Scooby-Doo (animation)/WMG

Shaggy is on some sort of drug.

OK, we shouldn't lose anyone here. Not only does he have conversations with his dog, but he is also constantly hungry (the munchies) and extremely paranoid about the existence of ghosts. The only thing is, we can't tell exactly what he's on. The constant munchies suggest pot, but the talking dog and paranoia things suggest a hallucinogen of some sort. Oh, and how do you justify the rest of the gang understanding Scooby? Contact high.

• Even better: pot actually is a hallucinogen at very high doses or with certain strains, or so I heard.
• Paranoid about the existence of ghosts? It's not paranoia. There really are (fake) ghosts out to get him all the time. (Eventually, real ones as well.)
• Scooby Snacks are hash brownies. Or maybe hash cookies. This is why Shaggy is so willing to eat them and why they cause him to exhibit odd behaviour.
  • Hash brownies all the way. The sad implication is that Daphne (who doesn't eat them) carries a box of them just to bribe him and Scooby into danger. Exploit your friends' vices: this is the Aesop.
• Everything that happens in every series, including the traveling and the existence of the other characters, is just Shaggy hallucinating from too much LSD, or some related drug. To explain the constant munchies, he's just a regular old Big Eater.
  • This could mean that Scooby is either just a normal dog or not really there at all. And anyone else who communicates with Scooby is just yet another hallucination from Shaggy, since the entire show is from his point of view.

Somebody out there is making a fortune selling realistic monster costumes.

Each member of the gang represents the "Five Colleges" in Massachusetts.

• Daphne= Mount Holyoke
• Velma= Smith
• Fred=Amherst
• Shaggy=Hampshire
• Scooby=UMass

A popular legend explained on This site

• That or the Claremont Colleges in California.
  • That would mean Velma is Harvey Mudd and Daphne is Scripps, but what about the other three?
  • Shaggy would be from Pitzer and Fred from CMC, so Scooby could be from Pomona. Honestly though, the last one doesn't seem a particularly strong fit. Can anybody do better?
    • The reasoning that one can apply to Scooby = Pomona is that each could be considered the best known of their respective groups. However, it is rather a stretch.

The Scooby Gang are on a paid tour of enacted "mysteries".

They signed up for a package deal-- travel to a few dozen "haunted" houses around town (often made up to look like they're in various parts of the country), and try to figure out the scam at each one. The so-called "breakdowns" that "coincidentally" put them on the doorstep of a building that someone in a rubber mask is trying to "swindle" away, are all part of the act. Even Shaggy and Scooby enjoy the events; they act scared to get into the spirit of the event.

Scrappy is the bastard son of Scooby and Daphne.

He is practically half human (more than Scooby is). It kind of makes sense.

• It kind of makes Squick, too.
• Maybe it explains Scrappy's psychotically aggressive nature-- a chemical or genetic imbalance caused by his hybrid nature.
• Just how much Family Guy were you watching?
• This troper stumbled across pictures along those lines once - and proceeded to cry for a long time afterwards.
  • Also, Scrappy has an Oedipus Rex complex. In the live action movie, he aggressively tries to mark his territory on Daphne, then tries to kill Scooby. And the name of Scrappy's monster form? Scrappy Rex.
    • That's Nega!Scrappy, not the original Scrappy.

All the monsters are real...

And ripping off their heads kills them. Shaggy and Scooby just perceive it as a mask being taken off. This is why, episode after episode, they keep thinking the current monster is real: It is. It's the insanity battling with the reality.

• We are watching the show through Shaggy and Scooby's own drug-induced influence! If this is the case, then the show from a true omniscient POV would be unsuitable for the Animation Age Ghetto.
  • Explains why music starts up Once an Episode, and why doors act as teleporters. Or if that's accurate...

Shaggy and/or Scooby are Reality Warpers

Velma has known everything since the beginning

She just runs away because she's not trained to fight against bulky guys. (That, and she can't see without her glasses, which makes them an Achilles' Heel.) She told the others to solve mysteries, but she was the only one who was skeptical and knew what to do. If we don't take the later shows into consideration, she was the group's leader, but acted like the shy nerdy girl.

She also might have a Death Note hidden somewhere. It's rare to hear about or see a bitter criminal wanting revenge; she kills them as soon as they enter prison.

• Since this only applies to earlier shows - what's the cutoff?
  • When the monsters started being real?

The different incarnations of the show are from a different character's perspective

The original series, with a more serious take on things was Freddy's perspective with him as the hero. What's New Scooby Doo is Daphne's viewpoint, with things being Lighter and Softer. The upcoming Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated is Velma's perspective, with things being much more grounded in reality and her being the main heroine. Finally, the movies are when things got way too real for Shaggy.

The Monsters are always real.

What's more, the main characters know it, and are government/Technocracy agents whose job it is to dispose of the reality deviants, wizards, and monsters; cover up the evidence; and convince the locals it was all a hoax. This explains why after so many 'hoaxes' they don't just tackle the guy in the mask at the beginning, and how someone in a bulky costume exhibits super-strength.

Shaggy and Scooby hail from an alternate timeline or universe...

...where their laws of physics are quite different and they escaped into Fred, Velma, and Daphne's world for some reason.

• This would explain how Shaggy and Scooby can eat so much.

Freddy and Daphne are straight

...And in love with with each other for real. They're not The Beard for each other. Velma isn't a lesbian, she just hasn't met anyone she'd like, or everyone she meets turns out to be evil. (Ben Ravencroft anyone?) I know that this is a WMG bordering on insane since every knows that everyone on that show is homosexual.

The only person Velma's ever kissed was Scooby (Pup episode) and in the movie "Camp Scare" she is repulsed when a camp ranger flirts with her. Scooby Doo Mystery Inc has her pining for Shaggy. So who knows?

Scrappy's father is the dog fron Duck Hunt

The only way it makes sense...

Scooby Doo and the Alien Invaders is an allegory for the Holocaust.

I was watching the movie earlier today and found the ending message of tolerance towards what you don't understand a bit confusing. They can't really mean tolerance towards aliens, can they? that won't be an issue for at least another century! Well maybe they mean tolerance towards other races/homosexuals, but that makes even less sense when one remembers that the good aliens weren't obvious at first and that they were in a heterosexual relationship with Shaggy and Scooby during the movie. So that leaves one final group: The Jews.

The rest began falling into place: The gang gets their car into a slump (Post-world war one economic downturn for Germany) and are led to believe that ugly green aliens are to blame (Jews with steriotypical jewish features and traits)and decide to help their new friends at Seti (Hitler and other heads of the Holocaust) find them before they can cause more problems (Representing the transition from German citizen into nazi soldiers). Along the way both Shaggy and Scooby meet Girls simelar to themselves whom they assume are from Earth (Germany) and court them, being them not interested much in finding the aliens (Carrying out Hitler's master plan) Meanwhile the other three try to dig deeper into the alien mystery (Carrying out the war) but are kept away from some sort of secret mountain(The camps) by MP's (The Gestapo). Wishing to get to the bottom of things, they sneak into the mountain(camp) and discover that the members of Seti (Hitler&Co.) are creating the false image of the green aliens (Evil jews) so that they may carry out their master plan: diggin up mountains of gold (Taking over the world and killing jews.) and that they paid off the MP's (Gestapo) to do their bidding.

The game steps in to stop them, but their machinery (Economic/political) power is too great. So in step two mysterious outsiders to stop them: both aliens (Jews) at first the gang is horrified, but then they come to realize that these aliens (Jews) are Shaggy and Scooby Doo's girlfriends. At this they stand togeather and turn in the thieves (Overturn the rule of the Nazi party). And though whatever anti-extraterrestrial (anti-semitic) has been done has been undone, the Benevolent aliens (The reality of jews; normal, un-evil people) realize that Earth (Germany) is no longer a good place for them and that they should return to where they belong: Their home planet (Isreal).

Ok, first off I'm not anti-semitic, this is just an allegory, and second this is a WMG, who cares?

This so-called "monster" is a criminal in a costume!!!

The ghouls and goblins are actually normal men and women who take advantage of superstitions based on local legends in order to scare people away, lest they discover a hidden treasure or an illegal operation that the "ghosts" are trying to keep underwraps.

• I never thought of that! And the things they use that make them seem real are all machinery or trickery as well?

The gang is actually a group of ghosts being faced with eternal torment in purgatory for past crimes.

Here's my theory: All of the kids are really dead, Scooby is a demon tasked with watching over them while they work at solving "mysteries" to make up for their past crimes, which are:

Fred: A bullying, womanizing sociopath in life. Explains his pushy, overbearing attitude and his constant insistence on solving the next mystery. He still hasn't learned his lesson and is only wanting to finish his punishment as easily and quickly as possible. An egotist, he postures himself as the leader despite his flawed plans.

Daphne: A vain woman who used her body to get what she wanted, very promiscuous and obsessed with fashion and social hierarchy, sometimes to the point that it clouds her better judgement. Seeing Fred as the strongest and with the most power, she placates him with sex in order to curry favor with him, which is why they're usually seen going off together.

Velma: An introverted bookworm who gave more attention to her studies than she did to friends and family and purposely isolated herself from the outside world. Mixed with what she once considered "common riffraff", she must learn to cooperate and build relationships with other humans if she ever hopes to ascend to a higher plane.

Shaggy: A junkie who died of a drug overdose. He has formed a bond with Scooby after introducing him to marijuana(among other possible drugs) and, though he hasn't learned his lesson in the least, has inadvertently provided the rest of the gang with the semi-freedom they enjoy. Because he is high all the time, he's the only one who doesn't notice that Scooby isn't nearly as afraid of everything as he would have the gang believe.

Scooby Doo: A high-level demon who keeps watch over the four kids, ensuring that they each learn their lesson and refuses to release them until they do. Shaggy has gotten close to him by introducing him to drugs, and as such Scooby has loosened his grip on their leash quite a bit, allowing them luxuries they wouldn't have normally had otherwise(like staying in hotels and going to barnyard dances). Should they get to comfortable in one place, however, the goofy and lovable act will quickly fade as a much more aggressive side becomes more prominent. He may secretly care about the group, but they all see him as a horrible monster that they must fight to one day escape.

They are never allowed to stay in one place for long, and the kind and friendly behavior they exhibit is merely a ruse they put on to seem more convincing. They're learning, however, slowly but surely. The Mystery Machine is their tomb, which they can't stray too far from without inciting Scooby's demonic wrath. The fear of that wrath is the only thing holding them together. If it was gone, they would split up(for good) and haul ass to the ends of the earth in an attempt to escape the canine horror that mocks them with his silly grin and put-on cowardice.

Scrappy, on the other hand.... He's just a manifestation of Scooby's inherent demonic sadism created to torment and undermine the group's suffering when he feels that they have grown too complacent with their current situation.

• • You just ruined my childhood. I hope you're happy.
  • On the other hand, you just made my day. Bravo.

Scooby thinks that he's the reason the oddballs in the costumes are chasing the Gang.

Every so often, Fred or Velma will ask Scooby to act as a sort of bloodhound and get him to pick up the scent of the petty felon in the mask messing with them; the problem is that they tend to be hazy on the fact that Scooby can't turn his sense of smell on or off like a machine. Like any other of his senses, it's on twenty-four/seven; that means that the costumes can't and don't keep him from knowing who the crook in the suit is. To him, it's just another suit of clothing that the person happens to be wearing; since people know that he can speak English, he thinks that his ability to identify the malefactor du jour is a source of danger to the teenagers that happen to be in his vicinity. He only feigns a belief in monsters so that the gang doesn't realize this and put themselves in harm's way trying to protect him.

Scrappy's family doesn't want him either

why so you think the first time we see him he's stuffed in a crate and shoved out of a train?

• • Fridge Logic. Scrappy is related to Scooby.

Crystal and Amber are Plumbers.

As we know, they described themselves as police officers from a distant solar system; given that they probably know Max Tennyson, it's not hard to realize that their excuse about dressing like hippies because the TV signals they've picked up date from 1970 is a lie. They're probably following his "If you find a look that works, stick with it" philosophy.

Eating Scooby snacks makes you part dog.

This is why Shaggy understands Scooby, he's at least partially dog. The others don't really understand Scooby, they just kinda guess by his gestures, something any human can do. But Shaggy is the only to respond to Shaggy's words. I can also explain some of the other things that most people pin on a drug habit. Dogs also have a large appetite. And his heightened senses make him paranoid because the human mind isn't designed to deal with that much input.

The cast is college age

Really, they go all around the world without ever getting in trouble with the law for being underage. I guessed they were 18+ because you could be a legal adult and on your own at age 18.

Scooby does not exist.

In the earliest cartoon, none of the characters interact with him and what he does is just part of Shaggy's high or brain-damaged mind. Whenever Scooby does anything, the other characters are condescending - like they're talking to a child with an imaginary friend.

The show is set in the midst of an economic collapse.

Cracked.com came up with this first.

Most of the bad guys that Mystery, Inc. deals with are geniuses able to create realistic monster costumes, project full-scale holograms and carve out high-tech hideouts in abandoned mineshafts, and many of them had impressive skills before they turned to crime -- in the original run, for example, three were PhDs, and two were lawyers. Yet their motivations usually involve money, finding work, getting revenge on their bosses who fired them, or getting revenge on robots, the quintessential job stealers. Plus, there's the fact that seemingly every area in the Scooby-Doo universe -- ski resorts, amusement parks, mansions, airfields -- looks deserted and dilapidated. The setting of Scooby-Doo is a dystopia where the economy has collapsed and skilled workers are forced to turn to crime in order to make a living.

Plus, there's the fact that the show first premiered at the end of The Sixties, the tail end of America's postwar "golden years", and is most associated with The Seventies, the age of economic malaise.

Scrappy is actually a very kind and shy puppy off the set

He rarely talks to anyone, or at all at that. He deeply regrets his roll on the show, and wishes he could have taken it back if he could.

The gang actually sets up all the monster hoaxes and "stops" them for fame and money.

Think about it. Why else would it be that EVERY town they stop by suddenly has a monster issue? They find someone in town to think of a motive and dress up as a monster to scare people. The gang catches and exposes the monster to make it appear that they solved the mystery. They share part of their reward money with the "criminal".