Stanley "Stan" Pines (born June 15th or 16th), also known as Grunkle Stan and formerly under the assumed identity Stanford Pines, is Dipper and Mabel Pines' great uncle and summer guardian, and a paternal uncle of Mr. Pines. He is the deuteragonist of the series. After many years of crime and infamy, he took up residence in the remote town of Gravity Falls, Oregon, where he exploited local lore and the gullibility of the "dumbest people in the world" to finance himself by running a dubious tourist trap known as the Mystery Shack. Grunkle Stan is on the surtace a wise and cunning salesman being highly manipulative, very charismatic and charming, running a tourist trap in a town with enough unsuspecting customers to sell worthless knickknacks to and take on tours of so-called "mysteries." Years on the road as a conman gave him plenty of time to develop criminally sophisticated behaviors which have benefitted him greatly in his present life. He conducts his business with surprising flair and wit. When not planning or executing money-making schemes (both legal and illegal), he's usually at home watching television. His preferred shows include Cash Wheel, Duck-tective and period dramas. He also enjoys fishing. Stan has brown eyes, with cataracts, gray eyebrows, and gray hair, that is almost always covered by Stan's trademark maroon fez. The fez bore a yellow crescent shape and later a similar figure, albeit with straight edges and a dot next to it, resembling an oyster with a pearl in it. He bears a somewhat large, droopy, pear-shaped, bumpy, reddish-pinkish nose, large ears, and fair skin. As a result of his age, Stan has wrinkly skin, a hearing aid, and dentures. He has a faded burn mark of the symbol on the side of Ford's desk on his back. He usually wears a pair of rectangular glasses with a black rim which later had its outline thinned. Stan also has a perpetual five o'clock shadow covering his lower face. Stan's typical outfit is a black suit, with the jacket buttoned closed, a bow tie similar in color to his fez, and a white dress shirt. He also wears big, light brown shoes, the aforementioned fez and his glasses. He frequently carries an eight ball cane with him and often wears an unnecessary eye- patch over one of his eyes while working. He has mentioned that he owns a girdle, which he'd presumably wear while in the suit; this would explain why his prominent belly doesn't show in this outfit. Around the house, Stan wears a white wife beater that is also used as his tank top undershirt, a gold chain, striped blue boxer shorts, slippers, and his glasses and fez. This outfit reveals Stan's vast amounts of body hair, burly arms, skinny legs, and his very large belly.

Stanford "Ford" Filbrick Pines (born June 15th or 16th), also known as The Author, or simply Great Uncle or Grunkle Ford, is a paranormal investigator and scientist who came to Gravity Falls, Oregon, to study the huge concentration of supernatural activity in and around the town. After spending years 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 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. 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. Ford's nose is visually smoother than Stan's, lacking bumps. He is a central polydactyl with six fingers on each hand. Ford has a much narrower build than Stan. 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 lett lens.