| “ | I'm not impressed. | „ |
| ~ Filbrick's catchphrase. |
| “ | You ignoramus! Your brother was gonna be our ticket out of this dump! All you ever do is lie and cheat, and ride on your brother's coattails. Well, this time, you cost our family potential millions! And until you make us a fortune, you're not welcome in this household! | „ |
| ~ Filbrick's last known line and most infamous quote as he disowns Stanley from his house. |
Filbrick Pines is the overarching antagonist of Disney's Gravity Falls franchise.
He was the abusive and negligent father of Stanford and Stanley Pines who, despite showering Ford with attention and care, would abuse and degrade Stanley, viewing him as the inferior twin. This would eventually culminate in him throwing Stan out of the household for accidentally breaking Ford's invention, leading Stan to grow the unscrupulous and greedy mindset he has today and contributing to the rift between Stan and Ford that would lead to the events of the series playing out.
He is voiced by Jonathan Banks, who also portrayed Mike Ehrmantraut in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Zack in Beverly Hills Cop, Scotty in Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, Dirk Moran in Flipper, Mark Michelette in Freejack, Big Bill Murphy in F is for Family, Pappy McAllan in Mudbound, Black Mask in Catwoman: Hunted and Silvermane in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.
Appearance[]
Filbrick was a robust looking man; he had burly arms, skinny legs and a distinct cleft chin. Just to the left of his chin is what appears to be a birthmark. He had light brown hair and a small mustache. He wore a fedora, sunglasses and a dark yellow-colored plaid suit with lighter yellow lines. Underneath the suit, he wore a blue dress shirt and white tie, along with brown dress pants and black shoes.
Personality[]
In Stanley's youth, it seemed that despite his gruff exterior, Filbrick was a genuinely caring parent who exercised tough love on his children so as to build up their willpower, sending them to boxing class so that they'd learn self-defense. However, as more details are revealed, it's shown that Filbrick was actually a greedy and abusive parent who only cared for Ford, seeing Stanley as a lesser twin. This is shown from how he abused Stan in the past, humiliating him when he got terrible grades, degrading him as a liar and cheat, and even disowning him for a genuine mistake. Furthermore, when Stan "died" in a car accident, Filbrick refused to attend his son's funeral, showing a total callousness towards his son's fate.
Despite this favouritism to Ford, it's implied that Filbrick was abusive to the whole family, seeing as Ford seems frightened to meet Filbrick in the principal's office, possibly anticipating punishment, while Caryn seems scared to stand up to Filbrick when he disowns Stan unfairly. Furthermore, when he throws Stan out of the house for ruining Ford's scholarship application, he seems more concerned about losing the chance to become a millionaire than Ford losing the opportunity to attend his dream school, showing that he only saw Ford as a cash cow for the family instead of a son. It's also noted that Filbrick disliked the bond Ford had with Stan and frequently degraded Stan in favor of raising Ford up, making him indirectly responsible for the two twins falling out and Ford's ego, which would also indirectly lead to him being seduced by Bill.
Overall, Filbrick was a greedy and harsh parent who only cherished Ford for his talents and not for being his son. His abusive nature and unfair treatment of Stan would become the overarching catalyst for numerous important factors in the show, such as Ford accidentally assisting Bill in his plans and Stan falling out with his brother.
Biography[]
Background[]
Sometime in 1954 on Glass Shard Beach, New Jersey, Filbrick would become the father of the twins Stanley and Stanford Pines. While the brothers were inseparable as children, Ford was gifted with incredible intelligence that made him outshine Stanley in all matters from schoolwork to external competitions. This would spur Filbrick to spend more time cultivating Ford's talents, neglecting Stan in the process. At some point in time, Filbrick would sign Stan and Ford up for boxing classes which, while brutal for the young and weak Stan, would cause him to realize that his father was trying to toughen him up and make him thankful for this one kindness given to him, especially after he secured his first date as a teen after defending her from a purse-snatcher, using techniques he learned from boxing to help her. At some point Filbrick would have another son named Shermie, though it’s unclear whether he was born before or after the twins as the continuity is rather messy.
As the years went by, Stan and Ford would remain close, working on their shared dream to sail around the world together. Ford's grades would remain impeccable while Stan kept lagging behind, causing Filbrick to see Stan as lazy and a cheat riding on his brother's coattails. At some point, Stan would score an F- in a history test, a grade so bad the teachers believed it was mathematically impossible. Thus, Filbrick would force Stan to stand outside with a sign reading "Extra Stan, 3 Dollars or Better Offer" for two straight days, an incident that still haunts Stan to this day.
At the end of Stan and Ford's high school education, Filbrick and Caryn would be called in by the principal to discuss Ford's excellent performance at school, especially after inventing a perpetual motion machine for a science fair. The principal recommends Ford to apply for a scholarship into West Coast Tech, a prestigious school with graduates consisting of famous and rich scientists, elating Filbrick at the idea of this. However, the principal also snidely remarks about Stan's poor performance and derides his intelligence again.
The next day, Ford would be alarmed to find his machine broken, causing West Coast Tech to reject his application. Ford would find a toffee peanut packet on the floor and quickly deduce that Stan had broken his machine as he was upset to realize his brother didn't want to sail the world with him anymore. Ford would confront Stan over this and while Stan tried to explain it was an accident, Filbrick would be enraged at Stan ruining Ford's chances of becoming rich and successful. Throwing Stan out of the house with nothing but a duffel bag of his own belongings, Filbrick would order Stan not to come back unless he made the millions he costed his family. Enraged and embittered at his family, Stan would get into his car, never to return home.
In the meantime, Ford would attend Backupsmore College, where his stellar performance would earn him another scholarship and grant money which he'd use to study oddities, specifically those of the lumber town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. On the other hand, Stan would become a conman and crooked salesman in an attempt to make a living for himself, garnering great notoriety as an infamous criminal as his father's last words to him drove him to have a lust for money.
Ten years after disowning Stan, Filbrick and Caryn would receive news that he had died in a car accident on the way to visit Ford, who was researching anomalies in Gravity Falls. Filbrick, for unknown reasons, refused to attend the funeral, with Caryn being the only person other than "Ford" and an IRS agent to attend Stan's funeral. Unbeknownst to anyone, Stan was still alive and posing as Ford after accidentally pushing him into an interdimensional portal he created, hoping to find a way to rescue his brother whilst hiding from the authorities.
Gravity Falls[]
Filbrick is not seen in-person at all during the series's run, with it being unknown if he's even alive at all. However, Stan mentions him twice when recounting his childhood to Soos in "Dreamscapers" and the tale of him and Ford falling out in "A Tale of Two Stans". During "Weirdmaggedon 3: Take Back the Falls", when Stan laments on how his petty fighting with Ford caused the Zodiac to fail, he remarks that Filbrick was right on how he was a "screw-up." Fortunately, Stan makes the heroic sacrifice of trapping Bill in his mind and getting Ford to use the memory ray on him, erasing both Bill and his memories from existence. Thus, with even Ford acknowledging his brother's heroism, Stan finally proves Filbrick wrong as an honourable and self-sacrificial family man.
Trivia[]
- As more evidence that Ford was clearly favoured by Filbrick, it's mentioned in Journal 3 that the fez and suit that Stan wears are hand-me-downs from Filbrick to Ford which he intended the latter to wear for his wedding.
- It's also mentioned that the fez has a pattern that signifies allegiance to "The Order of the Holy Mackerel", a society that Filbrick apparently belonged to. While Ford notes that he and Stan didn't know much about the order, Stan has a flag depicting its insignia on the Mystery Shack gift shop walls, implying that Filbrick gave this flag to Ford and Stan repurposed it for decoration.
- Filbrick is the only antagonist in the series to have no connection or knowledge of the supernatural and weird whatsoever. This is likely symbolic as the main theme of Gravity Falls is the ability to preserve a sense of childhood wonder even as one matures, with Filbrick's disownment of Stanely being symbolic of being forced to grow up and accept reality, fitting as his decision to disown Stan ruined his and Ford's relationship, preventing them from embarking on their dream on going on adventures together for 50 years.
- Based on calculations, Stan and Ford are both roughly 58 years old in 2012 when the series’s events take place (even though Stan said that he’s pushing 70). This could make it possible that Filbrick and Caryn are still alive, though judging by their middle-aged appearances during Stan’s youth, it’s likely that they’ve already died.
- It's mentioned by Ford that Filbrick was the one who first came up with the infamous "Her aim is getting better" joke in the lost Journal 3 pages, hence why both he and Stan use it.
- Despite his abusive nature, in the Gravity Falls comic, The Jersey Devil's in the Details, after a young Stan returned Filbrick's stolen amulet and confessed to stealing it, he was mad, but later looked at the amulet, which Stan wrote "#1 DAD" on it, he seemed genuinely happy and Ford implies that Filbrick did at least appreciate Stan's honesty. This implies that, despite his abuse, Filbrick did have a genuine soft spot for his sons. However, it’s also possible that he was gradually embittered towards Stan’s poor performances over the years and lost what care he had for him.
- Alternatively, it seems possible that Filbrick genuinely loved Stan and thought that what he was doing was really helping him grow. Thus, this may make it possible that Filbrick didn't attend Stan's funeral out of callousness, but out of shame for failing him as a father.
- Jonathan Banks's casting as Filbrick is noted as ironic by fans since Stan was originally meant to be portrayed by Bob Odenkirk, who famously worked with Banks on the Breaking Bad franchise.
- Interestingly, despite lacking connections to the supernatural, Filbrick shares many similarities with the main antagonist of the series, Bill Cipher:
- Both of them regarded Stan as the lesser of the twins, frequently degrading his intelligence and accusing him of riding Ford's coattails.
- While they both treated Ford with affection and care, both of them had their ulterior motives of doing so: Filbrick wanted to use Ford's intelligence to make a fortune for him and his family, while Bill wanted Ford's help in creating a portal so he could take over his universe.
- Both of them removed family members from their lives forever, with Filbrick kicking Stan out for "ruining" Ford's college chances and Bill accidentally murdering his parents, along with his entire dimension.
- Additionally, if it should be believed that Filbrick still cared for Stan, both he and Bill show that they refuse to acknowledge their mistakes when it comes to these incidents: Filbrick refusing to attend Stan's funeral to save face, and Bill insisting that he's fine and burrowing his guilt under hedonism and evil.
- Ultimately, the two were proven wrong on their impressions of Stan: Stan managed to outsmart and kill Bill whilst sacrificing himself in the process, proving to his father that he wasn't good for nothing and to Bill that he's smarter than he looks.
External Links[]
- Filbrick Pines on the Gravity Falls Wiki
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 Villains
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