"The Legend of the Gobblewonker" Heroic Analysis (2 of 40) of Dipper from "Gravity Falls"

Spoilers ahead:

In the second episode of Gravity Falls Dipper Pines and allies are developed through another miniature, though complete, hero's journey. Grunkle Stan takes Dipper and Mabel to Lake Gravity Falls for a "Family Fun Day," so that the three of them can have time together as a family. This establishes Dipper's ordinary world as the Mystery Shack and sets up the Lake as the special one. For this journey, the shack is his ordinary world because it is what he expects and he feels uncomfortable separating from it. When Grunkle Stan decides to take them fishing and they don't want to go, Dipper has his call to adventure and his refusal.

Dipper then meets the mentor at the lake in the form of Old Man McGucket. McGucket is the mentor because he is Dipper's motivator to begin the true adventure and look for the Gobblewonker. In the episode's ending, McGucket is also there to reveal the elixir of knowledge to Dipper and through his actions he shows Dipper the importance of time with family, which I believe summarizes the entire point of this episode in Dipper's journey. 

Soos can also be seen as a mentor to Dipper because of his role in helping Dipper by providing the boat and heralding the entire adventure. There wouldn't be an adventure without Soos and his gift of the boat. Soos also plays the roles of trickster and ally due to his clumsiness but overall willingness to help. There are even moments when he could represent a threshold guardian because he destroys many of the cameras and his trickster qualities actually begin to hinder Dipper and Mabel on their quest to take a picture of the Gobblewonker. 

Now that Dipper and gang have crossed the threshold (by way of boat and lake) and are carrying the closest resemblance of their magical aid (He still has the journal as well as at least 5 cameras left) and are heading deeper into the special world, Dipper meets more enemies in the form of shadow characters. His fear is one of his own shadow figures in his journey and it almost causes him to continue to refuse the call. Soos, acting as a would-be-herald to convince Dipper to just turn around and go home, represents another shadow, though a case could be made that he is actually a threshold guardian when he says "Maybe it isn't worth it," encouraging Dipper to just go home. The most obvious shadow, however, is the fear of the Gobblewonker and the actual creature itself.

After the tests, such as Dipper deciding that it is worth pushing on even after losing nearly all of their cameras during the scene with the beavers and the chainsaw, Dipper is in the deepest part of the special world known as the abyss. It is here that Dipper and team find the real monster and the archetypal chase scene as seen in many hero's journeys, i.e. Lord of the Rings, Speed, The gnome chase from episode one, etc. begin. During the chase the hero loses the last camera, which marks a sudden change in the possible outcome of their adventure because he loses the metaphorical sword that he has seized. Dipper can no longer get the elixir he wanted, but that does not mean that he cannot get the elixir that he needs. He faces death when thinking that he can get caught by the Gobblewonker because during the chase he does not know that it is Old Man McGucket in a machine. During the chase, the beavers return and act as a threshold guardian when they attack the boat, and Dipper must fight off the angry beavers while fleeing the Gobblewonker. At the end of the chase, it is revealed that Dipper has one last camera and he is thus able to get a picture of the Goblewonker: elixir obtained.

After realizing that it was McGucket the entire time and finding no value in the elixir, Dipper realizes that the real elixir is the understanding that family and friends are important. Old Man McGucket's confession causes Dipper to realize that he has hurt his own grunkle and needs to make amends. He displays a heroic change, starting out as a character who only cares about seeking the adventure, though afraid, and doesn't consider the real meaning behind why his uncle brought him and Mabel to Lake Gravity Falls in the first place. So he returns to his uncle and attempts to salvage what he can from the day that should have been one of those "bonding type deals."

Things to consider for further episodes:

In this episode it can be argued that Dipper and Mabel are the heroes. Mabel has the same adventure that Dipper has, and although there are some minor differences in their reactions throughout, they both receive the same elixir. She is more than just an ally, a herald, or a trickster, though she does fit each of those roles more so than Dipper could. I wonder if female viewers will connect with Mabel as a possible heroine in the show. Though I don’t deny her characterization as a heroine, I am interested in where the show goes with her development in relationship to the viewpoint hero, Dipper. It is obvious that the show is depicted him as the character to follow and Mabel as an ally type character. She even questions him in this episode when she says, “Why do you get to be captain? What about Mabel?” which I read into as being a direct question to viewers like me who immediately assume that Dipper is the sole hero of the show. But she is his twin sister and will probably mature faster than him given the societal norm for girls to mature before boys, meaning that her coming of age story is bound to happen one or more of the episodes to come.

I also really hope to see more of the townspeople. We get a glimpse at them at the lake, such as the woodsman-like family, or the man in the boat next to his telling him to “get em,” referring to the woodsman father punching a fish. We have also seen this creepy looking woman with what appears to be a lazy eye, and a funny comedic duo of police officers that I hope resurface.