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Hey, guys. Austin here with my next journal entry. In case you guys are wondering, this is the next edition of a miniseries I like to call What’s With ?, where I look at some of my favorite characters from movie and TV franchises I’m fond of, looking into things like background info, personality and appearance, character traits, important possessions, notable roles, and then offering my thoughts on them. Enjoy.
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“Unique is good! That’s why I’m an ultra recyclo-vegetarian.” - Sam Manson
Pokemon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon soundtrack - “Gladion’s Theme” (optional)
Introduction: Samantha “Sam” Manson from Danny Phantom

In today’s special edition of my cartoon character analysis series, we’ll be taking a look at a character from a franchise I’ve only recently been getting back into -- the Danny Phantom franchise. While I haven’t seen much of it after it concluded in 2007, I thought it was a cool program, sporting colorful characters, multi-layered episodes and overall storyline, enjoyable action and fight sequences, good animation, and some witty bits of humor to boot. I think it’s certainly one of Butch Hartman’s greater works.

This analysis focuses on the leading lady of the franchise; the nature-loving, snarky, headstrong and loyal goth girl of the main cast -- Samantha “Sam” Manson. All of the cartoon’s main characters spark me as interesting and likeable individuals, but Sam strikes me as one of the more interesting cast members, as well as one of the most enjoyable and reliable ones on it. While usually being the grim goth girl of her group, she has been shown to be a multi-faceted and dynamic individual, ranging from her mostly isolated family life to her desire to stand out and passion for those she cares about, not to mention the bits of growth Sam received during the series. Without further ado, let’s get into this analysis!

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Basic Overview and Background

For those of you with no prior knowledge, Sam Manson (voiced by Grey DeLisle-Griffin) is one of the main characters in Danny Phantom. She’s a self-proclaimed goth girl, an outspoken environmentalist at heart, and an individual fascinated with the paranormal. She is also best friends with Danny Fenton and Tucker Foley, having known them at least since their early elementary school days, often being the group's most reasonable member and a resourceful one at that.

Oddly enough, her in-show background is anything but aesthetically gloomy. Sam was shown to come from a vastly wealthy family in “Attack of the Killer Garage Sale” -- such as having a movie theater/bowling alley in her basement, and is later shown to have parents who are just about the opposite of her in every way in “Control Freaks”.
Her folks, Jeremy and Pam Manson, are traditional, optimistic socialites who have explicitly expressed disdain over their daughter’s non-conformity and her friendship with the Fentons. They want their daughter to conform with their interests, creating considerable friction between Sam and her parents. She wants to do things her way and make friends who like the real her, whereas her parents basically want her as an ornament.
Pam: [sternly] “Samantha, I forbid you from seeing this boy [Danny Fenton] or any of your other troubled friends.”
Sam: [defensively] “My friends are perfectly normal!” (quotes from “Control Freaks”)

With the exception of her grandmother Ida (who was like Sam at her age), none of her relatives support Sam's eagerness to forge her own path, leaving her rather isolated in her house and life (besides being with her friends).

As for behind-the-scenes/production stuff, Sam was originally intended to have “psychic powers” that would allow her to figure out Danny’s whereabouts at any time and vice versa; this, however, was scrapped before the series premiered. According to Butch Hartman, the idea was scrapped because he didn’t want them highly developed too early in the cartoon.
That said, this type of ESP has been hinted in a number of instances, such as the two of them having similar reactions or responses to things they encounter One example of such is when the twosome expressed revolt over Ember McLain’s rising popularity in “Fanning the Flames”; this has also been observed in cases with Sam often being quick to stand up for Danny against the A-Listers and villains (like in "One of a Kind", "Lucky in Love" and others), and even with her subtle hints in "Parental Bonding" leading Danny to determine her secret interests in attending the school dance. Even without the ESP, it’s rather easy to see their connection in the cartoon.
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Pokemon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon soundtrack - “Battle! Elite Four” (optional)
Personality and Appearance

Now onto her personality and appearance. For character, Sam has a blend of various elements to make her quite multi-faceted -- many of her own attributes subvert common tropes in animation. While she is the goth girl of her cast, Sam doesn’t act all dreary and pessimistic like some others; she also doesn’t act like a spoiled brat despite coming from a grossly rich family. Overall, she’s at times bossy, sarcastic and even hypocritical, but she’s also level-headed, loyal, enthusiastic, strong willed and good-hearted, along with wanting to be unique, and being helpful for her best friends.

When she's left to her own devices, Samantha often likes accompany her two best friends, doing things like hanging out, playing games, watching movies and other activities beyond fighting ghosts. Besides her exploits with the two boys, she also likes tapping into things like attending gothic book clubs and reading about the paranormal (like in "Lucky in Love" and "Boxed-Up Fury"), and she'll even attempt to do things pertaining to her individuality beliefs -- such as her wanting to start an independent radio station to counter Ember and Youngblood's transmissions in "Pirate Radio", which later proved advantageous in the episode's climax by giving the kids a means of fighting the ghost pirates.

Before I dive deeper into her personality, let’s talk about her design. Overall, Sam comes with nice visual appeal. She sports some aspects of a tough, gothic appearance such as the black tank top, skirt and combat boots along with some accessories like the bracelets and choker, yet she also sports fair skin instead of pasty-white coloration, reflecting how she isn’t as immersed in the stereotype, and her overall look provides a splendid contrast from her preppy family and some of the background human characters.
Yet the parts of Sam’s design I’m particularly interested in (and I’m not trying to sound offensive or pervy in this) are the bits of light purple/violet coloration, present in the oval on her tank top as well as her leggings, lipstick and even the irises of her eyes. I’m not too familiar with the gothic genre, but I don’t think those are popular colors for it. Looking into possible meanings, I found out that some of the things purple and violet represent include the promotion of uniqueness, individuality and independence; likewise, they also promote unconditional and selfless love, encouragement of sensitivity, and compassion while also being leader-esque, self-assured and demanding of respect.
These are traits well reflected in Sam’s personality throughout the series; she cares deeply for those close to her, likes to follow the beat of her own drum, and is both an eager advocate for her beliefs and her best friends. I don’t know if that was intended or not, but it makes for a nice, subtle design choice.

Of the main three, Sam tends to be the most level-headed member. She’s typically a realist in her thoughts and acts as a voice of reason for Danny and Tucker, such as advising Danny not to use his ghost powers for beating up bullies. She also pleaded with him to not give up his powers in “Phantom Planet” over fear of losing her friend -- in more ways than one (since Danny was admittedly being a bit of a moron in the finale). She's usually the one who comforts Danny to go through with things and be himself, regardless of the adversities facing him. This is seen with cases like Sam comforting him when he fears his parents are getting divorced in "Prisoners of Love" and her encouraging Danny to go for his crush Paulina in “Parental Bonding” despite clearly hating her.
Sam’s also the one who encourages him to keep training and hunting ghosts -- such as in "Public Enemies", where she encourages him to keep being a hero even though Walker and his cronies were framing him in into being the number one offender of Amity Park. She's seemingly the most enthusiastic over Danny’s powers, too, often helping him to hone his skills like in the cold opening of "Maternal Instinct". These examples among others help to show how she cares for her best friend and his uniqueness and abilities -- especially since she was the one who lead to Danny getting his powers in the first place (as seen in the cold opening of "Memory Blank").

However, Sam’s not without some inconsideration. There are cases where she acts hypocritical towards her friends and peers, getting on others’ nerves and even violating some of her own values and thoughts. She also has a tendency to refuse accepting responsibility for her actions, and she wants others to be “Yes Men” for her at times. Some examples include her forcing the students of Casper High onto her vegetarian diet in “Mystery Meat” (violating her individuality beliefs), and later scolding Danny for spying on her and “Gregor” in “Double Cross My Heart” -- even though she had previously spied on him with Valerie in "Flirting With Disaster", showing some points where Sam can go overboard in some of her thoughts and ways.

Despite those lesser aspects, she is shown to be very warm at heart and is eager to help her best friends in a jam. Sam’s often providing help for the rest of the trio whenever facing off against the cartoon’s goolish fiends. One good example can be seen in “Fright Night”, where the only way Danny could have defeated the main villain of that skit (the Fright Knight himself) was by informing him of the appropriate method for defeating him -- jabbing his sword into a jack-o-lantern. It also came in handy later on in "Boxed Up Fury" when the Box Ghost stole Pandora's Box and used its evil to take over, and Sam informed him (and Tucker) of the dangers associated with it. They show her helpfulness to her buddy while also showcasing her knowledge on the macabre and other-worldly.
It’s not just limited to the gang's heroism exploits, either; she also maintains this in their normal lives, including Sam raising Tucker’s spirits when he got teased as “Bad Luck Tuck” in “13”, and the goth being supportive of Danny through their growing relationship in many of the cartoon's episodes -- the latter I’ll cover more in the next section.

Before we go there, I’d also like to point out the sarcastic side of her personality. Often in the cartoon, Sam has a slew of snarky, witty lines of dialogue that fit the scenes they’re delivered in -- often in response to some ironic, humiliating or otherwise distasteful for her and/or the group. Some of my favorite one-liners from her include:
“Infuriating how mindless pre-packaged corporate bubble gum is preventing true musical artists from being heard?” (“Fanning the Flames”)
“I’m a creature of the night doomed to a family of morning people.” (“Control Freaks.”)
“Doesn't anybody in this town drive a COMPACT CAR?” (“Reign Storm”)

"I hate this [beauty pageant] more than I hate the morning sun." ("Beauty Marked")

"For those of you still counting, that's three times we've been grabbed today." ("Reality Trip")
“How’s it bad I was there? If it wasn’t for me, he’d [Danny’d] be flying around with his dad’s face on his chest.” (“Memory Blank”)
One can tell Grey DeLisle-Griffin invested tremendous effort into providing Samantha’s voicework.
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Super Smash Brothers Ultimate soundtrack - “Battle! Lorekeeper Zinnia” (optional)
Possessions, Traits and (Other) Notable Roles

In addition to being interested in the macabre and paranormal as I mentioned earlier, Sam also has a strong love for nature -- plant and animal alike. She’s an outspoken ultra-recyclo-vegetarian, meaning she refuses to eat anything that has or has had a face. As shown in “Urban Jungle”, she owns a greenhouse where she cares for a variety of plants, from foliage such as an orange tree and grape vines for nourishment, to a Venus flytrap (named DeMilo) that she treats like a companion.
On top of her dietary commitments, Sam is also a novice environmentalist and animal rights activist, and has attempted to do some things along these lines in the series -- ranging from persuading her friends to free a gorilla from their local zoo in “One of a Kind” to trying to convince her friends to help her destroy environmentally-threatening trucks in “Memory Blank”. While I don’t necessarily agree with/follow every aspect of her views (I’m not a vegetarian or vegan, and I’m not an animal rights champion), I will say I really admire her passion and determination for helping nature. (Plus, I would’ve been onboard with helping her destroy those horrid trucks. )

While she is one of the main heroes of her series, there are a couple of instances where she has gained ghostly powers for a brief time and became a temporary antagonist. The first of these was in the episode “Parental Bonding”, where she became a ghostly dragon after wearing Princess Dorathea’s amulet, transforming into one upon getting angry, which happened after she heard Paulina was toying with Danny.
The second of these villainous alter-egos -- the one I find more interesting -- is her role as the Plant Queen. She became this villain in “Urban Jungle” when Undergrowth (that episode’s main antagonist) saw her love of plants and made her his number two, allowing her to control the people via vines.
Her villainous Plant Queen ego is very notable for multiple reasons: one, it fits both her love of both nature and her growing interests in the paranormal; and two, this form of Sam’s along with Undergrowth’s powers forced Danny into retreat -- which was a first for the series. It certainly shows off her more powerful aspects -- on the opposing side , that is-- while also inspiring a need for more determined action.

Speaking along the lines of that last bit, what is perhaps one of Sam’s most admirable characteristics is her loyalty to her loved ones -- especially her two besties. I’ll first cover her dynamic with the titular character. Sam’s actually one of three love interests Danny had over the cartoon’s course, along with Paulina and Valerie. Sam’s affections for him feel the most genuine as she’s the only one to like both of Danny’s identities (Paulina only liked D. Phantom while Valerie only liked D. Fenton).
Now, it’s not some shallow puppy-love that blinds them from their endeavors; their relationship actually grew over the course of the series, and it’s been kept as a solid friendship prior to the finale. At many points in the cartoon, Sam managed to stay loyal to him, and help him out in battles and stay the way he is -- no matter how rigid things got between them. Additionally, this dynamic has helped to unlock a more compassionate side to the otherwise snarky, headstrong goth, making her more altruistic and engaging deuteragonist to follow.

Some of my favorite cases from the cartoon include the episodes “Control Freaks” and “Memory Blank”. With “Control Freaks”, Danny became hypnotized to do Freakshow’s bidding after he gazed at the ringmaster’s staff. Under hypnosis, Danny (as the Grim Reaper) tried to attack Sam as she attempted to break him out of the trance. She even risked her own life multiple times, but Sam was able to coax him out of the trance, just before she fell to her death from off the train.
In “Memory Blank”, Sam and Danny got into arguments with each other over a string of incidents Sam unknowingly started. After blaming her for all kinds of bad events in past episodes, Sam (protected by a Specter Deflector) wished she had never met him, to which Desiree made it so they never met and Danny never got his powers. Even after their fight, Sam still went to great efforts to fix her mistake -- wearing pink to get his attention, recreating the incident that gave Danny his powers, et cetera. She ultimately regretted what she did earlier, and then wished she and Danny never fought, allowing Danny and Tucker to regain their memories and apologizing, letting bygones be bygones.
Of course, those aren't the only notable moments of her loyalty in this dynamic; Sam also refused to give in to her growing feelings when Ember inflicted Danny with a love spell in “Fanning the Flames”; she urged him to go to Paulina’s party despite her own plans in “Memory Blank”; and even some cases of them working as a tag-team to take down some episodes' main villains, with some of those instances including the two of them fighting Nocturn and Walker together in "Frightmare" and "Claw of the Wild" respectively, highlighting how much she cares about her best friend.

Additionally, Sam helped her crush to develop in the sense that he has significance with his powers and the importance of the heroism role he had performed (with or without being half-ghost), and that he shouldn’t have given them up. This relationship, in turn, also helped Sam to become more expressive of her inner-most thoughts and start to open up her own long-held feelings to him -- evident in her heart-to-heart speech to him after he gave up his powers and the reflection of their endeavors in the cartoon together, which inspired Danny to reconsider quitting his heroic role and inspired him to turn things around to stop the Disasteroid, even if the series finale was handled more or less clunkily.
These instances and several others like them make Sam so much more than a simple love interest; they make her a strong impact character with some growth of her own, and these various altruistic acts help show how she places the wants and needs of her best friend over her own when it counts, not to mention emphasizing her importance to Danny's growth and her own dynamism too.

And it isn’t all limited to her boyfriend; Sam has also been a helpful/supportive individual to many other characters over the course of the series. Despite their conflicting personalities, Sam is a supportive individual to her and Danny’s friend Tucker. They have been able to get along in activities like founding their radio station P.A.R.T.Y. in "Pirate Radio", and Sam has done a some nice things for him -- like buying him his own customized pizza in “Attack of the Killer Garage Sale” (showing some growth from the series pilot) and promptly dumping Elliot “Gregor” after he insulted Tucker in “Double Cross My Heart”. Those examples among others help show she cares about their friendship despite their polarizing interests.
Sam has also been shown to grow more respect for Jazz’s capabilities in fighting ghosts (as of “Girl’s Night Out”), and she even encouraged Dorathea to stand against her traditionalist brother Aragon in “Beauty Marked” -- despite being on opposite sides -- and aided her in gaining control of the medieval realm within the Ghost Zone; the latter two I mentioned demonstrate how even she’s willing to let bygones pass to get a task done and even help out those she doesn’t get along too well with.
While she still butts heads with her friends now and again, Sam has remained helpful and tried her hardest to keep them together and watching each others’ backs. Loyalty to her loved ones, eagerness to help, willingness to take one for the team and overall sense of compassion underneath her gothic facade; it all comes together for Sam, and it makes her all the more admirable as an individual.

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Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island soundtrack -- “You Go, Goth!” (optional)
My Thoughts on Samantha Manson

While I may get some heat for this, Samantha Manson is one of my favorite characters in Nicktoons-related media, and she’s my favorite of the main cast in her franchise. She has been shown to be quite interesting in her performance, coming from a preppy rich couple and her struggles to be unique and be appreciated as the real her, which I think was/is intriguing to observe.
Her snarky nature is a joy to watch and many of her sarcastic one-liners fit her generally reserved demeanor and the situations she gets into well. Her fascination and knowledge of the macabre is cool and helpful for her besties, and I do appreciate her love of nature and commitments to helping preserve it (even if we aren’t necessarily on the same page).
But for me, Sam’s loyalty to her loved ones is what really appeals. Time and time again, her love for her friends and their wellbeing has shined through that gothic persona of hers, and it has come to the aid of the others multiple times like in the above cases. While she has her flaws and down moments, I say her positive attributes and roles easily make up for them. Though the odds of some upcoming Danny Phantom reboot are very unlikely, I won’t forget Sam. She’s an engaging, dynamic character and a true friend above all else.

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I would like to dedicate this entry of my character analysis series to my friend . Today is her 23rd birthday, and I made this to commemorate a few things. She helped me to get back into the DP fandom in the last couple of months, and to return the favor, I made her an analysis on her favorite fictional character in animation -- Samantha Manson. She's gotten me to like her too, and I thought of repaying that by looking into Sam's course in her franchise, focusing primarily on episodes Ariel gave A or B ratings to with her DP scorecards. Happy birthday, Ariel!

The rest of you, feel free to politely tell me your thoughts on the character I covered in today's entry. Next time I'll be covering an anthropomorphic, sloppy and dim-witted echinoderm who likes to make helpful contributions around him. See you around!

The Danny Phantom franchise was created by Butch Hartman and belongs to Nickelodeon, Billionfold Inc., and Viacom.

Wink/Razz — Description
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Hey, guys. Austin here with my next journal entry. In case you guys are wondering, this is the next edition of a miniseries I like to call What’s With ?, where I look at some of my favorite characters from movie and TV franchises I’m fond of, looking into things like background info, personality and appearance, character traits, important possessions, notable roles, and then offering my thoughts on them. Enjoy.
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“Unique is good! That’s why I’m an ultra recyclo-vegetarian.” - Sam Manson
Pokemon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon soundtrack - “Gladion’s Theme” (optional)
Introduction: Samantha “Sam” Manson from Danny Phantom

In today’s special edition of my cartoon character analysis series, we’ll be taking a look at a character from a franchise I’ve only recently been getting back into -- the Danny Phantom franchise. While I haven’t seen much of it after it concluded in 2007, I thought it was a cool program, sporting colorful characters, multi-layered episodes and overall storyline, enjoyable action and fight sequences, good animation, and some witty bits of humor to boot. I think it’s certainly one of Butch Hartman’s greater works.

This analysis focuses on the leading lady of the franchise; the nature-loving, snarky, headstrong and loyal goth girl of the main cast -- Samantha “Sam” Manson. All of the cartoon’s main characters spark me as interesting and likeable individuals, but Sam strikes me as one of the more interesting cast members, as well as one of the most enjoyable and reliable ones on it. While usually being the grim goth girl of her group, she has been shown to be a multi-faceted and dynamic individual, ranging from her mostly isolated family life to her desire to stand out and passion for those she cares about, not to mention the bits of growth Sam received during the series. Without further ado, let’s get into this analysis!

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Basic Overview and Background

For those of you with no prior knowledge, Sam Manson (voiced by Grey DeLisle-Griffin) is one of the main characters in Danny Phantom. She’s a self-proclaimed goth girl, an outspoken environmentalist at heart, and an individual fascinated with the paranormal. She is also best friends with Danny Fenton and Tucker Foley, having known them at least since their early elementary school days, often being the group's most reasonable member and a resourceful one at that.

Oddly enough, her in-show background is anything but aesthetically gloomy. Sam was shown to come from a vastly wealthy family in “Attack of the Killer Garage Sale” -- such as having a movie theater/bowling alley in her basement, and is later shown to have parents who are just about the opposite of her in every way in “Control Freaks”.
Her folks, Jeremy and Pam Manson, are traditional, optimistic socialites who have explicitly expressed disdain over their daughter’s non-conformity and her friendship with the Fentons. They want their daughter to conform with their interests, creating considerable friction between Sam and her parents. She wants to do things her way and make friends who like the real her, whereas her parents basically want her as an ornament.
Pam: [sternly] “Samantha, I forbid you from seeing this boy [Danny Fenton] or any of your other troubled friends.”
Sam: [defensively] “My friends are perfectly normal!” (quotes from “Control Freaks”)

With the exception of her grandmother Ida (who was like Sam at her age), none of her relatives support Sam's eagerness to forge her own path, leaving her rather isolated in her house and life (besides being with her friends).

As for behind-the-scenes/production stuff, Sam was originally intended to have “psychic powers” that would allow her to figure out Danny’s whereabouts at any time and vice versa; this, however, was scrapped before the series premiered. According to Butch Hartman, the idea was scrapped because he didn’t want them highly developed too early in the cartoon.
That said, this type of ESP has been hinted in a number of instances, such as the two of them having similar reactions or responses to things they encounter One example of such is when the twosome expressed revolt over Ember McLain’s rising popularity in “Fanning the Flames”; this has also been observed in cases with Sam often being quick to stand up for Danny against the A-Listers and villains (like in "One of a Kind", "Lucky in Love" and others), and even with her subtle hints in "Parental Bonding" leading Danny to determine her secret interests in attending the school dance. Even without the ESP, it’s rather easy to see their connection in the cartoon.
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Pokemon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon soundtrack - “Battle! Elite Four” (optional)
Personality and Appearance

Now onto her personality and appearance. For character, Sam has a blend of various elements to make her quite multi-faceted -- many of her own attributes subvert common tropes in animation. While she is the goth girl of her cast, Sam doesn’t act all dreary and pessimistic like some others; she also doesn’t act like a spoiled brat despite coming from a grossly rich family. Overall, she’s at times bossy, sarcastic and even hypocritical, but she’s also level-headed, loyal, enthusiastic, strong willed and good-hearted, along with wanting to be unique, and being helpful for her best friends.

When she's left to her own devices, Samantha often likes accompany her two best friends, doing things like hanging out, playing games, watching movies and other activities beyond fighting ghosts. Besides her exploits with the two boys, she also likes tapping into things like attending gothic book clubs and reading about the paranormal (like in "Lucky in Love" and "Boxed-Up Fury"), and she'll even attempt to do things pertaining to her individuality beliefs -- such as her wanting to start an independent radio station to counter Ember and Youngblood's transmissions in "Pirate Radio", which later proved advantageous in the episode's climax by giving the kids a means of fighting the ghost pirates.

Before I dive deeper into her personality, let’s talk about her design. Overall, Sam comes with nice visual appeal. She sports some aspects of a tough, gothic appearance such as the black tank top, skirt and combat boots along with some accessories like the bracelets and choker, yet she also sports fair skin instead of pasty-white coloration, reflecting how she isn’t as immersed in the stereotype, and her overall look provides a splendid contrast from her preppy family and some of the background human characters.
Yet the parts of Sam’s design I’m particularly interested in (and I’m not trying to sound offensive or pervy in this) are the bits of light purple/violet coloration, present in the oval on her tank top as well as her leggings, lipstick and even the irises of her eyes. I’m not too familiar with the gothic genre, but I don’t think those are popular colors for it. Looking into possible meanings, I found out that some of the things purple and violet represent include the promotion of uniqueness, individuality and independence; likewise, they also promote unconditional and selfless love, encouragement of sensitivity, and compassion while also being leader-esque, self-assured and demanding of respect.
These are traits well reflected in Sam’s personality throughout the series; she cares deeply for those close to her, likes to follow the beat of her own drum, and is both an eager advocate for her beliefs and her best friends. I don’t know if that was intended or not, but it makes for a nice, subtle design choice.

Of the main three, Sam tends to be the most level-headed member. She’s typically a realist in her thoughts and acts as a voice of reason for Danny and Tucker, such as advising Danny not to use his ghost powers for beating up bullies. She also pleaded with him to not give up his powers in “Phantom Planet” over fear of losing her friend -- in more ways than one (since Danny was admittedly being a bit of a moron in the finale). She's usually the one who comforts Danny to go through with things and be himself, regardless of the adversities facing him. This is seen with cases like Sam comforting him when he fears his parents are getting divorced in "Prisoners of Love" and her encouraging Danny to go for his crush Paulina in “Parental Bonding” despite clearly hating her.
Sam’s also the one who encourages him to keep training and hunting ghosts -- such as in "Public Enemies", where she encourages him to keep being a hero even though Walker and his cronies were framing him in into being the number one offender of Amity Park. She's seemingly the most enthusiastic over Danny’s powers, too, often helping him to hone his skills like in the cold opening of "Maternal Instinct". These examples among others help to show how she cares for her best friend and his uniqueness and abilities -- especially since she was the one who lead to Danny getting his powers in the first place (as seen in the cold opening of "Memory Blank").

However, Sam’s not without some inconsideration. There are cases where she acts hypocritical towards her friends and peers, getting on others’ nerves and even violating some of her own values and thoughts. She also has a tendency to refuse accepting responsibility for her actions, and she wants others to be “Yes Men” for her at times. Some examples include her forcing the students of Casper High onto her vegetarian diet in “Mystery Meat” (violating her individuality beliefs), and later scolding Danny for spying on her and “Gregor” in “Double Cross My Heart” -- even though she had previously spied on him with Valerie in "Flirting With Disaster", showing some points where Sam can go overboard in some of her thoughts and ways.

Despite those lesser aspects, she is shown to be very warm at heart and is eager to help her best friends in a jam. Sam’s often providing help for the rest of the trio whenever facing off against the cartoon’s goolish fiends. One good example can be seen in “Fright Night”, where the only way Danny could have defeated the main villain of that skit (the Fright Knight himself) was by informing him of the appropriate method for defeating him -- jabbing his sword into a jack-o-lantern. It also came in handy later on in "Boxed Up Fury" when the Box Ghost stole Pandora's Box and used its evil to take over, and Sam informed him (and Tucker) of the dangers associated with it. They show her helpfulness to her buddy while also showcasing her knowledge on the macabre and other-worldly.
It’s not just limited to the gang's heroism exploits, either; she also maintains this in their normal lives, including Sam raising Tucker’s spirits when he got teased as “Bad Luck Tuck” in “13”, and the goth being supportive of Danny through their growing relationship in many of the cartoon's episodes -- the latter I’ll cover more in the next section.

Before we go there, I’d also like to point out the sarcastic side of her personality. Often in the cartoon, Sam has a slew of snarky, witty lines of dialogue that fit the scenes they’re delivered in -- often in response to some ironic, humiliating or otherwise distasteful for her and/or the group. Some of my favorite one-liners from her include:
“Infuriating how mindless pre-packaged corporate bubble gum is preventing true musical artists from being heard?” (“Fanning the Flames”)
“I’m a creature of the night doomed to a family of morning people.” (“Control Freaks.”)
“Doesn't anybody in this town drive a COMPACT CAR?” (“Reign Storm”)

"I hate this [beauty pageant] more than I hate the morning sun." ("Beauty Marked")

"For those of you still counting, that's three times we've been grabbed today." ("Reality Trip")
“How’s it bad I was there? If it wasn’t for me, he’d [Danny’d] be flying around with his dad’s face on his chest.” (“Memory Blank”)
One can tell Grey DeLisle-Griffin invested tremendous effort into providing Samantha’s voicework.
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Super Smash Brothers Ultimate soundtrack - “Battle! Lorekeeper Zinnia” (optional)
Possessions, Traits and (Other) Notable Roles

In addition to being interested in the macabre and paranormal as I mentioned earlier, Sam also has a strong love for nature -- plant and animal alike. She’s an outspoken ultra-recyclo-vegetarian, meaning she refuses to eat anything that has or has had a face. As shown in “Urban Jungle”, she owns a greenhouse where she cares for a variety of plants, from foliage such as an orange tree and grape vines for nourishment, to a Venus flytrap (named DeMilo) that she treats like a companion.
On top of her dietary commitments, Sam is also a novice environmentalist and animal rights activist, and has attempted to do some things along these lines in the series -- ranging from persuading her friends to free a gorilla from their local zoo in “One of a Kind” to trying to convince her friends to help her destroy environmentally-threatening trucks in “Memory Blank”. While I don’t necessarily agree with/follow every aspect of her views (I’m not a vegetarian or vegan, and I’m not an animal rights champion), I will say I really admire her passion and determination for helping nature. (Plus, I would’ve been onboard with helping her destroy those horrid trucks. )

While she is one of the main heroes of her series, there are a couple of instances where she has gained ghostly powers for a brief time and became a temporary antagonist. The first of these was in the episode “Parental Bonding”, where she became a ghostly dragon after wearing Princess Dorathea’s amulet, transforming into one upon getting angry, which happened after she heard Paulina was toying with Danny.
The second of these villainous alter-egos -- the one I find more interesting -- is her role as the Plant Queen. She became this villain in “Urban Jungle” when Undergrowth (that episode’s main antagonist) saw her love of plants and made her his number two, allowing her to control the people via vines.
Her villainous Plant Queen ego is very notable for multiple reasons: one, it fits both her love of both nature and her growing interests in the paranormal; and two, this form of Sam’s along with Undergrowth’s powers forced Danny into retreat -- which was a first for the series. It certainly shows off her more powerful aspects -- on the opposing side , that is-- while also inspiring a need for more determined action.

Speaking along the lines of that last bit, what is perhaps one of Sam’s most admirable characteristics is her loyalty to her loved ones -- especially her two besties. I’ll first cover her dynamic with the titular character. Sam’s actually one of three love interests Danny had over the cartoon’s course, along with Paulina and Valerie. Sam’s affections for him feel the most genuine as she’s the only one to like both of Danny’s identities (Paulina only liked D. Phantom while Valerie only liked D. Fenton).
Now, it’s not some shallow puppy-love that blinds them from their endeavors; their relationship actually grew over the course of the series, and it’s been kept as a solid friendship prior to the finale. At many points in the cartoon, Sam managed to stay loyal to him, and help him out in battles and stay the way he is -- no matter how rigid things got between them. Additionally, this dynamic has helped to unlock a more compassionate side to the otherwise snarky, headstrong goth, making her more altruistic and engaging deuteragonist to follow.

Some of my favorite cases from the cartoon include the episodes “Control Freaks” and “Memory Blank”. With “Control Freaks”, Danny became hypnotized to do Freakshow’s bidding after he gazed at the ringmaster’s staff. Under hypnosis, Danny (as the Grim Reaper) tried to attack Sam as she attempted to break him out of the trance. She even risked her own life multiple times, but Sam was able to coax him out of the trance, just before she fell to her death from off the train.
In “Memory Blank”, Sam and Danny got into arguments with each other over a string of incidents Sam unknowingly started. After blaming her for all kinds of bad events in past episodes, Sam (protected by a Specter Deflector) wished she had never met him, to which Desiree made it so they never met and Danny never got his powers. Even after their fight, Sam still went to great efforts to fix her mistake -- wearing pink to get his attention, recreating the incident that gave Danny his powers, et cetera. She ultimately regretted what she did earlier, and then wished she and Danny never fought, allowing Danny and Tucker to regain their memories and apologizing, letting bygones be bygones.
Of course, those aren't the only notable moments of her loyalty in this dynamic; Sam also refused to give in to her growing feelings when Ember inflicted Danny with a love spell in “Fanning the Flames”; she urged him to go to Paulina’s party despite her own plans in “Memory Blank”; and even some cases of them working as a tag-team to take down some episodes' main villains, with some of those instances including the two of them fighting Nocturn and Walker together in "Frightmare" and "Claw of the Wild" respectively, highlighting how much she cares about her best friend.

Additionally, Sam helped her crush to develop in the sense that he has significance with his powers and the importance of the heroism role he had performed (with or without being half-ghost), and that he shouldn’t have given them up. This relationship, in turn, also helped Sam to become more expressive of her inner-most thoughts and start to open up her own long-held feelings to him -- evident in her heart-to-heart speech to him after he gave up his powers and the reflection of their endeavors in the cartoon together, which inspired Danny to reconsider quitting his heroic role and inspired him to turn things around to stop the Disasteroid, even if the series finale was handled more or less clunkily.
These instances and several others like them make Sam so much more than a simple love interest; they make her a strong impact character with some growth of her own, and these various altruistic acts help show how she places the wants and needs of her best friend over her own when it counts, not to mention emphasizing her importance to Danny's growth and her own dynamism too.

And it isn’t all limited to her boyfriend; Sam has also been a helpful/supportive individual to many other characters over the course of the series. Despite their conflicting personalities, Sam is a supportive individual to her and Danny’s friend Tucker. They have been able to get along in activities like founding their radio station P.A.R.T.Y. in "Pirate Radio", and Sam has done a some nice things for him -- like buying him his own customized pizza in “Attack of the Killer Garage Sale” (showing some growth from the series pilot) and promptly dumping Elliot “Gregor” after he insulted Tucker in “Double Cross My Heart”. Those examples among others help show she cares about their friendship despite their polarizing interests.
Sam has also been shown to grow more respect for Jazz’s capabilities in fighting ghosts (as of “Girl’s Night Out”), and she even encouraged Dorathea to stand against her traditionalist brother Aragon in “Beauty Marked” -- despite being on opposite sides -- and aided her in gaining control of the medieval realm within the Ghost Zone; the latter two I mentioned demonstrate how even she’s willing to let bygones pass to get a task done and even help out those she doesn’t get along too well with.
While she still butts heads with her friends now and again, Sam has remained helpful and tried her hardest to keep them together and watching each others’ backs. Loyalty to her loved ones, eagerness to help, willingness to take one for the team and overall sense of compassion underneath her gothic facade; it all comes together for Sam, and it makes her all the more admirable as an individual.

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Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island soundtrack -- “You Go, Goth!” (optional)
My Thoughts on Samantha Manson

While I may get some heat for this, Samantha Manson is one of my favorite characters in Nicktoons-related media, and she’s my favorite of the main cast in her franchise. She has been shown to be quite interesting in her performance, coming from a preppy rich couple and her struggles to be unique and be appreciated as the real her, which I think was/is intriguing to observe.
Her snarky nature is a joy to watch and many of her sarcastic one-liners fit her generally reserved demeanor and the situations she gets into well. Her fascination and knowledge of the macabre is cool and helpful for her besties, and I do appreciate her love of nature and commitments to helping preserve it (even if we aren’t necessarily on the same page).
But for me, Sam’s loyalty to her loved ones is what really appeals. Time and time again, her love for her friends and their wellbeing has shined through that gothic persona of hers, and it has come to the aid of the others multiple times like in the above cases. While she has her flaws and down moments, I say her positive attributes and roles easily make up for them. Though the odds of some upcoming Danny Phantom reboot are very unlikely, I won’t forget Sam. She’s an engaging, dynamic character and a true friend above all else.

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I would like to dedicate this entry of my character analysis series to my friend . Today is her 23rd birthday, and I made this to commemorate a few things. She helped me to get back into the DP fandom in the last couple of months, and to return the favor, I made her an analysis on her favorite fictional character in animation -- Samantha Manson. She's gotten me to like her too, and I thought of repaying that by looking into Sam's course in her franchise, focusing primarily on episodes Ariel gave A or B ratings to with her DP scorecards. Happy birthday, Ariel!

The rest of you, feel free to politely tell me your thoughts on the character I covered in today's entry. Next time I'll be covering an anthropomorphic, sloppy and dim-witted echinoderm who likes to make helpful contributions around him. See you around!

The Danny Phantom franchise was created by Butch Hartman and belongs to Nickelodeon, Billionfold Inc., and Viacom.