All his life Dipper Pines has been exceptionally smart. When he was two he could already get dressed by himself. By four he was already cooking for himself and had read every book in his house. He would walk himself the 10 blocks to the town library and within a week had already read everything in the kids section before moving on to the adult books including authors like Charles Dickens and Stephen King. Despite never having gone to school a day in his life he was smarter than anyone could possibly know, especially his family. His dad was more concerned with selling junk cars for far more than they are worth. His mom would rather bingo away what little money they had. His sister didn't care about anything that didn't have to do with her. When he finally starts going to school it seems like the principal is just going to keep the cycle of anger and neglect going until a certain substitute teacher takes an interest in the teenater.