 In the community of Lawndale, Daria Morgendorffer is a girl who stands apart. Smart and cynical with a studied cool reserve that compliments a perceptive eye and a razor sharp sarcastic wit while hiding her strong personal integrity, she endures life both with her dysfunctional family while, as an misunderstood outsider, she must deal with the shallow and condescending people around her, the kind of person that her vain and shallow brat of a younger sister, Quinn, epitomizes. With her best friend, the equally cynical Jane Lane, these two face the challenge with all the considerable wit and intelligence needed to show their foolish enemies up. Yet events would occur throughout the series that would challenge their friendship even as they learn to accept new friends they can respect like Mack Mackenzie and Jodie Landon and especially Tom Sloan who becomes the focus of an unexpected rivalry. All the while, they face trials of growing up along with the changes that life brings.