List of American Dad! characters
This article lists characters from the animated series "American Dad!". Voice cast. The voice actors are not assembled as a group when performing the lines of their characters; rather, each of the voice actors perform their lines privately. The voice actors have stated that because of their personalities and tendency to goof off when together as a group, they would never get anything completed if they performed their lines collectively. Main characters. Stan Smith. Stanford Leonard "Stan" Smith (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) is the title character on "American Dad!" who has an exaggeratedly masculine voice  and manner about him. Stan is Francine's husband and Hayley and Steve's father. Hayley may or may not be Stan's biological daughter since Francine revealed to have cheated on Stan at a bachelorette party in the episode "The Kidney Stays in the Picture", but Stan regards Hayley as his daughter. As the Smith family breadwinner, Stan is a CIA agent. Early on in the series, Stan was exaggeratedly patriotic and Conservative. His character, however, has progressed over the course of the series from the ultra right-wing it had been. All the same however, Stan has proven  to be drastic and extreme in numerous other ways beyond politics. He is often shown rashly taking extreme measures in ways that are conspicuously destructive, disastrous, and life-threatening to others. Making his extreme-measure taking worse, Stan is utterly inconsiderate and insensitive, thus he does not stop to think of how others are negatively impacted, nor does he care. As examples of this: in the episode "Dope & Faith" when Stan found out one of his friends was an atheist, he tried getting him to pray by blowing up his home, spreading the bird flu at his restaurant, brainwashing his  wife into thinking she was a lesbian, and taking his kids away; in the episode "I Can't Stan You," Stan evicted his entire neighborhood and his own family just for overhearing some of his neighbors gossiping about him behind his back; in the episode "Four Little Words," Stan framed his wife as a murderer all so as not to hear her say the words "I told you so"; etc. Not a stranger to going to any and all lengths to achieve his desired ends—even to the point of shamelessly harming others—Stan is characterized as very dog-eat -dog. Aside from his thoughtlessly drastic and endangering behaviors, he has an endearing and sensitive side as well. It has been revealed that he very much desires fatherly love and attention but has always lacked this. Stan's parents separated when he was very young (later learned because of Stan himself in the episode "Blood Crieth Unto Heaven"); thus he has a father (Jack Smith) who was not around much and mistreated him. Francine Smith. Francine Lee Smith (née Ling, voiced by Wendy Schaal) is Stan's wife and the mother of Steve and Hayley. Indignant, Francine can usually be  seen nagging and scolding her family (particularly Stan) over their wrongdoings. Francine often nags at her family to uphold certain virtues and over any unwholesome or reprehensible behaviors they engage in. Ironically, it is mostly in the midst of all her moralizing and urging others to do the right thing that she demonstrates blatant inappropriateness, indecorum, and inelegance. Sporadically while engaged in moralizing others, Francine will randomly throw in remarks and behaviors that are in bad taste and lack all propriety. Adding to her paradoxical nature, Francine's behaviors have been known to become downright immoral and sometimes even fiendish , all the while trying to get others to live more wholesomely and do what is right. For example, in the episode "The Boring Identity," Francine made efforts to get Stan to be a more civilized and respectable husband. In the process, she deceived him into thinking he was an entirely different person after he got struck with amnesia. Another example, in the episode "Can I Be Frank With You," Francine was disgruntled by the fact that she and Stan were not a closer couple. To achieve this, she encroached in on Stan's guys' night using a male disguise that  could fart for extended periods of time. Francine has also been shown to have a randomly wacky and peculiar side. For example, in the episode "The Scarlett Getter," while Francine was engaged in an angry rant about Stan, she stated "Those two are stuck on each other like gum on a hot summer sidewalk on a summer afternoon. I'm sorry, I'm taking a creative writing class." Hayley Smith. Hayley Dreamsmasher Smith (voiced by Rachael MacFarlane) is Stan and Francine's new-age hippie daughter and college-aged oldest and the sister of Steve. As revealed in the episode  The Kidney Stays in the Picture, she may or may not be Stan's biological daughter, Francine revealed to have cheated on Stan at a bachelorette party; nonetheless, Stan regards her as his daughter. One to stand up for her beliefs, Hayley is passionate, insistent and vocal in her convictions. In mentality, she is portrayed as Liberal, what was originally intended to be the antithesis to her father's ultra-conservative mentality. These character traits were particularly emphasized in the show's beginnings back when Hayley was a focal character in the program; however, they were heavily toned down after  early seasons. Intuitive and insightful, Hayley is able to instinctively grasp the hidden, inner, and obscure nature of situations. As examples, instantly upon entering the room in the episode "Finger Lenting Good," Hayley realizes what Stan and Steve are up to in trying to get Jeff to hug them so as to lose his finger for engaging in a vice. As another example, in the episode "Da Flippity Flop" when the essence of Klaus has entered Stan's body and taken control over it, he attempts to deceive Hayley and Francine into thinking he is truly Stan; however, Hayley instantaneously  and lackadaisically acknowledges that it is Klaus. Hayley can also be casually rude and insulting, particularly towards her brother, Steve. Several story arcs have been used with regards to Hayley's romantic relationship to Jeff. Back when the two were dating, they had several breakups. In one of their breakups, Hayley dated an urban black man in a koala body (Reginald the Koala) across a string of episodes. Since then, Hayley has married Jeff but continues to live under her parents' roof. Steve Smith. Steven Anita "Steve" Smith (voiced by Scott Grimes) is the baby of the family and sometimes  middle child who is Stan and Francine's high-school aged son and the brother of Hayley. He attends Pearl Bailey High School. There have been three versions of the "Steve" character over the course of "American Dad!" The first version was a one-off execution limited to the unaired precursory pilot (not to be confused with the season premiere episode entitled "Pilot"). This original version of Steve stood out as most contrasting and atypical, particularly in appearance and voice. In this precursor pilot, he was voiced by Ricky Blitt. Here, he was much nerdier, gawkier, and scrawnier than his  later versions. By the series premiere, Scott Grimes began voicing the character. Also by the series premiere, Steve became taller, thicker, manlier and more mature than before, though still nerdy. By Steve's third design, he was made softer, more emotional, cuter, and more endearing than before. As part of his emotional and sensitive character, Steve is combined with a screechy wail. Despite his wimpy and nerdy characteristics, Steve is particularly conceited and obnoxious. Along with this, he often proves to be a showman, always ready to put on a performance and show off his abilities, often singing-wise. Steve  shows great ambition and enthusiasm for his various interests and pursuits. He possesses a keen interest in the opposite sex and has had an obese girlfriend, Debbie, who Stan disapproved of. 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 has three best friends: Snot (with whom he shares a bromance), Toshi, and Barry. Roger Smith. Roger Smith (voiced by Seth MacFarlane impersonating Paul Lynde) is the very zany pansexual  alien who lives in the Smith family's attic. Blithely so, Roger is depraved, devious, and cruel. He typically exhibits a lighthearted, carefree temperament while also engaged in his freakish grossness, outrageous malice, and rascally shenanigans. Having no limits on his shocking and brazen ways, Roger typically says and does anything and everything that comes to his mind. Initially being banned by the family from going into the public and often being depressive because of that in early episodes, Roger later begins to be shown to assume different aliases and has a carousel of seemingly endless costumes, which allows him  to do almost everything he wants. Although his disguises are poor (to say the least) everyone outside the Smith family is totally taken in by them. Klaus Heissler. Klaus Heissler (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker in a German accent) is the Smith family's hapless and saturnine goldfish. He is consultative and full of sage advice, sometimes even wearing glasses and taking on a scholarly appearance. Klaus was once an East German Olympic ski-jumper until his mind was transferred into the body of a goldfish during the 1986 Winter Olympics by the CIA to prevent him from winning the  gold medal, leaving him permanently trapped in the goldfish's body. Klaus has yet to come to terms with what happened, at times malcontent and gloomy. Not confined to his fishbowl, Klaus is often seen uniquely scooting himself about the Smith residence, reclined in a glass of water. In these moments, it is only his very lower back that is actually in the water. In the early going, Klaus had an obsessive crush on Francine and often made sexual advances at her. For much of the series discounting its beginnings, the Smith family and particularly Roger have been shown to  treat Klaus with disdain, take him for granted, and even mistreat him. Ironically, Klaus started out on the series as a bully, known for his ridicule and cruel teasing of all the show's main characters, particularly Roger. Jeff Smith. Jeff Smith (né Fischer; voiced by Jeff Fischer) is Hayley's slacker, mellow, hippie, henpecked, often stoned boyfriend and later husband. An unemployed high school dropout with no apparent skills, or employment motivation, he is emasculated, weak-willed, pathetic and frequently behaves naively. Jeff is often shown to be infatuated with Hayley's mother, Francine, having made subtle passes at  her on many occasions. Jeff's own mother abandoned him early on, giving birth to him in a van, within which he lives until moving in with the Smiths. His relationship with his father, Henry, is abysmal, with Henry viewing and treating Jeff as a failure. Before moving in with the Smiths, Jeff lived from his van, which he had parked in front of the Smiths' residence when he started dating Hayley. In the episode "Joint Custody" however, Jeff moves in with the Smiths as a result of Stan having a demolition crew crush his van into smithereens with a  wrecking ball. Stan effected this in an effort to get Jeff away from his [Stan] property. Throughout the series, Hayley repeatedly dumps Jeff for being a needy, clingy pushover, leaving Jeff crushed until their inevitable reconciliations. In the show's one-hundredth episode, the two finally marry. In the episode "Naked to the Limit, One More Time", Jeff learns that Roger is an alien. Because of this, Stan informs that he must kill either Roger or Jeff to protect his family. Roger, however, informs that he will call his fellow aliens to take him back to his birth planet; however , Roger surprise chucks Jeff into the spaceship while he stays behind on Earth. In the Season 9 episode "Lost in Space", Jeff escapes from an alien spaceship and starts to make his way back to Earth. In a Season 10 episode "Longest Distance Relationship," Jeff is able to communicate with Hayley through a CB radio and discovers a way to return to earth through a wormhole. Jeff and Sinbad's Ghost arrive 60 years in the future and learns that he cost her a chance to have a great life with Millionaire Matt Davis. Unhappy with having upset the family  and giving the elderly Hayley a heart attack, he and Sinbad's Ghost return through the wormhole. Jeff tells the again-young Hayley to move on with her life. In the season 12 episode "Holy Shit, Jeff's Back!", it is revealed that Jeff was killed by aliens and his body dissected, before an alien disguised as Jeff is sent to Earth to capture Stan. The alien later has Jeff's brain planted into his body so he can remain on Earth with Hayley as Jeff. In the episode "Portrait of Francine's Genitals", Jeff revealed he took Hayley's  last name, making him Jeff Smith. Later in the season, in the episode "Roger's Baby", Jeff is reborn as a human, via Roger eating his brain and rebirthing him. Appearing in "The Golden Turd". As seen in "Homeland Insecurity," it is revealed that Roger's excrement is solid gold and jewel-encrusted. The Golden Turd enters the life of different characters which often end with someone dying or suffering some other terrible fate. The following characters appear in "The Golden Turd" sketches: