Francine Smith

Francine Smith
American Dad character
File:AmDad2006 Francine f.jpg
First appearance	Pilot
Created by	Seth McFarlane
Portrayed by	Wendy Schaal (voice-actor)
Duration	1x01– (2005–)
In-universe information
Species	Human
Gender	Female
Family	Smith Family Father: Nicholas Dawson Mother: Cassandra Dawson Adoptive Father: Bàba Ling Adoptive Mother: Māma Ling Adoptive Sister: Gwen Ling
Spouse	Stan Smith
Children	Hayley Smith Steve Smith Liberty "Libby" Belle
Nationality	American

Francine Smith (née Ling, previously Dawson) is a fictional character on the animated television series American Dad!. She is the wife of Stan Smith and the mother of Steve and Hayley. Francine is voiced by Wendy Schaal.

Fictional character biography

Francine was adopted by Chinese-American parents at birth; she was abandoned at an airport by her wealthy Caucasian birth parents because they were not allowed to bring a baby into first class with them. Her Chinese-American parents have their own biological daughter, Gwen, who they are ashamed of for being supposedly very attractive but quite stupid (as her parents put it, "imagine a Chinese girl [that] can't do math!"). When Francine was about 14 years old in high school, she had an obsessive crush on her algebra teacher, Mr. Feeny. She became so obsessed with him, she was discovered by his wife in his closet, "cutting herself and sniffing his T-shirts." Francine lied to them and said that she and Mr. Feeny were lovers. Mr. Feeny was sent to jail and committed suicide there. During the rest of high school, she was said to have been "very depressed," until she found the "miracle of marijuana".

Even though she was a party girl during her college years, she keeps her opinions mostly to herself in order to keep with Stan's conservative views. However, she does not keep her extremely intense hatred of George Clooney to herself. She hates him because he stole her spotlight in her only television appearance on Scarecrow and Mrs. King, which would have guaranteed her a movie career. Since then, Francine's dream has been to, at the very least, make George Clooney cry, which Stan has helped her do.

Francine, then a groupie, first met her future husband Stan when he had just graduated from the CIA academy and offered a post as an operative. She was trying to hitchhike home, and Stan pulled over and gave her a ride. During the trip, Stan veered to avoid hitting a car and accidentally ran over a raccoon, which he then shot to put it out of its misery. This act of compassion attracted Francine so much she started dating Stan and married him soon after they had met. When Stan was still oblivious to the fact that Greg Corbin and Terry Bates, their next door neighbours, were gay, he suggested that he and Francine fix them up with her sister Gwen. While Francine knows they're gay, Stan thinks her reluctance is because Gwen is "too hot" and then reminisces about her appearance at their wedding (though Stan does eventually discover the truth). In Office Spaceman, it was revealed that Francine is left-handed, though by the end of the episode it is apparent that she had been using her right hand so frequently she can no longer properly use her left. It is revealed that when she was in an orphanage as a child, waiting to be adopted, using her left hand would result in a flogging from one of the nuns, who considered being left-handed to be evil.

Personality

Although she enjoys being a housewife (once criticizing Stan for locking her up without shirts to fold, as she "hates down time"), as well as becoming aroused during spring cleaning, Francine occasionally yearns for something in her life more fulfilling. Sometimes this is in the form of a job - for a short while she was a successful realtor and even sold local newsreaders, Greg and Terry, the house next door to the Smith's own, achieved her dream of owning a muffin kiosk (she has tried sleeping with Adam Ant, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, and Dexys Midnight Runners to get an investment for one when she was younger) at the mall, and even becoming a surgeon for a mafia made up of handicapped people. One time, she joined a group of ultra-chic local ladies by faking an affair with a valet. Stan often neglects Francine, ignores what she says, and has forgotten their wedding anniversary at least twice. Despite this, Francine loves him and seems to be unable to cheat on him; even when her life was threatened she still would not sleep with another man. However, Francine has offered Stan to cheat on her twice. When Klaus, whose long-time attraction to Francine we are made well aware of, is put into the body of a handsome black man who was once in an Earth, Wind and Fire tribute band, he temporarily manages to win Francine over; however, she does resist him, noticing something familiar about him. It is only until Stan reveals Klaus's identity that she is turned off completely.

Francine enjoys drinking alcohol (she has one bottle of wine for each special occasion, such as "Told Klaus to shut up"), occasionally smokes cigarettes (particularly when under stress), and has a history of using marijuana. Francine has an unhealthy obsession with keeping Steve as 'her baby' which has led her to pursue emotionally and physically abusive behaviour towards him in an effort to keep him from becoming an independent man. She seems to go on obsessive jaunts and can resort to violence when the need demands. However, she maintains a warmth for animals and an unstoppable maternal instinct regarding her family, including a nonchalant acceptance of Stan's murderous overreactions. She also has an extreme hatred of George Clooney. Stan has to occasionally arrest her due to having known information to crimes. In addition to English, Francine seems to be fluent in French, Spanish and Mandarin. She also stated to she's able to read Hindi, but at a low level.

Previous to her marriage Francine had a history of sexual promiscuity, most notably as a groupie who slept with numerous rock stars and pop singers and planting a rose bush for every person she has slept with, creating "the worlds largest sex garden" which is so big it has a tour group and rumored to have a civilization that have never seen a white man. In the second season episode "Finances With Wolves" it is established that the Dexy's Midnight Runner's hit song Come on Eileen was written about Francine after the band had an orgy with her but couldn't remember her name (the obvious joke being that the band literally came on her.)

Although Francine is a Republican like Stan she appears to hold more moderate views. She has chastised Stan a few times on his homophobia and his sexism and racism.

There are times when Francine has demonstrated that she might be mentally unstable, including her vendetta against George Clooney and her extreme Empty Nest Syndrome. In Family Affair she nonchalantly admits she stabbed her college roommate to death and expresses surprise that no one in the family knew before. In Live and Let Fry she tells Hayley that she can't handle much, and when someone rings the doorbell she screams "IT'S TOO MUCH!". In Every Which Way But Lose, Francine also admitted that she doesn't know how to vote as it confuses her too much. She just enters a booth, waits ten seconds, then comes out and yells "Democracy!".

Francine has also apparently spent time in prison before, and has recounted her experiences - with varying degrees of horror - on at least two occasions.

Health

Francine has suffered great brain damage, and as such, she frequently plays a role similar to Diane Szalinski in that her brain suffers at the foolish hands of her husband. Stan once ran over her (twice) causing her brain to temporarily detach from her central nervous system. Stan also accidentally erased the last 20 years of her memory (making Francine act like a teenager from 1985), which he managed to restore. Francine has told Steve that she used to stalk her old school teacher and she also willfully cut her own hand off when it was handcuffed to a pole so she could kill George Clooney (the hand was later reattached). Francine has two birth scars, a caesarian scar from Hayley's birth (although in "The Most Adequate Christmas Ever" Francine gave birth to Hayley naturally), and a scar on her perineum ("tore from [her] V to [her] A") from Steve's birth. Despite this, she claims in Surro-Gate that both of her own childrens' births were "a breeze" for her, and therefore becomes the natural choice to carry Greg and Terry's daughter for them. She also seems to have a case of empty nest syndrome, as she had problems coping with Steve's girlfriend, Debbie, and was more than willing to comfort Steve when Debbie broke up with him. This has recently begun to take obsessive levels, including Francine using a CIA anti-aging formula to turn Steve into a toddler that she could coddle and baby, and sabotaging his surprisingly successful attempts at popularity to keep him home (and also to keep him from possibly going into any potentially violent mood swings).

Age

Francine was originally 38, but she became 40 years old in the episode "Tears of a Clooney". The episode starts with her 39th birthday, she attempts to get revenge on George Clooney for a year, and the episode ends with her 40th birthday. It's unknown whether or not the other characters aged as well, except for presumably Stan; he says in one episode that she is ten months younger than he is.