Velma Dinkley

This article is about the original incarnation of Velma Dinkley. For other incarnations, see Velma Dinkley (disambiguation).

This needs a stretch. (Feel free to remove when satisfied of completion.) Needed: * Behind-the-scenes: Creation. * In other languages.

Velma Dinkley
Vital Statistics
Gender	Female
Hair color	Auburn
Eye color	Black
Other Statistics
Occupation	Amateur sleuth (for other jobs, see below)
Affiliation	Mystery Inc.; Scooby-Doo Detective Agency (formerly)
Family	Mr. Dinkley (father); Mrs. Dinkley (mother); Madelyn Dinkley (sister)
Production Details
First appearance	SDWAY: What a Night for a Knight
Played by	Mindy Cohn (for previous actors, see below)

Velma Dinkley is the bespetacled resident genius of Mystery Inc., often being the one to decipher the clues and solve the crimes.

Physical appearance

Velma is a Caucasian female with chin-length auburn hair. She has freckles, and initially was depicted as more heavyset compared to the thinner frame on Daphne Blake. While somewhat obscured by her fashion choices, Velma can be seen to have a slightly wider waist and her facial shape is more circular/square compared to the ovular shape Daphne has as an adult.

She is always seen wearing thick-framed, square glasses (a running theme is that Velma often loses them, after which she can be seen crawling on the floor looking for them saying, "My glasses. I can't find my glasses."). She normally wears an orange sweater, with a red skirt, knee length orange socks and black Mary Jane shoes. Her clothes didn't change much from show to show being almost the same.

Personality

Velma can at times be competitive with other people who are very intelligent like she is.

When she found some unappetizing chicken at the Addams Family mansion, she said "it's time to start my diet". While this may be an excuse, the phrasing "my" rather than "a" implies that she may diet regularly, perhaps self-conscious of her weight.

Skills and abilities

Mental

Velma is the genius of the gang, and knows a lot about solving mysteries. She acts like she solved them when the gang have pulled the mask off the villain's head.

Velma knows Morse Code, which she claims to have learned in Girl Scouts.^{[citation needed]}

Physical

As a young child, she knew martial arts.

She has above-average grip and core strength, as in a sea episode she was able to dangle on a very wide pipe (bigger objects are more difficult to grip than smaller diameter bars) and hold her legs out straight in front of her (90 degree bend in hips) to avoid hitting a monster as it ran past her through a doorway.

Velma is also incredibly strong in her shoulder overhead pressing muscles (trapezius, deltoids). She was able to simultaneously lift 2 female wrestlers (who tend to be heavier than normal women due to the extra muscle) and throw them through the air above her head level, one per hand. She claimed the move was called the "Flying Dinkley".

History

Animated history

Main article(s): Velma Dinkley/animated history

Comic history

Main article(s): Velma Dinkley/biographical account of comic appearances

Novel history

Main article(s): Velma Dinkley/biographical account of novel appearances

Video game history

Main article(s): Velma Dinkley/biographical account of video game appearances

Appearances

• Velma's filmography

Family and relatives

For a complete list of Velma's family, look here. For other relatives, look here.

Romantic interests

• Beau Neville: A detective investigating the Moonscar Island disappearances. Initially, he and Velma very much disliked each other, but by the end of their stay, they seemed to be getting along very well, especially when he said that he wanted to write detective novels. Although she made it clear that it was detective novels she liked and not a particular detective himself. (Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island)
• Ben Ravencroft: An author famous for horror stories. He initially appeared kind and a bit shy, and he and Velma may have developed feelings for each other. But once she saw the greedy, cruel, power-hungry person he was, she became genuinely angry and did everything she could to stop him. (Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost) 
• Chip Hernandez, Jr.: A vain actor. (WNSD: Lights! Camera! Mayhem!)
• Gibby Norton: A lab partner from science camp. (WNSD: The Fast and the Wormious, Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman, Go West, Young Scoob)
• Jamison Steven Ripley: Another actor wrapped up in the medieval TV character he once played. (WNSD: Large Dragon at Large)
• George: The local mailman in Coolsville, who had a crush on Velma. (WNSD: A Scooby-Doo Valentine)
• Guy L'Avorton: A French movie star. (WNSD: Ready to Scare)
• Ranger Knudsen: A ranger. (Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare)
• Winsor: A palaeontologist. (Scooby-Doo! Legend Of The Phantosaur)

Occupation

• Junior detectives-for-hire: When the gang was in their preadolescence, they worked out of a clubhouse, calling themselves the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency, and charged a minimal fee for their services in solving the mysteries in their hometown of Coolsville. (APNSD)
• Movie extra: The gang was given parts as extras in Sandy Duncan's film, after solving the case at Mammoth Studios. (TNSDMovies: Sandy Duncan's Jekyll and Hyde)
• Carnival owner: Scooby, along with the rest of the gang, was given a share of Dick Van Dyke's carnival, after saving it from going under. (TNSDMovies: The Haunted Carnival)
• Assistant research scientist: The first time Mystery Inc. broke up, she put her I.Q. to the test by becoming an assistant research scientist at NASA. (TNSDMysteries: Happy Birthday, Scooby-Doo, A Night Louse at the White House)
• Bookshop proprietor: The second time Mystery Inc. broke up, she opened up a mystery-themed bookshop. When the gang reunited for tour in Louisiana, she apparently still owned it, but inevitably the gang took up all of her time, and she likely sold it as it was never mentioned again. (Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island)

Behind-the-scenes

Insert details here.

Voices of Velma

Nicole Jaffe was the original voice of Velma, and portrayed the character in both Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969-72) and The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972-74). Jaffe married and retired from acting in 1974, and when Scooby-Doo resumed production in 1976, Patricia Stevens was brought in as Jaffe's replacement. Stevens was replaced by Marla Frumkin mid-way through the 1979-80 season of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979-1980). Frumkin voiced the character in four more episodes of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo before Velma was dropped from the series. Velma later returned as a semi regular character in four episodes of The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries, with Frumkin again voicing the character.

Christina Lange voiced preadolescent Velma in A Pup Named Scooby-Doo from 1988 to 1991, and B.J. Ward voiced the character in several direct-to-video films from 1997 until 2002. Mindy Cohn, formerly a lead actress on the 1980s TV sitcom, The Facts of Life, has voiced Velma from 2002 to the present; with the exception of two direct-to-video films in 2003 in which Jaffe returned to voice Velma. In Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire her singing voice is provided by Bets Malone in the song, Done With Monsters and its reprise.

In other languages

Actor	Language	Notes
Agata Gawrońska-Bauman	Polish	Current (since the 90s); before 2006, she was credited as Agata Gawrońska.

Notes/trivia

• The junior-high school aged, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo version of Velma was animated with a rapid walk similar to that of Marvin the Martian. She was also drawn with glasses somewhat as large as her head. This younger Velma always carried a suitcase with her (compact size) that holds a very advanced computer.
• In the Johnny Bravo episode, Bravo Dooby-Doo, the Scooby-Doo cast meet Johnny, with Velma briefly developing a crush on him, but changed her mind by the episode's end. Also in Bravo Dooby-Doo, homage is paid to Velma's catchphrase, "Jinkies!" When Johnny and the gang are being chased by the evil gardener, Johnny exclaims, "Jinkies," then wonders, "Jinkies... Jinkies. Hey, isn't that a breakfast cereal or something?". He also paraphrases another catch phrase, when, after a collision, both Velma's and Johnny's glasses are knocked off. As they search around for them, Velma says her signature phrase, "My glasses! I can't see without my glasses!" while Johnny laments, "My glasses! I can't be seen without my glasses!"
• What's New, Scooby-Doo? tried to add interests and phobias that were neither mentioned before or after the series aired:
• Velma is a huge a fan of ice hockey, knowing most of the game strategies (she discusses a few of them with Brett Hull). She even gets to play for the United States team in the finals.
• She conquered her extreme phobia of clowns during the Menacing Metallic Clown case.
• She is the only member of Mystery Inc. to be the monster during a case, albeit for a noble reason.

Gallery

Velma out of her trademark sweater.

Velma gets ready for her date.jpg

See also

• Velma Dinkley/animated history
• Biographical account of comic appearances
• Biographical account of novel appearances
• Biographical account video game appearances
• Velma Dinkley loses her glasses - a complete list of Velma's losing her glasses.