Daphne Blake

Daphne (left) and Fred (right), as seen in What's New, Scooby Doo?

Daphne Blake is a fictional character in the long-running American animated series Scooby-Doo. Daphne, depicted as coming from a wealthy family, is noted for her red hair, her fashion sense, and her knack for getting into danger.

Overview

Voices

Stefanianna Christopherson (1969-1970)
Heather North (1970-1986, 1997, 2002-2003)
Kellie Martin (1988-1991)
Mary Kay Bergman (1998-2000)
Grey DeLisle (2001-present)

Character biography

Together with her other teenage cohorts, Fred Jones, Shaggy Rogers, Velma Dinkley, and Shaggy's pet Great Dane Scooby-Doo, Daphne would engage in solving various mysteries the gang would run across. She was often portrayed as the stereotypical "damsel in distress", being the one female in the group who is most likely to get kidnapped, tied up, and left helpless, earning her the occasional nickname "Danger-prone Daphne." (This was explained further in the first film.)

Although she was not as smart as Velma, Daphne would attempt to solve her problems in a fashionable way. She later became more confident and started playing a more active role as time wore on. In What's New, Scooby Doo?, Daphne has also been known to open locks or do other tasks with strange items from her purse. It has been theorized by many viewers that Daphne and Fred are attracted to one another, something the later direct-to-video features and the Warner Bros. feature films toyed with while never officially putting them together (although Daphne did kiss Fred in the gladiator scene in Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase). Daphne has also been shown as a bit athletic and is a black belt in martial arts.

Daphne's character gained more prominence in the early-1980s Scooby-Doo spinoffs, when the focus of the series briefly shifted to her, Scooby-Doo, Scrappy-Doo, and Shaggy. This was particularly noteworthy in the spinoff The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, where Daphne replaced Fred as the group's leader.

The youthful Daphne portrayed in A Pup Named Scooby Doo would commonly call upon her butler, Jenkins, to do various tasks, such as ridding her of people, beating a monster up, freaking out, etc. This version was also portrayed as much more fashion-sensitive, spoiled, and vain than her future self.

Relatives

Relatives of Daphne shown during the series' run include:

George R. Blake: Daphne's father, the creator of the product "Blake's Bubbles".
Elizabeth Blake: Daphne's mother.
Uncle Matt: Daphne's uncle, a cattle rancher.
John Maxwell: Daphne's uncle, a movie director.
Olivia Derby: Daphne's aunt.
Jennifer: Daphne's cousin.
Dannika: Daphne's cousin, a famous French model.
Shannon Blake: Daphne's Scottish cousin.

Daphne's tendency to get into trouble is apparently something of a family trait. As her cousin Shannon explained in Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster : "For centuries we Blakes have been falling through trap doors, finding secret passageways, getting kidnapped, and getting caught in overly complicated booby traps of our own design. If there's one thing we Blakes are famous for it's being — how should I put this? — danger prone."

In other media

Daphne was portrayed by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the film Scooby Doo and its sequel, Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. Her husband Freddie Prince jr. played Fred in the other Scooby Doo Movies also.

Trivia

According to the trivia quiz on the DVDs in the 'Complete 1st and 2nd Seasons' pack, Daphne's father helped pay for the van the gang drives around in, the psychedelically painted "Mystery Machine."^{[citation needed]}
In the Johnny Bravo cartoon "Bravo Dooby-Doo", while Velma liked Johnny, Daphne was a bit harsh towards him. He offered Daphne a huge dinner plate in one scene and she stomped on his foot, hard. This is in contrast to a spoof commercial featuring a relationship between Johnny and Velma, which Velma ended when Johnny proposed marriage.
The second-season episode of The Venture Bros. entitled ¡Viva los Muertos! features the entire Scooby-Doo cast re-imagined as famous serial killers and radicals. Daphne's analgoue, "Patty", is frightened and submissive, somewhat reminiscent of Patty Hearst.
In an episode of What's New Scooby Doo, Daphne is outraged that a criminal cast a television extra to impersonate her and comments "Was Sarah Michelle Gellar too busy?", making a reference to Gellar playing Daphne in the movies.
She also appears in an episode of "Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law" when Shaggy and Scooby are accused of doing drugs and running from the police. She also appears in the slide show as also being on drugs. She is constantly hit on by Peanut (Birdboy) throughout the episode.
Daphne was voted number 9 in Maxim's list of Hottest Cartoon Babes.

External links