Days of our Lives Character Recap: Roman Brady

Roman Brady—this Days of our Lives favorite has had quite the adventure-filled existence. If only he could find someone to share his experiences with these days.

Who Is Roman Brady?

Roman is the eldest son of fishmonger turned publican Shawn Brady and his wife Caroline. He is also the older brother of Kimberly and Kayla, as well as the maternal half-brother of Bo and the adoptive brother of Frankie and Max.

Though he was born and raised in Salem, Roman—then a patrol officer—briefly settled out of town, where he earned his detective’s badge and the love of Anna Fredricks.

The two had met inside a library and indulged in a whirlwind courtship that ended in marriage. But in the ceremony’s aftermath, Anna had disappeared. When his search bore no fruit, Roman returned to his hometown and joined the police department.

After being partnered with Abe Carver, Roman was assigned to investigate a recent spat of strangulation murders that seemed to be linked to the harassing phone calls that local radio personality Marlena Evans had been receiving.

Fearing that she would be the killer’s next victim, Roman insisted on acting as her personal bodyguard – and he even moved his sleeping bag into Marlena’s living room! Roman and Abe were sure that the case was solved once former psychiatric patient Eugene Bradford was arrested, but the deaths continued.

When a blonde woman who looked identical to Marlena was found strangled to death, Roman was beside himself with grief. However, upon cornering the Strangler – and killing him over a struggle for a gun – he learned that Marlena was alive and well. It had been her identical twin, Samantha, whom Jake Kositchek killed.

Target 
In time, Roman and Marlena declared their feelings for one another and planned to marry. However, the plans were marred by the sudden reappearance of Anna—who came bearing Roman’s daughter Carrie – and the machinations of career criminal Stefano DiMera.

They eventually succeed in becoming man and wife—and Roman managed to survive two assassination attempts—but the groom was forced to fake his death so he could clandestinely investigate Stefano’s criminal empire.

His efforts resulted in Stefano’s arrest but the madman took a page from Roman’s playbook and pretended to have died from a stroke. Then he arranged for Andre DiMera to commit a series of murders while wearing a mask that made him look identical to Roman.

The scheme caused Roman to be jailed, but Bo and Alice Horton concocted a ruse that enabled his escapes. Once free, he could assist in revealing Stefano’s actions and clear his good name.

However, life didn’t reward Roman for his actions. Instead, he found himself once again on Stefano’s trail and this time the chase lead to a Caribbean island. It was there that Roman was presumed dead following a bullet wound and a fall from a helicopter launch pad.

But Roman was very much alive. His dogged determination had impressed Stefano enough to rescue him and tend to his wounds—but not enough to return him to his loved ones. Instead, Roman spent seven years trapped in a makeshift prison somewhere in Mexico.

He eventually made his escape…and ran straight into Marlena and John Black, the man who had spent nearly a decade believing himself to be Roman Brady. After yet another stand-off with Stefano, Roman returned home and attempted to adjust to his new normal.

The transition was not made any easier by his discovery that everyone in his life had blindly accepted John and treated him as though he were Roman. The genuine article eventually came to respect John and welcomed him into his home as a friend – until he learned that not only had Marlena slept with him but that the dalliance had produced a daughter that he so desperately wanted to claim as his own.

Roman responded to the indignity by accepting an assignment from the International Security Alliance that took him far afield. Once again, he was rumored to have perished, but he had instead been exposed to a deadly chemical, though a cure was eventually administered.

Ladies, Ladies, Ladies

Roman put up a valiant fight for Marlena’s affection but eventually bowed out and gave his seal of approval to her and John. He began an affair with Billie Reed, but she soon abandoned him.

Afterward, he found contentment with Kate Roberts. Still, their alter-bound relationship was stymied first by Roman’s presumed death at the hands of the Salem Stalker, his kidnapping and affair with Marlena, and Kate’s own attraction to John.

Roman Brady – Present Day
One night stands with Nicole Walker and Anna followed, and he even found himself the object of Hattie Adams’s ardor. But he remained single.

Long retired as Police Commissioner, Roman now mans the Brady Pub and doles out the same sage advice that his dearly departed ma would have offered.