Velma Dinkley

Throughout her various incarnations, Velma is usually portrayed as a highly intelligent young woman with highly specific interests in science (which in the Scooby and Scrappy-Doo series leads her to pursue a career as a NASA research scientist) or merely being very well read on obscure fields, such as Viking writing (as in the third Scooby-Doo series The Scooby-Doo Show). In Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo, Velma is described by her younger sister Madelyn as being "born with a mystery book in her hand". Consequently, Velma is usually the one to figure out the mystery, sometimes with the help of Fred and Daphne. Like Sherlock Holmes and many other fictional detectives, she apparently likes to show off, and often keeps her conclusions secret till the end of the story, presumably to impress others. She is also the only gang member who is not above pulling supernatural hoaxes herself, albeit for noble purposes: in Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy?, she dressed up as the ghost of Cleopatra to scare off a group of grave robbers.[4] Velma Dinkley was inspired by the brainy Zelda Gilroy, as played by Sheila James, from the late 1950s/early 1960s American sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.[5]

A running gag in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and The New Scooby-Doo Movies is Velma's severe nearsightedness and her trouble with keeping her glasses on her face (often resulting in them falling off while she is being chased by the villain).[6] Another running gag is that despite the fact that she is the smallest of the Scooby-Doo gang she can actually carry away the whole gang in her arms from a villain.

When Scooby-Doo is too afraid to volunteer to help with a mission, Velma often offers him a dog treat called a "Scooby Snack" as a bribe. She also occasionally displays a strong, take-charge personality when needed, sharply ordering Shaggy to "march!" in an early episode, and she is not above physically attacking a villain when provoked, as when she kicked The Creeper in the knee for snatching her glasses right off her face. Her catchphrases are: "Jinkies!" (introduced in The New Scooby-Doo Movies) and "My glasses! I can't see without my glasses!" (when she accidentally loses her glasses).

Velma is the most skeptical of the four human members of Mystery Inc. and most likely to discount any paranormal explanations. This is particularly evident in the movies Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost and Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island, in which she discounts ghosts and zombies (real within the context of the franchise) that could not be unmasked by claiming they must be hallucinations.

Relatives of Velma shown during the series' run include:

• Dale and Angie Dinkley: Velma's parents in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (2010–13), voiced by Kevin Dunn and Frances Conroy. They own the Crystal Cove Mystery Museum, which has in its display all of the costumes from the villains the gang has defeated over the years, as well as other objects that have connections to the supernatural or the unexplainable. Angie constantly tries to help her daughter in any way she can, while Dale tends to reprimand Velma.
• Madelyn Dinkley: Velma's sister voiced by Danica McKellar. She appears to be in her late teens and somewhat resembles Velma in appearance and personality. Velma refers to Madelyn as a nerd and does not seem to realize how much alike they really are. Unlike Velma, Madelyn was not exactly sure what she wanted to do for a living and had previously attended clown college until she discovered a fondness for stage magic and enrolls in a school for stage magicians. Madelyn has a huge crush on Shaggy Rogers and as a result of this, Shaggy refers to Madelyn as "Doe-eyed Dinkley" or by simply "Madds". She plays an important role in Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo, when the magic school she's enrolled in is being terrorized by a giant griffin. In Scooby Doo: Behind the Scenes, Velma has an older, blonde haired sister.
• Aunt Meg and Uncle Evan: Velma's aunt and uncle (voiced by Julia Sweeney and Diedrich Bader), who live in a small town called Banning Junction which features in a Halloween episode of What's New, Scooby-Doo?.
• Marcy: Velma's cousin and the daughter of Meg and Evan. She is studying mechanical engineering in college, but unlike Velma, she is fashionable. This along with Marcy's interest in Fred made her Daphne's rival of sorts. She was born on Halloween which over time led to her hatred of the holiday as it usually upstaged her birthday (even her parents have forgotten it). Consequently, she used local legend and her engineering background to create Mechanical Scarecrow Monsters to terrorize the town on her eighteenth birthday.
• Aunt Thelma: A marine biologist at the Coolsville Marine Institute whose dolphins were being stolen in the A Pup Named Scooby-Doo episode "Scooby Dude".
• Frederick Rogers-Dinkley: Velma's son with Shaggy Rogers (named after Fred Jones), as seen in the final volume of Scooby Apocalypse.
• Uncle Dave (Walton): A member of the U.S. Border Patrol, as seen in the episode Watch Out! The Willawaw!
• Uncle John: works as an archaeologist.
• Uncle Cosmo: also works as an archaeologist.
• Uncle Elmo: a doctor.
• Uncle Ted: also works as an archaeologist.
• Great Uncle Dr. Von Dinkenstein: Velma's infamous great-uncle, resembling Frankenstein. He is the reason for Velma's crime-solving business.