Scooby Doo

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Scooby-Doo is a long, long running franchise of cartoons created by Hanna-Barbera in the 1960’s revolving around a gang of meddling teens (and their unusually intelligent if cowardly pet Great Dane) solving mysteries in the form of faked hauntings, monsters and other paranormal phenomena. In some iterations of the setting, it may be their (self-appointed) job to investigate these mysteries, whilst in others they just have really, really rotten luck and keep stumbling across loonies pulling the same basic stunt.

The Cast

The core of the Scooby Doo franchise are "Mystery Incorporated"; four teens/young adults and one unusually smart dog. They all grew up in the town of Coolsville, but so far more traveling once they get older.

Fred Rogers is the ostensible leader of the team. He's decently smart, and something of a mechanical whiz, as he's always the one who invents the various traps they use to try and apprehend the monster while also being a bro you can have a drink with.

Daphne Blake is... uh, well, she's the chick of the group, basically. She functionally doesn't have much of a role outside of being the usual damsel in distress, though her clumsiness and weirdly high Luck stat means she often unearths vital clues to solving the mystery, usually by tripping lover them or bumping into them. Perhaps she is the reason the gang is in good hygiene despite their dirty work. Even the glutonous hippie is washed and looking presentable. Later interpretations try to make her more compentent, often showing her as the only one with any fighting skills, to make her less "the one chick".

Velma Dinkley is the brains of the team, often being the one to deduce who the culprit was before the final unmasking and figure out their plot, though depending on the series, she may share this role with the others (typically Fred) depending on the episode. She tends to also be very clumsy, resulting in the loss of her glasses with comedic effect.

Norville "Shaggy" Rogers is a cowardly glutton who kind of shares Daphne's spotlight as "the guy with really mixed Luck"; he's usually the one who keeps getting chased by the latest nasty, though he always manages to come out unscathed in the end. Often suspected of being a stoner because of his hippie attitude and constant munchies. Fun fact; the really bizarre food concoctions he was prone to eating in the original series came about after his vegetarian voice actor managed to get Hanna-Barbera to agree to make Shaggy a vegetarian too.

Scoobert “Scooby” Doo is Shaggy's pet Great Dane, and basically a chip off the old block. He's basically a clone of Shaggy in canine form, and the main mascot of Mystery Incorporated. Despite his cowardice and tendency to hide from danger, he is always there to catch the bad guy whenever the trap goes awry with his shaggy luck and good boy instincts.

And then... there's the Other One. The one we don't like to talk about. The one, the only, Scrappy Doo. Scooby's nephew, and widely regarded as the single worst thing to ever happen to the franchise (until the 2023 atrocity that was the Velma show, that is). He's so hated that the name that TVTropes came up with for "That character that the vast majority of the fandom seems to hate" is "The Scrappy". Introduced in 1979 in an effort to revive interest in the flagging franchise. Scrappy is the son of Scooby's sister, and is a plucky little pup who is as brave as his uncle is cowardly. He hero-worships Scooby, and is forever boasting about what a great monster hunter Scooby is, to Scooby's chagrin. Why is he so hated? Well, it's a combination of factors, but the biggest elements are probably his annoying catchphrases and his constant insistence on trying to immediately attack the episode's baddy on first sight, forcing Shaggy and Scooby to save him from his own bravery, which just makes their cowardice harder to swallow. Even Hanna-Barbera and later Warner Bros got in on the hatedom, poking fun at how much viewers disliked him - he was even the villain in the first live-action movie!

The sequel to the original run had many guest appearances of both real world celebrities and fictional characters joining the team in their mysteries; such people included Don Knotts, Sonny and Cher, the Three Stooges, the Harlem Globetrotters, the Addams Family, and even Batman and Robin. This started a trend of bizarre celebrity cameos that has survived to this day with the likes of John Cena, KISS, Gary Coleman, even fellow canine Courage the Cowardly Dog.

The Series

There have been a lot of cartoons and movies in this franchise and will take a while to archive them all. If you know any and all scooby doo shows or movies we missed, feel free to add them here.

Scooby-Doo: Where Are You! is the original series, the one that started it all, way back in 1969. Ironically, despite the mega-franchise it launched, this particular show only ran for 25 episodes!

The New Scooby-Doo Movies: Released in a 2-year period from 1972 to 1974, this was a series of hour-long animated specials, sequels to "Where Are You!" that saw Mystery Inc. teaming up with either animated versions of real-world celebrities, or characters from other Hanna-Barbera animated shows of the time, such as Batman & Robin, Josie and the Pussycats, or the Addams Family.

Often confused with "Where Are You!", the Scooby-Doo Show consisted of 40 episodes across a 3-year period (1976-1979) and was essentially a continuation of "Where Are You!" Tracking these episodes down is a little tricky because they were actually split across three of Hanna-Barbera's "package shows"; "The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour" (Eps. 1-16), "Scooby's All-Star Laff-a-Lympics" (Eps. 17-24), and "Scooby's All-Stars" (Eps. 25-40). Eps. 25-40 were originally shown with the opening titles of "Scooby-Doo! Where Are You?!" (not attached to a package show), and are often seen as a sort of the third season of the original series (and have been released to DVD as such).

The Scrappy-Doo Era began in 1979, and collectively ran until 1986, spanning multiple shows that technically formed an ongoing collective continuity with "Where Are You!" and the Scooby-Doo Show:

• Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo:' Scrappy's introduction, and essentially "The Scooby-Doo Show", but with Scrappy added. Ran for 16 episodes from 1979 to 1980, and ended with Scrappy accidentally destroying the Mystery Machine and causing Mystery Inc to part ways, setting up the next show...
• The Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo Show: The most iconic (and probably the most loathed) of the Scrappy-Doo shows; this show revolved around Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy being caught in various wacky misadventures. It consisted of 33 episodes (each divided into 3 seven-minute-long short stories) that ran from 1980-1982.
• The New Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo Show: Airing from 1983 to 1984, this 13 episode series saw Daphne join back up with Shaggy and the dogs and reform them into a new version of Mystery Inc, bringing back the old mystery-solving formula. This was then followed by a second 13-episode series in 1984-1985, confusingly titled The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries, most notable for several return appearances from Fred and Velma.
• The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo: The end of the Scrappy-Doo Era came in the form of this show, a continuation to '

'The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries that saw the gang accidentally unleash 13 powerful ghosts from a magical demon box, and being charged to fix their mistake. It ran for 13 episodes from 1985-1986, but was cut short before completing its story arc.

After the death of the Scrappy-Doo Era, the old continuity was broken away, replaced by a series of new shows that would take the core idea of Scooby-Doo and reinterprent it.

The first of these new shows was A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, which ran for 31 episodes from 1988-1991. This series revolved around a version of the gang as kids, but still solving mysteries. This began a trend for the Scooby-Doo franchise to poke fun at its own iconic cliches and tropes.

What's New, Scooby-Doo? was a 42 episode "contemporary reimagining" of "Where Are You!" that ran from 2002 to 2006. This was the first series to be produced by Warner Bros.

Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get A Clue! launched after the end of "What's New?" in 2006 and lasted until 2008 with 26 episodes. This completely abandoned the mystery solving angle and instead focused on Shaggy and Scooby, now fantastically wealthy after inheriting a mansion from Shaggy's missing mad scientist Uncle Albert. However, Albert's inventions are being pursued by a mad scientist named Dr. Phineas Phibes, and so Shaggy must use special Scooby Snacks that can give Scooby temporary superpowers to protect his uncle's inventions.

Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated is largely regarded as the best version of the series. Possing an overarching plot like "Get a Clue", Mystery Incorporated sees the gang trade in their nomadic roots from the classic era to instead be based entirely in the ridiculously fake-haunted town of Crystal Cove, slowly unraveling the puzzle behind the weirdness of their town and unearthing a terrifying paranormal force. It ran for 52 episodes from 2010 to 2013.

Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! could be most charitably described as "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, but the characters are all grown up again", having the same focus on self-parody and self-referential meta-humor. The gang are teenagers on a summer vacation road trip who keep running into mysteries and monsters. Widely considered the worst Scooby series since the Scrappy-Doo Era until the curse that is the Velma show came into being. Ran for 52-episodes from 2015-2018.

Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? is essentially a modern-day remake of the same basic concept as "The New Scooby-Doo Movies". Ran for 52 episodes from 2019-2021.

Velma is the newest Scooby-Doo show. And it absolutely fucking sucks! Picture every terrible cliche of "adult animation" and "SJW-backed modern revamp", roll them all together, and you're still only scratching the surface of this filth. We cannot even begin to describe how awful this show is even with politics aside. The worst of all, it has, may Allah forgive me for saying this word, a self insert.

The Movies

The Scooby-Doo Movies can be broken into three major groups; the original animated films and TV specials, the direct-to-video animated films, and the live-action films.

Animated Films/TV Specials

• Scooby Goes Hollywood (1979, ABC, prime time special)
• Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers (1987, made-for-TV movie)
• Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (1988, made-for-TV movie)
• Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf (1988, made-for-TV movie)
• Scooby-Doo in Arabian Nights (1994, made-for-TV movie)
• The Scooby-Doo Project (1999, a series of shorts parodying The Blair Witch Project)
• Scooby-Doo! Spooky Games (2012)
• Scooby-Doo! Haunted Holidays (2012)
• Scooby-Doo! and the Spooky Scarecrow (2013)
• Scooby-Doo: Mecha Mutt Menace (2013)
• Scooby-Doo: Ghastly Goals (2014)
• Scooby-Doo and the Beach Beastie (2015)
• LEGO Scooby-Doo: Knight Time Terror (2015, Lego Special)
• Scoobynatural (2018, an episode of Supernatural where the two franchises Crossover)
• SCOOB! (2020)
• Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now! (2021, the CW, prime time special)

Direct-To-Video Films

These films are actually considered to be a series in their own right, saving for the two "Lego Scooby-Doo" films.

• Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998)
• Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost (1999)
• Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders (2000)
• Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase (2001)
• Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire (2003)
• Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico (2003)
• Scooby-Doo! and the Loch Ness Monster (2004)
• Aloha, Scooby-Doo! (2005)
• Scooby-Doo in Where’s My Mummy? (2005)
• Scooby Doo! Pirates Ahoy! (2006)
• Chill Out, Scooby-Doo! (2007)
• Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King (2008)
• Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword (2009)
• Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo (2010)
• Scooby-Doo: Camp Scare (2010)
• Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur (2011)
• Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire (2012)
• Big Top Scooby-Doo! (2012)
• Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon (2013)
• Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright (2013)
• Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery (2014)
• Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy (2014)
• Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness (2015)
• Scooby-Doo! and KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery (2015)
• Scooby-Doo! and the WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon (2016)
• Scooby-Doo! Shaggy's Showdown (2017)
• Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2018)
• Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost (2018)
• Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost (2019)
• Scooby-Doo: Return to Zombie Island (2019)
• Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! (2020)
• Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob (2021)
• Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! meets Courage the Cowardly Dog (2021)
• Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! (2022)
• LEGO Scooby-Doo! Haunted Hollywood (2016)
• LEGO Scooby-Doo! Blowout Beach Bash (2017)

Live-Action Films

• Scooby Doo (2002 theatrical movie)
• Scooby-Doo: Monsters Unleashed (2004 theatrical movie)
• Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins (2009 TV movie)
• Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster (2010 TV movie)
• Scooby-Doo! Adventures: The Mystery Map (2013 direct-to-video movie)
• Daphne & Velma (2018 direct-to-video movie)

Monsters: Always Fake?

Everybody knows that the monsters in Scooby-Doo are always fakes; weirdoes dressing up in costumes to fake hauntings for various elaborate schemes. Which makes it all the more surprising for many to hear that there have been real monsters in the Scooby Doo franchise.

In fact, the practice started during the Scrappy-Doo era, with the Scrappy-based cartoons and spin-off movies having Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy run into real monsters. The last series of that era, "The Thirteen Ghosts of Scooby-Doo", is even entirely about Shaggy, Scooby, Scrappy and Daphne teaming up with new human kid sidekick Flim-Flam to track down and seal away thirteen ghosts that Scooby and Shaggy accidentally released from a magic box.

/tg/ Relevance

You wouldn't think this show is all that /tg/ relevant, but you'd be surprised.

Firstly, this is actually a decent reference show for a lot of Urban Fantasy games; if you want to run a game about paranormal investigators, like Dark*Matter or World of Darkness, you could do worse than watching some Scooby Doo for ghoulies and plots. Yes, the base material is aimed towards comedy and fake monsters, but you can easily grimdark it up to suit your tastes.

Secondly, there are a ridiculous amount of monsters in the Scooby Doo menagerie, and even if they are always fakes by default, it shouldn't be that hard to watch an episode and come up with a way to take the episode's monster and twist it for use in your own game. The Spooky Space Kook, an alien ghost piloting the spaceship equivalent of a ghost ship, could easily be reworked into a horror for Spelljammer or even one of the Warhammer 40,000 RPGs, for example.