Daphne Blake is a character in the Scooby-Doo franchise. In the first season of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, she was voiced by Indira Stefanianna Christopherson. Heather North took over the role in 1970 and held it well into the 1980s. In most episodes, Daphne either was abducted by the villain or acted clumsily, earning the nickname "Danger-Prone Daphne".
Description
Together with her other teenage companions, Fred Jones, Norville "Shaggy" Rogers, Velma Dinkley and Shaggy's pet great Dane, Scooby-Doo, Daphne would engage in solving various mysteries. Daphne was portrayed as the enthusiastic and very beautiful, but clumsy and danger-prone (hence her nickname "Danger-Prone Daphne"; revealed by her cousin, Shannon, being danger-prone is a Blake family trait in Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster) member of the gang, who always follows her intuition. She serves as the damsel in distress and would occasionally get kidnapped, tied up, gagged and left imprisoned. Scooby and Shaggy usually save her, but sometimes Fred and Velma do it. Very occasionally, Daphne's rescued by all of the gang. But as the franchise went on, she became a stronger, more independent character who can take care of herself. Daphne's character is the most developed in the starring cast, going from a klutzy teenager to a successful journalist to an ingenuous fashionista to a black-belt martial artist. When Scooby is nowhere to be found, Daphne also yells, "Scooby-Doo! Where are you?!"
During the series' fourth incarnation, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, some of the episodes focused on Daphne. In the episode "Shiver and Shake, That Demon's a Snake", Daphne buys an idol which is cursed by the snake demon. On the sailboat, the snake demon attacks Daphne and demands that she return an idol. Daphne throws it to Scooby, Shaggy and Scrappy. In the episode "The Scary Sky Skeleton", Daphne is reunited with her old friend, Wendy. In the episode "I Left My Neck in San Francisco", Daphne becomes ill and she's unable to help the gang to solve the mystery about The Lady Vampire of the Bay. Due to the vampire's look, Daphne's unseen reflection in the mirror, the bat flying around Daphne's bed and herself returning to bed a little later, Scooby, Shaggy and Scrappy are convinced that Daphne is a vampire. When the vampiress is revealed to be Lefty Callahan, Scooby, Shaggy and Scrappy realize they made a mistake with suspecting Daphne and she's feeling good again.
Her usual outfit consists of a purple dress, pink pantyhose, purple shoes and a green scarf. In Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase, she wore a purple and green three-piece suit with matching shoes. In one level she is a damsel in distress being guarded by a dragon. As a child, she wore a pink sweater, red skirt and pink pantyhose with white go-go boots. In The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, she wore some other purple clothes with purple pants and purple high heels.
While not as clever as Velma, Daphne would always solve her problems in a different way. Daphne later became more confident and started playing a more active role as time went on, a result of changing attitudes toward women during the 1970s and 1980s. In What's New, Scooby Doo?, Daphne has also been known to open locks or do other tasks with strange items from her purse.
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 unwanted people, beating up a monster, freaking out, etc. The younger Daphne is shown (along with her parents) not believing in ghosts/monsters/supernatural (one of her catch phases in that series was "There is no such thing as ghosts [monsters]!"), a trait she lacks outside the A Pup Named Scooby-Doo series.
In the movie Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, Daphne had a very successful investigative TV series called Coast to Coast with Daphne Blake on a fictional channel called "Americana", on which the show had aired for two seasons. The producer of the show was Fred Jones.
Personality
Appearance
Appearances in films
Daphne was portrayed by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the film Scooby Doo and its sequel, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. Her husband, Freddie Prinze, Jr., played Fred in these same Scooby-Doo movies. In the movies, Daphne and Fred began a relationship in the first, that followed on through the second. Unlike the previous incarnation of the character, Gellar's version of Daphne is trained in martial arts during Mystery Inc.'s two-year absence in the first film, as she is tired of being a damsel in distress on every case in which she is involved with the gang. In the first movie, she is captured by the masked wrestler Zarkos, but she beats him in a fight at the end.
Daphne is portrayed by Kate Melton in the third film, Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins (released as a TV movie in 2009), and its sequel, Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster, which premiered on October 16, 2010.
Relationships
Relationships of Daphne, including her four identical sisters, shown during the series' run include:
Scooby-Doo
Shaggy Rogers
Fred Jones
Velma Dinkley
George Robert Nedley Blake and Elizabeth Blake
Daphne's parents. In Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, however, the two are named Barty Blake and Nan Blake. Voiced by Frank Welker and Kath Soucie.
Daisy
Daphne's sister, a doctor. Voiced by Jennifer Hale.
Dawn
Daphne's sister, a model.
Dorothy
Daphne's sister, a race car driver.
Delilah
Daphne's sister, in the Marine Corps. Voiced by Jennifer Hale.
Uncle Matt Blake
Daphne's uncle, a cattle rancher.
John "J.J." Maxwell
Daphne's uncle, a movie director.
Olivia Dervy
Daphne's aunt.
Jennifer
Daphne's cousin.
Danica LaBlake
Daphne's cousin, a famous French model. Voiced by Vanessa Marshall.
Shannon Blake
Daphne's Scottish cousin. Voiced by Grey DeLisle.
Anne Blake
Daphne's younger cousin in the Scooby-Doo videogame.
Thornton Blake V
Daphne's uncle, owner of a Golf Course near Lake Erie
- Note: Frank Welker, Kath Soucie and Jennifer Hale voice the Blakes in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (currently running) series, Vanessa Marshall voiced Danica in the What's New Scooby-Doo series and Grey DeLisle voiced Shannon in the Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster (direct-to-DVD) film. Welker also voiced George on A Pup Named Scooby-Doo. The late voice actor Don Messick voiced two of Daphine's uncles: Matthew "Matt" Blake on The Scooby Doo Show and John Maxwell on Scooby-Doo, Where are You!.
Voice actors
- Indira Stefanianna Christopherson
- Heather North Kenney
- Kellie Martin
- Mary Kay Bergman
- Grey DeLisle
Objects
- Scooby-Snacks
- Flashlight
- Magnifying Glass
- Cell Phone
Comics
Reception
Members of the fanbase of the original Scooby-Doo speculated that Daphne and Fred Jones had a romantic attraction to each other.[1][2] The makers of the Scooby-Doo film originally planned to refer to the rumor by including a scene where Fred asks to stay with Daphne, using the presence of a toothbrush to imply that he wanted to stay with Daphne for the night. The scene was not included in the final version of the film.[1]
Gallery
Trivia
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Breznican, Anthony. "Are hidden meanings present in the 'Scooby-Doo' movie?, Filmmakers and cast members say some hints are there, but won't be understood by children." Philadelphia Inquirer. June 20, 2002. D10 Features Magazine. Retrieved on December 12, 2010.
- ↑ Sigesmund, B.J. "The Inside Dope." Newsweek. June 14, 2002. Available at Lexis-Nexis.
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