Norville "Shaggy" Rogers is a fictional cartoon character and one of the main characters in the Scooby-Doo franchise. He is characterized as an amateur detective, and the long-time best friend of his dog, Scooby-Doo. The four teenage lead characters of Scooby-Doo were inspired by four of the main characters from the 1959–1963 American sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, with Shaggy having been derived from the character Maynard G. Krebs, as played by Bob Denver. Maynard's beatnik-style goatee, general appearance, and use of the word "like" all found their way into the character of Shaggy, with the base personality of the character updated to make him a hippie rather than a beatnik. Shaggy is typically depicted as having a large appetite and a love for food. He and Scooby justify their hunger by insisting that "Being in a constant state of terror makes us constantly hungry!" in Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. Shaggy supposedly maintains a slender physique because of his high metabolism and habitual vegetarianism. Various episodes have mentioned that he was a track and field athlete and a gymnast in his younger years, explaining how he evades villains by simply outrunning them.
Character description Shaggy has a characteristic speech pattern marked by his frequent use of the filler word "like" and a pubescent voice that often cracks. His catchphrase is the nonsense word "Zoinks!", used to express surprise or alarm. In the show, he is the only protagonist with facial hair, which consists of a rough goatee. His signature attire consists of a baggy green V-neck T-shirt, loose maroon or brown bell-bottom pants, and black shoes. In The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo and early made-for-TV films, he wears a red V-neck and blue jeans. Like his dog Scooby, Shaggy is characterized as being able to be bribed with Scooby Snacks due to his large appetite and love for food. Shaggy's favorite meal is an "extra cheese pizza with pickles", as revealed in the TV film Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo. In Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico, it is revealed by Fred that the reason Shaggy eats so much (while maintaining his slender physique) is his "high metabolism". However, in Scooby-Doo: Behind the Scenes, it is stated by Fred that the real reason Shaggy is so skinny is because he is a vegetarian (a reference to Casey Kasem's veganism). The episode "A Clue for Scooby-Doo" from his debut series Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! revealed that his taste for unlikely foods (such as chocolate-covered hot dogs and liverwurst "a la mode") is a consequence of a young Shaggy receiving a garbage disposal unit for his first toy. In the episode "Bedlam in the Big Top", he says he is a track runner, and in the pilot episode "What a Night for a Knight" Daphne states that he is the best gymnast in their school – both of which explain his uncanny skills in quickly evading villains. He has been shown, in some instances, to be able to run even faster than Scooby, even when the dog is running on all fours. Shaggy is capable of impressive feats of athleticism when he is scared; however, these abilities are usually only used for comedy, with Shaggy only being capable of such feats when panicked. For example, after being scared in Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare, he shakes the iron bars of an old-fashioned jail cell so hard that they collapse. Normally, Shaggy becomes extremely scared when faced with monsters or other frightening situations, usually displaying cowardice to a much greater degree than any other character except for Scooby. This was explained in the Legend of the Phantosaur as a possible type of panic disorder. However, on occasion, he shows courage when his friends are in serious danger. In the earliest produced episodes, Shaggy was actually a bit intelligent and at times was capable of solving mysteries and even capturing the villains. For example in the episode "A Clue for Scooby-Doo", he correctly deduced that the ghost of Captain Cutler was actually Cutler himself by using some seaweed to imitate his beard to prove his point. In the episode "Never Ape an Ape Man", he spotted the Ape-Man without his mask and tricked him into having his picture taken with a camera. Also, in the episode "Bedlam in the Big Top", Shaggy concocted a brilliant plan to capture the Ghost Clown by way of tricking him into hypnotizing himself by holding up mirrors.
Development The four teenage lead characters of Scooby-Doo were inspired by four of the main characters from the 1959–1963 American sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, with Shaggy having been derived from the character Maynard G. Krebs, as played by Bob Denver. Maynard's beatnik-style goatee, general appearance, and use of the word "like" all found their way into the character of Shaggy, with the base personality of the character updated to make him a hippie rather than a beatnik. Casey Kasem, the first voice actor for Shaggy, said that he originally felt uncomfortable after being assigned to Shaggy. Kasem stated that while he was "hip to what hippies were about", he had never before portrayed a hippie character. Kasem had wanted to voice act for Fred Jones, and Frank Welker had wanted to voice act for Shaggy. Instead, the CBS network assigned Kasem to Shaggy and Welker to Fred. Unsure what the voice of a hippie would sound like, Kasem based his vocal style and mannerisms for Shaggy on those of Dick Crenna's character Walter Denton from the radio/television sitcom Our Miss Brooks. Kasem stated that as he continued to voice Shaggy, the character evolved. Kasem said that the "voice dynamics" improved and that his laughs increasingly gained quality. He added that Shaggy in 2002 is "more frightened today than he was at the beginning." Kasem convinced the producers that Shaggy should be a vegetarian, like himself, in 2002.
Performers
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