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(#1) Shaggy Is A Pothead
One of the show's longest-standing fan theories purports that Shaggy is a total pothead. Which pans out on a number of levels, not least of which is the prevalent recreational use of drugs in the era the show originally aired. Shaggy is constantly paranoid about the existence of ghosts and always, always hungry.
Plus, he spends most of his time blabbering to his dog. In very high doses, weed is a hallucinogen. His personality does rather fit the stereotypical pothead to a T.
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(#2) The Gang Live In A Post-Economic Collapse Country
Ever wonder why the gang seems to always be exploring the absolute dredges of the universe? Maybe it's because they live in a run down world. Reddit user Randomd0g suggests that the Scooby-Doo gang live in a post-depression world. The evidence is alarming.
They gang are almost always creeping around shoddy places like run- down hotels, abandoned theme parks, and unused airfields – places businesses up and left. Almost all of the villains in the series try to pull off money-making schemes, but they're generally really intelligent, highly-employable people (scientists, entrepreneurs, engineers). The theory alleges these people were laid off during the depression and unable to find work in the difficult economic climate.
There's also the fact that Shaggy can never seem to afford food for Scooby and himself. Never mind the that being a vigilante detective probably doesn't pay the bills, but the pair almost exclusively live off of biscuits. Sometimes, they come across a real, hot meal and show far too much enthusiasm, suggesting it may be because they are actually starving.
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(#3) Velma Is A Lesbian, She Just Hasn't Come Out Yet
This theory suggests Velma is definitely a lesbian. (This despite writers putting her and Shaggy in a relationship in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated). For one, Velma is always the odd one out. She seems to get a bit jealous when Daphne always picks Fred as her number one. She's doesn't have a boyfriend through much of the series, and when she finally does, it's Shaggy. Shaggy is a beard – a cover and a completely unsuitable partner who always, always chooses his dog over her.
Velma is brilliant and motivated. Do you really think she'd get on well with a stoner who lives in a car? So, why did she choose him? Because it's all a sham, and they're not really together. In the very least, Velma chose an unsuitable partner because she knows it can't work and isn't ready to admit her sexuality.
The theory is so widely backed that numerous think-pieces have been written urging writers to finally let the beloved brainiac settle down with a nice girl. In the original script for James Gunn's Scooby-Doo film, Velma was actually supposed to be gay.
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(#4) Scooby-Doo Exists In A Universe Where Supernatural Entities Are Real
While viewers may find it strange that entire villages of grown adults - with fully-staffed police forces - are willing to believe ghosts, goblins, and ghouls are to blame for disturbances, one Tumblr fan theory explains the discrepancy. This theory posits that, at one point, supernatural entities did exist in the Scooby-Doo world.
Real monsters are shown in the Scooby-Doo movies. In Scooby-Doo! and the Witches Ghost, the Ghost of Sarah Ravencroft is sealed in a book. The very real monsters in Scooby-Doo! on Zombie Island exist in a secluded area and kill people who find them out. Basically, all the monsters in the Scooby-Doo universe are sealed away or in secluded locations.
This is why it's not wild for the people of that universe to accept that paranormal entities are behind crimes, but why it almost always turns out to be a guy in a suit.
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(#5) The Gang Is Dodging The Vietnam War Draft
How did a bunch of random kids, who'd never be friends in real life, wind up living in a van and driving around the country? Is it odd that they never stay in one place too long and seemingly have no direction? Not if they're dodging the military draft like this theory from Reddit user themightyheptagon suggests.
The original Scooby-Doo series debuted in 1969 at the height of the Vietnam War. During this time young people across the country were drafted into combat – a scary thought for the average citizen. The gang all had their separate motives. Shaggy was a hippie through-and-through. He probably didn't agree with any war let alone the Vietnam War. It's not too far off to think a pot-head like Shaggy wouldn't live a nomadic lifestyle with his dog (it's so Jack Kerouac).
Fred is dodging the draft. He's a clean-cut suburban kid with no reason to run away unless his draft number had come up. Daphne is in love with Fred, so she followed him to start their new life in Canada together. Maybe they spotted Shaggy hitchhiking and picked him up in the Mystery Machine (which Fred owns). Perhaps Shaggy's number also came up, and he's making a run for it. Velma looks like a caricature of an intellectual, college student-turned-activist who wildly opposes the war. She's helping them cross the border with Shaggy and possibly met Fred in college.
More evidence: The gang almost never call the police. The mystery crew sort out the criminal activity themselves because the police would ship Fred and/or Shaggy to war the second they figured out who they were.
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(#6) Scooby Snacks Contain Depressant Drugs
Scooby-Doo and Shaggy are obsessed with Scooby Snacks and go to great lengths to get them, including facing their biggest fears. According to Reddit user IronedSandwich, this is because the snacks contain a depressant drug – one that makes them high and calms them down. Though weed-cookies are a bit of an obvious grab, it's possible that the Scooby Snack "drug" is not fit for human consumption or so new it is not illegal yet (which could explain why cops don't seem to mind it).
It makes sense – Scooby and Shaggy seemingly go through withdrawals and get anxious and jittery without them.
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(#7) Scooby Pretends To Be Spooked, But Secretly Solves The Crimes Before Anyone Else
Throughout the series, Scooby and the gang seek out crimes and solve them. But what if they are actually being targeted by criminals, not the other way around? This fan theory suggests that Scooby is the only one who knows the gang is being hunted and he pretends to believe the criminals are monsters so his friends wont catch on to the danger they are in.
Scooby can sniff out any human with his superior dog nose. Which means he would not mistake a costumed human for a monster. The theory is that Scooby pretends to believe in monsters so the criminals don't target him, allowing him to better protect his friends.
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(#8) Shaggy Is A Clueless Wizard
According to a Tumblr fan theory, Shaggy is a magical wizard – he's just too dopey to know it. When it comes down to it, Shaggy is always somehow embroiled in the paranormal. He can levitate, he pulls things out of nowhere, he once painted a doorway that then became real. He once held his breath for three hours and has performed impossible acrobatic stunts.
He even unwittingly casts a spell in an episode titled "Highrise Hairraiser," invoking other magical beings to come out of the woodwork and help him. None of the other characters can do anything remotely magical.
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(#9) Each Episode Is An Acid Trip
Why can Shaggy talk to his dog? Why are there so many ghosts? Maybe because the entire series is an LSD-induced hallucination. Scooby definitely can't talk, if he's even actually there at all. The ghosts that make Shaggy so paranoid aren't actually there. This is why the rest of the gang generally stays so calm despite Shaggy's terror. It's a bad trip, man. Wait it out and lay off the Scooby Snacks.
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(#10) Scooby-Doo Is A USSR Experiment
Even though Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated explains the complex reason why Scooby-Doo can speak English (there were aliens involved), the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! never explains this. Reddit user themightyheptagon has a theory that Scooby-Doo was a USSR experiment.
The original Scooby-Doo series came out in 1969 – the middle of the Cold War and just a few months after Apollo 11 reached the moon. The Soviet space program made major space advancements in the '50s and '60s, but before Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space in 1961, they originally sent up dogs. In fact, a pair of dogs named Belka and Strelka were the first living beings sent into space who returned alive.
The theory suggests that in the Scooby-Doo universe, the Soviets launched an experimental program to breed dogs with greatly enhanced intelligence specifically for space travel. The Reddit user explains:
"The theory, then, is that Scooby started his life as a subject in the Space Agency's breeding program, but escaped when one of the scientists bonded with him as a puppy, and decided to take him to America when he defected. Then maybe Scooby ran away when his original owner died of old age, leading to him being adopted by his future best friend Shaggy—who took Scooby with him when he joined Fred, Velma and Daphne on their meandering travels through the backroads of America in Fred's beloved van."
Thus the show's title Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! The CIA wanted to find Scooby and figure out how the Soviets managed to make an English-speaking super-dog.
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(#11) Scooby Was In A Lab Experiment And Is Now Dependent On Drugged Scooby Snacks
This fan theory by Reddit user quackdamnyou is a little bit complex. Velma - the smart, quirky brains of Mystery Inc. - went rogue during her internship at a lab developing top secret weapons.
"Velma can be explained. See she worked as an intern at a lab that was working on developing a secret weapon: super intelligent canine warriors. She experienced an attack of conscience and escaped with one of the subjects, who requires daily doses of the active agent in order to retain his functions. Velma took to baking the drug into small cookies. Shaggy, not really understanding, tried one of these in a bout of munchies and now he too is dependent on the agent. A side effect of this alteration is that they have developed an incredibly high metabolism and insatiable appetite."
Let's hope Velma never runs out of Scooby Snacks.
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(#12) The Whole Show Takes Place In Purgatory
It makes sense that everywhere the gang goes is creepy, abandoned, and riddled with questionable characters - it's because they're in purgatory. The good guys bounced up to heaven and the bad ones - or the ones stuck on the fence - are in limbo.
This theory suggests that the gang were driving in the Mystery Machine when it crashed and they all died. Scooby was sent to them as a spirit guide. The monsters are real-life demons and Scooby-Doo defeats them because he's the only one who can. He's the only member of the group without sin: Fred and Daphne clearly had premarital relations, Shaggy is a drug addict, and Velma may just be a lesbian (which isn't wrong by any means, but it was 1969).
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(#13) Fred And Shaggy Are In A Gay Relationship
One fan theory suggests that Daphne isn't the apple of Fred's eye – instead, it's Shaggy he loves. This theory states that Shaggy and Fred are in a gay relationship. The evidence to back this up points to an episode where the gang goes home on Valentines Day. Fred goes home with Shaggy implying that they live together. On top of that, the theory suggests it's all in the nicknames:
"There’s apparently an episode where Fred tells a (male) biker type that his name is Fred. 'Unless we’re dating, then it’s Freddie,' he follows. Cut to a few episodes later: Shaggy calls Fred 'Freddie' in a moment of terror. The plot thickens."
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(#14) The Mystery, Inc. Crew Are In A Cult
According to Reddit user RADDman "the gang" actually make up a secret cult. They drive around the country solving fake mysteries to rope people into their teachings. The mystery solvers are always dressed relatively conservative, even though 1969 was the height of the free love movement. It is, however, common for cults to wear old-fashioned clothes. They also are obsessed with the paranormal and set in their beliefs about paranormal entities.
DrinkyMcIrish suggests that Velma is the mastermind, though she uses the handsome-but-not-especially smart Fred Jones as a front for their charismatic leader. Shaggy is a stoner who'd do whatever for his Scooby Snacks (drugs) and Daphne just isn't that smart. She seems exactly like the kind of girl who'd fall for a cult leader because he's handsome and claims to love her.
Mystery Inc. may very well be the Manson Family.
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(#15) The Gang Are On A Paid Escape Room-esque Mystery Tour
According to one fan theory, the gang isn't actually solving real crimes. They're in an intense, real-life version of an escape room – a popular team-building activity. Why does their van always mysteriously break down where a crime needs to be solved? Because it's all part of the act. The rubber masks explain it all. Would a real criminal think that'd fool anyone?
Police would catch them in a heartbeat. It might also explain why such scaredy-cats - that is Shaggy and Scooby - are involved with a mystery-solving team.
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