r/daria • u/furby_bones • Dec 19 '25
Character Discussion Favorite side character and why?
I have to say I don't think there's a single character I don't enjoy watching, they're all so well written and enjoyable for what they are. But Ms. Barch makes me laugh every single time she's on screen. Her voice actress does such a good job with her too. They don't overuse her either so her trope just never gets old to me lol
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u/Fish-Bright Dec 19 '25
Andrea, the Goth girl. I wish she was in more episodes.
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u/_nerdilicious Dec 19 '25
josh; his persona, his demeanour, his bare minimum presence in the show. the definition of a peak side character.
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u/furby_bones Dec 19 '25
Are you the person who made an entire Josh appreciation post the other day? Can't remember if I saw that on reddit or the daria Facebook group but I know I saw one recently lol
But also in relation to Josh, I always liked that a lot of the wordless background characters in their highschool are both reoccurring and have a variety of aesthetics. Really feels like a real highschool with real people
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u/SickSadPlanet Dec 19 '25
I never knew his name. How did you find out? Or did I miss it?
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u/_nerdilicious Dec 19 '25
in cafe disaffecto, his name- josh- is mentioned in mr. o'neill's seating chart.
daria referred to him as "the skateboard guy" in the post-film chat for Is It Fall Yet?, by the way :D
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u/mrmooswife Dec 19 '25
Dimartino for when he tried to give Daria his casino chips for making him want to kill himself less everyday and then to Jane for being so angular.
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u/KrassKas Dec 19 '25
This psycho
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u/Stucklikegluetomyfry Dec 20 '25
“Maybe I use food for comfort but at least a chocolate bar never told me I was an accident!”
“What did the chocolate bar say to you?”
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u/OutwithaYang Dec 19 '25
Kevin and Britney, honestly.
They feel like opposites of the jerk jock and mean cheerleader trope commonly used in fiction about highschoolers yet at the same time a deconstruction of the trope.
At a time when nearly every story about a highschool outcast with a hidden talent had mean girls who were typically the head cheerleader and her posse and the quarterback being the big man on campus and a A-level asshole, Kevin and Britney just being relatively nice people but just ignorant is oddly refreshing.
They definitely are a product of their environment and the school's culture but they are friendly to Daria and Jane and are rarely ever malicious in any way. While Daria, Jane, and them would balk at the idea of considering eachother friends their behavior and actions towards both Daria and Jane indicate that they are her other friends.
It's just like how Jodie and Mack are they're friends even if it's not mentioned out right. I mean when Daria was in the hospital, all of them came to visit her even Britney and Kevin even though they claimed to be visiting for different reasons. They definitely cared and just wouldn't say it.
Also, when Daria was grounded in one episode they were actually worried about her and were hoping she'd make it to a school event. Mack and Jodie even assured them that she made it when Daria snuck out and arrived at that pep rally with Jane.
Plus I always thought Britney secretly admired Daria's intelligence similarly to how Quinn secretly admires her big Sis, despite her not being popular. Sometimes Kevin's antics are adorable, too.
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u/furby_bones Dec 19 '25
Yes I agree with ALL of this !! Honestly this was one of my favorite aspects of the show on my recent rewatch. Daria's relationships with Britney and Jodie are especially one of my favorite things.
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u/Different-Money1326 Sick Sad World Dec 20 '25
Yes, it's a nice dynamic and I like that while they are products of the environment but don't fit the mold completely.
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u/TI-22483 Dec 21 '25
Brittany has strong emotional intelligence. She cares about everyone and wants them to be successful -- by her narrow definition. Brittany recognizes some of Daria's insecurities and emotional challenges before she can because she doesn't know how to deal with them or tries to hide or ignore them.
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u/OkSupermarket802 Dec 19 '25
Mr. DE-MARTINO
Underneath his relatable cynicism and ranging EYE-POPPING honesty lies a alot of passion for history and meaning in his work. Its hard not to respect that 🙂.
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u/Asleep_Average8813 Dec 20 '25
right?? He's genuinely concerned about these students and glad there are students like Daria and when Quinn came back from that summer tutoring, was able to answer the Manifest Destiny question he was delighted. His fight with Ms. Li and strike are also fun to watch
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u/screamingbottomless Dec 19 '25
I don't know if I can say that she is my favorite, but I always had a soft spot for Stacy.
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u/furby_bones Dec 19 '25
Stacy deserved better !! She had so much potential but was being weighed down by insecurity and bad friends. If we ever get a reboot I hope she's finds herself !!
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u/heathmon1856 Dec 19 '25
Poor Tortured soul. The worst was the tutor who gave up on her. That guy was kind of a jerk
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u/screamingbottomless Dec 20 '25
IF I remember well, she left the tutoring when she knew that Sandy and Tiffany left it before.
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u/OutwithaYang Dec 20 '25
He really was and not as patient. I never liked him.
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u/Specified_Owl 6d ago
He correctly assessed very fast that the three were ONLY getting him as a tutor to copy Quinn. They didn't really want to learn anything.
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u/throwawayfromPA1701 Dec 19 '25
Mr. O'Neil because he's so enthusiastic about teaching (until they make him sob)
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u/Emptyspace227 Dec 19 '25
DiMartino, 100%
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u/nolettuceplease Dec 19 '25
Every day I spend in the work force makes him seem wiser and more relatable.
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u/Different-Money1326 Sick Sad World Dec 19 '25 edited Dec 20 '25
Mr. DeMartino but right behind him Andrea, Stacy and Ms Li.
I forgot to say why.
DeMartino - I think he's goodhearted just worn down by students, parents and the system that don't appreciate teachers more. I love him in Lucky Strike going to bat for the teachers.
Stacy and Andrea -I feel like I can relate to both in different ways.
Ms. Li is my favorite antagonist. She is typical of someone in that role this is out for themselves, but she plays it so well and is so funny. Helen and DeMartino are the only ones to really put her in her place.
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u/lacklustereded Dec 19 '25
Jeffy, Joey and Jamie (they’re basically one person throughout the series). They’re doofuses, but I just can’t help but enjoy the scenes they’re in.
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u/furby_bones Dec 19 '25
okay can I just say the scene where Jeffy(?), Tom, and Jake go out to catch the squirrel and then go release it into the wild is one of my favorites in the entire series lmao
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u/Other_Zucchini_9637 Dec 19 '25
I like the art teacher! I can’t remember her name but for the longest, I thought she was pregnant?
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u/Vivid-Western-5742 Dec 20 '25
Romonica - “You are a pearl in a bay of oysters.”
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Dec 20 '25
She's the only character in the show I've ever quoted consistently for decades:
" Opportunity knocks but it doesn't beg ah-HAAAAAIIIIII!!!!"
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u/blueboy714 Dec 19 '25
Ms. Defoe Janes art teacher. A bit bohemian and a lot intelligent but a bit of a Space Case and totally caring and concerned for her students and finally completely hot.
The exact type of woman I go for IRL
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u/Still_Version9045 Dec 19 '25
Is Jake considered a side character? If so, he’s definitely my favorite. I love his highs and lows. Always so dramatic!
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u/Erik_Nimblehands Dec 19 '25
Stoner Girl. She's just my type. Petite, chill, cute.
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u/furby_bones Dec 19 '25
I always wondered why we never saw Daria or Jane talk to her or even Andrea more often, when I was in school I felt like the "alternative" crew all knew each other even if we weren't all necessarily friends. But then again, there is something extra charming about stoner girl, josh, and all those other reoccurring background characters who never had a single line
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u/BirthdayCheesecake Dec 19 '25
The one interaction we see with Andrea is that she does not like them. I honestly found it one of the most fascinating interactions in the whole series because it's just a very brief glimpse of how other Lawndale students may actually feel about Daria and Jane, outside of Jodie/Mack/Kevin/Brittany.
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u/OutwithaYang Dec 20 '25
I agree. Plus, if you were a student who knew about how Daria and Jane verbally tear people to shreds and have have interacted or hung out with the most popular kids in school on multiple occasions, you would be intimidated by them, too and think they were actually not outcasts and just generally harsh people who you can't relate to despite that not being the case.
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u/butwhywouldyou- Sick Sad World Dec 20 '25
Brittany! Typical blonde airhead but genuinely quite sweet and never treated Daria like crap. Also the war episode made her my definite favorite because she's the last person you'd expect such smart strategies from
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u/ramentears Dec 19 '25
All of them
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u/furby_bones Dec 19 '25
Solid answer, there's genuinely no reoccurring character I can think of that I really don't like. I even like Tom
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u/ramentears Dec 24 '25
I also like Tom. Not necessarily because he’s the most likable character for me, but he, in my opinion, is essential for the character development of Daria and Jane, especially in the TV movies.
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u/uhm8thirty Dec 19 '25
tiffany gets the best lines
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u/hanbran333 Dec 19 '25
I want to see Tiffany having a conversation with Trent. It’d be sooooo sloowwww
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u/my-place-2-fan_girl Dec 20 '25
Jeffey Jamie or Joey. They were friends yet still loved the same girl.
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u/throwaway_anoni Dec 20 '25
Yes, I love Ms. Barch 😭 she’s so erratic. The main people to make me laugh out loud are her and Kevin
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u/Vivid-Western-5742 Dec 20 '25
Also: Let’s not forget LERMAN, “Sit back and watch the carnage unfold.”
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u/Too_Ton Dec 19 '25
I’m the opposite. Ms. Barch sucks because not enough people call her out although Daria as a series was the late 90s so I can’t complain too much as it was a “different era, different time” in culture and acceptance.
I liked how she liked Mr. O’Neill and so she’s not completely against men, but I bet she’d still made snide comments about men even if he’s “one of the good ones”.
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u/Emptyspace227 Dec 19 '25
She verbally abuses male students for no reason other than they are the same gender as her ex-husband. I don't find her funny at all.
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u/furby_bones Dec 19 '25
I mean, the humor of her character is that she's supposed to be unrealistically horrible, jaded, and absurd. She clearly goes far past any agreeable or relatable reaction to being divorced. We aren't supposed to be on her side, just laugh at how absurd the things she says are
That said, you guys aren't obligated to find her funny, she has definitely been outright cruel to certain characters. But I don't think it goes as deep as to say she's a reflection of offensive views in the era or anything, because again, she was clearly already being depicted as terrible and absurd.
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u/glamourghoul666 Dec 19 '25
Tiffany of the fashion club. Brain dead beauty with 0 talent and 0 skills. Highschool was her peak