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This show contains examples of the following tropes:

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    F 
  • Face Death with Dignity: Stan's memories and mental self is wiped out during the series finale, but since it also destroys Bill Cipher, Stan's internal avatar goes out smiling, knowing that he was able to protect Dipper and Mabel.
    Stanley Pines: Guess I was good for something after all.
  • Faint in Shock: Lampshaded at the end of "Not What He Seems", when the Author of the journals comes out of the portal in Stan's secret lab, on top of him being Stan's long-lost twin brother.
    Mabel: Is this the part where one of us faints?
    Soos: Oh, I am so on it, dude. [faints]
  • Fair Folk: Played With the story of the show, as the story itself was based on many legendary creatures and fantasy myths. The fact that the town itself is a Weirdness Magnet certainly doesn't help.
    • Most Supernatural Inhabitants in the show are just minding their own business.
    • Going up to eleven as the show reaches its climax, when Bill Cipher opens a dimensional rift and invites his friends to the 'party.' Let's just say, it doesn't look pretty good.
  • Face Doodling:
    • In "Stan's Tattoo," Stan writes the word "goober" on Dipper's forehead.
    • In "Society of the Blind Eye," Mabel scribbles "BUTTS" on Blind Ivan's phrenology-map skull tattoo with a permanent marker, much to his consternation.
      Blind Ivan That's not funny!
      Mabel: [laughing] It's pretty funny.
      Soos: It's, like, objectively funny.
    • In "Carpet Diem," Mabel wakes up after her sleepover with "Party Gurl" written on her face in red marker.
  • Family-Unfriendly Death: The Ghost Lumberjack from "Northwest Mansion Noir" died when his head was hit by a falling ax while drowning in a mudslide. Thankfully, the actual death isn't shown.
  • Fake-Out Twist: In "Tourist Trapped", Dipper is just about to dismiss his theory that his sister's new boyfriend is a zombie, until he reviews his footage and sees Norman's hand fall off. With his zombie theory seemingly confirmed, he rushes into the woods to find Mabel before it's too late. Norman, meanwhile, decides to tell Mabel the truth about himself but unzips his hoodie to reveal... a bunch of gnomes stacked on top of each other. Dipper lampshades this when he arrives, remarking that he was "way off".
  • Family-Unfriendly Violence:
    • "Gideon Rises": Dipper and Gideon get into a fistfight, with several blows shown in full, painful detail. It's not the worst, but physical violence is pretty rare on TV Y7 shows, especially between children.
    • "Scary-oke": The zombies that are accidentally summoned are pretty nasty, and they're shown being mutilated with no holds barred. Several heads explode in gory detail. Probably the only reason it got through was that the gratuitous amounts of blood are recolored green.
    • "Into the Bunker": Wendy gets axed in the stomach. It's revealed to be a shapeshifting impostor that bleeds green, but it's still an apparently-human character being cleaved by another human character with no Gory Discretion Shot.
    • "Sock Opera" includes some Demonic Possession induced masochism that definitely raises a few eyebrows.
    • "A Tale of Two Stans" features Stan being slammed into a glowing sigil hot enough to burn through his jacket and leave a permanent brand on his skin. Gruesome sizzling noises are heard, while the scar tissue itself is briefly shown.
    • "Northwest Mansion Mystery" shows the mounted heads of various animals bleeding profusely from their eyes and mouths when the ghost is manifesting.
  • Fan Disservice:
    • Old Man McGucket lotioning himself.
    • Every single time Stan takes off his clothes, which is often.
    • Soos has taken off his shirt on multiple occasions. It's about as unappealing as you think.
    • Sherrif Blubs and Deputy Durland taking off their uniforms to play in a broken fire hydrant in "Dipper vs. Manliness"
    • The gnome that Mabel and Dipper stumble upon bathing themselves in squirrels in "Gideon Rising" is pretty disturbing to the main characters.
    • Sprott's Blind Eye Society robe falls off in "Society of the Blind Eye" to reveal nothing underneath, causing everyone to exclaim "Eew!" and him to call them prudes.
    • Discussed In-Universe in "Stan's Tattoo," when Dipper prepares to barge in on Stan's shower just to get a glimpse of the tattoo.
      Dipper: "I wish it hadn't come to this, but sometimes you have to do terrible things for science."
  • Fantastic Drug: Smile Dip, an Expy of Fun Dip, was banned in the United States for its psychedelic and hallucinatory effects.
  • Fantasy Americana: The story takes place in the sleepy town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. It's a small town surrounded by dense forests that are filled with magical creatures and mystical forces.
  • Fantasy Kitchen Sink: Everything from unicorns, time travelers, genetically engineered clones, gnomes, half-human hybrids, giant robots, living dinosaurs, sentient video games, ghosts, magic potions, ancient conspiracies, and extra-dimensional demons are known and commonplace in Gravity Falls. In fact, the valley itself was formed when a giant flying saucer crashed into Earth in prehistoric times.
  • Fat and Skinny:
    • Sheriff Blubs is typically the straight man to the more outlandish Deputy Durland, but he has his moments of pure silliness as well. Neither is exceptionally bright.
    • Grenda and Candy are the optimists and cynic types, with Grenda doubling as the muscle of the pair.
  • Faux Affably Evil:
    • Li'l Gideon Gleeful has a big smile and a few polite words for anyone he meets when he's in public but is a monstrous child when out of the spotlight. He wears his status as an adorable child psychic as a mask, allowing him to hide behind the town's approval as he carries out his malevolent plans.
    • The entire Northwest family (save, perhaps, Pacifica after her Character Development in season two) act as this; none more so than Preston Northwest, however. He's a charming man who everybody wants to be, but a sociopath behind closed doors. Having used the Pavlovian method to train Pacifica ''like a dog'', keeping a room full of paintings of every single Northwest cheat, and just generally being proud of his Card-Carrying Villain status, it's safe to say he fits this trope.
    • Bill Cipher also qualifies. He's quite charismatic and energetic when he's not trying to kill you, but then again, one of the first things he does on-screen is ripping the teeth out of a deer for fun.
  • Fauxtivational Poster:
    • In "Dipper vs. Manliness", part of Dipper's half of the Training Montage involves the manotaurs making him stare at inspirational posters for "GLORY" (featuring a bald eagle) and "HONOR" (featuring a lion).
    • During the montage in "Boss Mabel", Mabel puts up a motivational poster for "LEADERSHIP", which features a bald eagle (with Mabel's face slapped on the eagle's head).
    • In the credits scene of "The Stanchurian Candidate", we see Gideon in jail with a parody of the "Hang in there!" poster, which has the writing "Hold on to that branch or die, cat!" It hides the Bill Cipher chalk drawing he used to summon the demon.
  • Feuding Families: The Lilliputtians, with a different clan themed for each hole at the mini-golf course.
  • Fiery Redhead: Manly Dan is a gigantic behemoth of a man with a hair-trigger temper, ready to go off and break something at a moment's notice.
    Dipper: Where were you last night?
    Manly Dan: Punchin' the clock.
    Dipper: You were at work?
    Manly Dan: No, I was punchin' that clock! [gestures to the broken clock outside]
  • Fiery Sensuality: Pyronica is a PG example. She is an interdimensional criminal who appears to be made out of pink and white flames. She has one of the more risque designs of the Henchmaniacs as she looks look like she's only wearing a pink cape, white tights, white disconnected sleeves, and pink stiletto pumps. It's also too specific to be a convenience that she has a long tongue, her butt is also seen when she jumps out of the temple before it's covered by her cape, and how she's constantly shown with an hourglass figure.
  • Finger Gun: Bill becomes fond of this after his "physical form" upgrade in Weirdmageddon. Of course, this being Bill, it actually works. He even uses it to obliterate Time Baby.
  • Finger-Snapping Street Gang: In the episode "Boyz Crazy", Mabel finds herself in the possession of boy band Sev'ral Timez and quickly grows possessive of them. When Grenda and Candy try to intervene, Mabel sics the band on them, and they proceed to Angry Dance their way towards the girls, snapping their fingers as they go, before ejecting them from the premises.
  • File Photo Gag: In "Gideon Rises", Grunkle Stan's file photo at the local news station is him dressed in a Big Red Devil costume surrounded by flames. He protests that the photo was "taken out of context".
  • First Kiss: Mabel badly wanted one, and was thrilled when she finally received her first kiss from Mermando in "The Deep End."
  • Flashback to Catchphrase: Tyler the Cute Biker shows up many times throughout the series. His only line of dialogue is usually his Character Catchphrase, "Get 'im! Get 'im!" typically egging on someone to fight. In "Tale of Two Stans", Tyler is seen as a kid riding his bike next to his mother as they pass the building that would become the Mystery Shack. As bright lights and loud noises flash from the house, Tyler's mom urges him to peddle faster, shouting "Get out! Get out! Get out!"
  • Fluffy the Terrible: Dipper's body is possessed by the completely evil and sociopathic demon Bill Cipher. Of course, Mabel calls him "Bipper".
    • Of course, the fact that a being of pure chaos attempting to rip our universe asunder for his own demented pleasure is named Bill in the first place, also counts. Subverted when Alex Hirsch stated that Bill's first name came from "dollar bill", the shape on which his body was based.
  • Foil: The twins counter one another's personalities perfectly.
  • Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling:
    • Played straight and averted. On the surface, Mabel is a fun-loving free spirit opposite Dipper's responsible, logic-driven researcher, and Stan is a con artist while Ford is phenomenally educated and accomplished. Later, though, we see Grunkle Stan as to be the responsible one, urging everybody to seek shelter and stay hidden indefinitely rather than confront all-powerful, infinitely dangerous Bill (possibly getting killed or worse), as contrasted with Ford’s recklessness in charging headlong into danger and helping cause the whole mess with his research in the first place.
  • Foot Popping: Mabel does it when she kisses Mermando.
  • Forced from Their Home: This is part of Grunkle Stan aka Stanley Pines' backstory as, when he was a teenager, he accidentally broke the project of his twin brother, Stanford, that he was set to show for a prestigious college scholarship. When Stanley was found out, their father kicked him out of the household right then and there with nothing but the clothes on his back and his car. Though not so much for ruining Stanford's chances but more for the fact that, according to their high school principal, the scholarship would've allowed Stanford to get a good-paying job and make the family rich. Regardless, Stanley never saw his parents again following that, vowing to become rich on his own, pulling a lot of get-rich-quick schemes and illegal shady dealings while bouncing from one town to another when they went bad (at one point shown in a seedy motel and armed with a bat when he thought people he owes money to had found him).
  • The Foreign Subtitle: The show has been given the subtitle Un Verano de Misterios note  in most Spanish-speaking countries. Brazil used a Portuguese-translated version of the title.
  • Foreshadowing: Enough to have its own page.
  • Four-Fingered Hands:
    • Most of the children in the show have four fingers, but the adults, like Stan and Soos, have five fingers on each hand. An exception is Gideon, who has five fingers.
    • Wendy alternates between four or five fingers per hand depending on the requirements of the scene, though it usually settles on four.
    • Inverted by the Author of the Journals, a polydactyl whose six-fingered handprint is recorded on the cover of each journal.
  • Four-Girl Ensemble: Whenever Mabel, Candy, Grenda, and Wendy interact with or work together, such as in "The Last Mabelcorn", they fit this trope perfectly. Mabel is a very girly, wannabe-Fille Fatale who loves glitter and cute things (a pretty one), Candy is a mousy, awkward Shrinking Violet (a sweet-naïve one), Grenda is a loud and aggressive Brawn Hilda type who loves breaking things (a tomboyish one), and Wendy is the protective older one who acts as a Cool Big Sis to the other girls.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: Dipper is the fretful and easily put-down Melancholic, Mabel is the relentlessly chipper and goofy Sanguine, Grunkle Stan is the generally indifferent and greedy Choleric, and Soos and Wendy are both Phlegmatic, the former being friendly but yielding and the latter easygoing but lazy.
  • "Freaky Friday" Flip: In "Carpet Diem", a body-switching carpet causes Dipper and Mabel to exchange bodies. The same happens to Soos and Waddles shortly after. By the end of the episode, several more characters have joined in the fun, exploiting the carpet for entertainment.note 
  • Freeze-Frame Bonus: Has its own page.
  • Fresh Clue: In "Into the Bunker", Dipper, Soos, Mabel, and Wendy go into the bunker of the author of the journal owned by Dipper. Soos notes that a can of beans in there was recently opened, so the author might still be alive there.
  • Freudian Excuse:
    • Stan's money-grubbing tendencies apparently stem from a childhood treasure-hunting dream he shared with his brother, and an adulthood of failed ventures, constantly being broke, and being told by his father that he was unwelcome in his own home until he'd made a fortune. Makes sense that the guy would be a little obsessed with cash with all that looming over him, especially when you consider the real reason he wants as much money as soon as possible: so he can use it to rescue his brother.
    • Pacifica has a good one. Her parents are emotionally abusive, egotistical, self-important snobs. Naturally, they have groomed her to become just like them, and have trained her to respond with blind obedience whenever her father rings a bell he carries in his pocket, like a trained dog.
    Dipper: You're just as bad as your parents; another link in the world's worst chain.
  • Fright Beside Them: In the episode "Into the Bunker", Dipper and his crush Wendy are being menaced by a shapeshifter. At the climax, Dipper comes upon Wendy's unconscious body, prompting him to panic and tearfully confess his feelings for her. Just then, Wendy pops up, alive and unharmed, right behind him.
    Wendy: Uh...Dipper?
    Dipper: Wendy? Wait, then who's—
    (body on ground arises and attacks)
  • Fun Bag Air Bag: In "Into The Bunker", a decontamination chamber briefly slams Dipper's face into Wendy's chest before the two are forced back apart. There was originally going to be an extended version of this Played for Laughs, but it was downplayed for obvious reasons.
  • Funny Photo Phrase: In the episode "Scary-Oke", when Dipper, Mabel, and Grunkle Stan are getting their picture taken for the local paper's story on the grand reopening of the Mystery Shack, Mabel goes "Everyone say something stupid!", and all three proceed to say, "Something stupid!"
  • Fun Personified: Mabel. Everything about her just screams fun and games.
    Mabel: Leave that to Mabel! [presses the light bulb on her sweater, which abruptly lights up]
    Soos: Whoa! Although, isn't electric clothing kinda like a fire hazard?
    Mabel: No. It's a fun hazard.

    G 
  • Gadgeteer Genius: Old Man McGucket has been a brilliant inventor since college. His incredible designs include the Universe Portal, the Memory Eraser, and the Gobblewonker. He also alludes to several other amazing creations he's built over the years.
  • Gadget Watches: Blendin Blandin's watch (imperfectly) controls his suit's various camouflage modes.
  • The Game Come to Life:
    • In "Fight Fighters," Dipper discovers a cheat code for the titular arcade game that allows him to bring his favorite character, Rumble McSkirmish, into the real world. Rumble is still rendered and behaves like a video game character.
    • In "Soos and the Real Girl", the romance interest from a Dating Sim becomes obsessed with Soos and tries to force him to be her boyfriend forever.
  • Gamer Chick: Both Mabel and Wendy have been shown enjoying video games with Dipper.
  • Generation Xerox: The two sets of Pines twins. Each has one more sociable, confident twin with excellent people-reading skills and a direct approach to problem-solving; and one more reserved, the analytical twin who is nevertheless powerfully, almost obsessively drawn to the weird in a way their twin struggles to understand. Though each set seems to have a straightforward Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling, it's actually the analytic twin who's far too incautious, especially when it comes to being proved "right". The trope is discussed throughout the back half of season 2, but especially in "A Tale of Two Stans", where Mabel admits her fear of growing apart from Dipper the way the Stan twins have grown apart, and in "Weirdmageddon Part 3", where the Stan twins reflect on their own strained bond as compared with Mabel and Dipper's strong one.
  • Genki Girl: Justified by Mabel Pines. She's an excitable ball of energy and her mouth runs a mile a minute. This energy doesn't come out of thin air, however, as the show has frequent references to Mabel's sugar intake and the questionable substances she consumes, such as the mysterious concoction of Mabel Juice.
    Wendy: What is she talking about?
    Dipper: Nothing! Mabel's just been eating raw sugar packets again.
    Mabel: [eating sugar packets] Om nom nom...that's beside the point!
  • Genre Savvy:
    • Subverted in "Double Dipper". One of the first things Dipper and his copies discuss is that they're "not going to turn on each other like the clones in movies". As they still all share the same desires and personality traits, a fight breaks out nonetheless.
    • Also Parodied in "Scary-Oke": when Soos, Mabel, and Dipper are cornered by zombies, Soos claims that he's watched so many zombie movies he knows exactly what to do in this situation. He is then immediately turned into a zombie.
  • Giant Footprint Reveal: Parodied in the intro, with Dipper excitedly pointing out a footprint about half as long as he is to his sister and great uncle, only for the shot to pan out and show the three of them all standing inside another footprint about a hundred times the size. The gag is borrowed from this famous MAD Magazine cover from 1952.
  • Gilligan Cut: In "The Inconveniencing", Dipper answers accusations that he has a crush on Wendy with, "It's not like I lie awake at night thinking about her!" Cut to Dipper lying awake at night, thinking about Wendy.
  • Girly Bruiser: While not afraid to get her hands dirty, Mabel is definitely on the girly side of the spectrum, especially when teamed up with Wendy. However, not only can she fight alongside her brother with a surprising amount of competence for a Cloudcuckoolander, but it's not even that difficult to provoke her into violence. Even unicorns are afraid of her!
    • Grenda has the personality of a Girly Girl and the body of a WWE wrestler and isn't afraid to use it.
  • Glass-Shattering Sound: Parodied. In "Double Dipper", Pacifica sings so high she shatters a plastic cup.
  • Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: The snarky and serious Dipper Pines is usually paired with either his perpetually happy twin sister Mabel or the lovable goofball Soos.
  • Glowing Eyelights of Undeath:
    • In "The Inconveniencing", Mabel's eyes glow when she's possessed by ghosts.
    • In "Scary-oke", every zombie has glowing eyes. Soos gains the glowing eyes when he's bit by a zombie to indicate his transformation into one.
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom:
    • In "Boss Mabel", The Gremloblin's eyes glow when it uses its special power: the ability to make someone see their worst nightmare.
    • In "Dreamscaperers", Stan's eyes glow blue and stream when Bill Cipher possesses him.
  • Go Mad from the Revelation:
    • In "A Tale of Two Stans", Fiddleford McGucket is pulled inside the Universe Portal and witnesses the true extent of Bill Cipher's plans. He returns in a trance and recites the prophecy, "When Gravity Falls and earth becomes sky, fear the beast with just one eye," before snapping out of it. So traumatized by the experience is McGucket that he quits the project and invents a memory-erasing gun to wipe the experience from his mind entirely, then founds the Blind Eye Society to protect the people of Gravity Falls from the unknowable horror.
    • The Author of the Journals was less fortunate. By the time Stan meets him again, Ford has become a paranoid recluse. He meets Stan at his front door at the point of a crossbow and verifies his identity by shining a flashlight in his eyes, a test that only makes sense to those who know of the horror he seeks to protect himself from. His descent into madness is detailed in Journal #3.
      Unfortunately, my suspicions have been confirmed, I'm being watched.
      I must hide this book before He finds it.
      Remember in Gravity Falls there is no one you can trust.
      TRUST NO ONE
  • Gonky Femme: Grenda is fat and very masculine looking compared to her friends, Mabel and Candy, but rarely if ever acts like a tomboy. Personality-wise doesn't differ from the aforementioned girly girls she has as friends.
  • Good Bad Girl: Wendy is open and unashamed about having dated more guys than she can count on one hand, and is also very kind, protective, humble, and one of the nicest characters on the show.
  • Gory Discretion Shot: In "Northwest Mansion Mystery", the Lumberjack is killed by an axe to the head. The camera stays in a fixed position just above as the axe drops, preventing the audience from witnessing the gory deed.
  • Goshdang It To Heck:
    • Most cussing that appears gets this treatment. Though at least for Mabel, it's arguably in-character.
      Mabel: (After losing a minigolf game): Darn! Poop, heck, darn!
    • Lampshaded and oh-so-close to being defied by Stan in "Not What He Seems" when he, on a security recording notices that, since he's alone, he can swear for real.
      Stan: [drops a barrel on his foot] Gah! HOT BELGIAN WAFFLES! Wait... I'm alone! I can swear for real! [takes deep breath] SON OF A— [Dipper quickly fast forwards the tape]
  • Government Conspiracy: In "Irrational Treasure", Dipper and Mabel run afoul of a cover-up intended to hide all evidence that Quentin Trembley, the 8 1/2th President of the United States and true founder of Gravity Falls ever existed.
  • Grand Finale: Though things are left open enough for more seasons, the main threat of the series is taken care of and all the big adventures have been had. The series ended at a pretty good point.
  • Grand Theft Me: In "Sock Opera" Bill possesses Dipper's body in order to destroy the laptop and then the journal, the latter plan backfiring.
  • Grappling-Hook Pistol: Mabel acquired one in "Tourist Trapped", but rarely gets the opportunity to use it.
    • At the end of "Gideon Rises", she winds up using it to save Dipper and herself from certain death.
  • Great Big Book of Everything: The three Journals of Gravity Falls, authored by the real Stanford Pines.
    • Dipper finds Journal #3 in "Tourist Trapped", which sets the plot in motion. The information in the Journal becomes Dipper's focus for the series, providing valuable information on the plots of each episode and even enabling some episodes to occur.
    • In "The Hand That Rocks the Mabel", Li'l Gideon reveals his ownership of Journal #2, allowing him to compete with the Pines in supernatural ways.
    • In "Gideon Rises", the location of Journal #1 is finally revealed to be in the possession of Grunkle Stan. When all three Journals are brought together, the schematics for the Universe Portal can be read.
  • Green Gators: The alligators in "Headhunters" and "Dipper vs. Manliness" are green.
  • Grew a Spine: Pacifica undergoes this in the climax of "Northwest Mansion Mystery", where she finally learns to resist the orders of her Abusive Parents and call them out, before doing her own part in saving the Northwest family name.
    Pacifica: Our family name is broken, and I'm gonna fix it!
  • Grotesque Cute: The baby pterodactyl in "The Land Before Swine" is adorable. It's also just the right size to swallow people alive.
  • Guilty Pleasures: Dipper enjoys listening to girly pop sensation BABBA.
  • Gulliver Tie-Down:
    • In "Tourist Trapped", Mabel is tied down by gnomes.
    • Later happens to Pacifica Northwest in "The Golf War," courtesy of the aptly named Lilliputtians.
  • Gum In Hair: A flashback to Dipper and Mabel in elementary school shows a bully sticking a piece of gum in Mabel's hair, ruining picture day for her. Dipper suggests just shaving a chunk of it off, using his own hair to demonstrate, cheering her up.
  • Guyliner: Robbie is seen wearing some in the poster for his band, Robbie V and the Tombstones.
    Robbie: ...uh, it's eye paint for men.

    H 
  • Hall of Mirrors: Grunkle Stan constructs a low-budget one with several hundred mirrors in "Little Dipper".
  • Halloween Episode: Played straight with "Summerween," which is a holiday invented by the town so they could celebrate Halloween in June.
  • Hammy Villain, Serious Hero: Dipper Pines, with his dark blue vest and personality that is most of the time serious and at odds with his age (12-going-to-13 years), contrasts with both of the show's main antagonists, Lil' Gideon Gleeful and Bill Cipher. In Gideon's case, with his sassy-like style of outfit and wimpiness over facing defeat, and in Bill's case, with a bright yellow body that glows while he talks and Trickster God tendencies. In both of their cases, they invoke Evil Is Hammy.
  • Hand in the Hole: Invoked by the Manotaurs in "Dipper vs. Manliness". One of the first trials of manliness is shoving one's fist down the Pain Hole.
  • Handy Man: Soos's job is performing repairs on the Mystery Shack, although his efforts to make whatever he fixes "cooler" with unnecessary cosmetic details (such as permanently setting a cuckoo clock to 1:55 to make it "raise the roof") are often counter-intuitive or dangerous.
  • Haplessly Hiding: Mabel and Dipper end up the victims of a "Freaky Friday" Flip and as a result Mabel is unable to attend her own sleepover. She tries to secretly observe the party while hiding behind a door, only for Grunkle Stan to badly misread the situation and decide it's time to give 'Dipper' The Talk.
  • Happy Birthday to You!: The guests at Dipper and Mabel's birthday party sing this to them, but we only get to hear the last two words. This was because the song's copyright was still in effect when the episode was being made.
  • Hartman Hips: Robbie's mom has some incredibly broad hips.
  • Has a Type: Both Dipper and Mabel appear to have types.
    • Dipper likes redheads and girls with redhead features. He's attracted to the very redheaded Wendy, and Alex Hirsch stated that Dipper's "creepy" Internet history consists of "a lot of redheads". In "Roadside Attraction", the first girl that Dipper approaches once Stan gives him girl advice has reddish hair and freckles, not too unlike Wendy.
    • As for Mabel, she definitely has a thing for Pretty Boys, especially long-haired ones. No fewer than three of the guys she develops crushes on can be called a Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Mermando, Gabe Bensen, and Marius von Fundshauser. She's attracted to Xyler and Kratz, in addition to the members of Sev'ral Timez, whom Stan refers to as "bright and radical young men" and "darn beautiful men", respectively. She also mentions a previous crush on "the guy on the $10 bill"—the pomatumed and powdered Alexander Hamilton and singled out the "hot elf" on the cover of the Dungeons and Dungeons and More Dungeons game.
  • Hates Rich People: While multiple characters hate Pacifica Northwest throughout the series pre- Character Development, Dipper in particular seems to have beef with Pacifica because of her obscene wealth, which is shown to have been based on lies and cruel deeds. In "The Golf War", he justifies his sister cheating against Pacifica because Pacifica's riches mean "She's cheating at life". At the same time, in "Northwest Mansion Mystery" he implies he would have been okay with a vengeful spirit taking his rage out on a party of ultra-rich people if Mabel hadn't also been in there. He warms up to Pacifica by the end of the latter episode when she is shown to have a Freudian Excuse for her behavior and becomes The Atoner.
  • Heat Wave: One occurs in "The Deep End", prompting the Pines family to spend the day at the pool.
  • Heel–Face Turn: Incidentally, both were because Dipper inspired them:
    • Pacifica in "Northwest Mansion Mystery". She redeems herself by letting all the townsfolk into the party, and joins the heroes in the fight against Bill Cipher.
    • Gideon, of all people, gets one near the end of "Weirdmageddon". By the final episode, he decides to give up evil altogether, and decides to lead a normal life. He has his henchmen beat up a kid who bullied him, but at least he's trying.
  • Heel Realization:
    • Downplayed in "Sock Opera" when Bill Cipher's taunts lead Mabel to realize how selfish she's been about her various crushes and the sacrifices Dipper's made time and again for her. In response, she flips the table on Bill, sacrificing her latest crush to help Dipper and protect the Journal that means so much to him.
    • In "Northwest Mansion Noir/Mystery" for Pacifica. After finding photographed records of all the cheating and fraudulence in her bloodline, as well as being told she's just another link in the world's worst chain, Pacifica opens the gates to the mansion, despite her parents' clear disapproval, to break the curse the LumberGhost has put upon their family.
  • Hereditary Twinhood: Dipper and Mabel are Half-Identical Twins, which foreshadows the reveal that their Great-Uncle Stan is an identical twin.
  • Her Code Name Was "Mary Sue":
    • In "Bottomless Pit", Stan invents his story "Grunkle Stan Wins the Football Bowl." It's about Stan winning the Football Bowl, thus earning the adoration of teenagers and beautiful women, alongside his robot sidekick.
    • Mabel, in her sock puppet play "Glove Story: A Sock Opera".
      Puppets: Who's that girl with the pig and the braces? / She puts smiles on everyone's faces! / When she's around, you're never bored!
      Puppet Mayor: I'm the Mayor, now here's an award!
      Puppet Mabel: Thank you, Mayor, it's true I'm great / But the perfect girl needs the perfect maaaaate!
  • Heroic BSoD:
    • Mabel goes into a brief but pretty major one (for her, at least) in "The Hand that Rocks the Mabel" when she finds out she has to marry Gideon, sending her into "Sweater Town".
    • She goes into a worse one in "The Time Traveler's Pig", where losing Waddles to Pacifica sends her into a BSOD lasting over a month.
      Soos: [leading a tour group] And when you look to your left, you'll see Miserable Mabel, a girl who went bonkers after her dreams were shattered by some heartless jerk. Oh, hey, Dipper!
    • Her plot in "Dipper and Mabel vs. The Future" is essentially her going into one as all of her birthday plans and hopes for high school blows up in her face.
  • High-Five Left Hanging: Discussed in "Weirdmageddon Part 2: Escape from Reality" where Mabel's mental version of her brother Dipper, aka Dippy Fresh, offers the real Dipper and Soos a high five. Dipper tries to stop Soos from accepting it, but Soos can't "leave him hanging" and does it anyway. Dipper then declares Soos "dead to me".
  • Hipster: Wendy shows shades of this. She expresses an interest in up-and-coming indie bands in "The Love God", voices disdain for what she refers to as the "bloated corporate music industry" in "Boyz Crazy", and is frequently seen reading a magazine called Indie Fuzz.
  • Historical Hero Upgrade: In-universe. Nathaniel Northwest is presumed to be the founder of Gravity Falls. In reality, the town was founded by America's 8th and 1/2 President Quentin Trembley sometime after he was forced out of the presidency. Nathaniel was a waste-shoveling local nobody retroactively credited as the town's founder as part of a Government Conspiracy to Un-person Trembley. Then it turned out that was merely the tip of the iceberg — Northwest and his wife gained untold amounts of wealth with the cover-up, along with a mayoral position, and then used the townspeople to build Northwest Manor with the promise of a party every year celebrating their hard work. The people built the manor, only to be betrayed and denied entrance to the party for the next 150 years. This was the first of the many lies and deceit the Northwests, Gravity Falls' supposed "first family", have been involved in since then — a fact that Pacifica Northwest is very much horrified to find out.
  • History Repeats: An intellectually gifted boy is given what he considers to be the chance of a lifetime, but it will require him to live separately from his twin sibling for long periods of time. Out of fear of being separated, his twin has an emotional outburst and attempts to stop the brother from taking this chance so he can never leave them, only for the attempt to go way further than they intended. Instead of just blocking the opportunity for separation, this sibling accidentally undoes all their twin's hard work, leaving disaster in their wake. Stanford and Stanley (and the latter's fit of anger at his brother's science project), or, as of "Dipper and Mabel vs. The Future," Dipper and Mabel (and the latter's attempt to freeze both of them in time forever, starting The End of the World as We Know It)?
  • Hollywood Board Games: In "Carpet Diem", Candy and Grenda have a sleepover with a body-swapped Mabel (it's actually her twin Dipper inside) and engage in stereotypically girly activities. One of which is playing a Mystery Date knock-off. The board is majorly pink-colored and has a retro desk telephone at the center, numbered cards for the various dream boys, two dice, and tokens. Dipper is utterly bored.
  • Honest John's Dealership:
    • The Mystery Shack's gift shop hawks rare and mysterious wonderments never before seen by the eyes of the man at incredible prices. They can get away with this because Stan counterfeits them in the back room with glue and wire-frame; few things in the store are real.
    • Gleeful Auto Sales, owned and operated by Bud Gleeful.
      Bud: Friends, I wish I was a highway so I could have the honor of being rode upon by automobiles as fine as these ones right here. (pats the hood; a hubcap falls off and the hood pops open, revealing a possum that immediately scampers away) Engine possum at no extra charge.
      Old Man McGucket: I want that car!
  • Honesty Aesop: In the "Trooth Ache" segment of the episode "Bottomless Pit", the aesop seems to be that honesty is not always a good thing (the truth teeth force Stan to talk about every detail of his day to Dipper and Mabel, including the more... disgusting parts, such as a growth on his back).
  • Hope Spot: At the end of "Dreamscaperers." They stopped Bill and protected the combination to Stan's safe, and just when it seems everything turned out fine, Gideon blows open the safe with dynamite.
    • Two during "A Tale of Two Stans"; First, when Ford asks Stan if he remembers their childhood dream to sail around the world, Stan bears a smile, believing that Ford wants to do it with him. Instead, Ford tells him to take Journal 1, get on a boat and sail away. Later, at the end of the episode, Stan and Ford briefly seem to be starting to reconcile, but it's quickly done away with when Ford demands that Stan leave The Mystery Shack after the end of summer and Stan demands that Ford stays away from Dipper and Mabel.
    • In the third act of "Dipper and Mabel vs. The Future", Mabel gets one when Stan comforts her about her fears of growing up by assuring her that her brother will be with her to face it. Then she overhears Dipper accepts Ford's offer to stay in Gravity Falls as his apprentice. It all goes downhill from there.
    • In "Weirdmageddon Part 3: Take Back The Falls", the rescue plan has been a success, with the town and Ford saved and the Henchmanics defeated. Ford's plan with the Zodiac appears to work after Stan reluctantly joins in…only for Ford to trigger his resentments at the worse possible time. A fight breaks out, the Zodiac Ten is broken and Bill quickly regains the upper hand, taking out everyone, save for the Pines family.
  • Housepet Pig: Mabel owns a pet pig named Waddles that she won in the carnival against Pacifica thanks to a time device she stole from Blendin Blandin.
  • Humiliation Conga: Gideon suffers a major one near the end of Gideon Rises. First, his giant robot crashes, then his hidden cameras are exposed in front of the whole town, causing the town to stop trusting him, then Grunkle Stan gets the deed to the shack back, and finally, he gets arrested.
  • Hypno Trinket: In "The Stanchurian Candidate", Dipper and Mabel use one on Grunkle Stan in the form of a mind-control tie.
  • Hypocritical Heartwarming: In "Scary-oke".
    Grunkle Stan: The only wrinkly monster who harasses my family is me!

    I 
  • Iconic Outfit:
    • Mabel is hardly ever seen without one of her homemade turtleneck sweaters.
    • Ditto for Dipper's cap.
    • Grunkle Stan's fez and black tuxedo.
      • Also his striped boxers and wife beater for when he's off the clock.
    • Soos's question-mark staff shirt.
    • Wendy's green plaid shirt and lumberjack hat.
    • Gideon's blue suit.
    • Ford's brown coat and red turtleneck sweater combination.
  • Identical Twin Mistake: After his brother's disappearance, Stan went shopping in town and was mistaken for him (the brothers are noticeably different-looking, but the townsfolk weren't very familiar with either). He went along with it, inspiring him to assume his life entirely.
  • Idiotic Partner Confession:
    • Happens in "Gideon Rises", where Dipper begs Wendy not to leave and tells her they need her and Soos almost lets slip that he has a crush on her.
      Soos: Yeah, especially Dipper because of his giant crush on...
      Beat
      Soos: You...
      Beat
      Soos: —calyptus trees! Ha! The kid loves eucalyptus trees! [to himself] Saved it!
    • In "Little Dipper", when the flashlight ends up in Gideon's hands:
      Mabel: (to Dipper) Maybe he didn't see us use it and doesn't know it's a magic flashlight that can grow and shrink things.
      Gideon: [standing five feet in front of them]
      Dipper: Really?
  • I Don't Want to Ruin Our Friendship:
    • In "The Hand That Rocks the Mabel," Mabel becomes fast friends with Li'l Gideon but doesn't want anything further than that. His advances and her desperation to remain, friends, forms the conflict for the episode.
      Mabel: He asked me out again and I didn't know how to say no!
      Dipper: Like this: no.
      Mabel: It's not that easy, Dipper! And I do like Gideon, as a friend/little sister, so I didn't want to hurt his feelings! I just need to get things back to where they used to be. You know, friends.
    • Dipper in early Season 2. He has realized that admitting his feelings to Wendy will result in him being shot down for being too young and doesn't want to strain their friendship. He's ultimately forced to admit his feelings, and he and Wendy work past the awkwardness.
  • I Know Mortal Kombat:
    • Discussed in "Fight Fighters" where Soos claims to have learned skills from video games, including eating ghosts and crossing the street.
    • Subverted in "Scary-oke". Soos is convinced that years of watching zombie movies have given him the skills necessary to survive a real-life attack. Seconds after he stops talking, he's bitten by the zombie behind him that he wasn't paying attention to.
    • Invoked in "Soos and the Real Girl". Dipper and Mabel convince Soos to buy Romance Academy 7, a Dating Sim that they hope will teach him how to talk to women. After several days of playing the game, he hits it off with Melody, the vendor for the aptly named Meat Cute, but it's unclear if his success is due to the game or their own natural compatibility.
  • "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Mabel gives one to Waddles in "Little Gift Shop of Horrors" as she tries to talk him out of being smart and remember that he's her true companion and nothing could ever change that.
  • I Need a Freaking Drink: In "The Golf War", after Pacifica bumps Mabel from the local newspaper, she pours herself a glass of OJ and downs it like a shot of whiskey.
  • I'm a Humanitarian: In "Carpet Diem", Soos runs afoul of Old Man McGucket while in a pig's body and has to avoid becoming his dinner. After he changes back, though, McGucket was more than okay with eating Soos in his human body.
  • In Love with Love: One of Mabel's main goals while at Gravity Falls is to have an "Epic summer romance". She, therefore, flirts with every non-relative guy she meets that's even remotely close to her age.
  • Insecure Protagonist, Arrogant Antagonist: Many of the main characters have some form of insecurities about themselves, such as Dipper thinking he's weak, Wendy's chill nature being a way of coping with her family, Stan viewing himself as a failure, etc. On the other hand, Gideon and Bill Cipher, who are the Big Bads of season 1 and of the whole show, respectively, are shown to be high on their own egos.
  • Insult Backfire: Happens in "Dreamscaperers":
  • Interspecies Romance:
    • Subverted in "Tourist Trapped", between Mabel and the gnomes. Despite Mabel's desperation for a summer romance, the relationship goes quickly south when the truth is revealed.
      Mabel: Look, I'm sorry, guys. You're really sweet, but I'm a girl, and you're gnomes, and it's like, whaaaat? Yikes...
      Jeff: We understand. We'll never forget you, Mabel. Because we're going to kidnap you.
    • In "The Deep End," Mabel's relationship with Mermando goes a bit better. She alludes to a few more at the end of the episode.
      Mermando: Mabel, I have never met anyone like you.
      Mabel: Same here. Except for a zombie, a gnome, and a couple of vampires.
      Dipper: I don't remember the vampires.
      Mabel: I don't tell you everything.
    • It's legal to marry woodpeckers in Gravity Falls. Several people have taken advantage of this.
    • In "The Love God", Mabel convinces the titular character to make a snake and a badger stop fighting and fall in love. This is followed by Mabel's declaration that "they're going to make a snadger".
  • In Touch with His Feminine Side: Dipper. The episode "Dipper vs. Manliness" was partially about him learning to accept this about himself.
    Dipper: So maybe I don't have muscles or hair in certain places, and... sure, when a girly pop song comes on the radio, sometimes, I leave it on! 'Cause dang it, top 40 hits are in the top 40 for a reason! They're catchy!
  • I Have Your Wife: Subverted in "Little Dipper." Gideon attempts this after kidnapping Mabel and Dipper. It's thwarted by Stan's dim-witted skepticism.
    Gideon: Stanford Pines, listen to me. I have your niece and nephew. Hand over the deed to the Mystery Shack or great harm will befall them. ...this is Gideon, by the way.
    Stan: Ha ha ha! Oh, yeah, this has gotta be your worst ploy yet. They're fine. I saw them playing in the yard a few minutes ago.
    Gideon: I have them in my possession! You don't believe me? I will text you a photo!
    Stan: "Text me a photo?" Now you're not even speaking English. [hangs up]
  • I Want to Be a Real Man: Several episodes revolve around Dipper's insecurity, his inferiority complex towards Mabel, and his desire to be considered mature and responsible, including "Dipper vs. Manliness", "Summerween", and "Little Dipper".
  • I'll Never Tell You What I'm Telling You!: Lampshaded in "Little Dipper". Soos pulls one when Gideon demands to know where Stan is. To his credit, he at least realizes how stupid it was immediately after doing so.
    Soos: You'll never find Stan in the second door to the left down the hall! Wait, why did I say that?
  • Imagine Spot:
    • In "The Legend of the Gobblewonker", Dipper and Mabel have separate fantasies about what they would do if they photographed the Gobblewonker.
      • Mabel fantasizes about buying a giant hamster ball with the $500 reward money, then being hit on by her fantasy boys Xyler and Kraz.
      • Dipper fantasizes about being interviewed on a talk show as a famous monster hunter. Mabel crashes through the wall in her hamster ball shortly thereafter, demanding an interview.
    • Two from Dipper in "Double Dipper".
      • The first was of him dancing with Wendy.
      • The second, is of Wendy dancing with Robbie and then punching Dipper in the gut. Discussed by his clone, Tyrone.
        Tyrone: Hey buddy, it's me, you. I just had the same jealousy fantasy.
  • Impossibly Tacky Clothes: In "Irrational Treasure", Pacifica calls out Mabel's nacho earrings and colorful sweater as being too silly. She spends the rest of the episode with her sweater tied off at the waist, before finally putting it back on near the end of the episode to demonstrate that she's embraced her silliness.
    Mabel: The nacho earrings, the sweater, I thought I was being charming but I guess people see me as a big joke.
  • Improvised Weapon:
    • When they encounter a monster, the twins typically just use whatever they have on hand. Weapons so far include a shovel, living gnomes, the aforementioned leaf blower, a fire iron, electric candles, lamb shears, a flashlight, props from a costume store, a mirror, and water balloons.
      Mabel: Take that, sucka! [decapitates a zombie with a karaoke machine] This thing makes a surprisingly good weapon!
    • In "Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons", Grenda, Stan, and Mabel set out on an epic quest to rescue Ford and Dipper. Grenda's weapon of choice: Stan's reclining chair from the living room.
  • Incredible Shrinking Man: Invoked in "Little Dipper" by Gideon. After stumbling on the Twins' Shrink Ray, Gideon shrinks them down and forms a new plan to take the Mystery Shack, forcing Dipper and Mabel to make the pint-sized journey back to the Shack in order to reclaim their size and rescue their Grunkle.
  • Inferiority Superiority Complex: In "Society of the Blind Eye", Dipper flat out admits that he's playing up his role as The Smart Guy in order to hide his low self-esteem.
    Dipper: Sometimes I use big words and I don't actually know what they mean. I mean, I'm supposed to be the smart guy. If I'm not the smart guy, who am I?!
  • Insane Troll Logic: Stan uses this in "Fight Fighters" to hide the real reason he doesn't own a ladder.
    Stan: You know, studies show that keeping a ladder in a house is more dangerous than a loaded gun. That's why I own ten guns. In case some maniac tries to sneak in here with a ladder!
  • In-Series Nickname: Soos has a habit of calling Mabel "Ham-bone" and calls the twins "Mystery Twins".
  • Instrumental Theme Tune: It's a nice theme, and somewhat dark to boot.
  • Intentional Mess Making: In one episode, Dipper and Mabel compete to be chosen to move into the spare room by doing chores and bribing Grunkle Stan. However, the two end up swapping bodies, which they take advantage of to sabotage each other's work by making messes, insulting Stan, and causing havoc, trying to trick him into rewarding the wrong sibling.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: Despite being 12 years old, the twins are close friends with Soos, the Mystery Shack's 22-year-old Handy Man.
  • Invisible Parents: Justified by Dipper and Mabel's parents. The premise of the show is that Dipper and Mabel are spending their summer vacation far from home in Gravity Falls, Oregon. Their parents are never seen because they aren't in the same town, or indeed the same state since Dipper and Mabel normally live in Piedmont, California. Grunkle Stan has a phone conversation with them at the end of season one, but other than a brief shot of their hands in episode 1, they are never seen or directly heard.
  • Invisible Writing: In the second season, Dipper discovers that the Journals have additional writing in invisible ink made visible through a black light.
  • It Kind of Looks Like a Face: One of Grunkle Stan's attractions is the Rock-that-Looks-Like-a-Face Rock, the rock that looks like a face. People have trouble telling whether it is a rock or a face.
    Tourist 1: Does it look like a rock?
    Stan: No, it looks like a face.
    Tourist 2: Is it a face?
    Stan: No, it's a rock that looks like a face!
    (...)
    Stan: For the fifth time, it's not an actual face!
    • This is taken to such a length that in "Not What He Seems", secret agents are so distracted by the question, they completely ignore Mabel and Dipper slipping into the house.
  • Introductory Opening Credits: The opening has character introduction bits for Dipper, Mabel, and Stan, which shows a scene of each of them doing something and then another scene of them doing something with their name beside them in big white letters.
  • It Runs in the Family: Pretty much the entire Pines family is rather careless about safety when there's an adventure in play. Mabel runs around with a grappling hook and an axe, Dipper can just wander off into the woods when Grunkle Stan is not looking, Stan has made counterfeit money, is a persona non grata in multiple states, stole radioactive waste and thinks bears should drive, and finally Ford thinks giving weapons to children is valid, which can kind of be justified seeing he hasn't been in this dimension for a very long time.
    • As such, the making of fake id's is also a family thing.
  • It's Always Spring: The entire show is set during one long summer vacation.
  • It Will Never Catch On: While retelling his story, Stanford reveals that he first recruited McGucket while McGucket was in the process of inventing a silly contraption called a "personal computer". Even funnier considering that he's in "a garage in Palo Alto," strongly implying that he is part of the Apple start-up.

    J 
  • Jar of the Bizarre: In the opening, there is a brief shot of Wendy at the cash register, the foreground displaying a glass jar full of eyes (on sale), the various eyes briefly moving to face the viewer.
  • Jaywalking Will Ruin Your Life: In "Mabel's Scrapbook: Heist Movie", Mabel takes a candy bar with her when she and the Pines family go to the movies, and because of the "No Outside Food or Drink" rule, Thompson the overzealous manager has them banned from the theater.
  • Jerkass:
    • The Northwest family in its entirety. They lie, cheat, steal, and generally abuse their wealth for all its worth. And just to drive it home, they actually commemorate their asshole-ish activities with paintings. One such painting shows a Northwest ancestor making some sort of deal with Native Americans, with his fingers crossed behind his back. The only known exception is Pacifica.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: In "Sock Opera", Bill Cipher is the first and only person to point out Mabel's selfish behavior whenever she has a new crush (i.e, every week), leading with her allowing him to almost get Dipper's journal. Mabel takes this point to heart, and opts to thwart his goals instead, sacrifices her blossoming relationship with her latest crush Gabe in the process.
    • In "Weirdmageddon Part 3: Take Back The Falls", Stan is being an unhelpful jerk about the plan to save Ford and the rest of the townspeople from Bill, but he is right that Ford is the one who started all this by making the deal with the demon years ago.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Stan is a cranky, lazy, stingy old man with a criminal record and a highly questionable moral code, but he still undoubtedly cares about Dipper and Mabel.
    • Ford, despite his arrogance and Fish out of Water tendencies, quickly bonds with Dipper and Mabel, especially the former. The jerk part goes away in the Grand Finale as he realizes that he's possibly wasted his chances to reconcile with Stan. But after Stan regains his memory, Ford becomes The Atoner.
  • Joisey: Stan, Ford, and Shermie's hometown of Glass Shard Beach, New Jersey is rife with this trope: Their parents were scammers, their mother and high school principal looked like New Jersey stereotypes, there's poverty (they grew up rather poor, or at least were part of the working-class), pollution (there's broken glass on the beach and their neighborhood is called "the Lead Paint district"), and the high school science fair's slogan insults its participants. Filbrick hates it there and his desire is to cash in on Ford's intelligence and leave the state. It's all but said that he failed.
  • Journey to the Center of the Mind: The plot of "Dreamscaperers." Dipper, Mabel, and Soos go into Grunkle Stan's mind to prevent Gideon from stealing the safe code from Stan's brain.
  • Just Following Orders: The police didn't really want to haul Dipper and Mabel off to Washington in "Irrational Treasure", but they had their orders.
  • Just You and Me and My GUARDS!: Inverted in "Fight Fighters". Dipper and Robbie decide to settle their differences with a fight. Dipper, being a noodle-armed weakling, enlists the help of the martial arts video game character Rumble McSkirmish to scare off Robbie. Unfortunately, Rumble doesn't know the difference between "scare off" and "mercilessly pummel".

    K 
  • Kamehame Hadoken: Justified in "Fight Fighters". Rumble McSkirmish uses this as a main attack. As a video game character brought to life, some physics-breaking attacks are to be expected.
  • Karma Houdini:
    • Subverted; this almost happens to Pacifica Northwest in "Irrational Treasure". The twins found evidence of who actually founded Gravity Falls, but Mabel was willing to let it go. Dipper, however, isn't going to let this happen, and so, at the last second, right before she leaves, he gives her the evidence, which doesn't exactly please her.
      Pacifica: What!? Mom!
      Dipper: Man, revenge is underrated. That felt awesome!
    • Later reconstructed in "The Golf War"; although their family name is now tarnished by the embarrassing legacy of Nathaniel Northwest, Pacifica herself mentions it's pretty easy to ignore things like that when you have fabulous wealth. If "Northwest Mansion Noir/Mystery" is any indication, her parents knew this already, nor would it have come off as a surprise, because they and their forefathers have been lying and deceiving people for so long that it comes naturally to them.
    • Played with in the finale. Preston Northwest finds himself in financial trouble after the "weirdness bonds" he invested in collapse with Bill's defeat and is forced to sell the family mansion in order to remain solvent. It's made clear that they are still wealthy by most people's standards-Pacifica's biggest problem is that she only has one pony-but Preston considers it an unbearable humiliation.
  • Kick the Dog: Once Gideon has control of the Mystery Shack, he treats Waddles very cruelly.
  • KidAnova: Mabel can't seem to go a week without getting a new crush. The only problem is, most of them end up being dangerous magical creatures in disguise.
    • Dipper in "Roadside Attraction" counts as well after some advice from Stan on how to talk to girls.
  • Kid Detective: Deconstructed in "Headhunters". Dipper and Mabel take a crack at solving the murder of Stan's wax statue, leading to a whirlwind investigation filled with half-baked interrogations and conclusion-jumping. They finally manage to finger Toby Determined as the killer, only to be embarrassingly humiliated in front of Officers Blurbs and Durland when Toby has an airtight alibi. Reconstructed at the end when, after giving up and going home, they finally stumble on the clue to solve the case.
  • Kid Hero: Dipper and Mabel are the 12-year-old protagonists. The show revolves around their adventures in the supernatural town of Gravity Falls.
  • Kiddie Kid: Downplayed with Mabel, who is a more balanced, realistic example. She's almost 13, yet still loves unicorns, stickers, light-up sneakers, and owns a very childlike bicycle, complete with a flower basket and handlebar streamers. She also likes plenty of things preteens are expected to like, including and especially romance/boys.
  • Kids Driving Cars: In the chase scene of the first part of Weirdmaggedon, Wendy (who's fifteen years old) drives a truck while she and Dipper are escaping Gideon and his henchman. It doesn't help that she clarifies she never drove before that moment.
  • Kindhearted Simpleton:
    • Soos, though he's smarter than he looks, is nothing if not kindhearted.
    • Sev'ral Timez, Mabel's "Pet Boy Band" in the episode "Boy Crazy". Considering the fact that they spent their entire life in a hamster cage, their baffling idiocy is pretty understandable, but they're still very sweet and respectful.
  • Kiss Me, I'm Virtual: Invoked by Giffany in "Soos and the New Girl". A self-aware AI masquerading as the leader of a Dating Sim, Giffany seduces Soos under the guise of being a harmless program. Considering the setting of the show, she turns out to be more than she's advertised.
  • Kiss of Life: Parodied at the climax of "The Deep End", where Dipper has to give Mermando, a merman, "reverse CPR" by spitting several mouthfuls of water into his mouth. Mabel takes a picture of it for blackmail material while Mermando, once he's regained consciousness, points out that the lake was five feet away and Dipper could have just rolled him in.
  • Kissing Warm-Up: Mabel attempts this in the pilot episode with a photo of Norman and a leaf blower set to reverse. Naturally, it gets stuck to her face. According to her, Dipper's also been known to kiss a pillow with Wendy's face drawn on it.
  • Knight of Cerebus: The introduction of 3 characters ramps up the seriousness level in this series.
    • From the first season, we have Li'l Gideon. At first, he seems to be just another recurring villain. The revelation that he possesses Journal #2 ties him firmly into the Myth Arc.
    • From the first season's penultimate episode, we have Bill Cipher. He acts kooky and silly, but remember that he's an Eldritch Abomination, and while his first appearance was fairly whimsical and (to some of us) silly, his further appearances in Season 2 reveal that he plans to merge our realm with his realm, bringing The End of the World as We Know It.
    • From the second season, we have The Author himself, aka Great Uncle Ford. While he's decidedly on the side of good, his many revelations in particular his history with Bill Cipher, including Bill's plans really ramp up the horror factor and just how much is at stake in the series. Not to mention that his presence upends and changes the dynamics between Dipper, Mabel and Stan.

    L 
  • The Lad-ette: Wendy Corduroy is a mischievous, rebellious teen who epitomizes this trope in a mild, Disney-friendly way sans the sex and alcohol. She loves a good brawl, sits with her legs apart, gives friendly arm punches (especially to Dipper) quite often, and is thrilled in "Weirdmageddon: Part 1" at the prospect of driving a tank.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: Preston Northwest ends up bankrupting his own family when he invests his entire fortune in "weirdness" bonds in an attempt to profit off of Weirdmageddon. In order to preserve his wealth, he's forced to sell Northwest Mansion. Who ends up buying it? Old Man McGucket, who strikes it rich by patenting his inventions. So in effect, the mansion that was the symbol of the most powerful and corrupt dynasty in Gravity Falls is now in the possession of a Mad Scientist hillbilly!
  • Latin Lover: In "The Deep End", Mabel crushes on Mermando, a handsome Hispanic merman.
  • Large Ham:
    • Mabel can get pretty over-the-top when she wants to.
    • Blendin Blandin gives Lemongrab a run for his money in terms of how much high-pitched ham he can inject into his lines. Fitting, seeing as how they have the same voice actor.
    • Grunkle Stan, what with him being a showman and all. Off the clock, he's a little more subtle, but he still has his moments.
    • Rumble McSkirmish shouts almost every single line he has. He's a fighting game character, he can't help it.
    • All the Lilliputtians in "The Golf Wars", all in their own special way.
    • Mermando sometimes plays up the whole Latin Lover thing a bit too much.
    • Bill Cipher chews the scenery any time he's onscreen.
  • Larynx Dissonance: Grenda has a deep, gritty voice to go with her beefy frame.
  • Laser-Guided Broadcast: Mabel is looking for a way to carry Waddles, her pig, around when an ad comes on TV for a baby sling. The ad then continues "And yes, it works for pigs, too! It works for PIIIIGGGSS!"
  • Last of Her Kind: Subverted, The Unicorn in “The Last Mabelcorn” claims to be this however it turns out to be a lie.
  • Laughably Evil: It's hard to deny Bill Cipher's charm. Even when he's condescending or presenting horrifying gifts, he does so with a hilarious flair.
  • Laughing Mad:
    • Gideon tends to do this. Parodied in "Little Dipper," where a shrunken Dipper and Mabel incapacitate Gideon by tickling him, leaving Stan to assume he's just come down with a nasty case of this.
      Stan: Look, kid, I think this rivalry thing is getting to you. I understand. I mean, I'm a formidable foe, what can I say?
      Gideon: Hahahahaha NO! Hahaha [begins foaming at the mouth]
      Stan: Hey now, come on, you'll get me one of these days. Maybe, you know, run your evil plan by some friends next time. Workshop it, but first, get your issues in order there. [rolls Gideon out the door while he's still paralyzed by laughter]
    • Bill Cipher has a maniacal cackle that he frequently breaks out in.
  • Laugh of Love:
    • In "Tourist Trapped", after Mabel flirts with a boy whom she has a crush on and inadvertently knocks him over, she laughs happily.
    • In "The Hand That Rocks the Mabel", Lil' Gideon is attracted to Mabel (who sees him as just a friend) and they tend to laugh when they hang out together, at least until Gideon reveals himself to be utterly psychotic in his attraction to Mabel.
    • In "The Inconveniencing", Dipper chuckles nervously while bidding Wendy goodbye as she leaves with her friends, which results in the following exchange:
      Mabel: Uh-oh!
      Dipper: [defensively] What?
      Mabel: [pokes Dipper in his cheek] Somebody's in lo-ove!
    • "The Deep End":
      • When Wendy says that being a lifeguard lets her have the best seat in the house, Dipper remarks "Yeah, you do!" and laughs for an overly-long time. Lampshaded when he says in a mortified whisper, "I've been laughing for too long."
      • Mabel laughs and says "You're so funny!" when Mermando, a merman she develops a crush on, jokingly compliments her on her lack of water wings. Soon afterward, Mermando laughs as she combs his hair, which causes her to think that he likes her.
    • In "Carpet Diem", when Soos (actually Waddles) runs out of the gift shop when a lady stops by to ask for directions, she says "You'll show me the way? [giggles] Such a gentleman!" before following him out. She shows up again at the end of the episode and happily accepts Soos' apparent marriage proposal.
    • A similar instance to the one in "The Inconveniencing" occurs in "Into The Bunker" when Dipper chuckles nervously while talking to Wendy, causing Mabel to tease him about how she thinks that romance is afoot between the two of them. Dipper denies that he still has feelings for Wendy.
    • In "Soos and the Real Girl", both cases involve Soos:
      • Giffany sometimes does a robotic laugh while talking to Soos, at least until he decides to go out with a real girl and she starts going off the rails.
      • Melody also laughs at some of Soos' awkward remarks, which she finds funny.
    • In a Ship Tease moment in "Northwest Mansion Mystery", Pacifica and Dipper laugh happily after they trap the Lumberjack Ghost in a silver mirror, and Pacifica then hugs Dipper. Happens again later while they trash Pacifica's parent's favorite carpet.
    • "Roadside Attraction":
      • When Dipper gives a girl he meets at Log Land a "log on a stick", she giggles before giving him her contact details, and she goes on a log ride with him, which she describes as "romantic" (though the latter incident is only mentioned later in the episode).
      • At Mystery Mountain, Candy giggles when she lays her head on Dipper's shoulder while they're on their date.
      • Darlene laughs when she's around Stan. She's exploiting it to make him think she's in love with him, in order to lure him into a trap.
    • In "Weirdmageddon Part 2: Escape From Reality", Wendy laughs briefly when talking to Dipper about how they could actually be together in Mabeland. Except it's not the real Wendy.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
    • In "The Legend of the Gobblewonker", Soos is afraid he might be a side character and thus be killed off by the monster first. Obviously, Soos is a side character.
    • At the end of the Cold Open for "Little Dipper", the Pines decide to go watch TV. As they walk offscreen, Mabel cheerfully says "my favorite part is the theme song." Cue the opening and Instrumental Theme Tune.
    • "Little Gift Shop Of Horrors" gives us the following scene that plays while the viewers can only see the characters and shadows of the fight on the wall in the back.
      Stan: Stop Motion is pure evil.
      Soos: And probably really expensive.
      Harry: Incredibly expensive.
      Soos: This is an impressive fight though. Glad I'm facing towards it.
    • In the episode "Boss Mabel", the host of "Cash Wheel" demands the cameraman cut to the commercial at the exact moment of the actual show's commercial break.
    • Soos mentions in "A Tale of Two Stans" that he's secretly written speculative fan fiction about Stan and his brother, and is going to feel disappointed if what actually happened doesn't match up with his own in-universe Fanon.
    • In "The Last Mabelcorn", the twins come upon a Jumanji-esque board game and Dipper remarks it should "take up the next 21 minutes," but then they are called by Ford for a family meeting. In addition, exactly 21 minutes were left in the episode.
    • The way that Stan and Mabel treat the hit in-universe animated series Ducktective is a reference to the series itself, with Stan remarking how they are completely invested in the fate of the characters, telling Ford how the show has an underlying mystery and contains humor most children wouldn't understand, and how Stan and Mabel are disappointed that the season finale's big twist is that the protagonist has a twin brother.
  • Let's Get Dangerous!:
    • Much like how Dipper is often Not So Above It All when things are calm, Mabel has proven that she can be competent both physically and mentally when things get serious. She beat the crap out of a unicorn who failed to realize this with her bare hands.
    • Soos is another Cloudcuckoolander who's a force to be reckoned with when necessary. He's especially competent when aiding the twins; in "The Legend of the Gobblewonker", when the Gobblewonker attacked, Soos immediately grabbed Dipper and Mabel and ran to get them to safety. In "Not What He Seems", he was also willing to fight Stan, whom he views as a father figure, to protect the kids.
  • Libation for the Dead: Dipper pours some of his soda on the roof when Tyrone commits unintentional suicide in "Double Dipper".
  • Limited Wardrobe: Averted with Mabel's sweaters. Played straight with the other characters.
  • Literally Prized Possession: Mabel has a great love for her pig Waddles which she won at a carnival. She is greatly upset when, in an alternative timeline, her rival Pacifica Northwest wins the pig instead. By the end of the series, losing Waddles or him being harmed gets her very upset.
  • Living Statue: In "Headhunters", Stan's entire wax figure museum is cursed to come to life when night falls.
  • Looking Busy: Fake writing variant. In one episode, Wendy and Mabel are goofing around in the Mystery Shack's gift shop while Dipper supposedly is doing inventory. He really is keeping an eye on his crush (Wendy) and he is literally writing "I am pretending to write something down" on his clipboard.
  • Loincloth:
    • In "Dipper vs Manliness" Dipper wears one, together with lots of (fake) tattoos, when the Manotaurs send him to confront the Multi-Bear.
    • In the "Clay Day" segment of "Little Gift Shop of Horrors", one of the stop-motion monsters is called the "Loinclothiclese".
  • Lotus-Eater Machine: During the finale Mabel is trapped in a dimension where all her desires come true.
  • Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Mermando. Gabe qualifies as well, as his hair is long enough to make a ponytail. There's also Marius von Fundshauser.
  • Long-Lost Relative: Stan's twin brother, AKA, the Author. He's been trapped beyond the Universe Portal for thirty years until finally being released in "Not What He Seems".
  • Loony Laws: The titular town was founded by (ex-) President Quentin Trembley, and his lunacy was reflected with such things as a law that allowed humans to marry woodpeckers and the "Finders Keepers" Law (which essentially meant that; as long as you have physical possession of an object, it is legally yours; and if someone else comes along and steals it, it is legally theirs—unless you can legally prove that they stole it from you, if you can't steal it back, then well... "losers weepers"). This latter one provides a pretty big source of drama during the first season finale.
  • Loon with a Heart of Gold: Mabel. She's a quirky girl with strong, sometimes troublesome Cloudcuckoolander tendencies, as well as the tendency to inadvertently hurt people when trying to help them. She's still an All-Loving Heroine whose heart is nonetheless in the right place.
  • Lost the TV Remote: Stan's subplot in "The Inconveniencing" features him being forced to watch a terrible movie because of this.
    TV: You're watching the black and white period piece old lady boring movie channel!
    Stan: Kids! I can't find the remote and I refuse to stand up!
  • Lost World: In "The Land Before Swine", Dipper and the others discover a cavern with live dinosaurs encased in sticky tree sap.
  • Love at First Sight: Mabel was immediately enamored with Mermando. Deconstructed in "Sock Opera". Mabel abruptly falls in love with Gabe and spends the entire episode trying to get his attention. The attraction fades as quickly as it began when, at the end of the episode, he passionately makes out with his puppets.
    Mabel: I might have dodged a bullet there.
  • Lovecraft Lite: Sure we get the local's cryptoids and supernatural creatures at first. But then Bill Cipher enters the picture, we learn of his plans and we get a glimpse of his friends on the other side of the portal who just can't wait to teach our dimension how to party.
  • Love Makes You Crazy: Lil' Gideon... although he was probably messed up even before he met Mabel.
  • Love Triangle: A rare example in which nobody wins. Dipper, a Nice Guy who is too young for serious consideration, and Robbie, a self-centered punk, both vie for Wendy's attention, with both succeeding and failing at different times. Robbie and Wendy's relationship goes south fast and ultimately ends in disaster during "Boyz Crazy". Dipper's crush remains strong until "Into the Bunker", where he confesses his feelings to Wendy but they resolve to remain friends, although the ending leaves the possibility of a future relationship out in the open.
  • Lying Finger Cross:
    • In the episode "Fight Fighters", Mabel makes a promise to Grunkle Stan and puts on a sweater with a hand doing the "Scout's honor" gesture on the front. When she turns her back to the fourth wall we see the back of her sweater has a hand with its fingers crossed.
    • In "Scary-oke", both Stan and Dipper do it when promising to be more honest with each other, even though they don't quite trust each other anyway.
    • A Northwest in a painting is shown crossing his fingers behind his back while making a deal with a Native chief in "Northwest Mansion Noir/Mystery."

    M 
  • The Mad Hatter: Bill Cipher, definitely.
    Gideon: You're insane!
    Bill: Sure I am, what's your point?
  • Magic Skirt: Mabel defies gravity to the point that on one occasion, she is lying flat and holding Waddles straight up in the air with her feet. Her skirt 'hangs' straight up.
  • The Magazine Rule:
    • The characters have some interesting magazine subscriptions, such as Wendy's Indie Fuzz, Lake Ranger McGucket's Stoic Monthly, and Stan's Gold Chains for Old Men Magazine ("That's a good issue").
    • In "Scary-oke", Dipper finds a chest full of magazines in Stan's room featuring nothing but pictures of women in full dresses, winter coats, and one-piece wetsuits, which he finds disgusting but also somewhat confusing.
      Dipper: Pretending I never saw that...
    • In "Soos and the Real Girl", Wendy avoids eye contact, appropriately, by burying her face in a copy of Avoiding Eye Contact Monthly.
  • The Makeover: The girls try to give one to Dipper while having a sleepover. Also, Mabel gives "Flash Makeovers" to various characters in the "Mabel's Guide to Beauty" short.
  • Make Wrong What Once Went Right: In "The Time Traveler's Pig" Dipper tries to win a toy for Wendy at the fair, while at another stall Mabel delightedly wins Waddles the pig. Unfortunately, Dipper only succeeds in hitting Wendy in the eye with a ball, causing her to go off with Robbie. After obtaining the time machine Dipper makes several attempts to return to the past and prevent the accident, only for it to keep happening in different ways. Eventually, Dipper figures out how to make the ball miss Wendy and hit the target, but Mabel has to be there to help him, so she isn't there to win Waddles and Pacifica wins him instead. Seeing how unhappy this makes Mabel, Dipper realizes he has no choice but to go back and restore the original timeline.
  • Maligned Mixed Marriage: Parodied; one man in town actually married a woodpecker — legal according to the Gravity Falls town charter, but still acknowledged by others as strange and archaic, to say the least. The humiliation he felt even led him to join the Society of the Blind Eye. Their relationship is also frigid and bicker, mostly due to his refusal to adapt to the lifestyle of a bird.
  • Mama Bear: Soos' grandmother in "Blendin's Game". After his deadbeat dad misses one birthday too many, Abuelita curses him out and threatens to tear him limb from limb if he ever shows his face at her home again, before masking her rage with a great big smile so she can try to soothe Soos's pain.
  • Manchild:
    • Soos is a ball of childlike wonderment. At 22 years old, Soos lives with his grandmother and fantasizes about Stan adopting him and renaming him Stan Jr. His hobbies include playing with video games and toy cars. Stan even calls him a Manchild to his face.
    • In "Soos and the Real Girl", Soos meets Melody, a woman who shares his love of the simpler things in life and feels resentment toward the pressures of adulthood. They hit if off instantly and, by the end of the episode, become an Official Couple.
  • Marry Them All: In "The Love God", Mabel is shown a vision of all of her ex-crushes as a distraction. Dipper is frustrated to see that it's working and that she's attempting to marry all of them.
  • Mars Needs Women: G-Rated version with Mabel and the gnomes in "Tourist Trapped".
    Jeff: Your sister's not in any danger. She's just marrying all 1,000 of us and becoming our Gnome Queen for all eternity! Isn't that right, honey?
    Mabel: You guys are butt-faces!
  • Marshmallow Hell: When Dipper and Wendy are locked in the tiny closet by Mabel in "Into the Bunker", compressed air forces them into each other, and you can very briefly see Dipper's face in her chest. Straight after it happens, Dipper's gaze actually moves to Wendy's chest before looking away again!
  • Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Wendy is the Masculine Girl to Robbie's Feminine Boy; she's an athletic Lad-ette and he's a melodramatic Dandy. She's also the Masculine Girl to Dipper's Feminine Boy, albeit to a lesser degree; she's more boisterous, athletic, and reckless than the generally reserved, nerdy, and cautious Dipper (though he does become more outgoing as the series goes on and has displayed athletic feats more than once). All things considered however, Dipper is a Guile Hero who tends to use violence as a last resort whereas Wendy is an Action Girl who enjoys a good brawl.
    Wendy: "We're crazed, angry, sweaty animals! We're not unicorns, we're women, and we take what we want!"
  • Masked Luchador:
    • Soos dresses as one for Summerween.
    • The father Mabel Land generates for Soos in "Escape From Reality".
  • Meaningful Echo: When the police ask The Cute Biker what to do with Gideon in "Gideon Rises" he simply says "Get 'im" with tears in his eyes.
  • Matchmaker Failure: In "The Love God", Mabel tries to cure Robbie of his depression by using one of the Love God's potions to set him up with Tambry. This backfires horribly as it causes Wendy's group of friends to break up, as Wendy hates Tambry for dating her ex-boyfriend while Nate gets pissed off at Robbie because he also had a crush on Tambry and apparently told Robbie about this in confidence so he wouldn't date her until Nate asked her out first. Mabel desperately tries to fix it using an anti-love potion but winds up making things worse and invoking Love God's wrath. In the end, it's Thompson who manages to convince the group to stay together by deliberately humiliating himself in public, while Robbie and Tambry stay together as a couple.
  • Meaningful Name: In "Irrational Treasure", it's revealed that Gravity Falls got its name from its founder, Quentin Trembley, literally falling into the region after plummeting off a cliff.
    • The name Gravity Falls takes on another meaning when Ford describes it as an epicenter of "weirdness". It's never made clear if weird things get drawn to Gravity Falls like a "weirdness black hole" (in which case the town's "gravity well" pulls them in) or if weird things originate from the town and occasionally drift outward. Either interpretation (very loosely) mimics the way regular gravity operates. In fact, this becomes relevant to the series finale. It's implied that Bill and his henchmaniacs are "too weird" to escape from the town's "event horizon".
    • Pacifica means "peaceful." her Heel–Face Turn brings peace to the Lumberjack Ghost, as well as her family name.
    • Gideon means "feller of trees." And he has a conflict with the Pines family.
  • Medium Blending:
    • The "Clay Day" segment from "Little Gift Shop of Horrors" works in a lot of Stop Motion claymation, along with a picture of intentionally horrible CGI.
    • The credits of "Sock Opera" features live-action puppetry.
    • The Art Shift scene in "Weirdmageddon" includes a live-action shift.
    • Mabel's dream boys Xyler and Kraz are done in an '80s animation style.
  • Meet Cute: Soos and Melody in "Soos and the Real Girl." He even meets her during her shift at a restaurant called "Meat Cute!" She sees him riding the toy train in the mall and compliments him on his willingness to have childlike fun. They share a brief, adorable banter before arranging a date, and she leaves him with a few quarters for more train rides.
  • Memory-Wiping Crew: The Blind Eye Society is dedicated to preserving the Weirdness Censor in Gravity Falls by erasing the townsfolk's memories of anything supernatural they encounter.
  • Message in a Bottle: This is how Mermando keeps in touch with Mabel.
  • Messy Pig:
  • Mighty Lumberjack: Parodied by Manly Dan, a hulking behemoth of a man who roars every line of dialogue, fishes by punching the fish out of the water, assaults inanimate objects for quasi-imagined slights, and can't even walk around in his own house without breaking everything. Manly Dan's daughter, Wendy, also counts; not to the extent of her father, but she can hold her own with an axe and she excelled at lumberjack games when she was younger.
  • Mind-Control Device: In "The Stanchurian Candidate", Dipper and Mabel use a mind-controlling necktie on Stan so he can be a better mayoral candidate.
  • Mind-Control Music: Used by Robbie in "Boyz Crazy".
  • Mind Rape:
    • Looking into a Gremloblin's eyes will reveal your worst nightmare.
    • Bill Cipher's nightmare ray, which he unleashes on the protagonists after they anger him in "Dreamscaperers" has a similar effect.
  • Mind Screw: "Not What He Seems" hits Dipper and Mabel with multiple revelations: they discover the Universe Portal and Journal #1 in Stan's possession, find multiple fake IDs indicating that Stan's identity isn't real, a newspaper clipping indicating that Stan is dead, and finally meet the Author of the Journals: Stan's twin brother. None of this is explained until the follow-up episode, "A Tale of Two Stans"
  • Mini-Golf Episode: The episode "The Golf War" sees Dipper, Mabel, and Pacifica fighting multiple factions of "Lilliputians," little golf-ball-headed residents of the mini-golf course where Mabel and Pacifica were to have a golf-off.
  • Misery Builds Character: Discussed in "Dreamscaperers" to be the reason Stan is so hard on Dipper.
  • Misplaced Wildlife:
    • All the bears on the show have been grizzlies, despite only black bears living in Oregon today.
    • "Dipper vs. Manliness" inexplicably showed alligators.
    • "The Love God" and "Weirdmageddon Part 1" had what appeared to be a European badger instead of a North American one.
    • "Land Before Swine" showed tree-sap-preserved Spinosaurus (possibly, only its tail and part of its sail were seen). Spinosaurus lived in Africa. For that matter, all of the other dinosaurs qualify as well, since none of their fossils were found in Oregon (though most are at least known from the western USA in general, making them a downplayed example).
  • Missing Mom: Wendy's mother is "sadly, no longer with her". A coded message in the "Lost Legends" comic suggests she's in another dimension.
  • "Mister Sandman" Sequence:
    • In the first few moments of the episode "Irrational Treasure," the Pines family is bombarded with covered wagons, butter churns, livestock, old-timey speech mannerisms, and banjo music, because it's Pioneer Day (to Stan's horror). There is also an excessive number of woodpeckers, but that's a historical marker unique to Gravity Falls.
    • When Dipper and Mabel flash through various eras in "The Time Traveler's Pig," one such escapade includes heading to "Ye Old Oregon Trail," as announced by the driver of a covered wagon over a treacherous cavern's edge; he also mentions to his wife "Fertilia" that she must have popped out two more children when he wasn't looking. There's also a man offering dysentery
    • Parodied in "Boyz Crazy," when Grunkle Stan reminisces about his youth — cut to "The Juke Joint," complete with neon lighting, jukeboxes, corny signs, and cherry-on-top milkshakes, plus a young "bad-boy" Stan dressed to resemble James Dean. It's not a 1950's diner, though (Stan isn't old enough for that), but rather a 1970's diner themed to resemble the 1950's. As further proof, Stan's girlfriend wears 1970s-style hot pants and later falls for a hippie guitarist.
      Stan: My memories get a little hallucination-y at the end, but you get the gist.
  • Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: In "Dipper vs. Manliness", Dipper meets the Multi-Bear, a massive bear with multiple heads. He's sent to kill it as his final test to become a man but discovers that the Multi-Bear is actually a pretty nice guy. They bond over their mutual love of Icelandic pop sensation BABBA.
  • Modesty Towel: The Manotaurs wear towels all of the time as their only clothing. A scene near the beginning of the episode also shows Dipper with one in the bathroom.
  • Moment Killer:
    • In "The Legend of the Gobblewonker", Grunkle Stan unwittingly interrupts a man who is about to propose to his girlfriend, and proceeds to tell a joke about how awful marriage is.
      Stan: Wanna hear a joke? Here goes: My ex-wife still misses me… BUT HER AIM IS GETTIN' BETTER! …Her aim is gettin' better! …Y'see, it's… it's funny because marriage is terrible!
    • Inverted in "The Time Traveler's Pig". At a carnival game, Dipper accidentally hits Wendy in the eye with a baseball, prompting her and Robbie to have a tender moment as he soothes her injury with his ice cone. This allows Robbie the opportunity to ask Wendy to be his girlfriend, shattering Dipper's romantic aspirations toward her. He spends the rest of the episode trying to use time travel to undo his mistake and prevent their moment from ever happening.
  • Monster Munch: Parodied with Gourney, who literally first appears seconds after the Summerween Trickster reveals itself and gets immediately eaten to prove the Trickster isn't all bark and no bite. Subverted when he survives to happily declare "I've been traumatized!"
    Remember me!
  • Motion-Capture Mecha: This is the method Gideon uses to control his giant robot in "Gideon Rises", operated by an actual motion capture suit. The suit proves to be the robot's downfall when Dipper punches Gideon with his own hand, making the robot do the same.
  • The Multiverse: Mentioned by Ford. Specifically, the Gravity Falls universe is Dimension 46'\ (pronounced "Forty-six apostrophe backslash") as stated by Probabilitor.
  • Muggles: Most of the residents of Gravity Falls are blissfully unaware of the supernatural occurrences due to the efforts of the Blind Eye Society, which uses Laser-Guided Amnesia to prevent the townsfolk from remembering their encounters with the supernatural.
  • Mundanger: Sort of, in Not What He Seems. While there is a giant portal that could very well cause The End of the World as We Know It in Stan's basement motivating the plot, it's not technically the biggest threat. The biggest threat would be the FBI agents adhering to proper protocol at times like this, getting children out of a bad situation and arresting a known criminal... which, given the portal and its possible consequences, comes across as Be as Unhelpful as Possible.
  • Mushroom Samba: In Episode 5, Mabel goes through one after eating a banned candy product.
  • My Friends... and Zoidberg: In "Double Dipper", Gruncle Stan addresses the staff for the party as "Party People...and Dipper".
  • Myth Arc: Several episodes revolve around the mysterious Journals and their Author, the mysterious Universe Portal, and a demon named Bill Cipher who appears in some fashion in every episode, with ominous intentions and portents of the impending apocalypse.
    He's always watching.

    N 
  • Naked People Are Funny: Stan in both "Summerween" and "Boss Mabel", Unfortunately.
  • Near-Villain Victory: Gideon Gleeful in "Gideon Rises": By the episode's halfway point, he's essentially won: He stole the Shack's deed (which makes him the owner due to the town's property laws), kicked Grunkle Stan and the twins out, took Waddles (to make Mabel miserable), plans to tear down the Mystery Shack and build a tacky theme park, got Journal 3 after an attempt by Dipper and Mabel to fight back fails, made Stan hit Rock Bottom, and could possibly send the kids home early because he can't take care of them. But then he realizes that he doesn't have Journal 1, assumes Dipper is hiding it, and goes after them. Cue the twins defeating him, Stan exposing him for the fraud he is, and the Pines getting the Shack and Waddles back.
  • The Needless: Bill Cipher, at least conceivably. He's shown to have no understanding of the concept of needing sleep and, unless he's inhabiting a body, can't experience tactile sensations.
  • Nerves of Steel: During "The Inconveniencing", Wendy is the only character who doesn't panic once (she's scared, but she can still think straight). Shown off again in "Into The Bunker", where she remains relatively calm the entire time she is under the attack of The Shapeshifter, even taking the time to tend to one of her injuries. To really drive it home, during Weirdmageddon, she winds up representing the ice pack on the Zodiac due to her ability to be cool in the face of danger.
  • Nervous Wreck: Blendin Blandin is extremely high-strung and always seems to be on the verge of freaking out. Exploited by Blendin himself in "Blendin's Game". While trying to apprehend Dipper and Mabel, he uses the annoyance of being around him to motivate his escorts.
    Blendin: I'm going to keep stammering until you find them! I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I
    Lolph: I hate that guy.
  • Never Learned to Read: In "Irrational Treasure", Mabel speculates that Deputy Durland doesn't know how to read. Durland confirms Mabel's guess in "Bottomless Pit" when he asks Stan to teach him.
  • Never Say "Die": An extremely rare Disney Channel example that averts this, and gloriously so. Hell, they even got away with the phrase "suicide mission" in the series finale!
    • Not to mention this line, which plays this trope straight... by saying something even worse:
  • New-Age Retro Hippie: One once came between Stan and Carla.
  • New Weird: During Dipper and Mabel's stay in Gravity Falls, they encountered various supernatural occurrences. Many of which include living lawn gnomes, ghosts, cursed wax statues, time travelers, a merman, and Dinosaurs.
  • Nice Guy:
    • Though they're hardly perfect and each has their own flaws, the twins are still a genuinely compassionate and friendly pair of kids.
    • Soos doesn't have a mean bone in his body, going out of his way at every opportunity to help a friend in need and earn his place as an honorary member of the Pines family.
    • In "Dipper vs. Manliness", the Multibear is pretty darn amiable for a bear with several dozen heads. It's enough to convince Dipper to give up his task of killing him.
    • Mermando, while a bit strange, is a genuinely kind young merman. He's by far the most pleasant of Mabel's crushes, and even got the honor of giving her her first kiss.
    • Sev'ral Timez, despite being dim-witted, are all very kind to Mabel and her friends once they rescue them.
  • Nightmare Fuel:
    • In-universe, Mabel's "Bear-O" puppet from "The Tooth", which is capable of bringing other children to tears within seconds. Even Dipper finds it unsettling.
    Dipper: No, creepy. Bear-O's creepy, everyone hates Bear-O.
    • Invoked again with the disturbing broken-down "nugget maker" Ol' Goldie, which now does nothing more than rattle violently, emit a piercing scream, and leak oil out of its mouth. Wendy nervously suggests getting rid of it, as it reminds everyone of "the inevitability of death". Even Stan is terrified when it bites down suddenly on his arm.
    • Mabel is shown to have an intense fear of stop-motion and Claymation creatures. Eventually, after learning that it's all created with dark magic, she cheerfully considers this phobia justified, ironically getting over it somewhat.
  • Nobody Poops: Averted in "Double Dipper", where Wendy and Pacifica are shown taking a bathroom break.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Dipper is a fan of "girly Icelandic pop sensation BABBA" and their hit "Disco Girl", an obvious reference to Swedish pop group ABBA and their song "Dancing Queen".
  • No Communities Were Harmed: The fictional town of Gravity Falls, Oregon was probably inspired by many local landmarks/tourist traps from both Humboldt County, California, and southern Oregon. According to the map in the first episode, however, Gravity Falls should be located somewhere in the Cascades.
  • No Fair Cheating: The Tumbleweed Terror pinball game really does not want you to tilt it.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Dipper and Gideon in "Gideon Rises". Dipper wins.
  • Non-Natural Number Gag:
    • The 8 1/2th president of the United States, Quentin Trembly (the 9th president that, officially, does not exist).
    • The -$12 bill, one of Trembly's many acts as president that lead to the US government pretending that he never existed.
    • The infinity-sided die, an artifact from another dimension that, when rolled, can cause anything to happen.
  • Non-Lethal K.O.: In "Fight Fighters" Dipper defeats Rumble McSkirmish by allowing it to happen to himself.
  • No-Sell: Lolph's codpiece does this and broadcasts its product's thanks after.
  • No Song for the Wicked: Inverted. Gideon's Villain Song was the only traditional song that made it onto the show.
  • Non-Standard Character Design:
    • Most children have four-fingered hands while adults have 5 fingers.
    • Rumble McSkirmish from the episode "Fight Fighters" is a video game character brought to life, and as such is rendered as 16-bit pixel art reminiscent of Street Fighter.
    • Mabel's fantasy boys Xyler and Kraz look like they're straight from an 80s cartoon than the original designs from the show.
    • Gabe Bensen and the Boy Band Sev'ral Timez are the only characters in the series so far with visible blue irises in their eyes instead of just pupils.
    • The Liliputtians are all silly golf-ball-headed people with cartoony faces, except for the one from the castle hole, who has unusually chiseled, realistic features.
    • Giffany has a very Animesque design since she's meant to invoke the image of a character from a Japanese Dating Sim game.
  • Noodle Incident: Lampshaded in "The Deep End". According to Mabel, something happened between her and two vampires that she only ever mentions in one off-hand comment. Dipper notes that he doesn't remember that, and she informs him that she doesn't tell him everything. Whether this happened or whether she's just making things up based on her Twilight-inspired obsession, though, is hard to know.
    • Stan has a lot of these, including one where he was locked in a car and had to chew his way out. No other details are given.
    • According to Mabel's scrapbook, the twins have also apparently won a dogsled race against a space lizard.
  • Noodle Implements: The cure for zombification.
    Dipper: [reading from journal] It's gonna take a lot of formaldehyde.
    Mabel: Ooh, and cinnamon.
  • No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: In "A Tale of Two Stans", it's revealed that all of the government's data on their investigation into Grunkle Stan and Gravity Falls is stored in a single flash drive. Apparently, they did not keep paper files or a backup copy in one of their presumably many databases.
  • No Peripheral Vision: Inverted with the pterodactyl baby, which has nothing but peripheral vision. This is exploited for the group to escape from it.
  • No Prison Segregation: Gideon Gleeful, despite being a child, is incarcerated in an adult prison after the events of the Season One Finale. This was down to the fact that the town's founder Quentin Trembly was utterly nuts and wrote a series of Loony Laws that the town still practiced (mostly cause most of them are kookie at best as well). This doesn't stop him from menacing the Pines Family in both the series finale after making a deal with Bill Cipher and on one other occasion.
  • Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: When Soos is turned into a zombie in "Scary-oke," he quickly gains a reputation for being a genius because he isn't completely brain-dead.
  • No Yay: Invoked. This is how Grunkle Stan reacts to him and Soos having an awkward moment in "Golf War".
    Soos: (Lying next to him, shirtless) There sure are a lot of stars out tonight...
    Stan: Welp, this is getting weird. [Gets up and leaves]
  • No, You: Stan and Mabel have this exchange in "Dipper vs. Manliness".
    Mabel: Grunkle Stan, why you ackin' so cray-cray?
    Stan: You're the one who's ackin' cray-cray!
  • The Nose Knows: Mabel has sensed Robbie coming in "The Time Traveler's Pig" from smelling a gallon of body spray, and "Fight Fighters" due to smelling anger and hormones.
    • Dipper can identify Mabel's breakfast (an entire tube of toothpaste) by smelling her breath. While that one is obvious (although knowing the quantity is impressive) he was confident that he could do it even if it had been a more mundane meal.
  • No Smoking: In "Headhunters" the wax model of Groucho Marx isn't holding his signature cigar. Lampshaded by Groucho as he's killed.
  • Nothing Is Scarier: Played for Laughs in "Dipper vs. Manliness", as we never find out exactly what is in the Pain Hole that makes it so painful.
  • Nothing Is the Same Anymore: At the end of "Not What He Seems", the Author of the Journals is finally revealed to be Stan's twin brother Ford. Dipper's quest to solve the mystery of the Journals is brought to a close, as is Stan's tinkering with the Universe Portal in the basement lab. Ford joins the cast as the plot's focus shifts to his mysterious experiments, the damage Stan's activation of the Universe Portal has done to the fabric of reality, and the impending apocalypse threatened by Bill Cipher.
  • Not So Above It All: Dipper may be the Straight Man to Mabel, but there have been many, many times where he joins in on her silliness with a smile on his face.
  • Not-So-Phony Psychic: Double Subverted by Li'l Gideon. In "The Hand That Rocks the Mabel", Gideon is introduced as a child psychic running the Tent of Telepathy, a bitter competitor of the Mystery Shack. His telepathic abilities are clearly demonstrated to be the result of Cold Reading obvious traits. However, one trick of his is to get everyone to jump out of their seats, which is revealed to be the product of genuine telekinetic ability. The telekinesis, however, is generated by a magic brooch pinned to his suit that anyone can wear, rather than any innate power of Gideon's. Without the brooch, he's as powerless as anyone else.
  • Not the Nessie: In the Episode "The Legend of the Gobblewonker", the titular lake monster turns out to be a robot controlled by local kook/Mad Scientist Old Man McGucket who builds it to get attention from his son who works at the lake. Though the end reveals that there actually is a Loch Ness style monster living in the lake.
  • Not What It Looks Like: When Mabel in Dipper's body spies on Dipper (in Mabel's body), Candy and Grenda reading romantic novels through a keyhole, Stan comes by and thinks "Dipper" is "at that creepy age when he spies on girls" and decides to give "him" The Talk.
  • N-Word Privileges: The Duck-tective doesn't like it when a human makes bird-related puns but finds it okay for him and his fellow birds to come up with such jokes.

    O 
  • Obviously Fake Signature: In Mabel’s segment of “Bottomless Pit”, when Grunkle Stan is caught teaching a bear to drive, he manages to fool the sheriff with a forged note from “Dr. Medicine” about needing a “seeing-eye bear”. Bonus points for forging the letter as they’re watching.
  • Occult Detective: Both of the twins, but Dipper especially.
  • Odd Friendship: Mabel and Robbie have one. The two of them make friends by the end of "The Love God" after Robbie expresses his appreciation to Mabel for her hooking him up with Tambry. A scrapped animated Polaroid was supposed to play in the credits of the series finale that shows Mabel painting Robbie's nails. Mabel is an optimistic All-Loving Heroine who wears bright clothes and is almost always smiling, whereas Robbie is a pessimistic Jerkass (at least initially) who wears dark clothes and is quite moody.
  • Odd Organ Up Top:
    • The Shape Shifter from "Into the Bunker" transformed into a creature with a fist for a head, with one eye and mouth in its "palms."
    • Mabel summoned a centaur-taur in "Dungeons, Dungeons, & More Dungeons." It is a horse whose head... is an entire horse's body. It's basically the result of putting two headless horses together.
    • "Teeth," from Bill Cipher's invasion posse, is a gummed set of teeth with limbs that wouldn't look out of place as a mascot in oral hygiene commercials.
  • Off Screen Moment Of Awesome: Dipper gets these twice:
    • It's never revealed how he caught the Greimobln in "Boss Mabel". He rushes out of the Mystery Shack to find a creature with nothing but a large mace and the Journal. The next time we see him, he's dragging the creature in a burlap bag.
    • In "Northwest Mansion Mystery" Pacifica decides to ask for his help after seeing a newspaper photo of Dipper fighting off a giant vampire bat with nothing but a taser while protecting the cops. The context for the incident is sadly never discussed.
    • A lot of Ford's life is this trope, especially his travels in the Multiverse. Some of it was shown in Gravity Falls: Journal 3.
  • Oh, My Gods!: Dundgren, the time cop from the far, far future, said "May Time Baby have mercy on their souls", suggesting that the Time Baby set himself up as some sort of god-king.
  • Older Hero vs. Younger Villain: Stan, a man old enough to be a great uncle vs Gideon, a psychopathic child.
  • Old-Fashioned Rowboat Date: Gideon takes Mabel on one.
  • Ominous Owl: Owls appear to be a reoccurring motif, as an owl or the image of one usually appears at least *Once an Episode. A Freeze-Frame Bonus in the "Stan's Tattoo" short gives us some text that reads "All secret societies worship a hyper-intelligent barn owl named Duane 'The Enforcer' Roosevelt. Most meetings consist of saying the secret oath, dressing in robes, hooting, gluing owl feathers to their skin, and devouring gophers whole in honor of their beloved barn owl overload. But not all secret societies worship barn owls, some of them worship western screeching owls. Also: Other owl-related jokes. In addition: Owls, owls, owls, owls, owls. And remember, when you don't know where else to turn just ask yourself: 'What would Duane Do?' Which is: Use your creepy heart-shaped face to see your prey, swoop down from a tree, eat an adult male vole, then cough up his bones into a disgusting ball that kids will later open in a high school biology class."
  • One-Eyed Bats: Bill's mions are one-eyed bats that petrify living creatures and turn people to stone.
  • One of the Boys: Wendy tends to refer to everybody as "buddy" or "dude", even Mabel. She's one of two girls in her social group as most of her friends are guys, and the audience's introduction to the group consists of Wendy outperforming the boys in a physical challenge. She spits, she brawls, and she gets her fashion sense from her father, Manly Dan. However, she's also got a strong femininity about her as well. She often teams up with Mabel on feminine activities, whether it's a random dance party for no reason or defending Lazy Susan's make-up.
    • Wendy is actually a Deconstruction of this trope. At the beginning of "Boyz Crazy", she smugly agrees with Dipper when he scoffs at Mabel and her friends' FanGirl behavior over Sev'ral Timez—yet at the end of the episode, after finding out that Robbie brainwashed her and when Dipper tries to take advantage of the situation, she reacts very emotionally and accuses guys off only thinking about themselves, showing that despite her tomboyishness, she's a girl nevertheless with stereotypically feminine feelings. She's also stated that she works at the Mystery Shack to avoid her family, and reveals in "Society of the Blind Eye" that being the only girl in a family of hypermasculine lumberjacks has had devastating effects on her stress levels, which is why she constantly puts on a relaxed front.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Dipper, after the Big Dipper-shaped birthmark on his forehead. the Defictionalization of Journal 3 reveals that his birth name is Mason.
  • Only Sane Man:
    • Downplayed, but Dipper's companions rarely took him as seriously as they ought to.
    • Tad Strange is described in "The Stanchurian Candidate" as the only normal person in Gravity Falls.
  • One Scene, Two Monologues: The conversation between Wendy and Mabel in "The Hand That Rocks the Mabel." Mabel asks Wendy about breakups, prompting Wendy to recount the breakups she's had in her life while Mabel continues to vent her frustrations about her Stalker with a Crush, neither listening to the other.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
    • In "The Society of the Blind Eye", when Mabel is feeling bummed out about her failed summer romances, Wendy first catches on by noticing that she walked by a cat and didn't pet it.
    • Mabel is perpetually optimistic and nearly always happy, but she's dynamic enough that she still gets upset at things as most people would. Seeing her actually cry, however, is reserved only for the most critical of circumstances, like, say, the entire universe being seconds away from destruction.
  • Origami Gag: In "Irrational Treasure", while following a series of clues, Dipper and Mabel find a parchment full of seemingly nonsensical symbols. Spotting one that might represent fire, he concludes that a clue will be revealed by burning the parchment. Before he can, though, he turns to see that Mabel has already taken the parchment and folded it into an origami hat… which actually turns out to have been the correct thing to do as she has unknowingly folded it into a map that leads to the next clue.
  • Origins Episode: "Tale of Two Stans" depicts the origin story for Stan, the Mystery Shack, and Stan's twin brother Ford, the Author of the Journals.
  • Our Cryptids Are More Mysterious: Some cryptids appear alongside more traditional fantasy creatures.
  • Our Demons Are Different: Bill Cipher is a demon that seems to exist only in the mindscape. A living representation of the Eye of Providence, Bill can be reached through a Summoning Ritual that causes the world to become black and white. It's implied that any time a character has spoken directly with Bill, they were asleep; he cannot manifest in the physical world without inhabiting a body. His demonic powerset includes the standard Deal with the Devil and invading a person's mind through their dreams... unless he manages to get a physical form of his own, at which point all bets are off.
  • Our Ghosts Are Different: They seem to be virtually omnipotent within the place they haunt.
  • Our Gnomes Are Weirder:
    • They seem to be a One-Gender Race who needs to find a human girl to be their queen. Also, they vomit rainbows and can join together to make a giant monster.
    • Invoked in "Gideon Rises". When Mabel and Dipper find him taking a bath in frenetic squirrels, Jeff frantically attempts to use this as a defense, but the way he volunteers the excuse without being prompted coupled with his body language makes it clear he's lying.
      Jeff: Ahh! This... this is normal. This is normal for gnomes! Scrub, scrub.
  • Our Mermaids Are Different: They apparently go through puberty quite early and have seventeen hearts ("Horrifying but true!") They're pretty standard otherwise.
  • Our Minotaurs Are Different: The Manotaurs are "manly" and extremely muscular minotaurs that terrify even Manly Dan. They're an aggressive, hostile bunch that hates anything "not manly" and aren't above cannibalism if there's a weak Manotaur in the group.
  • Our Monsters Are Weird:
    • In "The Inconveniencing", Dipper opens the ice cooler in a haunted convenience store and is confronted by a horrific disembodied brain with tendrils and eye stalks.
    • In "Dipper vs. Manliness", Dipper meets the Multibear, a jumble of several bears' worth of body parts piled together in a random assortment.
  • Our Slogan Is Terrible:
    • Greasy's Diner, "We have food".
    • In his youth, Stan's failing self-industry had several of these for the products he tried to sell.
      • His vacuum brand, the Stan Vac: "It sucks more than anything".
      • His laundry sheet, the Sham Total: "It's a total sham!"
      • His band-aid, the Rip Off: "It won't give you rashes!" It gave you rashes.
  • Our Time Machine Is Different: It looks like a tape measure.
  • Our Zombies Are Different: They're fairly standard if a bit frightening, except for two things: one, they appear to be summoned out of some kind of Hell-portal instead of just coming out of the ground, and two, being bitten by one doesn't affect your personality in the slightest, it just makes you crave human flesh.
  • Overly Literal Transcription: "Bottomless Pit!" has the characters taking turns telling stories, with appropriate title cards popping up when the characters announce the title for their mini-story. When it's Soos' turn, the unnamed narrator does this.
    Soos: I've got a story. It's called "Soos' Really Great Pinball Story!" (beat) Is that a good title? Do they have to be, like, puns or whatever?
    [cut to title card reading: "SOOS' REALLY GREAT PINBALL STORY! Is That A Good Title? Do They Have To Be, Like, Puns Or Whatever?"]
  • Overly Long Gag:
    • The credits gag from the pilot, the entirety being a gnome vomiting rainbows on an endless loop.
    • Also, the credits from "Double Dipper," with Soos pressing every sound effect on the keyboard.
    • And then in "Bottomless Pit," the entire credits gag is Stan falling with an annoyed expression on his face.
    • Rumble's combo on Dipper.
    Narrator: SUPER POWER NINJA TURBO NEO ULTRA HYPER MEGA MULTI ALPHA META EXTRA UBER PREFIX... COMBO!!!


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