Stan Pines

Stanford "Stan" Pines, better known as Grunkle Stan, is Mabel and Dipper's sly, cranky great-uncle. He runs the Mystery Shack, a tourist trap full of questionable oddities. When he's giving tours or sleeping on the couch, Dipper and Mabel are usually sneaking out to explore the town’s secrets, though Grunkle Stan may have some of his own mysterious secrets.

History
Sometime during the month of June, Stan's great niece and nephew were sent from Piedmont, California to stay with him for the summer. Stan immediately puts them to work in his house-turned tourist trap, the Mystery Shack. Stan's other employees include Soos and Wendy. At the end of "Tourist Trapped", it's revealed that he has a secret door behind the vending machine in his house.

When Grunkle Stan wants to take Dipper and Mabel to the Lake Gravity Falls to bond with them, he states that the guys from the lodge won't go with Stan because they don't "like or trust him". Though he reveals in a way that he does love Dipper and Mabel, since he does make them fishing hats, meaning that he does want to spend time with them for once. Dipper and Mabel try to get away from Stan's fishing idea by going with Soos to catch the Gobblewonker so they can get $1,000 in a photo contest. Stan gets upset that Dipper and Mabel would rather go on a monster hunt than go fishing with him, so he tries to find his own fishing buddies around the lake. This doesn't turn out right for Stan, since everyone just thinks of his jokes as annoying. Later when Dipper, Mabel and Soos return from their voyage, Dipper and Mabel asks if they can bond with Stan, feeling bad that they left him earlier. Stan accepts their request, and they all end up having quality family time Stan has been waiting for.

After the twins and Soos find several wax figures in an abandoned room, Stan tells them that he used to run the Gravity Falls Wax Museum, until he forgot all about it. Mabel uses some old wax to make a wax figure of Grunkle Stan, which he then shows to the town. When Stan's promised free pizza is revealed to be a lie, the crowd goes on a rampage. Later that night, Wax Stan is murdered and his head is gone. While Dipper and Mabel try to figure out the murderer, Stan prepares a funeral. After failing to find out the culprit, the twins, Soos, and Stan hold the funeral. Stan tearfully leaves, and Soos follows him. It is revealed that the murderers are the wax figures themselves, who wanted revenge on Stan for forgetting about them for 10 years. Mabel and Dipper defeat them, even though they destroyed Stan's parlor.

When the twins and Soos see a commercial for the psychic 'Lil Gideon, Stan tells them that he is his arch enemy and has been nothing but trouble for him since he arrived in Gravity Falls. He also says they're not allowed to see Gideon's show, but Dipper and Mabel find a loophole and go anyway. Later, Stan learns that Mabel and Gideon are dating, and disapproves. He goes to talk to Gideon's dad, Bud Gleeful, about it, but he changes his mind when Bud says they can pool their profits. Stan even tells Mabel she has to marry Gideon. After Mabel breaks Gideon's amulet, Gideon forces his dad to call off the deal. Stan then steals a clown painting and yells, "Try and catch me, suckers!".

Grunkle Stan also has a very large crush on Lazy Susan, though he soon regrets asking her out.

He once had a party at the Mystery Shack, so kids come there more often, and so that he rake in the cash from the children, since the admission to get out is $15 and on the flyer it says "Free?".

It was revealed that Grunkle Stan despises Pioneer Day, and later gets trapped in a wooden stock for yelling at Steve, a mechanic. While Stan is locked up, Gideon throws tomatoes at his eyes, and he gets taunted by Pacifica Northwest.

At one time, Grunkle Stan opens up the Mystery Fair to earn more cash, and rigged the Dunk Tank by making the target connected to the seat very stiff, causing Stan to not fall no matter how hard the people threw. When Dipper and Mabel time travel, the twins pass the Mystery Shack from which a younger Stan briefly emerges. Later, one of the members of the Time Paradox Avoidance Enforcement Squadron fires his blaster at the target, which causes Stan to fall off the seat and into the water, satisfying the crowd of people.

At another time, Grunkle Stan was accused of ackin cray-cray by Mabel when he said he didn't own a ladder. It is then revealed that Grunkle Stan has a fear of heights. When he thinks he has conquered his fear, he did a cocky dance to confirm that he was cured.

At another time, a man is at Stan's door when Dipper, Mabel, and him were watching TV, he answers the door and thinks that the tax collector is here for him, so he runs and gets a bag of full of cash behind the painting that he stole from a restaurant (Mystery Shack Mystery) and starts looking for a secret exit on the stones on the wall. Soon learning that it wasn't them and that they are the "Winning House Coupon Collector's Contest" and that they are there to give him $10,000,000, since his dream was to "possess money" had finally come true, so he signs. but Gideon comes out saying that he just signed the Mystery Shack to him, but on the paper he signs "SUCK A LEMON LITTLE MAN" instead. Throughout the episode Gideon tries taking the Mystery Shack away from Stan but ultimately fails. So, when Gideon has shrunken Mabel and Dipper and has them in his possession he calls Stan saying that he has them and that he has to give up the Mystery Shack in order to get them back but Stan doesn't believe him so Gideon says that he would text Stan a photo of them, but Stan thinks Gideon isn't even speaking English and ends up hanging up the phone. Though Gideon goes to the Shack to shrink Stan and take over the Shack, before Stan and Soos are setting up the mirror maze that is supposedly gonna bring him in cash, and that was Soos's idea that Stan is taking credit for. Once Gideon gets into the Mystery Shack he finds Stan, but since Stan is in the maze Gideon can't find him but soon breaks every single mirror he sees and finds him. He corners Stan and tries to zap him, but meanwhile tiny Mabel and Dipper start tickling him and says that he is a good enemy that maybe their rivalry has gone too far, so he "rolls" Gideon out of the shack.

During Summerween, Grunkle Stan steals items from the Summerween Superstore, and tells the twins that the townspeople love Halloween so much they celebrate it twice a year. Later a group of kids who are trick-or-treating rings the doorbell of the Mystery Shack, and Stan comes to the door with a skeleton mask. This scares the kids, who ran away, but two kids remained. Stan asks them why they weren't scared, and the kids reply they've been watching horror movies since they were two years old. For the rest of the episode, Stan tries to scare the two kids. He first pulls out "guts" from his stomach, but the kids weren't scared because the guts were just sausages. Then Stan had a pig come out of his stomach, but it was just tucked under his shirt the whole time. Stan feels shameful because he used to scare every children in the previous Summerweens, so he took a shower to wash off the shame. The two kids, who wanted candy from Stan, walked inside the Mystery Shack to find him. They finally get scared and runs away after they saw Stan naked, satisfying Stan. When the twins come home from trick-or-treating, they were disappointed they couldn't eat any of the candy they collected (they all fell into a river). Stan shows them two big bags of candy he got, and the family, along with Soos, Wendy, Candy Chiu and Grenda, watch a horror movie at the Mystery Shack for the remainder of the night.

Personality
Dipper and Mabel's great-uncle, Grunkle Stan, is a gruff, selfish, greedy and miserly salesman who has finally managed to set up his shop in a town with enough unsuspecting customers to sell worthless knickknacks. His flair for showmanship is oddly hypnotizing, and thus he is able to make money by peddling the bogus trinkets and baubles in his store. His work ethic is mainly driven by his desire to make money, so when he's not generating an income, he's usually at home watching television. Even though he sends the twins on unpredictable and outrageous errands, he always has their best interests at heart and loves them unconditionally. Meanwhile, when he isn't busy trying to make a quick buck from his unsuspecting customers, Grunkle Stan is guarding his own secret that might hold the key to unlocking the mystery of Gravity Falls.

Appearance
Grunkle Stan has gray hair that is rarely seen which is often being covered by a maroon fez with a gold crescent moon. Stan has large ears and gray stubble. He also bears a rather large, droopy nose that is orange-pinkish in color, gray, bushy eyebrows, and broad shoulders. As a result of his age, he also has wrinkly skin and a slouched posture. While running the Mystery Shack he is seen wearing a black tuxedo with a dark red string tie, brown shoes, and his trademark fez, occasionally wearing an unnecessary eye-patch. When he is not running the Mystery Shack, he usually wears a white tank top, blue striped underwear, and blue slippers. While in this outfit, his somewhat large belly is more noticeable. During "Dipper vs. Manliness", he is seen to have an excessive amount of gray chest hair. He sometimes carries an 8-Ball Cane. He wears black square glasses, and has "yellowish" teeth. He also has a indigo tattoo on his back that has yet to be revealed. He is also rather chubby. In one episode, his tank top is drenched with sweat or puke.

Trivia

 * Grunkle Stan has a tattoo on his back that has yet to be revealed. Only a bit of it has been seen, as a large part of it is covered by the armscye of his tank top.
 * His car has a vanity license plate that reads "STNLYMBL". This is most likely short for Stanley Mobile.
 * He has been sent to jail in Colombia.
 * Grunkle Stan is continuously seen running away with stuff.
 * He claims to own ten loaded guns.
 * Grunkle Stan frequently uses smoke bombs to distract people and run away.
 * Grunkle Stan, Mabel, and Dipper have been to the county jail due to them making counterfeit money.
 * The fez he wears on his head has its origins from the Ottoman Empire culture which occupied most of the Middle East, and Turkey only a century ago before losing their land in WW1.
 * The symbol on Stan's fez may be the Luwianhieroglyph for "Luna" or moon.
 * In some countries, the symbol on Stan's fez is removed.

Quotes
"I'd fire all of you if I could."

- Grunkle Stan

"Now, who wants to put on some blindfolds and get into my car?"

- Grunkle Stan

"I've never had fishing buddies before; the guys at the lodge won't go with me! They don't 'like' or 'trust' me."

- Grunkle Stan

"Sounds like something a responsible parent wouldn't want you doing... Good thing I'm an uncle! Avenge me, kids! AVENGE ME!!!"

- Grunkle Stan

"When there's no cops around, anything's legal!"

- Grunkle Stan at the Mystery Fair

"Uh, uh, I don't even know how to respond to this. Look, uh, kid, I think this rivalry thing is getting to you. Heh, I understand; I'm a formidable foe, what can I say? Hey now, come on, you'll get me one of these days; maybe, you know, run your evil plan by some friends next time, huh? Workshop it! But first, get your issues in order there. *grunts as he rolls Gideon* Over the carpet, there we go, around the end table and, uh, out the door. You're the light of my life, too, pal! Whoo, freak show."

- Grunkle Stan to 'Lil Gideon