Steven Anita "Steve" Smith is a fictional character in the
animated television series
An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...
''
American Dad!
''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker (producer), Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on February 6, 2005, following Super Bowl XXXIX, with the r ...
'', voiced by
Scott Grimes. 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 who frequently accompany him throughout the series, particularly inside their school, Pearl Bailey High. However, his strongest bond is with the family alien,
Roger
Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...
, as they frequently go on surreal adventures together.
The character was initially voiced by
Ricky Blitt in an unaired pilot screener and was designed as geeky and physically gawky. Grimes replaced Blitt for the aired pilot 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 created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...
''.
Personality
At 14 years old, Steve is the youngest member of the Smith family. 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 to 14), placing his year of birth around 1992. Steve is portrayed as an enthusiastic, ambitious, and wimpy
nerd.
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 (as opposed to
Scott Grimes). 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, 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 with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants).
Although this term had historically been used fo ...
and only speaks
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
; and
Barry, who is
morbidly obese
Obesity is a risk factor for many chronic physical and mental illnesses.
The health effects of being overweight but not obese are controversial, with some studies showing that the mortality rate for individuals who are classified as overweight ( ...
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 Eccentricity (behavior), eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In th ...
. He is a bit of a
social outcast
An outcast is someone who is rejected or cast out, as from home or from 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 contribu ...
, wears thick, black frame glasses and harbors a strong academic interest in
science
Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
, especially
chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...
.
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 (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...
, ''
Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'' and ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
''.
Like most unpopular students, Steve is often physically and verbally picked on by the bullies of the more popular social circle. Despite this however, he has shown various times throughout the series that he has no issue with being as callous and mean as his tormentors, including towards other victims of bullying at his school, or even younger children.
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 romantic 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 7 ...
".
Stan sometimes attempts to change Steve, usually unsuccessfully, as when he once gave Steve an experimental
performance enhancer. 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 naïveté 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 identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...
.
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 preserve ...
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
:''This is a disambiguation page for the common name Francine.''
Francine is a female given name. The name is of French origin. The name Francine was most popular in France itself during the 1940s (Besnard & Desplanques, 2003), and was well used ...
, 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 female, the testicles i ...
.
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 masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...
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 (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
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 act of improper usage or treatment of a person or 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, ...
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 colloquially 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 in ...
at Pearl Bailey
Pearl Mae Bailey (March 29, 1918 – August 17, 1990) was an American actress, singer, comedian 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 ti ...
High School
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...
, 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
Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, United States, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisad ...
"), were originally recorded by Scott Grimes, who voices Steve. Among Steve's other talents are being able to read Elvish, use Morse code
Morse code is a telecommunications method which Character encoding, encodes Written language, text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code i ...
, 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, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
than about prostitution
Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in 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, no ...
. 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.
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", for example. He also uses childhood paraphernalia that teenagers have typically outgrown, such as the teddy bear
A teddy bear, or simply a teddy, is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. The teddy bear was named by Morris Michtom after the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt; it was developed apparently simultaneously in the first deca ...
he is implied to sleep with in "Live and Let Fry", and the Care Bears
Care Bears are multi-colored bears, painted in 1981 by artist Elena Kucharik to be used on greeting cards from American Greetings. They were turned into plush teddy bears and featured in ''The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings'' (1983) and ...
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
An energy drink is a type of non-alcoholic psychoactive functional beverage containing stimulant compounds, usually caffeine (at a higher concentration than ordinary soda pop) and taurine, which is marketed as reducing tiredness and improving pe ...
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
"I Am the Walrus" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 television film ''Magical Mystery Tour (film), Magical Mystery Tour''. Written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was released as the B-side to ...
".
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 Cutaneous condition, skin condition that occurs when Keratinocyte, dead skin cells and Sebum, oil from the skin clog hair follicles. Typical features of the condition include comedo, ...
, 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 plot follows a group of nerds at the fictional Adams College trying to st ...
''; with Curtis Armstrong
Curtis Johnathan Armstrong (born November 27, 1953) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Booger in the '' Revenge of the Nerds'' films, Herbert Viola on the TV series '' Moonlighting'', Miles Dalby in the film '' Risky ...
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, a morbidly obese
Obesity is a risk factor for many chronic physical and mental illnesses.
The health effects of being overweight but not obese are controversial, with some studies showing that the mortality rate for individuals who are classified as overweight ( ...
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 (in the United States), Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010).Archive is a generalized neurodevelopmental ...
. 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", in which he yells "Werewolf!" in unison with Snot and Barry. 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
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
, then saying "please go" in perfect English. Toshi has spoken Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
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 countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
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 television series
Fictional characters from Virginia
Characters created by Seth MacFarlane
American male characters in sitcoms
Fictional singers