Todd Manning and Blair Daimler first met at Rodi's, a somewhat seedy bar in Llanview. Both of them were considered outcasts by the rest of the town, and they forged an unlikely friendship. When Todd was accused of being the notorious "hospital rapist," Blair was one of the few people who stood by him. On Christmas Eve, their friendship turned to passion when Blair (angry at her boyfriend, Cord Roberts) went to Todd's motel room. The two made love -- significantly, this was also the first time Todd had had sex since raping Marty Saybrooke the year before. While Todd began to develop real feelings for Blair, she worried that becoming involved with Todd would derail the "safe" life she still wanted to have with Cord. Though she and Cord briefly reconciled, Cord's constant interaction with ex-wife Tina Lord prompted Blair to end the relationship for good.

It was around this time that Todd's father, Peter Manning, passed away -- leaving Todd nothing but a safety deposit box key and the revelation that Todd was actually adopted. Con-man David Vickers secretly discovered that Todd's biological father was Victor Lord, which made Todd the long-lost Lord heir (entitled to a cool 30 million dollars). Blair also put the pieces together -- Todd, unbeknownst to him, would soon be a very, very wealthy man. Because Blair was desperate for money -- both for herself, and to keep her mentally-ill mother Addie from getting kicked out of St. Anne's -- she lied to Todd and told him that she'd gotten pregnant from their one-night stand. Todd, wanting to do "right" by a woman he had already developed strong feelings for, proposed and the two were soon married in Key West.

Shortly after the wedding, Todd finally learned that he was the long-lost son of Victor Lord -- and that his birthright included a massive inheritance. While at first Todd wanted to refuse the money out of anger that Victor had abandoned him, Blair convinced him to keep it. But just as Blair began to believe that her plan was falling into place, Todd's newfound sister Tina went to Todd and accused Blair of faking the pregnancy. Todd, plagued by sudden doubts, demanded that Blair take a pregnancy test. Both were shocked when it came out positive: Blair really was going to have Todd's baby.

For awhile, the Mannings lived the high life: Todd took hold of Victor's old tabloid, The Intruder, and re-named it The Sun; he also bought Blair an office building for her cosmetics company, Melador. But their marriage took a bad turn when Todd began to suspect that Blair was still in love with Cord. One night, Todd and Blair got into a fight and afterward Blair ran off to the docks, where she was mugged. While Blair survived the attack, their baby did not. The loss of the child rocked the Manning marriage and for a brief time Blair left Todd (even though he had started to fall in love with her). Shortly afterward, however, Blair realized that she'd made a mistake and she and Todd reconciled. This time around, Blair began to develop real feelings for her husband.

Todd and Blair's marriage was once again solid -- but the peace was not to last. Blair began waging a business war with ex-flame Max Holden, and during one of their battles, he discovered that she had lied to Todd about her pregnancy. Max ran to Todd with the information and when Todd learned that it was true, he immediately obtained an annulment -- unaware at the time that Blair was pregnant for the second time (with Starr).

When Blair discovered that she was pregnant, she briefly contemplated an abortion, but ultimately decided against it. In spite of everything that had happened, Blair really and truly was in love with Todd. She allowed him the time and space to deal with his anger while she kept the new pregnancy a secret. After a chance encounter in the country club stables, the two made love and began a new courtship (though a cautious Blair continued to stay quiet about her pregnancy until she knew she could trust him).

Todd and Blair worked together to help Dorian scam David Vickers (sweet revenge for David having kept Todd from his birthright). After the scam was pulled off, Todd took Blair on his private jet; as they flew over Key West (the site of their first wedding), he proposed to her. Before Blair accepted, she told him about her pregnancy. Both were happy at a chance to start fresh. They decided to get married right away, in a lovely ceremony at St. James, where they were surrounded by a select group of family members. Afterward, Todd whisked Blair away to a private reception in the Palace ballroom where, after dinner, golden balloons rained down on them (part of a promise Todd had made earlier to "shower her with gold").

Shortly after the wedding, Todd found out that a young friend of Marty Saybrooke's was near death in the hospital -- while Marty herself was out of reach in Ireland. Todd (moved by his own guilt for raping Marty two years ago) took it upon himself to fly out to Ireland, find Marty, and then bring her back to the young girl's bedside before it was too late. Blair had a bad feeling about the plan, but Todd assured her that it would be okay, and that they would meet in London afterward to begin a proper honeymoon. Todd and Blair shared a passionate goodbye at the airport before Todd left. Little did they know, it would be the last time they would see each other for a year.

When Todd landed in Ireland, he learned that Irish terrorists were after Marty's lover, Patrick Thornhart. Todd sent Marty back to Llanview on his jet while he stayed behind to find Patrick. Unfortunately, the terrorists found Todd and, mistaking him for Patrick, shot him several times in the back. (Todd's last words were "Blair...Blair!") When the terrorists realized that they had targeted the wrong man, they put Todd in the trunk of their car (without realizing that Todd was still alive) and shoved the car over the cliffs and into the ocean. (This was all written in order to write off Todd's portrayer, Roger Howarth, who had elected to leave the show.) The last glimpse that viewers got of Todd was his body washing up onto the shore...and his eyes opening. Todd was still alive!

But no one would know it for a very long time. When Blair was informed of Todd's death, she was absolutely devastated. She blamed the whole thing on Marty, and during a confrontation between the two women, Blair went into premature labor and gave birth to a baby girl, Starr. Even though Starr was born with the odds stacked against her, she survived, and it was her presence that kept Blair going in the months after Todd's "death." Blair quickly formulated a plan to get revenge against Marty by seducing Patrick. And it worked. Marty eventually married another man, Dylan Moody, and Blair and Patrick formed something of a relationship. Despite this, Blair's heart remained with Todd.

Meanwhile, Todd was being nursed back to health by an Irish fisherman. Once he had regained his strength (aka, once Roger Howarth decided to return to the show), Todd made his way back to Llanview in order to reclaim his family. Unfortunately, the first thing he saw when he got back to his and Blair's penthouse was Blair, sprawled out on the floor, making love to Patrick. An enraged Todd sought out his sister Viki and (after she got over the shock of seeing him back from the dead) informed her that he was leaving town for good. After all, what was there left for him in Llanview, now that Blair had so obviously moved on with her life -- and moved on with the man Todd had given his life for in Ireland! Viki, anxious for him to stay, introduced him to his daughter, Starr. And just as Star had given her mother strength some months before, she gave her father a reason to stay in Llanview after all.

But as much as Todd was moved by love for Starr, he was still filled with a need to get revenge on Blair for (in Todd's mind) taking up with the enemy. He "kidnapped" Starr and took her to hide out with him in Viki's cabin, while a frantic Blair lost her mind over her daughter's disappearance. The kidnapping was short-lived, however, as Marty discovered his hiding place and convinced him to return Starr (though he did it in a way that hid his role as the kidnapper) and reveal himself to Blair. While Blair was initially ecstatic that Todd had returned to her, she soon became unsettled by his cold and seemingly unfeeling attitude.

Blair, of course, had no way of knowing that Todd had seen her with Patrick and was unable to erase the image from his mind. Nevertheless, she worked long and hard to get through Todd's defenses and the two became close again...until Blair found out that Todd was the one who had kidnapped Starr some months before. Now the tables were turned -- while Todd wanted nothing more than to be a family with Blair and Starr again, Blair was unable to get past the kidnapping. And things got even more muddled when it was discovered that Blair was pregnant with Patrick's child.

Todd and Blair began a bitter custody suit over Starr, and the ice between them only started to thaw when Starr was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, which required a bone marrow transfusion. As it turned out, Blair and Patrick's unborn son was the perfect match to donate bone marrow to Starr -- but before anything could be done, Blair lost the baby in an auto accident (the driver responsible was Blair's cousin, Kelly). While Starr was saved by another donor (Alex Olanov) and Blair went to Philadelphia for an extended recuperation, Todd (who blamed Patrick for Blair's accident) framed Patrick for the murder of another Llanview resident, Guy Armitage. When Blair found out, she was furious and initiated divorce proceedings, then had a stroke as a result of complications from the accident. She was sent away to recover.

Fearful that a divorce would mean losing Starr, Todd consulted with his new lawyer, Tea Delgado, who informed him that if he were married and able to provide a stable home life, he could retain custody of his daughter. Todd, seeing an opportunity, offered Tea $5 million to marry him. She accepted. The two were soon wed, and Todd got custody of Starr while Blair was still recovering.

Blair came back determined to exact revenge on Todd for stealing her daughter. She clashed repeatedly with Todd and Tea, and also did battle with Kelly over the prize of billionaire Ian Armitage (who ultimately chose Kelly). While Blair did eventually find some romantic success when she began dating Max again, she still had her sights on custody of Starr...and she saw her chance when Todd was accused of raping nurse Barbara Graham. When Blair realized that she was the only one who could provide Todd with an alibi for the time of the rape, she tried to use it as leverage to force him to give back custody of Starr. However, she ultimately realized that she didn't want to keep Starr from her father. She provided Todd with the alibi, his name was cleared, and the relationship between he and Blair warmed somewhat. He even hired her to work for him at The Sun. Meanwhile, Blair found out that Max was only dating her because Asa was paying him to spy on her. She dumped Max and had a fling with lawyer (and Todd's childhood mentor) Sam Rappaport.

While all this was going on, Todd became a suspect in the murder of Georgie Phillips. When he realized that he was about to be arrested, a desperate Todd called all the murder suspects together and held them hostage; he demanded that the real murderer reveal him/herself, and, as a threat, he showed them what appeared to be sticks of dynamite strapped to his chest. Eventually, Rachel Gannon admitted to the murder...and the dynamite turned out to be fake. Nevertheless, the police wanted Todd to do time for the hostage-taking. Todd went on the run for a while, but he was soon caught and placed on trial. His lawyer, Sam Rappaport, figured out that Todd had been sexually abused by Peter as a child. Before he could introduce this at trial, however, Todd started faking DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder, which his sister Viki famously suffered from) in an attempt to get the charges dismissed. Todd continued the charade of multiple personalities for months, fooling not only his wife Tea, but also almost all of Llanview.

Almost all of Llanview -- Blair wasn't fooled. She even managed to get a tape recording of Todd admitting to the DID fake-out. Unfortunately, Max got his hands on the tape and, in an effort to get Blair back, threatened to give it to Sam. Blair knew that if Sam found out about the tape, he'd dump her for keeping it a secret from him. So she was forced to scheme with Todd to try to get the tape back. Then, soon after Max returned the tape to Blair, Starr got hold of it and it accidentally started playing during the renewal of Todd and Tea's vows. Todd, now outed as a fraud, was forced to flee town, and soon afterward Tea divorced him. And Blair was in hot water too -- Sam was so disgusted over her collusion with Todd that he promptly broke up with her.

But it wasn't long before things began to look up for the scorned Todd and Blair. Todd briefly returned to town and convinced Tea to run away with him. And not only did Max get Blair to give him another chance, but he also got her to work with him in a convoluted plot to fool Asa and Renee Buchanan into thinking that he was their long lost son. The plan worked, Max and Blair got married, and for a time lived a life of Buchanan luxury. That is, until Blair learned that Max had cheated on her with Skye Chandler. Blair vowed to get revenge by blowing Max's Buchanan scheme out of the water.

A few months after his last visit to Llanview, Todd returned to town (sans Tea -- they had broken up off-screen) and set his sights on reuniting with Blair and Starr. And though Blair refused to give any thought to a possible reunion (she kept changing her mind on whether or not she wanted to give things with Max another shot), Starr was hopeful that her parents would get back together. In fact, not only did she want Todd and Blair to re-marry, but she also wanted them to give her a baby brother. (Foreshadowing!)

Eventually, Blair caught Max in the act of sleeping with Skye, and in a moment of pure rage, she shot him in the back. Todd helped Blair cover up the crime by framing Skye. Even though Todd was clearly acting out of love for Blair, she remained wary of his advances and over-the-top romantic gestures. In time, however, she realized her true feelings and re-affirmed her love for Todd. Blair quickly divorced Max and she and Todd planned to wed as soon as possible.

But Max wanted revenge. On the night before Todd and Blair's wedding, Max drugged Blair, got into bed with her, and (with Skye's help) arranged for Todd to see the whole thing. Todd fell for the ruse and, heartbroken and enraged over Blair's "betrayal," waited until the ceremony and then revealed Blair as Max's shooter. An extremely confused and hurt Blair was promptly arrested and carted off to jail. By the time Todd realized that Max and Skye had tricked him, it was too late.

Blair, now facing serious jail time, decided that her only shot at freedom depended on getting Max back on her side. So she lied to him and told him that she was pregnant with his child. Max agreed to testify on her behalf, but was detained by Starr at the last minute, which gave Todd the chance to take the stand on Blair's behalf instead. Todd's testimony got Blair off (on the grounds that she was temporarily insane when she shot Max) and she was spared from prison. However, there was still one little matter to contend with -- for the second time, Blair's "fake" pregnancy turned out to be real. And, again for the second time, Todd was the father.

While Blair at first considered telling Todd that her unborn child was really his, she finally decided against it, out of fear that he would eventually turn on her and try to take the new baby away (as he had taken Starr away in the past). Todd was unable to get past what he saw as Blair's desire for a new family with Max, and vowed to keep Starr away from Blair forever. A devastated Blair traveled to Mexico to have the baby in peace. However, Todd followed her there, and when she went into labor, he was forced to help deliver her son.

Unfortunately for the baby, Todd saw him as an obstacle to his ultimate goal -- being a family with Blair and Starr. On impulse, he told Blair that the baby had died, and then he took the baby to the airport to "get rid of him." In some kind of weird twist of fate, Todd ran into David Vickers (fresh off his latest con job) and paid him money to find the baby some new adoptive parents.

After Todd and Blair returned to Llanview, they grew very close and admitted their love to one another. And, yet again, they planned to remarry. But before the wedding took place, Blair admitted to Todd her deep, dark secret -- the baby she'd lost in Mexico had, in fact, been Todd's after all. Todd was horrified to learn that the baby he'd given away was actually his own. He immediately tracked down David Vickers and forced him to give up the child's location. Once Todd found the baby, he brought him back to Llanview and presented him to Blair as a child that needed to be adopted. Blair fell in love with the little boy, she and Todd remarried, adopted the baby and named him John "Jack" Cramer Manning.

While Todd spent months trying to keep Jack's real identity a secret, in the end it came down to a question of genetics: Jack developed aplastic anemia (the same rare condition that Starr had as a baby). A skeptical Sam (who was still carrying a torch for Blair) put the pieces together and proved to Blair that Jack was actually her real son -- and that Todd had lied about his "death." Blair confronted Todd, who was forced to admit the truth. Disgusted, Blair barred Todd from ever seeing his children again.

When Blair, Starr, Jack and Sam went on vacation to Hawaii, Todd followed them there and tried to arrange for a hired man named Ross Rayburn to kidnap the kids so Todd could run away with them. The kidnap attempt was thwarted by Tea, who had recently resurfaced in Llanview and had also made her way to Hawaii. After the failed kidnapping, Todd, Tea and Ross were stranded on a deserted island somewhere in the South Pacific. (Back in Llanview, while Todd was missing, Blair divorced him.) Todd and Tea were tempted over lingering feelings, and even slept together for the first time. However, after they did the deed, Todd realized that he was still very much in love with Blair. With Tea's blessing, he built a raft and left the island in a determined bid to get back to Llanview and reunite with his family.

Eventually, Todd was picked up by a ship which returned him to Llanview. He made his presence known to Blair, who, despite her recent romantic involvement with Sam, struggled over her feelings for Todd. So Todd devised yet another "get Blair back" scheme. This time, he staged a fake mob hit on the kids' nanny, Suzanne, in order to make Blair think that the mob was after her. After Suzanne's "death," Blair was "forced" to go into hiding at Todd's penthouse. Living with Todd in such close quarters made Blair realize that, despite his past misdeeds, she was still in love with him. Todd proposed and they planned yet another wedding, which was interrupted when Sam barged into the penthouse with a very-alive Suzanne. Blair, outraged, told Todd that she never wanted to see him again.

While all of this was going on, the evil Mitch Laurence (a cult leader) returned to Llanview after years of being away and quickly made enemies of Todd and Blair. Mitch kidnapped Blair and, for a time, held her as a means of getting leverage over Todd. Todd managed to rescue Blair from Mitch and she began to warm up to him again.

But then, Mitch exacted revenge by kidnapping Todd and sealing him up in Victor Lord's tomb. Blair overheard Mitch's scheme and ran to the tomb to rescue Todd -- but the top of the coffin was too heavy to lift. Blair ran to go get help, but when she returned with the police, they lifted the lid and discovered that it was empty. Todd had vanished, seemingly into thin air. Blair went after Mitch and vowed to kill him if he refused to tell her where Todd was, but it didn't work. Eventually, everyone in Llanview accepted that Todd had died, for real this time.