Trent Lane

Trent Lane is a fictional character created for the MTV animated series Daria. He is the older brother of Jane Lane and former crush of Daria Morgendorffer. He plays lead guitars, vocals and clapping for Mystik Spiral and owns the Trentmobile. At the beginning of the show he is 21 years old.

Character Overview
Appearance-wise Trent is tall and spindly with wild black hair and a goatee. Between Season 1 and 2, the appearance of his goatee changed from 3 stripes of hair to a small triangular "soul patch", and would remain that way for the remainder of the series. He has three ear rings in each ear like Jane and sports a tribal tattoo he got out of a magazine. His speech is laid back and he often coughs when he tries to laugh.

Trent is a narcoleptic slacker who spends most of his time oblivious to the world. Still living at home affords him a carefree life style that allows him to pursue his twin passions of music and sleep. Why he sleeps so much has never been elaborated upon, whether it be a literal case of narcolepsy or purely the side effect of a rock and roll lifestyle. He can nod off any time or anywhere which Jane has said is an annoying habit while he’s driving. During his non-waking hours he likes to practice. Jane has referred to this as “sleeping with a guitar in your [Trent’s] hands.”

This complete slacker lifestyle also involves the inability to keep a schedule; he claims that watches depress him. For the most part it seems he spends his time playing guitar and trying to invent lyrics. He can be inspired to start talking in lyrics or writing them, like with sleep, at any time or place. This too is another bad habit he has while driving.

Despite having described him as “flaky” in a story Daria had a crush on Trent for a few years in high school but got over it when she realized their was no future with him. Trent appeared oblivious to her crush for most of its duration, though in "Pierce Me" and "Through a Lens, Darkly" he would make complimentary comments about his appearance; according to Anne Bernstein, Trent had noticed the crush around the time of partway through series 2, "but he would never lead her on too much". 

Personal History
His parents Vincent and Amanda allowed Trent, like all their children, to do as he pleased in his youth. A few quirks of his childhood were living in a tent for six months, waiting for someone to invite him back into the house, and having gone through an ‘orange skin phase’.

When he was twelve Trent met Jesse Moreno around the corner from summer school. The two would become best friends, or ‘musical soulmates’. Initially they played angst-driven power pop and “Weird Al” Yankovic covers on acoustic guitars given to them by Trent’s father, a former musician in his younger days. They later changed over to electric when they realized it would be louder.

The band Mystik Spiral became complete in high school with the addition of Max Tyler & Nicholas Campbell. During his time Lawndale High School Trent was scheduled for some classes alongside Tommy Sherman though like the football player he “may of missed a few classes.”

After high school Trent has continued fronting the Spiral and writing lyrics. With the Spiral he mainly plays brew pubs and grunge clubs though they have been known to play high school house parties for the right price and even a child’s birthday party to get out of a ticket. He’s never known to have been formally employed in a conventional job but once wrote a jingle for Happy Herb's used cars in exchange for twenty bucks, an hour of studio time and a set of new tires. He accepts that he’ll probably end up a townie playing Doors covers but at least he’s doing what he loves now and that’s all that matters.

Trent-centric Fanfiction

 * "Trent's Lyrics Notebook," by Ruthless Bunny and Medea42