Daniel Smith

Daniel Smith is a teacher at Astoria Middle School, specializing in Science, Technology, and Spanish for the 6th Grade class. As an NPC, he is portrayed by Joseph Rose.

Appearance
Daniel is tall (6'5" in height) and muscular, with dark hair and brown eyes. He usually dresses one or two levels too casual for the school's official dress code.

Personality
Daniel is a naturally bright man who has developed a reputation for being a bit dense as a result of his habit of missing the forest for the trees, too caught up in details to always think through the overall repercussions of his actions.

He tends to fixate on small details, and a lot of things go over his head as a result, but he’s a genuinely nice guy that wants his students and coworkers to succeed in everything they do. He has a reputation for being a bit bland as a teacher, and his coworkers have frequently noted his apparent complete lack of ambition, but he’s content just being of help to those around him. He also tends to be very good with the kids, even if he can be a little lax on the discipline front sometimes, and certain troublemakers have an easy time getting things past him if they know what they’re doing. Still, he’s a good friend to his coworkers and a hard worker. His favorite genres seem to be thrillers and science fiction of various varieties, as both give him a lot of details he can examine. He rarely actually sits through the plot of these movies, nor does he often understand what they are about, but he appreciates all the details in building the world and setting the tone, which he can examine in great detail.

Background
Daniel is the sort of person who has been everywhere and tried everything, but has very few accomplishments to show for it. He was born in Maryland, but gradually made his way west over the course of his life, eventually settling in Astoria, where he's been teaching for five years. He seems to know a little bit about everything, but not quite enough to really be an expert. His life appears to be a series of unconnected vignettes more than anything else, and he likes it that way. Recently he seems to have been growing a bit bored with Astoria, and has been hinting that he may be moving on again sometime soon.

Though Daniel has hinted that he was once in a serious relationship, he's never been married, and that doesn't seem to bother him.

Michael Lewis
Though the two of them look and act very different, Daniel seems to see something of himself in Michael, and frequently backs him up and helps him out, both during school hours and during their free time.

Rosemarie Dawson
The two of them are close friends, with Daniel viewing himself as Rosemarie's big brother. As a result, he tends to get very defensive when he feels someone's been pressuring her unfairly.

Ramon Vega
Ramon is Daniel's only real drinking buddy in the area, and the two can often be seen at bars on weekends, partying it up.