- "You have the most amazing being on Earth doing chores on your farm!" – Roger to Jonathan Kent about Clark, Vortex
Roger Nixon was a reporter for the Metropolis Inquisitor. He came to Smallville in a botched attempt to blackmail Lex Luthor. Roger ended up working for Lex investigating some information about Clark Kent and also giving Lex good press in the Inquisitor.
Nixon was killed after being shot in the back by Lex to save Jonathan Kent. Lex later covered up Roger's death by stating that Nixon had killed himself.
Season One[]
Roger originally came to Smallville in a botched attempt to blackmail Lex Luthor. He ended up working for Lex investigating some information about the car crash and Clark Kent and also giving Lex good press in the Inquisitor.
He was able to report to Lex that he did indeed hit Clark with his car that day on the bridge, but Lex chose not to pursue it after he saw Clark in the hospital for bruised ribs when Clark's powers were briefly transferred to Eric Summers. Nixon also discovered that it was Lionel Luthor behind the entire Harry Hardwick scam.
He took Lex to meet Eddie Cole, who told a story about seeing a spaceship land in Miller's Field the day of the meteor shower. Lex pretended to be unimpressed with the story, but he sent a team led by Dr. Hamilton to excavate Miller's Field, where they discovered the key.
Nixon covered the unfolding story about the Ascendance Foundation setting up in Smallville, focusing on the healing of Stuart Harrison's cancer. He wrote a story for the Inquisitor on the subject, emphasizing the unlikeliness yet apparent continous recovery of Harrison. (Strange Visitors)
Under unrevealed circumstances, Nixon spied on Clark doing several remarkable things and set into motion a plan to expose him to the world. First, he blew up a truck with Clark inside, to document his powers on video. He continued spying on the Kents and learned the location of the key and the spaceship. While Clark departed for the Spring Formal with Chloe, he broke into the Kents' storm cellar and activated the ship before he was discovered and chased out into a tornado storm by Jonathan Kent, saying that he would tell the world about Clark's origins.
Season Two[]
During the subsequent confrontation, he and Jonathan were trapped in an old crypt when the tornado dropped a house on them, forcing them to work together to try and escape. Despite Jonathan saving Nixon's life, the two subsequently argued about Nixon's actions, Nixon calling Jonathan a "small-town hick" whose son's destiny was too great for him to accept and that people had a right to know they weren't alone in the universe, while Jonathan countered that he and his wife loved Clark and he had a right to live his own life regardless of his origins. Forcing
Nixon to surrender the tape in exchange for helping him to escape, Jonathan managed to find a location where they could tunnel out, simultaneously unintentionally uncovering meteor fragments in the process. Clark eventually tracked Jonathan and Nixon down, but in the process unintentionally revealed his weakness to the meteor rocks. Nixon took advantage of this by slipping a meteor rock in Clark's pocket, planning to use Clark himself as evidence. As he attempted to kill Jonathan with an iron bar, Nixon was shot in the back by Lex. Lex later covered up Roger's death by stating that Nixon had killed himself.
Appearances[]
- Season One: X-Ray, Leech, Obscura, Tempest
- Season Two: Vortex, Fever (Mentioned only)
- Smallville Novel: Temptation (Mentioned only)
Notes[]
- Roger was a main antagonist of Season One.
- Roger is not the first person to try and expose Clark's secret. Sam Phelan threatened to do the same thing in Rogue if Clark didn't use his powers to steal for him.
- Roger was the first person shown to have been killed by Lex Luthor.
- Roger was the third main antagonist, that wasn't a Freak of the week, to die, following the deaths of Sam Phelan in Rogue and Deputy Gary Watts in Obscura. All three of them were shot to death.
- He shares both his initials and last name with the 37th President of the United States and 36th Vice President of the United States, Richard Nixon.
- A Smallville Ledger tie-in article provides additional information on Roger, also known as "Rainman". He was born April 12, 1965 in Missoula, Montana. He was survived by five ex-wives and a younger brother named Milhous Nixon. The name "Milhous Nixon" is a nod to President Richard Nixon (whose full name was Richard Milhous Nixon).