Elliot Oliver Robertson Rodger (July 24, 1991 – May 23, 2014) was an English-American mass murderer. He was responsible for the 2014 Isla Vista killings. After the terrorist attack, he killed himself.
On May 23, 2014, Rodger murdered six people and wounded 14 others in Isla Vista, California. He used knives, semi-automatic pistols, and his car. He wrote a manifesto and is considered an influence on the culture of incels and the manosphere.
Early life
Elliot Rodger was born on July 24, 1991, in London, England to parents Peter Rodger and Li Chin. His mother is Malaysian and worked as a nurse. His father is British and has worked in the film industry, including as a second unit director on the movie The Hunger Games. Rodger's grandfather, George Rodger, was a famous photographer known for his work during World War II. He had a privileged childhood and visited many countries at a young age. However, he struggled with his mental health. He attended Dorset House, a private all-boys school, which he found too strict and it often made him upset.
When Rodger turned five, his family moved to Woodland Hills, California. This was a rich area near Los Angeles. His parents divorced when he was seven, which was very hard for him. His father remarried. Rodger was shy and found it difficult to make friends. He often felt nervous at parties. In 1999, his mother filed for more child support. She described him as a "high-functioning autistic child." He was not specifically diagnosed with autism but PDD-NOS. This label was given to people who did not quite fit autism symptoms.
Middle years
Rodger's mother once dated George Lucas, which led him and his mother receiving invitations to Star Wars red carpet premieres. Rodger started to play video games, spending many hours playing popular games like Halo on his Xbox. Elliot was uncomfortable seeing couples at movie theaters and started to like movies less. In middle school, Rodger would play the online game World of Warcraft for 14 hours a day. This became his main form of social activity.
When Roger was 11, he saw explicit images online. He felt shock and strong emotions. As he entered puberty, Rodger developed a strong sexual attraction toward women. He started to worry that he would never have a relationship with them. His mother moved to an apartment in Calabasas, California. Rodger felt embarrassed by it and did not want to invite friends there.
Rodger had trouble making friends in middle school and tried to get attention by annoying classmates. He was bullied by a blond girl and he started hating women.
After middle school, Rodger went to Crespi Carmelite High School. This was an all-boys Roman Catholic school. He hoped it would be a fresh start, but he was bullied here too. Roger was hit with food and his head was taped to his desk. He would often cry and felt too nervous to do anything. He struggled to interact with others and did less homework. Instead, he played World of Warcraft.
Because Roger was being bullied, his parents transferred him to Taft Charter High School. However, the high school had many people and this made Rodger feel nervous. At this school, he was shoved against lockers and called homophobic slurs. He usually waited for the hallways to be empty before he would walk to his next class. His parents removed him from the school after just a few weeks.
Roger's parents then chose to send him to Independence High School. This school was smaller: it had about 100 students. The school also offered a more contained environment and tried to help students who were struggling.
In 2007, Rodger was diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). This condition makes talking to people and making friends difficult. The doctor gave him Xanax and Prozac medicine, but he stopped taking them within a year. At the age of 17 he went on a family trip to Morocco with his stepmother and half-brother. He was very unhappy on the trip. He graduated from Independence High School but he still struggled socially. Other people would try to connect with him but he stayed alone.
Later life
By the age of 18, Rodger had stopped attending the mental health sessions and stopped taking his medications. After high school, Rodger enrolled in Los Angeles Pierce College but soon left because seeing happy couples that made him jealous. His mother encouraged him to find a job, but Rodger preferred spending his time reading at Barnes & Nobles. Roger would say to his parents that the job offers he received were "beneath him." He often sat alone in cafes, waiting for women to approach him.
After leaving Los Angeles Pierce College, Rodger and his mother visited Moorpark College. They liked that it was smaller. He developed feelings of jealousy towards a couple in one of his classes. By the age of 19, he chose to take only one political science class, relieved that the couple was not present in this class, though he still saw them around campus. Roger went to Moorpark College for a year and then dropped out in 2010.
Santa Barbara
Rodger moved to Isla Vista, California (pictured in April 2014) in hopes of getting a girlfriend and losing his virginity.
In an attempt to help their son socialize more, Rodger's parents sent him to college in Santa Barbara, believing that being part of a college community might encourage him to make friends. Influenced by the film Alpha Dog, Rodger was hopeful that moving to Santa Barbara would allow him improve his social life and lose his virginity. In June 2011, he moved to the Capri Apartments in Isla Vista, California near the University of California, Santa Barbara, and enrolled in Santa Barbara City College.
Shortly after moving in, Rodger felt intense jealousy toward a roommate's friend who mentioned losing his virginity at a young age. Rodger ran to his room and called his mother, expressing his frustration and jealousy over the attention that black men received from blonde women. Struggling to get along with several roommates, Rodger spent much of his time alone at golf courses and beaches. After changing roommates several times, one roommate described Rodger as a "ticking time bomb waiting to explode," and expressed fear for their life.
Rodger began to hate the people of Isla Vista, feeling jealous of people in relationships with attractive blonde women and blaming men more successful than him. He fantasized about violent acts against couples and, on several occasions, acted out aggressively in public. After seeing a couple kiss, he threw his coffee at them in a fit of rage.
Feeling lonely, Rodger withdrew from all his college classes and started planning what he called the "Day of Retribution." He had an obsession with designer clothing, believing it would help him look more attractive. Despite efforts to socialize, Rodger remained distant and his interactions often ended in frustration. His growing frustration led him to purchase lottery tickets in hopes of winning and finally getting a girlfriend. After repeated failures and loss of hope in changing his circumstances, Rodger began buying firearms and preparing for his "Day of Retribution."
Incident at house party
On July 20, 2013, Rodger, wanting to lose his virginity before turning 22, drank vodka and attended a party hoping to interact with women. Frustrated by his inability to talk with women, Rodger climbed a 10-foot ledge and pretended to shoot people with his finger. He then attempted to shove several women off the ledge, but was stopped by a group of men who pushed him off instead, causing him to break his ankle. Rodger tried to leave but realized he had lost his sunglasses. Still drunk, he mistakenly entered another house, leading to another fight where he was called names and beaten up. Injured and bloodied, Rodger managed to return to his apartment. The next day, two sheriff's deputies visited him in the hospital. Rodger claimed that he was insulted and attacked for no reason, but was unclear if he should have called the police.
A deputy noted Rodger's apparent lying, describing him as too "timid" and "shy." A witness at the party stated that Rodger had started the fight by trying to push women off the ledge. This witness described Rodger as acting alone and behaving weirdly, noting that he wasn't talking to anyone at the party. Upon returning home, another witness saw Rodger crying and overheard him talking about killing his attackers. The sheriff's office concluded that Rodger had started the fight, and the case was closed without further action. After his hospital visit, Rodger began to plan for his subsequent attacks.
Mental health and further planning
In August 2013, Elliot Rodger, feeling resentful about his broken ankle and constant rejections from women, decided that the only solution was to carry out his planned attack. However, his broken ankle forced him to delay his plans until spring 2014. Rodger soon became upset when he learned that his sister had gotten a boyfriend. He felt depressed and jealous after overhearing them having sex together.
Rodger's parents tried to get him more help by working with three different counselors, but Rodger continued to struggle with his feelings and social interactions. In late 2012, Rodger began having therapy sessions with celebrity psychiatrist Charles Sophy. Sophy prescribed Rodger risperidone, but he decided against taking it after reading about it online. He eventually stopped going to his therapy sessions by fall 2013. Rodger also got advice from family friend Dale Launer on how to talk with women, but he found Launer's advice ineffective. Rodger believed that it didn't help him attract women or lose his virginity.
Behavior with others
Rodger struggled with jealousy and social difficulties during interactions with his last few friends. After one friend started dating, Rodger became jealous and started insulting them. In a moment of tension, one friend told Rodger that no girl would ever want to be with him. On a separate occasion at the Getty Museum, Rodger asked if women were looking at him, but his friend said no, which led him to leave the group and break down crying.
In September 2013, Rodger moved into a new apartment with two roommates, Weihan "David" Wang and Cheng Yuan "James" Hong. The interactions were tense, leading Rodger to spend a lot of time alone. His behavior bothered Wang, who complained about Rodger's loud music at night. A fight escalated between Rodger and Hong involving stolen candles, which resulted in Hong's arrest for petty theft.
Rodger's social struggles continued to worsen. He planned to carry out his attacks but postponed his plans due to the heightened police presence during certain events. Despite receiving advice and attempting to socialize, Rodger remained isolated and increasingly disturbed. He decided to carry out his planned attack on April 26, 2014 but later postponed it. Throughout early 2014, he prepared by buying firearms and practicing at gun ranges by using money given to him by his family.
Online activity
Rodger often shared his frustrations about his romantic failures and his views on life through platforms like YouTube. In April 2014, he uploaded videos expressing his loneliness and anger about not having a girlfriend, questioning why women preferred "inferior" men over someone like him, despite his good looks and wealth. He posted videos with titles such as "Why do girls hate me so much?" and "My reaction to seeing a young couple at the beach, Envy." Rodger also spent time recording himself driving and dancing to music from artists like Whitney Houston and Phil Collins. He subscribed to multiple YouTube channels associated with the Men's rights movement. He left negative comments across various videos, including misogynistic and racist remarks, and often bragged about his wealthy background, claiming a sense of superiority because he was half-white.
On his blog titled "Elliot Rodger's Official Blog," he portrayed himself as a "sophisticated, polite gentleman" having difficulty talking with others in Isla Vista. He frequently shared selfies on his Facebook profile, showcasing his luxurious lifestyle, including plane rides and movie premieres. He also visited forums like ForeverAlone and PUAHate, where he and other men identified as incels. They would share their frustrations about being unable to find romantic or sexual partners, discussing their hatred towards women and pick-up artists.
Further planning
In the days leading up to his planned April attack, Rodger created a 137-page manifesto titled My Twisted World: The Story of Elliot Rodger Rodger described women as a "plague" and thought that their ability to choose their partners could "hinder the advancement of humanity," suggesting that "civilized men of intelligence" should make mating decisions. He stated that women should not have any rights and that their "wickedness" needed to be "contained" to prevent societal degeneration.
Rodger detailed his "Day of Retribution" in his manifesto, planning it in three parts. The first phase involved killing his two roommates to secure their apartment for further acts. In the second phase, named the "War on Women," he aimed to enter the Alpha Phi sorority house at UCSB to kill as many female residents as possible, particularly targeting blond women who rejected him. His final plan involved murdering his stepmother and younger brother to prevent them from enjoying a life he felt he could never have, then proceeding to drive through Isla Vista, shooting people from his vehicle.
On April 30, 2014, after discovering his disturbing videos online, Rodger's mother contacted his therapist, who then requested a welfare check from the police. Responding officers visited Rodger's apartment but didn't check his videos or see if he owned guns. The police concluded he posed no immediate threat.
Attacks
Rodger experienced increasing anxiety as he planned his attack and used medication like Xanax to help manage it. In May 2014, he drove around Santa Barbara, trying to enjoy what he believed were his last weeks alive. Although he initially planned to begin his attack on May 24, he started one day earlier, on May 23. Rodger told his mother that he would be finishing school on May 23 and would call her after taking a test at Santa Barbara City College. However, he never called her. On the day he started his attacks, he took anxiety medications and searched online for ways to kill silently with a knife, then practiced by stabbing his bed sheets and pillows.
On the evening of the attack, Rodger first killed his two roommates and their friend in their apartment. He used knives to fatally wound them and attempted to clean up the blood before leaving the apartment. After changing out of his blood-soaked clothes, Rodger went to a Starbucks for a coffee. Shortly after, he posted a video on YouTube outlining his frustrations of staying a virgin and the reasons for his actions. He also emailed a manifesto detailing his thoughts and plans to several people, including his parents and therapists.
Following this, Rodger attempted to enter the Alpha Phi sorority house but failed to gain access. Frustrated, he returned to his car and soon after shot three women who were nearby, killing 19-year-old Veronika Weiss and 22-year-old Katherine "Katie" Cooper. He then drove to a local deli and shot several people there, including 20-year-old Christopher Michaels-Martinez, who died from his injuries.
After the shootings at the deli, Rodger continued to drive around Isla Vista, shooting at people and hitting others with his car. Rodger engaged in a shootout with police. He was injured in the hip during the exchange of gunfire but managed to drive away. Eventually, he crashed his car into a parked vehicle. Law enforcement quickly surrounded the car and found Rodger dead inside from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Legacy
Rodger's murder spree brought mainstream attention to the incel community and ideas of the manosphere. He was idolised by some young men around the world who identified as incels. Some incels refer to him as a "saint" and "hero", and some celebrate "Saint Elliot Day" on the anniversary of his attacks.
Inspired incidents
Rodger's mass killings would go on to inspire copycats, with Rodger being mentioned as an influence for men responsible for or suspected in other mass killings. For example, on April 23, 2018, 25-year-old Alek Minassian killed 10 people and injured 15 others in Toronto, Canada, by driving a van through the city. Before his attack, Minassian posted on his Facebook profile:
Private (Recruit) Minassian Infantry 00010, wishing to speak to Sgt 4chan please. C23249161. The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys! All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!
Nikolas Cruz, the perpetrator of the Parkland high school shooting idolized many different infamous mass murderers, in particular Elliot Rodger.
Fandom
Rodger has also spawned a fandom, mostly apparent on incel forums. Some only want to research about him or the event, but many express sympathy for Rodger or relate to him. There has been fanart drawn of him, fan fiction and memes.
