Scooby-Doo Supporting Characters That Captivated Fans
Since its debut in 1969, Hanna-Barbera's iconic Saturday-morning cartoon franchise, Scooby-Doo, has been one of the most iconic kids' properties of all time. Spilling over into comics, live-action movies, games, and more, it has maintained the love and respect of audiences for generations since its debut. Telling the story of a gang of mystery-solving kids, the series has delivered a range of entertaining and lovable characters.
Scooby-Doo's supporting cast of characters, from villains to fellow heroes, brings a lot to their world, with their roles ranging from comic relief and love interests to deadly foes. The show has been adapted into dozens of revivals and even more movies, and the Scooby gang consistently has a wealth of interesting people around them. While some may be one-dimensional, they bring something great to the show all the same. And others are sometimes written better than the gang themselves.
10 Melbourne O'Reilly
Voiced By Steve Blum
In 2002, Cartoon Network modernized the Scooby-Doo mythos in What's New, Scooby-Doo?, a series that capitalized on trends and popular figures of the era. One of the best fresh characters was Melbourne O'Reilly, a character who combined the adventurism of Indiana Jones with the personality of an exaggerated Steve Irwin. From their first meeting, he became a regular ally of the gang, using his background in archeology to help.
The Australian adventurer was included to give '00s kids a funny satire of adventure heroes, and he sold it incredibly well.
9 Sheriff Brosnon Stone
Voiced By Patrick Warburton
Mystery Incorporated gave Scooby-Doo fans something they'd wanted for a while by grounding the gang in their hometown of Crystal Cove and giving them a fixed supporting cast. One of the characters who truly sold the show's love-letter to '80s slashers was the by-the-book town sheriff, Bronson Stone. Voiced by Patrick Warburton, the character's stubborn nature and vendetta against the kids gave them a well-meaning but difficult antagonist.
Sheriff Stone is one of the best examples of a character who manages to occupy the space of wholesome hero and antagonist all in one go. Throughout the show, he was depicted as a heroic family man who cared about his community, and he did step up when needed. The character was thrown in for comic relief, something pulled off to great effect, and he was given one of the series' most heroic moments when he led the charge against Pericles.
8 Jeremiah Wickles
Played By Peter Boyle
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed continues to be one of the most underrated projects featuring the gang. In essence, the movie was one big nostalgia trip nodding to the gang's old adventures, and it challenged their friendships along the way. One of the best vehicles for this story was Jeremiah Wickles, the man who once donned the costume of the franchise's first villain: the Black Knight. Now older, he was written into another role.
Peter Boyle made it great every step of the way.
Jeremiah Wickles was responsible for one of the most touching moments in Scooby-Doo history when he opened up to a disguised Shaggy, opining that he and his fellow unmasked criminals turned to crime to compensate for their shortcomings. This moment of emotional vulnerability stood in hilarious contrast to the character's curmudgeonly personality and comical greed -- and Peter Boyle made it great every step of the way.
7 Cassidy Williams (Angel Dynamite)
Voiced By Vivica A. Fox
Long before Scooby and the gang started solving mysteries, Crystal Cove was home to another gang of sleuths: the original Mystery Incorporated. Among the team was Angel Dynamite, a woman known to the gang as a popular local DJ. As she interacted with the gang, she was revealed to be more mysterious than she let on, and was torn between her loyalties to her old friend, Mr. E, and the kids.
Through Angel Dynamite, the show had a tether between the older generation and the new Mystery Inc, someone who often shed light on the history of Crystal Cove. Playing the role of mentor to the Scooby gang, her dedication to bringing down Pericles made her one of the series' most heroic characters. Created as a callback to the '70s, she fit the motif of the franchise brilliantly, and her significance to the gang ensured the audience got emotionally invested in her story.
6 Emile Mondavarious
Played By Rowan Atkinson
In their 2002 live-action movie, the Scooby gang was lured to Spooky Island, which was marketed to them as a fun resort. Upon arriving, they were greeted by the eccentric manager, Emile Mondavarious. From the moment he first appeared, viewers were treated to a clumsy but charming man who seemingly wanted them to rid his island of monsters. However, as the story progressed, he gradually changed into something darker, culminating in turning Scooby into a sacrifice.
While the Mondavarious who appeared throughout the movie was technically Scrappy, he was truly brought to life by Rowan Atkinson, who sold the character's eccentricities brilliantly. On the surface, he seemed like just another campy buffoon -- one who felt ripped from the original show. When the big reveal happened, it only made the character funnier in retrospect, turning him into one of the best disguises the gang has come up against.
5 Marcie Fleach (Hot Dog Water)
Voiced By Linda Cardellini
One of the gang's best cases in Mystery Incorporated pitted them against the Manticore, soon revealed as a local girl named Marcie Fleach. After being released from prison, she teamed up with Velma to help her solve mysteries, proving every bit as intelligent as the sleuth. By helping the gang, she was able to find redemption from her brief stint as a criminal, and it wasn't long before the audience saw her as a natural love interest for Velma.
Selling the audience on a new addition to the gang was always a difficult task, and few characters could have done it like Marcie.
Marcie gave the franchise one of its most heartbreaking moments when she gave her life to help the gang defeat Professor Pericles and save the town. Selling the audience on a new addition to the gang was always a difficult task, and few characters could have done it like Marcie. Both as a potential love interest for Velma and as a heroic detective, she helped make Mystery Incorporated a brilliant show, and won the love of fans through her courage and intelligence.
4 Professor Pericles
Voiced By Udo Kier
In the entire history of Scooby-Doo, the gang never faced a villain quite as cunning and intelligent as Professor Pericles. A former member of the original Mystery Incorporated, the parrot turned to evil as he became obsessed with the lost treasure of Crystal Cove. Using his intellect to consolidate power, he grew increasingly dangerous, to the point where he became one of the few franchise characters willing to kill.
Professor Pericles was, in some ways, the epitome of Scooby-Doo villainy, a classic evil genius buried beneath layers of mystery. The most dangerous villain in the series' history, this calculating foe came close to achieving godhood, making his power level almost beyond equal. Including such an irredeemably vile character in the franchise was a risky move, but the writing for Pericles sold him as one of the best aspects of Mystery Incorporated.
3 Vincent Van Ghoul
Voiced By Vincent Price & Maurice LaMarche
Pastiche and homage have been staples of the Scooby-Doo franchise from the jump, from odes to Universal Monsters to parodies of superheroes. Perhaps the greatest example of this is Vincent Van Ghoul, a character based on his first voice actor, the iconic horror actor Vincent Price. A dark and mysterious figure, he accompanied Shaggy and Scooby on their quest to find and recover the eponymous ghouls in The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo.
Vincent Van Ghoul was one of the most bizarre additions to the universe as a powerful magician, seemingly immortal. In effect, he was the Doctor Strange of the Scooby-Doo universe, with all the wisdom and trickery of the Marvel mage. The character brought a no-nonsense approach to mystery-solving and ghost-hunting, making him a great foil to Shaggy and Scooby's cowardly ways.
2 Ben Ravencroft
Voiced By Tim Curry
One of the things audiences praised the so-called "Mook movies" for was the addition of some much-desired character depth. While this was best seen in the gang, another great example was actually Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost's main villain, Ben Ravencroft. A malevolent pastiche of Stephen King, the horror novelist duped Velma and her friends into assisting him in his search for his witch ancestor's spell book.
Ben Ravencroft's appeal was only aided by the powerful voice acting of Tim Curry, whose presence dominated the movie.
Ben Ravencroft's appeal was only aided by the powerful voice acting of Tim Curry, whose presence dominated the movie. After he spent most of the film as an empathetic and intelligent writer, the sudden reveal of his dark side made for one of the best twists in the gang's long history. The character's power-hungry nature and his obvious intelligence places him among the group's most dangerous foes, and Curry ensured he'd be remembered long after the film's release.
1 The Hex Girls
Voiced By Jennifer Hale (Thorn), Jane Wiedlin (Dusk) & Kimberly Brooks (Luna)
When the Scooby-Doo franchise was revitalized in the '90s, the addition viewers loved the most was the Hex Girls. It was hard to imagine anything that was more on-brand for both the era and the tone of films like The Witch's Ghost than the trio of Goths, Thorn, Dusk, and Luna. From the moment they were introduced, they won the love of fans through their dark and mysterious personalities, brilliant music and unique style.
The Hex Girls have endured within the Scooby-Doo franchise better than anyone outside the core gang, with a never-ending chorus of fans demanding a spinoff for the trio. Whenever they appeared, they were written every bit as brave and smart as the gang, and they helped solve some of their toughest mysteries. Ultimately, it's the band's music, coupled with their heroism, that made them such an appealing and timeless fixture of the franchise.
