Ford Pines

Stanford "Ford" Filbrick Pines (born June 15, about 15 minutes before Stan Pines), also known as The Author, is a paranormal investigator who came to Gravity Falls, Oregon, to study the huge concentration of supernatural activity in and around the town. After spending years of cataloging his research in a series of journals, he disappeared into an alternate dimension. His writings were left as the only evidence of his existence.

Ford's identity and whereabouts were a central mystery and element of foreshadowing of the Gravity Falls series until the middle of the show's second season when he was revealed to be Stan Pines' long-lost twin brother, who vanished after a fight with his brother caused him to stumble through the universe portal.

Personality
Ford is an intellectual man who is considered an introverted and nerdy person, enjoying games which involve high levels of thinking, such as Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons. He would even go as far as to ignore the dangers of his research just to play such games (to the point where he would let a Cycloptopus bite his face when he became excited). Despite his intelligence, he is very behind the times when it comes to his own dimension, since he hasn't stepped foot in it for thirty years. He doesn't have a clue about the modern technology, or customs; he believes floppy disks are still in use, and had very little worry about giving Mabel a crossbow, thinking it's safe to give children weapons. Before he was sucked into the portal, he was shown to be paranoid and overly cautious, having a hard time trusting people due to being tricked by Bill.

Despite being very intelligent, Ford has shown himself to be very narcissistic and self-absorbed. This is shown by his reluctance to part with his life's work and share his scientific accomplishments with loved ones, instead relishing the image of being a solitary hero.

Ford has a strong need to have his intellect recognized and celebrated, which made it easy for Bill to trick him by claiming to be a muse who chose "one great mind" every century to inspire.

Ford is seen as a serious person when it comes to his work in researching the paranormal. However, he genuinely enjoys his research, even in the face of danger. His years of researching the paranormal both in and out of his realm have made Ford a strong, brave individual who will face danger head on in order to ensure that the world is safe. However, after all of his years of researching the paranormal, Ford's excitement for confirming things such as the existence of extraterrestrials have dulled.

Appearance
Ford bears a close resemblance to Stan Pines. However, there are a few notable differences:

- Unlike Stan, Ford's hair is dark gray with a horizontal silver streak along the sides of it and he possesses unusually long sideburns.

- His chin has a cleft and slight five o'clock shadow. He is a polydactyly with six fingers on each hand.

When he first comes out of the portal, he is seen wearing a large black coat with multiple pockets on the inside and an item that appears to be a gun rested on his back. Underneath his coat, he wears a black shirt and pants. He also dons bulky black boots, a brown belt that slings from his shoulder, a tattered cape and a gray scarf. In subsequent appearances, Ford is seen wearing a tan coat, a red turtleneck with a black belt that slings across his chest, black pants, and large brown boots coated in dirt. He has a gold dot on either side of his glasses and a crack on the left lens. When Bill Cipher leaves Ford's dream, you can see that Ford has blue eyes.

Sightings

 * Intro: "Gravity Falls Main Title Theme"

Season 1

 * 101. "Tourist Trapped" (mentioned)
 * 108. "Irrational Treasure" (mentioned)
 * 109. "The Time Traveler's Pig" (no lines)
 * 119. "Dreamscaperers" (flashback, no lines)
 * 120. "Gideon Rises" (mentioned)

Shorts

 * 3. "Mailbox" (mentioned)

Season 2

 * 201. "Scary-oke" (mentioned)
 * 202. "Into the Bunker" (mentioned)
 * 204. "Sock Opera" (mentioned)
 * 207. "Society of the Blind Eye" (mentioned)
 * 211. "Not What He Seems" (no lines)
 * 212. "A Tale of Two Stans"
 * 213. "Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons"
 * 214. "The Stanchurian Candidate"
 * 215. "The Last Mabelcorn"
 * 217. "Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future"
 * 218. "Weirdmageddon Part 1"
 * 219. "Weirdmageddon 2: Escape From Reality" (no lines)
 * 220. "Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back The Falls"

Trivia

 * The name "Stanford" means "Stony Meadow," while "Stanley" means "Stony Clearing."
 * Ford's six-fingered hands are the result of postaxial polydactyly, a condition in which a person has an extra pinky finger on one or both hands.
 * Alex Hirsch has also joked he has six toes on each foot.[20]
 * Alex Hirsch has on multiple occasions joked about the Author's identity:
 * He "leaked" a false image of a younger Old Man McGucket writing in a journal.[21]
 * Via his Reddit AMA and Twitter account, he has stated the Author is actually Geordi La Forge from Star Trek: The Next Generation.[22]
 * Ford is 15 minutes older than Stan, and feels naturally superior because of it.[23]


 * Ford has 12 Ph.Ds.[13]
 * In "Carpet Diem," the room with the titular carpet in it is Ford's. Stan also finds Ford's glasses on a drawer in the same episode.
 * In the same episode we see a prism that breaks up the light into its spectrum. In Gideon Rises, when we see a flashback of the Author writing the Journals, there is a small glint of spectrum light in the corner. This, according to Alex in Between the Pines, is supposed to tell the people that notice it that the room in Carpet Diem belonged to the Author.
 * Instead of shaving, Ford sets his face on fire since he finds it to be "faster."[13]
 * According to Alex Hirsch, Ford is hiding something under his sweater.[24]


 * In Gravity Falls: Journal 3, it is revealed that Ford got tattoos with a tribe of octopus-armed warrior piglets, with Ford later admitting, "[The] tattoos were among my most serious regrets. Let's just say I wear [a] turtleneck for a reason."
 * Ford's turtleneck was inspired by Carl Sagan's red turtleneck.[25]
 * He originally thought Soos' name was Zeus.[26]
 * The metal plate in Ford's head was put in surgically by an Oracle that he met in Dimension 52.[27]
 * Ford's favorite snack is jelly beans and admits it is a weakness of his.[28]
 * He considers Toffee Peanuts, Stanley Pines' favorite snack, to be the worst snack on earth.[29]
 * Ford admires the scientist and inventor, Nikola Tesla.[30]
 * Much like Soos, Ford also suspects that the mailman is a werewolf.[31]
 * Ford was voted "Most Paranoid" in junior high.[32]
 * Ford is the only person besides Mabel that Dipper has told his real name to.
 * In the Rick and Morty episode "Morty's Mind Blowers", where it's discovered that Rick Sanchez secretly stores Morty's memories, there are two memories labeled "Stanford" and "Bill C". It's likely that they are memories of Ford and Bill Cipher, since the two series are considered to occur in the same multiverse, and both Ford and Bill, have traveled between dimensions.
 * Ford shares many features in common with other characters in the series. With Dipper, both are fascinated by the supernatural, both were born with an abnormality, both thought Soos's name was Zeus [49] [50], and both are twins. With Mabel, both like to wear a sweater, both are older twins, both are talented with art, and both are selfish. With Stanley, both enjoy adventures, both are bad with women, both share the dream of traveling the world.
 * Alex Hirsch mentioned in the episode commentary that Ford and Stan are identical twins.
 * Polydactyly, or having extra fingers, is caused by genetic mutation. Since identical twins share exact genomes, and since Ford is polydactyl and Stan is not, it is possible that Ford's polydactyly is not genetic.