 |
"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | Welcome Night Hawk, we've been expecting you. | „ |
| ~ Alistair Covax. |
Alistair Covax is the main antagonist of the American Dad! episode "Rabbit Ears."
He appears as a classic TV show host, but beneath his composed exterior is a ruthless, almost sadistic person. He demands that participants adhere strictly to their roles, punishing any deviation with threats of torture, memory manipulation, or outright murder. His influence is so pervasive that even the environment of the show seems to shift and respond to his will, highlighting his eerie, supernatural abilities. When Stan and Tuttle try to escape, the host reveals his true monstrous side, transforming physically to recapture them, emphasizing his predatory nature.
He was voiced by Chris Pine.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?[]
- He trapped Stan, Tuttle, and other individuals within his television show, forcing them to take on roles against their will. Once they entered the show, they are ordered to “play along” or face dire consequences. It’s stated that he captured random people every few months, since at the tv guide, the boss said that one person every few months came to talk about Covax’s show, even though there’s never been any record of it, then Stan visited the Ukrainian Cultural Center to get more information, then an obsessed fan of the show stated that other fans of the show, were sitting here as well at the center, but went missing, this was confirmation that Covax captured people every few months, he captured people into his tv and his show by turning people obsessed over the show, then after getting them obsessed, he captured them in his tv show and on his tv, they couldn’t escape.
- As time passed, people trapped within the show started losing their memories of the real world. This mental manipulation effectively erased their former identities and made them lose memory of their loved ones, making it impossible for them to return to their normal lives. It also turned them into completely obedient people, almost like robots, as all they are seen doing was listen to Jazz, barely talk, and nod to everything, meaning Covax also erased these people’s sense of self and eliminated their old personalities, practically making this a fate worse than death.
- When a random character remembered his past life, he tried to leave or break out of the TV, Covax then killed him violently. It’s pretty clear that he did kill him since when the character attemptted to escape he could be heard screaming as the lights dim for a commercial break, only to disappear completely when the lights came back. Covax was seen touching his lips with his suit, and the character even stated “Don’t eat me” to Covax, meaning he definitely killed him. This person is also never seen.
- He punched Stan through a wall after he stated that he wanted his family.
- After Stan and Tuttle managed to escape back to the real world, Alistar turned into its true form, and nearly succeeds in killing or dragging them back into the television show.
- The ending heavily implied that Stan is still trapped in Alistair's show.
- It's heavily implied that he’s been doing this for decades, Alistair had probably done this for over 50 years since his TV show was centered around that time period and the TV, he resided in is one of those models. With this in mind he likely had a very high offscreen victim count.
- Although he is from American Dad!, he was portrayed mostly seriously due to the intense psychological and supernatural horror he inflicted, which stood out from the show’s usual comedic tone. He manipulated people’s minds, trapping them within his TV show and gradually erasing their identities until they became obedient, mindless shells of their former selves. This memory erasure severed individuals from their loved ones and completely wiped out their personalities, making them little more than puppets for his twisted entertainment. The show portrayed him without the typical American Dad! goofiness, reinforcing how dark he was, this made him dark enough to be NPE.
- Despite the extremely high heinous standards of American Dad!, Covax passed it since his episode in the end revealed everything that happened was in a fictional universe and Stan was still trapped in the TV at the end, meaning he didn't have to compete with other villains due to not existing in the same canonicity.
- Even if it was canon, Covax would still pass the heinous standards due to his unique crimes, since he forced dozens of people to forget all of their past, and their loved ones, and made them behave like completely obedient Robots just so that his show could continue, this was a lot for a villain with low resources. Covax also has the added bonus that he’s treated seriously and that his actions were mostly shown on screen, and Covax didn’t really have much in terms of resources, all he had was himself and his powers, he could turn himself monstrous, he did have physical prowess, he could extend his arms a lot, and he did have a TV that permanently trapped people, but that’s really nothing compared to people like Stormfront or Stan, plus he made full use of this tv by capturing dozens and by capturing people every few months so he didn’t really hold off on his resources, he also had relatively short screen time, as he only appeared in one episode and only appeared for half of that episode.
What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?[]
- He still came from American Dad! after all, meaning Covax wasn’t portrayed completely seriously. The reason for this was that he's supposed to parody 1950s TV shows with Covax himself being one of the hosts and the series it adapted the most from was The Twilight Zone. Another comedic moment of note was when Covax said fondue, which was the word that led to Stan remembering his wife’s name, which downplayed his seriousness a bit. He also didn’t do enough to be a full-on Game Changer in American Dad!'s comedic setting. This was also another reason why he couldn’t be PE, if he could be, he would have to darken most of the story completely, which was something he didn’t do.
Trivia[]
- He is the only American Dad! villain to be Near Pure Evil as all of the other villains are bog standard or played for laughs too much.
External Links[]
- Alistair Covax on the Villains Wiki
