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DOO CENTRAL’S FUN FACT FRIDAYS - THE MULTI-SCOOBY-DOONIVERSE THEORY

Hello everybody! This week’s Fun Fact Friday post is going to be a little different than other posts that I’ve made here on Doo Central. Rather than relay to you all fun facts about the Scooby-Doo franchise, I wanted to pitch an idea.

About a month ago, I posted on the Scooby Addicts forum about what was the “correct” telling of how Scooby became a part of the gang. There’s actually multiple ways that Scooby came to be a member of Mystery Inc. (a Fun Fact Friday post going into detail about that linked here). I suggested that all the stories were correct because maybe the entire Scooby-Doo franchise…is a multiverse.

Yes you read that right. Due to some Scooby-Doo series referencing others and being related as well as the things that don’t add up, I’m suggesting that there are at least eight distinct Scooby-Doo timelines. The following are the names of each timeline:

1) Paranormal Generic Timeline

2) Non-Paranormal Generic Timeline

3) Large Coolsville Timeline

4) Small Coolsville Timeline

5) Crystal Cove Timeline

6) Frankencreepy Timeline

7) Shaggy & Scooby-Doo! Get a Clue Timeline

8) Be Cool, Scooby-Doo Timeline

I’m going to describe each one and what series/movies exist in them. The time periods of these series/movies aren’t concretely relevant in this look at the timelines.

Keep in mind that some of these timelines share series and I’ll explain why too. I’ll justify why some of them are grouped together and why some don’t work in certain timelines. So lets get to it!

1) Paranormal Generic Timeline

This timeline begins with Scooby-Doo, Where Are You. This series is at the heart of many of the timelines solely because it is the most generic and original version of the characters. By generic, I mean that this series doesn’t take place in a particular town.

The timeline is called the Paranormal Generic Timeline because it deals with real ghosts and supernatural phenomena in more than one instance. This timeline contains Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, The New Scooby-Doo Movies (which contains a real genie), The Scooby-Doo Show, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, the second Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (which contains all sorts of supernatural creatures/happenings), The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show, and The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo (containing the most powerful ghosts in the world). The TV movies that are also included in this timeline include Scooby-Doo Goes Hollywood, Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf, Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers, Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School, and Scooby-Doo in Arabian Nights.

The reason these movies fit into the timeline is because they feature paranormal elements such as ghosts and monsters. Another thing that makes the timeline end here is that Scooby-Doo Goes Hollywood sets up how Scooby became a member of the gang. Being revealed to be adopted from Grillo’s Pet Store, this movie isn’t contradicted by another series until A Pup Named Scooby-Doo. This series is the first one to continue on without Scrappy-Doo as a character and is also the first to establish a regular named city.

2) Non-Paranormal Generic Timeline

Don’t let the name of this timeline fool you. It does contain paranormal elements but not until the very end of it. This timeline also begins with Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and for the most part does not contain any real ghosts or monsters. This version of the first timeline drops The New Scooby-Doo Movies, the second Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, The New Scooby-Doo Show, and The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo. The only TV movie named in the first timeline that fits into this one is Scooby-Doo Goes Hollywood because it’s the only one that doesn’t have any ghosts or monsters. This timeline doesn’t introduce its first real paranormal elements until Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island which revolves around the gang encountering their very first mystery involving real monsters. The movie also sets the gang to be a little older than they were in the first timeline as they all have adult lives and careers. Their decision to get back together as Mystery Inc. leads them into the Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost, Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders, and Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase where they continue to encounter real monsters in an older period of their lives.

3) Large Coolsville Timeline

This is the largest timeline among the eight that I’m discussing in this post. It is the first to establish a real hometown for the gang that will reappear in both TV series and movies. This timeline begins with A Pup Named Scooby-Doo where the gang are a bunch of thirteen year olds in junior high school in Coolsville. The events of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! take place in their high school years. The Scooby-Doo Show and the first Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo take place right after high school and then we get into their late twenties. Rather than going into their careers as they did in the Non-Paranormal Generic Timeline, this timeline has the gang continue their mystery-solving adventures as they never broke up after school. They own homes in Coolsville and go on road trips and travel the world in What’s New, Scooby-Doo? This series both establishes Coolsville as the home of the gang like A Pup Named Scooby-Doo and contains a flashback to them as kids in the style of that series.

Animated movies that fit into this timeline include every movie between Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire and Scooby-Doo and the Samurai Sword. In order for this to work, Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost also exists in this timeline since the gang has met the Hex Girls twice.

The live action 2002 and 2004 Scooby-Doo films (Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed) also exist in this timeline but at the very end of it. This is the first time in this timeline that the gang splits up. The first movie isn’t the first time that they’ve dealt with real paranormal activity and the second movie supports this timeline as it takes place in Coolsville. The second movie also features monsters that have existed in the other series that are named in this timeline including Chickenstein from A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.

4) Small Coolsville Timeline

This is a variant of the third timeline as it does take place in Coolsville. This timeline is established by the 2009 live action movie Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins which shows how the gang first meets in high school. Its sequel also exists in this timeline. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! would take place after these movies and veer off into a direction like the Paranormal Generic Timeline except it drops the Scooby-Doo Goes Hollywood movie.

The reason this timeline is different than the third one is because the gang first meets in high school in this timeline rather than knowing each other as kids like in the third one. It would contradict how Scooby came to meet the gang and its continuing into the Paranormal Generic Timeline would depend on the dropping of the Scooby-Doo Goes Hollywood movie because it also contradicts how Scooby meets the gang.

5) Crystal Cove Timeline

This timeline deviates from the third and fourth timelines as it establishes a new hometown for the gang: Crystal Cove. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! kicks off this timeline and it does contain the first Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo series. It also includes The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo.

Crystal Cove is introduced in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated and that series definitely supports the idea of multiple universes in the Scooby-Doo franchise. Crystal Cove would also exist in the LEGO Scooby-Doo! Haunted Hollywood movie which then argues that the other LEGO specials exist in the same timeline. The reason the first three series that were named in this timeline are here are because they relate to Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.

Many monsters are referenced in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated that are from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! Scrappy-Doo himself is named as a character in this show as well as Flim Flam which means the other two series I mentioned did happen in this timeline.

The only concern that can be raised about this timeline is the reasoning for Fred and Daphne agreeing not to speak of Scrappy as well as the appearance of the Luna Ghost in the background of the Crystal Cove Monster Museum. The Luna Ghost appears in the 2002 Scooby-Doo film. Perhaps Scrappy and the Luna Ghost are in this timeline for different reasons but as to how, I can’t say for sure.

6) Frankencreepy Timeline

The Frankencreepy Timeline is named such because it contains all the movies beginning with Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra Doo until present day movies aside from LEGO Scooby-Doo! Haunted Hollywood. However, all these movies have to take place after Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy.

The timeline begins with Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, The Scooby-Doo Show, and the first Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo. This set of series don’t contain paranormal elements which is a big theme in Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy. This timeline doesn’t exist without paranormal elements but they happen after Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy. This movie is also one of the few in the franchise that directly references monsters in the TV series. Those monsters are featured in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and The Scooby-Doo Show.

7) Shaggy & Scooby-Doo! Get a Clue Timeline and 8) Be Cool, Scooby-Doo Timeline

These timelines are very small and are no surprise being their own timelines considering they’re often called the black sheep of the Scooby-Doo franchise. They both contain the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! series within their worlds but go in their own directions. The Shaggy & Scooby-Doo! Get a Clue Timeline explores Scooby and Shaggy’s lives after leaving Mystery Inc. to live in luxury in Shaggy’s uncle’s mansion and fight the evil Dr. Phineas Phibes.

The Be Cool, Scooby-Doo Timeline shows the gang solving mysteries on a road trip after they graduate high school. It’s unclear if they’ve graduated from Coolsville High School or Crystal Cove High School, however some speculate this show could be a sequel to Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated because that series ends with the group going on a road trip. However, Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! does not fit with this series because it negates all drama and relationships established in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated and isn’t exclusive to a specific town.

Maybe I’m just being a huge nerd looking too deep into this but it’s fun to speculate. The Multi-Scooby-Dooniverse Theory could go even further suggesting each series and movie is its own world and that each comic book goes along with the corresponding TV series. Heck, Scooby Apocalypse is its own world and its just a comic book.

I hope you guys enjoyed reading this idea of mine and maybe you could expand it further with your own ideas. Think I missed something or am wrong about something? I’d love to hear your comments.

Also be sure to let me know what you want to learn more about in the Scooby-Doo franchise. A new Fun Fact Friday post is made every week here on Doo Central and I am always looking for new things in Scooby-Doo!

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