Stan Smith (American Dad!)
Encyclopedia
Stan Smith is a character from the animated television series American Dad!
. Stan is a Central Intelligence Agency
officer. Although once a case officer, he is now a weapons expert. Stan is voiced by the series' creator and executive producer, Seth MacFarlane
.
. The two met when Francine 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. Francine thought it was the most compassionate act she had ever seen, which made her fall in love with him immediately. They started dating and got married later that same year.
Stan and Francine have an adult daughter, Hayley
, and a teenage son, Steve
. Stan allows an alien named Roger to live in the Smith household because the alien saved his life at Area 51
and Roger has come to think of the Smiths as family. In one episode, Roger is seen leaving a bar and walks into the street and nearly dies but Stan pushes him out of the way, and a life debt between Stan and Roger is ended. His goldfish
, Klaus, was actually an East German Olympic skier whose mind was transplanted into the body of a goldfish.
Stan has a father named Jack Smith who was actually a jewel thief. It is revealed that in "Meter Made" he has a half brother that he calls "bro", which may refer to Rusty, his Native-American half brother introduced in "There Will Be Bad Blood
".
Although Stan is, for the most part, a loving husband and father, he often causes problems within the home with his patriotism, egotism, and high standards for his family. Stan is also shown to be very manipulative and willing to do anything to accomplish his goals. These include, but are not limited to: having Hayley's mind programmed and then activating the programming to make Hayley compliant to his wishes and having Francine's memory wiped to cover the fact that Stan had forgotten their anniversary. Additionally, Stan has helped his boss cover up a murder he committed unintentionally and then framed Francine for it. Even after experiencing all of the above; Stan still apparently hasn't learned anything and continues to do these sorts of things. Stan is a Republican as well as highly xenophobic
, Christian
, and masculine
(possibly showing signs of right-wing authoritarianism). MacFarlane says these qualities of Stan are based on Archie Bunker
from All in the Family
.
Stan is often portrayed as oblivious, selfish, arrogant, inconsiderate and short-tempered. He holds right-wing views. He initially opposes homosexuality
and gay marriage, but he changes his mind in the episode "Lincoln Lover" after his association with the Log Cabin Republicans
. Stan's stance toward homosexuality further softens to an extent when Francine acts as a surrogate mother for Greg and Terry's baby and, in the end, sees that Terry and Greg are a loving family in their own right. He is known to mistreat his family, particularly Hayley whom he openly condemns for her liberal views and Steve who, despite idolizing his father, does not fit Stan's views of manhood. These character flaws are routinely exposed in many episodes in which Stan either shows hypocrisy or is forced to accept people for who and what they are (as in Steve as a geek, and Hayley as a grown-up with distinct political views).
In addition to the above, Stan is also shown for the most part as being opposed to any show of emotion, regarding it as effeminate or un-manly. He once said to Steve: "Son, feelings are what women have. They come from their ovaries." Nonetheless, while Stan generally tries to repress his emotions, when they come out they do so spectacularly, and this aspect of his character has led to him doing highly impulsive things, such as going to extreme lengths to stop his mother finding a man for fear he would lose her (in the episode Oedipal Panties, Stan is revealed to have captured and detained all of Betty's former lovers on an uncharted island), or spending several days in a bouncy castle, refusing food and drink, after realising he had never had a real childhood. In Japanese slang, he is considered a tsundere
, because he is usually aggressive, but in the end be affectionate.
Stan is an official officer of the CIA. Stan has shown expertise and knowledge in hand to hand combat, small arms, covert survillence methods, torture, the ability to fly aircraft and the handling of assault weapons. Even though he has been arrested several times on several felony charges, such as animal cruelty, child pornography (wrongly accused), attempted murder, drug trafficking, use of drugs (he almost flees to South America), impersonating a U.S. Marshal, and identity theft, just to name a few; he retains his official position.
Though it is well known he works for the CIA, very little is actually known about what exactly he does. Sometimes he is seen as a field operative, sometimes an undercover agent, sometimes surveillance officer, even presidential bodyguard, but most often he is seen working in a small cork-walled cubical with a few of his buddies, Jackson, Sanders, Dick Reynolds, and others. Smith's assumption of these different roles may indicate that he works as a sort of troubleshooter; taking on different responsibilities as required. However, since assuming the role of Deputy Deputy Director, his duties do not appear to have changed.
In the episode "Chimdale", it is revealed that Stan Smith has been bald since college and wears a wig
; however, this episode does not match the continuity of the episode where his hair grew when he was stranded on an island. He drives a black Ford Explorer
but has also been seen driving a black Chrysler 300C
and owns a DeLorean despite not having seen Back to the Future
. Stan is also known to have an unexplained fear of seagulls, first mentioned by Francine in "American Dream Factory". Although he got over it in "Choosy Wives Choose Smith".
Despite his traditional values, he has been married to two other women. In Saudi Arabia, Stan married an Arabic woman and named her "Thundercat" because he could not pronounce her name, though Stan married her mainly as a servant. At one point Francine divorced Stan so that he could have pointless sex, and he met and married a woman named Joanna, but went back to Francine, though Stan reports that he did consummate
the marriage. It is interesting to note that both Stan and Francine admit that each married the other for what Stan describes as service reasons. That is, that Stan admits that he married Francine because she was attractive. Francine, for her part, says that she wants someone to take care of her financially and both go so far as to admit this during their vow renewal ceremony to a room full of people.
In the episode "Stan's Food Restaurant
" it is revealed that Stan is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
.
American Dad!
American Dad! is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane and owned by Underdog Productions and Fuzzy Door Productions. It is produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television...
. Stan is a Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
officer. Although once a case officer, he is now a weapons expert. Stan is voiced by the series' creator and executive producer, Seth MacFarlane
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American animator, writer, comedian, producer, actor, singer, voice actor, and director best known for creating the animated sitcoms Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show, for which he also voices many of the shows' various characters.A native of Kent,...
.
Summary
Stan Smith born 12 February, 1967 is married to Francine SmithFrancine Smith
Francine Smith is a fictional character on the animated television series American Dad!. She is the wife of Stan Smith and the mother of Steve and Hayley. Francine is voiced by Wendy Schaal.-Fictional character biography:...
. The two met when Francine was hitch-hiking and Stan gave her a ride. As he was driving, he accidentally ran over a raccoon
Raccoon
Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...
, which he shot and killed to put it out of its misery. Francine thought it was the most compassionate act she had ever seen, which made her fall in love with him immediately. They started dating and got married later that same year.
Stan and Francine have an adult daughter, Hayley
Hayley Smith (American Dad!)
Hayley Dreamsmasher Smith Fischer is a character from the animated television series American Dad!. She is voiced by Rachael MacFarlane, the younger sister of one of the series co-creators, Seth MacFarlane....
, and a teenage son, Steve
Steve Smith (American Dad!)
Steven Anita “Steve” Smith is a character from the animated television series American Dad!. He is Stan and Francine Smith's only son and Hayley's younger brother as well as the youngest of the series' 6 main characters. Steve is voiced by Scott Grimes.According to TVTDB.com, Steve's original...
. Stan allows an alien named Roger to live in the Smith household because the alien saved his life at Area 51
Area 51
Area 51 is a military base, and a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base. It is located in the southern portion of Nevada in the western United States, 83 miles north-northwest of downtown Las Vegas. Situated at its center, on the southern shore of Groom Lake, is a large military airfield...
and Roger has come to think of the Smiths as family. In one episode, Roger is seen leaving a bar and walks into the street and nearly dies but Stan pushes him out of the way, and a life debt between Stan and Roger is ended. His goldfish
Goldfish
The goldfish is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It was one of the earliest fish to be domesticated, and is one of the most commonly kept aquarium fish....
, Klaus, was actually an East German Olympic skier whose mind was transplanted into the body of a goldfish.
Stan has a father named Jack Smith who was actually a jewel thief. It is revealed that in "Meter Made" he has a half brother that he calls "bro", which may refer to Rusty, his Native-American half brother introduced in "There Will Be Bad Blood
There Will Be Bad Blood
There Will Be Bad Blood is the sixth episode of the sixth season of American Dad! It aired on Fox in the United States on November 28, 2010. In this episode, The Smiths prepare for the arrival of Stan's half-brother's family for Thanksgiving....
".
Although Stan is, for the most part, a loving husband and father, he often causes problems within the home with his patriotism, egotism, and high standards for his family. Stan is also shown to be very manipulative and willing to do anything to accomplish his goals. These include, but are not limited to: having Hayley's mind programmed and then activating the programming to make Hayley compliant to his wishes and having Francine's memory wiped to cover the fact that Stan had forgotten their anniversary. Additionally, Stan has helped his boss cover up a murder he committed unintentionally and then framed Francine for it. Even after experiencing all of the above; Stan still apparently hasn't learned anything and continues to do these sorts of things. Stan is a Republican as well as highly xenophobic
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
, Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
, and masculine
Masculinity
Masculinity is possessing qualities or characteristics considered typical of or appropriate to a man. The term can be used to describe any human, animal or object that has the quality of being masculine...
(possibly showing signs of right-wing authoritarianism). MacFarlane says these qualities of Stan are based on Archie Bunker
Archie Bunker
Archibald "Archie" Bunker is a fictional New Yorker in the 1970s top-rated American television sitcom All in the Family and its spin-off Archie Bunker's Place, played to acclaim by Carroll O'Connor. Bunker is a veteran of World War II, reactionary, bigoted, conservative, blue-collar worker, and...
from All in the Family
All in the Family
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
.
Stan is often portrayed as oblivious, selfish, arrogant, inconsiderate and short-tempered. He holds right-wing views. He initially opposes homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
and gay marriage, but he changes his mind in the episode "Lincoln Lover" after his association with the Log Cabin Republicans
Log Cabin Republicans
The Log Cabin Republicans is an organization that works within the Republican Party to advocate equal rights for all Americans, including gays and lesbians in the United States with state chapters and a national office in Washington, D.C...
. Stan's stance toward homosexuality further softens to an extent when Francine acts as a surrogate mother for Greg and Terry's baby and, in the end, sees that Terry and Greg are a loving family in their own right. He is known to mistreat his family, particularly Hayley whom he openly condemns for her liberal views and Steve who, despite idolizing his father, does not fit Stan's views of manhood. These character flaws are routinely exposed in many episodes in which Stan either shows hypocrisy or is forced to accept people for who and what they are (as in Steve as a geek, and Hayley as a grown-up with distinct political views).
In addition to the above, Stan is also shown for the most part as being opposed to any show of emotion, regarding it as effeminate or un-manly. He once said to Steve: "Son, feelings are what women have. They come from their ovaries." Nonetheless, while Stan generally tries to repress his emotions, when they come out they do so spectacularly, and this aspect of his character has led to him doing highly impulsive things, such as going to extreme lengths to stop his mother finding a man for fear he would lose her (in the episode Oedipal Panties, Stan is revealed to have captured and detained all of Betty's former lovers on an uncharted island), or spending several days in a bouncy castle, refusing food and drink, after realising he had never had a real childhood. In Japanese slang, he is considered a tsundere
Tsundere
is a Japanese character development process that describes a person who is initially cold and even hostile towards another person before gradually showing their warm side over time. The word is derived from the terms , meaning to turn away in disgust, and meaning to become 'lovey dovey'...
, because he is usually aggressive, but in the end be affectionate.
Stan is an official officer of the CIA. Stan has shown expertise and knowledge in hand to hand combat, small arms, covert survillence methods, torture, the ability to fly aircraft and the handling of assault weapons. Even though he has been arrested several times on several felony charges, such as animal cruelty, child pornography (wrongly accused), attempted murder, drug trafficking, use of drugs (he almost flees to South America), impersonating a U.S. Marshal, and identity theft, just to name a few; he retains his official position.
Though it is well known he works for the CIA, very little is actually known about what exactly he does. Sometimes he is seen as a field operative, sometimes an undercover agent, sometimes surveillance officer, even presidential bodyguard, but most often he is seen working in a small cork-walled cubical with a few of his buddies, Jackson, Sanders, Dick Reynolds, and others. Smith's assumption of these different roles may indicate that he works as a sort of troubleshooter; taking on different responsibilities as required. However, since assuming the role of Deputy Deputy Director, his duties do not appear to have changed.
In the episode "Chimdale", it is revealed that Stan Smith has been bald since college and wears a wig
Wig
A wig is a head of hair made from horsehair, human hair, wool, feathers, yak hair, buffalo hair, or synthetic materials which is worn on the head for fashion or various other aesthetic and stylistic reasons, including cultural and religious observance. The word wig is short for periwig and first...
; however, this episode does not match the continuity of the episode where his hair grew when he was stranded on an island. He drives a black Ford Explorer
Ford Explorer
The Ford Explorer is a sport-utility vehicle sold in North America and built by the Ford Motor Company since 1990, as a replacement for the smaller but related Ford Bronco II. It is manufactured in Chicago, Illinois...
but has also been seen driving a black Chrysler 300C
Chrysler 300C
The Chrysler Corporation has used the designation Chrysler 300C to refer to two different vehicles, which are described in separate articles.* The 1957 Chrysler 300C, that year's version of the Chrysler 300 "letter series"; a large, high-performance luxury coupe sold in very limited numbers.* The...
and owns a DeLorean despite not having seen Back to the Future
Back to the Future
Back to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...
. Stan is also known to have an unexplained fear of seagulls, first mentioned by Francine in "American Dream Factory". Although he got over it in "Choosy Wives Choose Smith".
Despite his traditional values, he has been married to two other women. In Saudi Arabia, Stan married an Arabic woman and named her "Thundercat" because he could not pronounce her name, though Stan married her mainly as a servant. At one point Francine divorced Stan so that he could have pointless sex, and he met and married a woman named Joanna, but went back to Francine, though Stan reports that he did consummate
Consummation
Consummation is the initial sexual act made within a marriage.Consummation can also refer to:* Consummation , 1970 recordingSee also:* Consummation of days, event predicted in Daniel Chapter 12, verses 1-4...
the marriage. It is interesting to note that both Stan and Francine admit that each married the other for what Stan describes as service reasons. That is, that Stan admits that he married Francine because she was attractive. Francine, for her part, says that she wants someone to take care of her financially and both go so far as to admit this during their vow renewal ceremony to a room full of people.
In the episode "Stan's Food Restaurant
Stan's Food Restaurant
"Stan's Food Restaurant" is the fourth episode of the sixth season of American Dad!. It aired on Fox on November 14, 2010. This episode — which focused on Stan's dream of opening his own restaurant — is the 100th broadcast episode of American Dad!, an accolade currently bestowed on 100 A.D. for...
" it is revealed that Stan is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
Cameo appearances
- In the seventeenth season episode of The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
called "The Italian BobThe Italian Bob"The Italian Bob" is the eighth episode of The Simpsons seventeenth season. It features Kelsey Grammer in his ninth appearance as Sideshow Bob and is the first time the Simpsons visit Italy.-Plot:...
", Stan, along with Peter GriffinPeter GriffinPeter Griffin is a fictional character and the protagonist of the animated comedy series Family Guy and the patriarch of the Griffin family. He is voiced by cartoonist Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998....
from Family GuyFamily GuyFamily Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
, can be glimpsed in a police book of criminal offenders. Peter Griffin is dubbed "Plagiarismo" (Plagiarism) and Stan is dubbed "Plagiarismo di Plagiarismo" (Plagiarism of Plagiarism).
- Stan appeared alongside Avery Bullock in the Family Guy episode "Lois Kills Stewie".
- Stan made a brief cameo in Family Guy episode "Excellence in BroadcastingExcellence in Broadcasting"Excellence in Broadcasting" is the second episode of the ninth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 3, 2010...
" commending Brian GriffinBrian GriffinBrian Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. He is voiced by Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family, in a 15-minute short on December 20, 1998. Brian was created and designed by MacFarlane himself...
for becoming a conservative.
External links
- Stan Smith at Fox.com