Stan Marsh

"This is about more than fart jokes. This is about freedom of speech, about censorship, and stuff."

- Stan in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

Stanley "Stan" Marsh is the one of the four protagonists of the TV series, South Park. He is the show's main protagonist, with Kyle Broflovski being the deuteragonist; though they often change roles. He is also the main protagonist of the movie, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

Personality
Stan is probably the most relatable of the four boys. He has a deadpan sense of humor and frequently finds himself frustrated with the stupidity of his father and the general adult population. Several episodes show him learning how the adult world works and about 90% of the time he winds up walking away in total disbelief of said adult's inane logic.

Stan is an avid animal lover, as he has a fondness for most animals, especially whales and dolphins, he even sets out to save them from the Japanese in "Whale Whores". He was willing to give up eating meat after finding out that veal was made from tortured calves.

Stan has had a long-running crush on Wendy Testaburger. He had an unfortunate habit of throwing up whenever she talked to him. Stan usually takes on more daring pursuits just to impress her, most notably in the South Park movie where he helped form an organisation dedicated to saving Terrence and Phillip. When Wendy broke up with him, Stan was nearly suicidal and decided to hang out with the Goth Kids. This phase predictably ended after one episode when Stan realised that his life was revolving around Wendy too much anyway. After several seasons of giving her the cold shoulder, Stan teams up with Wendy to uncover a conspiracy among the girls. This is enough for them to rekindle their romance and they become a steady couple.

Appearance
Stan is mostly shown wearing a brown jacket with a red collar, a blue hat with a red puffball and rim, and blue jeans. Under his jacket, he either wears a red and blue baseball shirt or a white T-shirt/v-neck. He also wears a blue Terrance and Phillip shirt to bed and a green suit for special occasions. In some episodes, it is clear he has black hair (like his father Randy) when his hat is partially or completely removed - this was first seen in "A Very Crappy Christmas".

All of the boys' hats are removed and their hair is seen for an extended period during the shower room scene in "Lil' Crime Stoppers", although Kenny's head is only seen from behind. Stan also apparently has blue eyes, as noted by Kyle when Butters draws their cartoon forms in "A Very Crappy Christmas", but this is uncertain, because Kyle said it was similar because he had a sharper nose, so it could have been a mistake.

In "Good Times with Weapons", he was portrayed with brown eyes, so odds are it was Butters' error when his eyes were blue. Even at a young age, Stan has always worn his red and blue hat (as shown in "Pre-School") and even sleeps with it on.

Quotes
"Aww AWW!"

- Stan's catchphrase

"Disqualified? Fight! Keep fighting!"

- Stan in "The Losing Edge"

"Come on, Dad! Get up!"

- Stan cheering for his father in "The Losing Edge"

"Dad! You're the greatest."

- Stan at the end of "The Losing Edge"

"Mom, will you get Dad out of here?"

- Stan calling Sharon after Randy screamed at him for turning off the console in "Guitar Queer-O"

"What do I do? I Stan ground."

- Stan in "A Scause For Applause"

Triva

 * Stan is the only one of the four who has never contracted a terminal illness, as both Kyle and Cartman contracted AIDS in "Tonsil Trouble" and Kenny contracted muscular dystrophy in "Kenny Dies".
 * Stan has been shown to be an animal rights activist: he protected baby calves from slaughter in "Fun with Veal", joined PETA (though only to survive because if he didn't he would have starved in the wilderness) in "Douche and Turd", and headed the Whale Wars crew for a while in "Whale Whores".
 * In episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft", the Warcraft executive tells Randy they need to get the sword to a great knight, by the name of 'LUVS2SPWGE'. However, at the start of the episode, when viewing Stan's game screen you can read Stan's character name is "Staniscool".
 * Before Season Four, Stan was never seen without his hat, even when he was in bed.
 * Stan is the last one of the four boys to have a supernatural power at one point. Kyle has disappeared and briefly became a omniscient being by studying existentialism in "The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000". Cartman has the ability to see and hear ghosts, and the ability to fire electricity at people in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. Kenny has had the power of immortality throughout the series. Stan obtains momentaneous powers, like flying, apparent telekinesis/superforce and projeting fire from hands and mouth, when Satan possesses him, in order to fight Beelzaboot in "Freemium Isn't Free".
 * Stan has said "Dude, this is pretty fucked up right here" on at least three Christmas specials: "Mr. Hankey, The Christmas Poo", "Merry Christmas Charlie Manson!" and "Red Sleigh Down". He says these when something strange happens. In "Mr. Hankey, The Christmas Poo", he says it when Mr. Hankey appears. In "Merry Christmas Charlie Manson!", he says it when him and the others go to celebrate Christmas with "Charlie Manson". And in "Red Sleigh Down", he says it when Jesus is shot by an Iraqi.
 * Stan has a somewhat stronger digestive system than many others do as shown in "Dead Celebrities", since he is able to eat at Chipotle without bleeding out his ass afterwards. Cartman even remarks that Stan has a "golden rectum of the gods".
 * Stan has Asthma. In "Sexual Harassment Panda", Cartman takes Stan's inhaler.
 * Stan's anime counterpart from the episode "Good Times with Weapons" bears a large resemblance to Capcom's character "Ryu" from Street Fighter.
 * So far, Stan is the only one of the boys who hasn't shown any gender-swapping tendencies. Cartman was shown dressed up as Britney Spears in "AWESOM-O", Kyle had a female avatar in "Make Love, Not Warcraft", and Kenny dressed like a princess in three of the last four episodes of Season Seventeen and South Park: The Stick of Truth.
 * As of "201" Stan is the only one of the four boys who does not have a redheaded parent.
 * Stan is depicted as a jock by the goth kids in "Breast Cancer Show Ever".
 * Stan is the only one of the four boys not to have the "Oh my god, They killed..." quote about him.