Missing Sixth Member of the Scooby-Doo Gang

About

Missing Sixth Member of the Scooby-Doo Gang refers to an internet theory and series of posts in which people claim that it feels as if there is a missing sixth member of the Mystery Inc. crew in Scooby-Doo despite there only ever being five core members: Shaggy, Fred, Velma, Daphne and Scooby-Doo. The earliest known post to share this opinion was published on Tumblr by user technogodhead in January 2019, gaining viral spread over the following years and inspiring further posts and memes about a potential missing member. The posts also lead to several theories on why people might feel this way, including that guest members of the crew, such as Scrappy-Doo, are responsible for the feeling, the fact that Scooby is a dog rather than a traditional human crew member, leaving a space in some people's minds for another member, with others suggesting that the Mystery Machine is the sixth member.

Origin

On February 1st, 2019, Tumblr^[1] user technogodhead made a text post, writing, "every time I look at the mystery gang I have this like visceral feeling that someone is missing. but nobody ever is. who are they. what happened to them." They continue, posting an image of the core gang, writing, "logically I know this is them. these are the only people in the mystery gang. fred, daphne, velma, shaggy, and scooby. thats the 5 of them. but something deep within my lizard brain is telling me theres a 6th member that has been, for unknown reasons, banished from this timeline and our collective memory as a species." The post gained over 302,800 notes in five years (shown below, left).

The thread was reposted and added to numerous times over the following years, with users adding jokes and theories about the missing sixth member. For example, Tumblr^[2] user wonder-where-pete-wentz added to the post, writing, "Its because of this gap between shaggy and daphne. Everyone else is touching in some way and it looks like daphne should be leaning on someone too, but they’ve been edited out and daphne has been moved along" (shown below, right).

every time I look at the mystery gang I have this like visceral feeling that someone is missing. but nobody ever is. who are they. what happened to them. Logically I know this is them. these are the only people in the mystery gang. fred, daphne, velma, shaggy, and scooby. thats the 5 of them. but something deep within my lizard brain is telling me theres a 6th member that has been, for unknown reasons, banished from this timeline and our collective memory as a species

Spread

The post gained viral spread over the following years. It was screenshotted and reposted to /r/tumblr^[3] on February 2nd, 2019, garnering over 2,500 upvotes in five years. That day, u/dahope^[4] posted a comment that garnered over 1,200 upvotes in the same period of time offering a theory on the reason why this might be, writing:

"For an honest theory that isn‘t scrappy, I‘d think because scooby has a lot of human characteristics in the shows and plays a big role in the plots, but in photos like these he‘s just a dog. His human side, the last member, is missing."

On April 16th, 2021, the post was shared to /r/tumblr^[5] again, garnering over 17,000 upvotes in three years. On June 22nd, Tumblr^[6] user candlesdearheart posted a long-form theory on the missing member linking it to character archetypes and The Breakfast Club, writing, "if you feel like The Mystery Gang is missing a member or two, maybe it’s because they’re missing a 'criminal' and a 'basket case.'"

On November 29th, 2023, X^[7] user @DewEnjoyer posted a variation on the original Tumblr post, using a different image of the Mystery Inc. crew, garnering over 52,000 likes and 3,000 reposts in two months (shown below). That day, X^[8] user @ThePrimalDino offered a theory in the comment section again claiming it's because Scooby is a dog and not a human, garnering over 14,000 likes in the same span of time (shown below, right).

Is it just me or does it feel like there's always a missing member in Scooby Doo, it feels like we live in a fucked up alternative timeline where one of the members just doesn't exist when they should

The post also inspired memes and responses through quote-reposts. For example, that day, X^[9] user @_claypot posted images of the shortlived Scooby-Doo character Flim-Flam, writing, "the children yearn for flim-flam," garnering over 1,500 likes in two months (shown below, left). On November 30th, X^[10] user @irose_artoo posted a video of Shaggy and Crystal, a love interest of Shaggy's who appeared in Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders, garnering over 17,000 likes. On December 3rd, X^[11] user @137Force posted a photoshop adding Tanimura from the Yakuza games to the image, garnering over 1,800 likes in a month (shown below, right).

On January 24th, 2024, TikToker^[12] @jpall20 posted a video sharing the original Tumblr post, garnering over 14 million views in a week (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References