QUINN MORGENDORFFER
Played By: Wendy Hoopes
Role: Alpha Bitch, The Schemer, The Flirt
PL 0 (18), PL 2 (18) Saves
STRENGTH -1
STAMINA 0
AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 0
DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0
AWARENESS 0
PRESENCE 3
Skills:
Deception 3 (+6, +8 Attractive)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+4)
Expertise (Fashion) 7 (+7)
Insight 4 (+4)
Persuasion 2 (+5, +7 Attractive)
Advantages:
Attractive
Offense:
Unarmed +0 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Initiative +0
Defenses:
Dodge +0 (DC 10), Parry +0 (DC 10), Toughness +0, Fortitude +0, Will +3
Complications:
Motivation (Popularity)- Quinn loves the attention of others (especially that of boys), and will compete tooth & nail with anyone else in that area.
Relationship (Daria)- As Daria makes no attempts to be social or popular, Quinn is disgusted and confused by her. Daria enjoys teasing Quinn's superficiality and flightiness, while Quinn openly mocks Daria's fashion sense and choice of lifestyle. She is so embarassed by Daria that she will openly deny their relationship in public (calling Daria her "cousin"). Only much later does Quinn show genuine concern for Daria's feelings, when she recalls a fight their parents had over Daria.
Relationship (Helen & Jake- Parents)- Quinn whines and prods her parents for favors constantly, and usually appears to be annoyed by them.
Relationship (Sandi)- Sandi liked Quinn at first, but when she found Quinn growing in popularity, Sandi strove to bring her down, and often passive-aggressively criticizes her behavior. Quinn usually responded by changing her comments or answers to satisfy Sandi's criticisms, but eventually started standing up to her. The two are in effect huge competitors while being in the same friend group.
Motivation (Making Guys Fight)- Quinn actually gets a BIG surge of enjoyment watching men fight over her, especially when things turn physically violent- she will smile broadly with glee, but shout "Oh, NOOOOO!" as if this wasn't her intention all along.
Responsibility (Lack of Contact)- Though Quinn is an incorrigible flirt, she actually shrinks back from male contact- she will separate herself from anyone trying to get too close, and appears uncomfortable even DISCUSSING the idea of sex.
Responsibility (Low Self-Esteem)- Quinn believes that beauty and popularity are her only two real qualities, and so pushes only those aspects of herself, ignoring everything else. To quote Daria, "She wears superficiality as an armor, afraid that if she peels it off, she'll find nothing".
Total: Abilities: 4 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 3 (18)
Quinn- Daria's Opposite Number:
-Quinn is the main antagonist of
Daria, a stereotypically superficial teenage girl who of course rubs her antisocial sister the wrong way (the feeling is mutual). She revels in her popularity amongst men and boys alike (a few older men try to flirt with her, and boys OFTEN come to blows over her, much to her glee), and has to deal with the strategizing of her "friend" Sandi in the Fashion Club. Despite this, Quinn isn't QUITE as stupid as she acts (or pretends to be)- she's noticeably upset that she barely scored ahead of the rest of the Club on some standardized tests, and only avoids being seen as smarter out of fear for being known as "A Brain", knowing this is social suicide.
-Quinn's relationships are quite interesting when you dig into them- while her rivalry with Daria is pretty typical and mostly because they are the most obviously diametrically at odds (the Popular One versus the Outcast), her rivalry with Sandi has the most mind games. Quinn/Daria is interesting mostly because it dives into the root of the series as a whole- Daria's distaste for the popularity games manifests itself most strongly in her sister, who LIVES for them. As Daria's own classmates neither dislike nor pick on her, it's the hate for Quinn and her group that fuels a lot of the misanthropy Daria feels.
The Quinn/Sandi Rivalry:
-Quinn/Sandi is interesting because it's this elite form of passive-aggressive "friendliness" that is more interesting the older I get- boys rarely had to deal with shit like this, so the notion that a girl's "Best Friend" could actually wield their friendship like a weapon is a whole new ballgame to me. They do this thing where if Quinn says ANYTHING "out of line" or worse, threatens Sandi's popularity, Sandi will get noticeably offended and be like "GEE, QUINN" about something she said, forcing Quinn to noticeably "back down", playing off Sandi's comments as if she misunderstood. It's a very clear form of verbal bullying- not through threats or insults, but through "offense". By being louder and more offended than your "adversary", you can cause them to "back down" just to keep the peace, and thus you get to win. I think a lot of this is why people react so strongly to today's "I'm OFFENDED! I demand you apologize for using a term I have now decided is evil!" crowd- the bullying here is very clear. Essentially, people are acting like a bunch of Sandis, forcing everyone to change their language (and thus, their thought) to suit their own needs.
Quinn And Boys:
-Quinn's relationship with boys is interesting because she is an open and obvious flirt, flicking her hair and doing the "lol I'm so DUMB!" thing that often effortlessly works with guys who want to seem charming because now the girl isn't so threatening. She even revels with glee when the boys start to push and shove each other over her, and then start FIGHTING. "Oh NOOOOO..." she'll cry, with an open smile on her face, as she delights in what her power has wrought. As Daria finally admits when Quinn is considering plastic surgery, "You have the kind of looks that make other girls CRAZY", and she loves it. Quinn even has much older (ie. grown-ass men) dudes after her at points. However, she always keeps men at a VERY big arm's length. As in, she becomes incredibly uncomfortable should any of them so much as put an arm on her shoulder, much less actually physically flirt. Quinn thus kind of represents this duality- someone who wants attention and to be attractive, but is nervous and even frightened of her own sexuality.
-It's more clear later that she's a very vulnerable person- when she gets a college-age tutor in a later episode to help with her grades, she finds herself very attracted to him, despite him being "A Brain" like Daria. His serious looks and his open criticism of her is something totally new, and she notices it's different now. But when she just admits it- "I like you... do you like me?", he pretty well flat-out rejects her (I forget how this came off- it was less rude and more "WOAH- I don't think of you like THAT! Sorry" I think), leaving Quinn bereft. To the point where she practically has a breakdown- "Why did I tell him I LIKED him? I NEVER say that to a guy!" is maybe the most honest thing any character in the show said about themselves. It was Quinn admitting her preference for leading boys on and always "playing the game".
Quinn's Maturity:
-Quinn matures a bit as the show goes on- in later seasons, she attempts to get better grades, and even comes to terms with DARIA! She even sort of learns how to deal with Sandi's scheming, does at least a COUPLE nice things, and more. The final episodes feature Daria teaching Quinn's class during a Teacher's Strike, leading to the Fashion Club scolding Quinn by proxy (they also think that Daria is giving her preferential treatment), but Quinn ignoring them, getting a good score by ACTUALLY KNOWING THE SUBJECT ("It's like a whole different KIND of cheating!"- the eternal words of Bart Simpson), and then finally admitting publicly that she & Daria are sisters. In another, Daria goes into a bit of a breakdown/funk because she realizes that her behavior as a kid stressed out her parents and affected their marriage, and Quinn is actually SYMPATHETIC, as this is actually a serious issue (and not their usual trivial crap).
-Quinn had a pretty weak subplot in the Series Finale Movie, though it started nice- she made a cool college-age friend/co-worker and learned some things about how older kids behaved (When Quinn rips on someone, the girl reacts with concern, asking "You're not one of those people who brings others down to make themselves look better, right?" and Quinn can only go "Uh, right"). She sort of matures due to this, but then it turns into a more boring story about the girl turning out to be an alcoholic and Quinn getting all uncomfortable with it, then bemoaning it when her friend tries to blame HER for the liquor hidden away to drink while on shift.
-Despite that, Quinn is sort of a neat character- a deliberately-superficial person who never really gets that cliche "Oh the bitch is actually one with a heart of gold" thing. I felt they could have gone a bit further with her interesting habit of avoiding physical contact with men (she's never seen even KISSING a guy that I can recall, but dates constantly and has every boy fighting over her), the way she CLEARLY enjoys men brawling for her affections, and the way she EFFORTLESSLY gets most males to like her- even Sandi's bratty younger siblings!