Roll/Archie Comics

Roll is a character in the Archie Comics Mega Man series.

Creation
Roll was the third Robot Master to be built by Dr. Thomas Light, after her brothers Blues and Rock. She and Rock were built after Blues ran away from home, and were never told about their older brother. Rock and Roll were the best of friends, and regarded Dr. Light as their father, and did their best to help him in his work.

Let the Games Begin!
Roll helped, alongside Rock, Dr. Light prepare for his speech at the unveiling of the first six Robot Masters. Unfortunately, the happy occasion was dashed when Dr. Light's former partner, Dr. Albert W. Wily, stole the Robot Masters and set them on a rampage around the city. Hoping to stop him, Rock volunteered to be modified into a combat robot, and took the name Mega Man. At one point when Dr. Light was aiding Rock in locating Bomb Man, Roll overheard Dr. Light's exclamation of Blues when he saw a Sniper Joe, and inquired Dr. Light as to who Blues was, although Dr. Light said it was unimportant at the moment. When Mega Man became despondent upon having to defeat Bomb Man and Guts Man, Roll contacted Mega Man during his battle with Cut Man, and told him he was helping the world, not hurting it, and that sacrificing everything for it is a good thing, not a bad thing. Roll eventually witnessed Mega Man get out of control and ran out crying. This eventually got Mega Man to vow not to resort to his special weapons unless absolutely necessary, due to guilt. Roll eventually aided in repairing and reenergizing the Robot Masters when Mega Man successfully stopped Dr. Wily.

Time Keeps Slipping
Roll aided in the cleanup effort of the city, although she expressed some annoyance at Mega Man and the other Robot Masters making a bigger mess. She later got into a bigger argument when an accident occurred at a quarry that resulted in her hair catching on fire, which she blamed Rock for (although it was actually caused by Fire Man). Roll then went grocery shopping and returned to Light Labs, only to end up abducted by Oil Man, the latter also leaving a note behind demanding that they either not interfere in Wily's escape or else Wily will dismantle Roll. Roll upon arrival at Wily's hideout requested to know who Oil Man and Time Man were, to which he explained they were "powered up" Robot Masters developed and discontinued by Dr. Light. Roll then apologized to Mega Man about getting the other 6 Robot Masters reprogrammed again, citing Oil Man's ambush of her. Krantz eventually rescues her, and she reminds Mega Man about Wily still being nearby. Afterwards, Light embraced Rock and Roll. She alongside the rest of Light Labs eventually ended up ambushed by Quick Man. Roll later took over for Dr. Light alongside Auto when Light became suspicious that Wily may have encoded a virus into the Robot Master's programming to target Mega Man should he use his variable weapons system.

Spiritus Ex Machina
Roll later joined Rock, Elec Man, and Dr. Light for the ARTS show, where they were to act as exhibits. Roll, while having fun exploring, accidentally bumped into Dr. Cossack's daughter, Kalinka, with Pharaoh Man getting angry at Roll, although Cossack quelled the potential argument. She later went into hiding alongside Kalinka when the terrorist group Emerald Spears attacked the ARTS show.

Rock of Ages
Roll, alongside Kalinka and Tempo, also participated on the beach as their last day before Kalinka returned to Russia. However, they eventually ended up having to save a cruise liner that ran aground due to Mega Man and Dr. Light being otherwise unavailable (due to undergoing maintenance by Dr. Light and Dr. Lalinde regarding the Slide Maneuver). As such, she alongside Tempo, Oil Man (who found out because he picked up the line when Roll tried to call Light), Splash Woman (whom Oil Man brought along to help, although his comment about "bringing a date" initially caused her some confusion) and Rush (who had been remotely contacted by Roll shortly after her calling Oil Man/Dr. Light about the situation) proceeded to save the passengers. She also told Tempo to armor up as Quake Woman, also assuring her that they'll "walk back to shore" when she seemed hesitant, being unaware of her fear of being trapped. She has Rush enter Jet Mode and deliver them to the ship.

Roll ended up concerned about the amount of people underwater and helped fix a jammed lifeboat. She eventually met Splash Woman (DLN-067) when the latter saved Quake Woman when she fell overboard while attempting to fix the other jammed lifeboat. Roll then filled Splash Woman on what happened. Roll later aided in creating camps for the rescued people on the ship and pulling them to shore. They eventually grew concerned when they learned that the captain is still unconscious inside the ship, with minutes left before the rest of the ship goes under. After all the people were accounted for, including the captain (Quake Woman had rescued the captain), she humbly stated that she "made a few calls" when asked about her role by the Captain, although the Medic Chief stated that she got the Robot Masters involved, set up the camps, and also pulled the people to shore. She later declined to go home for repairs, as she wanted to make sure the rescued people were all right, with Mega Man volunteering to help.

Breaking Point
In issue 22, Roll visited the Arctic due to Ice Man being on the list. She was also oblivious to Ice Man's infatuation for her, although she proposed match-making Mega Man with Quake Woman. She eventually ended up in a cave-in accident, although she eventually found Ice Man when he was about to try to find them. Fortunately, they all returned home safe, and soon attended a party honoring Rock's heroism. Sadly, the event was attacked by the mysterious Break Man, and their reality was subsequently enveloped by the Genesis Wave.

Worlds Collide
The altered reality in which Roll found herself in soon provided new dangers, as Dr. Wily and Dr. Eggman sent out their Roboticized Masters to steal a Chaos Emerald from the Mega City bank. Upon learning that Proto Man had engaged them, Mega Man left to help. When the older of her two brothers returned to the lab with information for Dr. Light, Roll insisted upon him undergoing repairs, and convinced him to do so by taking it upon herself rather than having Dr. Light do it. Roll was in for an unpleasant surprise when, shortly after contacting Duo, Dr. Light was kidnapped by Bass and Metal Sonic on the orders of the evil doctors. She was then surprised when Mega Man returned with Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails in tow, but helped them in their efforts to open a Warp Ring they could use to follow the two evil robots.

Roll remained at Light Labs with Auto to await Duo's arrival, and opened the Warp Ring again when the alien robot arrived to as to send him to the Skull Egg Zone. Wanting to send the heroes as much help as she could, she rallied the eight Robot Masters created after herself and sent them through as well. Thanks to this effort on her part, Sonic and Mega Man were rescued from the doctors by Proto Man, Dr. Light, Rush, and Knuckles the Echidna. Subsequently, Super Mega Man-Mega Man using the Super Adapter and the power of the Chaos Emeralds-restored his reality to normal, returning role to her proper place in time and space.

Breaking Point (continued)
In issue 28, upon learning from Dr. Light that Break Man might in fact be Mega Man's long-lost brother Blues, Roll scaled the skyscraper that Mega Man and Break Man were currently fighting on and stopped the fight long enough to warn Mega Man that Break Man is Blues. However, she eventually intercepted an attack from behind courtesy of Break Man that was aimed at Mega Man, causing serious damage to her in the process.

Blackout: The Curse of Ra Moon
The resulting wound was catastrophic, and this alongside the EMP wave caused by Ra Moon disabling Dr. Light's tools and equipment placed her life at serious risk, resulting in her being placed in a containment field. She remained in critical condition for some time, and unlike Mega Man couldn't be helped with a protective coating as it could exacerbate the existing damage. After Ra Moon was destroyed by Mega Man (nearly destroying himself in the process), Roll was repaired fully, although she spoke with a slight stutter in the aftermath. She was then shocked when Mega Man's team returned home with the critically injured Rock and a supposedly reformed Dr. Wily.

Redemption
Roll aided in the repair work for Mega Man, eventually succeeding in restoring his power output due to setting up an Energy tank. After hearing how Dr. Wily found Blues and how he ran away, Roll noted some inconsistencies in the story, namely Blues' behavior. Late at night, Roll and Auto continued to do some repair work on Mega Man, with her explaining that, while she doesn't entirely trust Dr. Wily's story, it was backed up by Pedro Astil and the other Robot Masters testimonies, and denied that Wily tampered with the Robot Masters' systems due to their being proofed and his not having any time to do so anyways due to the blackout and trying to bring Mega Man back to Light Labs. She then expressed guilt about Mega Man's condition and wished she were the one who stopped Ra Moon instead of him, although she cheered up when Auto reminded her that Mega Man would probably be in her current position if that were the case. After the tests were complete, they shut down Mega Man.

After Mega Man was restored, Roll accompanied Dr. Light, Rush, Mega Man, Drs Astil and Cossack, Pharaoh Man and Plant Man on an expedition to discover the truth behind the events of the Blackout, both to prevent it from happening again and to find out whether Wily's claims of innocence were truthful. Roll asked if Mega Man was alright after a trap caused him to panic, resulting in Pharaoh Man taking the lead. When Astil indicated he was getting nervous while traversing the tunnel, Roll offered to take his hand. The group eventually came across Ra Moon's remains, and a terrified Roll clung to Pharaoh Man for comfort. She eventually, alongside Rush, located Ra Moon's remains and alerted its presence to everyone in her fear. After examining the chamber, the evidence they gathered seemed to confirm Wily's testimony, and the group returned home.

Unexpected surprises awaited them, as Wily-cleared of some but not all of his crimes-was placed under house arrest at Light Labs, meaning that he would be living with the Light family. Roll did her best to be accommodating, though she made no secret of her dislike of the supposedly reformed doctor. When Wily revealed to Rock and her that he and Dr. Light were working on a multi-purpose robot, Roll reacted with shock and suspicion alongside her brother at the implications of this. She then attended the unveiling of Gamma, Dr. Light's latest project, where she helped Wily spruce up in preparation for the event. However, things turned sour as several of Dr. Wily's Robot Masters-whom he claimed remained loyal to Ra Moon-attacked and stole Gamma's Energy Elements.

Dawn of X
While Mega Man, Pharaoh Man, and Bright Man investigated one of Wily's old laboratories in search of the Robot Master thieves, Roll remained at Light Labs to help Drs. Light, Wily, and Cossack. After serving the trio coffee, she caught Dr. Cossack's cup after the handle broke, managing to prevent any coffee from spilling. She offered him another, but the Russian scientist-upset by Wily's presence and remarks (especially regarding his daughter Kalinka)-declined. After Dr. Wily "accidentally" reactivated the Wily Walker, Roll aided in preparing a device to aid Mega Man, also remarking that Bolts are becoming more precious than money due to how fast they are burning through them. Presumably, she aided in the modifications to Rush to allow Mega Man to reach Outer Space after the true locations of the third-generation Robot Masters were tracked down.

Legends of the Blue Bomber
After Mega Man reaches Outer Space, Roll expressed relief that the modifications worked. Afterwards, when Wily tried to install the first Energy Element shortly after Mega Man teleported it to Light Labs upon defeating Top Man, Roll stopped Wily alongside Dr. Light, as only the latter was authorized to implement the Energy Elements due to Wily's Robotics ban. After Wily conceded their point, Roll looked at Wily smugly while the latter shot a dirty look at her (implying that she suspected what he was up to). She then told Auto to investigate strange transmissions coming inside Light Labs and directed towards the satellite asteroids while she continued to aid Dr. Light in giving support to Mega Man. She then proceeded to install the first two Energy Elements into Gamma (retrieved from Top Man and Snake Man), although when inputting the second one, she nearly received a jolt due to their unstable nature, with Dr. Light yelling at her to be careful. She continued to observe Mega Man's missions. She was eventually notified by Auto about having deduced the source of the strange transmissions, but when she arrived at Auto's meeting area, she ended up finding Auto's dismantled body stuffed inside a broom cupboard. She quickly ran to tell Dr. Light of this development, resulting in a lockdown of Light Labs for all except family members, as it became obvious Dr. Wily was behind the events. Unfortunately, thanks to Break Man, Wily managed to complete Doc Robot, and confronted them in the command center. Roll armed herself with her push broom.

The Ultimate Betrayal/Prisoners of War
After angrily trying to drive Dr. Wily out with the broom, she ended up attacked with Air Shooter, and narrowly avoiding being hit by Bubble Lead by Doc Robot, and was later threatened by Wily to be hit by a random attack and potentially killed unless Dr. Light grants Wily access to the Gamma hangar. Dr. Light then tells her to do what Wily says. She and Mega Man later comforts Dr. Light when he was despairing and also proceeded to get Rush, Auto, and Mega Man repaired before sending Mega Man and Rush over to Wily's newest castle per intel from Break Man.

She later helps Dr. Light repair Auto, also apologizing alongside Light to Auto for the rushed patch job earlier, although Auto paid it no mind, as he doesn't have her emotion base, and he realized fixing Mega Man was far more of a priority. She also reluctantly hoped and prayed for Mega Man's survival, realizing there was nothing they can do to aid Mega Man thanks to the lab above Gamma's Hangar being destroyed. Her prayers were answered when Mega Man and Rush were delivered back to the ruins of Light Labs by Break Man, who whistled his signature tune before departing. Roll also reprimanded her brother for apologizing about both Wily and Break Man, given that he had just saved the world again.

Roll and her family then turned their attention towards repairing the sixteen Wily Robot Masters, reviving them in the hopes that they could serve new functions. They successfully brought them all back online, though not without some problems, such as Magnet Man and Metal Man getting stuck together. Unfortunately, only half of the Wily Numbers chose to avail themselves of the opportunity of a new chance at life, while their brothers chose to be shut down. Heartbroken but trying to make the best of the situation, Roll suggested that they could be placed in a Robot Museum, but the idea appealed little to Rock.

Worlds Unite
The first generation of Robot Masters and Concrete Man soon arrived to help rebuild Light Labs, with Cut Man helping Roll out in her garden. She was quite pleased when Mega Man and Elec Man joined forces to restore the lab's power, though Cut Man was disappointed that Fire Man and Ice Man would no longer be teaming up to serve as heating and cooling units for the facility. When Rock left to go into town for supplies, Roll expressed some concern at him going alone given their recent past. Confident that no further threat remained, Rock assured her that he would be fine. However, Roll's fears were confirmed when he failed to return, and Mega City was then attacked by Sonic Man. The first generation Robot Masters attempted to stop him, but proved no match. This forced Dr. Light to call upon the Wily Numbers who had volunteered for reprogramming, and Quake Woman joined up with them due to her friendship with Roll. However, even the arrival of Break Man failed to stop the corrupted Sonic, who activated a Unity Engine that fused Roll's Earth with his own world.

As the unified planet settled, Roll and Dr. Light were introduced to the Maverick Hunters and Team Sticks, who had arrived through a Genesis Portal. Meeting up with the Robot Masters and Freedom Fighters-who included the cured Mega Man and Sonic-the full group was made aware that it was Sigma, the Hunters' foe from the future, who had corrupted Sonic into Sonic Man and Rock into M'egga Man in order to bring about the planetary fusion. As such, Roll joined the four groups of heroes aboard the Sky Patrol in order to find and stop the villainous Maverick. While aboard, Roll was helping Rock with a training simulation when they were joined by X, leader of the Hunters. To their surprise, they learned that he was a creation of Dr. Light's from their future, having been created to fulfill the doctor's dreams of peace. Unfortunately, his technology had also been used to create other advanced robots, many of whom-including Sigma-had become Mavericks. X confided in his new friends that he had considered asking Dr. Light not to create him, but Mega Man and Roll encouraged him not to give up.

While aboard, Roll was summoned to the training deck by Sticks the Badger, who subjected her to a gauntlet of traps and enemies. In the end, it turned out that Sticks had mistaken Roll's trademark broom for one of Sigma's spies due to it featuring a design resembling eyes. After the heroes discovered that Sigma had holed up on the Lost Hex, Roll joined Sally Acorn, Nicole, and Cream the Rabbit on the bridge of the Sky Patrol to help coordinate the heroes' assault on Sigma. Unfortunately, the group's early successes against Sigma's army of Mechaniloids were mitigated by the Deadly Six taking control of the Robot Masters, Maverick Hunters, and Gemerl. Roll was ordered to remain inside to prevent her from joining her friends as a helpless puppet, though fortunately the crisis was soon resolved due to the unlikely assistance of Dr. Eggman, Dr. Wily, and their Egg-Wily Uppity Robot Scrambler Cannon. A new obstacle soon loomed, however, as Sigma appeared in a massive new robot body with an army of Maverick clones ready to attack. Many of these soon scattered to various worlds in order to continue Sigma's plan, while a handful remained behind to attack the heroes. Luckily, Sticks returned from a trip to the world of Street Fighter with some backup, and the heroes were soon free to pursue the remaining Mavericks.

Short Circuits
Roll also appears in several of the Short Circuits strips, starting in the very first issue where she witnesses the horror of Rock being rebuilt into Bad Box Art Mega Man. The strip for Issue 3 finds Rock apologizing to her for his earlier outburst, and her expressing understanding that the power he's accumulated would probably tax anyone. A fantasy is then shown in which Roll finds a mess, transforms her hands into Roll Busters, and declares that "Fire is the ultimate cleanser!" Rock shudders at the notion, and Roll is irritated by his reaction.

Issue 8's strip featured Roll eating lunch next to Oil Man only for him to belch. Roll expresses her disgust, while Oil Man blames it on the fact that he "run[s] on crude oil." In the strip for Issue 14, Roll and several others have their hair frizzed up by Elec Man, whom she accosts. In Issue 21, Roll reveals that her New Year's Resolution is to help everyone keep theirs. Though not directly featured in Issue 22's Short Circuits, she is referred to by Ice Man, who bemoans the fact that she doesn't reciprocate his romantic feelings for her.

Roll was featured in a Snow White parody in the strip in Issue 32, playing the comatose princess in her glass coffin (undoubtedly inspired by her condition during the Curse of Ra Moon story arc). Ice Man prepared to awaken her with a kiss-unfortunately for him, the whole experience turned out to be a dream. The real Roll, learning that Ice Man was active again, asked if he could help take out the trash. The next issue's strip saw Roll finding Rock playing a non-electric guitar, and her disgust when he joked that since the issue's main story was entitled "Unplugged", that made him "Acoustic Rock."

Issue 34 found Roll and Mega Man interrupting X and Zero's happiness over being in the comic by trying to get them to leave, since the classic series storyline hadn't even gotten to Mega Man 3. In Issue 36 Roll, Dr. Light, and Mega Man listened with obvious skepticism as Wily told them of his efforts to defeat-and enslavement by-Ra Moon using a sword similar to that wielded by Sword Man. The strip for Issue 38 found Roll depressed on seeing Mega Man adventuring with X, only for Zero to give her a helmet similar to his own and invite her to come on an adventure with him.

Roll later appeared in Issue 50's Short Circuits with Dr. Light, Rock, and several Sonic Boom characters to celebrate the Mega Man series' second milestone issue. She would also feature in Sonic Universe #77's Off Panel as one of many Sonic and Mega Man characters crushed together, with Roll finding herself stuck between Sticks and Break Man.

Trivia

 * Aside from the main comics, Roll also appeared in a video made by Archie Comics artist Ryan Jampole for Halloween. In it, she goes trick-or-treating with Rush, dressed up as a witch. Dr. Wily, her next stop, slams the door in her face, so she decides to "trick" Wily by TP-ing and egging his lair. Jampole also did 31 costumes for Roll for each day of October, which included:
 * Elisa Maza from Gargoyles
 * Princess Leia and an Ewok from Star Wars
 * Lilith from Darkstalkers
 * Zoey from Left 4 Dead
 * Lisa Simpson from The Simpsons
 * Kitty Pride from X-Men
 * A Little Sister from Bioshock, accompanied by a Yellow Devil Big Papa
 * Sailor Venus from Sailor Moon
 * Misty from the Pokemon anime and video games
 * Link from the Legend of Zelda series (specifically the Link from A Link to the Past)
 * Indiana Jones
 * Dee Dee from Dexter's Laboratory
 * Chun Li from Street Fighter
 * Fionna from Adventure Time
 * Thorin Oakenshield from The Hobbit trilogy
 * Marty McFly from Back to the Future
 * Doctor Egon Spengler from Ghostbusters
 * Naked Snake from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
 * April O'Neil from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
 * Rapunzel from the Disney movie Tangled
 * The Bride of Frankenstein
 * Zero-Suit Samus from Metroid
 * Godzilla/Gojira
 * Velma Dinkley from Scooby-Doo.
 * Data from Star Trek: First Contact
 * Miss Martian from DC Comics
 * Captain Marvel (or possibly Mary Marvel) from the DC Comics series of the same name
 * Doctor Eggman from the Sonic the Hedgehog series
 * The Eleventh Doctor from Doctor Who
 * Kumatora from Mother 3