What Happened to Robert Scorpio on General Hospital
Longtime fans have been enjoying the character of Robert Scorpio on General Hospital for many years. Tristan Rogers made his debut in December of 1980 and played the popular character until 1992, reprising the role numerous times in the years since. And after his 2018 return to GH, Rogers stuck around and continues to play Robert to this day!
Robert first appeared in Port Charles tracking Luke Spencer and Alexandra Quartermaine in search of the Ice Princess, which was really a large uncut diamond containing the secret to carbonic snow. Although Luke and Robert initially thought they were enemies, when they realized they were on the same side, they teamed up to stop the Cassadines from freezing the world. Following the adventure, Robert resigned from the World Security Bureau because they disagreed about destroying the Ice Princess and its formula. He briefly dated Tiffany Hill, who he’d met during the caper, but their romance fizzled.
Next, Robert found himself drawn to reporter Jackie Templeton, who was searching for her missing sister, Laura, a model who resembled Laura Spencer. Robert was already helping Luke track down his missing wife, and they discovered David Gray had arranged for Laura Spencer’s disappearance. After Luke killed David in a sword fight, they were led to believe Laura had drowned at sea, and Robert consoled his grieving friend.
After he and Luke were caught up in an oil scam orchestrated by Holly Sutton’s family, Robert ended up marrying the Brit. See, she was pregnant with Luke’s baby and since he was presumed dead at the time, Robert made her his wife so she wouldn’t be deported. Sadly, she miscarried the child, but Holly and Robert eventually found love.
When Mac Scorpio first came to town, Robert had a rocky relationship with his brother because he blamed him for the death of their parents. Thankfully they were able to bury the hatchet before Robert and his wife, Anna Devane, were presumed dead in 1992, leaving their teenage daughter, Robin, to be raised by Mac.
Robert resurfaced in 2006, five years after Anna, to reveal that he was forced to go into hiding by the WBS and couldn’t tell anyone where he was. He was tracking down a lethal strain of encephalitis from the South Pacific which menaced Port Charles. Later, Robert was diagnosed with colon cancer, and after slipping into a coma, he recovered and went to Europe for further treatment.
After Robin was presumed dead in an explosion, Robert returned to Port Charles in 2012 and even contemplated taking his own life out of grief over not being able to protect his daughter. Thankfully, Luke was able to talk his friend down. Later, Luke brought Robert back to town to investigate the return of Duke Lavery who they soon discovered to be Cesar Faison in disguise. After locating the real Duke, Robert saw Robin alive but was put into a coma by Dr. Liesl Obrecht to keep him quiet. When he finally awoke, Robert managed to convince Anna their daughter was alive and after an adventure that found them held prisoner temporarily by Jerry Jax, they were reunited with Robin.
Robert helped keep Anna from taking revenge by killing Faison, and later also helped her deal with her rage towards Carlos after he’d killed Duke. In the spring of 2018, the spy appeared in Switzerland to offer Anna help in tracking down her son, Henrik Faison. As he was getting too close to the truth, Valentin Cassadine drugged and imprisoned Robert, but the truth couldn’t be kept hidden for long!
Robert reappeared in Port Charles to take Peter/Henrik into custody but he cut a deal to stay out of prison. He also enlisted Finn’s help to find a missing Anna, and when it turned out she was just bait to abduct Finn, Robert had to help them both escape their kidnappers. He then helped Anna track down Alex so she could get to the bottom of the mysterious virus that temporarily took away her eyesight. Of course, the spy was also a thorn in Finn’s side as he prepared to propose to Anna, but nobody’s perfect! Robert also aided Sonny in his search for Dante, journeying with him to Turkey to bring the guy home. Unfortunately, Dante had to leave again to undergo treatment for his PTSD and Robert was forced into retirement by the WSB.
After Margaux Dawson resigned, Robert was hired as Port Charles’ newest district attorney, since he apparently attended law school before being recruited by the WSB. This put him at the forefront of keeping Port Charles crime-free, which is a lot of work!
Robert was shaken to hear reports that Holly had died while on WSB business, but remained skeptical, refusing to believe that she was really gone. He brought Olivia Falconeri to the WSB facility in Switzerland to visit her son, Dante, but he refused to see her. Before returning to Port Charles, they attended Holly’s memorial service in England, but Robert was stunned to get a phone call that sounded like Holly begging him to help her! Olivia tagged along as Robert flew to Monte Carlo to investigate and find out what was really going on, and they got some help from Ethan Lovett, who was also after his mom, but they ultimately returned to Port Charles unable to rescue Holly.
After their trip, Robert remained friendly with Olivia but kept his distance as it had put a strain on her marriage to Ned. He continued to work to help bring Peter August to justice and was devastated when Anna reported news that their old friend, Sean Donely, had passed away.
Robert teamed up with Anna again to help stop Peter and was stunned to learn that Victor Cassadine was not only alive, but allied with the villain! After returning from Greece, Robert was stunned when a drunk Olivia kissed him and a jealous Ned punched him, but he was able to clear the air and help Olivia repair her marriage. He then traveled with Anna to Cassadine Island where they took Peter into custody.
In the fall of 2022, Robert worked with Anna to try and figure out what Victor was up to and didn’t like that she insisted on including Valentin, who he didn’t trust as much as she did. When Holly resurfaced in Port Charles (literally!), he was happy to see her alive but concerned she didn’t have any memories of the years she’d been missing. After Laura warned her that Holly was hiding something, Robert was stunned when his ex revealed she’d been forced to work with Victor. He and Felicia staged an explosion that gave the impression Holly was being treated for serious burns while she secretly left town in search of her son, Ethan, who Victor was holding prisoner to blackmail her.
Robert had struck up a flirtation with Diane Miller and the pair shared a first kiss. But things got sticky when Holly came back and Diane found out he’d known about it all along. She also didn’t enjoy feeling like his second choice after walking in on Holly kissing him. After Victor was finally brought to justice, Holly left town to continue helping Ethan, and Robert tried to make it up to Diane. She agreed to a fresh start, but warned him to watch his step. Their relationship deepened and they consummated it, but things got complicated again when he was determined to make Sonny face justice while she was just as determined to defend her client. In the end, they came to the agreement they had to keep their personal and professional lives separate if the relationship was going to work.
Focusing on work, the DA offered to settle Charlotte Cassadine’s stalking of Anna with probation, community service, and therapy. Then, he tried to get Heather Webber transferred to San Quentin, but the plan was put on hold when she was diagnosed with cobalt poisoning and required surgery. When Jason Morgan returned to Port Charles alive and was arrested for shooting Dante, Robert passed the case off to his ADA, Molly Lansing Davis, to avoid any conflict with Robin.
Stay tuned to see what happens next!
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