Alex Roswell was abandoned by his abusive parents on the city streets when he was born. His father, Gideon, was a rebel and died in a battle against the Authorities, and Alex’s mother Ash Roswell took his place, leading an attack against a military outpost in the city. Though Alex doesn’t know it, his parents were abusive and suffered from mental illness. His father, a wild, rage-filled, unpredictable fighter, killed one of his fellow rebels in a fit of anger and was later purposefully sent to the front lines of a battle to die. He was killed by the Authorities’ soldiers. Alex’s mother, named Ash, was a hateful, reckless, and slanderous rebel who died because of illness, mental instability, and injuries. She was treated in the medical wing of the rebels’ base and received care from Mel. Mel chose to hide the truth about Alex’s parents from him when she found him on the streets after his mother’s death. Alex also has a sister, Kayla, three years older than her brother. She stayed with him, under the care of the rebels, until she left at the age of eight to join the Righteous Elite. Alex continued to be raised by the rebels until he was able to fend for himself, at which point he survived both on the streets and in the underground train system used by the rebels. When he met Ash Thorane, she didn’t remember her name, and he gave her his mother’s name. This was arranged via mind control by the Sovereign Supreme.

His sandy blond hair was matted with dirt. He wore jeans and a ragged gray t-shirt under a brown vest several sizes too small for him, and his shoes were battered and patched up. His blue-gray eyes, brimming with barely restrained tears, reminded the woman of storm clouds reflected in water.

– Fallen Nation

"I’ll get past the border wall. Whatever is out there, whatever the Authorities are hiding from us, I’m going to find."

– Alex to Ash and Zach, in Fallen Nation