YMMV / Space Quest

• Alternate Character Interpretation: Roger Wilco. Bumbling, lazy idiot who only manages to succeed through sheer blind luck, or underestimated (though unmotivated) hero who manages to get ahead by using his cunning and resources to save the day? Big Bad Sharpei of Space Quest VI feels it's a bit of both, that Roger is a bumbling idiot but he couldn't have survived the way he has without some degree of genuine capacity.
  • After playing through the games, there's an even darker variant of the second theory. Roger is far from the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he is surrounded by a universe that seems to care more for appearances than realities, and is horrified by the ''very notion'' that a mop jockey can save their butts. At least once per game, he could have said "Screw it, not my problem" and no one would have thought any different of him - or even considered it a preferable action to heroics. In the first game, he had a ship and could have gone anywhere. He knew damn well the Sariens had a lot of ways to make him die painfully - he still went after them to destroy the Star Generator. In the second game, Xenon was shown to be all but a planet of douchebags, to the point that he could still have killed off Vohaul and let the insurance salesmen conquer Xenon. (After all, no one cared while he was in that cryosleep pod in the end.) In the third game, he had a ship and a few hundred buckazoids - he didn't have to go rescue the Two Guys. In Space Quest 4, he had a freaking time machine. Why go back to the Crapsack World of Space Quest 12 which was even worse than the Sarien ship? Space Quest 5 had Star Con perfectly willing to blow off Beatrice's reports of illegal dumping of toxic sludge and look the other way because their golden boy Quirk was the "hero type" they wanted. It may have been a total fluke that put Roger in the captain's chair of the Eureka, but he managed to win the loyalty of the surly crew (risking his life for theirs more than once), accomplish his missions, blow the lid off the conspiracy, and save the Confederation from the pukoid monster. In the last game, he's busted back down to Janitor. Part of the charges against him were "consorting with a female of higher rank," which is nasty on a couple fronts - no one was bitching when Quirk was trying to force himself on her, and Bea is perfectly capable of making her own choices as to a partner! The admiral that was presiding over the alleged tribunal turned out to be allied with Sharpei later. Speaking of Sharpei, Star Con was all too willing to write off Stellar's highly suspicious alleged death because the wealthy and well-connected Sharpei was considered beyond suspicion or reproach. Worse, no one believed Roger when he tried to tell them something was wrong. Yet, he couldn't let that injustice lie, no matter how badly Star Con wanted it to do so. Given how many times he stepped up, only to get kicked in the teeth, insulted, and hurt ''every time,'' who can blame the guy for being unmotivated or believing he's worth less than the stuff he mops off the floor?
  • Roger may also simply be Brilliant, but Lazy: He actually is quite intelligent and on the ball, but is just too lazy or apathetic to actually apply himself. So he's gaming the system by Obfuscating Stupidity. No one expects anything from him, which therefore makes it easier for him to do the absolute minimum he has to to get by. He only steps up when literally no one else can do the job.
• Fanon Discontinuity: Some feel this way about V and VI. Both games were only worked on by one half of the Two Guys (Mark for the former, Scott for the latter and even then, Scott came late into development) and were radical departures from the first four games in tone and humor.
  • For those who love V, some will ignore VI and view the former as the true end of the series. Usually this comes down to V feeling like a high note to end the series on, while VI is a pretty mixed title that completely undoes everything from V at the start.
• Funny Moments:
  • Any of Roger's deaths.
  • This from Space Quest VI:
    Roger: "Djurkwhad is a scaredy-cat! (singsong) Djurkwhad is a scaredy-cat!"
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The game parodies many sci-fi works, most notably Star Wars. And Roger Wilco is a janitor. Come Star Wars: The Force Awakens, guess Finn's former occupation? That's right, a janitor (and, perhaps, not a very good one)
  • The hanging pod which grabs Roger and eats him if he gets too close becomes this regarding the Barnacle. Even better is Sierra Studios would publish the CD release of Half-Life.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • Make Roger fall into Acid or Lava and get ready to change your pants.◊
  • The creepy appearance of the poor dudes in SQ4 with all that headgear could scare some people too.
  • The Body Horror caused by the Pukoid infection in V is as terrifying as it is Squicky. Pukoid Quirk in particular has a face that will give you horrible nightmares.
  • The Explosive Decompression death from the first is pretty unsettling, putting Total Recall (1990) to shame.
    • The Space Quest III version is even worse! It shows up Roger Wilco with his torso completely bisected with guts floating everywhere just like if he had been attacked by a Facehugger or mauled to death by a tiger!
  • More Body Horror with Beatrice. Look at her in the cryochamber and leave. Repeat over and over. Squick!
• Spiritual Licensee: Galaxy Quest is more or less a movie adaptation of the game right down to the satirical tone, premise and even the similar sounding titles.

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