Stanley "Stan" Smith is the main character of the animated television series American Dad! Stan 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. ^[2] Stan is voiced by co-creator of the series, Seth MacFarlane.

Biography

At some point in Stan's childhood, he was given 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.^[3] 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. He got pranked by the popular students while at the prom by being crushed by falling pigs which was a parody of Stephen King's Carrie, where pigs blood is dropped from the roof, but one of the pranksters only read "pigs", and not "blood".^[4] Because the school is named after John DeLorean, who was born in Michigan, it is likely that Stan is from Michigan, although it has been shown that Stan lived in New York in 1970.^[5] 20 years ago, 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. Francine thought it was the most compassionate act she ever saw, and he got to kill something. ^[6] They started dating and got married later that same year.

Family

Stan is presumably 40 or 41 years old because he said that Francine, who is 40, is ten months younger than him. ^[7] They have two teenage children, Hayley and Steve. Stan allows 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.^[8] 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 he has lived as a goldfish with the Smith family since then.^[9] 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. He 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.Stan clearly worshiped his father until discovering that Jack was, in fact, a jewel thief.^[10] The identity of Stan's mother is unknown, but according to Stan, she is a very attractive woman. Stan also has an estranged half-brother who lives in Michigan.^[11]

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 ^[12] and use Morse code.^[13] 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. ^[14] He also has a massive fear of seagulls.^[15]

Political and social views

Stan is very xenophobic and vigilant. He initially profiled the new neighbors, Bob and Linda Memari as terrorists because of their Iranian heritage, though he later seems to warm up to them. ^[16] 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,^[17] a habit that seems to have been taken from the title character of 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.^[18] He also greatly admires the Republican presidents, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Regan, and George W. Bush, while hating 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 once insulted her, however, Stan defended her honor by nearly beating his boss to death.^[19]

Hobbies and talents

Stan's childhood hobbies include gun cleaning, wood burning and decoupage, all of which he revisits with Steve in order to help him with self-denial. ^[20] Stan's current hobbies include collecting commemorative plates from the Franklin Mint, and he has an incredible talent in figure skating. Stan can also play the guitar, and has passed this talent on to Hayley^[21] and Steve. ^[22] 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!. ^[23] 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", which has 3,012 books.^[24] Stan also seems to enjoy the rap and hip-hop culture, as evidenced by his occasional use of slang, his rapping in the shower, and his purchase of a Flavor Flav clock. He credits hip-hop for saving his life twice, ^[25] and for R&B he considers "the entire genre to be one long song." He is also a fan of the Georgetown Hoyas and watched their football games with Klaus while the rest of the family was in the "vacation goo".

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 work out 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 likelihood that this character is Stan is quite low.

Trivia

• Stan and his daughter Hayley were the first two characters that were conceived and created for the series.
• Stan's voice is based on the announcers of 1950s American anti-communist propaganda films. MacFarlane says that Stan's voice is the most exhausting to perform, out of all the voices he's done in both Family Guy and American Dad!.
• Stan's chin is strikingly similar to that of Glenn Quagmire of Family Guy.

Notes and references

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