Stan Pines

Stanley "Stan" Pines (born late 1940s – early 1950s in Glass Shard Beach, New Jersey), also known as Grunkle Stan, is Dipper and Mabel Pines' great uncle and summer guardian. After years of crime and infamy, he has taken up residence in the remote town of Gravity Falls, Oregon, where he exploits local lore and the gullibility of the "dumbest people in the world" to finance himself by running a dubious tourist trap known as the Mystery Shack.

Despite his initial claims of skepticism to the supernatural, he is later revealed to be deeply connected with the paranormal, most notably the decades-long operation of an interdimensional portal he has used to rescue his twin brother, Ford. He is the tritagonist of Gravity Falls.

Early Life
Stanley Pines was born in the late 1950s to Filbrick and Ma Pines in Glass Shard Beach, New Jersey along with his twin brother, Stanford. Though he failed to share his twin's brilliance, Stan made up for this through his personality, and when combined with his brother Ford, the duo were an unstoppable pair and the best of friends. In their early youth, the Pines children were faced with frequent bullying, most notably from their childhood foe Crampelter, which was credited to Stan's wimpish characteristics and Ford's six fingers, brought on by a congenital physical anomaly. Consequently, Stan's father forced the pair into boxing lessons as a means of toughening them up, giving them the strength to overcome their tormentors and later allow Stan to win over Carla McCorkle, his high school sweetheart.

Stan's teenage years were initially pleasant, frequenting the 50's-themed Juke Joint with his newfound girlfriend and constructing the Stanowar with Ford, as they hoped to fulfill their childhood dreams of sailing around the world searching for adventure. However, his aspirations began to crumble senior year attributed Stanford's high chances of attending West Coast Tech, a prestigious college on the other side of the country, as well as his breakup with Carla due to her infatuation with hippie musician Thistle Downe (whose van was later driven into a ravine by Stan in an act revenge). On the verge of losing his closest friend and barely passing high school, Stan seemed destined to a life of failure in the confinements of Glass Shard Beach, and his life continued its downward spiral after he inadvertently destroyed Ford's ingenious science fair experiment. With Ford's chances of admittance to West Coast Tech decimated, the accident was accused of being intentional as a means of Stan preserving him and his brother's dream, prompting his father into disowning him out of anger for losing the millions of dollars Stanford's scientific achievements would've achieved. Left with no friends or family to turn to, Stanley set out on his own, determined to acquire fame and fortune twice the size his twin ever would've earned.

Establishing his self-employed company, Stan Co. Enterprises, Stan sold a variety of cheap and poorly-made household utilities, from Stan Co. Pitchforks to the "Sham Total" shammy towels, both of which were enough to have Stan Co. Enterprises (along with Stan himself) banned from the state of New Jersey. The process repeated itself after Stan altered his identity and reopened shop in Pennsylvania, where his rash-prone "Rip-Off" bandaids ran him out of the state yet again. With numerous encounters with the law and a plethora of fake I.D's and faulty products left in his wake, including a brand of vacuums called "The Stan Vac", Stan expanded his business out of the country, resulting in an awry heist in Colombia that landed him in foreign prison alongside cellmates Jorge and Rico. Upon his release, Stanley returned to the United States impoverished and nearly homeless, renting out a motel room from Dead End Flats, New Mexico. Banned from 32 of the 50 states, imprisoned three times, and remaining in debt to his former cellmate Rico, Stan's life had seemingly hit rock bottom, until the arrival of a postcard from his brother Stanford, the first he had heard of his twin in over 10 years.

Following his brother's implores for him to arrive at his home in the woods of Gravity Falls, Oregon, Stan reunited with his brother Ford to find him enigmatic and borderline insane, having locked himself in his home for months out of paranoia. Learning of the transuniversal portal his brother had built deep underground, Stan was entrusted with the one of Ford's journals, detailing the paranormal anomalies of Gravity Falls and containing a portion of the schematics needed to operate the portal. Angered he had been summoned purely to service his twin's paranoid delusions, Stan prepared to burn the book to spite Ford, causing a fistfight between the two to ensue within Stanford's laboratory. Throughout the brawl, the device became inadvertently active, resulting in Stanley accidentally sending his brother into the portal before its immediate shutdown from a lack of fuel. Crushed at losing his brother and friend after just regaining contact, Stan remained haunted by what he had done for weeks, dwelling in his brother's home until eventually running out of food and money.

Upon arriving in town and realizing Gravity Falls' intrigue with the mysterious house in the woods, Stan took advantage of the townsfolk's interest by constructing ramshackle and seemingly paranormal props and placing them on display in his brother's former home, eventually attracting enough popularity to convert the house into the Murder Hut, later renamed the Mystery Shack, an overpriced tourist trap filled with cheap attractions. Seizing his brother's identity and property, Stan obscured any remnants of his former twin, boarding up Ford's old bedroom and hiding his underground complex with a vending machine in the Mystery Shack gift shop. Faking his death in a suspicious car crash, the new Stanford Pines took on the role of Mr. Mystery by day, while by night he worked tirelessly to locate his brother's hidden journals and reactivate the portal, hoping to return the real Stanford Pines back home.

As the years rolled on, Stan applied countless renovations to his prized tourist trap, intent on keeping its oddities and appeal alive. Stealing a collection of cursed wax figures from a local garage sale, the Shack's Wax Museum of Mystery was opened, becoming a huge success with incoming tourists until Stan inadvertently forgot of its existence. With the attraction's popularity increasing, Stan hired the teenage Edwin Durland as a handyman for the Mystery Shack's frequent impairments. After some time under Stan's employment, Edwin was fired and replaced by the 12-year-old Soos Ramirez in a matter of seconds, who grew to love and idolize his boss as a fatherly figure. The Shack's acclaim (along with Stan's) from tourists soon fell under competition, as the opening of the Tent of Telepathy under Gideon Gleeful created a fierce rivalry between Stan and the Gleeful family, fueled by Gideon's desire to possess the Mystery Shack for his own nefarious purposes.

30 years after the disappearance of the real Stanford Pines, Stan had built the Mystery Shack into an expensive and low-budget empire, raking in thousands from unwitting tourists. In the summer of 2012, Stan was contacted by his nephew Mr. Pines, who requested he act as the caretaker for his twin son and daughter, Dipper and Mabel, to get them some fresh air during their summer. Despite being wildly unfit to look after children and possessing his dangerous ulterior motives, Stan agreed, allowing his grand niece and nephew to both stay and work within the Mystery Shack.

Season 1
Sometime during the month of June Stan's great niece and nephew, Mabel and Dipper Pines, are sent from Piedmont, California to stay with him for the summer. Stan immediately puts them to work in his house-turned into a tourist trap, the Mystery Shack. Stan's other employees include Soos and Wendy. At the end of "Tourist Trapped," it is revealed that Stan has a secret door behind the vending machine in his house.

In "The Legend of the Gobblewonker," Stan wants to take Dipper and Mabel to the Lake Gravity Falls to bond with them, and he states that the guys from the lodge won't go with Stan because they don't "like or trust him." He makes Dipper and Mabel fishing hats, but they try to get away from Stan's fishing idea by going with Soos to find 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 rather 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 or creepy. 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 the quality family time Stan has been waiting for.

After the twins and Soos discovers several wax figures in an abandoned room in "Headhunters," Stan tells them that he used to run the Wax Museum of Mystery, until he forgot all about it. Mabel uses some old wax to make a wax figure of 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, the wax figures, and Stan hold the funeral. Stan tearfully leaves the room, 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 ten years. Mabel and Dipper defeat them, even though they destroyed Stan's parlor. When they tell Stan what happened, he just laughs them off, thinking they have over-active imaginations.

In "The Hand That Rocks the Mabel," when the twins and Soos see a commercial for the psychic Li'l Gideon Gleeful, 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 that they can pool their profits. Stan even tells Mabel she has to marry Gideon. After a short struggle with the Pines twins, Mabel breaks Gideon's mystic amulet. Gideon forces his dad to call off the deal. Stan then steals a clown painting and yells, "Try and catch me, suckers!"

In "The Inconveniencing," Stan falls in love with an old romance film, The Duchess Approves, and becomes glued to the television as he watches it. However, he breaks his television by throwing out of a window after disagreeing with the plot of the show.

When Stan takes the twins to Greasy's Diner in "Dipper vs. Manliness," Mabel learns that he has a crush on waitress Lazy Susan and tries to improve his appearance and behavior in order to appeal to his love. After nothing works, Mabel decides that she should present her uncle to Susan as is, and is successful. However, Susan's incessant phone calls make Stan regret ever expressing feeling for her.

He has a party at the Mystery Shack in "Double Dipper" to attract a younger audience for the Mystery Shack.

It is revealed that Stan despises Pioneer Day in "Irrational Treasure," and he 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 a notebook from Pacifica Northwest. and writes,"You Stink," with his mouth.

In "The Time Traveler's Pig," 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 and making them cheer.

In "Fight Fighters," Stan is seen hanging out with Soos and the twins for a while before Robbie challenges Dipper to a fight, which Stan encourages. Later, Mabel learns that Stan is afraid of heights, despite his attempts to cover it up, and tricks him into letting her help him overcome his fear. When he and Mabel are attacked by Rumble McSkirmish, who is pursuing Robbie at the time, at the water tower, he is so relieved to have survived that he no longer fears high altitudes.

In "Little Dipper," a man is at Stan's door. He Dipper, and Mabel are watching TV when he hears 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 trap door on the stones on the wall. Soon learning that it wasn't them and that they are the "Winninghouse Coupon Savers 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 lots of cash, and that was Soos' 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 Stan says that he is a good enemy that maybe their rivalry has gone too far, so he "rolls" Gideon out of the shack.

In "Summerween," Grunkle Stan steals items from the Summerween Superstore by using his Smoke Bomb, 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 see Stan partially naked. When the twins come home from trick-or-treating, they were disappointed they couldn't eat any of the candy they collected (all but one fell in a creek). 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.

In "Boss Mabel," Stan's relentless attempts at making money and poor treatment of his employees get on Mabel's nerves, and she decides to confront him about it. So, the two bet that whoever makes more money in three days' time—Stan on vacation or Mabel running the Shack—is in charge for the rest of the summer. After heading out, Stan lands a spot competing on the game show Cash Wheel, and, despite doing very well at first, ends up losing all $300,000 dollars he earns after failing to correctly guess the final puzzle. Consequently, Stan offers Mabel the chance to be the new boss in accordance with their bet, but she declines, although she still makes him perform the apology dance he promised to do if he lost the bet.

In "Bottomless Pit!," Stan has his first major encounter with the supernatural side of Gravity Falls as he, Soos, and the twins fall down a bottomless pit and tell stories to pass the time. In Dipper's tale, Stan makes fun of Dipper's frequently cracking voice and develops an obnoxious, female voice after his nephew dumps a voice-altering formula in his coffee. In his own tale, Stan wins a major football game with the help of his robotic sidekick, thereby teaching a group of football players a lesson and winning a gigantic trophy. In Mabel's story, Mabel observes his excessive lying habit and grows more and more annoyed by it to the point of forcing him to be honest, via a set of Truth Telling Teeth. Stan's truthfulness is unfiltered, however, and gets on the twins' nerves, and Mabel finally decides to remove the teeth from her uncle's mouth after he almost gets himself arrested. As the group nears the end of the pit, they simply come out the top, though Stan falls back in shortly afterwards.

In "The Deep End," on the hottest day of the year, Stan, Dipper, Mabel, and Soos go to the town pool to cool off. When Stan tries to get his ideal lawn chair, he is horrified when he finds that Gideon has taken it from him. As he tries to reclaim his seat, he is put into pool jail for roughhousing, and Gideon foils his other attempts. At night, Stan decides to go to the pool extremely early to get the chair before Gideon shows up, but is enraged upon finding out that his young foe yet again anticipated and ruined his plan ahead of time, at this instance by gluing him to the pool chair.

In "Carpet Diem," when Dipper and Mabel are fighting over a new room they found in the shack, Stan takes the key and tells them that whoever sucks up to him the most will get the room. He makes them run around and do chores and make things for him, all the while rewarding them with 'suck-up points'. Eventually though, after Dipper and Mabel switch bodies, he catches Dipper (Mabel) spying on the sleepover and thinks that Dipper is at 'that creepy age where you spy on girls' and drags Mabel over to a room where he tells her all about puberty as well as where babies come from, much to Mabel's horror. When she tries to sabotage Dipper by calling Stan a stupid old jerk, he is proud of Dipper and decides that Dipper would get the room and gives Dipper (Mabel) the key and sends her out.

In "Boyz Crazy," Stan listens to Dipper talk about how Robbie got Wendy to go on the date with him and relates it to something that happened to him and his old sweetheart Carla "Hotpants" McCorkle. He helps Dipper uncover a hidden message in the song, and drives Dipper to Lookout Point to help him tell Wendy about it. When Wendy breaks up with Robbie, he calls it "a victory for every man who's hands are either too weak or fat to play a musical instrument." After Wendy gets mad at Dipper for asking her to go bowling, Stan tells Dipper that he could always just go bowling with him, and that he was trying to do the right thing even if he destroyed a relationship.

In "Land Before Swine," Stan kicks Waddles out of the house against Mabel's wishes. Because Waddles was outside, a pterodactyl took him and Stan lies to Mabel about it, saying that the pterodactyl came inside the house to catch him. Eventually Mabel figures out that Stan had lied and refuses to talk to him. She only forgives him after he saves Waddles and punches the pterodactyl in the face.

In "Dreamscaperers," Gideon sends Bill Cipher into Stan's mind to find the combination to the safe containing the deed to the Mystery Shack. Cipher is prevented from doing so by the efforts of Dipper, Mabel and Soos, so Gideon uses dynamite to blow open the safe. With the deed in hand, he then forces Stan and the others out of the Shack, and has it demolished via a wrecking ball.

Stan and the rest of his group are stuck living with Soos and his grandmother in "Gideon Rises," after the events following "Dreamscaperers." He attempts to reclaim the Mystery Shack after Gideon unveils his plans to no avail. During the course of the skirmish, however, he unintentionally discovers the truth behind Gideon's powers. Later, after Gideon's arrest, he swindles Dipper out of Journal 3.

His secret underground laboratory is a series of rooms containing computers and electronic equipment deep beneath the Shack. He keeps Journal 1 down there and uses the unmarked pages of the three books together to activate an illuminated, triangular doorway of sorts.When the three books are gathered he says either "Finally, I have them all" or "Finally, we have them all" but there is no consensus on what he actually says.

Season 2
In "Scary-oke," late at night Stan continues with his mysterious research using the three journals. The following day he gives Dipper back his journal, having made copies of the its pages. Two government agents show up trying to investigate a strange phenomenal occurrence they picked up on the radar during Stan's late night workings. Stan insists that nothing is out of the ordinary, but Dipper tries telling them about the journal. Stan manages to make Dipper's claims seem as if it's a part of his imagination, and so they leave, but not before leaving behind their business card for Dipper which Stan confiscates, placing it in his room. Standing at the admission table counting the money he's made, he was happy at the amount of people that showed up. He ends up catching Dipper in his room trying to contact the agents and angrily tells him to leave the room, saying that after the grand re-opening party tonight he'll be grounded. At some point in the night, Dipper mistakenly brings the dead back to life and they go on a rampage. Stan saves Dipper and Mabel from the zombies with Dipper gloating that the supernatural is real to him. Stan reveals to the twins that he knew all along and was only trying to protect them. After Dipper reveals a weakness for the zombies he, Dipper and Mabel use the sound frequencies from singing karaoke to kill them. He tells Dipper to promise that he won't use the book to go looking for trouble, only for self defense. In return he had to promise Dipper that he didn't have anything else to hide. Stan states his promise, crossing his fingers behind his back as well.

In "Into the Bunker," he is seen giving orders to the construction workers as they fix the damage done from the zombie attack. When one of the workers asked what caused this, he lied and said, "A big woodpecker".

In "The Golf War," he, the twins and Soos went to Ye Royal Discount Putt Hutt. While there, they see Pacifica with her parents. She insults each of them and Stan whispers to Soos, "Is it wrong to punch a child?" Pacifica makes a fool of Mabel after she scores the shot Mabel missed. Mabel calls her out and asks her for a rematch after dark. Stan is thrilled to help Mabel and Dipper break in, while he and Soos stand look out.

In "Sock Opera," Mabel enacted her impression of him with her Stan sock puppet while he sipped his coffee, trying to ignore her. He also makes a joke towards Dipper after seeing him with bags under his eyes.

In "Soos and the Real Girl," he is seen trying to show off with his novelty coin dispenser, Goldie, to a kid. Because it was old and worn out, it leaked oil and made a loud screeching sound that made the kid run away in tears. Wendy suggests he throw Goldie away, which he declines until he slips and his arm gets caught in it's mouth. Later, he tosses Goldie in the garbage by the Gravity Falls Mall after having a heartfelt moment. He follows some children into Hoo-Ha Owl's Pizzamatronic Jamboree, where he finds the arcade to be a nightmare. He spots an animatronic badger and thinks it'd be a great way to con others out of their money, to which he asks the manager to sell it to him. The manager, however, declines and insults him. Stan then vows to get the badger at all cost. The next day, Mabel and Dipper ask him if he's seen Soos, to which he comments he missed work for the first time ever. Later on, he steals the animatronic badger, but after Giffany takes control of the electronics, it attacks him and he is forced to face it. Despite being outmatched, he is able to dodge one of its attacks with it mistakenly hitting the garbage, turning on Goldie, which munches on the animatronics' arm. Not long after, the badger shuts down due to Soos stopping Giffany, although Stan believes it was Goldie and suddenly decides to go to Las Vegas with it. While they are there, they get married at a Wed and Breakfast joint.

Stan tells three stories in "Little Gift Shop of Horrors." In the first story, Hands Off, he plays a major part. He steals a golden watch from the Hand Witch. Despite the Dipper and Mabel's warnings to return it, he ignores them. The next morning he wakes up with no hands. Though he tries to hide this fact from Dipper and Mabel by putting mittens where his hands would be, the mittens fall off and the twins find out anyways. Stan tries to get along without his hands but eventually decides to go and return the watch. After reaching the Hand Witch's cave with the twins, they all scream in the surprise of the many living hands in the cave. They fight off the hands but are subdued. Stan is willing to give her the watch back in exchange for his hands back, which she accepts. However, she tells him he has to kiss her to seal the deal, much to his dismay. Refusing, Stan decides to leave, and the Hand Witch confesses that she's "desperate" to get a date. After Mabel redecorates her cave, the Hand Witch gives Stan his hands back. She then asks him to be her boyfriend. Stan refuses, and admits that he learned nothing from the whole escapade.

In "Society of the Blind Eye," Stan continues to work in secret on the enigmatic machine beneath the Mystery Shack, accidentally cutting his hand on a flying pipe in the process.

In "Blendin's Game," Stan goes to Big Gunz Laser Tag with the rest of the gang to cheer up Soos. He exclaims that it used to be a mattress store.

In "The Love God," Stan is working on a new exhibit when he notices the Woodstick festival's balloons, bikes and folk singers. Panicked, he instructs Soos to lock up and attempts to shoot down the balloons with a crossbow. Soos then stops him, pointing out that there is a potential for profit, and Stan deduces that he can appeal to the youth by advertising to them via a Mystery Shack-themed balloon. Later, when Stan and Soos send off their poorly-made balloon, it terrifies the crowds, ultimately crashing on Love God. When the people see Stan, they panic, and he welcomes their fearful reactions.

In "Not What He Seems," Stan struggles with the idea of telling Dipper and Mabel the truth about what he is doing, but is suddenly arrested and brought in by the government agents for interrogation. Later on it is revealed that Stan has used fake identities and may be an entirely unknown person, and it is shown that the actual Stan Pines had died in a car crash. At the end of the episode, Stan convinces Mabel not to turn off the Universe portal. Afterwards, a man walks out of the portal, and is revealed to be the long-lost twin of Stan; the author of the journals.

In "A Tale of Two Stans," Dipper, Mabel, Soos, and Ford corner Stan in the basement of the Mystery Shack, Stan tells his entire past to explain everything to his relatives and Soos. After Stan's tale they hear the government agents about to break in the basement until Dipper grabs out the Memory Eraser from the Blind Eye Society gives it to Ford who connects the gun's power to the outside and erases the agents' memory and makes them leave. The Stan brothers later have a talk, Ford says that Stanley can have the Mystery Shack for the rest of the summer and Stanley tells Ford to stay away from Dipper and Mabel saying that they're his only family left. Meanwhile Dipper and Mabel talk in the attic, about to go to sleep. Dipper and Mabel agree to not have something happen like what happened between the Stan's happen in their own lives. But Mabel cannot go to sleep because of the fear that something bad will happen between their relationship. The end credits show Soos telling Wendy (on phone) about Stan's tale at 3 AM.

Personality
Grunkle Stan, is a gruff, selfish, cynical, and greedy salesman who has managed to set up his tourist trap in a town with enough unsuspecting customers to sell worthless knickknacks to and take on tours of so-called "mysteries". His flair for showmanship is oddly hypnotizing, and thus he is able to make money by peddling 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. Stan is also a lot more cunning and aware of his surroundings than he first appears; as he's shown on multiple occasions outwitting Gideon Gleeful. Even though he sends the twins on unpredictable and outrageous errands, he always has their best interests at heart and loves them unconditionally.

When he isn't busy trying to make a quick buck from his unsuspecting customers, Stan is guarding his own secret that might hold the key to unlocking the mystery of Gravity Falls.

Stan sees the tourists as easy cash and nothing more. He's a popular con artist, and his business tends to draw in a more oblivious crowd, whom he easily fools with his entirely fake exhibits. Ironically in the episode "Bottomless Pit!," he said that no one would believe that a bottomless pit exists.

Appearance
Stan has brown eyes with cataracts, gray eyebrows, and gray hair (Both of which were brown in his youth), that is almost always covered by Stan's trademark maroon fez, which bore a yellow crescent shape (through episodes 1 to 13) and later a similar figure (because the original fez was eaten by a goat), albeit with straight edges, with a dot next to it. He bears a somewhat large, droopy, pear-shaped, reddish-pinkish nose, large ears, and fair skin. As result of his age, Stan has wrinkly skin, a hearing aid, dentures and a slouched posture. He has a faded Burn mark of a currently-unknown symbol on his back. A bit of it has been seen, as a large part of it is covered by the armscye of his tank top. In Stan's underground lab the symbol that Bill flashes is seen illuminating from the side of his desk/control board. He usually wears a pair of rectangular glasses with a black rim which later had it's outline thinned. Stan also has a perpetual five o'clock shadow covering his lower face.

Stan's typical outfit is a black suit, with the jacket buttoned closed, a bow tie similar in color to his fez, and a white dress shirt. He also wears big, light brown shoes and the aforementioned fez and glasses. He frequently carries an eight ball cane with him and often wears an unnecessary eye-patch over one of his eyes while working.

Around the house, he tends to wear a white tank top, a gold necklace, striped blue underwear, slippers, and his glasses and fez. This particular outfit shows Stan's body hair, of which he has an excessive amount, burly arms, skinny legs, and his very large belly.

Mabel Pines
Stan's and Mabel's conflicting personalities sometimes clash, often resulting in arguments and disapproval between them. Nevertheless, they care about each other and enjoy spending quality time with one another. Mabel often gets involved in whatever problem Stan is dealing with on a given day and tries to help him solve it, usually when Stan does not ask for her help. Stan can be protective of his niece and will get jealous when she spends time with others instead of him, and he has a tendency to find Mabel more likable than Dipper.

Dipper Pines
Stan does not often supervise Dipper as he is supposed to as the boy's summer caretaker, and is known to take advantage of him, which angers Dipper. They also tease each other frequently, and annoy each other. However, they still love each other and like to bond, and Stan seems to have a soft spot for both of the twins, and is well-meaning. as mentioned in the interview. In "Dreamscaperers," It is revealed that the reason Stan is hard on Dipper is because he sees his old weak self in him. Like his late father, he wants to toughen up Dipper so that he could stand up for himself. At the end of "Not What He Seems," Dipper's trust in Stan is left in tatters once he discovers what Stan has been hiding, and Stan is left distraught. Although their relationship is somewhat repaired after Dipper apologizes after hearing Stan's story.

Soos
Stan views Soos as a loyal employee, since he's been working at the Mystery Shack for many years, though he still takes advantage of the man-child, using his naivety to his advantage. Soos, on the other hand, admires Stan and attends to his boss' every whim, spending a great portion of his time at work. The two men have developed a friendship over the years. In "Not What He Seems," Soos' faith in Stan is damaged after he and the twins discover his secret, with Soos refusing to listen to Stan when he tells him to stop the twins but Stan is forgives Soos for siding with Mabel and Dipper

Wendy Corduroy
Wendy is disrespectful toward Stan and is notorious for slacking off and breaking rules when he is not looking. Stan is harsh on her, contributing to her view of him as the "worst boss ever," and she is not above playing pranks on him. But she overlooks all this, as Wendy is still willing to help Stan from time to time, even with his personal life.

Gideon Gleeful
Stan and Gideon have been rivals for years, both in business and life. Stan sees Gideon as a moronic, hindering, and irritating nuisance. As Stan mocks and is angered by his young foe, not taking him to be a threat in any way, Gideon plots his revenge on Stan and his family, with pranks on the side. Gideon also seeks a mysterious secret hidden within Stan's Mystery Shack.

Ford Pines
"Alright, alright. I tell you it's unnatural for siblings to get along as well as you do."

- Stan to Dipper and Mabel

After losing his twin brother in a parallel universe, Stan worked for thirty years to bring his brother back, before finally finding the schematics necessary to reopen the portal, risking arrest and ripping apart the universe in the process. In "Carpet Diem," Stan took the glasses the author (his brother) was seen wearing during a later episode and looked at them with an expression of sorrow on his face; this may foreshadow how much Stan cares for his brother, however in "A Tale of Two Stans", Ford and Stanley were close as children but after Stan accidentally breaks Ford's machine and ruins his chances to go to a superior college and as an extension a chance of a large fortune for the family. Stan is promptly disowned by the family and Ford held a grudge against him for thirty years and never forgave him even after Stanley rescues him from the dimension. at the end of the episode while their relationship is somewhat repaired Stanley and Ford made a mutual agreement to allow Stan to stay with him for the summer until Ford contains the portal in secret and Ford demands that Stan returns his identity, home and to end his role as a con artist when he is finished with the portal.

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

- Stan Pines

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

- Stan Pines

"No buts except yours out the door! Now shut your yap and get to work!"

- Stan to Mabel

"Remember folks, we put the 'fun' in 'No Refunds!'"

- Stan Pines

"I don't understand! What did I do that warrants this much arresting?!"

- Stan Pines

Trivia

 * Stan is called "Grunkle Stan" by Dipper and Mabel because he believes "Great Uncle" takes too much time to say, and, according to him, time is money.
 * "Grunkle" was chosen because Hirsch's great aunt, Lois, used to insist on being called "Graunty Lois."
 * In the episode "Bottomless Pit!," Stan's fez design and every instance of it is replaced, possibly due to censorship reasons.
 * Coincidentally, at the end of The Stan Wrong Song, Stan's fez falls off and Gompers the Goat tries to eat it. Although we do not see the result, it's not unlikely that Gompers won the battle and made off with the fez, forcing Stan to get a new one.
 * The fez that Stan is wearing is actually a Shriners hat.
 * The symbol on Stan's fez may be the Luwian hieroglyph for "Luna" or moon.
 * In some countries, the first symbol on Stan's fez is removed.
 * Stan confessed to owning 10 guns, just in case some maniac with a ladder would come into his house.
 * He has been sent to jail in Colombia.
 * He is continuously seen running away with stuff.
 * Stan, Mabel, and Dipper have been to the county jail due to them making counterfeit money during one of Stan's "family fun days."
 * Even though it hasn't been stated outright, it can be assumed that Stan is Dipper and Mabel's paternal great-uncle (their dad's uncle), since Stan and the twins share the same last name.
 * Toffee peanuts are Stan's favorite treat.
 * In "Gideon Rises," it is shown that Stan wears a hearing aid.
 * Bob Odenkirk of "Breaking Bad" fame was originally going to be cast as Stan, but he turned the offer down.
 * Stan wears the same necklace as Sheriff Blubs, Sergei, and the carney who gives Wendy the Stuffed creature of indeterminate species, but they wear them under their shirts.
 * In "Bottomless Pit!," Stan admits to the police that he has violated the Lacey Act.
 * Stan is originally from the East Coast, but beyond that has been advised by his lawyers not to disclose his birth location.
 * However, it is revealed in the background, during a flashback, that Stan grew up in New Jersey.
 * In "Dreamscaperers," it is revealed that his belly button is an innie.
 * Stan's appearance has not changed in at least a decade.
 * Every depiction of Stan (wax sculpture, puppet, photo, or otherwise) has been "killed" in some way and most deaths have been related to fire or melting, with the exception of wax Stan, who was decapitated.
 * The "deaths" can viewed as a form of an effigy; for example puppet Stan was burned by fireworks which is similar to the English tradition of Bonfire Night.
 * Stan has a box of fake IDs and passports. Some of said IDs are:
 * Hal Forrester. Idaho ID. His appearance is slightly altered, including the presence of a mole. The number on the card is: 2145152831545
 * Andrew "8-Ball" Alcatraz. Mississippi ID. His appearance is altered, including a scar on the left side of his face, and a soul patch. He is wearing the gold necklace. He also doesn't wear glasses. The number on the card is: 231188111289.
 * Stetson Pinefield. United States passport. His appearance is slightly altered, including different hair style and white shirt. Visa stamps include: London, Seattle.
 * Steve Pineington. He advertised the Rip Off, a non-sticky bandage that gave you rashes, in Pennsylvania.
 * Bobby Renzobbi. Alex Hirsch stated that Bobby Renzobbi once sold a really cheap tennis racket called "WHAT A RACKET!", which had overly tight strings that popped and resulted in lawsuits. As revealed in A Tale of Two Stans, "WHAT A RACKET!" is one of Stanley's failed products.
 * All the fingerprints on Stan's right hand exhibit a double loop whorl pattern.
 * "Northwest Mansion Mystery" is the only episode, where Stan doesn't appear in.
 * According to Bill Cipher, Stan's burn mark means "watch your step".
 * In the original pilot, Stan is eighty years old. In the series he is between his fifties and early sixties