Nerdy Geek Blog

In this post I want to look at and analyse character arcs of the main cast of Gravity Falls cartoon series (Disney, Alex Hirsch, 2012-2016). I love this series and appreciate that it told its full story without some tedious number of filler action like, for instance, Steven Universe. The narrative of Gravity Falls is rather concise and well-thought out. Most likely, because the story is only two seasons long.

Since there are already a lot of material on Gravity Falls, i don’t want to give a simple review on it. Instead, I decided to go over the personal arcs of the main cast, namely: Dipper, Mable, Soos, Wendy, and Stan – as they appear on the group photo during the opening.

Mason “Dipper” Pines

First of all, let’s address the elephant in the room. Yes, his official name is Mason and it was reveal in the Gravity Falls: Journal 3 book replica of the cartoon’s journals, published by Disney Press in 2016.

As for his character arc, I want to separate it into two. The first one comes from the others perception of him as child, while he tries to prove himself to be older and more capable. In this regard, Headhunters (S1E3), The Inconveniencing (S1E5), and Summerween (S1E12) are some of the primary examples of that. Another side of his arc is mainly shown in episode Dipper vs. Manliness (S1E6). I want to separate it from my first examples because in the first case his desire to appear older comes from inside, while his desire to be more “manly” in episode 6 comes from external social pressure.

There is a notable arc on his affection towards Wendy, but it’s more of a plot arc than one of his character, however, I cannot gloss over it because Into the Bunker (S2E2) is the turning point not only for Dipper’s and Wendy’s relationship, but also for the whole Dipper’s arc. The thing is, his discussion with Wendy about him being too young for them to date helps him come to terms with him still being too young to appear adult, yet smart enough to not be perceived as a naive child. It allows Dipper to simply enjoy his summer and from this episode onward, the plot does not return to Dipper’s inner conflicts. They pretty much get resolved here.

Mable Pines

The case with Mable is rather opposite to that of her brother. All of the first season she only tries to find a guy to date: a bunch of gnomes in Tourist Trapped (S1E1), Gideon in The Hand That Rocks the Mabel (S1E4), Mermando in The Deep End (S1E15), to some extend the boys band in Boyz Crazy (S1E17), and puppeteer Gabe Benson in Sock Opera (S2E4). There were some other passing interests, I believe, but these are to ones who drew the plot forward.

In general Mable’s only problems seme to be: find a boy to date and which sweater to wear next episode, but these are just visible consequences of her greater issue. Like she tells Dipper in Summerween (S1E12), they won’t remain children for long, so in fact she seems to be finding all these troubled partners because she is still a child and won’t suffer great consequences for it. She is learning and playing house fearing to grow older and becoming a responsible partner. Not that she fears responsibility as a whole, though. It’s more about her not wanting to hurt other feelings in case she makes a wrong choice, which in a way can be seen in how she handles herself during the Weirdmageddon (S2E19).

I have to also mention that she is a very creative and extraordinary person, too. This is seen in her interactions throughout the series, but is highlighted in Irrational Treasure (S1E8) where she helps her brother uncover a conspiracy around the town’s founder by thinking out of the box.

Jesús “Soos” Alzamirano Ramirez

Living with his grandmother, he always looked up to his father, but he was never there for his son. I don’t believe his mother was even mentioned in the series. This made Soos feel abandoned by the person he cared about, but finding friends in Dipper and Mable, his childhood wound seemed to have finally healed in Blendin’s Game (S2E8), when he realised that the twins fought tooth and nail for him to get an all-powerful wish.

Another arc was briefly touched upon in Soos And The Real Girl (S2E5) where Soos was trying to find a girlfriend. The plan went downhill fast due to a virtual girl from a dating game called Giffany, but in the end, Soos still managed to stay together with a real girl, Melody, who was not hanging out in the plot for long as she was going away from town.

I decided to talk about these two arcs because I find them to be connected. Firstly, Soos was waiting for his father and, then, he found a different person to hope to be with. In the end, he and Melody will run the Mystery Shack together. What a happy ending for such a cute couple.

Wendy Blerble Corduroy

Out of all main cast, she is the one with no defined character arc like the rest. She just works her job at the Mystery Shack and chills like an ordinary teenager. Due to belonging to a family of lumberjacks, she also many times serves as “the muscle” for the main characters. Her main purpose for inclusion was Dipper’s love interest, but beyond that, Wendy didn’t show any internal struggle in the plot.

She was in relationship with Robbie, but it was more of a plot device than anything. She is fun to watch, but she wasn’t really given a character arc in its traditional sense.

Stanley Pines

Also known as grunkle Stan. Most of the series he is mixed up for his twin brother Stanford Pines, the author of the three journal which were a major driver for many events in the series.

In the first season he wasn’t given any specific arc, even though there were a few notable episodes of his growth and change. For instance, Land Before Swine (S1E18) where he learns to appreciate Waddles, but his involvement in the series increases with the return of Stanford. As it turned out, they are not in a good relationship, in addition to the fact that Stanford initially fell into the portal during his quarrel with Stanley.

This tension continues up to the finale when Stanley asks Stanford to thank his for bringing him back which goes down horribly wrong. Only after all resorts are exhausted and brothers are bound in Bill’s prison do they finally open up to each other and make amends. This, of course, saves the day and ultimately leads to a happy ending.

Conclusion

I didn’t want to give a simple overview of the series as it was done many times before and I find this series phenomenal like the majority of people who watched it. I wanted to talk about something else, that’s how I thought about character arcs. The mysteries and Bill Cipher usually take the spotlight but I wanted to see if the characters have changed throughout the series or not.

Of course, these are not the only changes that have happened. Wendy had her moments of change that I haven’t talked about, Mable, too. It’s just those changes were mostly driven my the plot and haven’t left such a lasting mark.

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Pictures taken from:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1198016524

https://fancaps.net/tv/showimages.php?706-Gravity_Falls_Season_2