Daria Leona Morgendorffer is a fictional character from the MTV animated series Beavis and Butt-Head and its spin-off Daria. She was voiced in both productions by Tracy Grandstaff.
In 2002, Daria placed at number 41 on the list of the Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time by TV Guide for her role in the two shows. She was also listed in AOL's 100 Most Memorable Female TV Characters.
Conception and development
Mike Judge created the Daria character on advice of the network. MTV senior vice president and creative director Abby Terkuhle explained that when Beavis and Butt-Head "became successful, we... created Daria's character because we wanted a smart female who could serve as the foil." Terkuhle said that he added Daria "to put Beavis and Butt-Head in their place". Judge says that Daria was named for a girl he knew in school who, like the character, was saddled with the nickname "Diarrhea". Glenn Eichler, who created the Daria spin-off – sometimes incorrectly stated to be the character's creator as well – was, along with Peggy Nicoll, one of the main writers of the series; other writers were Neena Beber, Anne D. Bernstein, Rachelle Romberg, Rachel Lipman, and Sam Johnson.
In Beavis and Butt-Head
In Daria's first incarnation as a recurring character on Beavis and Butt-Head, she formed an intelligent female foil to the two main characters. She went through three different outfits, had a stockier figure, and initially was a more expressive character; her iconic monotone voice developed over time. While she later became more sardonic, she showed early on that she could hold her own against the two and could react quickly to their antics.
In her debut episode, "Scientific Stuff", she was forced to do a science class presentation with Beavis and Butt-Head. At first, Daria is horrified by this and voiced out her complaints to Mrs. Dickie against having to work with the pair due to their history of stupidity and lack of common sense. She later turned it to her advantage by using them as the presentation's experiment. She had a minor role in her next two appearances, in "Babes R Us" and "Sign Here". In "Sign Here" she answered questions from David Van Driessen on furriers and their treatment of animals. In later appearances, she alternated between being irritated by their antics and finding their stupidity to be amusing: in "Sprout", she specifically came over to watch them fail at planting seeds, and in "Walkathon" she got them to unwittingly pledge $100 apiece on a charity walkathon. In "Sporting Goods" she gave three eye-popping gasps while Beavis and Butt-Head wear eye patches as athletic supporters, which is a dramatic contrast to her monotonous behavior in the later series. She lacked the passionate hatred for them that Principal McVicker and Coach Buzzcut had and was one of the very few characters that would willingly seek them out, but did not really believe there is any hope for them either, as Van Driessen had. On multiple occasions, she took it upon herself to explain simple concepts to them, such as informing them in "U.S. History" what graduation was (Beavis responded, "You mean, like... school ends?") and in "Sprout" that you put seeds in the ground.
In a Christmas special, it is stated that Butt-Head had been responsible for giving her a negative outlook on boys. Aside from that, she was one of the few characters that the duo never managed to drive crazy as they had with many other students and teachers. Butt-Head sometimes treated her with some degree of respect, following her advice in "Sprout" and chuckling "Daria's cool!" after she asked Bill Clinton if "you were just jerking us around" on a campaign promise.
John J. O'Connor of The New York Times describes Daria as "as sharp as B. & B. are dimwitted". John Allemang of The Globe and Mail described Daria in Beavis and Butt-Head "the prematurely wise girl who could be counted on to put their idiocy in perspective." Beavis and Butt-Head often call her "Diarrhea".
In the final episode of season 7 (her only appearance in season 7 of Beavis and Butthead; by this time, her own series had been on the air for nearly 9 months), when the boys were believed dead, Daria expressed the sentiments that "I guess it's sad they're dead", but they did not have very bright futures to look forward to.
Daria appeared frequently in the Marvel Comics adaptation of the TV show, and also got to appear on the cover of one issue and "answer" the fan mail in two others. In Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, she appears once throughout the film with a group of students, but does not have any dialogue.