Characters / South Park: Stan Marsh

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Stanley "Stan" Marsh

"Dude, this is pretty fucked up right here."
^{Click here to see Toolshed}

^{Click here to see him as an adult}

^{Click here to see his Panderverse self}

"Dude, sometimes I think our parents are really stupid."

Voiced in English by: Trey Parker

Voiced in French by: Thierry Wermuth

Voiced in Japanese by: Hiro Yuki (WOWOW dub), Daisuke Sakaguchi (Fox Japan dub), Saki Kaneko (Netflix dub), Aki Ueda (South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut)

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Larry Villanueva (Seasons 1-2 and 10-15, and 2007-2012 redubs), Miguel Paneke (Seasons 3-7), Sergio Sáez (some Season 7 bits and Seasons 8-9), Orlando Noguera (Season 16 onwards and 2015-2016 redubs), Carlos Íñigo (Mexican dub Season 1), Eduardo Garza (Mexican dub Season 2 and both Bigger, Longer & Uncut dubs)

Debut: "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe"

The "normal" guy of the group, he is often the one to give an Aesop at the end of each show. Although Stan is cynical, easily frustrated with his surroundings, and occasionally gloomy, he is laidback, compassionate, and sympathetic toward animals. Due to his on-and-off relationship with Wendy, Stan is the only one of the Boys to consistently date someone.

His role in Coon and Friends is Toolshed.

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A-F

• Accidental Hero: In "Follow That Egg!", Mrs. Garrison makes a deal with the governor of Colorado that she can get him a scientific study proving gay couples can’t raise children, said study being her students who are paired up and assigned to take care of eggs, with Stan and Kyle representing a gay couple. Despite her efforts to sabotage them (to the point of hiring a hitman to try and take out their egg), Stan and Kyle are able to get their egg safely to the press conference, and the governor declares that gay couples can get married.
• Accidental Murder: In South Park: Post Covid, it's revealed that Stan — in a fit of frustration — burnt down the Tegridy Weed farm to try and get his parents to stop arguing. However, unbeknownst to Stan, Randy had locked Shelley in the barn for not doing her "weed chores". Stan's act of spite accidentally killed her, which also led to his mom killing herself.
• Acquired Situational Narcissism: In the episode "Guitar Queer-O". Becomes a regular character trait in later seasons where even when well-intentioned, he ends up preferring glory and money over his original message. Interestingly enough, it's a trait he shares with his dad. This might explain why so often he realizes his behavior and tries making up for it, even if he has to sacrifice more than he's made or ultimately the damage of his behavior is already done.
• Actually Pretty Funny: Despite being Kyle's best friend, Stan gets amused by Cartman's song about how Kyle's mom is a bitch, to the point where he starts dancing along with the other students to it. It's likely his amusement wasn't meant to be so much a slight against Kyle than it was against his mother.
• The Alcoholic:
  • Stan had intakes of whiskey in "Ass Burgers". The ending of the episode implies he may stay that way, though it hasn't been mentioned again since. One could argue this was foreshadowed in "Trapped in the Closet", when he asks, "What if I become an alcoholic, like Grandpa?".
  • In "Freemium Isn't Free", Stan confronts his addictive tendencies and develops coping mechanisms to avoid addictive things. While alcohol isn't explicitly mentioned (at least in relation to Stan), Stan's efforts not to slip into an addiction again suggest he isn't drinking any longer.
  • In South Park: Post Covid, adult Stan is an alcoholic and even built his job as a whiskey consultant around his addiction. In the reformed future he's now working for the US Space Force and just returned from Mars.
• The All-American Boy: A cynical take on the trope, but Stan does meet the requirements. He plays football, goes to church, attends the boy scouts and owns a dog. No surprises that when the boys cosplay as the Avengers, Stan gets Captain America.
• Allergic to Love: He always barfed whenever Wendy got close to him in the early episodes. As of Season 11, he's grown out of it, and Wendy has been able to hug and kiss him and come out vomit-free.
• Angst: The closest thing to the series' poster boy. Parodied in "Raisins" (to the point where he becomes a Goth) and "You're Getting Old"/"Ass Burgers", played straight in other episodes. In his adulthood Stan had well and truly lost his zest for life and become the biggest pessimist of the four friends.
• Animal Lover: Stan has consistently shown a love for animals. He is unable to kill animals when Jimbo takes him hunting in "Volcano", tries to save baby cows and temporarily becomes a vegetarian until he develops vagina sores in "Fun with Veals", and attempts to return a goat to its rightful owners in "Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants" and sets out to save whales and dolphins from the Japanese in "Whale Whores", becoming captain of Whale Wars and sinking a number of Japanese ships in the process. "Woodland Critters Christmas" is entirely about his reluctant sympathy for a group of forest animals, even if he regrets it more with each passing day.
• Anti-Hero:
  • Type 3 in the early episodes, but around Season 7, he evolves into a Type 2, with shades of being a straight-up hero depending on how motivated he is to solve the episode's conflict. "Ass Burgers" and onwards shows traits of a Type 4 due to his crippling depression, though since the release of The Stick of Truth, he seems to be showing more heroic qualities, going back to being a Type 2.
  • In "Post Covid", his future self starts off as an Unscrupulous Hero who only wants to put an end to the lockdown to get out of South Park, but thanks to Character Development, he becomes a straight-up hero in the end.
• Aloof Ally: When he thinks a plan of action is stupid, but not too stupid, he'll go along with it if he feels he has no other choice, but he'll make sure his disapproval is heard.
  • As early as Season 5's "How to Eat with Your Butt", he stubbornly refuses to smile when being forced to have his picture taken without his Signature Headgear in class.
  • Becomes a plot point in "You're Getting Old", when he goes along with any idea his friends suggest, but due to his newfound cynicism, he complains nonstop about everything to the point where the boys pretend to be sick so as to not be around him anymore.
  • This is especially notable during Seasons 22 and 23, where he begrudgingly does the chores at Tegridy Farms because his father forces him to. After his Sanity Slippage in Season 24, though, he snaps and burns the farm to the ground.
• Author Avatar: He's a stand-in for Trey Parker, which probably explains why he's both the (co-)protagonist and the most rational main character after Kyle.
• Awful Wedded Life: Bad Future Stan has the latest model of Alexa, who is built to resemble a woman and is programmed to snap at him over every little flaw.
• Badass Pacifist: ZigZagged, since he will use violence to solve conflicts if he deems it necessary, and sometimes he even enjoys watching fights and participating in them. However, of his friends, he is the least likely to get confrontational and he often comes up with clever peaceful tactics.
• Baritone of Strength: Played With. He is quite strong, both physically and mentally. While his voice isn't deep (at least not when compared to the adults), he does sound like an older teenager, which is a lot older than he actually is. He has the deepest voice out of the main four boys. His voice gets so deep when he's angry or sad to the point of sounding like an adult, making this a downplayed version at most. However, his voice becomes legitimately deep and scary when singing metal.
• Batman Gambit: Pulls one on his parents and his "future self" in "My Future Self 'N' Me" to guilt-trip his parents into conffessing that they lied to him. Knowing already that his "Future Loser self" is a fake paid by his parents to scare him into behaving, Stan initially tries to play dumb while "innocently" pointing out holes in their stories to make them sweat, then he pretends that he's going to cut off one of his hands to ensure its legit, hoping that his parents will then confess out of concern for him. They don't, and Stan promptly chops his glove off with a hatchet. The gambit goes further when Randy then tricks him into looking the other way and then chops off the actual hand of the actor playing his future self with the same hatchet, "proving" that he was legit. Stan only nonchalantly shows his healthy hand to him and Sharon in response, proving that it was all a lie. Randy then tries to reattach the hand of the actor as he was bleeding out but at that point both him and Sharon knew they had been outsmarted by their kid.
• Berserk Button: While he's mostly been desensitized to his father's stupidity, after having to endure being trapped with him during the COVID pandemic, everything surrounding him or Tegridy Farms has become his for him, to the point of burning the business down to the ground after one too many Kick the Dog moments from Randy.
• Betty and Veronica:
  • He served as the Betty to Gregory's Veronica to Wendy's Archie in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.
  • He also served as the Betty to Cartman's Veronica to Wendy's Archie in an earlier episode.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Usually a pleasant, sweet, and friendly boy, but the second you cross the line, you'll regret it.
• Big Brother Instinct:
  • To Butters, to an extent. While Stan doesn't exactly like him, he's still empathetic enough to realize when Butters is past his threshold.
  • He shows this towards Kenny on occasion as well. In "The Passion of the Jew" while Kyle and Cartman were fighting, the other 2 boys hang around, eventually deciding to see "The Passion". They didn't liked it, and in order to get their money back they had to go to Mel Gibson. During their adventure Stan did most of the talking and made the plans. If you pay attention, you can see that while Mel Gibson was chasing them with a gun, Stan stayed in front of Kenny most of the time to prevent Mel Gibson to get near Kenny. When Mel Gibson came through a door dancing and wearing a fruit hat, Stan slowly pushed Kenny away from the mad man. In "Super Fun Time" he did the "ultimate sacrifice" (looking like a fool in front of Wendy) in order to save Kenny's life.
  • He has some shades of this for Kyle too. While the two boys are generally on an equal level and Kyle can be equally supportive of Stan, and even more level-headed sometimes, Stan is usually the most mature one and is the more protective of the two, as well as towards their group as a whole. There are also more instances of Stan rescuing and comforting Kyle than vice versa.
• Big Brother Mentor:
  • He sometimes acts like one for Kenny. Most notably in "The Passion of The Jew", where Stan was the one who came up with plans and taught Kenny about the principle of getting your money back when you dislike a given product and ways to obtain it. In "Holiday Special" he was the first to give Kenny advice on how to better impersonate a fake identity and took over once their friends messed up by talking over, implying that Stan is more experienced at faking voices. Stan also seems the best from the main boys at getting Kenny to comply. In "Major Boobage", he managed to stop Kenny from cheesing by threatening to tell on him , unfortunately, Kenny did it again later, he called Kenny out in "Whale Whores" for only wanting to join him on Whale Wars only to appear on T.V. and managed to make Kenny confess. In "The Jeffersons" Stan put a coat on his back when they dressed him up as Mr. Jefferson's son, gave Kenny the instruction to lay in bed until he and Kyle get Blanked to safety and called out Kenny on slacking when the latter claimed they owe him for helping them. In fact, Stan seems to act a lot more like a big brother towards Kenny than his actual older brother.
  • He acts like this towards Butters to a lesser extent. While he wasn't above using Butters for his own gain, he did eventually stop and he sometimes tries to guide Butters. Most notably in "My Future Self n' Me", where he encouraged Butters to join him in an adventure to figure out where their future selves came from and explained the whole situation to him.
  • He tried more or less to act like this in "Stanley's Cup" towards the junior hockey team, but it was a massive failure.
• Big "OMG!": "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!"
• Birds of a Feather: Downplayed with his girlfriend Wendy, with whom he's been since the first episode. Although they often play the Straight Man to their respective circles, are outspoken animal lovers, and see themselves as Wise Beyond Their Years, with varying degrees of success, Wendy is far more active, passionate, and outspoken than Stan, who is himself more passive, demure, and cynical. Furthermore, even though they can share the same role in an episode when they're separate (though In later seasons her characterization is much more akin to Kyle's than Stan's), many of their episodes together highlight their differences instead of their similarities, but this hasn't stopped them from remaining a couple throughout the series barring several rough patches.
• Book Dumb: Zig-Zagged. As mature as he is, he often struggles with school subjects, and isn't above cheating or using ChatGPT to pass. While some of this can be chalked up to Mr. Garrison's terrible teaching, he's flunked at least one math quiz under Mrs. Nelson. Other episodes show him to do perfectly fine in school, though, sometimes even to the degree that he gets really high grades ("Tom's Rhinoplasty", "Child Abduction is Not Funny", "Tsst", "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson"), so it's probably a lack of motivation keeping him down more than anything. Sharon also mentions him getting good grades in "Proper Condom Use", so it might as well depend on the teacher (at that point, Ms. Choksondik taught the fourth grade).
• Borrowed Catch Phrase: At the end of "Raisins", Stan says "Screw you guys, I'm going home" (which was Cartman's old catchphrase) to the Goths.
• Bratty Half-Pint: In the earlier seasons, Stan would often disrespect his parents' authority and whine to them.
  • At the beginning of "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub", he complains to his parents that he doesn't want to attend the party and hang out with the nerdy kids in the basement.
  • Reaches its peak in "Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!", where, despite his parents telling him not to, he sneaks out of the house to go on vacation with Cartman's family along with Kyle and Kenny.
• Break the Cutie: It's pretty rare for him, but it happens. The most notable being the two moments when Wendy broke up with him and when he became cynical after his 10th birthday.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: He's far more mature than your average kid, but he's rather disinterested in school subjects, so he has no problem crafting plans with his friends to earn easy money or skip classes. This landed him a job as a whiskey consultant in "Post Covid", although he managed to get over it in the revised future in "The Return of COVID", enough so that he's earned a career as Chief Master Sergeant.^note To put that into perspective, literally only one person can hold that position at a time, and it takes twenty two years to be able to advance to it if you express interest. This leads to may people in real life declaring it not worth the trouble (not that you can blame them).
• Bros Before Hoes: While this is averted in the first and second season, Stan is very prone to taking Wendy for granted, and usually prioritizes spending time with his friends over going on dates with her, as shown in episodes like "Eat, Pray, Queef", and "Deep Learning".
• Butt-Monkey: In the earlier episodes, Stan was constantly bullied by his older sister, and now has to deal with embarrassing moments from his father (and in earlier seasons, his mother too). Also, while not as much of a target as Kyle or Kenny, he isn't spared from being insulted by Cartman. Furthermore, when it comes to enduring the town's antics, he's the designated scapegoat of several episodes such as "Douche and Turd", "Smug Alert", "Stanley's Cup", "Pinewood Derby", and "You've Got 0 Friends". This is implied to be part of the motive behind his cynical attitude in later seasons.
• Byronic Hero: Stan has endured a lot of anguish from the idiotic citizens of South Park, especially from his father and sister, to the point that his growing cynicism and depression was the subject of a particularly heavy two-parter and an initially unhappy adulthood. He is also incredibly impassioned when he takes up a cause.
• Cannot Talk to Women: Without puking on them if he likes them. This trait has disappeared in later seasons. In "Deep Learning" Stan struggles to have intimate conversations with Wendy via texts, causing him to become reliant on ChatGPT and nearly ruin their relationship.
• Character Catchphrase: "Aw- awww!", "Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no!", and "God damn it!" In the earlier seasons, he had "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!" and "Dude, this is pretty fucked up right here!" He also has the simpler "Dude."
• Characterization Marches On: In "Jesus vs. Frosty", Stan was portrayed as having a Hair-Trigger Temper, and being the one to call out his friends on his questionable actions. In the following short, and the first five seasons of the show, Stan was portrayed as more of a bratty kid who, despite being a tad smarter than most people around him, was mostly apathetic to the daily chaos that roamed the town. As of season 6, however, he's become more proactive and willing to fight for causes.
• Character Development:
  • Stan was more childish and mean-spirited in the first six seasons, with the first half of season 6 being his lowest point due to dealing with Kenny's death. After the latter half of season 6 and season 7 gave him a few healthy doses of reality ^note Namely, being abandoned or lied to by his parents in "Child Abduction is not funny" and "My Future Self N' Me", Gary's "The Reason You Suck" Speech in "All About Mormons" ,and Wendy's breakup in "Raisins", he became kinder, more compassionate and more mature than he used to be, which due to the town's usual stupidity, made him somewhat of a Butt-Monkey and social outcast ^note  such as being disavowed by the town in "Douche and Turd" and "Smug Alert", failing to save a dying kindergarten in "Stanley's Cup", or having to endure his father's destructive antics in "The Losing Edge", "Bloody Mary", and "Pinewood Derby" .
  • Starting with Seasons 15 and especially in 16, he has started to ease back a bit due to growing more nihilistic, cynical, and self-centred, occasionally showing some obnoxious or immature moments that took several tolls in his reputation among his classmates and friends. These traits unfortunately only increased during seasons 20 to 24, due to events like the gender wars, the town's apathy towards ManBearPig's rampage, his father's obnoxious weed business, with the final straw being the COVID pandemic which dissolved any relationship he still had with his friends and family. By his mid-forties, Stan had become a bitter and lonely alcoholic who blamed everyone for his mistakes.
  • Despite that, "Return of Covid" gave him another chance at life when his future-self travelled back to the past and helped him mend his relationship with his family and friends before it was too late. In the following seasons and carrying to his fixed adulthood, not only has his mood improved, but he's also grown kinder, more compassionate, and more mature than he ever was.
• Character Tics: Whenever Stan is annoyed, he'll go "Aw? Awww!"
• The Chew Toy: In regards to his sister's abuse towards him (which includes running over him with a lawnmower, and crushing him with a piano).
• The Confidant: He's the first member of his family whom Randy tells about his secret identity as Lorde in "The Cissy". He was also the only person with whom Wendy confided in her Dark and Troubled Past in "Deep Learning". Unfortunately, it was through texting and Stan never actually read it, instead using ChatGPT to reply to her in a supportive way. Heidi also goes to him to talk about Cartman's threats of suicide, though Stan doesn't keep that a secret for long.
• Cool Big Bro: He is a lot more cynical than most examples, he has some low moments and he often bickers with his friends, but they generally have fun together and his friends usually respect and listen to him. He especially acts like this towards Kenny, going as far as putting a coat on his back when they disguised him. Kenny in return often follows him.
• Covert Pervert: Unlike Kenny, he tries to be subtle regarding his attraction to girls.
  • In "Clubhouses", Stan wasn't subtle about his desire to kiss Wendy during Truth or Dare, eagerly playing "dare" all the time despite Chef telling him not to to.
  • In "Tom's Rhinoplasty" Stan along with the other boys stares at Ms. Ellen's ass.
  • In "Bass to Mouth", Eavesdropper exposes a text from Stan where he reveals he was checking out a female schoolmate's butt crack, describing it as nice and that the experience was pretty awesome. Wendy is not amused.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Downplayed. He can get very annoyed and possessive when Wendy shows interest in another guy, but he's nowhere as bad as her. He also became very abrasive towards Kyle and Tolkien when she started bonding with them in "Follow That Egg" and "Raisins" respectively.
  Kyle: Okay, Stan, you've been an asshole to me all week! What is up?!
  Stan: What's up?! Oh, nothing except that you've been trying to impress Wendy all week long like a pathetic dickhole!
  Kyle: Impress Wendy??
  Stan: You've set it all up to look like you're this awesome prince and I'm just a loser!
  Kyle: What the hell are you talking about?!
  Stan: Well guess what?! I'm gonna take this egg to class myself! And I'm gonna hold it up in front of Wendy, and say "See?! I'm every bit as good as Kyle is."
• Create Your Own Villain: Calling Tom Cruise a "fudge packer" ended up biting him in the ass when he rallied a massive team of angry celebrities (many of which had also been made fun of by Stan himself) to collectively sue (and later destroy) the town. In his defense, those celebrities were overreacting big time, considering that they wanted to destroy an entire town over some mockery.
• Cuddle Bug: Downplayed. He doesn't often hug people and he is more likely to put only one arm on someone's back, rather than pull a full hug. However, out of his friends he gives hugs and pats on the back the most.
• The Cutie: In the first season character commercials, Cartman was known for being fat, Kenny as lucky, and Kyle as smart. Stan was known for being cute.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Zig-Zagged, since his normal appearance doesn't look sinister in the slightest, but he does have black spiky hair under his hat and while that isn't really sinister, it's still often associated with dark imagery. His voice is also very deep for a 10-year-old and pretty raspy. In terms of personality, he is usually cynical, doesn't smile too often, is prone to depression and he often talks harshly. There are instances where he plays this trope straight, like when he became a goth after one time Wendy broke up with him, but snapped out of it with Butter's help. He also looked and sounded extremely sinister after letting Satan possess him, but Satan only used him to stop a greater evil, then left Stan's body and even offered him a ride home. He also briefly became a metal-head and was able to pull off extremely deep growls. There are also plenty of instances when he wears black, like the occasional black leather jacket or in "Whale Whores", where he whore a black hat and hoodie both with pirate skulls, not to mention he was killing Japanese whale hunters in that episode.
• Deadpan Snarker: In the later episodes, Stan has a habit of pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing when another character does something stupid. He often exclaims "Dude, this is pretty fucked up right here", and in "Child Abduction is Not Funny", he remarks to Kyle, "Dude, sometimes I think our parents are really stupid", and as they re-join their families at the conclusion of the episode, "Jesus Christ, dude, they've done some stupid crap before, but, Jesus Christ...".
• Demoted to Extra: During Seasons 19 and especially 20, he's this. He doesn't even appear in a few of the Season 20 episodes.
• Determinator: Downplayed. Once Stan sets his mind to something, it's pretty hard to get him to stop, but you can, usually by escalating the situation to such levels that he is literally is left without a choice but to cater. Major examples are "Douche and Turd", "Margaritaville", and "Whale Whores", though he's only been successful with the latter one.
• Dirty Coward: Happens often. When he, along with the rest of his friends, does something wrong (or even think that they did), he usually tries to frame it on Butters. The most notable instance was the "The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs" incident. This apparently goes back to when they were kids, as shown in the Trent Boyett pre-school incident, where they framed the bully for a fire they asked him to start.
• The Dog Bites Back: Deconstructed. After three seasons of having to deal with his father's bullshit at Tegridy Farms (and having to spend the entire pandemic quarantined there), he picks up some matches and sets the farm ablaze somewhere after "The Vaccination Special". Unfortunately, he also accidentally kills his sister in the process, making any satisfaction he might've felt extremely short lived.
• Drowning My Sorrows: Often involuntarily throughout "Ass Burgers", and then not so involuntarily as an adult in "Post Covid" and "Return of Covid".
  Kyle: Stan, what are you doing, dude? This isn't gonna help.
  Stan: Trust me, Kyle, it helps. [drinks]
• Dumbass No More: Downplayed when compared to Cartman since he wasn't a complete dumbass before, but as the show went on, Stan evolved from an ordinary (if somewhat bratty) kid with the occasional moment of wisdom to the Only Sane Man of the entire town. While he's still imperfect and has more Not So Above It All instances than he wished he had, they're far more rare than they used to be. Tellingly, his Character Tic of Facepalming at a moron (usually his dad)'s antics started in Season 6.
• Dysfunctional Family: His parent's relationship is a perpetual rollercoaster, repeatedly getting separated and back together again. In later seasons, their relationship has deteriorated as Randy has, among other things, gaslit Sharon into apathy about her children's wellbeing. Both are completely indifferent to Shelley's rage issues and her abuse of Stan; they also ignore Marvin's blatant suicidal ideation. Moreover, Randy regularly drives his entire family into misery with his insane exploits. It's telling that they require Randy to be high on his own marijuana to work together.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After years of having to deal with South Park's stupidity, and growing into a lonely and cynical alcoholic in the Bad Future, "Return of Covid" shows him becoming a successful astronaut and Honorary Uncle to Kyle's kids in the revised future. He also rekindled his estranged relationships with his father, sister, and Wendy, finally breaking free of his crippling depression as a result.
• Enraged by Idiocy: He is constantly baffled by how stupid the people around him are, especially his father.
  Stan: I know our parents have done some stupid crap before, but Jesus Christ.
• The Everyman: As the leader of the group, and the most "normal" character. Most of Stan's issues can be experienced by any American child while the other three all experience issues related to their particular demographics. Downplayed, since his personality is very unique, being the most cynical, calm, mature and responsible from his friends as well as the show's biggest Only Sane Man, but since he is the most normal his personality barely stands out compared to the rest of the cast.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Even though Shelly treats him poorly for the most part, Stan is absolutely horrified when she gets inadvertently killed by the fire he started.
  • In a similar vein, despite how much he loathes his father for his inept and sometimes abusive attitude, Stan is very concerned for him when he gets shot in "Japanese Toilet", spending the rest of the episode trying to do him justice.
  • In "Good Times with Weapons", he openly objects to Kyle agreeing with Cartman to kill Butters (despite not having much of a high opinion of him at the time) just to cover up their mistake.
  • Though he likes Toilet Humor as much as the other boys, Kyle and Cartman's fight to have a "Giant Douche" and a "Turd Sandwich" respectively as mascots is a little too stupid a concept for him.
• Evil Sounds Raspy: Inverted. his voice is rather raspy, but he is a hero, albeit an impassionate and faulty one.
• Extreme Doormat: It's pretty subtle, but he can be seen as this to an extent in his relationship with Wendy. Any episodes with scenes that focus on their relationship show that Wendy is always the one to suggest an idea for a date, and Stan (even if he detested the idea at first) goes along without objection. Examples of this are in "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", "Tom's Rhinoplasty", "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls", and it is hinted near the end of "Ass Burgers". Other examples of hints for the trope include:
  • In "Elementary School Musical", rather than discussing how he felt about Wendy and Bridon, Stan simply tells her that she should be with him, and he doesn't want to hold her back.
  • In "You've Got 0 Friends", Stan adds her and all her friends as his Facebook friends (and changes his profile status to "in a relationship") when she goes on a rant about it, despite him not liking Facebook and wanting to get away from it. He draws the line when she mistakes an elderly woman complimenting a picture of his for a girl flirting with him, and he tells her off before leaving in a huff.
  • In "Raisins", Wendy is the one to break up the relationship, and from then on Stan never once tries talking to her about wanting to get back together. Even in "The List", they don't get back together until Wendy mentions that she liked how Stan changed over time. In "Butters' Bottom Bitch" Wendy can be seen ranting about something while Stan is forced to listen.
  • Wendy is also always the one to initiate their kisses, as shown in "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", "Tom's Rhinoplasty", The Movie, and "The List".
  • The only time Stan averts this trope is if he sees somebody insulting his girlfriend, but in those instances Wendy doesn't seem bothered, except possibly for "Butters' Bottom Bitch". When Wendy does stand up for herself, Stan never intervenes and lets her take care of things on her own.
• The Face: Downplayed, since his friends usually speak for themselves, but if someone speaks for the whole group it is usually him.
• Facepalm: Pinching the bridge of his own nose (or the space where the bridge of his nose would be, as the kids don't have visible noses) isn't uncommon.
• Fatal Flaw:
  • His obsession with being liked by everyone and his tendency to put his image in front of whatever goal he actually sets. Though he tries to deny it, Stan cares very much about what people think of him, and he's not above ignoring his values to achieve better social standing. Episodes like "With Apologies to Jessie Jackson" and "The Big Fix" both show him almost ruining his friendship with Tolkien because of his insistence on fixing a mistake that he or his father made, making him come across as haughty, and "Butterballs" and "Gluten Free Ebola" have him insensitively using a good cause as a means to promote himself as a hero. Butters calls him out on this in "Going Native", as does Wendy in "Gluten Free Ebola".
  • Episodes like "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub", "South Park is Gay", "Guitar Queer-O", and "All About Mormons" also show that his submission to peer pressure can stop him from making new friends or put his relationship with his old ones in jeopardy.
• First Kiss: After numerous false starts, Wendy finally manages to give it to Stan at the end of the movie simply by catching him off-guard. He immediately throws up on her face, but she doesn't seem to mind.
• Flat-Earth Atheist: Deconstructed. Stan calls out John Edwards as a charlatan, but he's aware that souls of the departed do in fact linger on Earth, as Kenny had possessed Cartman at the time. Rather than outright denying the existence of ghosts, Stan merely refuses to believe that any medium can be trusted when the deceased have ways of contacting the living on their own.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: The other three start avoiding Stan after he becomes cynical in "You're Getting Old". Though they rekindle their friendship after "Ass Burgers", the seasons following said episodes have several instances of Stan reliving this trope, with the primary example being "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining".
• Friend to All Living Things: A more jaded and snarky example, but he still qualifies. He refused to shoot a rabbit as early as Season 1, gave up entirely on meat for baby cows, and was the only one determined to stop the Japanese from killing whales and dolphins. The Stick of Truth calls back on this with his dog Sparky accompanying him in battle, and he feels guilty when he decapitates a zombified version of Princess Kenny's unicorn.
• Future Loser: In Post Covid, where he's essentially become Randy 2.0, but with the added bonus of having truly no one else in his life other than his Alexa. After he and his friends go back in time to fix the future in "Return of COVID", he has a much more fulfilling adulthood in the reformed future.

G-L

• The Generic Guy: Downplayed. He has plenty of traits that make him unique and special compared to most other characters, being the show's biggest Only Sane Man, cynical, very athletic and an animal lover. He also differs from his friends a lot by being the most mature, responsible, calm and having the best social skills. However, his personality hardly stands out from the rest of the main and recurring cast, who have extremely diverse and unique personalities. The fact that some episodes, especially those in which he isn't a main character, don't focus on his unique traits (other than being passive, cynical, and having some hidden intellectual abilities that often only show up once) also plays a role in this.
• Generation Xerox: There were hints all throughout the series that Stan was gradually turning into his father, which is outright confirmed in "Post Covid", where he's inherited all of Randy's worst qualities. He's become a selfish scapegoater and functional alcoholic who denies he has a problem and makes excuses for it. "You're Getting Old" heavily implies that addictive and depressive behavior runs in the family. It creates a situation where Stan inevitably becomes just like his dad without his friends' influence, but that very behavior he shares with his dad is what pushes people away from him to begin with.
• Girls Have Cooties: Downplayed. He doesn't show this as much as Kyle in the early seasons or Cartman in the later ones, but he still has his moments, especially when in a group. He joins the others in making fun of the girls' volleyball team in "Cock Magic", has a sign in his room that reads "NO GIRLS" (likely intended for Shelley), occasionally laughs at Cartman's jokes targeting girls, and sometimes dismisses or is impartial to Wendy's suggestions for dates. However, he doesn't laugh at Cartman's breast cancer jokes in "Breast Cancer Show Ever" or Skankhunt's many jabs at women in "Skank Hunt", and seemed to be trying to be more mature in "Oh Jeez" for Wendy's sake.
• Go Mad from the Isolation: In The Pandemic Special, the isolation and stress of the COVID-19 Pandemic slowly causes him to lose it, culminating at the end of the special when he has a mental breakdown when he is unable to work the controls at Build-A-Bear.
• Good Is Not Nice: Shares this role with Kyle. Even though he is on the side of good, he still has moments of coarseness and cynicism, especially during his depression phase.
• Goth: Stan goes through this phase in "Raisins". He snaps out of it when Butters convinces him that being sad is just the price you pay for feeling happy. Years later he would briefly become a Metal Head.
• Growing Up Sucks: The show has "You're Getting Old", where Stan turns 10 and realizes how shitty things are progressively getting to the point of seeing and hearing nothing but shit, a disorder called, by a doctor, "being a cynical asshole." This leads to the end of his friendships, with his mother divorcing Randy after not being able to take his shenanigans anymore and moving away from South Park. Of course, humorously, Status Quo fixes everything by the end of the next episode. Though Stan needs a little "help" to get through the days now, plenty of other episodes show that Stan doesn't cope well with change. His Bad Future adulthood is also shown to be the most depressing, as he burned all of his bridges and never formed any other relationships.
• Hair Antennae: Downplayed. He has two strands of hair next to each other on top of his head that point upwards, but they are so small they don't really form an antennae.
• Hates Their Parent: Zig-Zagged. Stan has told Randy that he hates him countless times, but that hasn't stopped him from actively trying to help him when he's engaging in self-destructive behavior. As Randy Took a Level in Jerkass, Stan gradually lost interest in helping him, and at one point even showed joy at the prospect of him being taken to prison. This was eventually played straight in "Post Covid", where adult Stan blames his dad for everything bad that has ever happened to him, though starting in "Return of Covid" and continuing in "The Streaming Wars", their relationship seems to have been improving for the better, and the revised future hints at a complete reconciliation by the time Stan reaches adulthood.
• Henpecked Husband: After being an Extreme Doormat to Wendy for most of his childhood, Future Stan gets an android wife that treats him like crap, though he intentionally riles her up on occasion to vent about his life. When Kyle gets the exact same model, it's revealed that this is her factory setting. He puts an end to this in the revised future, where he's suggested to have a more stable relationship with Wendy.
• The Hero: Usually takes this role as he is The Leader of the group, but due to being more passive than the others, his role occasionally swaps with Kyle who's usually the Deuteragonist.
• Heroes Love Dogs: He adores his pet Sparky.
• Heroic BSoD: Stan has these regularly. To name a few:
  • Seeing Wendy kiss Cartman.
  • Wendy dumps him to the point that he becomes Goth. Butters' speech about loving life helps him out of it.
  • "You're Getting Old" and ends in "Ass Burgers" due to Status Quo Is God. One could argue that it's still going.
  • Reaches its peak in "The Pandemic Special" where he's slowly driven mad by the events of the pandemic, then given a Hope Spot in the form of a Pangolin carrying the cure, and then have that Hope Spot brutally taken away by President Garrison with a flamethrower.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Kyle. Tellingly it took longer for Stan to come to terms with losing Kyle as a friend than it did for him to overcome Wendy's first breakup with him.
• Hey, You!: Shelley almost never calls him by name, usually calling him "turd". Poor Stan. His grandpa always calls him "Billy" instead of his real name as well.
• Hidden Depths:
  • "Tom's Rhinoplasty" shows that Stan is capable of surpassing both Kyle and Wendy at spelling tests when he's motivated enough.
    • Similarly, he seems to be a decent science student. "Tsst" has him prepare a project with Kyle, "Hummels and Heroin" has him examine a bunch of mascots' autopsies in a quick amount of time in order to stop his grandpa from smuggling drugs and help Preston avenge Chuck E' Cheese, he starts his egg project all over again and completes it in about an hour in "Follow That Egg!", and he complains about Kyle getting sulfur poisoning from Cartman in "Ginger Cow".
  • In "Board Girls" it's offhandedly revealed that Stan knows a lot about board games, which apparently was initiated in "Freemium isn't Free" to deal with his addictive behavior, and comes back in "Spring Break". Kyle even lampshades this.
    Kyle: Dude, you're really into board games.
  • His career as Chief Master Sergeant of the US Space Force in the revised future suggests that he's got a good handle on complex control systems, has received or is going to receive a Legion of Merit, is fantastic at planning and regrouping, has enough charisma to enjoy Fleet Week and motivate others, and can collaborate with other hive minds via ant colony optimization or something similar that would require extensive knowledge on thinking things through scientifically and/or operations research.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: Zig-Zagged. He doesn't pretend he doesn't care about others and usually has no problem expressing it when he wants to, but he usually rather cold towards others and acts as if he isn't interested in their issues as long as he doesn't consider them serious. Aloof as he may be, he really cares about his friends and family, and will do anything to help them when they're in danger.
  • He often butts heads with Kyle, and has ignored his feelings on several occasions, but he's saved his life multiple times, with "Cherokee Hair Tampons", "Best Friends Forever" being notable examples. He also goes through hell to raise his self esteem in "The List".
  • As much as he says that he hates his father, when Randy is in danger or has his feelings hurt (and hasn't been a dick about it), Stan feels the need to help him out. He helped him manage his drinking in "Bloody Mary", found him out as the true deliverer of the biggest turd in "More Crap", and even tried to go up against the toilet paper companies after they tried to kill him in "Japanese Toilet". Keep in mind, the latter example was after Randy's Abusive Parents phase with Tegridy Farms.
  • This is deconstructed with his relationship with Wendy. Though Stan cares a lot for her and has helped her out on several occasions, such as helping her stop the murder of Kathie Lee Gifford in "Weight Gain 4000", refusing to kill her zombie while Kyle cures her by killing Kenny in "Pinkeye", and defending her from Butters in "Butters' Bottom Bitch" and Cartman in "Dances with Smurfs", he mostly shows this side of him only when he feels he's losing her. Because of this, his aloof attitude as a boyfriend has been the source of two of their falling outs, with a third one almost occurring on "Deep Learning".
• Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Shelley's abuse of Stan is played for laughs, as is the fact that his parents refuse to believe him, regardless of how many bruises he has or how much he asks for help. Only once did they attempt to defend him ("Over-Logging"), but Shelley went right back to abusing Stan halfway through the episode without Randy, Sharon, or their grandfather caring.
• Honorary Uncle: Following the events of the two-parts Post Covid special, Future Stan is this to Future Kyle's children.
• Hopeless Suitor:
  • For the Hot Substitute Teacher Ms. Ellen in Season 1's "Tom's Rhinoplasty", as she's much older than him and a lesbian. After failing to become a lesbian himself, he gives up on her and goes back to liking Wendy.
  • Subverted with Wendy, though he has felt like one on many occasions. No matter how talented or popular her other suitors are, Wendy will always go back to Stan.
• Hypocrite:
  • Stan suffers a lot of physical abuse from his older sister, but he doesn't see any issue with his best friend literally kicking his younger brother around like a football. Then again, Ike avoids being hurt in any of those instances, while Stan gets bruises that at least once carried on to the next school day.
  • He can be very aggressive and stubborn about people who exploit or hurt animals, despite the fact that he was responsible for shooting Scuzzlebutt in "Volcano". In his defense, this happened in the earlier seasons, when he was a very different character and he was never shown doing something like that again.
  • "Cherokee Hair Tampons" shows him having a Heroic BSoD over Kyle's impending death, even telling Kenny that he's never lost a friend before. Kenny has to angrily remind him that he has died countless times with Stan never showing the same amount of grief for him. This later comes to a head when Kenny is killed seconds after this and Stan continues crying over Kyle. Subverted, since the Coon trilogy establishes that he along most other people can't remember Kenny's deaths and he shows great sorrow in later seasons when Kenny dies, most notably in the episode "Kenny Dies", and he becomes the most protective and caring towards Kenny from the group. So it's likely that in "Cherokee Hair Tampons" he was simply too caught up in grief to notice what was happening around him at all, rather than not caring about Kenny.
  • In "Cupid Ye", Stan feels neglected when Kyle starts spending time with Tolkien instead of him. Four episodes later, we learn that Stan himself is aloof when it comes to messaging people, making his girlfriend Wendy (who likes to express her feelings through texting) feel neglected.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: probably the show's biggest example. In "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" it was revealed he is able to throw the ball from one side of the field to the other right in the goal. In "Whale Whores" he fired a flare gun from one ship into the fuel storage room of another. In "Holiday Special" he threw a lasso from the ground around at the head of a giant Columbus statue.
• Innocently Insensitive:
  • Stan is completely bewildered the first time Wendy broke up with him, saying that he hasn't spoken to her in weeks.
  • In "Butterballs", he genuinely believed he was helping Butters by spreading awareness about his case, though he later becomes more adamant in getting recognition for making his anti-bullying video. He has no idea that the person who's bullying him is his grandmother, so his video wasn't helping at all.
  • Stan is the last kid in his class to find out that Token is actually Tolkien without the excuse of being illiterate. Previously, he'd tried to make amends with Tolkien when Randy said the N-word on television, failing to understand why Tolkien wouldn't readily absolve him of his guilt. Fortunately, they seem to have become good friends since then, helped by Tolkien's family becoming Stan's neighbors.
  • When he starts using ChatGPT to respond to Wendy's messages in a romantic way, he soon gets too comfortable and stops reading them, not realizing that Wendy had actually poured her heart out to him through texting and had even confided in him about a traumatic event that happened to her when she was younger.
• Insecure Love Interest: For Wendy. He's very shy about holding her hand in public and kissing her (though that's the least of their problems). It also occurs anytime Wendy shows any interest in another boy, such as in "Elementary School Musical".
  Stan: Look, I just want you to know, if you want to, you know, be with that Bridon kid, then you should. I mean, I see the way you two are together and I don't wanna be in your way.
• It Runs in the Family:
  • Some of his catchphrases are also used by his father, and the later seasons show that the two of them can be equally selfish, stubborn, and prone to obsessive behaviors, as much as Stan wants to deny it. As an adult, Stan also develops an alcoholism problem, which was also shared by Randy (as hinted in "Freemium isn't Free").
  • Stan's wardrobe has the exact same color palette as his mother's; he also shares her maturity and sense of responsibility (or at least tries to).
  • In the earlier seasons, Stan was not above bullying the more passive boys like Pip, Butters, and Scott Malkinson, much like his sister bullied him, though he drew the line at Gary Harrison, much like she drew hers at Larry Feegan. Both attitudes have since been toned down in favor of Stan taking after either of his parents.
  • He also shares his depression with his grandfather, although Stan never got to the point of being a Death Seeker. "Nobody Got Cereal?" shows another parallel between the two as they both make similar deals with ManBearPig at the expense of the next generation (though Stan is forced to by the rest of the town when they refuse to give up Red Dead Redemption II and Soy Sauce).
• Jerkass Ball:
  • Stan and Kyle are usually Only Sane Men to the craziness of the world around them, and act as more moralistic foils to Cartman. At times however, often when Cartman is not in a starring role, they can act rather selfish or immoral, having nothing against using similar bullying or conniving tactics to Cartman to get what they want. This is more toned down in later seasons, though it still pops up every now and then.
  • After his Jerkass Realization in "The Return of COVID", he's become more consistently nice, but he falls back into this in "Deep Learning", where he's an aloof boyfriend to Wendy, although in an Innocently Insensitive kind of way.
• Jerkass to One:
  • He used to pick on Cartman the most, albeit not as much as Kyle. He did attempt to kill Cartman in "Trapper Keeper", only to be stopped by Bill Cosby. Nowadays, while he still holds great disdain towards Cartman, he is mostly neutral towards him and they can even get along at times, the only times when he hurts Cartman being when the latter really presses his buttons, like in "Mexican Joker" where he sent Cartman to a camp for immigrants as punishment for sending Kyle and his family there.
  • In later seasons, he's lost most of his love for his Bumbling Dad Randy, and he's generally apathetic to whatever predicament he happens to find himself into.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
  • While Stan does have some Jerkass and Kids Are Cruel moments, at the end of the day, he's still a decent and friendly guy. Episodes like "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub", "All About Mormons", and "Follow That Egg" show that Stan tries to put on a tough guy façade in front of others out of insecurity or to avoid being bullied himself.
  • After going through a terrible Trauma Conga Line in Season 24, he tragically becomes a full-blown Jerkass as an adult in "Post Covid", where he allows his resentment towards everyone in South Park (especially his father) to turn him into a cynical asshole, and once he's quarantined in the town against his will, he starts lashing out at everyone (even Scott Malkinson) for petty reasons. Luckily, he has a Jerkass Realization after seeing Kenny's recording, and he spends the following special trying (and succeeding) to make amends and save the town.
• Kids Are Cruel: Although not as much as Cartman, Kenny, or even Kyle. Stan will participate in hazing new kids and he'll bully Pip, Butters and Scott Malkinson just for being dorky, though Stan does gradually warm up to Butters over time.
• Kids Driving Cars: He drove a truck in "Towelie", his father's car in "Bloody Mary", and a bus in "Night of the Living Homeless". He even piloted Santa's sleigh in "Red Sleigh Down".
• Knight in Sour Armor: Frequently hates doing the right thing because Being Good Sucks and he always gets screwed over, but he will still make the right choice every time... eventually.
• The Leader: Out of the main characters he takes this role the most often, the level-headed and headstrong types to be more specific. He is also a Standardized Leader, but he's mostly generic only in comparison to the other characters. Especially pronounced in Bigger, Longer & Uncut, where he leads the other boys in watching "Asses of Fire", gets more politically active to impress Wendy, leads the boys in singing "What Would Brian Boitano Do?" and names their organization "La Resistance".
• Like Father, Unlike Son: Zigzagged. Initially, Stan is contrasted with Randy and is shown to be much more responsible and morally upstanding than his thoughtless, idiotic and often self-centered father, such as in "Pinewood Derby" or "Grey Dawn". However, as he grew more cynical in later seasons, he displayed some Randy-like tendencies, such as his self-absorbed behavior in "Butterballs" or "A Scause for Applause". The later seasons again underline their differences, such as "Freemium Isn't Free", "Band in China", "The Pandemic Special". Ultimately, it's clear that Stan doesn't want to be like his dad but has more in common with his father than he wants to admit, ironically pushing him to act more like him and make excuses for his behavior rather than face that fact.
• Lovable Jock: In the first four seasons, he was usually depicted as a "tender and mild" All American Boy who loved football. Nowadays, his specialization in football is more subtle in favor of him being generally athletic, and he's far more jaded and preoccupied with his own issues, but still has some elements of the trope: getting along with the majority of people around him and willingly engaging in or exploring low-grade "geeky" activities like board games. This seems to come full circle in the revised future, where he's become a well-groomed and physically fit Master Sergeant of the Space Force and is clearly quite happy with the outcome, in addition to being sympathetic and loyal (and hard-working to boot).

M-W

• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Zig-Zagged between him and Wendy. Wendy is outspoken, strong-willed, and passionate, while Stan is a sensitive and compassionate animal lover. She is also the one who always initiates the kisses and he always goes along when she wants a date. However, besides that Wendy is very girly and Stan has plenty of traditionally masculine interests and is often a Determinator himself. He is also prone to standing up for her, but will let her handle her own fights.
• Mature Younger Sibling: While he isn't without his own faults, he is nonetheless far more mature and grounded than his severely overemotional older sister.
• Morality Pet: Stan's one of the very few people that Cartman seems to hold somewhat consistent respect for/toward:
  • In "Two Days Before The Day After Tomorrow", he's seen hanging out with Stan without the others around and genuinely enjoying himself. He even comments that it's nice for them to hang out without Kyle around.
  • In "Fun With Veal", Cartman was having fun screwing around with the hostage negotiator... until he saw that Stan's health was declining. When he learned of this, he immediately negotiated an end to the crisis and even accomplished Stan's goal by getting the name of veal changed to "Little Tortured Baby Cows." Note that Cartman, by his own admission, did not give a damn about the issue itself.
  • He makes Stan the protagonist of his story in "Woodland Critter Christmas" and portrays him both accurately and sympathetically. Stan even likes the story.
  • A subtle moment in "Pee": when Cartman notices that Kyle, Stan, Butters and Jimmy are still alive, he instantly hugs Stan, running past the others.
  • In "The Pandemic Special", Cartman is persuaded into sparing the pangolin that could end the COVID-19 lockdowns when Stan tearfully breaks down and talks about how he wants everything to go back to normal. He seems almost disappointed in himself for it, sighing when he decides to abandon the plan in acknowledgement of the fact that he'll have to go back to school, but just can't bring himself to do it when Stan is begging him not to.
• My God, What Have I Done?: In "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining", Stan deeply regrets forcing his friends to hang around tourists on a lame hobby just to get an i-Pod Nano.
• Never My Fault: Becomes a shared trait between him and Randy when in the Post Covid special it's revealed that they're both responsible for the Accidental Murder of Shelley and the suicide of Sharon, yet they both try to shirk the blame on each other.
• Nice Guy: The second-nicest of the boys behind Kenny, if not a bit sensitive (or even insensitive) and socially awkward. When Stan realizes he's in the wrong, he will go out of his way to fix things.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • When the woodland critters order him to kill a mother lion in "Woodland Critter Christmas", allowing them to spawn the Antichrist. This all turns out to be part of Cartman's story.
  • In "Ginger Cow", he inadvertently destroys peace in the Middle East by telling the world that he saw the red heifer descend from heaven, unaware that the prophecy actually states that a fat kid with a small penis would paint a cow red to fool his friends.
• No-Respect Guy: Stan would usually get no respect from his Manchild of a father at the very least. His mother also turns a blind eye to any dramas in Stan's life such as his sister Shelly physically abusing him or his new fish leaving dead bodies in Stan's bedroom.
• Not So Above It All: Every now and then. It's mostly common in the early seasons, where he's prone to jump on the bandwagon of the latest absent-minded trends, disrespect his parents' authority, and view Terrance and Phillip — a vulgar, potty-mouthed, crude comedy duo — as role models. "Butterballs" shows that Stan isn't above capitalizing on victims of bullying, with his usual Butt-Monkey Butters being his slippery slope.
• Odd Friendship:
  • Downplayed with Cartman. While Stan holds Cartman in contempt for his behavior like the rest of his friends, he seems less hostile to him in comparison to Kyle and Kenny and there have been moments of the two spending quality time together in "Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow" and "Sexual Healing". It's also heavily suggested that Cartman, for all his selfish moments, views Stan as some sort of Morality Pet (see above), while Stan has a much lower opinion of him.
  • He also seems to have formed one with the Goth Kids, despite no longer being goth. He is occasionally seen to talk to the goth kids and it seems that he still gets along with them pretty well. They even give him advice in "Breast Cancer Show Ever".
  • Also with his fellow Lovable Jock Clyde, who despite having flirted with Stan's girlfriend on both South Park: The Fractured but Whole and South Park: Phone Destroyer and not inviting him to his birthday party in "A Boy and a Priest", tried to defend him from Cartman and Butters' bullying in "The Cissy", and gave him (bad) relationship advice in "Deep Learning", trusting him with his secret use of ChatGPT. On Stan's side, things are equally messy, as he personally told him to go fuck himself before "Go Fund Yourself" (shown in a deleted scene), but he also comforted him while he was crying and defended him from Wendy's mean posts in South Park: The Fractured but Whole.
• Official Couple: With Wendy; their relationship has been an established part of the show since the first episode. While it's had its ups and downs and they've even broken up on occasion, Stan and Wendy will always get back together by the end. "Return of Covid" implies they continue their relationship even well into adulthood, likely having outgrown the pettiness of their childhood years.
• One-Man Army: He's had at least three instances of this, though only two of them were fistfights: blowing up a Japanese whaler ship with advanced weaponry via fuel tank in "Whale Whores", clobbering the other boys for Bebe in "Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society", and taking on Craig and Jimmy while bouncing back to fight Clyde in a deleted Disaster Dominoes scene from "Gluten Free Ebola". He is Randy Marsh's son.
• Only Sane by Comparison: Downplayed. He is a generally rational and mature individual, but he often joins the craziness or gets manipulated, and there's more of his father in him that he would like to admit.
• Only Sane Man:
  • Downplayed in early seasons, where he was naïve enough to fall for the delusions of the kooky adults around him (not to mention the time he shot Scuzzlebutt), but compared to Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman, he was downright normal and had the most relatable goals (get a girlfriend, make his uncle proud, find his lost dog, stand up to his abusive sister, stop his grandfather from killing himself, etc.).
  • Played straight in later seasons, where he occasionally serves as this for the entire town save for the episodes where he gets thrown the Idiot Ball, leaving the role to Kyle, Wendy, or sometimes Kenny.
  • Deconstructed in "You're Getting Old", where his sense of superiority and inability to keep his opinions to himself make him come across as a cynical asshole (diagnosed by a professional) who judges everyone for liking things he considers stupid and spends all his time complaining about them, which drives his friends away. This plays a huge part in his depression, as he internally yearns to go back to when he was naïve enough to enjoy the silly things his friends still do, which he now considers obnoxious. As an adult in "Post-Covid", he doubles down on this to such an extent that he's Only Sane by Comparison to Randy, as everyone else sees him as a petty Jerkass with an overinflated ego.
    Stan: God, you guys fucking suck. I'll just do it. Just like I always had to fix fucking everything else!
    Kyle: You did not "fucking fix everything," you just started acting like everyone else was stupid.
    Stan: [sarcastically] Oh, really? Because they were acting stupid?
• Out of Focus: During Seasons 19 and 20, he gets the short shift of the trio of him, Kyle, and Cartman. After Season 21, focus on him increased again.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: In "Whale Whores", he has the Japanese killed and ambushed in order to save the whales they were relentlessly hunting down.
• Perpetual Frowner: Even putting aside his cynicism arc in season 15, it is not very often to see him with a smile. With how dysfunctional his life can be, it's rather understandable. The moment things do go right for him has him smiling, though. Notably, he hardly ever smiles in pictures.
• Pink Girl, Blue Boy:
  • The blue boy to his girlfriend's pink girl. He wears blue jeans and a blue hat with a red margin and a red puffball, while she wears a pink beret.
  • Also the blue boy to his sister's pink girl. He wears some blue as mentioned, while she wears pink pants and has a lot of pink stuff in her room.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: Played straight in the previous seasons, downplayed in Seasons 14 and onward. He frequently uses gay as an insult (however, this did stop eventually), though he's quite nice to most LGBT people. When he mistakenly thinks Butters has come out as gay, he reassures him he doesn't care or think any differently of him for it. Makes sense, as he's made a couple callbacks to his dog being gay.
• Puppy Love: Stan used to go gaga for Wendy. In later seasons when they're an Official Couple Stan has a more subdued approach to their relationship.
• Primary-Color Champion: Stan's main colors are blue and red and he's one of the better behaved of the boys.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Stan is mostly conventional for a boy. He has the deepest and raspiest voice from his group of friends, is very athletic, considering he often plays sports and he was the the best football player, doesn't emote often, sometimes enjoys violence, is a pretty skilled fighter, likes video and board games, and like his friends he swears often and enjoys dirty humor. He is also usually The Leader of his group, often disciplining them in a strict way and very protective towards his friends and girlfriend. He is also the most sensitive and emotionally open of his friends and, despite his love for fights, he is the most likely to solve problems peacefully. His soft side is especially noticeable in his relationship with Wendy, considering how shy he can be around her (though this trait diminished over time), and that he is the more passive in the relationship while she is the one who usually initiates dates and kisses.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Being one of the more laid-back characters, as well as having a blue hat, he's The Blue Oni to Kyle, Cartman, Shelly, and Wendy's Red Oni.
• Relationship Revolving Door: With Wendy. Whether by his wrongdoing or hers, they've broken up three confirmed times and have reconciled after all three. Both can be shallow, Innocently Insensitive, jealous, and possessive, but they've proven to really care about each other. They break up for good in the Bad Future, with Wendy being married to another man and Stan getting himself an Alexa for a wife. However, after the present is fixed, they remain a couple, and in the revised future, they arrange to spend new years together.
• Ridiculously Successful Future Self: Stan gets one in the revised future where he becomes a successful Master Sergeant for the US Space Force who gets to travel all over space, is an Honorary Uncle to Kyle’s children and has a Maybe Ever After future with Wendy.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: His tearful remorse in "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining" is induced by his inability to trade the 5th generation iPod Nano that he sent his friends on a boring zipline trip for.
• Sanity Slippage: In The Pandemic Special, he slowly goes insane from the stress and isolation of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
• Satellite Character: In Season 19. He gets very little screen time, and he's not used to advance the main plotlines. This is true to an even greater degree in Season 20, as despite the fact that he is directly affected by the girls' Lysistrata Gambit, he is completely absent from several episodes.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Not quite as much as Cartman, but when something happens that he doesn't like or doesn't want to see the outcome of he's usually the first (second if Cartman goes first) to bail. Gets worse as an adult in "Post COVID", when his default way to deal with arguments is to leave the conflict and get drunk. Unfortunately for him, the town is put on lockdown due to COVID and he's stuck in South Park with former friends and his father whom he's forced to face.
• Sell-Out: Stan picks up the Jerkass Ball in Season 16. First he tries to produce an anti-bullying documentary in "Butterballs", which Kyle calls him out on when he tries releasing it for profit rather than to raise awareness. Then in "I Never Should Have Gone Ziplining" Stan dragged his friends along on a joyless group activity for his own personal gain. "A Scause for Applause" also shows Stan getting a big head from unearned fame.
• Shrinking Violet: Stan is generally a reserved kid who doesn’t really get involved in the town’s madness, when he does, it’s usually to solve a problem. While he usually has no problem interacting with people he knows, he has shown several signs of being shy, especially in the earlier seasons. For example, his interactions with Wendy. Back then, whenever Wendy tries to talk to him, Stan was too shy to say anything, so he ends up vomiting on her. In “Big Gay Al’s Big Gay Boat Ride”, when Stan tries to make a speech, he seems hesitant and doesn’t really know what to say. And in “Chef Chocolate’s Chocolate Salty Balls” while Stan and Wendy are seeing a movie, Stan keeps attempting to hold Wendy’s hand but when she looks at him he puts his hand away. However, while it doesn’t happen often, Stan also has been shown to have an angry side when he’s at his limit.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Stan is usually very mild-mannered and easygoing, whereas his older sister Shelly is extremely hot-headed and borderline unstable.
• Significant Birthdate: His birthday is October 19, the same as Trey Parker.
• Sleeves Are for Wimps: Not normally, but his Shadowhachi and Sir Stan counterparts don't wear sleeves.
• The Social Expert: After the first few seasons, he got pretty good at reading and getting along with people. On occasion, he can solve problems by talking things out. He is also quite skilled at offering his friends emotional support and guiding them. Though his depressive episodes have occasionally led him to join sketchy groups (such as the Goths, The Church of Scientology, and Secret Society of Cynics), he still managed to get out of the latter two by himself, whilst Kyle usually needs him to open his eyes to frauds and scams.
  • He recognized right away John Edward for the conman that he is and learned his cold reading tactics quick (though he didn't manage to convince most other people about said tricks).
  • In "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining", he manipulated the other main boys into going ziplining by making it look like all of them came up with that idea together.
  • In "Super Fun Time", the class besides him, Kyle, Wendy, Jimmy and Craig got kidnapped by terrorists at Pinoneer Village, a 19th-century themed living history museum. The terrorists asked the actors to give them the vault code, but they refused to, because they would break character. Later, the terrorists threatened to kill Kenny if they don't get the code. In order to save Kenny's life, Stan asked the actors to give the code while acting like a pioneer, so that the actors wouldn't break character. This strategy succeeded, but the terrorists took Stan as a hostage as well and planned to leave with all hostages. However, while the terrorists where distracted by Cartman's and Butter's arrival, Stan took the opportunity to lie to Murderin' Murphy, an actor impersonating a criminal at the village, that the terrorist guarding them "killed his paw", giving him an in-character reason to attack the terrorist, thus making it possible for all hostages to flee.
  • He comforts Marcus when the latter breaks down over all the childhood mascots' deaths in "Hummels and Heroin" and figures out that in order to hunt down the drug dealers, the illicit companies that stay in one state (literally just shown to be a "U.S. Pharmaceuticals" store in Florida) are going to have to buy each other out so that no one can chalk up the deaths to older generations half-heartedly trying to make up for lying to them about "generational trauma".
• Sociopathic Hero: As an immature third grader in the early seasons, while he had no problem doing the right thing when prompted and was still the second most approachable of the team behind Kenny, he was almost as shortsighted as Cartman and was only interested in making his day-to-day life better while showing complete apathy towards anyone else's problems. This was toned down as he matured to the point where he sometimes has the opposite problem, though he still maintains a much more cynical view of the state of South Park.
• Solid Cartoon Facial Stubble: As an adult in Post Covid.
• Spiky Hair: Downplayed. His hair forms spikes, but thanks to wearing a hat at all times most of them point downwards, making his hair less messy than most examples.
• The Stoic: Downplayed, as he still emotes on occasion (especially when Kenny dies), but due to being accustomed to the havocs that frequently occur in the town he's the one who loses his cool the least out of his team of friends, and usually endures most of his misadventures (including being possessed by Satan or being shot in the arm) with a straight face.
• Straight Man: The Straight Man to the whole town in later seasons. Though has some Not So Above It All moments Depending on the Writer.
• Straw Nihilist: Played with in later seasons, particularly after "You're Getting Old". Of all the main boys, Stan's certainly the most cynical of them all. Lampshaded in "Member Berries". Kyle straight up calls him a nihilist in "Super Hard PCness".
• Surrounded by Idiots:
  • He often expresses this mentality outright when things go beyond absurd over clueless adults purely not understanding how society, the government, or religion works and, in many cases, trying to overwrite it. "The Biggest Douche in the Universe", "200" and "201", "Fat Butt and Pancake Head", "My Future Self 'n' Me" and "The Passion of the Jew" have him confront especially distrustful figures that call themselves "the authority".
  • Deconstructed in "All About Mormons", where he insensitively denounces the entirety of Mormonism, including its values outside of made-up history like being kind and committed, because he believes the Harrisons are "blind" for not seeing gaps in logic. Stan is shown to be totally callous and unsympathetic for doing this, and Gary Harrison pays him in kind by expressing that he focuses on what matters to their community now rather than a silly-sounding history that may as well not be true.
  • In "The Pandemic Special", when the adults' idiocy briefly drives him a bit over the edge, he leads the other kids in breaking out of school, eventually admitting that he just wants his general life back from the pandemic.
• Symbiotic Possession: Used as a vessel for Satan towards the end of "Freemium Isn't Free".
• Taking Up the Mantle: Chef was the most sane adult in town as well as a caring authority figure towards the boys. While Stan would often fulfill the role of the Only Sane Man and would often act like a strict but loving leader towards his friends when Chef wasn't around, with Chef out of the picture, the boys rarely have any other competent authority figure they can rely on, which resulted in Stan having to fulfill the role of the Only Sane Man even more often as well as taking more responsibility for the group, similarly to how an eldest child who takes charge of their younger siblings after the parents' demise.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Is the tallest of the (seen) fourth-grade boys in the revised future, and certainly has cleaned up nicely since the previous one, which is made more noticeable by his Space Force attire.
• Team Dad: Zig-Zagged. Being the first to turn 10 makes Stan the eldest of the main boys, but not by much, and it's rarely brought up. However, he is pretty much The Leader, being a Determinator who leads by example, and tends to be the one who talks in the name of the whole group. He often comforts them when they are unhappy and offers them emotional support. He's also the most mature in the group, considering he's the least impulsive and often the Only Sane Man. He can also be very protective towards others, sometimes to the point of risking his own life (though less so towards Cartman). Usually, if he disagrees with what they are doing, he won't hesitate to scold them. He often breaks fights between the rest, especially between Kyle and Cartman. Out of the main boys, he fights the least with Cartman; the latter even respects him somehow, though that's not saying much. It's also important to note that it varies how selfless and responsible Stan is, especially when compared to Kyle. He goes so far with this role as putting a coat on Kenny's back when they dressed him up like Mr. Jefferson's son and taking care of Kyle's farm on Facebook when Kyle asked him to (similarly to how a little kid would ask their parent nonetheless), even though he found it annoying. Sometimes, when adults accompany them, Stan is the one who scolds them, most often his own father.
• Technopath: Toolshed has the superpower of psychic command over every form of power tool. However, being a game, his superpower isn't actually real. That being said, he is able to use tolls just fine in combat.
• Those Two Guys: Usually this with Kyle any time they aren't the focus of the episode.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: After seasons of Hijinks and Butt-Monkey moments, the revised future of "Return of COVID" decides to cut him slack so he gets a happy ending, with a fulfilling career and a stabler relationship with his family, friends, and Wendy.
• Took a Level in Cynic: In "You're Getting Old", he gets diagnosed with becoming a cynical asshole, and becomes so bitter and cynical that his friends (temporarily) abandon him. He manages to recover at the end of "Ass Burgers" by self-medicating with alcohol, but he still remains far more cynical than in previous episodes, and it comes back majorly in "The Pandemic Special", "South ParQ Vaccination Special", and especially as an adult in "Post-COVID" due to the stress of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
• Took a Level in Jerkass:
  • Prior to Season 6, him and Kyle both Took a Level in Jerkass, becoming as manipulative and apathetic as Cartman towards the gang's new fourth friend.
  • In Seasons 15 and 16, following the events of "You're Getting Old" and "Ass Burgers", he becomes far more cynical and mean-spirited, doing things like cruelly laughing at the other kids' embarrassing secrets posted on Eavesdropper in "Bass to Mouth" and deflecting blame when he eventually gets caught with the embarrassing "staring at girls' buttcracks", exploiting Butters being bullied for his own gain in "Butterballs", and "selling out" (read: taking them on an unwanted zipline trip) his friends for an iPod Nano in "I Should Never Have Gone Ziplining".
• Took a Level in Kindness:
  • Starting from Season 7, he became more level-headed and sympathetic and his bratty moments became less frequent.
  • Though he became a Jerkass as an adult, he had a Jerkass Realization after seeing Kenny's message in "Post COVID", and in "Return of COVID", he went on to fix the Bad Future, his relationship with his dad and his and the other boys' friendship, causing his younger self to become much kinder in the new present.
• Took a Level in Smartass: As his father (and most adults in town) became stupider and more childish overtime, Stan became more self-aware and snarky towards their antics. Lampshaded as early as Season 4 in "Cherokee Hair Tampons", where his own mother is annoyed at his witty and sarcastic comments.
  Sharon: Stanley, what did I tell you about being a smartass?
  Stan: "Don't be a smartass"?
• Trash of the Titans: Apparently he has a hoarding problem. He gets over it, though. Or does he?!

• Tuckerization: His surname is derived from the surname of Trey Parker's paternal step-grandfather. For extra significance, Trey's father^note whose real name, Randolph, is shared with Trey (hence the latter being Randolph the Third), making it a real life case of Only Known by Their Nickname went by "Randy Marsh" growing up for this exact reason.

• Turn Out Like His Father: In "Post Covid", he adopts a lot of mannerisms from Randy such as his alcoholism^note Right down to making excuses for it, even making a call back to Randy's "shmorgesvine" excuse, egocentrism, abrasiveness, and immaturity. However, unlike his father Stan doesn't do outright idiotic things and he isn't a danger to other people, but instead he is just a bitter, cynical man.
• Undying Loyalty: To Jesus, whose advice he trusts more than his own father's. He's also the most devoted Christian of the three catholic boys (though he can still be disillusioned with going to Church on occasion).
  • In "The Spirit of Christmas", he tells off his friends for swearing in his presence twice.
  • In "Damien", him and Kyle are some of the few people to root for him in his fight with Satan, and later goes up to the ring to cheer him on when he's down.
  • In "A Scause for Applause", he's the only one in town not to remove his "What Would Jesus Do" wristband (at least before succumbing to peer pressure) even when it's revealed he never actually suffered for their sins. Even after he does cut it off, he still teams up with Jesus later in the story in an attempt to restore both their reputations.
  • In general, Jesus always seems to be his go-to advisor, when Chef or Garrison don't prove to be of help, such as in "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride", "Death", "Are You There God? It's me Jesus", "Probably", "Super Best Friends", "200", and "A Scause for Applause". The sign that he's truly fallen into depression comes when he scoffs at the idea of asking him for help early in "Post Covid", and the moment when it's clear that He's Back! is when he brings it back up in a more positive light at the end of the episode.
    Kyle: We have to go back to being those kids we once were.
    Stan: Even if it means calling Jesus or Santa.
• Unfazed Everyman: Having Seen It All in the face of South Park's (and his dad's) Weirdness Magnet has made him immune to reacting to the craziness surrounding him.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Stan has a bad habit of taking acts of kindness for granted.
  • He shot Scuzzlebutt in the head after it saved his life, in a misguided attempt to make his uncle proud.
  • He seemingly warmed up to the "Melvins" (Pip, Butters and Dougie), only to kick them to the curb by the end of the episode after Kyle shows up.
  • After Wendy dumped him and he eventually proved to her that he's more mature than he lets on, Stan scoffed at her attempt of reconciliation.
• Unwitting Pawn: Cartman's final revenge gambit in "Scott Tenorman Must Die" hinged on Stan and Kyle backstabbing him.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Played with. As a child, he had his moments of being selfish and thoughtless, but he nonetheless had a strong moral compass. As of "Post Covid", however, he has been reduced to an alcoholic, antisocial prick who treats his former peers like dirt, scoffing at their attempts to socialize with him. He gets over this as of "Return of Covid", however — the improved future even has him much nicer than he was in the original future.
• Vegetarian for a Day: Stan temporarily goes vegetarian in "Fun for Veal". He quits when he contracts a disease due to his vegetarianism i.e. turning into a pussy.
• Vengeance Feels Empty: Although he relished the destruction of Tegridy Farms for at least a few minutes, it all ended when he realized his sister was locked inside the barn. Since then, the event has been nothing but a Trauma Button for him.
• Vocal Dissonance: Stan is a cute looking Pint-Sized Kid who is ten years old and wears a hat with a red puffball, yet he sounds rather like a teenager or even a young adult and his voice is also raspy, (not to mention his metal voice). It does fit his personality though.
• Vocal Evolution: Over time, Stan's voice has been getting more deep and raspy, especially in season 25. This mostly has to do with Trey Parker getting older.
• Wacky Parent, Serious Child: The sensible, down-to-earth son of his increasingly wackier father, Randy Marsh (and sometimes his mother too). It is to the point that Stan is the one parenting his father at times, some examples include "Bloody Mary", the ending of "Crazy old Drivers", and most notably "Informative Murder Porn".
• We Used to Be Friends: In the Post Covid special, whatever disagreements Stan and Kyle got into about the Covid pandemic had created a schism in the fours relationship, causing the four kids to stop being friends with each other. They do eventually reconcile in "The Return of COVID", after going back and fixing the future to give them a chance to apologize to each other before it's too late.
• What the Hell, Hero?: On a disturbingly frequent basis. "Mystery of the Urinal Deuce", "Butterballs", and "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining" for starters.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: In "Rainforest Schmainforest", Stan is appropriately freaked out by snakes.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Stan's only 10-years-old, yet he has a vast knowledge and experience in politics, religion, and philosophy.

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