- This article is about the character Rommie. To view the article about the song, go here.
Rommie | |
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Gender: | Female |
Species: | Android |
Nation-State: | Andromeda Ascendant |
Date of Birth: | unknown date, AFC 305 (rebuild) |
Date of Death: | CY 10091 |
Ship Posting: | Ship Avatar |
Ship Position: | Avatar of the Andromeda Ascendant |
Status: | Alive |
Played By: | Lexa Doig |
Family | |
Father: | Seamus Harper (creator) |
Sister: | Doyle |
Spouse: | Gabriel |
Chronological and General Info | |
Era: | Systems Commonwealth New Systems Commonwealth |
Affiliation: | New Systems Commonwealth |
Enemy: | Magog Nietzschean Pride Restorian Knights of Genetic Purity |
Rommie is the Android avatar of the Andromeda Ascendant. She was built and given material form as a gynoid by the engineer, Seamus Harper, who is infatuated with his work.
Personality[]
Rommie is an android and unique personality created by Seamus Harper from the Andromeda Ascendant Artificial Intelligence as the Ship Avatar of the Andromeda Ascendant. Early on in the series, it is stated that avatars were created to allow the crew to relate to their ship on a more human level, and vice versa. Her personality, though, is largely defined by her function: "I am a warship, and I don't like running from a fight." is a commonly recurring line for her. She is very loyal to her crew, especially to her Captain, Dylan Hunt, and incredibly protective of those in her charge. She is confident, direct, and often displays a sense of pride in her status as a warship capable of destroying entire populations.
Since her creation, Rommie is shown to have evolved differently from the ship's Artificial Intelligence. Rommie maintains a certain amount of individuality, and is distinct from the core Artificial Intelligence to a large but unspecified degree (On-screen versus Hologram) (On-screen and Hologram versus Rommie). Disagreements are often due to the fact that Rommie exhibits human emotions much more deeply and strongly than the logic-oriented core Artificial Intelligence. This can be seen to great effect in the Season One episode "Star-Crossed", in which Rommie falls in love with another ship avatar, Gabriel, Artificial Intelligence to the Balance of Judgment. Rommie's individuality also protects her from some of the 'ailments' that afflict Andromeda's Artificial Intelligence, as prominently shown in the episode "Its Hour Come ‘Round at Last", in which Harper accidentally activated a version of the ship Artificial Intelligence that had been deleted after a failed mission; the ship's Artificial Intelligence was reprogrammed, but the android was unaffected. At other times, as the ship itself is damaged or infected, Rommie is shut down.
Rommie's nature as an artificial construct provides her abilities that should be considered superpowers by humans, such as super strength and speed, resistance to injury, and heightened senses. Using the sensors in her hands and eyes, she can detect the physiological signs associated with lying, as well as diagnose internal injury. Rommie also exhibits nearly complete awareness of, and control over, the workings of the ship itself. For example, she is able to change the level of artificial gravity in a given locale, or turn lights on or off merely by thinking it. She is also capable of instantaneously changing the length, cut, and color of her hair.
There are some inconsistencies with Rommie's capabilities throughout the series, like the aforementioned independence from/susceptibility to technological attacks to her Artificial Intelligence. Inexplicably, she often stays behind on the ship; though her core Artificial Intelligence is entirely capable of running the ship without her and her physical abilities would make her the best choice to accompany Dylan on most of his dangerous adventures. Her power levels also fluctuate; in one episode she displays the ability to transfer power from her body's system to power a small craft like the Eureka Maru, while in another she is in danger of powering down after being separated from the Andromeda Ascendant for only a few days (however Rommie may require more energy to function than the Maru, or that she almost entirely depleted her energy supply, knowing that she'd be able to recharge in short order). Also, since the episode in which her power was quickly depleted was very early in the series, she was upgraded later in that regard.
History[]
Rommie was created by Harper from a Flexi with android blueprints, entitled "The Ship Made Flesh", from High Guard Station GS-92196 and Beka Valentine's own hair (which contains nanobots capable of changing her hair colour). Her first act after awakening was using the Andromeda's AG field to disable a group of children who had hijacked the ship.
Over the three year course of the Andromeda's mission to restore the Systems Commonwealth, Rommie had her share of personal conflicts, such as her relationship with Gabriel, avatar of the Balance of Judgment or her sisters, the Pax Magellanic and the Million Voices.
Destruction & Re-creation[]
In the Season Four finale, Rommie's body is destroyed while protecting Harper from Magog in a scene that loosely mirrors a scene from the Season One finale. All that was left was her partially-damaged head and her core Artificial Intelligence. Harper was unable to rebuild her due to the lack of sophisticated technology in the Seefra System. His attempts to virtually connect with her Artificial Intelligence failed, as she became hostile. Dylan was later able to convince her to shut herself down. Harper used Rommie's remains to construct a new gynoid with its own personality, which he named Doyle. Eventually Doyle herself built a new body for Rommie, though the new Rommie almost killed the entire crew, due to Doyle's use of Vedran technology in building her new body. However, she was able to be repaired, and after working out some competitive issues between herself and Doyle, returned to her usual place in the crew. Alas, she appeared much colder and robot-acting after her reconstruction. But in the Season 5 finale, the last you see of her is her leaving Dylan alone on the bridge, then turning around in the doorway, watching Dylan for a few seconds. This might imply that she is still the good old caring Rommie.
Service Awards and Decorations[]
Relationships[]
Trivia[]
- Rommie is similiar to the design of Cortana.
- Rommie and Harper's relationship to some extent draws on the Greek mythological model of Galatea and her creator, Pygmalion, although obviously there are numerous differences also.
- The actor who plays Gabriel, Rommie's love interest, is Michael Shanks, with whom Lexa Doig fell in love while they were working together. They are now married.
- Due to Lexa Doig's pregnancy during the filming of the fifth season of "Andromeda", writers re-wrote part of the season 4 finale so her character could be excluded from most of season 5. The character Doyle was written to replace her during this time. Rommie's new body is thicker and bustier than her old body, due to the physiological changes that occur in a woman during pregnancy and child birth, and upon being asked by Dylan how she felt, Rommie answered "sturdy".
Gallery[]
Current members
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· Andromeda Ascendant · Andromeda Ascendant Artificial Intelligence · Beka Valentine · Doyle · Dylan Hunt · Rommie · Seamus Harper · Telemachus Rhade · Trance Gemini · | |
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Former members
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· Fatima Novarro · Gaheris Rhade · Iskander Hassan · Kim Jong San · Kylie Vance · Maisus nax Sinque · Perim · Rev Bem · Stam · Thabo Xhosa · Tristan Selvig · Tyr Anasazi · Yukio Cooper · |