Daria Morgendorffer - in Beavis and Butt-head

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 would only develop over time. She would become more sardonic over time, but showed early on that she could hold her own against the two and could react fast to their antics.

In her first episode with them, "Scientific Stuff", she was forced to do a science class presentation with them and turned it to her advantage by using them as the presentation's experiment. In later appearances, she would alternate 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 displayed 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 David 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 would sometimes treat 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 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 series 7 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.

Daria's own show would never mention Beavis and Butt-head except once, and only named Highland once. Despite this, it was frequently noted in media articles about the show that it was a spin-off from Beavis and Butt-head. In an "interview" on CBS Early Show on January 21, 2002, Daria was asked by Jane Clayson if she kept in touch with Beavis and Butt-head; she responded "I'd like to" but first they'd "have to figure out that when the telephone makes that funny sound, you're supposed to pick it up and say hello".

According to a Rolling Stone interview with Mike Judge, Daria will not return to the new episodes of Beavis and Butt-head in 2011, but she was referenced in Drones during a music video when Beavis assumed she had committed suicide. However, Butt-head incredulously tells his friend "What are you talking about, Beavis? Daria didn't die, she just moved away with her family".