| MTV Name/Nickname | Popular Girl |
| Fandom Names | Tori Jericho |
| Stock/stereotype | Popular |
| Classmates | Quinn and Fashion Club |
| Speaks? | Once ("The Invitation") |
| Frequency seen | Appears in opening credits on every show, otherwise seen occasionally |
| Based on real person? | No |
| Alter egos? | No |
Popular Girl is an attractive blonde teen who prefers pastel colors. The bottom ends of her long-sleeved blouse (the color of which varies between pink and lavender, depending on the screen shot) are tied in a knot, giving her a bare midriff. Her bell bottoms are baby blue, and her shoes (or boots) are light brown. She wears a necklace.
Popular Girl was so-named by the MTV staff itself. In a now-missing online flipbook called "Oh, the Obscurity!" (from the MTV Daria website, where it appeared around 2001), her entry (#5) read: POPULAR GIRL—She can be seen standing with Tiffany and Stacy at Brittany's party in "The Invitation," holding forth on the nuances of popularity. She dropped out of sight shortly thereafter. (Sandi probably had something to do with it.) Note: She also plays volleyball in the show open. (First appeared in "The Invitation")
This turns out to be not exactly true. Popular Girl did not appear to drop out of sight after Is It Fall Yet?, where she was seen in the introductory beach scene. She appears in several fifth-season episodes in Quinn's classes.
Austin Covello named this character Tori Jericho in an early 1999 fanfic, "Boy Fiend." The name stuck and is used to this day by a number of writers.
As Tori Jericho, this character has enjoyed a long run of appearances in various Daria tales since 1999. Tori's personality has remained remarkably stable in most fanfics featuring her: a cute-looking gossip queen who likes attention and dislikes Daria. Brother Grimace made her the on-air anchor for Lawndale High's school TV program, an element adopted by other fanfic writers. The DariaWiki entry on Popular Girl names many fanfics in which Tori plays an important part.
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1. MTV line art of Popular Girl, from the flipbook "Oh, the Obscurity!"
2. "The Invitation" introduces us to Popular Girl, who appears at Brittany's party holding court on who's popular, how popular each person is, and how that person's popularity has changed over time. Sandi Griffin and Tiffany Blum-Deckler hang on to every word.
3. Popular Girl dances at Brittany's party as a bored Daria looks on in "The Invitation."
4. Talking with Orange Girl at the party in "The Invitation." These two are often seen together in the series, so they are probably close friends despite the fact that Orange Girl appears to be in Daria's grade, and Popular Girl in Quinn's.
5. Dancing with Pie Cap in "The Invitation" (related view #3).
6. Popular Girl is with Pie Cap when Brittany's party is busted by the police ("The Invitation"). Pie Cap is seen with a number of other girls in the series, so any pairing here would be temporary only.
7. Popular girl sits alone at a lunch table, behind Jane Lane, in "Prize Fighters." How does someone that popular not have anyone to sit with?
8. As a mildly overweight Sandi Griffin makes her escape in "Fat Like Me," we see Popular Girl and Orange Girl down the hallway.
9. Standing among a group of girls in the school hallway in "Too Cute" is Popular Girl, who has been admiring Brooke's nose job. With her are several Fashion Club members and (again) Orange Girl.
10. Close-up of Popular Girl gushing over Brooke's new nose ("Too Cute").
11. Popular Girl is seen in the opening sequence of every Daria episode, standing on the other side of the volleyball net from Daria, Stacy, and Tiffany. When Daria blithely lets the volleyball fly past her, Popular Girl straightens up in surprise. This appears to be a girls' phys-ed class at Lawndale High. Why Daria was put in with younger students is unknown. Maybe Ms. Morris was punishing her, though Daria seems to enjoy the mess she's making of things.
12. Still tying her blouse bottoms in a knot, Popular Girl appears on the beach with friends in the opening of Is It Fall Yet? She is out with Beehive Girl, Orange Girl, and Pigtails. They run away screaming as a bug-eyed Mr. DeMartino comes out of the surf covered in jellyfish.
13. Popular Girl dodges hard candy thrown by football players into a crowd of parade watchers ("I Loathe a Parade"). She stands next to Blue Shirt. They appear to be dating.
14. Sitting in the back of Mr. O'Neill's classroom in "Quinn the Brain," Popular Girl listens to the lesson.
15. At the end of Is It Fall Yet?, Popular Girl and other students react after Mr. DeMartino praises Quinn for giving the right answer. She sits behind Jason.
16. Popular Girl, seen from behind as she talks to Layered Blonde and Chipmunk. She is at the Thompsons' party in "Mart of Darkness."
17. The lower half of a cheering Popular Girl can be seen in the stands, next to Track Guy, in "See Jane Run." She is watching Jane Lane run.
18. A series of images showing Popular Girl dancing on the beach in the fantasy(?) intro to Is It Fall Yet?
19. Like everyone else in Mr. O'Neill's class in "Lucky Strike," Popular Girl reacts in shock when Daria Morgendorffer walks in and announces she is the new teacher. Popular Girl now sits across the aisle from Jason.
20. Daria and Jane pass Popular Girl walking with Pie Cap in the hall, in "My Night at Daria's."
21. "Prize Fighters": During the hot-dog eating contest sponsored by Jake Morgendorffer at Lawndale High, Popular Girl walks up to watch. An unknown child stands at her right. Pie Cap is just ahead of her.
22. A fantasy image of Popular Girl in hippie clothes, from the time-traveling musical intro to Is It College Yet? She is watching teenage boys stuff themselves into a red Volkswagen Beetle, popular in the late 1960s. We assume she graduates in Quinn's class, though some of her classmates graduated with Daria.
Daria Fandom Blog II: "Burnout Girl's real name was... Burnout Girl" (12/08/08): Analysis of contents of "lost" MTV Daria flipbook, "Oh, the Obscurity!"
Daria Character Database: character page
Sick, Sad World: character entry
DariaWiki: character page including many links to stories featuring this character as Tori Jericho
"Boy Fiend," by Austin Covello (origin of Tori Jericho name)
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