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Why does Daphne look so different in The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo?
Something's different about Daphne!
Daphne Blake is one of the more consistent members of Mystery, Inc., appearing in more Scooby-Doo spin-offs than Velma or Fred. Part of Daphne's consistency is her character design: long red hair, purple dress, green scarf. Some minor tweaks have been made from series to series, but that is the general blueprint of Daphne.
That was until The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo premiered in 1985, a new series following Daphne, Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy as they hunted escaped ghosts from the Himalayan Mountains. At the beginning of the first episode, we see Daphne take the controls from Shaggy and crash-land their falling plane into a village. But something was different about Daphne.
Daphne suddenly had a Sabrina Duncan-style rounded pageboy haircut, a purple jumpsuit, and a totally different face. If Daphne were a real person acting on a TV show, rumors would be spreading like wildfire speculating if she resorted to plastic surgery or witchcraft to make her look like Twiggy.
Thankfully, Daphne's voice actor for 13 Ghosts was Heather North, who had been playing Daphne for fifteen years, providing a vocal consistency with previous portrayals of Daphne. But why the sudden change to Danger-Prone Daphne's appearance?
One theory is that Daphne is the most fashion-minded member of Mystery, Inc., and while Shaggy could always wear a green (or red) t-shirt, someone who cares about trends would change their outfits with the times. It makes sense that in an '80s show, she would have a more '80s look.
Fans compared the new Daphne look to Charlie's Angels, specifically Sabrina Duncan. But other fans looked to cartoon characters for the inspiration behind Daphne's sudden character design - Debbie from Speed Buggy and April O'Neil from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Debbie had the same hairstyle, but April O'Neil was more of a fashion inspiration, always wearing a yellow jumpsuit that was both sophisticated enough to wear for the evening news but flexible enough to climb around the sewers while adventuring with the TMNT. Likewise, Daphne needed something to show her modern tastes while also having free range to chase ghosts through the Himalayas.
Whether you liked the Daphne redesign or not, it did not last long. After 13 Ghosts, fans saw Daphne undergo another character redesign to her childhood self in 1988's A Pup Named Scooby-Doo. Then, in 1998, movies like Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island and Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost, Mystery, Inc., are aged up to early adulthood. In these movies, Daphne is a journalist and trades her jumpsuit for a purple skirt suit, but her hair and face return to their normal design. Finally, in What's New, Scooby-Doo? premiered in 2002, and Daphne was finally back to her original design, green headband and all.
