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Steven Anita "Steve" Smith is a fictional character in the
animated television series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...
''
American Dad! ''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since 2014, the series has been airing new episodes on TBS. ''American Dad!'' is the first television ...
'', voiced by
Scott Grimes Scott Christopher Grimes (born July 9, 1971) is an American actor and singer. Some of his most prominent roles include appearances in the 1984 cult classic ''The Night They Saved Christmas'', '' ER'' as Dr. Archie Morris, '' Party of Five'' as Wi ...
. 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 only has three 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 Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...
, as they frequently go on wild adventures together. The character was initially voiced by
Ricky Blitt Ricky may refer to: Places *Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic *Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic *Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky" ...
and was designed as geeky and physically gawky. Halfway through production of the first season, Grimes replaced Blitt and Steve's design was made to be more physically attractive, so he would be less comparable to Neil Goldman from ''
Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their ch ...
''.


Personality

At 14 years old, Steve is the youngest member of the Smith family. He is and is approximately which is relatively short for his age. Upon the series’ 2005 premiere, Steve was 13 years old and has since turned 14 years old (technically, Steve should be 15 by timeline, but was reverted back to 14), placing his year of birth around 1992. Steve is portrayed as an enthusiastic, ambitious, and wimpy
nerd A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted or lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly tec ...
. 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 Ricky may refer to: Places *Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic *Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic *Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky" ...
(as opposed to
Scott Grimes Scott Christopher Grimes (born July 9, 1971) is an American actor and singer. Some of his most prominent roles include appearances in the 1984 cult classic ''The Night They Saved Christmas'', '' ER'' as Dr. Archie Morris, '' Party of Five'' as Wi ...
). 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 sometimes displays conceited and obnoxious behavior. He is all too often a showman, always ready to put on a performance and show off his "talents", typically his singing dancing. Steve attends Pearl Bailey High School and is usually accompanied by his equally uncool friends: " Snot", Steve's closest friend with whom he shares a
bromance A bromance is a very close and non-sexual relationship between two or more men. It is an exceptionally tight, affectional, homosocial male bonding relationship exceeding that of usual friendship, and is distinguished from normal friendship by ...
, the two once even having shared in a kiss together (in the episode " License to Till"); Toshi, who is an
Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous peopl ...
and only speaks Japanese; and
Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...
, 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 The word ''geek'' is a slang term originally used to describe eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In the past, it had a general ...
. He is a bit of a
social outcast An outcast is someone who is rejected or cast out, as from home or society or in some way excluded, looked down upon, or ignored. In common English speech, an outcast may be anyone who does not fit in with normal society, which can contribute to ...
, wears thick, black frame glasses and harbors a strong academic interest in
science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...
, especially
chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...
. More typically geeky traits of Steve's include his interests in
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...
, ''
Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at ...
'' and ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...
''. 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 ''All About Steve'' is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Phil Traill and starring Sandra Bullock, Thomas Haden Church, and Bradley Cooper as the eponymous Steve. The film is the winner of two Golden Raspberry Awards and has a 6% approval ...
". Stan sometimes attempts to change Steve, usually unsuccessfully, as when he once gave Steve an experimental
performance enhancer Performance-enhancing substances, also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. A well-known example of cheating in sports involves doping in sport, where ban ...
. The steroid caused Steve to grow female breasts but also ironically made him more popular at school. 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 Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, ...
. Another time Steve received a failing grade on a presentation about
fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
s using information he got from Stan because he thought his dad was intelligent, despite Roger's attempts to convince him otherwise. Steve's mother, Francine, does not care that Steve is a geek, 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 Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a ...
. 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. 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, or when they exacted revenge against Stan for turning a homeless shelter into a bumfight business.
Roger Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...
and Steve have a close sibling-like friendship, 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. 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. In another scheme, Steve and Roger ran away to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
to make their fortunes, while the rest of the family thought they were killed when lightning set the family's treehouse on fire. 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. 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 Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...
relationship. 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 A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...
at
Pearl Bailey Pearl Mae Bailey (March 29, 1918 – August 17, 1990) was an American actress, singer and author. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in ''St. Louis Woman'' in 1946. She received a Special Tony Award for the title role in ...
High School A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
, Steve is a highly capable musician, having taken up the cello to once impress a girl. In a later episode, however, Steve says that he has been playing the cello since he was nine. 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 Scott Christopher Grimes (born July 9, 1971) is an American actor and singer. Some of his most prominent roles include appearances in the 1984 cult classic ''The Night They Saved Christmas'', '' ER'' as Dr. Archie Morris, '' Party of Five'' as Wi ...
, who voices Steve. Among Steve's other talents are being able to read Elvish, use
Morse code Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one ...
, and communicate with dolphins. Steve is also an accomplished master of disguise through assistance of Roger; and has occasionally relied on the use of Roger's wigs, highly convincing prosthetic masks and wearing other's clothing to escape difficult situations unnoticed. While academically skilled, Steve is also quite naïve and not socially savvy. For example, he knows more about the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its liste ...
than about
prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...
. 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. 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 In J. K. Rowling's '' Harry Potter'' series, magic is depicted as a supernatural force that can be used to override the usual laws of nature. Many fictional magical creatures exist in the series, while ordinary creatures also sometimes exhibi ...
. 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. 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 "Bully for Steve" is the sixteenth episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series ''American Dad!'' It originally aired in the United States on Fox on April 25, 2010. The episode follows Stan who is unhappy with Steve's passive behav ...
", for example. He also uses childhood paraphernalia that teenagers have typically outgrown, such as the
teddy bear A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy b ...
he is implied to sleep with in "Live and Let Fry", and the
Care Bears Care Bears are multi-colored bears, originally painted in 1981 by artist Elena Kucharik to be used on greeting cards from American Greetings. In 1983, the characters were turned into plush teddy bears. The characters headlined their own televis ...
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. 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. 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. 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, in the latter case due to his obsession with making the morning announcements and deciding what is worth broadcasting to the high school. 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". 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 or threats of physical violence against himself or others. 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, or in rare cases, remains with him in a curtailed capacity, as was the case in "I am the Walrus". 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". Steve enjoys going on strolls every Sunday. He calls them his "Sunday Stolls."


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. The group includes: * Snot, a teenager with curly hair, a wispy moustache and
acne Acne, also known as ''acne vulgaris'', is a long-term skin condition that occurs when dead skin cells and oil from the skin clog hair follicles. Typical features of the condition include blackheads or whiteheads, pimples, oily skin, and ...
, he is Steve's best friend. His name and appearance is based on Booger from ''
Revenge of the Nerds ''Revenge of the Nerds'' is a 1984 American comedy film directed by Jeff Kanew and starring Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards, Ted McGinley, and Bernie Casey. The film's plot chronicles a group of nerds at the fictional Adams College tryi ...
''; with
Curtis Armstrong Curtis Armstrong (born November 27, 1953) is an American actor and singer best known for playing the role of Booger in the '' Revenge of the Nerds'' movies, Herbert Viola on the TV series ''Moonlighting'', Miles Dalby in the film ''Risky Busines ...
playing both characters. Snot who is Jewish, once had an affair with Steve's then-girlfriend, Gretchen. 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 Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...
, 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 Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability in the United Kingdom and formerly mental retardation, Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010). is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by signifi ...
. 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. * Toshi, a multilingual Japanese teenager. Although he seems to understand English, he has yet to speak it, with the exception of "
Finances with Wolves "Finances with Wolves" is the eleventh episode of the second season and the eighteenth overall episode of the animated comedy series ''American Dad!''. It aired on Fox in the United States on January 29, 2006, and is written by Neal Boushell and S ...
", 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 and speaks
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
when talking on the phone to Francine (though that could be Francine ignorantly thinking Toshi's Japanese is Spanish). Though they are friends, Toshi's greatest wish is to one day kill Steve. Toshi's parents speak perfect English, 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


External links


Steve Smith
at Fox.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Steve American Dad! characters Teenage characters in television Television characters introduced in 2005 Animated characters introduced in 2005 Animated human characters Male characters in animated series Fictional characters from Virginia Fictional cannibals Characters created by Seth MacFarlane de:American Dad#Steve Smith