History Characters / SuccessionLoganRoy

* CanadaEh: He grew up in Quebec, though he's about as far removed from the stereotype of Canadians being friendly and polite as you can get.

* {{Catchphrase}}:

** He is genuinely fond of and respectful towards Marcia, his third wife.

[- [[Characters/SuccessionMainCharacters Main Characters]] ('''Logan Roy''', [[Characters/SuccessionKendallRoy Kendall Roy]], [[Characters/SuccessionShivRoy Siobhan "Shiv" Roy]], [[Characters/SuccessionRomanRoy Roman Roy]], [[Characters/SuccessionTomWambsgans Tom Wambsgans]]) | [[Characters/SuccessionTheRoyFamily Extended Roy Family]] | [[Characters/SuccessionWaystarRoyco Waystar RoyCo]] | [[Characters/SuccessionOtherCompanies Other Companies]] | [[Characters/SuccessionPolitics Politics]] | [[Characters/SuccessionOtherCharacters Other Characters]]-]]]]]

[- [[Characters/SuccessionMainCharacters Main Characters]] ('''Logan Roy''', [[Characters/SuccessionKendallRoy Kendall Roy]], [[Characters/SuccessionShivRoy Siobhan "Shiv" Roy]], [[Characters/SuccessionRomanRoy Roman Roy]]), [[Characters/SuccessionTomWambsgans Tom Wambsgans]] | [[Characters/SuccessionTheRoyFamily Extended Roy Family]] | [[Characters/SuccessionWaystarRoyco Waystar RoyCo]] | [[Characters/SuccessionOtherCompanies Other Companies]] | [[Characters/SuccessionPolitics Politics]] | [[Characters/SuccessionOtherCharacters Other Characters]]-]]]]]

[- [[Characters/SuccessionMainCharacters Main Characters]] ('''Logan Roy''', [[Characters/SuccessionKendallRoy Kendall Roy]], [[Characters/SuccessionShivRoy Siobhan "Shiv" Roy]], [[Characters/SuccessionRomanRoy Roman Roy]]) | [[Characters/SuccessionTheRoyFamily Extended Roy Family]] | [[Characters/SuccessionWaystarRoyco Waystar RoyCo]] | [[Characters/SuccessionOtherCompanies Other Companies]] | [[Characters/SuccessionPolitics Politics]] | [[Characters/SuccessionOtherCharacters Other Characters]]-]]]]]

--> '''Sean T. Collins:''' And if you’re a fan of Brian Cox, this now marks two whole episodes in a row where he gets to do something other than insult people in the exact same tone of voice two dozen times in the space of an hour. Baby steps!

* SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny: Logan always associates sex with either humiliating someone or being humiliated, and degrades everyone he can with sexual references. This had bad effects for his kids, golden trio especially all having implications of RapeAsBackstory, and Roman only wanting to have sex if it's mutually agreed as wrong, Connor deluded that paying Willa to be his girlfriend is actually love, Kendall wanting sexual relationships where he's a helpless puppet, and Shiv about to burst into tears when she admits she can't have a monogamous marriage.

Back to the character index [[Characters/{{Succession}} here]].

* ImproperlyParanoid: He ''is'' right that his kids tend to want to oust him, but refuses to admit any responsibility in making bad choices for business, or his abuse of them. In the aftermath of his stroke, he incorrectly assumes that Kendall intends to muscle him out of the company when Kendall was genuinely concerned for his health and wanted to give him a graceful exit. This causes him to lash out when Connor (also incorrectly) tells him that Kendall was plotting to blindside him at the gala speech. [[SelfFulfillingProphecy When Kendall consequently does become more aggressive]] and initiates a vote of no confidence, he thinks Shiv is in on it (because when the trio were teenagers, they did try and stand up to him as a group), when in reality she wasn’t told.

* ImproperlyParanoid: He ''is'' right that his kids tend to want to oust him, but refuses to admit any responsibility in making bad choices for business, or his abuse of them. He also thinks Shiv is in on the vote of no confidence (because when the trio were teenagers, they did try and stand up to him as a group), when in reality she wasn’t told.

* HeirClubForMen: His focus on finding a successor has mostly been focused on Kendall and he's rarely given any serious thought to Shiv for the role, despite knowing of her intelligence and capability.

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Downplayed. Logan never faces consequences for his crimes, but he winds up permanently burning his bridges with his children and dies alone in an airplane bathroom, putting an end to his plans to revamp ATN and with his companies' future uncertain.]]
** The ''maybe'', kind of glimmer of Karma in all this is the unspoken possibility that [[spoiler:had he chosen to go to his son's wedding, he could have been quickly rushed to a hospital where a full medical staff may have been able to save his life - but because he chose to go on a business trip instead, he was on an airplane isolated away from full medical facilities.]]

* EvenEvilCanBeLoved: As much as his children hate and fear him, they all do seem to have some genuine love for him as a father that even Logan's worst actions can never fully undermine. Marcia also sincerely cares about him. Ewan, for all he despises Logan, still can't bring himself to turn on him in Season 1, and seems to regret how things have ended up between them, even taking a moment to tell Logan that what happened to Rose (their sister, who is implied to have died in an accident when they were young) wasn't his fault.

The fearsome — but aging — patriarch of the family. He emigrated to the US from Scotland (by way of Canada) and founded the media conglomerate Waystar Royco, which he is intensely protective of even in the face of his declining health.

** While his abuse is mostly of the emotional variety, he does strike his grandson in the first season and Roman at one point, and the immediate reaction from Kendall implies it might not be the first time, even though he later offers a sort-of apology to Roman, which could also be interpreted as gaslighting, and there have been some off handed jokes throughout the seasons by Logan's children of Logan hitting them in the past (mostly Roman). [[spoiler:Kendall afirms in "Rehearsal" that he ''did'' hit Roman, but the former tries to dismiss it by saying that "everyone did".]]
** It's also heavily implied short of outright stated that he himself [[TroubledAbuser struggled]] under an abusive parent figure in the form of "evil Uncle Noah". Logan has numerous permanent scars on his back and he comments about not being able to talk back to his uncle.

* BadBoss: Corporate malfeasance, massive layoffs, covering up the deeds of a serial molester - just another day at the office in Waystar Royco. And that's saying nothing of the way he treats his employees on a personal level.

* BeardOfEvil: He sports a goatee which Greg states makes him look like "Santa Claus if he were a hitman" and is definitely not a good person.
* BeingEvilSucks: He'll never admit it but Logan's success and the brutal mentality he's adopted to achieve it haven't made him happy at all and he is deeply regretful of how he has damaged or pushed away those closest to him, especially his kids. This is most apparent in "The Munsters" where he is celebrating his birthday for the second time in the series and is alone except for employees and sycophants like Tom and Greg, who he knows don't care about him beyond his patronage, and is so desperate for some real interactions that he starts pushing others to snark at him like his kids used to. [[spoiler: In the end, he dies alone and with his only legacy being the damage he's done to the world around him.]]

* CanadaEh: He grew up in Quebec though he's about as far removed from the stereotype of Canadians being friendly and polite as you can get.

* TheCharmer: He's capable of being quite warm and charismatic when it suits his purposes, as his three wives (and Rhea) can likely attest.

* CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon: He's very fond of elaborate, profanity laden threats to anyone who gets on his bad side.

* FatalFlaw: Logan has many flaws, but one that always fucks him over is hubris. As powerful as he is, he's not infallible, and his strongman tactics don't always work. [[spoiler: This combined with his pride end up being a literal example as he refuses to retire even with his serious health problems, resulting in his eventual death.]]

* FreudianExcuse: It's teased at. He was physically abused by his uncle and seems to have had a complicated relationship with his mother. Then there's the matter of Rose, a long-dead sister who he never mentions to the point of her almost becoming an UnPerson within the family. Ewan implies that whatever happened to her, Logan needlessly blames himself for it. It's overall not hard to see how Logan developed into the cold-hearted man he is now.

** He moves to separate himself from Kendall and tells him to cash out of the company. When Kendall actually decides to do just that, Logan declares he was joking around and that he wants to continue to have his son in reach. He then goes back on such words again when he sells the company to Mattson, scolding all of his kids and telling them to make their own pile despite spending his whole life trying to rope them into his work and preventing them from doing just that. This is especially noticeable with Shiv who actually ''was'' making her own pile before Logan finally roped her into Waystar Royco.
** When he discovers Roman has been fixated on and sexually harassing Gerri, he declares it to be disgusting, in part because "she's a million years old". This comes from a man who's a good few years older than Gerri and has just recently started an affair with someone younger than all of his children. It’s also implied that he and Gerri have had… something in the past, Mylod describing part of the anger over finding out Roman/Gerri is him being possessive over her.

** He accuses Gil Eavis of being a horrible husband who drove his wife to suicide but his own son is a DeathSeeker, with Logan having a big hand in causing him to develop his suicidal tendencies.

** Spent most of his life trying to raise his children to be as brutal as he is to one day inherit the company. This is ironic on three fronts: it breaks his 3 sons, none of whom end up competent enough to run the company successfully; his only daughter, who ''is'' competent enough to run the company, has been driven away from the company; and his son uses those same brute tactics to stage a hostile takeover.

** The ''maybe'', kinda glimmer of Karma in all this is the unspoken possibility that [[spoiler:had he chosen to go to his son's wedding, he could have been quickly rushed to a hospital where a full medical staff may have been able to save his life - but because he chose to go on a business trip instead, he was on an airplane isolated away from full medical facilities.]]

* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Kendall seems to be his, and is so damaged from it that he admits to Shiv that he doesn't know what he would be for if dad didn't need him.

** He's in charge of Waystar Royco, but the board is able to hold a vote of no confidence to depose him, and they are not blindly loyal. If Kendall and Roman were more confident and competent, they may well have succeeded in kicking Logan out.

* MachiavelliWasWrong: [[ZigZaggingTrope ZigZagged]]. Logan is a cutthroat businessman whose brutal, manipulative qualities have brought him mind-boggling amounts of money and power. This approach extends to the way he treats his children, who he can easily manipulate despite their best efforts. That said, this ruthless, bullying approach has the side effect of alienating just about everybody who doesn't depend on him for a paycheck, and it's clear that the general public largely loathes him - and both of those facts bother Logan more than he lets on.

* PetTheDog: He's done it a few times, though usually when he gives a nice moment to anyone in his orbit, you can bet it’s mixed in with some ulterior motives. That said, he has enough genuine moments to show that as bad as he is, he's still human

** When Greg [[spoiler:tells Logan he needs to quit due to Ewan’s threats of cutting off his inheritance, Logan reacts seemingly genuinely, tells Greg he likes him, and tells him it’s ultimately his choice to side with him or Ewan]]. In general, despite their polar opposite personalities, Logan seems to sincerely like Greg, possibly due to sensing, not incorrectly, that Greg is much more cunning and ruthless than he appears at first glance. Although what he had in mind for Greg when he [[spoiler: wrote his name and an accompanying question mark on the piece of paper that is discovered after his death]] is anyone’s guess.
** A rather twisted example, but after he breaks Kendall down into a subservient lapdog, he mostly acts more gentle towards him. This is likely due to a combination of Kendall no longer posing a threat to him, and no longer being seen as a worthy successor deserving of Logan's sink or swim methods.

** He asks Greg to make sure that Kendall doesn’t come back in a coffin, or ending up dead in a French guy’s pool. Subverted later, as Logan pulls Kendall out of rehab after only two days for a press conference, and Kendall [[spoiler:nearly drowns in a pool while very intoxicated]] after Logan refuses to let him leave.
** After Tom stands up for himself and starts acting more competent, Logan treats him with far more respect and is even shown valuing his insight at times. [[spoiler:His warm greeting to him after Tom just helped him beat his kids is especially noticeable given he just verbally eviscerated his biological children.]]

** Logan is genuinely fond of Colin, his bodyguard, and even shares a rare moment of vulnerability and tells Colin that he regards him as his closest friend. [[spoiler: He later leaves a watch worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to Colin in his will.]]

** He makes a lot of cutting but accurate remarks about his kids' glaring flaws but ignores his own culpability in how they ended up that way and how he has actively sabotaged any attempts at growth they might attempt, particularly in regards to Kendall, in order to keep them subservient to him.

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Logan believes that laws, ethics and even good behavior are entirely optional for him, and he has so much money that they essentially are. He has numerous politicians in his pocket and a direct line to the president. It's why Senator Eavis wants to take him down.

* TheSocialDarwinist: Logan's general approach to business and life in general. In his mind, there are only winners and losers and weakness is the worst flaw a person can have. Anyone who gets hurt in his dealings is never given any thought and anyone who can't hack it in his world is treated as worthless, even if they are his own children.

* ToughLove: He seems to view his parenting style as a way of making his kids prepared for the cut throat world of business. The results have been...mixed, to say the least.