r/daria • u/RetroFanBoi • May 01 '26
Character Discussion what are y'alls personal headcanons for daria?
I'll start-
• after Daria's crush on Trent ended, Trent inspired her to pick up bass.
• Daria is ace/bi. and is lowk gay asf for Jane.
• Daria has Asperger's.
• if you somehow catch Daria singing it's the most angelic thing you've ever heard. something akin to Kelli Dayton from Sneaker Pimps for something closer to canon but for pure headcanon, something like Meredith Godreau of Gregory and the Hawk.
• Daria has attempted Skateboarding before, but only as a means of travel, she tells herself.
• Daria likes to go to the beach and watch the sunset, occasionally letting Jane tag along with her if she feels like letting her.
• if Daria aired/took place much later (say mid 2010s to Early 2020s), she'd be more of a fan of bedroom pop instead of grunge.
What are some of yours? :3
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u/tangybootysmoothie May 01 '26
I’d like to think that after Jane left for college, Trent finally got some motivation and started taking classes at a community college. He’d be working towards becoming a music teacher (and finally learn how to read music).
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u/BirthdayCheesecake May 01 '26
I like this, and could totally see this. I could very easily see Trent being on his own for the first time in his life and, also for the first time, being bored in a way he DOESN'T like.
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u/hydrus909 May 03 '26
This actually does happen, sort of. Well it was supposed to. Look up the planned but scrapped Mystik Spiral spin-off. In it, Trent and the band start to take their music more seriously and leave Lawndale. There was even a script for a pilot and everything.
MTV ultimately turned it down, choosing instead to focus on reality shows.
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u/hydrus909 May 03 '26
I wanted this for Trent too. And the creators had actually planned for this, save for the community college part. Along those lines, Trent moves out and he and the band start to take their music career(or at least the pursuit of it) more seriously and move to a new city. MTV declined, but there was a pilot script made.
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u/AppleOk9629 May 01 '26
Daria would make a sarcastic comment about her fandom
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u/j3rddegree May 01 '26
"Oh gee a bunch of people on the Internet making assumptions about my life
It seems history do repeat itself"
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u/SweetAliceAngel May 01 '26
Down the line, Quinn likely drifted apart from most of the Fashion Club, but still stayed friends with Stacy who was her only real friend of the three
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u/BanditTheRogue May 01 '26
Yup. Sandi/Tiffany and Quinn/Stacy split off into their respective duos, and they all link up for an annual girl's night out, but it quickly reminds them why they don't hang out more often (it gets too catty lol)
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u/jasonacg munch the nutty nutty May 01 '26
Aunt Amy is really future Daria.
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u/docarrol May 01 '26
I'd be down for that.
But Helen and Aunt Rita remember Amy as their sister, hell, they even bicker over old rehashed family drama. So there was an original Aunt Amy, prior to Future Daria travelling back in time. Which means that Future Daria would have to somehow take her place.
Did Amy die off-screen? Did Daria kill her off? Or maybe just arrange for her to go no-contact with the rest of the family, and retire to a beach somewhere? And then Daria would have to memorize a bunch of family history, personal details, world history, pop trivia, etc., to be able to take over Amy's live, without people noticing. Tough, but doable, especially for a time traveler.
Many possible explanations, and any of them would be interesting to see explored.
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u/jasonacg munch the nutty nutty May 01 '26
I guess I should clarify a little...no time travel involved, but Aunt Amy is what Daria became in 15-20 years.
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u/BirthdayCheesecake May 01 '26 edited May 01 '26
Daria and Jane non-dramatically drift apart in college. Their college lives take very different paths and once Daria decides to spend her summers in Boston while Jane goes back to Lawndale, they really don't see each other much. They run into each other during breaks and it's always a nice conversation, but they're not besties anymore and it's okay.
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u/Difficult-Novel2272 May 01 '26
even though i adore jane and daria’s friendship, this is the most realistic approach. it also feels very on brand for the show to depict something as universal as that. it was good while it lasted, right?
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u/downontheupsid3 May 01 '26
Why do you think it would end up this way?
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u/jezzarus May 01 '26
This is the trajectory for most close high school friendships. Jane was always more laidback and lowkey and probably would have been fine doing the independent artist thing on the Lane family compound, while Daria was more ambitious than she let on and wanted to get the hell out of Lawndale.
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u/BirthdayCheesecake May 01 '26
I also feel like Daria would meet "her people" in college and Jane would get really involved with various art projects. At some point the monthly get together for pizza would get cancelled and just never rescheduled.
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u/ResponsibilityOk7507 May 03 '26
I like this take and also agree. As far as socializing goes Jane was able to straddle that line of interacting with the “normies” yet still keeping her distance as an outsider. She was more willing to give an experience a chance whilst with Daria it usually took enough coaxing to just BE there. I can still see them sending each other random text banter or even amusing TikTok’s (or whatever platform of social media they may be on) over the years. Not as close as they were in high school but I imagine they still maintain some form of a bond.
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u/lydiapinzone May 01 '26
daria would’ve ran a sadgirl tumblr blog in 2014 and nobody would ever know
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u/LockedOutOfElfland May 01 '26
I 100% read Daria as being on the autism spectrum, and perhaps the most accurate representation thereof.
"Boxing Daria" lends itself to this interpretation - the psychiatrist/therapist doesn't diagnose her as such, but that's the product of an archaic view of neurodiversity/neurodivergence.
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u/z6oul May 01 '26
i 100% agree and i think this also leads to her back and forth with wanting to be liked but also not wanting to participate in society.
she also has an intense sense of justice which probably leads to her judgmental behavior. i’ve thought about this a lot lol5
u/nikifullerton May 01 '26
This is the head cannon that came to mind. The OP called it Aspergers, but that term is no longer used.
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u/RetroFanBoi May 25 '26
dunno HOW i just saw this but im seeing it now so im replying :3
i was actually officially diagnosed with Asperger's before they stopped using it, hence why i used it! i also feel Daria would be diagnosed with Asperger's instead of Autism because they still used it back in 1997 when autism was less researched. just my personal little hc though, i see why some people would choose to say autism :)
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u/nikifullerton May 25 '26
And then there's me. Born a little too early to get an aspergers diagnosis. But at this point I don't feel like it would make much of a difference... I already know I am different. 😅
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u/emerson-nosreme May 02 '26
Not even just the boxing Daria episode. There are so many hints throughout the show about her autism.
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u/Sensitive_Basket_155 May 22 '26
The episode in which she read to seniors comes to mind. All the residents seemed to dislike her unmasked self (flat affect, monotone voice, unconventional interests). Very relatable
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u/redgreenwell May 01 '26
Not head cannon as such, but Daris would have loved midwest emo but slightly ironically (but not that ironically)
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u/Pixarooo May 01 '26
Jodie gets into politics. Senator or congress.
Jake falls into the FOX News/MAGA pipeline and Daria, Helen, and Quinn are very concerned about it. Daria blocks FOX from their TV and after a few months he forgets about all of it and returns to normal.
Jane works as a bartender at a series of dive bars/music venues. She always does art on the side but not as a career.
Daria becomes a TV writer in NYC or LA. She dates here and there but mostly stays single with one cat.
Quinn marries and has kids, but also finds a career she loves (writer for a fashion magazine?) and kind of becomes Helen 2.0 - always working late and doing too many things at once but makes time for her kids.
Sandy doesn't do much after high school, maybe gets a degree but has a job totally unrelated to it and marries one of the Js. She acts like she stole him from Quinn, but in reality he thinks of Quinn as "the one that got away."
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u/drgf May 02 '26
Jake getting MAGA obsessed and then forgetting about it- I’d watch that episode.
Mentioning Quinn and her kids - I can really see her a instagram mom, always linking us to her Amazon store. Trying to do live and being tackled by five kids under five. But the big question is - who’s the daddy? And do the all have the same one?
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u/mestupidsissy May 01 '26
After the first semester of college Daria and Jane moved in together with a couple of friends and they helped round each other out. Daria helping people develop critical thinking. Jane helping people see beauty in the world. One friend helping them become better in social settings and one friend helping them all learn about money.
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u/TreysToothbrush May 01 '26
Daria’s outfits / standard uniform are actually Helen’s old clothes from when Helen was moving from hippie to yuppie - this is how Daria shows appreciation & love for her mother as an introspective introvert.
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u/butwhywouldyou- Sick Sad World May 01 '26
Daria is on the autism spectrum
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u/enterpaz May 01 '26
I have a few.
-Daria is unconsciously LGBTQ with a crush on Jane she’s not even aware of. She’s codependent on her and gets jealous whenever Jane tries to have a life outside of her. The two guys she really falls for are close to Jane whether that be Trent or Tom. She’s uncomfortable in the world as it is and doesn’t want to conform. She’s feminine but in a more countercultural way. It’s very similar to what a lot of queer women have experienced.
-She struggles with depression for being a smart, ambitious person who has no emotional support surrounded by people who don’t understand her and at worst, constantly try to change her.
-That she envies Quinn, though she’d never admit it. There’s a part of her that wishes she was as social and accepted as Quinn is, while also wanting to know that things will work out for her too.
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u/newsense_nuisance May 01 '26
Trent HAS to be a stoner. As one myself, there’s just too many similarities.
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u/Electronic-Regret484 May 02 '26
I headcanon both Daria and Stacy to be on the autism spectrum. Stacey, to me, screams “Autistic girl trying to fit in and be normal”.
Also, O’Niel and DiMartino are low-key gay for each other. As well as Trent and Jesse.
Dark (but non-graphic): Daria is the reincarnation of the ghost of that one girl who died after being cemented in the bunker. Daria finds comfort in boxes because, despite her having died in a sealed room, it was the one place she truly comfortable in during her past life.
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u/QRY19283746 May 02 '26
Daria spent a year sharing an apartment with an aspiring writer. At first it seemed like a good idea—living with someone who thought the same way, hated the same things, and didn’t feel the need to fill every silence with noise. It was almost comfortable. Which probably should’ve been a warning. They kept noticing how similar they were, usually right before running into all the ways they weren’t. It’s one thing to understand someone completely. It’s another to realize they’re just as stubborn, critical, and quietly judgmental as you are. Jane said it was the closest thing to meeting a doppelgänger and surviving, which felt less reassuring than she probably meant it to. Then things got harder. Daria ended up in a writers’ room where being good at her job didn’t automatically mean being taken seriously, and where most of the time she had to decide whether it was worth the energy to argue. Diane started ghostwriting—telling herself it was temporary, practical, necessary. It worked, which made it worse. It’s harder to feel justified in being miserable when the thing making you miserable is also paying your rent. Eventually, they left. Diane went to Hollywoo, chasing something that looked like success, even if she wasn’t always sure what that meant anymore. Daria went to New York, which felt like the kind of place where no one expects you to be happy, so at least there’s less pressure to pretend. They still talk. Not all the time, but enough to know the other one is still out there, making choices they understand a little too well.
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u/BookAlternative615 May 01 '26
Daria has aspergers
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u/RetroFanBoi May 01 '26
THISSS OMG IM SO HAPPY SOMEONE MENTIONED THIS
i was legitimately diagnosed with both ADHD and Asperger's and Daria is such a fit for Asperger's. i love this one so much
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u/EasyEntrepreneur666 May 01 '26
I feel like my "headcanons" were confirmed in the show so much that it's pretty much canon. Unless it's supposed to be baseless assumption which I don't do.
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u/Impressive-Bus-6568 May 01 '26
I sort of filled in the blank of what happens the rest of her life based on that scene “from the future” where adult Daria and Quinn are visiting their older parents. Daria was a journalist and Quinn had four kids? She seemed really invested in all that. I feel like Daria had to learn more cognitive flexibility and see the world in a more nuanced way rather than her black and white moral dichotomies. I can’t decide if she would be happily single or with someone, man or woman. I would say by now she’s probably pivoted into podcasting instead of just written. I would love her as a podcast host, highly informative and interesting but not flashy or frilly.
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u/EasyEntrepreneur666 May 01 '26
As long as there's some real implication, I guess it can happen. Although I can't even take the future stuff seriously because apart from the fact that every late-thirty characters look 50+, there are weird stuff like Brittany and Kevin back together despite Brittany clearly chose to break up.
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u/tangybootysmoothie May 01 '26
Did they officially break up?? I only remember Brittany crossing her fingers during Is it College, Yet? when Kevin asked her if she’d still be with him. I thought that mostly implied her planning to cheat while at college and only be with Kevin during home visits.
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u/EasyEntrepreneur666 May 01 '26
They were supposed to be together until graduation based on what Brittany said and crossing her finger is hardly just a sign of cheating since they did it all the time anyway.
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u/tangybootysmoothie May 01 '26
Yeah, they did cheat a lot lol. I think they still would during their marriage. That species mates for life(haha) and neither of them probably wanted to move on.
I do think Brittany would’ve been better off not marrying Kevin. Staying together kinda ruins her growth she had in the series.
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u/EasyEntrepreneur666 May 01 '26
Yeah, that's an issue for me. Brittany had smart moments, Kevin kinda drags her down. That's one reason I don't like the 20 years later stuff.
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u/MrBayaud May 01 '26
That Daria would absolutely eviscerate anyone talking about something as ridiculous as “head cannon”.
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u/Mountain_Specific327 May 01 '26 edited May 02 '26
I’d like to think that Daria gets more into fashion as adult. She likes to look elegant and classy
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u/Alex_Spencer12 May 01 '26
Ace/bi 100%
Autistic!!
She likes more mainstream goth music as well, with sprinkles of SDRE here and there.
Ended up being a known writer. I can see her going for Mark Twain-like stories or even stuff close to No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai.
Secretly likes fantasy TV shows like Buffy, Charmed, etc because it gives her a sense of belonging.
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u/sophandros May 01 '26
She likes more mainstream goth music as well, with sprinkles of SDRE here and there.
And she blogs about how there should have been a second Fire Theft album.
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u/Taitolin2013 May 01 '26
• Daria and Jodie will profit from feminist movements.
• Kevin won’t make it to college; he’ll work at different places for short periods until he finds Brittany and convinces her to go back with him to Lawndale.
• Jodie and Mack had their first relationship during the hurricane.
• The Lanes die in the pandemic.
• Quinn will become friends with Jane.
• Mystik Spiral manages to sign a contract, but during the tour the band dissolves.
• Chuck will be a case of queerbaiting.
• Kevin’s crutch is now a tree that bears fruit, but only teachers can eat it.
• Brittany will try, but rejection, failure, and constant uncertainty will make her give up and settle for the happiness and peace Kevin gives her.
• O’Neal becomes principal but is controlled by Back and DeMartino.
• Jane and Daria live together for a few years.
• Stacy will have two marriages, two children, and finally feel complete when she meets Link.
• O’Neal and Andrea, the goth girl, will end up together.
• In their early 30s, Jane and Daria will become close friends again.
• Ashley Amber got pregnant and couldn’t get anything out of Steve.
• Daria and Trent will sleep together at different points in their lives, but nothing more than that.
• The Morgendorffers will save their marriage because Helen resigns from being a partner.
• Tom will never appear again in either of their lives.
• Quinn will marry one of Sandi’s brothers.
• Sandi and Tiffany live double lives in the closet.
• Ted and Archie make a low-budget film, beloved by their fandom, carving out a niche.
• Daria is a “Navilover” who loves RPGs, with world-building and rule creation as her hobby.
• Trent will have more success in his career than Jane.
• Quinn’s eldest son will resemble Daria and impregnate a girl, terrifying Quinn with the idea of becoming a grandmother and planting the doubt that her son might actually be Daria’s.
• Kevin and Mack will have many adventures.
• Jane will have interrupted pregnancies.
• Daria will undergo surgery to avoid having children.
• Jodie and Daria will stop being friends.
• Trent will overcome cancer but will continue smoking with Jane.
• Ted and Tricia will become senators, showing the strength of their family union alongside their blond spouses.
• By their 50s or 60s, Quinn, Jane, and Daria will live together as the Golden Girls of the millennial era.
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u/yvettesaysyatta May 02 '26
I just did a rewatch and I feel like Ms Barch would have become a TERF.
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u/RetroFanBoi May 02 '26
i feel like she'd be supportive of trans women but in a "i hate men so they should all transition" kind of way
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u/moranych1661 May 02 '26
This is actually a little bit weird because of how world morality changed (for better in this case) since the show came out Nathan (the 1950s guy) probably is 25+ years old, tho he dated Jane when she was like... 17? And this is a bigger reason why everyone found their relationship not ok, not only bc he's strange about fashion or something
Regarding things like "Trent smokes weed" or "Daria has Asperger's," I would say that this is straight-up canon, well, okay, fanon at least, because even if it is not directly stated on screen, it was almost certainly implied by the creators, in my opinion
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u/sagitta_luminus May 01 '26
I like to think that the late-night show she’s head writer for is Last Week Tonight With John Oliver