Scrappy Doo: reactions and archetypes

[Eric B]

Scrappy is obviously a very archetypal figure for both me as well as the multitudes of TV fans who for some reason hate him so much.
I was wondering which exact archetype he fit for me, and looked for it through the associated functions.

He seems like a clear ExTP. Dominant Ne or Se with Thinking. He can be seen as somewhat of a Trickster figure; much like Gleek from the Superfriends, who I use to represent the Trickster for me.
But then that would be a negative projection, and he is clearly a positive figure for me.

But then I realize the archetypes become complexes, which are projected onto the other person. So it's not about what their type really is; it's how you see them.

So I recently realize that Scrappy fits a heroic role for me. And it's something that I to a certain extent would like to be (persona). And the hero/persona will be associated with Ti. He already himself seems to have an auxiliary Ti. (as well as a tertiary Fe).

While I did not think much of him when he first came out (just another youg sidekick added to shows, like Baby Plasticman, or Godzookey), as I began looking back at the whole series, he was the great equalizer.
Initially, the splitup teams were symmetrical, with Fred and Daphne on one team, and Shaggy and Velma on the other. Scooby followed Shaggy, of course. As time went on, Fred began increasingly taking both of the girls, leaving Shaggy and Scooby alone, and eventually, only Fred and the girls were finding the clues, while Shaggy and Scooby were often left to be chased by the monster, as the comedy relief. Initially, they were more involved in the mystery. Especially when Velma was with them. Later on, they were totally out of it. It no longer seemed to be the same series. (Then there were other cosmetic changes, such as background music, Velma's voice changing, and the weird types of monsters they began using. Like one looking like a KISS member!).

And identifying with Shaggy, I was dissapointed in seeing Freddy get both of the girls all the time.

So this is the way it was in the years right before Scrappy. Some guest stars or cousin Scooby Dum would occasionally accompany Shaggy and Scooby. But Scrappy was a permanent partner for them, and provided the balance they needed to keep them involved in the case. (when alone, all Scooby and Shaggy do is try to escape).

In the second season, Scrappy was improved greatly, with a new voice and more able to actually take care of himself and also, the others. At the same time, Fred and the girls (who had by then became spectators anyway), and the mystery format (which became the less important background for chase comedy, and both of these points even before Scrappy arrived) were dropped in favor of short slapstick comedies, very similar to the old Looney Tunes, MGM, 60's Hanna Barbera, etc.
(It should be noted that the character's developer Mark Evanier would ultimately come forth and mention that he patterned him after Henery Hawk of the Looney Tunes).

So Scrappy could really jump up and "splat" these bully characters who aggressively attacked Scooby for various reasons. A lot of other hapless cartoon characters could have used a defender like that.

So he in two ways created a technical balance that I admired, as well as being literally heroic. A far cry from the way he has been portrayed the past decade, especially in the first live action movie.

So for the haters, he most clearly is fitting a Demonic projection. From all the hatred spewed onto him in the early internet (such as jumptheshark.com, Usenet and old Scooby fansites), with people claiming as much as him ruining their childhood TV watching; to the portrayal in the movie and in some Cartoon Network productions; to the most recent jab of "Mysteries Incorporated" members agreeing never to mention him again on the latest series.
It all clearly has Demon written all over it: and it's purely how people see him, in total contrast to the way his character actually was in the show.

Inasmuch as what he is most hated for is supposedly breaking up the gang; plus his impulsive antics and loud aggressiveness, it seems the Demonic projection is being seen through the lens of Se and Fe. This might give us a clue, that many of the detractors are ExTJ's and ENxP's.
And he does also make a good Trickster (bad child), implicating possible IxTJ's and INxP's. (I know of one fellow cartoon fan, who once laid down a lengthy argument of why Scrappy was so annoying; often getting the facts mixed up along the way, like the myth that Scrappy "killed the show", and he seems like a clear fellow INTP. He had focused on Scrappy's "brattiness", even in later years (13 Ghosts), when most will acknowledge that Scrappy had mellowed greatly. So while I project hero/persona Ti onto him, this other guy projects Trickster Se).

He has pretty much generated a new archetype, called "the Scrappy", as you can see on TVTropes. Another name for it is "The Cousin Oliver", after a similar new character added to the later Brady Bunch series. But unlike that show, or Happy Days after Fonz literally "jumped the shark", the Scooby series continued strong for nearly a decade, rather than dying out. Yet the haters see the show as being "killed" by him!

So what is everyone else's take on this? Do these descriptions of archetypes regarding him resonate with you, or what you see in others' reactions?

 

[Offog]

People liked the old show and the old formula. The fact that it never varied much was part of the appeal -- you sat down and watched the same story every time, played out in a slightly different way. It was comforting. It appealed to Si.

Then they added Scrappy and started screwing with the formula and OF COURSE all the old fans were pissed because it violated their Si. They could have added a sweet, gentle angel named Ally Luia who fluttered about healing people with her beautiful songs and people would have been every bit as pissed. If not more.

Sure, some people liked Scrappy. Some people would have liked Ally Luia. But the CHANGE is what upset people, not the specific nature of the new character. There wasn't anything horribly wrong with New Coke, but people hated it anyway.

In the immortal words of Joe Bob Briggs, I'm s'prized I have to point this out.

 

[Eric B]

The thing I find funny, is that it's the same people, including the modern day PRODUCERS, who hate him so much for the "change", like or have added all of these other totally out of character changes to the franchise. Especially all the ROMANCE between members :horor: (They even expanded it to Velma/Shaggy, though that has seemed to have cooled down for now).
Not only was that so not in the original format. (Occasionally, you would have mention of romantic interest outside of the gang), but it further changed the characters and the dynamic. More than anything Scrappy ever did.
Back in the day, Josie and Funky Phantom were the ones with romantic jealousy, and that was just plain annoying. Scooby was a total escape from that.

Also, making Fred a jerk, which began with A Pup Named Scooby (the first series after Scrappy was eliminated, thus many haters like it for that reason). It was like he was too "perfect" in the original show, so they had to completely butcher him up. Talk about "changing the show"! It's just not the same character anymore.

Also, the haters tend to be the ones who push the whole "Shaggy (and possibly Scooby) were potheads" thing. You won't see this in the cartoons, but it was implied in the live action movie, and among various fansites, blogs and forum posts.

A lot of this stuff we continue to see today are spoofs of the old show. (Like the romance began with the Scooby/Johnny Bravo crossover episode). They were funny at first, but now they have been made permanent parts of the show, changing the whole dynamic.

The new styles of animation and background music also don't maintain the feel of the show.

So this whole thing about the change of the show cannot be what made them hate him.
To remain consistent with shadow theory, to hate him for "changing" the show, these people are projecting onto him something within themselves, as they obviously don't mind all of these other egregious changes. In fact, some of the most hostile hatred against Scrappy has come from people who don't like Scooby to begin with! (A lot of this could be seen on the old jumpthehark.com) What is that about? And the biggest criticism of Scooby was "the same old plot again and again".
So there is something more to it than just a change of format.

As I pointed out, the show had already subtly changed by the time he was added. Just look at that least season before him (which they have so erroneously been packaging as a "third season" of the original 1969-70 series!
)
It was my then blossoming tertiary (Puer) Si, that remembered the thrill of waiting for the show to come on in the first four seasons, but by those next three (aka "the Scooby Doo Show"), I still watched, but the thrill was gone.
It was the network that forced them to change, else they would cancel the show. Scrappy kept the show going!

Scrappy basically gave the old format a break, and then it gradually returned with a lot of new good ideas. (Like some of the stories in the '83/84 seasons, and then the 13 Ghosts series).

 

[Ginkgo]

Fred was a jerk for being so nice. No harm done.

 

[Eric B]

That's just what I mean. He was "too perfect". So people project some sort of "jerkishness" onto this (even though it really wasn't, on his part), and then seek to "expose" it by making him openly jerkish in the new series. (In this new show, it's his obsession with "traps", plus his cold treatment toward Daphne, where in the DTV's, he was the one jealous of her and often a bit chauvinistic).
It's like sort of a jealousy, as we tend to want to "take down" anyone who makes us feel inferior in some way. This is how shadow projections often work.

I think a single spoof movie could handle that. Even A Pup Named Scooby was so over the top in the way he was characterized; I just could never accept it as canonical. It was a three-season long spoof of the series. (Daphne and Velma's personalities were practically swapped, save for Velma still being brainy).

Much of those "younger versions of cartoon stars" shows that were the fad at that time would have been better as feature length specials rather than series. Tiny Toons was the only one done really well. (And the younger stars were separate characters from their original counterparts).

I would just like to see all of these spoofs ended for once, as well as erasing the notion of Scrappy as a bad guy. (They don't necessarily have to bring him back to the series).

 

[wolfy]

Scrappy never bothered me too much. The "let me at 'em, uncle scooby" got old. But that was about it. I always enjoyed the Scrappy/Scooby dynamic.