Stan (Monkey Island)

Stan in Monkey Island 2

Stan is a recurring character in the Monkey Island series of computer adventure games from LucasArts. Stan, the Voodoo Lady and Herman Toothrot are the only non-major characters to appear in every Monkey Island game. The voice of Stan was provided by Pat Pinney in The Curse of Monkey Island and Pat Fraley in Escape from Monkey Island.

He is perhaps the only of the regular characters who has not established some sort of friendship with Guybrush Threepwood, and always behaves to him as a stranger, having a universal business-level relationship

One of Stan's more noticeable characteristics is his foot tapping and arm waving whilst speaking. This is also shown with the bizarre effect of his jacket having a checkerboard pattern which does not move with the material, but remains the same, as if placed behind a transparent filter. This was initially as a result of poor animation techniques in The Secret Of Monkey Island but was retained as a self referential joke in the other games.

Appearances

Stan's initial appearance was as a shady used boat salesman (satirizing the stereotype of a used car salesman) on Mêlée Island in The Secret of Monkey Island. Over the course of the series, he runs a number of other businesses, each as dubious as his original career. The appearance of this eternal huckster is fitting: his outfit is vaguely pirate-like, but invariably in an obnoxious blend of clashing colors and patterns. He always wears a huge hat that seems to be a cross between a traditional buccaneer's hat and a sombrero. He attempts to overwhelm potential customers with a constant flood of patter while his arms wave distractingly. He rarely stops talking and never, ever admits that he has cheated a customer.

Stan is last seen in The Secret of Monkey Island when the ghost pirate LeChuck delivers a mighty punch to his eternally flapping jaw. Stan is hurled out of sight, eventually turning up in Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, as the proprietor of a used coffin shop on Booty Island - he turned to the coffin business because its customers are unable to come back and complain. We learn he also owned "Stan's Previously-owned Restaurant Supplies", and sold an ineffective flame retardant apron to Rapp Scalion. In the course of the game, Guybrush Threepwood traps him inside one of his own cheap coffins. Strangely enough, Stan ends up in a crypt (which he himself designed) on Blood Island and manages to survive until Guybrush frees him in The Curse of Monkey Island five years later. Supposedly given "a new lease on life", Stan begins selling life insurance on Blood Island. Guybrush purchases a policy, fakes his own death and collects a large payout; this convinces Stan to get out of the insurance industry. He resurfaces once again in Escape from Monkey Island: the enterprising Stan has moved on to a condominium timeshare scheme on Jambalaya Island.