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moderatelysensitiveowl · 4 months

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Ford Pines: A Masterclass in Writing a Good Flawed Character

(Title disclaimer: his brother Stan is also fantastically written and deserves as much praise, but we’ll be focusing on Ford in this post).

It’s no secret that Ford is my favorite character in Gravity Falls. The reason why boils down to this: he is a perfect example of a character that is A. flawed, and B. goes through a character arc that addresses both his core want and need, and it successfully punishes him for seeking that want and rewards him for pursuing his need.

His flaws perfectly match his character want and backstory, and despite the fact that he does make mistakes, you understand exactly why Ford makes them. Not only that, you actually might root for him even though he’s not a flawless hero, because you understand the good intentions/character virtues and backstory driving his actions.

Lastly, his flaws are justified, but not excused by the writing, and he works to make up for them, which in my opinion is the key to creating a hero that is also realistic.

For those of you who read the above two paragraphs and are asking, “Wha…? Core want? Need? What do you mean?”, here’s a quick summary:

When I took writing classes in college (and over years of writing in general and drooling over writing advice podcasts and blogs), I found that the best method for me, personally, when it comes to crafting characters is to focus on two major things:

1. Their want.

2. Their need. On the surface, these look like the same things, but in character writing, they can be vastly different. For example, say that you have a character that greatly desires fame and recognition. They want these things.

But what’s the real reason behind it? Is it because they had a parent that was famous and want to live up to their example? Is it because they want to be adored by people? Is it because they were told they’d never amount to anything by someone and want to prove them wrong?

This real reason behind it all is the core need. Yes, they want fame and recognition, but they need it because, say, they have low self-esteem and need copious amounts of outside validation to boost it.

Tied to this need is usually a backstory reason (sometimes called their wound). Say your hypothetical character was bullied a lot as a child. Or abused by a parent. Etc. Whatever the wound was, it caused a big, painful hole in their heart that they try to fill and fix with their want.

So they go on a journey. The want is often the external journey. The need is often the core journey / character arc. Our example character seeks fame and recognition on an external journey, but deep inside, they realize they need something else, which is to understand that their past trauma/wound doesn’t define them, and fame and recognition will not be the balm they expect it will be. Often, they realize they had what they needed all along. They grow past their flaws associated with their seeking this want through understanding and instead pursuing the need.

Alright, Writing 101 lecture aside, Ford is a perfect example of a character that has all of the above. He has a want, a need, flaws related to pursuing his want, a backstory that justifies it but doesn’t forgive it completely, and a character arc that makes him realize he had that need all along, and he acknowledges his flaws and tries to grow past them. Let’s begin with some analysis to prove my point:

Ford’s Backstory: Protecting/Providing for Family > Everything Else

Ford was born in Glass Shard Beach, New Jersey, to a Jewish family in what is jokingly referred to as the “lead paint district”. His father owned a pawn shop, and his mother was a phone psychic in an era where not many women worked. Their social class is never strictly pointed out, but through context clues we can tell that they were not rich by any means.

Their small house was an addition atop their family shop and had mismatched furniture and peeling wallpaper; enough to keep a roof over their heads, but not enough to upkeep things for aesthetic/fashionable decor reasons. That, combined with a family conflict later that surrounds money that could have - as their father put it - “been their ticket outta this dump”, tells us quite plainly that Ford grew up poor, likely lower to lower middle class.

(I want to preface this next part about Filbrick, Ford’s father, with a note that yes, I personally consider what he did to Stan in A Tale of Two Stans abusive, but I will explain why he threw Stan out, or at least how he justified it from his perspective. Filbrick isn’t perfect, and no well-written character is. What he did makes total sense for his character, even if we as an audience don’t view it in a positive light.)

Ford’s father was a very strict, unemotional man. He provided for his family and worked hard, but he likely was the sort to have never told his children that he loved them verbally. Action > words to Filbrick, and everything he took issue with, were things he perceived as threats to his family. In the comic Lost Legends, released after the show ended, we see Filbrick take issue with Ford’s twin brother, Stan, who he accuses of stealing a gold chain from his pawn shop (and it turns out, Stan actually did, though purely for good reasons).

Filbrick gets upset with Stan because he’s protecting his family. He’s protecting his son from making the wrong decisions in life, because he wants what’s best for Stan. While it may hurt Stan to feel so picked on by his father compared to Ford, Ford explains why in this way:

(Also, can we talk about the symbolism in Stan looking at his reflection here? Throughout the series, we learn that Stan looking at his reflection = him thinking about his brother. Stan looking at his reflection while wondering if his father hates him? Translation: “Why does Pa love you and not me, Ford?” and/or “Why doesn’t my reflection match Ford, would my Pa love me if it did?” /cue heartbreak).

Anyways, it turns out, Filbrick was right. Not just about Stan - who later nearly ends the whole universe trying to get Ford back home - but also about Ford. Ford also takes shortcuts later on in life, namely with Bill, and they become his biggest regrets. But we’ll get to those later. All in all, both Filbrick, Stan, and Ford do things for benevolent reasons - usually for their family - but their flaws often come into play in the manner they try to achieve that.

Filbrick throwing Stan out is a great example. Stan’s breaking of Ford’s project was the breaking of Ford’s future as a millionaire, which would have lifted the Pines family out of poverty. Filbrick should have understood that his children are not tickets to wealth, talked it out with Stan and Ford to get Stan’s side of the story and helped them patch their relationship wound, and tried his best to help Ford find a different college to go to, but… instead, he throws out Stan, and tells him that until he makes millions, he’s not welcome back in the family. Ouch.

Like I said, I’m not justifying what Filbrick did in any way. That was straight up abusive. But Filbrick is a character where family security/stability > everything else, and so when Stan threatens that security/stability, it crosses the line for Filbrick. To him, Stan hurt him, their mother/wife, and his own twin brother, and Filbrick punished him for it.

But the irony is, is that in throwing Stan out, he was threatening the security/stability of his family, because Stan was his own son. Greek tragedy right there, folks. Often the things we do to avoid something, make us cause that thing to happen anyways, at least in stories. Sometimes it’s throwing your son out because there was a prophecy that he’d kill you and marry your wife/his mother, and later finding out he only could have done that if you’d thrown him out, so… oops? Other times, it’s trying to protect your family by throwing your son out, and yikes, you just hurt your family by throwing your son out, not just that son, but the happiness of both of your twin sons for decades to come.

Yes, I just compared Gravity Falls to Oedipus Rex minus the weird mother-son parts, deal with it.

Another factor is how they were treated as children. Ford was obviously the golden child. Stan was not.

I mean, literally, a golden child:

Heh, I see what you did there, writing team…

Anyways, a golden child is often described as, “held responsible for the family’s success. Parents appreciate and adore them and, in a way, reinforces them to become better in whatever they are doing. A golden child is an example for others to follow. Even the siblings of the golden child are compared with them to create continuous pressure on their performance; to ensure that they shouldn’t fail or fall short in their good behavior and accomplishments.“

And also, “Their main purpose in life is to satisfy their parents’ needs and procure success, name, and fame for their family from outsiders. Parents consider [them] an asset to the family and always make them appear superior in front of others.” (Source).

Often, you can tell a golden child by:

-An overwhelming need to please / a people pleaser. Notice how when his principal tells him about West Coast Tech, Ford only gets especially excited when he hears about how it might make him a millionaire, and when his father says he’s impressed. Once again, to Ford: providing/protecting for family and approval from his father > everything else.

-Required to grow up faster or contribute to the household at a younger age than siblings. “Your brother was gonna be our ticket outta this dump!”.

-Super high achieving, especially with grades.

-Fear of failure. His rejection from West Coast Tech he considered a massive failure, even though A. it wasn’t his fault, and B. he did just fine at the university he went to instead.

-Attachment to those that praise them / low self-esteem / a need for excessive validation from relationships AKA the exact flaw that Bill took advantage of to manipulate Ford.

-Sensitive to criticism. In Journal 3, when the Tarot reader tells him his flaws, and Fiddleford asks him to maybe reconsider finishing the portal, Ford gets angry. Whenever people make fun of his hands, he hides them.

So, getting back to the character writing lesson I explained above, how does this lead to Ford’s core want and need? Alright, friends, let’s summarize Ford with a few sentences:

“I want to find where I am accepted/loved and I want to protect those I care about, but what I need is to realize I had that acceptance all along, and often times the things I did to protect those I care about, I actually instead hurt them. This stems from a wound from my childhood where I was a golden child placed under high pressure to succeed, and simultaneously was outcast for my six fingers.”

And as I said, Ford had his need all along. Stan always accepts him from Day 1. Fiddleford McGucket also accepts him in the events of Journal 3. When these relationships break for Ford, is when an event happens that threatens his core want: to be accepted. But on a superficial level, when he’s rejected or criticized, an especially sensitive matter for Ford, someone who has been outcast for his hands and treated as a perfect golden child his entire life.

He has acceptance from both these characters, but the moment he gets rejected from West Coast Tech, and the moment Fiddleford criticizes his portal project… we see Ford at his worst. Both Stan and Fiddleford accepted Ford despite his flaws, but when reminded he wasn’t perfect… all hell breaks loose internally for his character. He says nothing to defend Stan when he gets kicked out, and he gets upset at Fiddleford and risks his health and the universe to finish the portal project. Because for Ford, not being perfect means he is failing to be that golden child.

Cue Ford’s Dark Night of the Soul, or the biggest mistake he makes and he tells Dipper later on was his biggest regret: trusting Bill Cipher. Someone who told him he was perfect, fed his ego and insecurity like cheese in a mouse trap, then snapped the lever when Ford realized he was being used and lied to. When Ford realized that his fears were true: he was not perfect, and in trying to attain perfection, his flaws were only made that much clearer.

He had made a giant mistake trying to attain the one thing he had all along, but feared he never would get, so traded real acceptance that acknowledged his flaws for false acceptance that told him he was the perfect golden child he’d been trained to be.

This is why Ford is a well-written character. He has flaws and suffers for them until he makes up for his mistakes. They are understandable flaws, but like in real life, just because it’s understandable why we act poorly at times - be it because of trauma or upbringing - it doesn’t mean we’re justified in continuing to hurt others or ourselves because of those flaws. We must acknowledge them, grow past them, and do our best to do better in the future, as well as apologize to those we hurt along the way.

This is also what separates Ford from his father. His father - as far as was shown in canon - never tried to make up for his mistakes. Ford does. This is why Ford is a hero and Filbrick is not, despite Filbrick thinking from his POV that he had good intentions for what he did. Additionally, Ford is also an example of breaking generational trauma because of this.

How it Plays Out

So Ford is deeply flawed, realizes those flaws almost got himself and the universe destroyed, and what’s the first thing he does? Whine? Complain? No, this vengeful, nerdy BAMF goes on a thirty year redemption arc to stop Bill, knowing that he could spend the time getting home, but instead choosing to use that time to redeem himself at the expense of his own life and freedom.

See? That’s the thing. While Ford is flawed at times for acting out what his father taught him to be, he also has virtues we can root for him for based on these same teachings.

He’s protective of his family at the expense of himself:

He’s protective of the universe at the expense of himself:

He doesn’t hide from his mistakes, he tries to confront them head on:

He often isolates himself to be a lone hero shielding against danger AKA “Dipper, you shouldn’t be down here because my work is far too dangerous for a living soul to spend even one second down here!”, whereas… like, Ford, you’re a living, human soul, too. Doesn’t your safety and the chance to receive familial love you’ve missed out on for three decades matter? Think about how long he must have ached to see his family and home again? And his first inclination isn’t to bask in that love and warmth, it’s to act as Cerberus guarding the gates of the underworld, all alone. Because to Ford, that’s his purpose: to protect and prop up his world like Atlas, all alone:

“You risked the universe for worthless old me? Why would you do that, Stanley?” AKA “I’m the sacrificial golden child meant to prop up our family and further mankind through science, why didn’t you let me sacrifice myself and bear this burden all alone, you idiot?” *CUE RIGHT HOOK*

“Oh, there are children down here? Let me put away my thirty-years-festering gripe with my brother for a second to protect their comfort and stable environment with maturity because I am an adult. Also, let me kneel to their eye level and praise them for their weirdness.”:

“Oh, my brother is cheating off of me in class?” *Smiles.*:

“My brother gets called the dumb one who will never amount to anything?” *Frowns and looks guilty.*:

“There is a mere suggestion that Stan and I should hug and I’m the one who looks back to see if Stan will go for it?”:

“Stan, you broke my trust and chance to provide for our family years ago, but I’m now giving you another chance to earn my trust again by asking you to do the most important thing I’ve ever asked anyone to do while I stay by this portal and likely get turned into a demon snack and/or get mentally tortured here alone.”:

“Hey bro, I know you just broke my trust a second time by threatening to burn this book, and I just burned you, but I trust you still to save me and/or at least still take the book far away so that Bill is stopped even though it might sacrifice me.”

“I am shameless in my love of nerdy things, and don’t tease my nephew for them, either. I make him feel accepted and like he belongs, because I know what it feels like to be outcast.”

“I invent things for my family as soon as they need something, and go above and beyond what is necessary for it.”

“I was a big old dumby dumb and trusted Bill, and you were, too, Dipper, but we can still defeat Bill. Also here, Dipper, I got you a soda.”

“Mabel, you did that family protection thing that has been my core drive and/or wound my entire life, I will entirely ignore the wealth you just heaped in front of me and appreciate only the unicorn hair that will protect said family, you’re a good person.”

“I am the world’s nerdiest, most badass old man.” Okay, this doesn’t really stem from a flaw, but it needs to be said…

“Dipper, wouldn’t you also like to use your smarts to improve humanity selflessly and have the reason you’re an outcast become your strength, too?” also the way he dorkily poses in front of this like Ford you ain’t Alexander the Great or Luke Skywalker calm down you chicken nugget

“Fiddleford, I’m the reason you live in a dump and married a raccoon. I was a stubborn, self-centered, insecure owl shit and I am sorry.”

But all these good things go out the window when Ford’s central flaw comes screaming back:

“Hey Stan, I am the golden child, you must be perfect like me, I am very smart, you are not, and you are not like me, you know that one thing our father always faulted you for and you spent decades trying to make up for even though you shouldn’t have had to, because grammar, Stanley.”

But then his redemption comes in this single, heartbreaking shot (’scuse the pun):

“Stanley, I know all our life that father wanted you to be like me and not yourself. How fitting that my character arc redemption comes when you are dressed like me and I have to erase you, Stanley Pines, and I can’t even look as I take away who you are because who you are has value, even if you’re not me like father said.” AKA “I want you to be Stanley and not just my reflection.”.

And:

“I had somewhere I belonged. Somewhere where I was accepted and not outcast. Somewhere where someone appreciates me but doesn’t put pressure on me to be perfect or because they just want something from me. Someone who wanted us to sail around the world finding the supernatural and having fun because he promised it to me all those years ago, right after I complained that I just wanted somewhere where I fit in. Stan was where I fit in, and after decades of pushing him away, I realized that. I had my need - acceptance and protecting my family and familial love - all along. And because I often hurt Stan Greek tragedy style in my quest to find those things, I now will make it up to him as a thanks for being the one who never used or outcast me, no matter what.”

TL;DR: Ford wanted love and acceptance, but he needed to learn to stop rejecting that love and acceptance that people like Stan gave him from the get go. Also, daddy issues, I guess.

In Conclusion

So, is Ford an egotistical, insecure assbrain sometimes? Yes. Does he treat people like garbage at times? Yes. Does he treat himself like a tool to be used and is he self-sacrificial to a fault at times? Yes. Does he let himself get used like a tool for the sake of praise and ego-feeding? Yes.

Is Bill Cipher tricking him like that a metaphor for how his father treated him because “Ford I will praise you as long as you are useful to me” type sentiments? You decide.

But we understand why he does what he does because of his backstory. We know why he has these flaws: his upbringing.

What elevates his writing even more, though, is A. the writers were not afraid to show these flaws in all their grisly light, B. even though they justify his flaws, they never excuse them. Ford suffers for the above qualities. Those he cares about suffer for them, too. And there’s no easy path for him to fix them.

Like people in real life, it takes him decades to identify and solve these flaws from childhood issues and apologize to those he hurt. But he does it because he is a good person. A flawed, but good person at heart, who will do everything he can to make up for his mistakes and protect his family. Just like Stan.

Perfectly written character. 100%. Fantastic job, GF team.

#i love ford so mu<h omgomg #analysis #meta

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