TV-Series
Description
Gordon Rosewater is the retired founder of the Paradigm Corporation and the original architect of Paradigm City. Credited as the man responsible for the construction of the city's protective domes, he is the father of Alex Rosewater, who has since taken over the day-to-day operations of the corporate empire. In his retirement, Gordon lives in seclusion, spending his days farming within a private dome, where he grows crops such as tomatoes and wheat.
Gordon is presented as an elderly, seemingly senile, and apathetic figure who appears perfectly content with the uncertainties of the past. This attitude stands in stark contrast to the anxiety felt by most other citizens of Paradigm City, who are troubled by their collective amnesia regarding an event forty years prior. When individuals, including his own son, come to him seeking answers or memories of the past, he typically responds with cryptic, almost nonsensical remarks. His primary method of communication is through elaborate analogies, most famously comparing the people of Paradigm City to his tomato crop. He states that his tomatoes are reproduced synthetically and carry only the "memories of the sweet flavor from the original," implying that if the process is repeated, the fruit may eventually become the real thing. This serves as a metaphor for the nature of the city's inhabitants, who he implies are copies or creations with implanted memories.
Despite his apparent detachment, Gordon occasionally exhibits moments of lucidity in which he reveals crucial information about the nature of Paradigm City and the "Event" that caused the world's amnesia. It is implied that he may possess intact memories of the time before the Event, and that he played a direct role in shaping the current reality, possibly by genetically creating or programming many of its citizens. In particular, he cryptically references an old contract made with the protagonist, Roger Smith, from a time when Roger still had his memories, tasking Roger to act as a negotiator for him. Gordon suggests that Roger is not one of his genetically created "tomatoes" but was someone who existed before the Event and lost his memories.
His role in the story is that of a mysterious, oracle-like figure who holds the keys to the central mysteries of the series. He is the source of many of the philosophical questions about memory, identity, and reality that the narrative explores. He is also the author of an unfinished book called "Metropolis," which he claims a dream commanded him to write and which is rumored to contain memories from before the Event, though he later states that everything in the book that seems like a revelation is a lie.
Gordon's key relationships are complex and fraught with distance. His relationship with his son, Alex Rosewater, is strained; Gordon states that while all people are his beloved sons, he never once held Alex's hands. Alex eventually becomes so frustrated with his father's perceived senility and refusal to share his knowledge that he sets Gordon's farm on fire, an act from which Gordon is rescued by Vera Ronstadt. Roger Smith seeks Gordon out for answers, and Gordon guides him with clues, seeing him as the one who can change his role and negotiate with the director of their world. Angel also has a profound connection to Gordon, as he reveals that she is a memory incarnate, one of his "tomatoes," and that the marks on her back are proof that she is not a "beloved one" of his but is a part of memory itself, possessing the ability to shape the world. He also reveals to Vera that she, too, is one of his creations.
Gordon undergoes a significant development in the final episodes of the series. After seemingly regaining full possession of his mind, he moves from a passive, apathetic farmer to an active player in the climax. He leads Angel to an underground elevator beneath the city, revealing that she holds the power to contain or release the memories of the world. By the finale, he accepts his role as the guardian of the world's stage, holding up his copy of "Metropolis" and calling on the true author to fill its blank pages with memories before vanishing himself. His central motivation appears to be the preservation of the constructed world of Paradigm City, letting it run its course to see if the synthetic copies can become "real" through enough repetition.
Gordon does not possess combat abilities or pilot a Megadeus. His notable abilities lie in his profound, metaphysical knowledge and his cryptic wisdom. He can speak in riddles that, when deciphered, explain the nature of reality for the characters. He has a deep understanding of memory, claiming that memories are found inside humans and that any memory existing in other forms is a fake, while also paradoxically stating that the citizens of Paradigm need not have memories. His primary power is his ability to reveal the truth to those who are ready to hear it, setting the final stages of the story in motion with his pronouncements about the contract with Roger and the nature of Angel.
Gordon is presented as an elderly, seemingly senile, and apathetic figure who appears perfectly content with the uncertainties of the past. This attitude stands in stark contrast to the anxiety felt by most other citizens of Paradigm City, who are troubled by their collective amnesia regarding an event forty years prior. When individuals, including his own son, come to him seeking answers or memories of the past, he typically responds with cryptic, almost nonsensical remarks. His primary method of communication is through elaborate analogies, most famously comparing the people of Paradigm City to his tomato crop. He states that his tomatoes are reproduced synthetically and carry only the "memories of the sweet flavor from the original," implying that if the process is repeated, the fruit may eventually become the real thing. This serves as a metaphor for the nature of the city's inhabitants, who he implies are copies or creations with implanted memories.
Despite his apparent detachment, Gordon occasionally exhibits moments of lucidity in which he reveals crucial information about the nature of Paradigm City and the "Event" that caused the world's amnesia. It is implied that he may possess intact memories of the time before the Event, and that he played a direct role in shaping the current reality, possibly by genetically creating or programming many of its citizens. In particular, he cryptically references an old contract made with the protagonist, Roger Smith, from a time when Roger still had his memories, tasking Roger to act as a negotiator for him. Gordon suggests that Roger is not one of his genetically created "tomatoes" but was someone who existed before the Event and lost his memories.
His role in the story is that of a mysterious, oracle-like figure who holds the keys to the central mysteries of the series. He is the source of many of the philosophical questions about memory, identity, and reality that the narrative explores. He is also the author of an unfinished book called "Metropolis," which he claims a dream commanded him to write and which is rumored to contain memories from before the Event, though he later states that everything in the book that seems like a revelation is a lie.
Gordon's key relationships are complex and fraught with distance. His relationship with his son, Alex Rosewater, is strained; Gordon states that while all people are his beloved sons, he never once held Alex's hands. Alex eventually becomes so frustrated with his father's perceived senility and refusal to share his knowledge that he sets Gordon's farm on fire, an act from which Gordon is rescued by Vera Ronstadt. Roger Smith seeks Gordon out for answers, and Gordon guides him with clues, seeing him as the one who can change his role and negotiate with the director of their world. Angel also has a profound connection to Gordon, as he reveals that she is a memory incarnate, one of his "tomatoes," and that the marks on her back are proof that she is not a "beloved one" of his but is a part of memory itself, possessing the ability to shape the world. He also reveals to Vera that she, too, is one of his creations.
Gordon undergoes a significant development in the final episodes of the series. After seemingly regaining full possession of his mind, he moves from a passive, apathetic farmer to an active player in the climax. He leads Angel to an underground elevator beneath the city, revealing that she holds the power to contain or release the memories of the world. By the finale, he accepts his role as the guardian of the world's stage, holding up his copy of "Metropolis" and calling on the true author to fill its blank pages with memories before vanishing himself. His central motivation appears to be the preservation of the constructed world of Paradigm City, letting it run its course to see if the synthetic copies can become "real" through enough repetition.
Gordon does not possess combat abilities or pilot a Megadeus. His notable abilities lie in his profound, metaphysical knowledge and his cryptic wisdom. He can speak in riddles that, when deciphered, explain the nature of reality for the characters. He has a deep understanding of memory, claiming that memories are found inside humans and that any memory existing in other forms is a fake, while also paradoxically stating that the citizens of Paradigm need not have memories. His primary power is his ability to reveal the truth to those who are ready to hear it, setting the final stages of the story in motion with his pronouncements about the contract with Roger and the nature of Angel.