Michael starts getting visions that he might be with Isabel - at one point they think she might even be pregnant with his child through some alien dream connection. Michael thinks for a time that Riverdog (Ned Romero) is Nasedo, and that Nasedo might be his father. When he meets the real Nasedo, it is quite a let down - nothing is as he imagined. Michael uses his powers to kill Agent Pierce, then feels he has become a bad person and a danger to Maria. He pushed her away totally - because he loves her and wants to protect her from him, and also because of the mission he has to do for his alien people.

The second season finds Michael with new, non-spiky, longer hair and a motorbike. He is still not the ideal boyfriend or the most charming or tactful person. If anything, his anger and frustration have increased and he is annoyed by Max's sudden appointment as king and leader, and they argue frequently.

Michael comes to trust Sheriff Valenti, and with his mission and finding out more about himself, he has overcome some of his anger and found new strength and new focus. Together the pod squad discovers new facts about their alien and human origins.

Michael and Isabel have rejected any thought of a relationship with each other. Maria and Michael continue to bicker and be close, but he initally stands firm on his resolve not to continue his romantic relationship with her.

The battle with the Skins heats up and Michael is not sure he is ready, or that he will be strong enough. The new waitress at the Crashdown, Courtney, comes on to him outrageously, amusing Michael and making Maria very jealous and annoyed. Michael is not interested in Courtney at all, but they become closer when he finds out she is an alien - a 'good' Skin and on his side. In a very touching gesture, in the episode "Harvest" Michael saves Courtney's 'husk' (her new human body being grown to replace her current shedding old one) before they destroy the Skins' headquarters in Arizona. Unfortunately, she dies to protect them soon afterward to keep the secret of the Granilith from falling into the hands of Nicholas, leader of the 'bad' Skins.

Michael has the unsettling experience of meeting his 'dupe' Rath, who is ten times more uncouth than Michael ever could be. The totally unbelieving and cynical Michael discovers some faith during Christmas when he helps Max heal sick children and Isabel helps him out and manages to get Maria a Christmas gift she loves. Also during the holiday season, there seems to be the beginning of a thaw in Michael's resolve to keep Maria at arms' length.

As Max grows more confident and stronger as a leader, Michael begins to doubt Max less and to become more confident in his own powers as well. He wants to forge ahead with things and still chafes under Max's cautious wait-and-see approach to life; while Max sees Michael as a person who 'leaps before he looks.' But Max never doubts Michael's friendship or loyalty, or that Michael will be there for him and will continue to be the driving force in their search for their identity and their origins.

Maria DeLuca

Written by Jerry D., updated by MyrnaLynne

Maria DeLuca is one of the most delightful characters on Roswell, for a variety of reasons. Maria brings some much-needed comic relief to the show, as her sarcastic humor and high-strung tendencies lighten up the often-somber mood of the show. Maria is a wonderfully loyal friend to Liz, and their friendship on the show is very touching and very true to life. Maria's mother Amy DeLuca (Diane Farr) is a hippie New Age person who had Maria when she was young, and Maria's father left them when Maria was a child. Liz is like a sister to her. Maria is very nervous and her excitable nature has only been increased by the revelation that three of her schoolmates are aliens. Maria also is kind and compassionate, as she demonstrated when she chose not to tell Sheriff Valenti the truth about Max, Michael, and Isabel or later when she helped the Skin girl Courtney when she was sick, even though she saw Courtney as a rival for Michael's affection.

A whole new dimension was added to Maria’s character, when she reluctantly fell in love with Michael Guerin, the other male alien on the show. Their road trip in "285 South" was a highlight of the first season. Michael and Maria’s constant bickering masks deep feelings for one another which they have acted on several times, most notably in the wordless but intensely passionate kissing scene at the opening of "Heat Wave." Their uncertain relationship creates both happiness and anguish for their characters. Both Maria and Michael seem afraid to admit the feelings they have for one another, and their tortured but passionate romance is intriguing. Michael loves Maria, but he would prefer things just to be on a physical and spiritual plane, without the conversations or conditions or conventions of a formal relationship. Maria loves Michael but wants him to act like a 'real boyfriend' and treat her nicer - like Max treats Liz - but these are skills that Michael is sorely lacking and he cannot be anybody but himself. Still, despite their ups and downs, Michael and Maria grow very close, playing 'detective' together investigating FBI enemies and helping their human and alien friends, and their bond grows very strong.

However, when Michael learns about his origins and his destiny and uses his powers to kill Agent Pierce, he becomes very frightened and pushes Maria away 'for her own good' - because he "loves her too much" and is afraid of hurting her. He also feels his duty to Max and to his alien people must come first.

In the second season, we find Maria and Max have become better friends over the summer, as Max pines for Liz and Maria misses her former closeness with Michael. But Maria is not one to give up that easily and she sticks with Michael waiting for him to weaken. However, Michael is strong in refusing to let her get close again - although he might have weakened a little over Christmas, on their trip to help Laurie Dupree in "Disturbing Behavior" and on a group road trip in "Viva Las Vegas" where he arranges for her to live out her dream of singing for an audience.

Maria also was flattered by the attentions of new UFO Center owner, Brody Davis (Desmond Askew). The eccentric British UFO abductee really likes her and treats her well -- and compared to Michael, his eccentricities are not so bad. She finds out that Brody has a young daughter who doesn't live with him and, despite their age difference, Maria feels very close to Brody.

Maria grows much stronger and calmer this season - she has just seen so much this year that nothing seems to bother her or surprise her any more. She can still be passionate about things, but is no longer so flighty or hysterical. Her mother has a budding romance with Sheriff Valenti. Her cousin Sean DeLuca (Devon Gummersall) shows up in town (after getting out of jail) and comes to stay with the DeLucas for awhile. Maria doesn't trust him and lays down the law with him, telling him to stay away from Liz and trying to keep Sean on the up and up. A fortuneteller does not predict long-term happiness for Maria and Michael - but even though she is interested in Brody, Maria continues to wait for Michael, tries to push Max and Liz back together, and acts as the spirited 'glue' who holds everyone in Roswell together.

Alexander "Alex" Charles Whitman

Written by Jerry D.; updated by MyrnaLynne

Alex Charles Whitman is the male best friend on "Roswell" to Liz and Maria. He is the computer geek and not terribly cool, although he has a band (Colin plays bass guitar) and his own personal style. He is a very nervous, warm, and funny guy and a loyal friend. He was kept 'out of the loop' of the alien secret for a long time, driving a wedge between him and Liz and Maria, making him very angry. His friendship with them was severely tested when they chose not to reveal Max, Michael and Isabel’s secret, while asking him to do things that bordered on the illegal. Alex is extremely intelligent, but also sensitive, and is completely loyal to Liz and Maria. Alex showed a lot of courage in agreeing to donate blood for Max in "Blood Brothers" without really knowing the reason why, and he used his computer skills to expose the evil Ms. Topolsky. Alex stood up to Liz at school, and faced down Sheriff Valenti when Valenti tried to coerce him and Liz into revealing what they knew about Max Evans by imprisoning them. It was one of Alex's finest hours.

Alex has a crush on Isabel, as was revealed when she 'dreamwalks' him while he is sleeping. This intrigues Isabel and she begins to like Alex. When the aliens' secret is finally revealed to Alex - and once he believes it - he greets the news with a great deal of curiosity and scientific interest and exuberant enthusiasm. He becomes closer to Isabel, even though, like Max, she does not think it is a good idea to have a relationship with anyone human. He drags his bookish father along on a camping trip, and spends some quality time with Isabel under the stars. Alex remains the staunch friend, helping and supporting his friends any way he can, using his knowledge to provide technical expertise.

Alex is also a very good sport. In the beginning of the second season, he entertains Isabel at her surprise birthday party with an energetic and very embarrassing striptease number. Their relationship has never really gotten off the ground, although they were quite close and romantic for awhile. Alex is happy to be there for Isabel and let her lean on him for strength. Isabel starts dating geologist Grant Sorensen and is just not that interested in the devoted Alex 'that way.' Alex has not had a big role second season (Colin has been off working on various films) but he went as an exchange student to Sweden for a month and came back much more confident and mature - and still the nicest guy and best friend. It will be interesting to see how Alex continues to help his friends.

Kyle Valenti

Written by Jerry D., updated by MyrnaLynne

In the first season Kyle Valenti evolved from a good-ole-boy high school jock to someone with a major grudge against Max for taking his girlfriend Liz away from him. Kyle

mixed genuine concern for Liz with an obsessive possessiveness of her. He also exhibited a calculated cruelty in his treatment of Max as his way of getting back at Liz. In many ways, he is his father’s son, methodical and relentless in his desire to "get" Max. Even when Kyle dated other girls, it seemed only aimed at trying to make Liz jealous.

Underneath that insolent air is a hurt young man bewildered by the changes in the person that he cares about. Kyle is popular and athletic, but he also seems to bear the scars of his parents’ broken marriage. Kyle is not a bad guy. In "Leaving Normal", he stood up to his friends and apologized to Liz for them beating up Max without his knowledge or consent. He is bitter over losing Liz to Max and suspicious of the aliens. During the first season he emerged as a threatening and taunting presence in the lives of the other characters.

Kyle really shines in "Blind Date" when he and Max get drunk over their mutual girlfriend Liz dating somebody from a radio contest. They work together in a friendly, if competitive, guy way to try to win Liz back, and Kyle shows off just how funny he can be. He has a quick and sarcastic wit and under the athletic letters there seems to be intelligence and a good heart. Of all the teens in Roswell, he seems to be the most normal and 'regular' boy.

Kyle grows slowly as a character. In "Toy House", he hurt his leg playing basketball and had some time to reflect and made an attempt to apologize to Liz and renew their friendship. Max thinks Liz and Kyle are getting back together and that just adds to his stress. Kyle was not seen very much at the end of first season, but in "Destiny" he takes one of his father's guns and gives it to Agent Pierce, thinking Pierce is one of the good guys. In the confusion that followed, Kyle ends up getting shot and mortally wounded by his father. Max heals Kyle and saves him, earning Sheriff Valenti's undying gratitude. Kyle is not quite so grateful, thinking it is Max's fault he got shot in the first place.

In the second season, Kyle returns from a summer at football camp. He has been studying Buddhism, because he is so unsettled by his near-death experience and the general strangeness of his family becoming involved with aliens. He is a little afraid of Tess, who comes to live with his family, but is also intrigued by her and attracted to her. It is difficult for the two Valenti men to adjust to having a woman in the house again.

Kyle has really grown as a person and is less of a wiseguy this season. He helps Liz break off with Max by pretending to sleep with her -- but nothing really happens, except he and Liz talk and laugh and become a little better friends. He is still not thrilled with the aliens in town, with his father's growing involvement with them, and he is still angry with Max for taking Liz away from him and stealing his father's attention. But Kyle, like his father, is basically a good person and will most likely do the right thing.

Kyle has been changed by his experiences, and he is still trying to figure things out. Also hinted at in the new season is that Kyle (and Liz) have been literally changed by being healed by Max, and somehow now have alien attributes. What those are and how they affect them remains to be seen. Kyle is an uneasy ally with the four aliens at best.

James "Jim" Valenti Jr.

Written by Jerry D., updated by MyrnaLynne

Sheriff Jim Valenti (Jr.) began as the villain of "Roswell," relentlessly employing any means to find out the "truth" about Max. Sheriff Valenti has proved himself able and willing to use threats, imprisonment and other abuses of his power as a law enforcement officer to try and coerce whatever information he can out of all the major characters. Sheriff Valenti is also intelligent and resourceful, as he proved when he exposed Ms. Topolsky as a FBI agent.

Beyond this one-dimensional menacing presence, Sheriff Valenti is also a driven man, haunted by the ridicule his father, a former Sheriff of Roswell, was subjected to for believing that an alien spacecraft had crashed in 1947, and that there were survivors of that crash. Therefore, the mystery surrounding the shooting at the Crashdown Café, and the alleged role Max played in the aftermath of that shooting represent the only solid piece of evidence to support the existence of aliens. This was his father's obsession and undoing, and while he fears ending up like his father, stripped of his badge and locked away in a home, he has a burning desire to know the truth about Max and his friends.

Sheriff Valenti has also been shown to be a concerned - if preoccupied -- single parent to his son, Kyle. He is very proud of his son, the school's star athlete and 'all-American boy.' The two things that mean the most to him in the world are his son and his job as Sheriff. Valenti is an honest man and a good person and above corruption. Apparently his marriage broke up when Kyle was very young, for reasons never stated, and he has had no contact with his ex-wife Michelle. His character was humanized even further when he started dating Maria DeLuca’s mother Amy, and the two of them carried on like a pair of teenagers.

In a very moving story, Valenti visits his father (John Cullum) in a nursing home and apologizes to him and asks him about the past. He tries to reconnect with him when he realizes his father wasn't crazy, but actually had discovered the truth. As the season progressed, the Sheriff kept trying to find out what was going on and to warn and help Max and his friends, but they did not trust him. A turning point came when he found the alien orb - and then returned it to Max as a gesture of trust. He goes to help rescue Liz after she is kidnapped from Nasedo, and then helps to break Max out of the White Room.

In their escape, he is astonished to discover that Michael and Isabel are aliens as well. In the final confrontation with Agent Pierce, his son Kyle is shot (accidentally by Valenti himself) and is dying. He pleads with Max to help his son. Max heals him and earns Valenti's undying support and devotion. Kyle is less than impressed, blaming Max for getting him in the situation where he was shot in the first place and causing all his trouble.

During the second season, Valenti does his best to protect Max, Isabel, Tess and Michael, using his position as Sheriff to try to cover for them whenever they are in danger of discovery. His son Kyle is angry with the aliens upsetting his life and with his father's ever growing involvement with them, and his respect and affection for them. When Nasedo is killed, Valenti even takes Tess in to live in his house. Valenti's attempts to help and shield the four aliens result in his being suspended as Sheriff for a time and coming under ever-greater suspicion. Amy DeLuca continues to befriend and support him, much to his embarrassed pleasure and bemusement.

Tess Harding

Written by MyrnaLynne

Liz hid in the Harding home reveals Tess using "powers" to reassemble a broken statue - she is the fourth alien! Not only that, her father, Ed Harding, turns out to be the shapeshifting Nasedo who has looked after her and watched out for the Pod Squad over the years.

In "Max to the Max" Nasedo kidnaps Liz in the guise of Max and her friends go to rescue her - despite Tess's protests and dismissal of Liz as just another human. In "White Room" we see Tess's power to cloud minds (the same power she used to instill erotic fantasies in Max and probably to win Isabel as such a fast friend) as she, Isabel, Michael and Nasedo go to rescue Max from Agent Pierce. In "Destiny", it is revealed that in a past life, Tess and Max were married and destined to be together.

In the second season of Roswell, Nasedo is killed. This is a devastating loss for Tess, as Nasedo raised her and was in essence her father, even if he was nothing like a human father. Max, who has totally rejected the idea of a relationship with Tess, realizes the aliens need her help, powers and knowledge, and Tess gradually becomes more accepted into the group. Tess has a 'dupe' named Ava from another set of pods raised in New York City and Ava loved Max's 'dupe' Zan (who was killed). Future Max comes 'back from the future' to tell Liz she must break up with Max, and get him to like Tess, because without Tess's help, the other three aliens won't have enough strength to defeat their enemies, the Skins, and the world will be destroyed. Liz tries various things to get Max and Tess together and finally pretends to sleep with Kyle, driving Max away and breaking his heart, and he finally allows Tess to get a little closer to him. Tess accompanies Max to New York and supports and comforts him as much as he will let her. She uses her powers in "Harvest" and "Wipeout!" to help Max defeat the Skins - destroying them in an awe-inspiring conflagration of fire that she wills into existence. The magnitude of Tess's powers aren't known yet, but she is much more adept with her alien skills from being raised and trained by Nasedo.

After Nasedo's death, Tess moves into the Valenti home and there is a strong attraction between her and Kyle, who gives up his room for her. Tess is slowly learning the ways of humans -- like Christmas and turkey dinners - and is becoming a little less alien and a little more human and charming. She loves to tease Kyle and has a good sense of humor.

Liz Parker	Max Evans	Isabel Evans	Maria DeLuca	Michael Guerin

played by Shiri Appleby	played by Jason Behr	played by Katherine Heigl	played by Majandra Delfino	played by Brendan Fehr

Tess Harding	Alex Whitman	Kyle Valenti	Sheriff Jim Valenti	Jesse Ramirez

played by Emilie de Ravin	played by Colin Hanks	played by Nick Wechsler	played by William Sadler	played by Adam Rodriguez

Jeffrey "Jeff" Parker	Nancy Parker
Phillip Evans	Diane Evans
Amy DeLuca	Sean DeLuca
Courtney Banks	Ed Harding / Nasedo
Brody Davis	Laurie DuPree
River Dog	Milton
Kathleen Topolsky	Owen Blackwood

Characters

Major Characters

Liz
Parker

Max
Evans

Isabel
Evans

Maria
DeLuca

Michael
Guerin

Tess
Harding

Alex
Whitman

Kyle
Valenti

Sheriff
Jim Valenti

Jesse
Ramirez

Supporting Characters

Elizabeth "Liz" Parker

Maxwell "Max" Evans

Isabel Amanda Evans-Ramirez

MIchael Guerin

Maria DeLuca

Alexander "Alex" Charles Whitman

Kyle Valenti

James "Jim" Valenti Jr.

Jesse Ramirez

Tess Harding

Jeffrey "Jeff" Parker

Nancy Parker

Phillip Evans

Diane Evans

Amy DeLuca

Sean DeLuca

Courtney Banks

Ed Harding / Nasedo

Brody Davis

Laurie DuPree

River Dog

Milton

Kathleen Topolsky

Owen Blackwood