Scooby-Doo’s Velma Dinkley is officially lesbian. What other theories have fans held for the Mystery Inc Gang that may prove true?

What has been speculated for years by fans has finally been confirmed in the franchise's latest movie as the turtleneck-wearing character is seen gushing over another woman.

Scenes from the new Scooby-Doo movie, Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!, have confirmed fan suspicions about Velma’s interest in women as she is seen swooning over a new character Coco Diablo. 

After a couple decades of filmmakers desperately trying to incorporate Velma’s sexual orientation into films and series, including most famously, director James Gunn’s 2002 adaptation of the franchise.

A quick Google Search celebrates the character’s coming-out story in a cool Easter Egg that floods the page with confetti and Pride flags.

The now canonically queer character arc comes as no surprise however and is the product of many years of fan theories and campaigns to manifest into reality.

Here are some of the wildest theories surrounding the Mystery Inc Gang that fans have postulated for years…

Shaggy is a Master of the Mystic Arts

A theory posted on the internet by a user named Eternal Phantom has grown in popularity since and suggests that the goofy character is secretly a wizard.

What was first brushed off as a joke in reference to Shaggy’s ability to pull snacks out of thin air and randomly levitate at will, soon gave credence to the theory that maybe there was more at play here than mere smoke and mirrors.

Things like Shaggy painting a doorway and having it turn real, or him unwittingly casting a spell and its reverse, as well as actual supernatural entities revealing themselves to him, but almost never the rest of the gang, strengthened the theory.

Scooby-Doom

A theory posted by a user named Randomd0g on Reddit suggests that the world that the Mystery Inc Gang drives around in and investigates is not the same one as ours, rather, several years into a dystopian future.

The theory suggests that the gang is living in a post-apocalyptic world following a collapse in the economy as, 

• All the places the gang go to are in some way broken. It's always a run down hotel, an abandoned theme park, an unused airfield, etc etc.
• A large number of the nefarious schemes have the goal of acquiring money, but the villains themselves are often scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs or generally intelligent people who would have no trouble getting a stable and legal well paid job in a functioning society.
• Shaggy can't afford food for himself and his dog, so they both subsist almost entirely on biscuits. The exception to this is when they happen to stumble upon real food - and look how excited they get whenever they do, eating like they don't know where their next meal is coming from, because they genuinely don't.

Purgatorio

Another popular theory posted to TV Tropes is that the entire Mystery Inc Gang is already dead and spends the rest of their existence atoning for past sins in Purgatory.
According to the theory, each of the members have been involved in a series of sins that have landed them in eternal damnation:

• Fred was a womanizing, bullying sociopath
• Daphne was vain and weaponized sex to her advantage
• Velma was self-centered and prioritized her academics over her friends and family
• Shaggy was a junkie who died of an overdose
• Scooby is a demonic entity purposed with watching over the gang

Scooby-Dooby Disorder 

According to a theory in Wired’s “Psychology of Cartoons” series, each of the Mystery Inc Gang is diagnosed with some form of mental ailment…

• Fred is a vain, intolerant and a textbook narcissist
• Daphne suffers from Dependant Personality Disorder 
• Velma has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder 
• Scooby has Dissociative Personality Disorder as a dog who thinks he’s human
• Shaggy is the only member who remains without a disorder, although is deemed a stoner with hints of paranoia.

Scooby- Dooby Drugs

The constant references, allegories and surmounting evidence that suggest the series association with different substances make for one of the most widely accepted theories that border on the lines of unofficial canon in the franchise. 

Shaggy and Scooby are some of the most beloved fictional icons amongst potheads; Shaggy’s unmistakable drowsy stride, dazed expression, stoned articulation and the duo’s unquenchable appetite, more than suggestive of the same.

Further, the quintessentially 70s ‘Flower-Power’ aesthetic of the mystery mission and the mere existence of a talking dog as a part of the team, reinforced many psychedelic cultural tropes often observed by fans.