Edited 2011 to Add: If any of the links below don't work,
Go Here instead.
Hey guys,
Over at
PA in our Writers Forum we've been attempting to assemble information such as you described. We've got biographies for the characters, a rather exhaustive list of chads (loose ends the writers didn't clear up) and a few other tidbits either on PA now or in the process of being compiled. So for example, here's what we've got put together for the birthdays. (
EmilyluvsRoswell did a majority of the research, and I was assisted by
Queenie and
Romantic Heart.) It was an eye-opener for me!
We're no longer closed to lurkers, so stop by
This Forum for the whole thing, but I'll put the info for the characters ages and such down below.
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Roswell Characters' Ages & Grades
The birthdays on the show were vague at best, if not butchered in a few cases. However, after researching the heck out of this, it turned out to not be nearly as bad as I anticipated, due to some surprising info on the NM driving laws (see below).
For the record, let me state that
I think these are the ages that the show's chads MADE the characters be. I don't think that this is necessarily how old they were INTENDED to be. My guess is that the writers initially decided to make everyone 16 at the start of S1 so that they could drive, without giving any thought to the ramifications of doing that (i.e., they'd all have been held back a grade were that the case).
Thanks so much to EmilyluvsRoswell who wrote much of the following, and to LongTimeFan, Queenie, Robyn and RomanticHeart who all contributed to the research.
AGES:
Michael – unknown: Michael's birthday is never given. All we know for certain is that he's still a minor in February of season 1, because he has to become emancipated.
Max – March 15, 1983: We get Max's date of birth from his driver’s license, which was shown in the pilot. This is supported by Nasedo referring to Max as 17 when he does his Max impression at the end of Season 1.
Conflict: At the arraignment in Busted, Philip was aiming to have Max and Liz tried as minors (if he couldn't get the charges dropped). That would imply Max was under 18. However, Max would have turned 18 in March of season 2. Also, this puts him a year behind in school, although that can be explained by the three podsters being held back a year.
Isabel – October 25, 1982: We have this birthday from the episode “Surprise” and we can also verify the year of her birth based on comments made about her already being "barely legal" - 18 - when she met Jesse.
Conflict: Isabel would have been a year behind in school (again, it is basically assumed the hybrids were held back a year to catch up), and why did the parents and social workers who assumed Max and Isabel were siblings assign them birthdays only 5 months apart?
Tess – May 7, 1983: When Isabel investigates Tess as part of the “Sunshine Committee,” we get a brief glimpse of her file, which tells us her DOB (May 7th,1983), Mother’s name (Sheila Harding) and place of birth (Omaha, Nebraska).
Conflict: Tess would’ve been a year behind in school, like the others, but this could’ve been due both to the time when she emerged from her pod and due to Nasedo’s desire to place her in the same grade as the others when she entered Roswell.
Liz – May 16, 1983 or Sept./Oct. 1983: We base our assumptions on Liz’s age on three things: 1) She was driving in the episode “River Dog,” which would have made her 15 1/2 before November 1999
(See drivers license note below.). 2) Future Max referred to Liz as being 17 in late-October of 2000. 3) The age cut-off for school enrollment (discussed below) is August 31st, so she had to have turned 16 AFTER August 31st, otherwise we assume she was held back a grade. In the books, Liz Parker’s birthday was listed as May 16th. This could work and she could legally be driving in the fall with that date. However, that would make her a year behind in school. The most logical assumption is to place her birthday after August 31st, but before late October. Depending on the exact date, we might also have Liz still under 18 during the start of school for Busted.
Conflict: No conflicts with a birthday between September 1 and late October of 1983. However, the May 16, 1983 makes her 18 at her arraignment in the fall of 2001, where Philip was arguing that she was a minor. Also, a May 1983 date of birth would mean that Liz was a year behind in school but September/October 1983 would have her in the right grade.
Maria – January 1984: Maria turned 18 in January of season 3, because she refers to her birthday in “I Married An Alien,” and then when she is going to have her record demo she says she just turned 18.
Conflict: no major conflicts.
(See drivers license note below.)
Alex – June 21, 1984: Alex’s tombstone states: June 21, 1984 - April 29, 2001. We saw him driving in Sexual Healing (February 2000) when he offered to get his car keys to help Isabel look for Max and Liz, which meant he was already at least 15 ½.
Conflict: No major conflicts.
(See drivers license note below.)
Kyle – April 30, 1984: Kyle’s birthday was the day after Alex died, meaning April 30th. But we don’t know the year for certain. If we go with a 1984 DOB, Kyle could have been driving at 15 ½ as of October 30th, but not with a car full of guys in the car like we saw in “Blind Date,” due to restrictions on the under-16 permit in New Mexico.
(See drivers license note below)
Conflict: no major conflicts.
NEW MEXICO DRIVERS LICENSES:
A very important point to understand as we debate the ages: From what RomanticHeart and I understood in reading the New Mexico
Drivers Handbook, it seems like you can get a "Provisional License" when you are 15 1/2, with certain stipulations such as having carried an instructional permit for at least 6 months and driving with no more than one passenger under 21.
So Liz, Maria, Kyle and Alex would have been allowed to drive up to one minor around as of the spring, July, October 30th and December 21st, 1999 respectively if we go with a 1984 DOB for them
GRADES:
According to the Roswell School District (which Queenie called for me!), a child must be 5 by midnight of August 31st in order to enter kindergarten that year. This would mean that all of the hybrids were a year behind school, but the humans probably were in the correct grades.
Given the fact that child services had to guess at ages for all the podsters, it’s interesting that they all ended up being in the same class at school. Or maybe that was just a result of how fast they picked up English, etc.
If Max and Isabel started school in 3rd grade, they were clearly home schooled or tutored or something for a while because they were “6” when they came out of the pods, and they’re actually old for their grade. The assumption is that the Evanses kept their kids home for 3 years.
The question is, how was Michael up to speed? Why wasn’t he at least a year behind the Evans kids when it is doubtful anyone took the time to homeschool him? As a loyal fan of Michael’s, I think I’ll stick with the theory that he was so smart (seriously, have you ever even
tried to read Ulysses??) that he didn’t need the special tutoring that Max and Isabel needed. LOL!
Tess was obviously stuck in whatever grade the others were in by Nasedo for the purposes of getting to know the others.
The following chart should summarize everything. Because we know nothing about Tess, I have left her off of it.
Click on it in order to see it in a more legible size:
