Stan Marsh

Stan's hair, which is usually hidden underneath his hat

An unnamed precursor to Stan first appeared in the first The Spirit of Christmas short, dubbed Jesus vs. Frosty, created by Parker and Stone in 1992 while they were students at the University of Colorado. The character was composed of construction paper cutouts and animated through the use of stop motion.[10] When asked three years later by friend Brian Graden to create another short as a video Christmas card that he could send to friends, Parker and Stone created another similarly-animated The Spirit of Christmas short, dubbed Jesus vs. Santa, in which Stan also appeared.[11] Stan next appeared on August 13, 1997, when South Park debuted on Comedy Central with the episode "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe".[12]

In the tradition of the show's animation style, Stan is composed of simple geometrical shapes and primary colors.[10][13] He is not offered the same free range of motion associated with hand-drawn characters; his character is mostly shown from only one angle, and his movements are animated in an intentionally jerky fashion.[10][13][14] Ever since the show's second episode, "Weight Gain 4000" (season one, 1997), Stan, like all other characters on the show, has been animated with computer software, though he is portrayed to give the impression that the show still utilizes its original technique.[10]

Stan is usually depicted in winter attire which consists of a brown jacket, blue denim jeans, red gloves/mittens, and a red-brimmed blue knit cap adorned with a decorative red pom-pom. In the rare instances Stan is seen without his cap, he is shown to have shaggy black hair. He was given his full name in the season one episode "An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig", sharing his surname of "Marsh" with Parker's paternal step-grandfather.[2] Parker specified that he came up with the voice of Stan while he and Stone were in film class, where they would speak in high-pitched childish voices, much to the annoyance of their film teachers. They would reuse these voices when South Park debuted.[15][16] While originally voicing Stan without any computer manipulation, Parker now speaks within his normal vocal range while adding a childlike inflection. The recorded audio is then edited with Pro Tools, and the pitch is altered to make the voice sound more like that of a fourth grader.[17][18]

Stan's birthday is October 19, which is also Trey Parker's birthday.[19]

Stan is modeled after his voice actor, series co-creator Trey Parker.

Stan is foul-mouthed (a trait present in his friends as well) as a means for Parker and Stone to display how they claim young boys really talk when they are alone.[13][20] In responding to certain situations, particularly during earlier seasons, Stan often exclaims "Dude, this is pretty fucked up right here". While Stan is cynical and profane, Parker still notes that there is an "underlying sweetness" to the character,[21] and Time magazine described Stan and his friends as "sometimes cruel but with a core of innocence".[4] He is amused by bodily functions and toilet humor,[4] and his favorite television personalities are Terrance and Phillip, a Canadian duo whose comedy routines on their show-within-the-show revolve substantially around fart jokes.

Stan is an avid animal lover. He is highly against his uncle Jimbo's hunting, and was also known to commit to vegetarianism after feeling compassion for baby calves in a farm, even going as far to hide them in his room to protect them from being slaughtered. Later, he was forced to quit vegetarianism because of a severe illness he developed, however, he still fights for animal rights, becoming a member of PETA in "Douche and Turd" as well as saving whales and dolphins in "Whale Whores".

The only adult on the show that Stan liked was Chef, the cafeteria worker at his school, as Stan generally holds the rest of the show's adult population in low regard due to their tendency to both behave irrationally when subjected to the scams, cults, and sensationalized media stories of which he is often skeptical,[9] and engage in hypocritical behavior.[22] He doubts the legitimacy of holistic medicine,[23] declares cults to be dangerous,[24] and regards those claiming to be psychic mediums as frauds,[25] specifically by declaring John Edward to be "the biggest douche in the universe".[26]

After turning ten years old, Stan was diagnosed with "cynicism",[27] which in the series is treated as a serious medical disorder where the sufferer sees nothing but feces instead of people and animals and hear flatulence noises during music and voices. Stan's friendships with the other main characters ended, his parents divorced and he moved out of his home. This episode formed a cliffhanger and set off widespread speculation that the series was coming to an end,[28] but the premiere of the second half of the season resolved the arc as Stan was erroneously diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and discovers Jameson Irish Whiskey cures cynicism. After struggling to repair his life, he finally explains he doesn't want things to go back to normal, when his parents get back together and his life is repaired, although the end of the episode implies Stan may be permanently bound to whiskey to continue an everyday life.[29]