Sam Manson

Samantha "Sam" Manson is one of the main characters of the Danny Phantom series.

Sam is one of Danny's best friends. She is a self-proclaimed goth who is fascinated with the subliminal and netherworld, and is a very outspoken ultra-recycled-vegetarian (she doesn't eat anything with a face).

Appearance
Sam wears purple lipstick. She has fair skin, violet eyes, and short black hair with a small ponytail at the top and at the back of her head held by a green hair tie. Her usual clothing consists of a black choker around her neck. Her upper body consists of a black tank top exposing her midriff with a purple oval in the center. Her lower body consists of a black striped skirt with a green crosshatch design, purple leggings, and black combat boots. She also wears a pair of black bracelets around both of her wrists. She has however been seen in a wide variety of outfits, ranging from a goth style black and purple ball gown to a pink princess dress with hearts and even one of the orange Fenton jumpsuits. At one point, she had fake vampire fangs.

Personality
Her personality is less dreary than the stereotypical "goth" persona that is usually shown. She can be bossy, passionate, strong-willed, but also good-hearted. Based on how Sam conducts herself, it would be fairer to say that she labels herself a goth more as an outlet for her independence and individuality than as an embrace of how the stereotypical goth is presumed to behave as such; she is often livid over the wider range of popular materials. She's rational, sometimes sarcastic, forceful, and level-headed but in the end, she has a caring heart.

Sam has also openly admitted to being a "cat person" and goes by the name of "Chaos" in the Doomed video game. She is a fan of music, including Nine Inch Nails. She also enjoys monster movies–with her favorites being female monsters Femalien, Terminatra, and Nightmerica (all of which are spoofs of various male monsters)–and Akira Kurosawa's samurai films. Sam has a collection of vinyl records. She comes from a Jewish background (hinted when her grandmother called her "bubeleh" and eventually revealed in the Christmas special).

In spite of her wealthy upbringing by her parents, Sam is not so much spoiled as she is bossy and hypocritical. Sam at one point forces her ultra-recycled-vegetarian diet on the entirety of Casper High School, despite her claims of the importance of individuality. She got angry at Danny for spying on her and Gregor but had previously done the same thing to him when he was going out with Valerie. She advises Danny against using his ghost powers for abusing bullies, but in another episode, she suggests that he uses them to scare away people from buying environmentally-threatening trucks. She can also get on Danny and Tucker's nerves. It is clear that she would do anything she could to help him during his numerous battles with his enemies as well as keep him out of trouble and has often been the one out of Danny's two best friends to take whatever risk necessary to save/help Danny, as well as being willing to take the blame for things (like the destruction of the mini-golf course and the start of the food fight, both happening in "Kindred Spirits") to cover for Danny.

Sam also tends not to take responsibility for her actions. No matter how much she is at fault, she never accepts the fact she is responsible. She never admits she's wrong and wants everyone to be her "Yes Man."

Out of the three, Sam is usually the most rational and mature, often thinking on a realistic level compared to Danny and Tucker as well as pointing out to Danny to focus more on ghost training and hunting. Sam in certain ways is actually the most enthusiastic of the three when it comes to Danny's powers and their potential. Many times when Danny expresses his desire to be rid of his powers and have a normal teen life, Sam voices her distaste for the idea. In "Phantom Planet," when Danny voluntarily gives up his powers, she tells him that she's disappointed in his desire to be just like everybody else and tells him that she had been proud to be helping him when he was doing something good, refusing to "sit on the sidelines" and not knowing how he can. Sam also reveals at this time that when Danny was protecting Amity Park, she felt safe knowing that there was someone out there doing the right thing, but with him no longer fighting ghosts, she's not sure what will happen.

However expressive she may be, though, Sam still harbors her inner-most feelings inside, especially her secret crush on Danny which she has trouble revealing (more often than not, this is trouble for her as other girls slowly warm up to him). Toward the end of the series Sam's feelings become more obvious, as evidenced by the fact that Tucker clues in to the fact that she likes Danny before Danny himself realizes it. Danny and Sam have finally had their first real kiss in "Phantom Planet" and are now an official couple.

Abilities
Sam doesn't have any supernatural powers on her own, though in several episodes, she has gained ghost powers in some way or another.
 * Fenton Weaponry Expertise: Sam can use the Fentons' ghost-hunting technology with great expertise.
 * Occult Knowledge: Sam is quite knowledgeable about goth subjects such as dark and evil artifacts. Danny was only able to defeat Fright Knight with Sam's knowledge of the Soul Shredder and the Box Ghost with Sam's knowledge of Pandora's Box.
 * Multilingual Skill: Like Danny, Sam learned how to speak Esperanto in case they met with Wulf again. She has also displayed some knowledge of French, Italian, and Japanese, between other languages in the episode "Urban Jungle" (while talking to her plants while harvesting her lunch).

Trivia

 * She originally was supposed to have a 'psychic connection' with Danny that would let one know where the other one was; however, this was nixed right before the premiere, since Danny already had ghost powers and Sam had other attributes; Butch Hartman didn't want them to seem too developed already. This connection is hinted at numerous times through out the series when Danny and Sam have the same reaction or response to situations/comments, but is typically brushed off as merely being a case of long-time friends thinking alike.
 * She, along with Tucker, has been in all but one episode of the entire series.
 * December is the only month that Sam is in a happy mood, due to the winter holidays.
 * Sam's favorite female monsters are all a loose parody of the male monsters: Femalien- Alien and Predators, Terminatra- The Terminator, and Nightmerica- Freddy Kruger.
 * Of all of Danny's crushes, Sam is the only one who likes Danny as both Fenton and Phantom, and not just either one of them.
 * Sam appears to have different bedrooms throughout the series. (See: "Parental Bonding" and "Control Freaks")
 * According from 2005 Nickelodeon Magazine Ultimate Enemy edition, Sam's interests are horror films, sci-fi, and Japanese anime.
 * Sam has at least 10 different outfits in the series.
 * Sam can speak Esperanto.
 * On Sam's bedroom walls, there are posters that reference to various bands and movies, some of which include A Clockwork Orange, Einstürzende Neubauten, and Nine Inch Nails.
 * In "Life Lessons," Sam names her and Tucker's flour sack child "Lilith," which is a reference to the actual name of a female demon in Jewish mythology. Sam's family is Jewish and they practice Judaism in "The Fright Before Christmas."
 * Her name in the Chinese (mainland) dub is (Xiao Shan), which means "little coral."