History Characters / SouthParkStanMarsh

* UndyingLoyalty: To Jesus, whose advice he trusts more than his own father's.

** In general, Jesus always seems to be his go-to advisor, when Chef or Garrison don't prove to be of help, such as in "Are You There God? It's me Jesus", "Super Best Friends", or "200". The sign that he's truly fallen into depression comes when he scoffs at the idea of asking him for help early in "Post Covid", and the moment when it's clear that HesBack is when he brings it back up in a more positive light at the end of the episode.

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* TheAlcoholic: [[spoiler:Stan had intakes of whiskey in "Ass Burgers". The ending of the episode implies he may stay that way, [[SnapBack though it hasn't been mentioned again since]]. One could argue this was foreshadowed in "Trapped in the Closet", when he asks, "What if I become an alcoholic, like Grandpa?".]]

* CannotTalkToWomen: Without puking on them if he likes them. This trait has disappeared in recent seasons. In "Deep Learning" Stan struggles to have intimate conversations with Wendy via texts, causing him to become reliant on [=ChatGPT=] and nearly ruin their relationship.

* DysfunctionalFamily: His parent's relationship is a perpetual rollercoaster, repeatedly getting separated and back together again. In recent seasons their relationship has deteriorated as Randy has, amongst other things, gaslit Sharon into apathy about her children's wellbeing. Both are completely indifferent to Shelley's rage issues and her abuse of Stan, and ignore Marvin's blatant suicidal ideation. Moreover, Randy regularly drives his entire family into misery with his insane exploits. Telling is that they require Randy to be high on his own marijuana to work together.
* DrowningMySorrows: [[spoiler:Often involuntarily throughout "Ass Burgers".]]

** In a similar vein, despite how much he loathes his father for his inept and sometimes abusive attitude, Stan is very concerned for him when he gets shot in "Japanese Toilet", and spends the rest of the episode trying to do him justice.

* FatalFlaw: His obsession with being liked by everyone, and his tendency to put his image in front of whatever goal he actually sets. Though he tries to deny it, Stan cares very much about what people think of him, and he's not above ignoring his values to achieve a better social standing. Episodes like "With Apologies to Jessie Jackson" and "The Big Fix" both show him almost ruining his friendship with Tolkien because of his insistence in fixing a mistake that he or his father made making him come across as haughty, and "Butterballs" and "Gluten Free Ebola" have him insensitively using a good cause as a means to promote himself as a hero. Butters calls him out on this in "Going Native", as does Wendy in "Gluten Free Ebola". Episodes like "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub", "South Park is Gay", "Guitar Queer-O", and "All About Mormons" also show that his submission to peer pressure can stop him from making new friends or put his relationship with his old ones in jeopardy.

* GrowingUpSucks: The show has "You're Getting Old", where Stan turns 10 and realizes how shitty things are progressively getting to the point of seeing and hearing nothing but shit, a disorder called by a doctor "Being a cynical asshole". This leads to an end of his friendships and with his mother divorcing Randy after not being able to take his shenanigans anymore, moving away from South Park. Of course humorously, Status Quo fixes everything by the next episodes end. Though Stan need a little "[[DrowningMySorrows help]]" to get through the days now. Plenty of other episodes show that Stan doesn't cope well with change. His BadFuture adulthood is also shown to be the most depressing, as he burned all of his bridges and never formed any other relationships.

** In "Butterballs", he genuinely believed he was helping Butters by spreading awareness to his case, though he later becomes more adamant in [[ItsAllAboutMe getting recognition for making his anti-bullying video]]. He has no idea that the person who's bullying him is ''his grandmother'', so his video wasn't helping at all.
** Stan is the last kid in his class to find out that Token is actually Tolkien without the excuse of being illiterate. Previously he'd tried to make amends with Tolkien when Randy said the N-word on television, failing to understand why Tolkien wouldn't readily absolve him of his guilt. Fortunately they seem to have become good friends since then, helped by Tolkien's family becoming Stan's neighbors.

** Stan's wardrobe has the exact same color palette as his mother's, and he also shares her maturity and sense of responsibility ([[NotSoAboveItAll or at least tries to]]).

** He also shares his depression with his grandfather, although Stan never got to the point of being a DeathSeeker. "Nobody Got Cereal?" shows another parallel between the two as they both make similar deals with Manbearpig at the expense of the next generation (though Stan is forced to by the rest of the town when they refuse to give up ''Red Dead Redemption II'' and Soy Sauce).

** After going through a terrible TraumaCongaLine in Season 24, he tragically becomes a full blown {{Jerkass}} as an adult in "Post Covid", where he allows [[SurroundedByIdiots his resentment]] towards everyone in South park (especially [[AbusiveParents his father]]) to turn him into a cynical asshole, and once he's quarantined in the town against his will, he starts lashing out at everyone ([[KickTheDog even Scott Malkinson]]) for petty reasons. Luckily, he has a JerkassRealization after seeing Kenny's [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech recording]], and he spends the following special trying ([[EarnYourHappyEnding and succeeding]]) to make amends and save the town.

* LikeFatherUnlikeSon: Zigzagged. Initially, Stan is contrasted with Randy, and is shown to be much more [[WackyParentSeriousChild responsible and morally upstanding than his thoughtless, idiotic and often self-centered father]], such as in "Pinewood Derby" or "Grey Dawn". However, as he grew more [[CharacterDevelopment cynical]] in later seasons, he displayed some Randy-like tendencies such as his self-absorbed behavior in "Butterballs" or "A Scause for Applause". The most recent seasons again underline their differences, see "Freemium Isn't Free", "Band in China", "The Pandemic Special". Ultimately, it's clear that Stan doesn't want to be like his dad, but has more in common with his father than he wants to admit, ironically pushing him to act more like him and make excuses for his behavior rather than face that fact.
* LovableJock: In the first four seasons, he was usually depicted as a "tender and mild" AllAmericanBoy who loved football. Nowadays, his specialization in football is more subtle in favor of him being generally athletic, and he's far more [[TheCynic jaded]] and [[{{Angst}} preoccupied with his own issues]], but still has some elements of the trope: getting along with the majority of people around him and willingly engaging in/exploring low-grade "geeky" activities like board games.
** This seems to come full circle in the revised future, where he's become a well-groomed and physically fit Master Sergeant of the Space Force and is clearly quite happy with the outcome, in addition to being sympathetic and loyal (and hard-working to boot).

* NoRespectGuy: Stan would usually get no respect from his {{Manchild}} of a father at the very least. His mother also turns a blind eye to any dramas in Stan's life such as his sister Shelly physically abusing him or his new fish leaving dead bodies in Stan's bedroom. His grandfather can't even remember his name. Though considering his grandfather suffers from Alzheimer's disease, this is more likely the cause rather than lack of respect.

** Also with his fellow LovableJock Clyde, who despite having flirted with Stan's girlfriend on both VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole and VideoGame/SouthParkPhoneDestroyer and not inviting him to his birthday party in "A Boy and A Priest", tried to defend him from Cartman and Butters' bullying in "The Cissy", and gave him ([[ToxicFriendInfluence bad]]) relationship advice in "Deep Learning", trusting him with his secret use of [=ChatGPT=]. On Stan's side, things are equally messy, as he personally told him to go fuck himself before "Go Fund Yourself" (shown in a deleted scene), but also comforted him while he was crying and defended him from Wendy's mean posts in VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole.

* RelationshipRevolvingDoor: With Wendy. Whether by his wrongdoing or hers, they've broken up three confirmed times and have reconciled after all three. Both can be shallow, InnocentlyInsensitive, jealous, and possessive, but they've proven to really care about each other.
** They break up for good in the BadFuture, with Wendy being married to another man and Stan getting himself an Alexa for a wife. However, after the present is fixed, they remain a couple, and in the revised future they arrange to spend new years together.

* SurroundedByIdiots: Often expresses this mentality outright when things go beyond absurd over clueless adults purely not understanding how society, the government, or religion works and in many cases trying to overwrite it. "The Biggest Douche in the Universe", "200" and "201", "Fat Butt and Pancake Head", "My Future Self 'n' Me" and "The Passion of the Jew" have him confront especially distrustful figures that call themselves "the authority".
** {{Deconstructed|Trope}} in "All About Mormons", [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech where he insensitively denounces the entirety of Mormonism]], including its values outside of made-up history like being kind and committed, because he believes the Harrisons are "blind" for not seeing gaps in logic. Stan is shown to be totally callous and unsympathetic for doing this, and Gary Harrison pays him in kind by expressing that he focuses on what matters to their community now, rather than a silly-sounding history that may as well not be true.
** In "The Pandemic Special", the adults' idiocy briefly drives him a bit [[SanitySlippage over the edge]] and he leads the other kids in breaking out of school, eventually admitting that he just wants his ''general'' life back from the pandemic.

* TeamDad: ZigZagged. Being the first to turn 10 makes Stan the eldest of the main boys, but not by much and it's rarely brought up. However, he is pretty much TheLeader, being a {{determinator}} who leads by example and prone to giving them emotional support. He's also probably the most mature from the group, considering he's the least impulsive and often the OnlySaneMan. He can also be [[BigBrotherInstinct very protective]] towards the others, sometimes to the point of risking his own life (though less so towards Cartman). Usually, if he disagrees with what they are doing, he won't hesitate from scolding them. Out of the main boys he fights the least with Cartman and the latter even respects him somehow, though that's not saying much. It's also important to note that it [[DependingOnTheWriter varies]] how selfless and responsible Stan is, especially when compared to Kyle.
** He goes so far with this role as putting a coat on Kenny's back when they dressed him up like Mr. Jefferson's son and taking care of Kyle's farm on Facebook when Kyle asked him to (similarly to how a little kid would ask their parent nonetheless), even though he found it annoying.
* {{Technopath}}: Toolshed has the superpower of psychic command over every form of power tool.
* TheStoic: Downplayed, as he still emotes on occasion (especially when Kenny dies), but due to [[SeenItAll being accustomed to the havocs that frequently occur in the town]] he's the one who loses his cool the least out of his team of friends, and usually endures most of his misadventures (including being possessed by Satan or being shot in the arm) with a straight face.

** Though he became a {{Jerkass}} as an adult, he had a JerkassRealization after seeing Kenny's message in "Post COVID", and in "Return of COVID", he went on to fix the BadFuture, his relationship with his dad and his and the other boys' friendship, causing his younger self to become much kinder in the new present. Following this, Stan took very extreme levels of kindness in season 24 and 25.

* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Stan's only 10 years old, yet has a vast knowledge and experience in politics, religion, and philosophy.

** Some of his {{Catch Phrase}}s are also used by his father, and the later seasons show that the two of them can be equally selfish, stubborn, and prone to obsessive behaviors, as much as Stan wants to deny it. As an adult, Stan also develops an alcoholism problem, which was also shared by Randy (as hinted in "Freemium isn't Free").

* GirlsHaveCooties: {{Downplayed}}. He doesn't show this as much as Kyle in the early seasons or [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero Cartman]] in the later ones, but he still has his moments, especially when in a group. He joins the others in making fun of the girls' volleyball team in "Cock Magic", has a sign in his room that reads "NO GIRLS" (likely intended for [[BigSisterBullyShelley]]), occasionally laughs at Cartman's jokes targeting girls, and sometimes dismisses or is impartial to Wendy's suggestions for dates. However, he doesn't laugh at Cartman's breast cancer jokes in "Breast Cancer Show Ever" or Skankhunt's many jabs at women in "Skank Hunt", and seemed to be trying to be more mature in "Oh Jeez" for Wendy's sake.

* CovertPervert:

** Some of his {{Catch Phrase}}s are also used by his father.
** Stan's wardrobe has the exact same color palette as his mother's.
** Stan's not above bullying more passive boys like Pip or Butters, much like his sister bullies him.

* BaritoneOfStrength: PlayedWith. He does have a fair share of badass moments, and while his voice isn't deep (at least not when compared to the adults) he does sound a lot older than he actually is and has the deepest voice out of the main four boys, and his voice does get noticeably deeper when he's angry or sad, making this a {{downplayed}} version at most. [[spoiler:However, his voice becomes legitimately deep and scary when singing metal.]]

* VocalDissonance: Stan is a cute looking PintSizedKid who is ten years old and wears a hat with a red puffball, yet he sounds rather like a teenager or even a young adult [[spoiler:(not to mention his metal voice)]]. It does fit his [[WiseBeyondTheirYears personality]] though.

* TheStoic: Downplayed, as he still emotes on occasion (especially when Kenny dies), but due to [[SeenItAll being accustomed to the havocs that frequently occur in the town]] he's the one who laughs, cries, and loses his cool the ''least'' out of his team of friends, and usually endures most of his misadventures (including being possessed by Satan or being shot in the arm) with a straight face.

** This is deconstructed with his relationship with Wendy. Though Stan cares a lot for her and has helped her out on several occasions, such as helping her stop the murder of Kathie Lee Gifford in "Weight Gain 4000", refusing to kill her zombie while Kyle cures her by killing Kenny in "Pinkeye", and defending her from Butters in "Butters' Bottom Bitch", he mostly shows this side of him only when he feels he's losing her. Because of this, his aloof attitude as a boyfriend has been the source of two of their falling outs, with a third one almost occurring on "Deep Learning".

* AnimalLover: Stan has consistently shown a love for animals. He is unable to kill animals when Jimbo takes him hunting in "Volcano", tries to save baby cows and temporarily becomes a vegetarian until he develops vagina sores in "Fun with Veals", attempts to return a goat to its rightful owners in "Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants" and sets out to save whales and dolphins from the Japanese in "Whale Whores", becoming captain of Whale Wars and sinking a number of Japanese ships in the process.

* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: He frequently uses gay as an insult, though he's quite nice to most LGBT people. When he mistakenly thinks Butters has come out as gay, he reassures him he doesn't care or think any differently of him for it.

* BerserkButton:
** Do ''not'' swindle his grandfather. He will call your phone number and actually tell you to ''kill yourself''.
** While he's mostly been desensitized to his father's stupidity, after having to endure being trapped with him during the COVID pandemic, ''everything'' surrounding him or Tegridy Farms has become his for him, to the point of burning the business down to the ground after one too many KickTheDog moments from Randy.

** [[spoiler: His career as Chief Master Sergeant of the US Space Force in the revised future suggests that he's got a good handle on complex control systems, has received or is going to receive a Legion of Merit, is fantastic at [[TheChessmaster planning and regrouping,]] has enough charisma to enjoy Fleet Week and motivate others, and can collaborate with other hive minds via [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant_colony_optimization_algorithms ant colony optimization]] or something similar that would require extensive knowledge on thinking things through scientifically and/or operations research.]]

** While Stan does have some [[JerkassBall Jerkass]] and KidsAreCruel moments, at the end of the day, he's still a decent and friendly guy. Episodes like "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub", "All About Mormons", and "Follow That Egg" show that Stan tries to put on a tough guy façade in front of others out of insecurity or to avoid being bullied himself.

* TallDarkAndHandsome: Is the tallest of the (seen) fourth-grade boys in the revised future, and certainly has [[CleansUpNicely cleaned up nicely]] since the previous one, which is made more noticeable by his [[spoiler: Space Force attire]].

* VegetarianForADay: Stan temporarily goes vegetarian in "Fun for Veal". He quits when he contracts a disease due to his vegetarianism [[spoiler: i.e. turning into a pussy]].

** He can be very aggressive and stubborn about people who exploit or hurt animals, despite the fact that he was responsible for shooting Scuzzlebutt in "Volcano".

* CatchPhrase: "Aw- '''''awww'''''!", "Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no!", and "God damn it!" In the earlier seasons, he had "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!" and "Dude, this is pretty fucked up right here!" He also has the simpler "Dude."

* TeamDad: ZigZagged. Being the first to turn 10 makes Stan the eldest of the main boys, but not by much and it's rarely brought up. However, he is pretty much TheLeader, being a {{determinator}} who leads by example and prone to giving them emotional support. He's also probably the most mature from the group, considering he's the least impulsive and often the OnlySaneMan. He can also be [[BigBrotherInstinct very]] [[PapaWolf protective]] towards the others, sometimes to the point of risking his own life (though less so towards Cartman). Usually, if he disagrees with what they are doing, he won't hesitate from scolding them. Out of the main boys he fights the least with Cartman and the latter even respects him somehow, though that's not saying much. It's also important to note that it [[DependingOnTheWriter varies]] how selfless and responsible Stan is, especially when compared to Kyle.

* TeamDad: ZigZagged. Being the first to turn 10 makes Stan the eldest of the main boys, but not by much and it's rarely brought up. However, he is pretty much TheLeader, being a {{determinator}} who leads by example and prone to giving them emotional support. He's also probably the most mature from the group, considering he's the least impulsive and often the OnlySaneMan. He can also be very protective towards the others, sometimes to the point of risking his own life (though less so towards Cartman). Usually, if he disagrees with what they are doing, he won't hesitate from scolding them. Out of the main boys he fights the least with Cartman and the latter even respects him somehow, though that's not saying much. It's also important to note that it [[DependingOnTheWriter varies]] how selfless and responsible Stan is, especially when compared to Kyle.

** He might feel this a little towards Kenny as well. In "The Passion of the Jew" while Kyle and Cartman were fighting, the other 2 boys hang around, eventually deciding to see "The Passion". They didn't liked it, and in order to get their money back they had to go to Mel Gibson. During their adventure Stan did most of the talking and made the plans (and if you pay attention, he was staying in front of Kenny most of the time). In "Super Fun Time" he did the "ultimate sacrifice" (looking like a fool in front of Wendy) in order to save Kenny's life.

* HiddenHeartOfGold: Aloof as he may be, he really cares about his friends and family, and will do anything to help them when they're in danger.

* NoRespectGuy: Stan would usually get no respect from his {{Manchild}} of a father at the very least. His mother also turns a blind eye to any dramas in Stan's life such as his sister Shelly physically abusing him or his new fish leaving dead bodies in Stan's bedroom. His grandfather can't even remember his name.

[[caption-width-right:320:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Panderverse self]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_south_park_new_exclusive_event___official_teaser___paramount_mkv_snapshot_0010099.png]] [[/labelnote]]

** Stan suffers a lot of physical abuse from his older sister, but he doesn't see any issue with his best friend literally kicking his younger brother around. Then again, Ike avoids being hurt in any of those instances, while Stan gets bruises that at least once carried on to the next school day.

** When he starts using [=ChatGPT=] to respond to Wendy's messages [[Playing Cyrano in a romantic way]], he soon gets too comfortable and stops reading them, not realizing that Wendy had actually poured her heart out to him through texting and had even confided in him about a traumatic event that happened to her when she was younger.

** When the woodland critters order him to kill a mother lion in "Woodland Critter Christmas", allowing them to spawn the AntiChrist.

* NoRespectGuy: Stan would usually get no respect from his father at the very least. His mother also turns a blind eye to any dramas in Stan's life such as Shelly physically abusing him or his new fish leaving dead bodies in Stan's bedroom.