Aaron Monroe made his first appearance on 21 October 2021. He is portrayed by Charlie Wernham. He is the son of Harvey Monroe and older brother of Dana Monroe. He is currently on remand for planning to detonate a bomb in the disused Argee Bhajee in a far-right terrorist attack.
Backstory[]
Aaron is Harvey’s eldest child, who is a racist and criminally violent. It was initially thought he was confident, liked to get his own way, and opinionated about everything. Very quickly it was made clear that Aaron is a bully and a bigot. He’s close to his dad who raised him alone but as soon as Aaron landed a city job in finance, he left home and didn’t look back. Harvey knew about Aaron's violence and racism but believed he had put all that behind him. later Aaron brags to an associate that he had tricked his father into thinking this. Things between Aaron and his sister Dana are strained and she often feels shut out by him. Aaron is clearly angered by Dana's relationship with Bobby Beale as Bobby is a Muslim as well as being "soft" due to his mental health.
When Aaron was young, a neighbour named Tamin beat him up outside his house. He didn’t run as Harvey told him to “stand his ground” and believed the attack was racially motivated.
Storylines[]
2021-2022: Meeting Tiffany and bomb plot[]
Aaron in his first episode.
Aaron begins dating Tiffany Butcher-Baker but he misses two of their dates on one occasion he turns up at his flat with blood on his shirt and knuckles, It is revealed weeks later that Aaron is a member of a far-right organisation who target Black people and people of different religions (particularly Muslims) and that the blood on his shirt is from an attack on a person of colour by Aaron and his group which leaves him with a punctured lung, broken ribs and possible blindness which enrages his Dad once he finds the shirt in a bin.
Aaron is revealed to be a member of a far-right group as he paints a swastika on a Mosque.
Aaron begs his dad for an alibi after a witness spotted the attack. Harvey agrees to help Aaron as long as he never mixes with the far-right group again but Aaron is later revealed as a main member of the group with no intention of leaving the group whatsoever as he sprays paints a Nazi swastika on the old Argee Bhajee restaurant which is the proposed site of the new mosque in Walford.
Aaron and Tiffany Butcher-Baker.
During advent 2021, Aaron manipulates Tiffany into uploading a photo protesting to the Christmas nativity being cancelled, Aaron adds St. George flags to the photo claiming it would get her more likes from the "Football Boys". Aaron then invites his friends, including Neil Hughes, to join him and Tiffany for drinks at The Queen Victoria.
It soon becomes apparent that his mates are part of the same far-right group, Neil gets under the Walford residents' skins immediately, including Isaac Baptiste, Lola Pearce, Keegan & his date Anna and Mick Carter who witness their ugly behaviour and unlike Aaron, who hides his racist nature to a certain degree in order to blend in with the community as he would be in better position to influence his neighbours from within.
Neil wastes little time throwing racist insults at Isaac, Keegan and Anna. Whilst Keegan stands his ground, Mick has enough at this point and tells Neil and his friends to leave and bans them in the process. Neil remains resolute and steadfast in his racism prior to leaving by pouring his drink at Keegan's feet.
Aaron orders an attack on Keegan.
When Keegan is on his way home, he is unaware that Neil and Aaron's mates were lurking in Turpin Road waiting for him to leave the pub, so they could set upon him in revenge for being humiliated earlier. Keegan is quickly overpowered by the rest of the thugs who beat him almost to death on the orders of Aaron with cricket bats and signs whilst Aaron watches the beating take place from a safe distance. Keegan is left in hospital as a result, seriously injured with a punctured lung.
A couple of days after the attack, Isaac sees Aaron and Neil talking at the bar in Walford East whilst out to lunch with Lola and recognises Neil immediately. Lola gets uncomfortable when Isaac says this to her asking him to hurry up and order, not wanting to draw attention either due to him having another suspected schizophrenic episode but also not wanting Isaac to be attacked if his theory is true. After lunch whilst at The Queen Victoria, Isaac confronts him but Aaron dismisses him lying that Neil isn't a friend merely "a tourist who asked for directions". Isaac is angered as a result which scares Lexi Pearce, Ben Mitchell arrives at the pub, sees the commotion and questions Isaac on why his daughter is scared. Aaron appears smug having indirectly gaslit witnesses, thus working the situation to his advantage.
After Christmas, Aaron and Neil plan an arson attack on The Argee Bhajee as a statement in response to Dana showing interest in Islam as a result of her relationship with Bobby. Once Neil takes things one step further by building a bomb, he warns Aaron to make sure Dana isn't in The Albert on New Year's Eve, as the bomb is next door, when the bomb is due to go off.
The day after planting the bomb Neil calls Aaron asking to meet him in the playground. Neil gives Aaron a burner phone telling him to call it, and after he calls it, the bomb will be set off. Aaron gets uncomfortable as he has been trying in vain to prevent Dana and his dad from attending the party, but Neil threatens him saying that a lot of people will be angry if it doesn't go off as planned. Whilst they are talking, they are both unaware that Harvey has spotted them. Harvey recognises Neil as a friend of Aaron's that he used to get in trouble with when he initially started taking his racist views too far. When they are all back at the flat Aaron eases his nerves by drinking his dad's whiskey. It is clear when Harvey arrives back and notices Aaron drinking that it's due to nerves of whatever they have planned. When Dana gets back, he tells her to go to the party anyway, even though she gave her ticket to Stacey Slater, as he needs to speak to his son in private. When Dana protests and tells him of this, he reassures her that she will likely get free entry due to dating one of the Albert's owner's grandchildren.
After she leaves, Harvey angrily confronts Aaron. It is clear then that Aaron is in way over his head and only admits he is planning to bomb the mosque with Neil when Harvey threatens to call Neil's grandmother. Neil turns up at Aaron's flat days later asking why the bomb never went off as planned, Neil then suspects that Aaron told the police about the bomb due to him going quiet, and Neil punches Aaron in the stomach and pushes him against his fridge and begins strangling him, Harvey comes back to the Flat and finds Neil and tells him to leave, Neil threatens Dana before leaving.
Aaron is arrested.
Aaron later tells his gang Neil is not fit to lead the gang anymore, he later receives a text saying that Neil has been sorted. Harvey tries to keep Aaron away from Neil and the rest of the gang but it is clear that Aaron's loyalty lies with his fascist gang. Aaron attempts to flee and convinces Dana to leave with him but Harvey reports Aaron to the police for his role in the bomb plot.
Harvey visits Aaron in prison.
Harvey goes to see Aaron in prison to disown him, but Aaron tells him he is better off without him, a few weeks later Harvey goes to the police to sign his witness statement, Aaron phones him, he has a bruised face, he tells Harvey he is being beaten up and begs Harvey not to sign his witness statement, Harvey still decides to sign the witness statement.
Aaron's last scene as he is stabbed by his gang and is then sentenced to prison off-screen.
Neil returns months later booking a taxi under a fake name, Harvey picks him up, Neil then attacks Harvey, strangling him with his seat belt and tells Harvey he is back in the group despite Aaron's pleas to remove him. Neil tells Harvey to deliver a phone (which was implied to be another bomb) to Aaron. Harvey refuses Neil's request so Neil presses the seat belt harder against Harvey's throat, Neil lets Harvey go after spotting Jean Slater coming towards the car. He then tells Harvey to make the drop. Neil delivers Harvey the phone the following week, after visiting Aaron, Harvey tells Aaron he can’t go through with giving him the phone as he can’t live with innocent people being killed, Aaron apologises for everything he had put Harvey though over the years. Aaron is stabbed by Neil's associates the following night and fights for his life in hospital. After recovering from his stabbing he was transferred to a prison in Newcastle and was sentenced for his crimes.
Kill count[]
Attempted murder victims[]
- Abdul Houssain (26 October 2021) - Attacked by Aaron and his far-right group in a racial hate crime, He only just survives and is left with broken ribs, a punctured lung and blindness in one eye.
- Keegan Butcher-Baker (2 December 2021) (instigated) - Orders his far-right group to attack Keegan in response to them banned from the Queen Vic, they do so and leave him for dead.
Note: It was confirmed in dialogue between Harvey and Aaron that Aaron and his group have attacked multiple people of different race/religion off-screen prior to their arrival, Aaron also planned to detonate a bomb that was planted in The Argee Bhajee by Neil Hughes which could have resulted in over 30 people next door in The Prince Albert being seriously injured or even potentially killed but Aaron was talked out of it by Harvey and due to the fact his little sister Dana was in the Prince Albert.
Resident history[]
| Address | Years |
|---|---|
| 5D Albert Square | 2021-2022 |
| Prison in Newcastle | 2022 to present |
Fight count[]
Punches[]
- Abdul Houssain (26 October 2021) (atleast once)
Total: 1
Individual characters punched: 1
Total: Atleast 1
Background information[]
- His tattoo, W23 is a white supremacist logo. This is also his alias.
- Aaron is one of several characters to have unreleased Promos in the Jon Sen era, his unseen promos can be seen on his cast card, which is very hard to obtain. For more, see Unreleased Promos.
- Similarly, Tom Cotton, Jay Brown and Callum Highway had Promo photos takes for in show use that were never released.
Quotes[]
- To Whitney Dean and Tiffany Butcher-Baker (first line): "Afternoon ladies, i'm looking for the cab office?" (21 October 2021)
- To Harvey Monroe (last line): "Dad, I love you" (26 April 2022)