Is Rogu From ‘American Dad!’ a Parody of Grogu? Explained

American Dad! is an absolutely brilliant, long-tenured animated show that has been running since 2005. Season 18 is set to start in September 2023, but already in Season 13, we got one of the funniest, weirdest characters to date – Rogu. Naturally, due to their attributes and distinct name similarity, fans wondered – is Rogu a parody of Grogu from The Mandalorian?

Although their names are similar, and fans were quick to point out some references that may be similarities, Rogu is not a parody of Grogu. In fact, he first appeared in February 2019, and Grogu first appeared in November 2019 and was known only as The Child until about a year later, when we learned his name in Season 2.

Meaning, Rogu can’t be a parody of Grogu because he was the one to appear on screen first. There are some similarities, however, as it seems that both of these characters harnessed inspiration from the same source. Here’s everything you need to know about Rogu, Grogu and why they are not a direct parody of one another.

Who is Rogu in ‘American Dad!’?

Rogu is a character from American Dad! that became somewhat of a regular on the show after first appearing in Season 13 of the popular animated series. He is a homunculus creature that is now a respected member of the Smith family, helping out in whatever way he can with his limited abilities.

Roger – the main character of the series – treats Rogu like his son, and in return, Rogu respects him a lot and often serves as Roger’s sidekick and go-to assistant when he needs help. He’s an omnivore who, just like Roger, has strange abilities and bodily functions.

In case you didn’t know, a homunculus is a small being that resembles a human being. They were popular in sixteenth-century alchemy and nineteenth-century fiction, where they were usually depicted as statues made of clay that appeared as if they were human. In Rogu’s case, he actually IS alive, but he’s not quite made of clay…

In what episode does Rogu appear in ‘American Dad!’?

Rogu has appeared in dozens of episodes of American Dad! so far since his introduction to the show. However, the first episode he ever appeared in was Season 13 Episode 13, called Persona Assistant.

In the episode, due to Roger’s vast number of different personas, his schedule became nearly impossible to follow, and it took a major physical toll on him. It actually made him develop a tumor, but he still insists on completing his daily tasks. 

Stan tells him how ridiculous and irrelevant his personas are, but Roger reiterates that they are crucial for the city’s survival. Still, the illness takes him out, so now Stan must take over all those personas to fill in for Roger while he’s on break, needing emergency surgery due to the big tumor he got by overworking himself.

Once Roger returns, he sees that the city is in shambles, as one of Stan’s personas takes over him. The two clash against each other, and the crazed Stan almost defeats Roger – but that’s when Rogu appears and saves the day by slitting Stan’s throat.

Of course, it’s only a suit, so Stan is taken out of it unharmed, finally back to his old self. But what in the world is Rogu, and where in the world did he come from?

Where did Rogu come from in ‘American Dad!’?

As we soon learn – Rogu, the homunculus member of the Smith family – was formed from Roger’s removed tumor and has been living with the Smiths ever since. He’s quite devoted to Roger, and Roger sees Rogu as his kid. However, Rogu is much more than just a kid – he’s cunning and sometimes dangerous if that’s what Roger needs.

As the episodes move along and we learn more about Rogu, we realize he’s much more like Roger in many ways. He has the same strange bodily functions and abilities as Roger while also being a pure omnivore, eating just about anything.

Is Rogu really a parody of The Mandalorian’s Grogu?

As much as people believed this to be the case, the answer is no – Rogu isn’t a parody of The Mandalorian’s Grogu, despite some similarities that you may see between them – in an ironic sense.

We know that Rogu was never intended to be a parody of Grogu because his first appearance – in Persona Assistant – came on February 25, 2019. On the other hand, the first season of The Mandalorian started streaming on Disney+ on November 12, 2019. – about nine months later.

Also, even then, Grogu wasn’t known as Grogu yet. People usually called him Baby Yoda or The Child, as the show officially called him. It wasn’t until the mid-second season – which started streaming on October 30, 2020, that we learned The Child’s real name is Grogu – from Ahsoka Tano.

So, by the time we heard the name ‘Grogu’ for the first time, Rogu had been around for almost two years. I think it’s safe to say that Rogu is not intended to be a parody of Grogu. However, it seems that Grogu was heavily inspired by the Gremlins’ Gizmo, whereas Rogu might just be a parody of him and the Gremlins.

In the American Dad! episode called The Hand that Rocks the Rogu, Roger wants to show Steve that babysitting is hard at that he can’t really take it on as a job. As a test, he lets Steve take care of Rogu but instructs him not to give him candy because it’ll cause Rogu to multiply – much like the mogwai in Gremlins multiply with water.

As they watch videos together, it inadvertently causes the Rogus to merge into one giant version of Rogu that can only be settled down by rocking it to sleep. Unfortunately, another bad thing happens – once the giant Rogu made out of many little Rogus eats a can of oysters, it causes them to mutate into a huge demon-like creature and fly away.

I mean, it can’t be a much clearer parody of the Gremlins, I reckon, but not really on Grogu.

The only thing the two characters actually have in common is their similar names and their devotion to their father figures.