Aden Jefferies was first seen in 2005 as a guy Cassie flirted with to make Ric jealous. He ended up asking her out and further infuriated Ric by rubbing his face in it leading Ric to tackle him hard during a football match. Aden was hospitalised and his brother Sean took revenge on Ric with Aden lying to give his brother an alibi. He was outed as a liar by Cassie and promptly dumped.
In 2007 he returned to our screens as a recurring guest character. The school bad boy, he tormented Cassie, using Rory to cheat her out of organising the school formal. He bullied Annie and Geoff, getting the latter drunk and locking him in a car boot, causing Tony to kick him off the football team and ban him from the gym. He took advantage of Tam getting her drunk and distributing mobile phone footage of them, landing him with a ban from the Year 12 formal. He retalited by cutting the power and ruining the night.
Around the same time Aden's increasing popularity and Todd's incredible acting skills landed him a full time role in the show and the storylines came thick and fast. He took advantage of Dan's memorial to make a stand against Bartlett and Annie, who had lied to the police that he had taken advantage of her. His actions earned him an interview with the paper but on the day the article was published, instead of being pleased Aden reacted furiously, threatening Belle for mentioning his war hero grandfather in the article.
It became clear that there was much more to Aden then we thought as he was pictured setting fire to the article and later reacting angrily every time anyone mentioned his grandfather. A car crash with Cassie from 2007 came back to haunt him when it was revealed she could have potentially infected him with HIV. His test results revealed he was negative but Aden shocked his Doctor by seeming disappointed and crying at the result. He confided a secret in her offscreen and we saw Aden lash out when she suggested counselling. At home he confronted his father about something from his past and the suggestion seemed to be that his grandfather had done something to him and that his father had never intervened. Roman burst in on their furious argument and took Aden to live with him but Aden took off after seeing a picture of Roman in army uniform, prompting further suspicions about his grandfather.
Trapped in the collapsed Diner and bleeding from a head wound, Aden was rescued by Sally following one of Floss's legendary premonitions and rushed to hospital. He suffered amnesia and his father seemed very keen to keep him from remembering their argument, even banning Roman from the hospital. He later confided in rachel that Aden's grandfather had abused his sons and that larry had let them down by pretending it wasn't happening. Rachel encouraged him to talk to Aden and they began to work through their problems but Aden felt unable to return home and instead took up Roman's offer to move in with him.
Arriving at Roman's house Aden was greeted by Roman's daughter Nicole and their seemed to be an instant attraction. With Morag also living at Roman's it made for an interesting home dynamic as Aden continued to come to terms with his troubled past.
So why Aden?
In terms of storylines Aden's built slowly and his abuse at the hands of his grandfather has been introduced subtly and hinted at before coming to a head. Not only does it explain a lot about why Aden is the way he is but it also gives him as a character great potential. The actor who plays him Todd Lasance has won himself legions of fans with his superb acting skills and effortless good looks. Somehow he's managed to take a bad boy character we should hate and turn him into a multi-dimensional, troubled but infinitely interesting young man.