Steve Smith (American Dad!)

Steven Anita Smith[1] (born May 13, 1991) is a fictional character in the animated television series American Dad!, voiced by Scott Grimes. He is Stan and Francine Smith's 14-year-old son and Hayley's younger brother as well as the youngest of the series' six main characters.

Steve Smith
American Dad! character
First appearance"Pilot" (2005) Age : 14-15
Created bySeth MacFarlane
Mike Barker
Matt Weitzman
Voiced byScott Grimes
In-universe information
Full nameSteven Anita Smith
OccupationHigh school student
FamilyStan Smith (father)
Francine Smith (mother)
Hayley Smith (sister)
Roger (alien/best friend)
Klaus Heisler (fish/friend)
Jeff Fischer (brother-in-law)
Baley Smith (sister (deceased))
RelativesJack Smith (paternal grandfather)
Betty Smith (paternal grandmother)
Hercules (deceased paternal step-grandfather)
Rusty (paternal uncle)
Nicholas Dawson (biological maternal grandfather)
Cassandra Dawson (deceased biological maternal grandmother)
Bàba (adoptive maternal grandfather)
Māma (adoptive maternal grandmother)
Gwen Ling (adoptive maternal aunt)
ReligionEpiscopalian
NationalityAmerican

Steve only has 3 human geeky friends that always stand by his side no matter what crazy scenario is going on. However, he has the strongest friendship with the family alien Roger, as they frequently go on wild adventures together. Steve was born on May 13.

Steve's original design was much geekier and gawky and he was voiced by Ricky Blitt. Halfway through production, Grimes replaced Blitt and Steve's design was made to be more attractive, so he would be less comparable to Neil Goldman from Family Guy.[2]

Personality

Steve Smith is the baby of the family, Stan and Francine's high-school aged son. His height is 5’1” and his weight is 85 lbs. He attends Pearl Bailey High School. Steve is portrayed as an enthusiastic, ambitious, and wimpy nerd.[3] In "Virtual In-Stanity," Stan berates Steve to be 14 years old, instead of 15 years old, placing Steve's year of birth as 1991, as the show first aired in 2005. In the official series, he is not presented as nerdy as he is in the show's unaired precursory pilot when his appearance, voice and manner greatly contrasted from what they would eventually become. In the precursory pilot, Steve was also gawkier, scrawnier and voiced by Ricky Blitt (as opposed to Scott Grimes). In the official series, he's become emphasized as soft, emotional, cute and endearing. As part of his emotional and sensitive character, Steve is combined with a screechy wail. Despite his wimpy and nerdy characteristics, Steve is particularly conceited and obnoxious. He is all too often a showman, always ready to put on a performance and show off his "talents", typically singing/dance wise.[4][5] Steve is usually accompanied by his equally uncool friends: "Snot", Steve's closest friend with whom he shares a bromance,[6] the two once even having shared in a kiss together (in the episode "License to Till"); Toshi, who is an Asian American and only speaks Japanese; and Barry, who is morbidly obese with an inarticulate, strident, and sloppy vocal quality. Steve possesses a keen, yet shallow and lustful interest in the opposite sex, though he has had an obese girlfriend, Debbie, to which Stan disapproved. Steve's relationship with his father is strained with Stan often behaving judgmentally and intolerantly over Steve's nerdiness, immaturity and sensitivity. Steve has been known to cop attitude, sometimes rightfully so at Stan over his offensive acts.

Steve is portrayed as a stereotypical geek. He is a bit of a social outcast, wears thick glasses and harbors a strong academic interest in science, especially chemistry.[7][8] More typically geeky traits of Steve's include his interests in Dungeons & Dragons, Harry Potter and Star Wars.[9] Like most unpopular students, Steve is often physically and verbally picked on by the bullies of the more popular social circle. Steve's father, Stan, is often frustrated with Steve, as he would prefer that Steve engage in activities that would improve his social standing, like sports, a conflict that was first explored in the first season episode "All About Steve".[10] Stan sometimes attempts to change Steve, usually unsuccessfully, as when he once gave Steve an experimental performance enhancer. The steroid caused Steve to grow female breasts but also ironically made him more popular at school.[11] Steve looks up to his dad as a role model but his naïvete often leads him to follow his dad's advice or convictions, seemingly blindly. This led him to once openly display homophobia.[12] Another time Steve received a failing grade on a presentation about fossils using information he got from Stan because he thought his dad was intelligent, despite Roger's attempts to convince him otherwise.[13]

Steve's mother, Francine, does not care that Steve is a geek,[10] and is more protective of him, seeing him as her "baby", a status she once attempted to prolong by using a special drug to keep him from reaching puberty.[14][15]

Steve does not share many interests with his sister, Hayley, who often chastises him for his poor savvy, showman attitude, and general objectification towards women. In turn, Steve also enjoys teasing Hayley for fun because of her sensible nature, which Hayley does not take very well to. But the two have occasionally collaborated with each other on schemes, such as when they tried to break up a young couple so Hayley could get the guy and Steve the girl, which ended up backfiring on both of the couple getting horrifically injured.[16] They have also tried to teach both of their parents individual lessons, like when they tried to teach Francine not to be racist, only to learn that she was actually prejudiced against left-handed people,[17] or when they exacted revenge against Stan for turning a homeless shelter into a bumfight business.[18]

Roger is Steve's best friend, as they often play video games together, get advice from each other and come up with schemes together. Several episodes subplots resolves around them, most notably Wheels and the Legman episodes.[19] For example, he once planned to make a Girls Gone Wild-type video and market it in order to generate money to buy a video game console.[18] In another scheme, Steve and Roger ran away to New York City to make their fortunes, while the rest of the family thought killed when lightning set the family's treehouse on fire.[13] The two have a love-hate relationship, in which they constantly quarrel and insult each other, mostly because of Steve's tendency to inflate his own ego, combined with Roger's easily irritated and vindictive nature, often leads the latter to physically abuse or play a prank on Steve because of a real or perceived teasing or insult. Occasionally, Steve gets even, like when he once conned Roger out of $50,000.[20] Steve also enjoys teasing Roger from time to time and while Roger is more tolerable about it than Hayley, he also seems to be easily annoyed by Steve. However, Steve and Roger have shown a brotherly affection for each other several times, with Steve even once intervening to rescue the alien from an abusive relationship.[7] In the same episode, it is revealed that Roger was Steve's 5th birthday gift.

Klaus and Steve tend to get along consistently well, in contrast with other members of the family. With the possible exception of Roger, Klaus is the most frequently present member of the main cast in storylines concerning Steve and his friends, playing announcer for them when they wrestle, helping Snot deck out a basement, and telling Steve and Snot German stories. Like Roger, he is often critical of Steve's effeminate mannerisms, at one point asking him if he's "allergic to vaginas".

A freshman at Pearl Bailey High School, Steve is a highly capable musician, having taken up the cello to once impress a girl.[21] In a later episode, however, Steve says that he has been playing the cello since he was nine.[22] Steve also plays guitar and sings, which he did as part of a band in the episode "American Dream Factory." In fact, both of the songs Steve's band rehearses ("Livin' on the Run" and "Sunset Blvd"), were originally recorded by Scott Grimes, who voices Steve.[23] Among Steve's other talents are being able to read Elvish, use Morse code, and communicate with dolphins.[9][24] Steve is also an accomplished master of disguise through assistance of Roger; and has occasionally relied on the use of prosthetic masks and wearing other's clothing to escape difficult situations unnoticed.

While academically skilled,[10] Steve is also quite naïve and not socially savvy. For example, he knows more about the New York Stock Exchange than about prostitution.[13] As a result, he can sometimes be tricked into believing outrageously implausible lies. Roger typically takes advantage of this, especially when he is upset with Steve or when he is simply bored. Once Roger made Steve believe he was not really Stan and Francine's biological child.[25] Another time Roger tricked Steve into believing he was an adolescent wizard, and took him to a drug dealer's house, telling him it was secretly a wizard's school, and the drug lab inside a Potions class.[26]

Although normally even-tempered and relatively tolerant, Steve cries when he is notably upset, but he has also had uncontrolled bursts of rage, during which he breaks nearby objects and screams very loudly.[27] If pressed hard enough, Steve will also hit or attack people, such as when he beat up Beauregard La Fontaine for insulting his father, even though he is generally not aggressive or an adept fighter, as he was unable to even make a fist in "Bully for Steve", for example.[13] He also uses childhood paraphernalia that teenagers have typically outgrown, such as the teddy bear he is implied to sleep with in "Live and Let Fry", and the Care Bears towel he is revealed to use in "Camp Refoogee". In the episode Stan & Francine & Connie & Ted, he twice demonstrates an extreme form of rage which is referred to as 'going bananas', where his face turns bright red, he screams gibberish, flails around, breaks things, and even attacks anyone nearby. His neighbours and friends are well aware of this, as at the end of the first tantrum Greg is seen across the street calmly listening and commenting on it while Barry warns him not to go bananas before he does the second time.

Steve has also been shown to occasionally struggle with both substance abuse and an addiction to power. In "An Apocalypse to Remember", Steve claims to be hooked on "hallucinogenic berries", which ultimately turn out to be poisonous.[28] In a later episode, Steve develops an addiction to the energy drink Cougar Boost, at one point going as far as to defraud his friends with fake tickets in order to obtain money to procure more of the beverage.[29] In the episode Virtual In-Stanity, Francine derides Stan for picking up a drug bunny as a last minute gift, in the process reminding Stan that they just barely got Steve off the heroin from Stan's previous last second gift.[30] In both the pilot episode and You Debt Your Life, Steve demonstrates an addiction to power; in the former case by taking over the school after being turned down by a girl he was trying to impress,[31] in the latter case due to his obsession with making the morning announcements and deciding what is worth broadcasting to the high school.[32] Furthermore, as shown in the episode "Jenny Fromdabloc", it is revealed that among his four friends Steve is considered to be the leader of the group going as far back as elementary school, prompting Roger to call Steve the "King of the Nerds".[33] In most cases when his role as the leader of the group is threatened Steve's drive to maintain this position of power results in erratic behavior such as humiliating his friends with personal or compromising information[33] or threats of physical violence against himself or others.[31] In nearly every case outside of his immediate circle of friends, Steve's position of power or authority ends up stripped or removed from him,[32] or in rare cases, remains with him in a curtailed capacity, as was the case in "I am the Walrus".[34]

In "Hurricane!", it appeared that Steve might have a fetish for Asians and pregnant women, either separately or even both, when Francine found multiple magazines in Steve's bedroom. "Stanny Slickers II: The Legend of Ollie's Gold" and "Stan Time" also imply that Steve has a fetish for robotic women (in the former episode, he tried to build a date out of a vacuum cleaner and was shown to have a fully functioning female robot in Stan's vision of the future where Stan is famous after death, but everyone makes rude comments about his children being freaks. In the later episode, one of Steve's porno movie ideas depicts two women making out and turning into robots in a hot tub). Steve has pursued many women but he is said to become "super gay" in the future in the episode "Roger Passes the Bar".

Friends
Steve (left), shown without his glasses, after Barry (center) has taken them to complete his Jonah Hill costume, in the 2010 Halloween episode, "Best Little Horror House in Langley Falls". At right is Snot, another of Steve's friends.

Aside from Roger, Steve has a small group of friends from school that he regularly spends time with. The boys frequently engage in activities which most teenage boys have outgrown, such as slumber parties.[35] The group includes:

  • Snot, a teenager with curly hair, some noticeable stubble and acne, he is Steve's best friend after Roger. His character appears to be based on Booger from Revenge of the Nerds; he is even voiced by Curtis Armstrong. Snot who is Jewish, once had an affair with Steve's then-girlfriend, Gretchen.[36] It is implied in "Roger Passes The Bar" that Snot has joined the army and turned gay, marrying his commanding officer, LT Randall Santana.
  • Barry, a morbidly obese and apparently simple-minded boy, he has an inarticulate, strident, and sloppy vocal quality. In the episode "With Friends Like Steve's" he is revealed to be a maniacal, demonic genius made to take special "vitamins" to inhibit these evil tendencies, and cause mental retardation. Without taking the pills, he also speaks in an English accent. It is implied in "Roger Passes The Bar" that he grows up to become a gay poet working at Ithaca College, dating his male students.[24]
  • Toshi, a multilingual Japanese teenager. Although he seems to understand English, he has yet to speak it, with the exception of "Finances with Wolves", in which he yells "Werewolf!" in unison with Snot and Barry, and "Francine's Flashback", in which he yells "Godzilla!". When he speaks Japanese (generally with a very condescending tone), Steve believes he can understand him, though he really does not. In the season 9 episode "Independent Movie" he says "Go on without me" in Japanese, then saying "please go" in perfect English. Toshi has spoken Russian[37] and speaks Spanish when talking on the phone to Francine (though that could be Francine ignorantly thinking Toshi's Japanese is Spanish).[13] Though they are friends, Toshi's greatest wish is to one day kill Steve.[38] Toshi's parents speak perfect English,[39] as does his younger sister, Akiko, who acts as Toshi's translator in episodes such as "Weiner of Our Discontent" and "The Best Little Horror House in Langley Falls". Toshi apparently knows of Roger Smith being an alien as he once called him "that alien in the wig". It is implied in "Roger Passes The Bar", that he has moved to Kyoto, Japan to become an exotic dancer.

References
  1. Written by Erik Durbin. Directed by Chris Bennett (May 22, 2011). "Gorillas in the Mist". American Dad!. Season 7. Episode 19. FOX.
  2. "Random American Dad Trivia." TVTDB.com. Retrieved on May 16, 2009.
  3. "Tom's DVD Review Page - American Dad Volume 6". Imemine98.com. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  4. "FOX Broadcasting Company - American Dad TV Show - American Dad TV Series - American Dad Episode Guide". Fox.com. August 20, 2012. Archived from the original on September 10, 2013. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  5. Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 Through 2010 - Vincent Terrace - Google Books. ISBN 9780786486410. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  6. McFarland, Kevin (December 3, 2012). ""Why Can't We Be Friends?" | American Dad | TV Club | TV". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
  7. Written by Dan Vebber. Directed by Joe Daniello. "A.T. The Abusive Terrestrial". American Dad!. Season 2. Episode 35. FOX.
  8. Written by Steve Hely. Directed by Pam Cooke and Jansen Yee (April 26, 2009). "Every Which Way But Lose". American Dad!. Season 4. Episode 17. FOX.
  9. Written by Matt McKenna and Chris McKenna. Directed by Mike Kim (September 25, 2005). "All About Steve". American Dad!. Season 4. Episode 4. FOX.
  10. Directed by Mike Kim. Written by Matt McKenna and Chris McKenna (April 30, 2006). "All About Steve". American Dad!. Season 1. FOX.
  11. Written by Nahnatchka Khan. Directed by Caleb Meurer (April 30, 2006). "Helping Handis". American Dad!. Season 1. Episode 21. FOX.
  12. Written by Rick Wiener, Kenny Schwartz, Nahnatchka Khan. Directed by Brent Woods. "Lincoln Lover". American Dad!. Season 2. Episode 4. FOX.
  13. Written by Chris McKenna and Matt McKenna. Directed by Pam Cooke. "Irregarding Steve". American Dad!. Season 2. Episode 31. FOX.
  14. Written by Rick Wiener and Kenny Schwartz. Directed by Caleb Meurer. "1600 Candles". American Dad!. Season 4. Episode 1. FOX.
  15. Written by Erik Durbin. Directed by Tim Parsons. "Star Trek". American Dad!. Season 2. Episode 8. FOX.
  16. Written by Rick Wiener and Kenny Schwartz. Directed by Anthony Lioi (April 23, 2006). "Roger 'n' Me". American Dad!. Season 1. Episode 20. FOX.
  17. Written by Laura McCreary. Directed by Brent Woods (May 4, 2008). "Office Spaceman". American Dad!. Season 3. Episode 14. FOX.
  18. Written by David Zuckerman. Directed by Brent Woods. "Threat Levels". American Dad!. Season 1. Episode 2. FOX.
  19. Written by Erik Sommers. Directed by John Aoshima (March 29, 2009). "Wife Insurance". American Dad!. Season 4. Episode 15. FOX.
  20. Written by Michael Shipley and Jim Bernstein. Directed by Pam Cooke (May 6, 2007). "I Can't Stan You". American Dad!. Season 2. Episode 17. FOX.
  21. Written by Matt Fusfeld and Alex Cuthbertson. Directed by Joe Daniello (November 2, 2008). "Choosy Wives Choose Smith". American Dad!. Season 4. Episode 4. FOX.
  22. Written by Matt Fusfeld and Alex Cuthbertson. Directed by Joe Daniello (April 19, 2009). "Delorean Story-An". American Dad!. Season 4. Episode 16. FOX.
  23. Written by Nahnatchka Khan. Directed by Rodney Clouden (January 28, 2007). "American Dream Factory". American Dad!. Season 2. Episode 11. FOX.
  24. Written by Erik Durbin. Directed by John Aoshima. "With Friends Like Steve's". American Dad!. Season 1. Episode 22. FOX.
  25. Written by Brian Boyle. Directed by John Aoshima. "Stannie Get Your Gun". American Dad!. Season 1. Episode 14. FOX.
  26. Written by Michael Shipley. Directed by Caleb Meurer (October 14, 2007). "Dope & Faith". American Dad!. Season 3. Episode 3. FOX.
  27. Written by Erik Durbin. Directed by Tim Parsons. "Family Affair". American Dad!. Season 4. Episode 10. FOX.
  28. Written by Erik Durbin. Directed by John Aoshima. "An Apocalypse to Remember". American Dad!. Season 3. Episode 14. FOX.
  29. Written by Rick Wiener & Kenny Schwartz. Directed by Rodney Clouden. "When a Stan Loves a Woman". American Dad!. Season 3. Episode 16. FOX.
  30. Written by Jordan Blum & Parker Deay. Directed by Shawn Murray. "Virtual In-Stanity". American Dad!. Season 8. Episode 5. FOX.
  31. Written by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker & Matt Weitzman. Directed by Ron Hughart. "Pilot". American Dad!. Season 1. Episode 1. FOX.
  32. Written by Erik Sommers. Directed by Chris Bennett. "You Debt Your Life". American Dad!. Season 6. Episode 12. FOX.
  33. Written by Laura McCreary . Directed by Bob Bowen. "Jenny Fromdabloc". American Dad!. Season 6. Episode 16. FOX.
  34. Written by Keith Heisler. Directed by Tim Parsons. "I am the Walrus". American Dad!. Season 6. Episode 13. FOX.
  35. Written by Chris and Matt McKenna. Directed by Bob Bowen and Jacob Hair (February 13, 2011). "A Pinata Named Desire". American Dad!. Season 6. Episode 11. FOX.
  36. Written by Steve Hely. Directed by Albert Calleros. "Con Heir". American Dad!. Season 1. Episode 11. FOX.
  37. Written by Brian Boyle. Directed by John Aoshima. "Of Ice and Men". American Dad!. Season 2. Episode 30. FOX.
  38. Written by Neal Boushell and Sam O'Neal. Directed by Albert Calleros. "Finances With Wolves". American Dad!. Season 1. Episode 19. FOX.
  39. "May the Best Stan Win". American Dad!. Season 5. Episode 12. February 14, 2010. Fox.
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