Preston Northwest

“	Look at who you are talking to, boy. I am hosting a party for the most powerful people in the world, do you think they'd come here if they had to rub elbows with your kind? [...] Enjoy the party! It's the last time you and your kind will ever come.	„
	~ Preston Northwest to Dipper Pines after revealing that he was using him to get rid of the Lumberjack Ghost.

“	Pacifica Elise Northwest, stop this instant! We can't let the town see us like this! We have a reputation to uphold! Now come into the panic room, there's enough mini-sandwiches and oxygen to last you, me, and a butler for a full week. (whispering) We'll eat the butler!	„
	~ Preston Northwest to Pacifica, telling her to come into the panic room and let the entire party die.

“	I would just like to say as a rich capitalist I welcome your tyrannical rule. Perhaps I can be one of your uh... horsemen of the apocalypse?	„
	~ Preston trying to bargain with Bill Cipher.

Preston Northwest is a supporting antagonist in Disney's Gravity Falls franchise.

He is the patriarch of the prominent Northwest Family of Gravity Falls. A rich and influential man and the descendant of the town's supposed founder Nathaniel Northwest (later revealed by Dipper and Mabel Pines to have been a lucky idiot who was handed the credit as part of a government conspiracy to hide the true founder), the husband of Priscilla Northwest and the father of Pacifica Northwest.

He was voiced by Chris Parnell in his first appearance, and by Nathan Fillion in the rest of the series.

His Evil Ranking[]

What Makes Him Heinous?[]

Much like all of the previous members of the Northwest family, he is a deceitful cheater who is willing to do anything just to get his way and uphold his high class reputation.
He psychologically and mentally abuses Pacifica and molded her into the bully she used to be to the point that whenever he rings a small bell he has, she responds to a command and stop any objections she has.
Even after Dipper tells Pacifica and her family that Nathaniel Northwest didn't found the town in "Irrational Treasure," he still keeps up the façade to protect the reputation of his family.
When the curse from the Lumberjack Ghost comes true in "Northwest Mansion Mystery,"
- He tells Pacifica to manipulate Dipper into getting rid of the ghost instead of just letting the common folk in.
- Once the curse begins to spread throughout the mansion, he cowardly hides away in his bunker instead of just opening the door just to uphold his reputation regardless, letting dozens of people painfully get turned into wood.
- When Pacifica tries to break the curse after the Lumberjack Ghost threatens to burn the mansion, Preston tells her to go inside the panic room instead, even though this would have caused dozens of people to burn to death.
  - He also casually whispers loudly to Pacifica that if they run out of food before the ghost leaves, they will eat the butler.
When Bill Cipher enters the real world and proclaims himself to be the new ruler in "Weirdmgeddon,"
- Preston accepts it and tries to join him by offering to be one of his horsemen of the apocalypse, to which Bill responds with by deforming Preston's face.
- While he does tell Pacifica to help save the world from Bill and was relieved when Bill was defeated, it's left too ambiguous if he genuinely wanted to save Gravity Falls or only himself or get revenge on Bill for what he did to him.
While Bill has done worse, Preston stands out for having less resources than him.

What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]

He is played for laughs too much to be PE or NPE due to having many comedic moments that serve to downplay his threat, such as telling his possessions which were possessed by the Lumberjack Ghost to obey him, him giving the elderly mayor a chimp servant that he says "gets grabby" when exposed to bright lights, telling the chimp servant to not give Dipper any servings, him whispering loudly to Pacifica that they'll eat the butler if they run out of food before the ghost leaves, him getting mad over the poor people of the town being at the party and Tyler moving a fork so it isn't placed at an angle, and his defeat of losing his mansion due to attempting to join Bill and putting all his savings in weirdness bonds.
- This stands out even more due to being in episodes with more serious threats like Bill Cipher and the Lumberjack Ghost.
He does seem to actually care for Pacifica despite abusing her, as he was relieved that she was alive after he was freed from Bill's throne.

Trivia[]

It's likely that Preston Northwest's Inconsistently Heinous status was unintentional, as Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch stated after the show's ending that he never imagined Preston as an abusive parent to Pacifica, just a very controlling-living one vicariously through his daughter, whom he treats more as a prize that stands for his reputation than an individual person.
Preston Northwest is, alongside Stanley Pines and the Lumberjack Ghost, one of the three Gravity Falls characters to be Inconsistently Heinous.