American Dad/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


The dramatis personae for Seth MacFarlane's second animated Sitcom, American Dad!, featuring some background information on the characters and tropes they provide examples of. More to come.


Smith Family

Stan Smith

The man of the house, a CIA agent later promoted to Deputy-Deputy Director. Although an extreme right-winger to the point of parody with a tendency to forget the lessons he's just learned, he still loves his family. Voiced by Seth MacFarlane.

Francine (sadly/shocked): You harpooned me. I asked you to go and get help, and you harpooned me.

Francine Smith (née Ling, Dawson)

The matriarch, wife of Stan and mother of Hayley and Steve. A fairly happy housewife, if not a little loopy at times, although she does wish she could do stuff outside the house other than grocery shopping. During her years growing up, she was the adopted daughter of the Chinese Lings after her birth parents, the Dawsons, abandoned her as a baby at an airport since bringing babies to first class wasn't allowed. Prior to hooking up with Stan, she was very promiscuous (currently has the largest rose garden dedicated to the men she had sex with prior to meeting Stan) and wild. Voiced by Wendy Schaal.

  • Beware the Nice Ones: Shifts somewhere between this and an outright Bitch in Sheep's Clothing, Depending on the Writer (much like Lois on Family Guy, though granted she is called out on it). Her personality often tends to come off as unpredictable to say the least.
    • Let's just say, even Stan (who usually has a very low sense of self-preservation) is smart enough to be scared of her when she gets angry. Example? Season 1 Episode 4.
    • She nonchalantly admitted to stabbing her college roommate to death while the Smiths were having dinner at a restaurant.
  • Bi the Way: Sort of. She has had sex with women before, and seems perfectly willing to make out with a woman to get backstage at a rock concert. But she is primarily straight, compared to Linda Memari.
  • Blonde Republican Sex Kitten: Sort of. Compared to Stan, Francine is much more apolitical (she likely doesn't understand politics in general).
  • Cloudcuckoolander: The brief times her head comes back to earth, she can be very intelligent. The rest of the time... well... remember the box she thought was a TV? Nuff said.
  • Dumb Blonde: But not too dumb.
  • Ethical Slut: She really got around when she was younger, but all in the name of partying and free love.
    • She claims her first time was with a group of angry construction workers.
  • Expansion Pack Past
  • Extreme Doormat: Often for Stan and Roger, though she stands up for herself when pushed too far.
  • Former Teen Rebel
  • Gasshole: Has been seen belching loudly as a throwaway gag on occasion, usually after drinking something.
  • Genius Ditz: For the brief periods of time when she tried to pursue something outside of being a housewife, she is ridiculously good at what she does. To the point where she once became and oceanologist, and published a paper on how she found a thought-to-be-extinct species! Of course, Stan always brings things back to a screaming halt (to the point where he deliberately sabotaged the American economy because that was the only way to stop her career as a real estate agent).
  • Happily Adopted
  • Happily Married: To Stan.
  • Hot Mom
  • Housewife
  • Mama Bear: Messing with Steve and Hayley is a sure way to get you killed by Francine, whether you're her husband or not. When Jeff seemingly decided to break off his engagement with Hayley for 50,000 dollars, Francine was so disgusted she tried to kill Jeff by unloading Stan's gun into his face. If it wasn't for the fact that Stan removed the bullets, Jeff would be dead right now. And when she discovered Stan had been bullying Steve in order to toughen him up, Francine chased him through the school, jumped out a window, and ran after him with glass in her hair until he drove off. She then rammed his car off the road with her's.

Stan: What the hell, Francine! You t-boned me bro!

  • Parental Abandonment: Her real parents left her at an airport after being told they couldn't bring any children on the flight.
    • No, they could bring children on the flight, just not in first class.
  • Pink Means Feminine: Pink is her favorite color.
  • Retired Badass: She was once in a fight club and in prison, and if you hit her Berserk Button she becomes a Combat Pragmatist who will do anything short of killing her family members if they cross her (she rammed Stan with a four-wheel-drive!).
  • Stalker with a Crush: When she was younger, she had a crush on her algebra teacher, Mr. Feeny. He didn't take her seriously, and then his wife found her in their closet smelling his clothes and cutting herself. Francine lied to the police about them being lovers, so he was arrested and eventually killed himself in prison.
  • Stay in the Kitchen
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly Girl to Hayley's Tomboy.
  • Women Are Wiser
    • Not So Above It All: While she is much more sane than Stan, she still engages in zany schemes, like trying to assassinate George Clooney because she felt he upstaged her (Season 1 finale).
      • Recent episodes avert this by making her more socially-awkward and Stan closer to Earth.
  • Yandere: To her son, Steve (non-romantic example).
    • Actually, Francine has moved away from this aspect in the later seasons, and when San starts having issues with Steve growing up Francine's the one who has to set him straight.
  • Younger Than They Look: Francine's able to unintentionally pass herself off as a teenager when she's up to it. In the first season, after Stan accidentally erased the last twenty years of her life from her memory, Francine noticed no significant change in her physical appearance (except for pubic hair).

Hayley Dreamsmasher Smith Fischer

Daughter and the oldest of the two Smith siblings. As a kid, she and her father were close due to sharing the same beliefs, but as she became a young adult, her views became the complete opposite of her dad's, causing the two to butt heads often; for instance, she's in favor of gun control, while he isn't. That's not to say that she doesn't get Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other moments with Stan, and shares more than a few personality traits from her father, both negative and positive. Voiced by Rachael MacFarlane (Seth's sister).

  • The Artifact: Arguably even more than Klaus, who one can argue has never really been a major character. Hayley was the second character created for the show after Stan, when the premise was supposed to be a modern "All in the Family". When politics was phased out in the first two seasons, Hayley's screen time and storylines were dramatically reduced.
  • Bare Your Midriff
  • Berserk Button: She does not take breakups well (provided that she is not the one who breaks up).
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: Stan enrolled her in a program to become a CIA sleeper agent when she was 5. If you say the right combination of words, she becomes a trained killer.
    • Manchurian Agent: The trigger words: "I'm getting fed up with this orgasm."
    • The Cynic: She started frowning excessively after she started to believe that the world was unfair after witnessing a man clubbing a baby seal.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Usually to her father.
  • Demoted to Extra: Considering how little scenes and lines she has in recent seasons and that here are fewer episodes and subplots about her she tends to fit this trope.
  • Electra Complex: Hayley once entered a relationship with Stan's C.I.A. double, Bill... yeah.
  • Embarrassing Middle Name: Dreamsmasher.
  • Granola Girl: In deep contrast to Stan.
  • Hypocrite: A lot of humor tends to revolve around this. In some cases, she is incredibly shallow about her own ethics and views, albeit Depending on the Writer.
    • Although she says that she is a feminist, she secretly dresses as a Fifties housewife and bakes pies, entering them in contests under the name "Carlotta Montarrey".
    • She dumps boyfriends, frequently Jeff, coldly and nonchalantly on numerous occasions (perhaps most notably dumping Avery Bollock over phone, mid way through a presentation, on live TV, a second before he was going to promote Stan) and is occasionally outright termed as a "slut". When a boy dumps her however, she goes out and out Ax Crazy (to the point that the police have threatened her to have her put in jail for life if she gets dumped again).
  • Mama Bear: In "Season's Beatings", despite denying any maternal instincts, the minute she sees the baby Jeff adopted she starts sobbing uncontrollably with joy over "her baby". To the point that she was willing to kill Stan to protect Nemo, even if he is the Anti-Christ.
  • Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Masculine Girl to Steve's Feminine Boy.
  • Nice Girl: Despite her hypocritical tendencies and her tendency to hold the Jerkass Ball a few times, Hayley is a good person through and through.
  • Not So Different: Her and Stan. Despite their contrasting views, they still share quite a few personality aspects; they are stubborn, self righteous and politically extreme people who often show a disregard for their partner (when she is with Jeff anyway) and try and force them to conform to their world view.
  • Out of Focus: Since about Season 3 onward, compare her screen time and plot/sub-plot focus to Stan, Francine, Steve and Roger. In some episodes, she's lucky to have comparable screen time and lines to Klaus. See Artifact above.
  • Shrinking Violet: While Hayley generally has no problem socializing, "Cow, I Met Your Moo-ther" reveals she has a lot of self-doubt and is very nervous about embarrassing herself. Throughout the episode, Hayley kept saying the wrong things because of her shyness.
  • Soapbox Sadie
  • Socially Awkward Hero: Played straight in "Cow, I Met Your Moo-ther".
  • Straw Hypocrite: At her very worst. While she does show genuine devotion to her beliefs at times, a lot of her actions seem to be solely to outrage her Control Freak father, and has attempted to bail out a few good times she is made to go through with the consequences of her actions.
  • Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Surprisingly, averted. In "Roy Rogers McFreely", Hayley points out to Stan that, since Roger's in charge and his views are counter to his, Stan is now part of the counterculture, and therefore on the same side with Hayley. Rather then argue, Stan realizes she's right and the two form a group to undermine Roger's control on the neighborhood. The episode showed that, if not for their clashing points of view, Stan and Hayley would get along great.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Francine's Girly Girl.
  • Took a Level In Kindness: Like Meg Griffin, she is the only one in the Smith family to become nicer.
  • The Unfavorite: Her middle name says most of it, as well as Stan's disdain for her and Francine's blatant favoritism for Steve.
  • Unstoppable Rage: If the guy is the one who ends the relationship, she'll go on a destructive rampage.
    • Averted in the episode "American Dream Factory", where illegal Mexican immigrant Paco breaks off a relationship with her, with no adverse effects. Of course, this is likely due to the fact that this episode is almost two years older than "Pulling Double Booty", the episode where this trait made its debut.
    • She also was a holy terror during various stages of puberty: when told that she had to wear tampons now that she was on her period, Hayley (who was wearing a skirt) threw the tampon box away and sat on the Smiths' new white couch, she yelled at her parents for not getting bigger boobs, and when Roger cracked a joke about a pimple on her face, she threw Roger through a window and set the living room on fire.
  • Weirdness Magnet: She always seems to attract questionable men, and being sucked into an environmental cult with a man who planned to be turned into a tree, as well as having dinner with a psychopathic serial killer who just killed his father.
  • Woman Scorned: To it's most extreme. See above.

Steven "Steve" Anita Smith

The younger of the Smith siblings. A nerdy teenager who has his own circle of nerd buddies and quests for tail. While otherwise unsuccessful at the game of love, he does have an on-again/off-again relationship with heavyset goth Debbie Hyman, which seems to have resumed as of 'Escape From Pearl Bailey'. Voiced by Scott Grimes.

Roger Smith

An alien who self-describes as effeminate and alcoholic who was taken in by the Smiths after he saved Stan from death by grenade during a lockdown at Area 51. Also a master of disguise out of necessity, to avoid suspicion from the rest of the planet. Voiced by Seth MacFarlane.

Roger: Oh my God! Another fey, pansexual, alcoholic nonhuman... I've been replaced!

  • Bizarre Alien Biology: Used to excellent effect.
  • Breakout Character: Hasn't quite supplanted Stan as the main character, but he's come close.
  • Bunny Ears Lawyer: Just about any of Roger's previously established personas are extremely competent at what they do, the most blatant example being Jeannie Gold, wedding planner (and prostitute).
  • Clark Kenting
  • Comedic Sociopath
  • Dark and Troubled Past: For the large part, the more we learn about Roger's background, the more depraved an individual he seems.
  • Desperately Looking for a Purpose In Life
  • Determinator: If his motives are selfish enough, he can achieve ANYTHING. He pursues Haley and Jeff with the money they cheated Stan out of across the entire planet. When he's convinced to kill the Smith family, he's able to escape from an excessively secure underwater prison. Not even leaving the planet is enough to escape him.
  • Disappeared Dad: He ate him when he was 15. Apparently this is another of his species' sociopathic tendencies.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Frequently plays this trope to it's most extreme. One notable example being when he conspires to make Steve's life a living hell after Steve ate his cookie and said: "You snooze, you lose."
    • One episode has Stan calling Roger a selfish fat failure. Roger responds by planning on destroying the planet.
    • After starting a chauffeur service and trying to be as polite and respectful as possible, he gets stiffed for twenty dollars by five frat boys. Roger proceeds to hunt each one of them and run them down, in the limo, even when the last one managed to get on a plane. Roger somehow managed to get on the plane's wing, run the guy down by driving through the plane, and kills everyone on board. As he and Klaus are parachuting down, he sees a stewardess parachuting next to them, and unbuckles her for no good reason other than he's "got the blood lust".
    • Another episode had Roger attempting to kill the entire Smith family because they roasted him for his birthday (even though he was sure he wanted it and he had a huge misconception on what a roast is). When he finally gets a hold of everyone, he forces the Smiths to roast each other, but it backfires because they are used to making fun of each other.
  • Expansion Pack Past: His life since his arrival to Earth during the Roswell incident.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Roger when he's in a manipulative mood.He can act nice if he wants to be at times, before stabbing them in the back and/or abandoning them.
  • Flanderization: His affinity for costumes and dress up acts, to the point some literally take over his personality. His Jerkass traits also initially just came with the quirkiness of his personality and were much more toned down. As time progressed, his callousness is canonically accepted as his defining trait (to the point he'll actually die without acting consistently cruel).
  • For Halloween I Am Going as Myself: Went to a sci-fi convention without a disguise. Oddly enough, this was the one time he avoided interaction with people.
  • The Greys
  • The Gump: In his lifetime, he's responsible for creating disco in the 1970s (through a time paradox, admittedly), instigating the death of Biggie Smalls, creating Jar Jar Binks, inventing ecstasy in the 1990s, and turning Raven-Symone into an actress (after he kidnapped her from a park when she was a child).
  • Heroic BSOD: In "Wiener of Our Discontent", he is put out of action when he finds out he was supposed to be a crash test dummy.
  • It's All About Me: While pretty much all the family display this trait on occasion, Roger takes it to sociopathic extremes.
  • Jerkass: Can shift into a comedic monster on occasion. Depending on the Writer, he's shown to be perfectly willing to exploit or even murder his closest friends for minor offenses or indulgences.
    • In the Blood/Freudian Excuse: It would literally kill Roger to be nice. His species have to let their 'bitchiness' out frequently otherwise it vents out in bile and vomit.
    • Took a Level in Jerkass: Roger was more toned down in early episodes, acting little past an obnoxious Cloudcuckoolander and showing more frequent gestures of genuine care and sympathy to the Smiths. As his costumes and outside lifestyle became more active however his apathy and psychotic traits became more and more prominent.
      • In spite of Taken a level of Jerkass. he still has moments of clarity
      • Pet the Dog: Despite having little to no sense of empathy the majority of times, he is often shown to genuinely care about Stan. The entire reason he came to be with the Smiths is because he went out of his way to save Stan from a botched CIA attack. Even in later episodes, Roger's friendship is sometimes exploited by Stan, which is saying a lot considering the former's usual tendencies.
  • Karma Houdini: Has he ever suffered for his horrible actions?
    • Ironically how much he suffers is usually reverse proportional to his own misdeeds. He can get away with all sorts of horrific and outright murderous schemes but the odd time he plays The Chew Toy is usually when he has done nothing wrong.
    • There are however some episodes where he fails to get away with his atrocities. For example in 'The People vs. Martin Sugar", Stan had the jury vote him guilty thus leading the judge (tearfully) to sending him to prison.
  • Kissing Under the Influence/Anal Probing/Ho Yay/Their First Time/Did the Earth Move For You, Too?: With Stan during their trip to Atlantic City. They were both drunk, and Stan agreed to the most intimate experiences of Roger's species. Roger ended up knowing all of Stan's memories, but not vice versa—this was especially humiliating for Roger because Stan was actually Roger's first.
  • Lack of Empathy: To extremes. The first time he felt empathy for someone over himself was such a shock to his mindset that he developed a split personality (one with far more redeeming aspects than his own).
  • Large Ham
  • Laughably Evil: He shows little, if any thought for his family and friends' well being, and committed all sorts of heartless or outright murderous acts for the most trivial and petty reasons and so it goes without saying he is a fan favorite.
  • Manipulative Bastard
  • Mysterious Past: He's apparently 1600 years old. Who knew?
  • New Powers as the Plot Demands: Among which include being flame-retardant, ultra-buoyancy, the ability to learn one's memories by probing them, the ability to change costumes in under a second (usually done off-screen or when Roger throws up a cloud of confetti), and the ability to move "really, really fast."
  • Overprotective Dad: Surprisingly without crossing into abusive territory when he becomes Steve's legal guardian.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: Has a wardrobe full of them.
    • Justifiably in "Stanny Tendergrass", it's revealed that there is at least one persona that a person CANNOT see through, and instead sees Roger actually as that person. For Stan, it is Mr. Vanderhill, Francine, a Korean kid who shoots pool with a giant chopstick, Hayley's is her sandal repair man and Steve's is Elisha Wiltner, who Steve went on 9 dates with.
  • The Power of Hate: The very entity keeping his species' alive (see above). Naturally The Power of Love is toxic to them as a result.
  • Psychopathic Manchild
  • Reality Warper: A subtle case. Whenever he comes up with a backstory for one of his personas, logic bends to his will to make those backstories true. This includes being the birth mother of two fully grown men, and also being the teenage birth son of a human family, complete with pictures of him growing up! Roger is perhaps the greatest actor ever! Surpassing even Fred Savage.
  • The Sociopath: Self-confessed, no less. When he becomes a Dirty Cop (after being on the force for 3 hours) he says that.

Plus I'm a sociopath so all this fits me like a glove.

  • Super Speed: Allowed him to fake the death of a persona in Season 6.
  • This Is for Emphasis, Bitch: Tends to say these at least once an episode.
  • Token Evil Teammate: None of the Smiths are particularly saintly in behavior, however Roger is the most consistently malicious of the cast. Less evident in earlier episodes where Roger was more sympathetic with Stan or Klaus usually acting as the more malevolent of the family.
  • The Unfettered: Playing into his Lack of Empathy, Roger will cheat, abuse or even murder others without a second thought to achieve his goals. Taken to absurd lengths at times since he can find even menial goals and ambitions and rotate their ends around completely callous and deranged schemes (a plan to get a free T shirt involved him manipulating Francine and Hayley to try and kill each other).
    • The Ubermensch: YMMV, but if it is at all possible to play this trope strictly for laughs, you could make a case for Roger. He is goal oriented, amoral, refuses to accept outside authority, and if he wants something, even something totally impossible, he makes it happen through nothing more than sheer force of will and a complete ignorance of objective reality.
  • Unlimited Wardrobe: In contrast to the rest of the major characters.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Type 1 with Stan, Steve and at times Klaus.

Klaus Heissler

An East German athlete trapped in the body of a goldfish thanks to a scheme by the CIA to prevent him from winning the gold at the 1986 Winter Olympics because he was from the "communist East." Stan was assigned to looking over Klaus, and as such the talking fish has become an honorary member of the Smith family. Voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.

  • Accent Adaptation: In the German dub, he has a Saxon accent (Klaus was East German, afterall).
  • All Germans Are Nazis: At the very least, he does seem to sympathize with the Nazis somewhat.
    • The German dub changes this, implying he is a communist and former Stasi member.
    • He once got a horrified reaction when he mentions his grandfather drove the kiddy train at Auschwitz... Zoo, and points out there is more than one thing in that town (which was and is actually Oświęcim, Poland).
  • Baleful Polymorph: Kinda.
  • Butt Monkey
  • The Chew Toy: Arguably the largest amongst the similarly luckless Smith family.
  • Chivalrous Pervert: Spent most of the early seasons trying to woo Francine. Less prominent later on where he seems to have gained a respect for Stan and lost interest in Francine for the most part.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Occasionally implied.
  • Funny Animal
  • Funny Foreigner
  • Gratuitous German
  • Hidden Depths: Klaus before being transformed into a fish was highly accomplished; he studied at Viardina European University and may have a doctorate in therapy. He owned a Ferrari and was an Olympic class skier. However, as none of that is relevant to being a goldfish it's frequently overlooked or ignored.
  • I Reject Your Reality: This, along with The Mad Hatter, and Cloudcuckoolander. His mental health has obviously deteriorated due to being stuck in the body of a fish, and he's fully aware of it. He has conversations with himself, and has narrated his life and those around him as a DVD commentary, among other instances of insanity.
  • Jerkass: Albeit toned down in later episodes, where he's usually too desperate for human interaction.
  • The Load: Even Francine is blunt about this:

Klaus: Oh, can I help?
Francine: Oh how can you help? You're a fish!

CIA

Avery Bullock

Deputy Director of the CIA and Stan's superior (he's only Deputy-Deputy Director). Also a right-winger, but not to the same level of absurdity as Stan. Notably, despite being married, he has had sex with Hayley. Also has a thing for "plump Asian" chicks. Voiced by Patrick Stewart.

Reginald the Koala

A homeless man whose brain was placed in the body of a koala, and now works for the CIA. Voiced by Donald Fullilove & Erik Durbin.

Dick Reynolds

A recently divorced, miserable co-worker of Stan. Voiced by Stephen Root & David Koecher.

Jackson

A ‘former homosexual’ co-worker of Stan’s whose ‘sodomy cleared right up’. Voiced by Mike Henry.

Pearl Bailey High School

Principal Brian Lewis

The principal of Steve’s High School. Voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.

  • Apathetic Teacher: Steve lampshades this by admitting to his face that he can't believe he's an educator.
  • Ascended Extra: Moved from being an incidental character to becoming the focus of the main plot of two consecutive episodes.
  • Badass
    • Badass Teacher: Discovered Steve had just punched an Indian exchange student (a twelve year old girl) in the face, then shattered a hot pot of coffee in Steve's face.
      • Papa Wolf: Told the PTA to turn a blind eye to his daughter and her friends' revenge on Steve and his friends.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: A result of Flanderization as his eccentric tendencies gradually became more and more pronounced the more he appeared.
  • Depraved Bisexual: Was "prison married" for a few years, yet doesn't necessarily admit he's solely heterosexual and has professed fond memories of his time pushing cocaine and being given the pick of "girls, not women, girls" by his boss.
  • Fat Bastard: Crosses into this territory from time to time.
  • Fat Idiot
  • The Gump: His life was the basis for Diff'rent Strokes. Stan calls him out for how he left Dudley in the bicycle shop with the pedophile in The Bicycle Man. Brian mentions the real Dudley is messed up now.
  • Ink Suit Actor: Compare with Kevin Michael Richardson.
  • Moral Myopia: See Papa Wolf below. Said revenge was a case of Disproportionate Retribution, especially since they were no better in the first place, and it was all because of a case of Misplaced Retribution on Steve's part. Steve even explained it was his friends' fault, and they still wanted Steve as well, making it a case of Misplaced Retribution on their part as well.
  • Odd Friendship: Steve thinks he has this with Brian after he begins handling his paperwork. Even before then Steve had a tendency to refer to him by his first name. Then Brian sets him straight just before he plans on killing the two of them by explaining Steve was only his accountant.
  • One-Scene Wonder: Whenever he’s in an episode, you can bet this will be the case.
    • He was prominent in "Hot Water", however.
  • Where Did We Go Wrong?: Is deeply ashamed of his daughter Janet, for "more reasons than you can imagine."

Schmuley "Snot" Lonstein

Steve's best friend and frequent partner in crime. Voiced by Curtis Armstrong.

Barry Robinson

Steve's mentally retarded friend. Voiced by Eddie Kaye Thomas. He's actually a criminal mastermind when off his meds, and his evil side is voiced by Craig Ferguson.

Toshi Yoshida

The fourth of Steve's circle of friends. Voiced by Daisuke Suzuki.

I will not be a cliche!

    • He has once complimented Steve when they dressed up in Star Trek attire, that he was not the one to play Sulu- That role was given to Barry, who ironically made 'me Chinese' eyes for this purpose.
  • The Unintelligible: He only speaks Japanese, but it's subtitled, so the audience can understand even though none of the other characters can. Inexplicably, his mother, father, and sister speak fluent English.
    • The same episode his mother and sister are introduced brings up that he chooses not to speak English out of national pride.
    • In another episode, it is discovered that he seems to be 'haunted' by Minamoto a 12th century shogun, who he, ironically cannot understand and takes his phrases for something else like his friends do him.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Doesn't seem to like Steve very much (much of his dialogue is insulting remarks toward Steve, which of course Steve can't understand), but continues to hang out with him.
    • It's implied other kids aren't as nice to him.

Debbie Hyman

Steve’s on-again, off-again Goth girlfriend. Voiced by Lizzy Caplan.

Akiko Yoshida

Toshi’s sister, who often acts as a translator. Voiced by Grey DeLisle and Grace Park.

Smith Extended Family

Jack Smith

Stan’s father, a jewel thief and con-man. Voiced by Daran Norris.

Betty Smith

Stan’s somewhat needy mother. Voiced by Swoosie Kurtz.

  • Hot Mom
  • My Beloved Smother: Subverted. Betty lives for Stan's attention but she's actually looking for a boyfriend so she can have somebody who'll make her happy. The relationship crosses into disturbing territory at times, but it's Stan that has the unhealthy obsession, not Betty.
    • What do you do when your mom's unhappy? Jerry left her feeling crappy? Sing her a shanty nice and snappy! Wash her in the bathtub!

Bàba Ling

Francine’s adoptive father. Voiced by Tzi Ma.

Māma Ling

Francine’s adoptive mother. Voiced by Amy Hill.

Gwen Ling

Francine’s adopted, never-seen sister.

Neighbors

Greg Corbin and Terry Bates

Homosexual life partners and co-anchors at W-ANG-TV, and neighbors to the Smiths. Francine was a surrogate mother for their daughter Liberty Belle, or "Libby." They're voiced by Seth MacFarlane and Mike Barker respectively.

  • Badass Gay: Both Terry and Greg at times, such as when Terry punches Stan in the face for kidnapping their daughter.
  • Beta Couple: Arguably the most prominent relationship on the show after Stan and Francine (and maybe Jeff and Hayley).
  • Camp Gay: Conspicuously so.
  • Gay Conservative: Greg's a Log Cabin Republican.
  • Happily Married: Although not technically married, one of the sweetest couples in animation history, with few arguments and a multitude of tender moments between them.
  • Hollywood Pudgy: Greg. In his words he's "straight thin, but [he's] gay fat." Greg is indeed noticeably pudgier compared to Terry.
  • Kent Brockman News: They tend to squabble and unload their dirty laundry while at work.
  • Papa Wolf: After Stan kidnapped their baby, the two managed to rouse up support from numerous gay truckers to stop Stan. After Stan returned Liberty (and the kids he stole from a lesbian couple) Stan expected to be forgiven because he learned a lesson. Terry decked him.

Stan: That wasn't campy at all!

  • Parental Abandonment: Terry suffered this from his father Tank after Terry revealed to him that he's homosexual and gave him the choice of accepting that or leaving.
  • Those Two Gays
  • With Friends Like These...: Greg and Terry have been known to spend a numerous amount of time with Stan and Francine, but a couple of instances have proven that the two hate the Smiths.

Linda Memari

An Iranian-American neighbor and friend of Francine. Voiced by Megyn Price.

  • Bi the Way or Lipstick Lesbian: Made out with Francine in "Not Particularly Desperate Housewives" as a way of saying a goodbye, despite being married to a man. Miraculously, this saves Francine from getting killed by the Lady Bugs, and Francine thanks Linda, thinking the kiss was a plan to save her. Linda, clearly disappointed, just goes along with that and claims she needed to get back home to her husbands that "she loves". Overall, it's suggest that Linda's not truly attracted to her husband and is a closeted lesbian, and it's revealed that her husband is aware of her preferences.
    • "Rough Trade", has her making her bust more noticeable by unbuttoning her shirt when she went to go borrow some sugar from Francine, which really was an attempt to hit on her. However, Linda quickly covers up when Stan comes to the door instead.
  • Demoted to Extra: Linda never really appeared in later seasons, along with her husband.
    • Justified, as she never had much of a personality beyond crushing on Francine.

Buckle

A Disney imaginer turned Mountain Man turned Henpecked Husband. Voiced by Matt McKenna.

Sharri Rothberg

A Jewish-American princess and annoying wife of Buckle. Voiced by Lisa Edelstein.

Father Donovan

The local pastor. Voiced by Martin Mull.

Jeff Fischer

Hayley's on again off again stoner boyfriend. They get married in the premiere of season 6. Voiced by Jeff Fischer.

Roger’s Personas

Dr Jordan Edilstein

Rashid

Horse Renoir

Sidney Huffman

Roy Rogers Mc Freely

Dr Rafael Penguin

Jeannie Gold

Martin Sugar

Jenny Fromdabloc

Sgt Pepper

Other Characters

Santa Claus

You probably know who he is, or do you? Surprisingly, Santa is actually a villain on American Dad. He makes his debut when Steve shoots him by accident. He recovers and swears to kill Stan and his family, attempting to do so every Christmas Eve.

Bad Santa: He makes money off of spoiling children.

Turlington

An enigmatic detective character who’s often slow to react. Voiced by Forest Whitaker.

Back to American Dad
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