Tricia Gupty
Tricia Gupty is the oldest child of the Gupty family. She is the daughter of Lester and Lauren Gupty and the older sister of Tad Gupty. The family first appeared as background characters in "Malled." Their main focus comes from the episode "Pinch Sitter," when Daria babysits them. (Quinn usually babysits them, but convinced Daria to do it because she had a date.)
Like Tad, Tricia is well-behaved to the point that Daria finds them unnerving. She is able to easily recite lessons her parents have taught her about why television commercials are scams and sugar is bad for you. Instead, she enjoys such wholesome activities as flossing and brushing hair. She and Tad usually get along, though they bicker a bit (such as claiming Tad lost a game Daria used to keep them quiet). She pulls Daria's hair and calls her "mean" at one point for accidentally making Tad cry (by asking what he would do if two adults told him opposite things). However, she is eventually able to entertain and, in her words, "deprogram" them by the end of the night, and both claim she is their favorite babysitter.
Tricia has a minor appearance in the episode "I Loathe a Parade," where Daria and Tom find Tad lost and attempt to locate his family.
Tricia's exact age is unknown. However, Daria says that Tad is six and seven years old in his two main appearances, and Tricia appears to only be a year or two older.
She and Tad are based on two children Anne D. Bernstein used to babysit for, according to "Guestward Ho!".
In the Daria Day marathon, Daria and Jane imply something bad happened to the Gupty kids "after this episode made them stars."
Tricia in fanfiction[edit]
Aside from appearing in numerous alternate universe retellings of "Pinch Sitter":
- Daria has to sit Tad and Tricia again in Kristen Bealer's "But What About the Baby (Sitter)?!".
- Tricia and Tad are witnesses to Jake's nostalgia-driven breakdown in C.E. Forman's "Quinntet".
- Tricia appears alongside Tad in Wouter's one-off comic "The Story of Count Ickula" in which Daria twists the story of Count Dracula in such a way that it's about skin care, rather than a blood thirsty vampire.
- A disturbing story about a somewhat-older Tricia is "Young Love" by RX-87, which involves her being raped by Brian Taylor.