| Darla "The Geek" Gugenheek |
Darla Gugenheek, also known as The Geek, is a supporting character in the animated TV show The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police. She is Sam and Max's youngest personal scientist, laboratory technician, and assistant. Despite being a preteen, she is a scientific genius and often provides the pair with updated gadgets and inventions to help them on their missions. She lives in the Sub-Basement of Solitude.
Description
Sam and Max were first met the Geek at a science fair while being pulled into a black hole-like portal. Amused by her dangerous project, they ask her to be their assistant/daughter/protege/something-or-other, which she accepted with nonchalance.
Appearance
The Geek is 12 years old and has short red hair with green eyes. She wears a yellow-striped shirt, green vest (with buttons), red skirt, white socks and green shoes.
Personality
Her personality is a bit on the sarcastic side with an air of confidence, with Sam and Max generally exasperating her with their destructive interest and childish antics. Even though she treats Sam and Max with a laissez-faire demeanor, there are occasional times where she worries about Sam and Max's well-being and safety. In truth, it's not hard to suspect that she cares about them more deeply than she lets on. Her concerns are generally unnecessary since they handle themselves well, despite how terrible a situation is. Secretly, she enjoys their company.
Relationships
Sam
Along with Max, Sam serves as a questionable father figure to the Geek. They seem to get along quite well, oftentimes with The Geek being the more responsible of the two. The Geek seems to care about both Sam and Max quite a lot for taking her in, despite having to clean up after them almost constantly.
Max
Max also serves as a questionable father figure to the Geek as Sam does. They seem to get along quite well, oftentimes with The Geek being the more responsible of the two. The Geek seems to care about both Sam and Max quite a lot for taking her in, despite having to clean up after them almost constantly.
Likes and Dislikes
Likes
- Sam and Max
- Inventing things
- Fixing and upgrading vehicles (to an extent)
- Cold soda
Dislikes
- Her full name
- Someone making her lab collapse (mostly Sam and Max)
- John the Alligator
- When something bad happens to Sam and Max
- Warm soda
- The Uglions
- The government
- The United States Military
- Climate change
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| French | Fanny Fanfreluche | Fanny is common French name for girls.
Fanfreluche was a Quebecois children's television series from the late 1960s. Her last name is a presumed reference to it. |
| Serbian | Darla Guganik (Uča) | Guganik is a simple translation of her surname. "Uča" is a common female Serbian name. |
Appearence List
The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police
- The Thing That Wouldn't Stop It
- They Came From Down There
- Big Trouble at the Earth's Core
- That Darn Gator
- It's Dangly Deever Time
- Aaiiieee Robot
- Tonight We Love
- Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
- Sam & Max vs. the Uglions
- The Final Episode
Trivia
- Quite possibly the most known trivia for the cartoon, in The Sam & Max Series Bible, Geek was originally created by Steve Purcell as a boy. In the final cut of the animated TV show, he shifted into a girl. This was because Fox Kids requested that a young female character (that could inspire or motivate young female viewers at home, unlike the Series Bible's Honey Hatchet) should be added into the series. Fox Kids requested either Geek be changed into a girl, or Max be turned into a girl. After an instant 'No' from Purcell at the thought of turning Max female, The Geek became the character we now know of today.
- Because The Geek was the only main character from the series bible that got interpreted in, but had to be changed drastically out of Steve's control, he tried to keep her less prominent as possible. This was because Steve didn't want to involve The Geek as he originally planned because of the fact he was working with an entirely different version of his creation.
- Many fans think that Sam and Max have adopted Geek, however, it's unknown what happened to her parents, or if Sam & Max adopting her is true.