Daria Morgendorffer: Difference between revisions
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''For the TV series of the same name, see [[Daria (TV series)]].''
{{quote|I don't have low self esteem ... I have low esteem for everyone ''else''.|[[Esteemsters]]}}▼
{{Infobox character
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|episodecount= 16 (''Beavis and Butt-head'') <br/> 65 (''Daria'') <br/> 2 ''Daria'' TV movies <br/> 2 ''Beavis and Butt-head'' TV movies (one non-speaking) <br/>
|gender=Female
|age= 14-
|occupation= Student at [[Highland High]] (''Beavis and Butt-head'') <br/> Student at [[Lawndale High]]<br/> Student at [[Raft College]] (by the end of the show)
|family=[[Jake Morgendorffer]] (father) <br/> [[Helen Morgendorffer]] (mother) <br/> [[Quinn Morgendorffer]] (sister) <br/> [[Amy Barksdale]] (aunt) <br/> [[Rita Barksdale]] (aunt) <br/> [[Erin Chambers]] (cousin) <br/> [[Ruth Morgendorffer]] (paternal grandmother) <br/> [["Mad Dog" Morgendorffer]] (paternal grandfather, deceased) <br/> [[Grandma Barksdale]] (maternal grandmother, name unknown)
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'''Daria Morgendorffer''' is a fictional animated character from two of MTV's animated series: ''[[Beavis and Butt-head]]'' and ''[[Daria (TV series)|Daria]]''. In 2002, Daria placed at number 41 on TV Guide's list of the ''[http://archives.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/TV/07/30/cartoon.characters.list/index.html Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time]'' for her role in the two shows. She was voiced in both incarnations by [[Tracy Grandstaff]].
▲{{quote|I don't have low self esteem ... I have low esteem for everyone ''else''.|[[Esteemsters]]}}
<br><br><br><br>
==Character Overview==
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She has described [[Jane Lane]] as basically the only real friend she's ever had. "[[The Daria Diaries]]" states she was "always invited to slumber parties" as a pre-teen, but only because she had an adult library card and could bring along sex-filled romance books.
Her starsign is Scorpio ("[[References to Daria in Beavis and Butt-
Daria has a high intelligence for her age group, knowing about a wide variety of subjects and noted to be both at the top of many classes and getting repeated A grades. Daria is also shown to be quite lazy and apathetic: she manages to get her high grades despite, as far as we can see, not working that hard.
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Her experience with romance appears to have been limited for most of her teenage life, until [[Tom Sloane]] consisting largely of a few dates and odd flirtations (see [[Robert]], [[Ted DeWitt-Clinton]], and [[Trent Lane]]).
Her parents try repeatedly to make her more sociable and 'normal'. Although their intentions are well meant, these are usually in ways that are clearly unsuitable for Daria or outright idiotic; Daria attempts to get out of these at first opportunity, and more often than not, she usually ends up bringing out and showing why said ways don't work, on both her and those who are also dragged along with her.
She is often viewed as miserable and gloomy by her peers and by adults, something she states annoys her in "[[The Misery Chick]]": "I'm not miserable! I'm just not ''like them.''"
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[[image:babydaria.jpg|frame|right|D'awwww]]
[[Image:Sons and Lovers.jpg|thumb|350px|]]
Sources like "[[The Daria Diaries]]", "[[Cafe Disaffecto]]", and "[[Camp Fear]]" have established the following about Daria's pre-[[Highland High]] life:
* Daria was a very ''grumpy'' looking baby and toddler. (
* She and [[Quinn]] drove babysitter after babysitter to despair with their sibling warfare, causing one to have a heart attack. ("[[The Big House]]")
* When she was young, she was forced to play the flute: she stopped in third grade and her dad accidentally ran the flute over two years later. The tune of 'Pop Goes The Weasel' brings back bad memories. ("[[Cafe Disaffecto]]")
* Daria found it hard to fit in at school and early on decided to stop bothering. Her parents would be called in to school time and again over this. ("[[Boxing Daria]]")
* The Morgendorffers visited the Grand Canyon when Daria was around ten or so - Helen spent the visit on her cell phone to work. ("[[The Daria Diaries]]")
* She was sent to [[Camp Dragonfly]] and [[Camp Grizzly]] during the summer holidays. Grizzly in particular was hell for her, causing her to be trapped with the bullying [[Skip Stevens]] and sycophantic [[Amelia]] in close contact.
* Young Daria had an adult library card. This meant she was invited to a lot of slumber parties by other girls, because she could rent out books with sex scenes in them (including [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sons_and_Lovers Sons and Lovers]). ("[[The Daria Diaries]]")
* When she was twelve, she started using Shakespearian insults on teachers. ("[[Boxing Daria]]")
==''Beavis and Butt-Head''==
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[[Image:Dariabb.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Daria Morgendorffer, as depicted in later episodes of ''Beavis and Butt-head'']]
In Daria's first incarnation as a recurring character on ''[[Beavis and Butt-head (TV series)|Beavis and Butt-head]],'' she formed a female, intelligent foil to the two male dunderheads. (She was, a producer/writer for the show stated, "the smart girl who hung around with [[Beavis and Butt-head]] because it annoyed her parents.") Often, the two would openly mock her and refer to her as "Diarrhea." Daria was named by [[Mike Judge]] after a girl at his school who'd had that name... and ''also'' been nicknamed "Diarrhea". He cites [[David Felton]] as coming up with her look ("like [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynda_Barry Lynda Barry]") and with the character,
▲In Daria's first incarnation as a recurring character on ''[[Beavis and Butt-head (TV series)|Beavis and Butt-head]],'' she formed a female, intelligent foil to the two male dunderheads. (She was, a producer/writer for the show stated, "the smart girl who hung around with [[Beavis and Butt-head]] because it annoyed her parents.") Often, the two would openly mock her and refer to her as "Diarrhea." Daria was named by [[Mike Judge]] after a girl at his school who'd had that name... and ''also'' been nicknamed "Diarrhea". He cites [[David Felton]] as coming up with her look ("like [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynda_Barry Lynda Barry]") and with the character, though other sources credit [[Glenn Eichler]].
''[[Beavis and Butt-head (TV series)|Beavis and Butt-head]]'' took place in a small town called [[Highland]] in Texas, where Daria, Beavis, and Butt-head were in the ninth grade at [[Highland High]].
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In an [[off-canon canon]] interview on the ''CBS Early Show'' (January 2002), Daria was asked whether she still keeps in touch with the duo, and replied: "I'd like to but first, they have to figure out that when the telephone makes that funny sound, you're supposed to pick it up and say hello."
In the 2022-present Paramount+ revival of the series, an [[Alternate Universe]] hyper-intelligence version, Smart Daria, serves on the council of Supreme Leaders of Smart Beavis and Smart Butt-head's universe.
===Daria at Highland High school===
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However, in other situations, she was taking part on her own initiative:
[[Image:Thanskgiving sucks.jpg|thumb|250px|left|You'd stop volunteering too if this kept happening.]]
* She gave a seminar about her report on Urban myths and legends, for which she interviewed Beavis and Butt-Head, in the school auditorium.
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[[Image:Daria_Jane.gif|thumb|250px|right|Daria and Jane in ''Is It College Yet?'']]
Daria's personal views on [[Daria and Politics|politics]] and [[Daria and Religion|religion]] are subject to intense debate. Because she so often speaks with a sarcastic or cynical twist, one cannot always be sure she means what she says. In early episodes, she often said that she didn't have a conscience, but it was repeatedly shown that she did have one. Although she could say cruel things to other people (especially Quinn), there were also cases where she acted out of kindness (e.g. ''[[The Old and the Beautiful]]'', ''[[I Loathe a Parade]]'', ''[[Is It Fall Yet?]]'').
According to the episode "[[Lane Miserables]]," her height is 5'2". Her eyes are brown, per an interview with Glenn Eichler and general implications made in "[[Through a Lens Darkly]]."
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[[Image:AmyDaria2.jpg|right|thumb|150px|(Which is which?!)]]
While she only appeared in three episodes, [[Amy Barksdale|Aunt Amy]] was highly significant for Daria's character: she shows a possible way an older Daria could turn out, something both of them were aware of in "[[I Don't]]". They share similar intellects and sarcastic humours, and were shown to get
In "Aunt Nauseum", however, Daria was disillusioned to find Amy was just as flawed as her mother and Aunt Rita, and was only ''contributing'' to a problem. Daria and Quinn had to solve it themselves, and Amy recognized that fact.
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* [[Fashion Club]]: Quinn's fashion-obsessed friends. Daria's path has crossed with theirs several times, much to the horror of both sides; they'll only deliberately seek her out if they're desperate. The Club used to pretend they didn't know Daria was Quinn's sister. Daria and Jane once casually bet on whether the Club would dissolve, and then tried to nudge events ("[[Fat Like Me]]"). Sometimes, when [[Sandi Griffin]] is clearly trying something against Quinn, Daria will take minor action to help her sister ("[[Just Add Water]]"). Daria seems more sympathetic to Stacy ("[[Fair Enough]]") than to Sandi ("The Misery Chick").
* [[Andrea]]: A moody Goth. Her one encounter with Daria was in "[[Mart of Darkness]]", when Daria and Jane caught her in an embarrassing situation: she angrily challenged them to "cut me up like you do everyone else". (This led to embarrassment all round when
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==Daria and Romance==
''See [[Tom Sloane]], [[Tomgate]], and [[Trent Lane]]''
[[File:DariaTrentPierceMe.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Daria reacting to a compliment from Trent]]▼
▲[[File:DariaTrentPierceMe.jpg|
While a simplistic view of Daria's personal view of relationships with boys can be seen as being summed up in a single line, spoken to Jane in [[Dye! Dye! My Darling]]: "Can you picture me making out with anyone? ''Ever?''" (this view made even more so when taking [[Trent Lane]] into the picture from his very first appearance in the series) - an in-depth observation of the character reveals her to genuinely be interested in romance. However, she's:
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b) Unwilling to open up emotionally, and possesses a fear of physical intimacy
In "[[The New Kid]]", Quinn's claim that "I know this cute guy who's got a huge crush on you" is instantly assumed to be a trick (which admittedly it was); the very concept of a cute guy Quinn knows being interested in her is not something she considers possible.
Her crush on Trent was never acted upon, even though Trent was aware of it and would sometimes gently play up to it; this was most notable in "[[Pierce Me]]", where he told her how "hot" a piercing would make her and in a clearly flirtatious way. She'd try to cover up her crush but sudden loss of speech ("[[This Year's Model]]") or outright blushing ("[[Pierce Me]]") made it obvious. "Pierce Me" showed a dream about Trent, which turned into a nightmare when she dreamt Trent would have no interest in her at all and find the very idea laughable. MTV's [http://www.mtv.com/onair/daria/chapter2/tangle.jhtml "It Takes Two to Tangle"] described the situation as: "Quite a bit of sublimation and projection going on here, and not much action. Here is a rare example of passive-passive behavior."
[[File:Daria and Tom2.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Daria and Tom
She would eventually realize they just wouldn't be compatible ("[[Jane's Addition]]"), thought she'd realized before that he would make for an unreliable partner and what made him seem cool now would be pathetic in later: when trying to visualize their future together, her first vision was Trent as an unemployed, lazy failure whom she had to support ("[[Lane Miserables]]"). After the end of the crush, her relationship with Trent developed into a good friendship with a lot of trust; Trent even came to her aid with some well placed advice in "[[Fire!]]", showing that he isn't as oblivious as he puts on, and was still friendly and helpful towards her even after she was on the odds with Jane.
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Tom Sloane was her first real boyfriend and she initially tried to push him away, as with Ted; while guilt over betraying Jane played a part, Daria was clearly rattled by Tom's angry point that she was afraid to have a relationship in case it made her "vulnerable". Tom's different class would go on to cause problems, as would her recurring inability to verbalize any problems she had (such as her concerns he was taking her for granted, "[[Sappy Anniversary]]"); Daria tended to have a ''lot'' of problems, being nervous and edgy on many occasions as she tried to navigate unfamiliar territory. Despite problems, she was insightful enough to notice and eventually apologize when she was being difficult with Tom; the two would usually talk through these issues by the end of the day. Daria would sometimes turn to Tom for advice. "Two to Tangle" described the couple as "[having] a healthy sense of boundaries, probably due to the fact that hers are extra-thick and lustrous. His family background puts him at risk for hyper-exclusivity."
[[File:Daria and Tom.jpg|
The relationship managed to last for almost a year, but came under clear strain (again) during the college application period, partly due again to differing views & social circumstances, and partly due to actions by Tom that Daria didn't properly challenge: she ended up losing out on visiting Boston campuses after Tom decided, without asking her first, to stay at [[Bromwell]] longer to network with a professor (to get "influence" sent both their ways), and didn't view it as a big deal that they'd have less time (and, when they were hideously late, joked it was a good thing they didn't get to Bromwell this late, pissing her off). In one scene in "[[Is It College Yet?]]" (cut from the DVDs) Daria had abruptly called off a date a few seconds after agreeing to it. She was also initially put off by his offer to try and use family influence to get her into Bromwell, saying to Jane it felt like "some crappy romance novel where the troubled young viscount decides the lowly stable girl is good enough for him after all" and that she didn't see why their word should mean more than her own abilities.
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Soon after, Daria ended the relationship herself, stating they were taking two different paths and becoming bored of the relationship. (She spent the next few days despondent and fearing that "opt[ing] for honesty" was going to leave her alone and unloved) She would admit to Tom that, on reflection, she had enjoyed their time together, and the two agreed to remain on friendly terms.
In [[Look Back in Annoyance]], Jane says that Daria has dated 4 of the 5 members of NSYNC. This is presumably a joke, although Daria seems annoyed with Jane for saying this. In 2012, according to "[[What I Think About Valentine's Day]]", Daria was dating [[Daria's present day boyfriend|an unnamed man]] who had the same sense of humour as her. She'd also decided she was in favour of Valentine's Day, largely because of the discount chocolates on the day ''after''.
Actress Tracy Grandstaff [http://canigetamanwiththat.com/post/1086565092/dear-daria-revisiting-the-misery-chick has suggested] that Daria may not have ever "expected a guy to be interested in her—until Tom came along... maybe she sat in the shadows crushing over the unattainable Trent for so long, she was blindsided by Tom’s attention
".
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==Personal Style and Decor==
{{quote|Unlike the majority of teenage girls, I am content with my looks. I long ago accepted the fact that I'll never get to carry a sign around a boxing ring announcing the number of the next round, and tragic though it may be, I'll have to find another dream.|[[The World According to Daria]]}}
[[Image:FashionClub_Daria.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Daria, the anti-[[Fashion Club]]]]
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* Poe's ''The Telltale Heart'' and Joseph Conrad's ''Heart of Darkness'' ("[[Gifted]]")
* John Gardner's ''On Moral Fiction'' ("[[season 2]]")
* ''[http://www.amazon.com/Chess-Garden-Brooks-Hansen/dp/1573225630 The Chess Garden]'' ("[[Through a Lens Darkly]]")
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[[File:StoryOfD_01.jpg|230px|thumb|left|]]
<br><br><br>Throughout the series, we're told by other characters that Daria is a good writer and in "Is It College Yet?" she thought to herself that she wanted to be a professional writer. We rarely see any examples of Daria's writing, with the following exceptions: "[[The Daria Diaries]]" has part of a creative writing homework assignment' "Cafe Disaffecto" and "The Old and the Beautiful" have excerpts of her [[Melody Powers]] stories; you can see an English essay about "Death of a Salesman" on the DVD version of "[[Quinn the Brain]]"; and "[[Write Where it Hurts]]" shows multiple examples of rejected stories and ends with an 'adaptation' of one of her stories.
Outside of "Write", all of the above - as well as the "[[The Story of D]]", references to writing "violent revenge fantasies" in "[[Boxing Daria]]", and a mention of a story she was writing in "[[Is It College Yet?]]" (cut from the DVD) - show that Daria enjoys writing violent, disturbing fiction with a black sense of humor. They appear to be somewhat lurid as well. The first Melody Powers story (and likely the homework assignment in "Write") was deliberately over the top to get back at Mr O'Neill. The virus story in "The Story of D" used a variety of writing styles.
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"Write Where it Hurts" has Daria writing a realistic light drama about her own family, depicting how she'd like their future to be. While idealized, she showed an ability to write realist scenes.
She has also written non-fiction, usually articles that launch a blistering attack on things she doesn't like: these include an article about her alienation (where she compares her class to "barnyard animals") in "Disaffecto", an article called "My So-Called Angst" in "[[The Lost Girls]]", her essay in "Quinn the Brain" where she argues that "Death of a Salesman" can be viewed as a morality tale with a happy ending, and an attack on the idea of begging for scholarship money as part of a scholarship application in "[[Prize Fighters]]". In all
"The Lost Girls" and "The Story of D" have work by Daria (non-fiction and fiction respectively) submitted for publication; in the first case, O'Neill did it without telling her, and in the latter Daria did it after pushing from Tom. She was highly reluctant in "The Story of D", stating she felt she wasn't good enough for publication and being afraid of trying only to face rejection. The article in "Lost Girls" was going to be published in [[Val Magazine]] (until Daria annoyed Val); her virus story in "D" was rejected by the magazine ''[[Musings]]'' as not being suitable, but they encouraged her to submit again, something they rarely did.
In [[off-canon canon]], Daria wrote numerous articles for MTV as "[[The World According to Daria]]".
==Daria's websites==
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==Daria's future==
[[Image:
For many years, all we knew about Daria's [[post-canon]] life is that she goes to [[Raft College]]. We don't know what course she did there.
Tracy Grandstaff
In 2011 and 2012, two articles by Eichler would reveal some of her adult life: "[[Daria Morgendorffer's Greatest Retail Regret]]" has Daria refer to her family and wanting to avoid them, implying she (like many graduates during the economic slump) was still living at home, and "[[What I Think About Valentine's Day]]" reveals that Daria has found a [[Daria's present day boyfriend|new boyfriend]]. The latter, written in ''[[The Huffington Post]]'', says that the ''Post'' asked Daria to write for them and gives her job as "Philosopher and Former TV Star".
For the show's 20th anniversary, [[Susie Lewis]] explained how she thought Daria had turned out and [[Karen Disher]] drew a 30-something version of her in [http://ew.com/tv/daria-20-years-later/catching-up-with-the-daria-gang/ Catching Up With The Daria Gang]:
"The sardonic teen has left the suburbs of Lawndale for New York City's Hell's Kitchen (naturally), where she's grown up to become the only female writer on a late-night talk show. She lives alone — except for her black cat named Godzilla, who is toilet-trained, thanks to Daria's hard work and dedication — and while she's tried the online dating game, she hasn't found anyone special quite yet. Oh, and in case you were wondering, she's gotten past her crush on Trent."
[[Image:Dariascientist.jpg|right|frame|How Daria viewed her future self in "[[Lane Miserables]]"]]
During her teenage years, Daria (and others) have various ideas on how she might turn out:
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* In "[[The Daria Diaries]]", she expresses a desire to be a writer... "a bitter, angry hack who starts fights fistfights at cocktail parties."
* She gives an honest view of how she wants things to be in "[[Write Where
* "[[The Daria Database]]" and other points reveal that during S2, Daria is saving up to buy herself a remote cabin in Montana.
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* A gag "[[Alter Ego|future ego]]" at the end of IICY? showed her and Jane as breakfast TV hosts on a self-titled show.
Tracy Grandstaff had [http://canigetamanwiththat.com/post/1086565092/dear-daria-revisiting-the-misery-chick said] "I hope she’s a journalist and contributes to The Huffington Post
or The Colbert Report
. But that’s just me." ([[Glenn Eichler]], ironically, ''did'' contribute to the Colbert Report, and "What I Think About Valentine's Day" was posted at the Huffington Post.)
▲Tracy Grandstaff has [http://canigetamanwiththat.com/post/1086565092/dear-daria-revisiting-the-misery-chick said] "I hope she’s a journalist and contributes to The Huffington Post
or The Colbert Report
. But that’s just me." ([[Glenn Eichler]], ironically, ''does'' contribute to the Colbert Report, and "What I Think About Valentine's Day" was posted at the Huffington Post.)
==Fanfic Stereotypes==
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==Misc. Trivia==
[[Image:Desiree Morgendorffer..JPG|thumb|
*[[Judy McGrath]] is twice responsible for Daria: in 1991 she asked for smart and female characters in ''Beavis and Butt-head'', and in 1995 she asked for shows that could bring in a female audience.
*In the Dutch version of the Beavis and Butt-Head comic, Daria was renamed "Desiree Morgendorffer" because of having to make the dunderheads' "Diarrhea-cha-cha-cha" chant work. The Dutch word for Diarrhea is "Diarree" (Dee-yuh-ray) and so the name Desiree (In Dutch that name is pronounced "Day-zee-ray") was chosen because of it sounding similar. It's probably the only time Daria received another name in any format she appeared in.
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