Eventually, MTV sought to make an animated show catered more to female viewers, and thus Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis Lynn co-developed Daria.

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.

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.

[5] Judge says that Daria was named for a girl he knew in school who, like the character, was saddled with the nickname "Diarrhea".

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.

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?")

[7] 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.

Daria's own show never mentioned Beavis and Butt-Head and named Highland only once at the beginning of the first episode of season one, carried over from the original and unbroadcast pilot.

During a 1998 MTV music video countdown of the "Top 10 Animated Videos", in which Daria and Jane were the presenters, this was joked at when the Red Hot Chili Peppers's cover of "Love Rollercoaster" made for the movie Beavis and Butt-Head Do America clocked in at #2; Jane quips that "This one features two guys from Daria's past!

[10] 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".

John Allemang of The Globe and Mail said that Daria is "both the disappointment of her overachieving parents and an embarrassment to her boy-crazy sister Quinn".

"[13] David L. Coddon of the San Diego Union-Tribune described Daria as "the anti-cheerleader, the un-social climber, the jaundiced eye in a cartoon world of too much makeup and superficial crayon colors".

[8] Anita Gates of The New York Times said "The secret of Daria's popularity (everywhere but in her own home and school) may be our collective alienation.

"[13] John J. O'Connor, a television critic for The New York Times, said "In short, Daria is the perfect anti-Barbie Doll.

"[13] Anita Gates of The New York Times says "The Morgendorffers don't even seem to notice that Daria constantly gives them lip.

[17] The first Daria movie, Is It Fall Yet?, gave the principal characters time apart from one another in parallel narratives which foreshadowed further changes in their relationships.

She graduates from Lawndale High, winning the Dian Fossey Award "for dazzling academic achievements in face of near total misanthropy", and crowning her acceptance speech with the assertion that "there is no aspect, no facet, no moment of life that can't be improved with pizza."

John Allemang of The Globe and Mail said "to surrender is to be normal, to sacrifice your brain in the rush to be popular and wear uncomfortable shoes that make your legs look hot.

In late 2010, following the DVD release, Daria was licensed as a voice for Garmin and TomTom GPS systems; original putdowns and jokes were recorded.

She made a brief appearance in the Family Guy episode "Peter & Lois' Wedding", where a pre-handicapped Joe Swanson tried to flirt with her at the MTV Beach House in a flashback of the 1990s, only to be rejected.

"[15] Van Toffler, then the general manager of MTV, said in 1998 that Daria "has an attitude about parents, school, and siblings that is common to the experiences of our audience.

A critic said that Daria uses her "omnivorous deadpan" contempt against other people, represented a variety of "living death", and was "a grim reaper in a dress" who was more dangerous than Marilyn Manson.