Roger Bacon

"My Name is....Roger Bacon Master Philosopher, Alchemist and Eternal Lovechild!"

- Roger Bacon:Shadow Hearts Covenant

Roger Bacon is a central character in the videogame series Shadow Hearts, he is an immortal boarderline crazy old man who helps the main protagonists of each game though never as a playable character. He is based on real-life historical figure Roger Bacon, a 12th century philosopher.

Koudelka
Roger first appears in the game Koudelka, he reveals he was the one to write the book known as the Émigré Manuscript, the source of the vast nercomantic activites in the game. Roger tells Koudelka, Edward and James the book was originally written by the ancient Formor Druids and had been stored in the Pope's secret Library for years until he was called in to translate and re-write it when the original copy began to disintegrate with age. After the book was completey rewriten Roger was to be killed, but Roger used the knowledge he gained to make himself immortal, escaping death and his would-be executioners.

Roger helps Koudelka and her friends counter the effects of the Émigré Manuscript over the course of the game by sharing his knowledge with them. Towards the end of the game Roger meets Koudelka and Edward and leaves the Nemeton Monastery with them after several years spent in hiberative slumber.

Shadow Hearts
In the game Shadow Hearts, we meet the new protagonist of the series Yuri Hyuga and a man called Albert Simon, who is later revealed to be the man who brought the Émigré Manuscript to the Nemetom Monastery in the first place; More shocking still Albert is revealed to be Roger's star pupil turned evil. Roger seems resigned to the world ending but still helps Yuri and his friends stop Albert, feeling it is his fault since Albert was his student and using his books to destroy the world.

Personality
Roger is a demented genius. He is much less invested in the world than most heroes and seems to care more about knowledge and principles than actual human life, which he sees as huge disappointment though not without hope. Roger likes to make large overblown speeches and is ussually cut off by other heores. One of Roger's longest running gags is the ability to name him, no matter what the players tries to name him once met he cuts them off it saying it is impolite to just go around naming new people.