Roar was a short-lived FOX network show from 1997, the brain-child of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries alum Shaun Cassidy.
Conor (Heath Ledger), a young Irish warrior, is trying to unite 4th century Ireland against the invading Romans. Longinus, leading the Romans, is secretly the cursed-to-be-immortal centurion who stabbed Christ at Calvary. The show freely mixed Christian tradition, Celtic Mythology, Druidism, and, barely, smatterings of history. And then there's the Roar. What the heck is the 'Roar'? Did anybody ever figure it out?
Roar was not very well received and lasted less than one season, with only 8 of the 13 ordered episodes aired. The complete series is now available on DVD.
Provides examples of:
- Action Girl: Catlin and Molly, as well as many other guest-stars. In fact, it was more unusual if a woman wasn't an Action Girl.
- Adaptational Villainy: Longinus actually became a saint after stabbing Jesus, since it was an act of mercy, not evil.
- Affably Evil: Diana remains polite and regal throughout her dealings with the Celts (most of the time).
- Ash Face: Possibly the only instance of this being Played for Drama: an episode concerning the creation of explosives has Longinus hijack it all in the hopes that it can destroy him. After the explosion he wakes up with this trope and a Big "NO!".
- Ambiguously Gay: Pasolinus seems rather inordinately fond of his albino slave.
- Artistic License – Physics: In "Projector", the Romans get hold of some gunpowder and build a cannon. They load it by placing a gunpowder-filled grenade in the mouth of the cannon and lighting the fuse. Great way to blow your cannon to bits.
- Best Her to Bed Her: Minus the "bedding" part, it would seem Vorgeen was this, as Tully tells Conor mid-fight that she won't agree to unite the tribes unless he beats her in combat.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Conor and Catlin are both friendly, easy-going people—but when they get mad ...
- Big "NO!": Connor, when he runs back home and sees it burning to the ground with his family inside.
- Catlin too when Shannon is shot.
- Book Ends: Conor is hunting a deer in the first scene of the first episode, and sees it again at the conclusion.
-
California Doubling: Filmed in Queensland, Australia-leading to the amusing sight of gum trees and the sound of kookaburras in Ireland.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome:
- Glas's mother. Where was she when Glas is murdered?
- Tully is absent without explanation in the final three or so episodes. Catlin is absent from the finale.
- Dark Secret: Catlin is a Christian. This was a big deal back then.
- Deadpan Snarker: Diana."Such drama. Are you sure you're not Greek?"
- Decoy Damsel: Catlin and Tully lose their horses to one of Longinus's followers in this manner.
- Despair Event Horizon: When Longinus loses The Spear of Destiny to Conor and realizes that he's doomed to live forever.
- Disposable Woman: Clare. Played by a young Keri Russell, the writers soon realized their mistake and kept trying to find ways of bringing her back.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Longinus, though he's wide awake when he has his prophetic visions. Also notable is the sheer span of his visions-when experimenting with rudimentary dynamite, he has flashes of nuclear weapons.
- Also Shannon and her family, though they only have visions of impending death.
- Establishing Character Moment: A doozy of one for Diana. Her lover enters her chambers to find her writhing about in a mud-bath. Knowing he's leaving on a dangerous mission, she deigns only to blow him a kiss. As soon as he's gone, another man emerges from the mud, gasping for breath. She tells him: "you missed a spot" and pushes him back under again. Need we say more?
- Evil Weapon: The Lance of Longinus (a/k/a "The Spear of Destiny").
- Fascinating Eyebrow: Fergus, on occasion.
- Hell-Bent for Leather: 4th century Irishmen wearing tight leather pants is historically inaccurate, as the actors themselves acknowledged.
- Lady in Red: Diana, reflecting her manipulative, seductive persona.
- Milky White Eyes: Catlin gets these temporarily after the Romans inject her with drugs. Has nothing to do with Prophet Eyes.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Tully, who sounds neither Irish nor African nor any other dialect that would make sense. He's an American.
- Religion is Magic: Most particularly in the episode with the scroll.
- Rescue Romance: Conor meets Catlin after rescuing her from the Romans. Somewhat subverted in that at the time, he's in love with someone else.
- Parental Incest: Done briefly, when Fergus is initially quite attracted to Molly before he realizes that she's his daughter. It's hinted that the attraction only stemmed from her resemblance to his wife. Later he leers at her naked body behind a veil before realizing that it's Molly.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Catlin and Tully.
- Shirtless Scene: Conor a couple of times. Fergus is perpetually shirtless.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Diana, at least until the second to last episode, in which she pulls off a magnificent plan.
- Suck Out the Poison: Shannon does this for Conor after he's been hit by a poisoned arrow.
- Taking the Bullet: Clare jumps in front of a sword strike meant for Conor.
- Title Drop: At the end of the first episode, Conor stands at the edge of a cliff and roars. In subsequent episodes, this clip is used in the intro when the title is shown.
- Tribal Face Paint: The Celts wear the familiar blue face paint in battle.
- True Companions: The gang, along with the rest of those who take refuge in the Sanctuary.
- The Vamp: Diana, to both Conor and Longinus, though she does have a couple of genuine Pet the Dog moments.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Clare was set up as a recurring, if not major character, only to be Killed Off for Real halfway through the pilot episode. It's worse when you take into account the
Retroactive Recognition: she's played by a young Keri Russell. - Would Hit a Girl: Conor gets in a tussle with a woman chieftain-though it's clear he's holding back a little.
