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“
The author of the journals... ...my brother!
„
~ Stanley introducing Stanford to Dipper, Mabel and Soos.
“
We had to erase his mind to defeat Bill. It's all gone. Stan has no idea, but he did it. He saved the world. He saved me. You're our hero, Stanley.
„
~ Ford after Mabel and Dipper erases Stan's mind to defeating Bill Cipher.
“
Stay curious, stay weird, stay kind and don't let anyone ever tell you you aren't smart or brave or worthy enough.
„
~ Ford at the end of Journal 3.
Dr. Stanford "Ford" Filbrick Pines, also known as The Author, is a major character in Disney's Gravity Falls franchise.
He is a mysterious paranormal investigator who came to Gravity Falls, Oregon, to study the huge concentration of supernatural activity in and around the town. After spending years cataloging his research in a series of journals, he disappeared into an alternate dimension after a fight with his brother, his writings the only evidence of his existence.
His identity and whereabouts were a central mystery of the series until the middle of the show's second season, when he was revealed to be Stan Pines' long-lost twin brother who vanished into an alternate universe after a falling out with his brother Stanley Pines caused him to stumble into the universe portal. He is the former friend-turned-one of Bill Cipher’s archenemies, (alongside Dipper Pines, Mabel Pines, and the Oracle).
He was voiced by J.K. Simmons, who plays J. Jonah Jameson in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tenzin in The Legend of Korra,Lionheart in Zootopia and Omni-Man in Invincible.
Stanford Pines, often referred to as 'Stan', was drawn to Gravity Falls, Oregon, due to its significant supernatural activity. He meticulously documented his research in journals. After a conflict with his brother, he vanished into an alternate dimension, leaving his journals as the sole evidence of his existence. His identity and location were a key mystery until midway through the series' second season.
Provided by: Fandom
What happened to Stanford Pines after his fight with his brother?
Stanford Pines harbored resentment towards his brother Stan for a long time after a fight where Stan inadvertently destroyed Ford's perpetual motion machine, thus jeopardizing his opportunity to attend a prestigious college and amass a family fortune. The brothers reconciled when Stanford learned of Stan's attempts to save him from the universe portal.
Provided by: Fandom
Who provides the voice for Stanford Pines in the Gravity Falls series?
Stanford Pines, a character in the Gravity Falls series, is voiced by Alex Hirsch, the creator of the series. Hirsch also lends his voice to other characters in the series, including Soos Ramirez and Old Man McGucket.
Provided by: Fandom
Personality[]
Ford is an extremely intelligent man, often perceived as a rather nerdy man, as he enjoys board games such as Dungeons, Dungeons, & More Dungeons because they have high levels of thinking to them. Ford has a rather "playful personality"; he has a tremendous work ethic and serious nature, but is no less of a jokester than his brother Stanley. Despite his intelligence and as a result of being trapped in an alternate dimension for thirty years, it's shown he's rather naïve when it comes to the modern world and technology, as he says “Greetings” to Mabel when first meeting her, and even demonstrates little to no worry in giving his great niece a crossbow. Before the incident with the portal and in the light of Bill's betrayal, it was shown that he had trust issues and was extremely careful, even bordering up the windows in his house. Ford doesn't value himself highly, as more then once he was willing to sacrifice his own life for the protection of others. However, it’s shown that he is quite arrogant and hot-tempered, refusing to accept Stanley’s apology initially and being gullible enough to accept Bill’s deals. This displays that despite his self-sacrificial nature, Ford has somewhat of a hero complex, frequently insisting upon himself being right and taking unnecessary burdens upon himself, such as keeping the true nature of his conflict with Bill private between him and Dipper, which ultimately causes Weirdmaggedon indirectly as Mabel hands a possessed Blendin the Rift, not knowing what it did since Ford didn't tell anyone. Fortunately, he does clear this up when he recognises how much damage he's done to his and Stanley's relationship and the two make up for it together.
It was shown at least later that Ford, in fact, values his family highly, to the point of being willing to give Bill what he wanted if it meant the protection of Dipper, Mabel and Stan. Despite his reluctance to forgive Stan for his genuine mistakes, Ford does show empathy to his brother and slowly warms up to him. Later on, he finally reconciles with Stan after seeing how heroic his brother is, with the two finally regaining their loving relationship. This is shown by how in the This Is Not A Website Dot Com ARG, Ford gains a mischievous streak from Stan’s influence and even gives Stan directions to the beers should he sneak into his study.
Appearance[]
Ford bears a close resemblance to Stan Pines, however, there are a few notable differences: Ford's hair, unlike Stan, is dark gray with a horizontal silver streak along the sides of it, and he possesses unusually long sideburns. His chin has a cleft and slight five o'clock shadow. He has polydactyly, with six fingers on each hand. He is taller than his twin brother, likely due to him having better posture. When he first comes out of the portal, he is seen wearing a large black coat with multiple pockets on the inside, and an item that appears to be a gun rested on his back. Underneath his coat, he wears a black shirt and pants. He also dons bulky black boots, a brown belt that slings from his shoulder, a tattered cape, and a gray scarf. In subsequent appearances, Ford is seen wearing a tan coat, a red turtleneck with a black belt that slings across his chest, black pants, and large brown boots coated in dirt. He has a gold dot on either side of his glasses and a crack on the left lens.
During their childhood, Stan and Ford were the closest of friends and would go out on adventures together. However, they got into a fight when Stan accidentally broke Ford's perpetual motion machine and ruined his chances to go to a superior college and as an extension a chance of a large fortune for the family. Due to this incident, Ford held a grudge against Stan for many years, and even after learning of Stan's efforts to rescue him from the universe portal. Ford and Stan eventually reconciled albeit strained. Ford allowed Stan to stay in the shack until summer ends whilst Ford kept the inter-dimensional rift contained and worked on finding a way to stop Bill Cipher's plans. He then told Stan that when summer ends, Stan is to return Ford's shack and identity and the Mystery Shack will be closed forever. During the events of Weirdmageddon, after being trapped together, Ford came to recognize the troubles Stan went through for him and the twins reconciled with each other. After Stan sacrificed (and subsequently regained) his mind, the two decide to leave Gravity Falls to realize their childhood dream. When they are seen later on their ship, they seem to be genuinely happy.
Ford and McGucket were close friends in Backupsmore University. During Ford's time at Gravity Falls, he called his old friend Fiddleford for help in researching the mysterious paranormal activities in Gravity Falls. They researched together and eventually built the Universe Portal. When they tested the machine, McGucket accidentally got sucked into the portal causing him to see something he wanted to forget, McGucket even questioned who Ford was really working for. McGucket then cut ties with Ford, and they never saw each other again (though Ford suspected that the Blind Eye Society was McGucket's doing, and even wrote disparagingly of his desire to forget what he saw in Journal 3). Years later, during the Weirdmageddon event, McGucket chose to forgive Ford for the events leading to their falling out, finally mending their friendship.
Bill Cipher is Ford's greatest enemy, as Bill tricked Ford into building the Universe Portal. Ford attempted to warn people who read his journal about Bill Cipher's existence and the dangers he could do to their world. During Ford's time doing research at Gravity Falls, he hit a roadblock and he summoned Bill to assist him. He considered Bill a friend due to the amount of help and knowledge that Bill shared with Ford. Furthermore, it's implied that Ford was genuinely in love with Bill due to the two being misfits in their respective societies, though Bill would take use of this to manipulate him.
However, when Fiddleford McGucket was sucked into the Universe Portal, Ford realized Bill's true goal and stopped him by deactivating the portal. Ford's current mission is stopping Bill Cipher from getting his hands on the inter-dimensional rift and goes to great lengths in doing so (to the point where he would Bill-proof the Mystery Shack). Unfortunately, the rift has fallen into Bill's hands, therefore creating a gateway from the Nightmare realm to Earth.
Ford is an idol to Dipper as he was always obsessed with the Author of the Journals. When Dipper obtained Journal 3, one of his main missions was to learn the mysteries of the town and to find out who the Author was. When he finally meets the Author, Dipper becomes extremely excited and Ford becomes flattered that Dipper was a fan of him. With eagerness Dipper wishes to assist him yet, Ford was initially reluctant to allow Dipper to help him at all because he is a child and he didn't want Dipper to be in danger. However during their game of Dungeons, Dungeons and More Dungeons, their common interests and enjoying the same things further strengthens their bond. Ford thinks of Dipper not only as his great nephew but a friend, Ford then decided to trust Dipper with the knowledge of a dimensional rift he sealed away, swearing Dipper to secrecy. Despite their close relation, Ford still kept secrets from Dipper about Bill Cipher, but he finally tells Dipper the truth in "The Last Mabelcorn," as he didn't want Dipper to distrust him. Due to this, he tells Dipper that no more secrets should be kept between them. In "Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future," Ford invites him to stay in Gravity Falls with him to study all the supernatural occurrences since he's getting old. Dipper accepts the offer initially, but later reconsiders.
When meeting Mabel for the first time, he was surprised but endeared, particularly by her description of his six-fingered handshake as "a full finger friendlier than normal."
Ford hasn't interacted with Mabel as much as he has with Dipper, however, they are seen to be in good terms with each other. Mabel (along with Stan and Grenda) rescued Ford and Dipper from Probabilitor the Annoying despite Stan and Grenda's reluctance to do so. When Ford called for a family meeting, he allowed Mabel to find a lock of unicorn hair with which to protect the shack from Bill Cipher. Despite Ford's belief that Mabel won't be able to succeed, Mabel returns with the required item, shocking Ford. In return, Ford assures Mabel that she has a good heart.
Shape Shifter[]
Ford once found its egg while digging. While Ford initially was attached to it and found it fascinating for its human-like intelligence, he would soon grow disturbed by its craving to read the journals, which contained depictions of many powerful and dangerous beasts. Shortly after the Shapeshifter kidnaps McGucket and impersonates him to try and retrieve the journals, Ford is forced to freeze it in a cryogenic tube and abandons his underground lab, with the incident further compromising McGucket's mental state.
Powers and abilities[]
Genius Level Intelligence: Stanford is gifted in many detailed areas of the unexplained. Through his journals, he helped his family counteract the majority of strange and bizarre creatures of gravity falls. which brought them to his discovery of Bill’s existence. His intelligence is so adept that even Bill had to ask him for the formula to collapse Gravity Falls's weirdness barrier. That being said, Stanford's arrogance is his greatest weakness as he seems to have a hero complex, believing himself to be in the right most of the time as shown from his reluctance to thank Stanley and his summoning of Bill despite the warnings, though he does acknowledge these flaws later on and makes up for them at the end.
Voice mimicry: Thanks to the close bond he had with his brother back in their youth, Ford is capable of mimicking Stan's mannerisms and voice near perfectly, which he uses to trick Bill into entering Stan's mind as per the latter's plan.
Engineering skills: While not as technically intelligent as McGucket, Stanford is a highly capable inventor, capable of making numerous advanced inventions such as the Tie of Possession, the Electron Carpet and Quantum Destabiliser, which was implied to have rightly killed Bill if the bell didn't distract Ford.
Combat mastery: After spending three decades on the run as a fugitive, Stanford is a capable fighter, being capable of using swords when fighting against Probabilitor's goons and being shown to be an adept marksman. He also apparently took down Bill's Henchmaniacs all by himself once, displaying his mastery of combat.
Athleticism: Throughout his 30 years in the multiverse, Stanford has conditioned his body, keeping himself on a strict diet and routine. This makes him much more athletic than most people of his age, being able to fight monstrosities all over the multiverse by himself.
Gallery[]
Young Stanford
Dipper and Ford
Everyone bids farewell to Dipper and Mabel.
Ford and Soos.
Trivia[]
Alex Hirsch has joked that he has six toes as well.
He feels naturally superior to Stan as he is 15 minutes older.
His name means “Stony Meadow.”
In “Between the Pines”, Hirsch confirmed that Ford and Stan are identical twins.
Before his actual appearance in-universe, Ford's existence is teased multiple times:
Stan's car has a license plate that reads "STNLYMBL", an abbreviation of "Stanleymobile". As Gideon and the townsfolk mistakenly refer to Stan as "Stanford", this license plate foreshadows the fact that Stan's real name is Stanley and that Stanford is someone else, later revealed to be his brother.
In “Legend of the Gobblewonker”, Old Man McGucket stares at Stanley in a perplexed manner before leaving after seeing his face up close. With the reveal that McGucket was Ford’s assistant in “The Society of the Blind Eye”, it’s possible that McGucket vaguely remembered Ford at that point and was confused at seeing someone who looked just like him even after he disappeared.
In "Headhunters", Stan is frightened by Wax Stan initially but soon becomes deeply attached to it, even holding a funeral when he's "murdered". This foreshadows the existence of Stan having an identical twin who'd be shocked by if he suddenly returned.
In "Carpet Diem", Stan uncovers a room which, based on the calendar's date, was last opened in 1982, discovering one of Ford's glasses there. He later looks at the glasses wistfully while watching TV. Stan's glasses are typically rectangular compared to Ford's round ones, once more foreshadowing that Stan missed the glasses' owner.
In "The Time Traveler's Pig", Ford makes a cameo when Dipper and Mabel time travel 30 years back. While his hands aren't visible on-screen, making his identity hard to discern, he notably wears round glasses that differ from Stanley's rectangular ones and has a cleft chin, differentiating him from his brother.
In "Bottomless Pit!", Stan admits that he's committed tax fraud regularly and exclaims "What? Author?" when Mabel claims he's a crime fiction author. While these could be interpreted as gags revolving around Stan's criminal nature, seeing as some of his tax papers are signed as "Stanford Pines", it's possible that Stan is admitting that he's committing tax fraud by cashing in taxes in Ford's name. As Ford is only referred to as "The Author" until his reveal, it's also possible that this is a way of Stan revealing he's not the author of the journals and therefore, not Ford, who he's been impersonating.
Stan's "story" also depicts Footbot, a talking robot built by Stan to play football. A prototype of Footbot later appears in "A Tale of Two Stans", revealed to be a microwave with a robot face taped to it that Stan submitted for a science fair that Ford won.
In "Dreamscapers", Stan has numerous memories of a swing with one broken seat, symbolising his broken relationship with Ford. Ford also appears in the background of Stan's boxing class memory reading a book, though his hands are covered in boxing gloves, concealing his identity.
In one of the shorts depicting Stan's ad for the Mystery Shack, a poorly edited "clone" of Stan enters the screen claiming that he's "the real Mr. Mystery". This likely foreshadows the existence of Stan's twin and that he's impersonating him.
In "Little Gift Shop of Horrors", Mabel's experience with Waddles in the story "Abaconings" parallels Stan and Ford's story: both had a much more intelligent best friend who would prioritise other things over their bond: Waddles spending time with Dipper tinkering with machinery and Ford planning to go to West Coast Tech. Waddles choosing to turn back into a normal pig and spend time with Mabel might be a reflection of Stan's idealised vision of his relationship with Ford, wishing that he'd chosen not to go to West Coast Tech and pursued their dream together.
In "Not Who He Seems", while deciphering the journals' instructions Stan calls their author "Poindexter", a childhood nickname Ford had. He also wears six-fingered gloves, foreshadowing Stan's connection to the Author even before the latter is revealed to be Ford.
Despite Ford’s genius, he thoughtlessly never understood that Stan made an honest mistake when he messed up his science project and never intended to ruin his dream school and let his family reject Stan, which lead them to hate each other, as well as got outsmarted by Bill when he played him into thinking he was a good friend so he can make an open portal that would bring chaos to the world.
Thanks to Stan’s previous antics whilst impersonating him, Ford is legally married to not only Goldie, a gold dispensing statue, but also a woman named Marilyn Fakenamé, implied to be Eda Clawthorne from The Owl House.
Thanks to Bill bringing back the lost pages of Journal 3 in The Book of Bill, certain things about Ford have been revealed:
Ford is a fan of Icelandic pop band BABBA as he sings its hit song "Disco Girl" in a karaoke he had with Bill in the mindscape.
Stan tried to coordinate his yearbook photo with Ford's to have the two fist-bump, which Ford didn't cooperate in, displaying that despite his affection for Stan, he still saw himself superior and didn't want to take part in Stan's childish antics.
A photo of Ford and Stan as babies shows Stan crying when he looks at the colourful baby mobile and Ford playing with a yellow triangle hung there, calling back to Stan's dislike of colours and Ford's eventual meeting with Bill.
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Heroes