Fan-favourite Scooby-Doo character Velma’s new crush was just introduced in the animated franchise’s Halloween special “Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!,” and fans of the iconic character will be happy to know it’s a woman.
Velma Dinkley is a brilliant, quirky character whose sexuality has long been speculated about among Scooby-Doo fans. While it has never been explicitly explored in the long-running cartoon series or any of its prior adaptations, many fans have long believed she’s LGBTQI, and now, it’s official.
In a clip from the “Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!” animated special, which hit Amazon Prime Video on Oct. 4, Velma delivers her famous “Jinkies!” line when she lays eyes on a character named Coco Diablo. While Coco is objectively beautiful with her long, flowing hair and stylish clothes, all Velma sees is her great turtleneck, her sick glasses, and her animal plushies before she deduces Coco is absolutely brilliant and develops an immediate crush.
Fans were thrilled about this development in Velma’s characterisation, raving about the special and its impact on Twitter.
And as it turns out, Velma could have been canonically LGBTQ long before now. James Gunn, who wrote and directed the 2001 live-action “Scooby-Doo” movie and its 2004 sequel, previously said in 2020 that he had tried to make Velma gay when he tackled the beloved characters.
“I tried!” Gunn said in the now-deleted tweet (via People). “In 2001 Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script. But the studio just kept watering it down & watering it down, becoming ambiguous (the version shot), then nothing (the released version) & finally having a boyfriend (the sequel).”
While it may have taken far too long (Scooby-Doo first premiered in 1969), fans are ecstatic about the new LGBTQ representation in the Mystery Inc. universe. “Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!” is available on VOD now through Amazon Prime video.
