Stan Marsh

Stanley Marsh, voiced by Trey Parker, is one of the five main characters of South Park, and is often considered the leader of the four.

Appearance
He wears a dark blue hat with a red trim on the bottom and a red poof-ball at the top. He wears a red-collared brown coat, blue jeans, and red mittens. He has a plain mop of thick, shaggy black hair, like his father. In the episode "Cartmanland" he had brown hair when he was trying to get into Cartman's amusement park, although the change in hair color might just have been part of his disguise. Like Kyle and Kenny, Stan rarely takes off his hat, but has been shown on those occasions when he removes it (the first being during the episode "How to Eat with Your Butt", and then "Fun with Veal", "Jared Has Aides", "Trapped in the Closet" and most recently "Imaginationland"). Although, in some episodes it is clear he has black hair when his hat is partially loosened off. All of the boys' hats are removed and their hair is seen for an extended period during the shower room scene in the episode "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". Even at a young age Stan has always worn his blue hat, and even sleeps in it. In "The List", he ranked third in the initial corrupt list of who was cutest. However, he was not mentioned among those who had to change places due to the corruption, so it is possible that he is the second cutest boy, behind Token.



Life and Personality
Stan was born on October 19 and is the oldest of the four main boys. Stan is also the most sensitive of the four boys. For example, in the episode "Kenny Dies", he finds it difficult to see Kenny in his ill state, and in "Raisins" he becomes depressed after losing his girlfriend to another boy. Stan is often preachy and very critical of popular trends. This is evident in "Cherokee Hair Tampons", when he challenged the character Miss Information and her shop of alternative medicine, in "Super Best Friends", when he helped battle David Blaine's suicidal cult, and in "The Biggest Douche in the Universe" where he accuses psychic medium John Edward of being a fake. In this episode he also gained possession of his own show (while trying to prove that cold reading was fake) and battled with John Edward in a "Psychic Showdown". He also showed some heroism in "Cherokee Hair Tampons" by stating he would gladly donate a kidney to Kyle, even if it "hurt a whole lot". He is usually the one who is unaffected by the many scams, cults, and mass influences that South Park has been subjected to, and has a knack for seeing through falsely glorified practices and celebrities. However, sometimes Kyle takes on this role, and it is Stan who is the gullible one, such as with the metrosexual trend in the episode "South Park is Gay!". However, Stan is shown to have an overwhelmingly clearer understanding of scams and corporate corruption than anyone else in South Park, and has an especially good grasp of the dangers of cults. It is notable that he has a tendency to ridicule, make enemies out of, and/or bring to shame a very large number of celebrities that are shown in a poor light within the show. Stan and Kyle's personalities tended to be similar, especially in the earlier seasons, but are not quite interchangeable, and they have developed more distinct and complex personalities during the show's run.

Stan is an avid animal lover - he resists the influence of his uncle Jimbo to hunt in "Volcano", became a PETA member in "Douche and Turd" (although he had the choice of joining them or being killed), tried to save baby cows in "Fun With Veal", and attempted to return a goat to its rightful owners in "Osama Bin Laden Has Farty Pants". Although well-intentioned, these interventions often lead him and his friends into serious trouble. Stan(as well as the rest of the boys from 4th grade) also went to Mexico and managed to get the Mexican Space Program to take an Orca to the moon in a bid to save it (with all the kids in South Park having been led to believe he was a killer whale from the moon) in "Free Willzyx". In "Two Days Before The Day After Tomorrow", after he and Cartman crash a boat into a beaver dam and swim to shore, seeing the boat blow up, Stan says, "I hope we didn't hurt any beavers." In "Fun With Veal" he briefly turned to vegetarianism, but he quickly gave it up when he was plagued by a disease that literally "turned him into a pussy", sprouting actual vaginas on his body.

Stan is also quite empathic, most evidently seen in the episode "Manbearpig", in which he partially defends Al Gore because he feels sorry for him, due to him "not having any friends". However when this pity backfires and lands the boys in a cave where Al Gore almost (un-intentionally) drowns Kyle and gets them killed, he lashes out and is the one of the four to bring Al Gore into a hard and cold reality, shouting, "Stay away from us, asshole! I only felt sorry for you because you didn't have any friends! But now I know why you don't have any friends! You just use Manbearpig as a way of getting attention for yourself because you're a loser!" This doesn't affect Al Gore however, as he dons a cape and says he'll go and make a movie starring himself (An Inconvenient Truth).

When angered however, Stan is often quite reluctant to continue/do anything that will further contribute to the obscurity or direness of the situation. Shown when in "Woodland Critter Christmas" after he finds out the Critters, whom he helped, were giving birth to the Anti-Christ, he decided not to attempt to set things right (although did eventually after much nagging from the episode's narrator). Technically, though, this wasn't him - just a fictional him told by Eric Cartman.

For the first seven seasons of the show, Stan's sporadic girlfriend was Wendy Testaburger. In the early days of the series a running gag would be that Stan would throw up out of nervousness whenever Wendy spoke to him. As the show progressed, however, the Stan-Wendy storyline diminished greatly. In the penultimate episode of the seventh season, "Raisins", Wendy had Bebe tell Stan that "she breaks up", for Token, causing Stan to go into extreme depression and joining the Goth Kids. He recovered, thanks to Butters, who was dealing with his own heartbreak and had decided that he'd rather be "a crying little pussy than a faggy goth kid". Stan eventually got over the break-up by telling Wendy "you're a bitch" and flipping off Token ("Token, right here, buddy"). Wendy has played a much smaller part in the series since this episode. It became apparent that Stan had some lingering feelings for Wendy in the episode "Follow That Egg!" when he grew insanely jealous of Kyle working with her. He, however, decided to show her up by responding to her compliments with "as if I give a crap about what you think, Wendy." At the end of The List, however, it is heavily implied that Stan and Wendy reconciled. They inadvertently have an adventure together, and at the end, Wendy admits to having a good time with Stan, and believe he's changed since they were last together. They lean in to kiss, but in a near-exact copy of a scene at the end of "Cartman Gets An Anal Probe", Stan pukes on Wendy.

Stan is frequently embarrassed or infuriated at the stupidity of his parents (mostly Randy) and the other adults of the town, and he often goes against what his parents do. This is prominently shown in "My Future Self n' Me" when he finds out about the actor portraying his future self and goes so far as to trick Randy to cut the hand off of the actor to try and get them to admit they lied. In "Child Abduction Is Not Funny", the escalating paranoia over child abductions leads the parents to send all the town's children away, in fear that they (the parents) will abduct their own kids. As the children wander off on their own, Stan remarks to Kyle, "Dude, sometimes I think our parents are really stupid," and as they rejoin their families at the conclusion of the episode, "Jesus Christ, dude, they've done some stupid crap before, but, Jesus Christ...". In "Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow" he admits to breaking a beaver dam, and the adults assume he meant they all broke the dam. After several failed attempts to explain that it actually was him who broke the dam through everyone saying "I broke the dam," he shouted, "I BROKE THE FUCKING DAM!" and explained the exact sequence of events without any effect on the adults. The rather displaced cynicism that he exhibits when dealing with adults, as well as his inability to be impressed by celebrities or fads may also come from the fact that, due to his parents, he has probably never respected or trusted adults.

In the episode "Trapped in the Closet", Stan was discovered to be the leader of Scientology having scored the highest thetan levels since L. Ron Hubbard and was quickly approached by Tom Cruise, whom Stan called an average actor. After hearing this Tom Cruise shouted, "I'm a failure in the eyes of the prophet!" and locked himself in Stan's closet. After unsuccessfully attempting to get him out, Stan shouts down the stairs to Randy, "DAD! Tom Cruise won't come out of the closet!" (which is a reference to the rumors that Tom Cruise was gay, with "coming out of the closet" meaning when a gay man admits he is gay). Stan is later told that Scientology is a fake, and that if he writes anything almost everyone would believe it and he could make up to $3 million. Later on, when he reads his new writings to his loving public, his morality objected to it and he told everyone that Scientology was fake and that it wasn't the right way to answer the many questions. Stan was then sued by almost everyone, including Cruise and the head of the church, without anyone taking any action until he lost his temper, shouting, "Well go on then! SUE ME!"

In the episode "Douche and Turd", he is the only kid in the school who finds the option of voting between a giant douche and a turd sandwich "ridiculous", and is belaguered by Kyle, the school officials and his parents, eventually bringing Puff Daddy to South Park to tell him about the Vote or Die campaign, and then chased Stan around town with a gun and literally told him to "vote or die". He is later banished from town for not voting and is rescued by PETA members, the leader of which tells him that in actuality all elections are between a douche and a turd, which convinces him to go back to town to vote.

In "The Passion of the Jew", he is disgusted with The Passion of the Christ, calling it a "snuff film" and going, along with Kenny, to Mel Gibson's house to get their money back. Mel Gibson turns out to be insane and rabidly masochistic, and attacks the two of them with a gun in a manner reminiscent of Daffy Duck after Stan calls him "daffy". Stan and Kenny then steal the money from Gibson's wallet and flee back to South Park, pursued by him. Later, when Gibson asserts that Stan cannot say that his film sucks because it is saying that Christianity sucks, Stan counters by saying that Christianity is fine, but focusing on how people died ends up with really bad results, convincing the town that Mel Gibson was wrong all along. In the episode "Are You There God? It's Me, Jesus" Stan is led to believe he is the only boy of the four that hasn't yet had his period, and is left out by the other three due to him not being "mature enough". He later uses the only question available for thousands of years to ask God (who had come down to Earth briefly) why he hasn't given him his period. After a long pause, God states the obvious: that he is a boy and shouldn't get periods. The episode ends with everyone chasing after Stan for using the only question on something so dumb.

In "Fantastic Easter Special", he was made a member of a rabbit-worshipping cult-like group called "The Hare Club for Men", which his father, grandfather, and the entire male side of his family has been members in for generations.

Talents
Stan (in some episodes) has been seen playing a guitar every so often, such as in the episode "Die Hippie, Die", when he is seen playing his guitar outside when his mother asks him to go to the mall. Also in "Smug Alert!" he makes a song called "Come on People Now" to get everyone to drive Hybrid cars and to get Kyle to move back to South Park. In one episode, Stan can be seen playing Guitar Hero 2.

Athletics
Stan is quite athletically proficient, and is regularly the captain or star player of his school's sports teams, except in basketball where Kyle is the best player in the school. He was the quarterback of the school football team in "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" and the pitcher and apparent captain of the baseball team in "The Losing Edge". He was also a member of the South Park dodgeball team that won the world championship and was on the pee-wee hockey team when he was 4 years old, revealed in "Stanley's Cup". Stan also coached a pee-wee hockey team that episode, and showed he quit from hockey after failing to win a hockey game for the team on a 'breakaway'. His favorite sports team, regarding the setting is in Colorado, is the Denver Broncos.

He also manages to go from a beginner skier to a near-professional in only two days in the episode "Asspen" (thanks to the timely use of a montage). The episode ends with him successfully skiing the K-13, "the most dangerous run in America", in order to beat a much older man who repeatedly insulted him and challenged him to the run.

Weaponry
For his age, Stan appears proficient with weaponry. In "Red Sleigh Down" he was able to hold an M16 assault rifle (but he didn't actually use it), and in "Mystery of the Urinal Deuce", he was able to get hold of a hand gun and hold it up to Kyle's head. In "Good Times With Weapons", Stan wields a pair of tonfa. As far as marksmanship goes, however, he is not as accurate as Pip and is clearly not as good as Kyle.

Music
Although without the musical ability of Kyle or Cartman, Stan did manage to write and perform a song about the importance of hybrid cars in "Smug Alert!", playing the guitar rather well. Like Kenny, Kyle and Cartman, he plays the violin. He may also be seen strumming a guitar in the episode "Die Hippie Die". Stan is also, according to the episode "You Got F'd in the A", a talented line dancer, instructed by his father. He can also be seen playing instruments with his classmates in "Summer Sucks" and "World Wide Recorder Concert". Stan was also the electric guitarist in the boys' band "Moop" in the episode "Christian Rock Hard". Stan also discovered his talents in the video game Guitar Hero, and eventually pursued the goal of scoring 1 million points. He achieved this goal and beat Kyle at the end of the episode, which went all for naught as the game called them fags for recording this milestone, in the episode "Guitar Queer-o".

Driving
Stan has been shown to be quite able to drive in quite a few episodes, despite his age and height, such as in "Towelie" (with Kenny operating the gas and brake pedals), "Red Sleigh Down" (he piloted Santa's back-up sleigh after Santa was shot down over Iraq), "Bloody Mary" (when he drove Randy to the Virgin Mary statue), and "Night of the Living Homeless" (when he drove a modified bus through the hordes of homeless and then lured them away to California).

Randall "Randy" Marsh
Main Article: Randy Marsh.

Randy is Stan's father. They generally have a good relationship, although Stan gets easily annoyed by Randy's obsessiveness, pushiness, and melodramatic antics. Randy also tends to be very naive, which exasperates Stan all the more.

Sharon Marsh
Main Article: Sharon Marsh.

She is Stan's mother. His relationship with her is a lot smoother than that with his dad's, and he seems to be a Mommy's Little Boy at the best of times. However, she has told him that she considers his happiness and Shelley's happiness secondary to her own.

Shelley Marsh
Main Article: Shelley Marsh.

She is his violent and abusive teenage sister. She frequently insults him and physically harms him, but probably really does love him deep down inside. He even has stated that she used to be somewhat nicer to him before she got her headgear installed.

Marvin "Grampa" Marsh
Main article: Marvin Marsh.

He is Stan's paternal grandfather. He is 102, confined to a wheelchair, and a tad senile. He continually addresses Stan as "Billy", and in one episode was desperate for Stan to kill him. It turns out that this is a family trait involving the men in the Marsh family, dating back at least a couple of generations. He is said to have had the same relationship with his own grandfather.

Jimbo Kern
Main Article: Jimbo Kern.

He is Stan's uncle on his father's side. He and Randy were birthed by the same mother, but each have different fathers, hence why they have different surnames.

Aunt Flo
She is Stan's great-aunt on his mother's side of the family, and possibly the only family member from his maternal side who has been seen on the show (if Jimbo isn't from that side as well). She was killed in the Season 2 episode Spookyfish.

Sparky Marsh
Sparky is Stan's dog, who is a homosexual. He has had many gay relationships, to Stan's chagrin, including one with Clyde Donovan's dog, Rex.

Evil Goldfish
The goldfish Aunt Flo gave Stan, and who killed many people, including her, and framed his owner, Stan for it. Sharon nearly went insane covering up these murders, in an effort to protect her "precious, handsome little boy".

Roy
Roy is Stan's stepdad. After Sharon divorces Randy in Clubhouses, she stays with Roy. They stayed together until Sharon dared Randy to have sex with her and they make up.

Friends
Stan is the leader of the male student population in South Park Elementary, and therefore is well acquainted with most of the students.

Kyle
A topic taken into account many times during the series is Stan's best-friendship with Kyle Broflovski. They have been best friends since the very beginning of the show. They have been known to end up working together in certain adventures, such as in "Fantastic Easter Special", and are often dragged into the same circumstances due to this, such as in "Imaginationland Episode II". Stan has saved Kyle's life on several occasions without hesitation, most notably in "Super Best Friends", and has once stated that he doesn't want Kyle to die until he does. He nearly always defends Kyle when Cartman's hatred of him goes over the top, such as in "Cartmanland" and "Cherokee Hair Tampons". Stan often becomes anxious about Kyle when he is tricked by various scams or becomes immersed in his hatred of Cartman, bending over backwards to encourage or reassure Kyle, convince him otherwise, or to get him out of trouble. They are almost always seen together, or talking to each other, even in the absence of Cartman or Kenny, and usually do everything and go everywhere together, making them rather like twins. Also, in the opening credits of the show, they sing the same lines together. In the 11 seasons the show has been on the air, they have broken up a number of episodes, such as "Prehistoric Ice Man", "Super Best Friends", "Kenny Dies", "Douche and Turd", "South Park is Gay!", "Follow that Egg!", and most recently, "Guitar Queer-o". They have reconciled on-screen in all of these episodes, with the exception of "South Park is Gay!" They are even shown hugging at the end of "Smug Alert!". The episode "Guitar Queer-o" arguably focuses more than any other on their friendship, as a big argument between the two forms the major conflict of the story. However, in the end they reconcile, with no lasting damage done to the friendship. Stan also had a great deal of concern when Kyle was voted the ugliest boy in the class in "The List". Their friendship is so strong that Cartman calls them "fags" and has even commented, "You wanna get a room so you can make out for a while?". It is also notable that in "Imaginationland Episode III", Kyle was the only person who could hear Stan's voice in his head when Stan was trapped in Imaginationland.

Quotes
"Oh my god! They killed Kenny!"

"Dude, this is pretty fucked up right here."

"No, you're not the Candy Master, you're the Ass Master. There's a difference."

"No, dude. You're a douche."

"Aah, we're always running late you ugly skank. "

"I don't want to shoot the bunny."

"Haha Cartman ... You're a fatass AND your mom's a He-She."

"OK, its agreed. Once, the clock hits 8:35, we all jump up on our desk, pull our pants down and yell kiss my ass all together!"

"Why are you jewish on christmas kyle?"

"No, Jay Leno's chin is big-boned. You are a big, fat ass."

"One day you're gonna have to stop running and deal with what happened. Otherwise, you might as well just move to France with all the other pussies."

"Bible, Star Trek, whats the difference?"

"That's impossible. Cartman doesn't know a rainforest from a Pop-Tart."

"We can't get off. The dumb bitch won't let us."

"Kyle! Jesus is going to kill you because you're Jewish!"

"Oh my God! Jay Leno's chin killed Kenny!"

"I've had enough of your dickitry!"

"You mean there's actually people who dedicate their life to sticking their hands up somebody's ass?"

"Guys, we have no choice. We're gonna have to move away. Environmental activists don't use logic or reason."