Stan Smith (American Dad!)
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| American Dad! character | |
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| Stan Smith | |
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| Gender: | Male |
| Age: | 40 |
| Height: | 6'2" |
| Religion: | Episcopalian |
| Favorite Beverage: | Mr. PiBB, especially medium-sized |
| Political Leaning: | Conservative (extremist) |
| Voice Actor: | Seth MacFarlane |
Stanley "Stan" Smith is the main character of American Dad! and is voiced by Seth MacFarlane. Out of all the voices he's done in both Family Guy and American Dad!, MacFarlane says that Stan's voice is the most exhausting. It has been noted on DVD special features that Stan's voice is based on the announcers of 1950s American anti-communist propaganda films. He also seems to be partially based on the title character from the cult 80s show Sledge Hammer, who also had a weird habit of talking to his gun, as Stan does.
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[edit] Biography
Stan Smith is a Central Intelligence Agency agent and, later on in the series, the Deputy-Deputy Director, placing him on the third tier of importance in the C.I.A. under Deputy-Director Bullock. Although once a field agent, he is now a weapons expert, which would explain why he created family games like "Name The Gun Part".
At some point in Stan's childhood, someone gave him bad advice about sex, leading to Stan's belief that masturbation would lead to hair growing on his palms and his eyes melting, a belief which Stan almost passed on to his son. This belief led to a life-long love of hobbies, including gun cleaning and wood burning. Stan also collects commemorative plates from the Franklin Mint.
Stan attended John DeLorean High School in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Stan was a very unpopular student and he had horrible acne, which caused him to be nicknamed "The Penis". He got pranked by the popular students while at the prom by being crushed by falling pigs which was a parody of Carrie, where she got showered by pig's blood--even a student mentioned it. Because the school is named after John DeLorean, who was born Michigan, it is likely that Stan is from Michigan. In "The Best Christmas Story Never", it is revealed that Stan lived in New York in 1970.
In 1985, Stan, then a college student, met his future wife Francine. She was hitch-hiking and Stan gave her a ride. As he was driving, he accidentally ran over a raccoon, which he shot and killed to put it out of its misery, and Francine thought was that it was the most compassionate act she ever saw. They got married later that same year. Stan's father wasn't able to attend the wedding so he had a fake father come to the wedding and pose as his real father for 20 years.
[edit] Family
Stan is presumably 40 or 41 years old because he said that he's ten months older than Francine, who is 40. They have two teenage children, Hayley and Steve. Stan allows Roger the Alien to live in the Smith household because the alien saved his life at Area 51. Roger has come to think of the Smiths as family. His goldfish, Klaus, was actually an East German skier which explains how he is able to talk. To prevent Klaus from winning the gold medal in the 1986 Winter Olympics, Stan switched his brain with a goldfish's brain and has lived as a goldfish with the Smith family since then. The Smith Family currently lives at 1024 Cherry Street in Langley Falls, Virginia, near the C.I.A.
Stan's reflexive super-patriotism possibly stems from his father, Jack Smith. Jack, a Nick Fury-look alike, was an absent father and was believed to be a part of a group of spies known as the Scarlet Alliance. Stan clearly worshiped his father until discovering that Jack was, in fact, a jewel thief. The identity of Stan's mother is unknown, but according to Stan, she is a very attractive woman.
[edit] Personality
Although Stan is, for the most part, a loving husband and father, he often causes problems within the home with his 'God Bless America' attitudes. Stan also seems to prize popularity; he encouraged Steve to date cheerleaders, and lied about his own popularity in school, not to mention forcing Steve to have a better life than his own adolescence. He is horrified when he discovers his son, Steve, is a geek and is reluctant to let the other C.I.A. agent see him, lest Stan become one of the uncool agents, as in the episode "All About Steve". Though he appears to dislike nerds, Stan is shown owning a bat'leth, a type of Klingon sword. He is oblivious to the obvious, and occasionally mistakes sarcastic comments for suggestions. Stan can speak with dolphins and use Morse code. Stan dislikes overweight people, as depicted in several episodes where he made remarks about his son's friend Barry. In another episode, he meets his son Steve's overweight gothic girlfriend, Debbie, who he doesn't take very kindly to. However, when he is told he's put on a few pounds, his attempts to slim himself down (to prevent becoming what he hates) leads him to anorexia.
[edit] Political views
Stan is very xenophobic and vigilant. In the episode, "Homeland Insecurity", he profiled the new neighbors, Bob and Linda Memari as terrorists because of their Iranian heritage, though he later seems to warm up to them. He is so proud of the United States that he hates anything foreign, even food (i.e. French toast, falafels). He also hates being pegged as feminine. In the episode "Roger Codger", he began to shed tears before he almost shot Roger. Steve pointed that out, and Stan immediately said, "I'm not a lady!". Stan is very traditional, as he believes his wife should be at home, doing housework, unable to leave the house without being escorted, and cooking meals. MacFarlane says these qualities of Stan are based on Archie Bunker from All in the Family.
As a proud Republican, he strenuously opposes abortion and gun control(he even talks to his gun, a weird habit that seems to have been inspired by the title character from the cult 80s show Sledge Hammer). At the beginning of the series, he had a strong prejudice against homosexuality. His views on the subject soften somewhat in the episode, "Lincoln Lover", in which he finds out that his neighbor, Greg Corbin, is not only gay, but a Republican; he gradually learns that he and other gay Republicans are not gay by choice, but nevertheless are Republicans by choice. Stan hates liberals and Democrats, especially Susan Sarandon, Jane Fonda and Michael Moore. He frequently argues with Hayley over her liberal political views and appears to somewhat distrust her. When his boss insulted her in the episode "Bullocks to Stan", however, he defended her honor by nearly beating his boss to death.
[edit] Hobbies and talents
Stan's childhood hobbies include gun cleaning, wood burning and decoupage. In "A Smith In The Hand", he revisits these hobbies with Steve in order to help him with self-denial. Stan's current hobbies include collecting commemorative plates from the Franklin Mint, and he has an incredible talent in ice skating. Stan can also play the guitar, as evidenced in "Stannie Get Your Gun" and "A Smith in the Hand". He has passed this talent on to Hayley, and Steve (seen playing an electric guitar in "American Dream Factory"). He also seems to have an interest in musical theater. In "Homeland Insecurity", Stan performed with his cellmate in jail in the play, South Pacific, and he has long been dying to see the musical Mamma Mia!. Stan is also a fan of the TV series Lost and 24, and has written an extensive unpublished children's book series called "Patriot Pigeon".
[edit] Cameo appearances
- In the seventeenth season episode of The Simpsons called "The Italian Bob", Stan, along with Peter Griffin, from Family Guy is seen in the Italian police book. Stan is guilty of Plagiarismo Di Plagiarismo (plagiarism of plagiarism, which is the Simpsons writers' way of saying that American Dad! is a rip-off of Family Guy which is already considered by Simpson writers--and detractors of Family Guy--as a rip-off of The Simpsons).
- In the third season episode of Family Guy, "The Kiss Seen Around the World", while Stewie goes to a gym to workout in order to get his tricycle back from a bully, a man in the background lifting weights looks very similar to Stan. The man shares the same color of black hair, same body build, and distinct chin. Yet at this time American Dad! had not been developed yet, so the likelyhood that this character is Stan is quite low.
[edit] Quotes
- "Son (Steve), feelings are what women have. They come from their ovaries."
- "You're in our hearts!" (To Roger while packing up the family into the SUV during the "nuclear threat")
- (While watching Disney Channel) "Haha! That IS so Raven!"
- "Don't worry, Hayley. You never forget how to fight. It's like beating up a bicycle."
- "Hey, Hayley, at least the last time you ran away, you made it all the way to the stop sign! (laughs) Ah, that's funny. I'm funny."
- Francine: "You ruined everything!"
Stan: "Everything? (imitates police siren) Oh, that's the Hyperbole Police coming to take you away, and lock you up in Exaggeration-traz. I think I made my point. Eloquent."
- Francine: "Honestly, Stan, what does Hayley have to do with you getting a promotion? It should be enough that you're really good at your job."
Stan: "Yeah, it should, but we don't live in Shouldland! Ah, Shouldland, where clean-cut kids cruise Shouldland Boulevard, and the Shouldland High football team gets their optimistic asses kicked by their crosstown rival, Reality Check Tech."
- Stan: Can't you just take a page from that bitch Hillary Clinton and let it go?
- Hayley: "My mother stole my boyfriend!"
Stan: "Your boyfriend stole my wife! Let's get back at 'em by dating each other. Wait a minute... Daddy didn't think that through."
- "What's new about the CIA? Oh nothing... except everything!"
- "I like money!"
- (Repeating the lines from President Ronald Reagan's address on the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster on a baseball game):
It slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God.
- "Guns don't kill people. People kill people. Guns just defend people from people with smaller guns."
- (after a gay bartender mentions his time on Fire Island) "An entire island made of fire? How manly!"
- "You're next,Osama"
| On DVD | Episode list | Voice actors |
| Characters |
| Stan Smith | Francine Smith | Hayley Smith | Steve Smith | Roger | Klaus |
