Melissa Rose (Queen of the Willis)

Melissa Rose
Queen of the Willis character
First appearance	"Pilot"
Created by	Ava Zinn
Voiced by	Alexis Arquette (2006-2012) Kendra Ray
Information
Full name	Melissa Elizabeth Rose (born Braden Anthony Rose)
Occupation	physican/sex reassignment surgeon Exterminator Bounty hunter sometimes Volunteer Mental Health Case Coordinator (Fired)
Family	Bill Rose (biological mother) Dale (late step-father m. to Bill) Connie Rose (legal daughter) Unnamed Mother (deceased) Amanda Donovan (sister-in-law) Kymberly Rose (sister) Unnamed Twin sister
Spouse(s)	Stephanie Dawson (wife)
Nationality	American

Melissa Elisabeth Rose (born Braden Anthony Rose October 11, 1972) is a fictional character in the animated series Queen of the Willis, orginally voiced by Alexis Arquette and currently voiced by Kendra Ray (Julia Passalt, whose transgendered daughter Rachael voices Deanna Willis, had originally auditioned for the role). She is a medical doctor and surgeon as a sex reassignment surgeon, an exterminator, bounty hunter, gun fanatic, and paranoid believer of almost all conspiracy theories and urban legends.

Family

Melissa had been estranged from her mother, Jill Rose (now Bill Rose), since she witnessed Bill kissing Melissa's friend Ava Willis and Melissa's wife Stephanie, on the lips on their wedding day. In truth, Bill only kissed Ava and Stephanie to hide his transsexuality as he was nearing a kiss with a Filipino caterer. When Melissa entered the room, Bill (as a woman), afraid of his now transgendered daughter possibly rejecting him because of his sexuality, panicked and reached for the nearest male, not realizing that it was Ava until the damage was done. Melissa did not learn the truth until 30 years afterwards, when he himself went to his mother's gay rodeo and publicly kissed his lover, Dale. It was here that mother and son (now daughter) reconciled their differences. Melissa's father is deceased, this fact being learned in season 7.

Although highly suspicious of the government and of other people, Melissa is unaware (although everyone else knows) that her wife Stephanie had an affair with Reginald John for nearly 15 years, and that Reginald is Connie's biological father. Melissa never learned of the affair until season 7. The closest she has ever come to learning about it is in the episode where Angie wanted to tell her, but she decided not to after seeing Angie and Connie's relationship. Reginald John even told Melissa in the episode "Ava Gets Dianed" that he cheated with Ava's best friend's wife for 13 years, and Melissa just thought she was talking about Tiffani's then-husband, Ken; she never questioned what Reginald said. This is apparently due in part to his blinding love for Stephanie, his incredible naiveté, and her belief for some time that Reginald John might be gay (though this can be disputed because of the actions in the episode "Where There's Pressure, There's Affairs" where Melissa tries to get Reginald John to seduce Marla knowing that he is a womanizer, even congratulating him earlier in the episode where the girls see Reginald John at the hardware store having just having had sex with an employee). An example of Melissa's naiveté of Reginald and Stephanie's relationship occurs in one episode where she catches Reginald sneaking through her bedroom window while Stephanie was "sleeping" in their bed. When Reginald, believing Melissa had found out about her relationship with Stephanie, sees this, he tells Melissa he regrets her finding out in this way. Melissa simply replies, "Get off my mower (Reginald had jumped through the window by climbing onto Melissa's lawn mower) and start massaging my wife," still in belief that Reginald was simply Stephanie's masseur with the task of curing her false recurrent migraine headaches (forcing Reginald to say in an exasperated tone that Stephanie was "taking some of the fun out of this"). Melissa also discovers that Connie shares a father with another child (a child fathered by Reginald John, unbeknownst to Melissa), but assumes this means both Connie and the other child were the product of aliens inseminating earth women. A recurring gag early in the series was that whenever Melissa would make a comment about being Connie's father or being lucky enough to have a wife like Stephanie, Reginald John would show up.

In contrast to the usually shallow demeanor she has towards her friends and people in general, Melissa is fiercely devoted to her wife and daughetr, and frequently displays her love for them. She blames herself for all of the problems Stephanie herself caused between them while she was cheating on Melissa, has an explicit (and misplaced) trust in her, and pampers her constantly; lavishing compliments, favors and gifts upon her, often in the embarrassing presence of Reginald John. However, she never really showed much interest in spending time with her, and sometimes, usually in social situations, she would momentarily forget that she was married. Melissa is extremely proud of Connie, towards whom she is highly generous and supportive, especially for her athletic prowess and strong build, which Melissa never possessed any of (before her sex change). Unlike Ava's demeanor with Deanna and Tom, Melissa is extremely attentive to Connie's needs and feelings, and is never afraid to express her affection for her. Although Melissa's attempts at good parenting occasionally go astray due to her odd ideas, she is portrayed as Connie's primary parent (especially in the earlier seasons when Stephanie was still having an affair), and is usually the first person Connie turns to when in trouble. Connie, unlike Deanna or Tom, has very little conflict with her father and rarely seems to feel the need to rebel against her, probably due to Melissa's emotional availability and acceptance of her daughter's activities and tendencies – an area in which she outshines Ava. While she is comfortable and unworried about her daughter's development, Melissa is very protective of Connie: despite her cowardly nature, she once rushed into what she believed was the tractor beam of an alien ship to save her, even though she was convinced that Connie's real father was an alien.