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'''Anthony DeMartino'''
==Character Overview==
===Teaching===
From the very beginning of the show, he is shown as having become ''very'' disillusioned with his role as an educator. One of the show's running gags was Mr. DeMartino's bitterness over his low salary and disgust at the incompetence of several of his students, particularly [[Brittany Taylor]] and [[Kevin Thompson]], who never seemed to make any effort to succeed in his class, and, if their classroom performance was any indication of their abilities, may have been educationally incompetent to the point of functional illiteracy and therefore thoroughly unteachable in a conventional classroom setting. Principal Li has a standing order that DeMartino is to be no longer request retirement ''during'' classes. In "[[Is It Fall Yet?"]], in his lowest hour, he broke down at the idea that he was just "no good at working with young people". ▼
▲DeMartino is Lawndale High's History teacher and, from the beggining of the show, he is shown as having become very disillusioned with his role as an educator. He has a trademark habit of shouting every 4th or 5th word that he spoke, whereupon his right eye would bulge dangerously. Mr. DeMartino's perpetual state of rage was one of the many examples of extreme character humor the show had to offer, and he was also a fan favorite.
While frustrated with his life to an almost maniac state, Mr. DeMartino is shown at points to enjoy teaching
▲One of the show's running gags was Mr. DeMartino's bitterness over his low salary and disgust at the incompetence of several of his students, particularly [[Brittany Taylor]] and [[Kevin Thompson]], who never seemed to make any effort to succeed in his class, and, if their classroom performance was any indication of their abilities, may have been educationally incompetent to the point of functional illiteracy and therefore thoroughly unteachable in a conventional classroom setting.
In "[[Is It Fall Yet?]]", he reached a dark night of the soul where he could no longer remember why he had wanted to be a teacher. His doctor ordered him to volunteer at the [[Okay To Cry Corral]] for sensitive young children. To his utter amazement and joy, he found out the young campers thought "Uncle Anthony" was cool and constantly turned to him for aide; at one point, snapping at the arts and crafts, he threw a sink through the window and led the cheering hordes on a hike. At the end of the movie, after the campers demanded "Uncle Anthony" give the end-of-camp speech, he remarked that the experience has rekindled his love for teaching and gave advice to the campers: "if you feel yourself getting mad, '''go ahead!''' If someone's doing something to irritate you, '''tell them about it in detail!''' And ''hike... whenever you FEEL like it!''"
▲While frustrated with his life to an almost maniac state, Mr. DeMartino is shown at points to enjoy teaching students in spite of the near crippling problems in his job and with some of the students. This is highlighted by his frequent almost-friendly tolerance for Daria Morgendorffer on occasion, as well as for her sister Quinn Morgendorffer on those few occasions when she shows some depth or displays some of her true academic prowess and potential. Mr. DeMartino's love for his career is especially apparent at the end of the Daria movie [[Is It Fall Yet?]], where in the course of the film he unleashes much of his pent up rage by throwing a nearby sink through a large paned window and at the end of the movie makes such comments like that his love of teaching has been rekindled.
He was the head of the teacher's union at Lawndale and had led a failed strike once before. In "[[Lucky Strike]]", he took the faculty on strike once again and led them to victory through sheer force of will and threats to Li that he would picket naked.
===Friends===
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===Relationship with his students===
Mr. DeMartino appears to have a general dislike for most of the student body at [[Lawndale High]], because the majority of them are either lazy, slackers, or absurdly stupid. All of these characteristics in turn make his job less fulfilling. However students that are usually well behaved, such as [[Jane Lane]], seldom arouse his true ire and Mr. DeMartino's is rarely violent towards any of the student body with the exception of Kevin (who he once started strangling). Kevin's near mythic levels of idiocy and stupidity constantly frustrate Mr. DeMartino's efforts to teach, as Kevin appears incapable of learning practically anything beyond a football play. Kevin also seems incapable of noticing when DeMartino is ranting at or insulting him.
Students such as Daria, that are not only capable of learning but quite willing to do so, do not frustrate him
In the case of Daria specifically, he first found her answers "suspiciously good" and barked at her to "stop showing off!". As time went on, he grew more in her favour, once remarking in "[[The Daria Hunter]]" that "your sarcasm ''amuses'' me, Daria" and, in "[[Just Add Water]]", telling her that she made him "want to kill myself a little less" than the rest of her class. In "Antisocial Climbers", he aoppreciated and swiftly agreed to Daria and Jane's offer to assist him, and attempted to keep them safe in a group. During her graduation, when she received an award for academic achievement, DeMartino cheered her on with "very good, Daria! You ''go'', girlfriend!".
▲Students such as Daria, that are not only capable of learning but quite willing to do so, do not frustrate him (he also once said her sarcasm amuses him). Mr. DeMartino at times seems pleased with their academic work, even if they are not the brightest but have merely tried hard, such as the case of Quinn on occasion. After attempting to get a correct answer of an imbecile of his class, usually Kevin, he then calls on such students who readily provide the answer he was searching for. These students are rarely, if ever, the targets of his direct tirades and only suffer his classroom discipline when the class as a whole is being punished.
===Miscellaneous===
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*He lives in a ranch-style house in Lawndale
*He has a penchant for tasty fried foods (per "[[Mart of Darkness]]," in which DeMartino fights the free sample clerk for more fried food)
*He was sent to military school
*He dreampt of living a life at sea, but was too nervous to go through with it ("[[It Happened One Nut]]")
*He has a preexisting gambling addiction (per "[[Just Add Water]]," when DeMartino first asks Ms. Li if he can get out of going to the casino night cruise, and then when he freaks out when he steps into the casino on the cruise).
*He smokes cigarettes and (sometimes) exercises (per "[[The Big House]]").
*He collects vintage porn ("[[That Was Then, This Is Dumb]]")
*He went through a beatnik period at some point, where he co-habited ("[[The Daria Diaries]]")
*He has never been married. ("[[The Daria Diaries]]")
His appearance and speech appear to have been modeled on actor Christopher Walken (due to the one blue eye).
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