While many fans would assume that the smartest character in Gravity Falls is Ford Pines, followed closely by Dipper, they’d be completely wrong as the real smartest character is literally the last one fans would expect.
Gravity Falls is an animated series that follows the adventures of Dipper and Mabel as they stay with their great uncle Stan in Gravity Falls, Oregon. Before long, Dipper stumbles upon a mysterious journal containing information on mythical creatures living in the surrounding area, as well as hidden codes and complicated ciphers. Using this book as their guide, Dipper and Mabel take on all the paranormal problems that arise in town–including one character and his partners in crime who was originally viewed as a low-level (if not totally comical) threat–but is, in fact, much more intelligent than he seems.
Gravity Falls: Lost Legends–written by series creator Alex Hirsch with art by Joe Pitt, Ian Worrel, Asaf Hanuka, Dana Terrace, Jacob Chabot, Jim Campbell, Kyle Smeallie, Meredith Gran, Mike Holmes, Priscilla Tang, Serina Hernandez, Stephanie Ramirez, and Valerie Halla–is a graphic novel containing a collection of Gravity Falls stories that weren’t told during the course of the animated series. Before those stories get started, however, readers are offered a look at the person responsible for telling these stories–the one who collected them all by spying on the Pines family and then compiling their untold adventures in a series of tales that he is revealing directly to the reader, and that character is none other than Shmebulock.
Shmebulock is Surprisingly Gravity Falls’ Smartest Character
Shmebulock is a Gnome who was introduced in the first episode of Gravity Falls and quickly became a recurring side character after that. What kept Shmebulock from getting any significant development or starring storylines is the fact that he was only ever able to say one word: “Shmebulock”. This made the Gnome a funny addition to Gnome-focused stories, but overall no one of too great importance. However, this Gravity Falls book reveals that while Shmebulock is cursed to only be able to say his name most of the time, he is able to speak in complete sentences (and rather eloquently) once every thousand years–though his mind is incredibly sharp at all times even if he can’t articulate his thoughts.
Not only was Shmebulock smart enough to unravel the complexities of Gravity Falls’ greatest secrets surrounding Dipper and Mabel, but he also contains a power that no one in the town consciously possesses: the ability to break the fourth wall. This graphic novel was written by Alex Hirsch, the creator of Gravity Falls, so it is implied that this continuation is canonical to the show. This means that Shmebulock was always aware of fans’ existence, and in this book, he addresses them directly. It seems like, all this time, Shmebulock was pulling a ‘Keyser Soze’ on the residents of Gravity Falls, all the while spying, collecting information, and being aware that he existed in a fictional realm observed by fans of the series, which is something that neither Ford nor Dipper are aware of–proving that Gravity Falls’ smartest character is literally the last one fans would think.