It goes without saying that Velma Dinkley is far and away the smartest member of the Scooby-Doo gang. Her off-the-charts intelligence is for most fans her defining feature. Does that make her the best member of the group? It certainly makes her one of the most useful considering the fact they're constantly solving supernatural mysteries.
But what about the others? What qualities do Fred, Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby bring to the table? Is it all Velma, all the time, or does the entire enterprise of Mystery Incorporated crumble if you take any of them out? Here are five ways Velma is the best member of the gang, and five ways it's one of the others.
10 Velma: Brains
First and foremost, Velma's intelligence makes her essential to the gang. After the gang went their separate ways in the 70s, she went on to become a scientist at NASA. More than that, Velma's curious nature and book smarts make her the smartest person on the show and would rank her among the smartest people in any genre (certainly among the smartest people in comic books, which she's appeared in regularly for decades).
Solving crimes and exposing hoaxsters seems to be just one of her many, many talents.
9 Scooby: Dependable
Scooby-Doo is a lot of things. Cute. Endearing. Cowardly. He scares so easy fans might wonder why he hangs around for any of the mystery the gang routinely encounters, but though he's quick to fear, he's also pretty reliable in other ways too.
Daphne and the other members of the gang always tempt into doing things he probably doesn't want to do with Scooby Snacks, which probably isn't fair (or ethical). But Scooby is a talking dog and knows more probably than he lets on. He likes to help out, and the snacks make the fear go down easier.
8 Velma: Strength
Not only does Velma flex the biggest mental muscle on the team, but she is also the strongest among them by far. She might even be the strongest person in the entire Scooby-Doo! universe (or maybe it's the multiverse), since she regularly displays Thing-like strength.
More often than not, the gang encounters some scary apparition or monster, and the entire group leaps into Velma's arms. Not only does she support them, she also takes off running with them. She's easily the smallest member, so crazy core strength going on there.
7 Shaggy: Speed
It's a shame Shaggy can't lift as much as Velma with those skinny arms of his, because he's clearly the fastest person in the group. Scooby might give him a run for his money, but when Shaggy is in full-on terror mode, he runs faster than the Flash out of a haunted mansion or derelict theme park.
Shaggy's ability to outpace Scooby, even when the Great Dane is running on all fours, probably has something to do with the fact that Shaggy used to run track. He doesn't actively do it in any of the varying versions of the show, likely because he has other interests.
6 Velma: Discipline
The best detective needs a keen eye, but they also require discipline. Getting married to a theory or following any and every clue will derail an investigation immediately. Velma keeps it real by displaying a World's Greatest Detective-level degree of discipline.
She's inherently skeptical, so she tends to dismiss most supernatural explanations (and she's usually right). She also tends to play her cards close to her orange turtle-neck sweater, rarely divulging her real suspicions, even to the others in the gang.
5 Fred: Handy
Fred Jones is the nominal leader of the Scooby Gang, and generally is the one leading the way into another mystery. Velma (and to a lesser extent, Daphne) actually tend to be the ones driving the actual solving of the mystery, but Fred contributes in a major way.
He's by far the handiest member of the crew. Fred usually ends up building an elaborate trap to capture a villain (which is saying something, as many of them are usually some kind of ghost or spirit). These don't always work, but that's often the fault of Scooby and Shaggy.
4 Velma: Dark Side
It takes one to know one, the old saying goes. Velma definitely absorbs as much knowledge as she can, and that has on occasion led her down some dark paths. Sometimes it's for good reason: In Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy? she dressed up as the ghost of Cleopatra to scare off grave robbers.
But in the second season of the animated series Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, she really crossed the line by actually teaming with the series villain, Mr. E, though everything worked out in the end.
3 Scrappy: Puppy Power
One member of the team who might give Velma a run for her money in the strength department is Scrappy-Doo. Not necessarily liked by fans of the original series, this later addition to the team nevertheless packs a punch. His super-strength ranks him well ahead of any other canine (including his uncle Scooby) and most, if not all, people in the Scooby-Doo! universe, making him indispensable to the team.
Is it enough to make him the best member of the team? Will anything ever be enough to make Scrappy the best?
2 Velma: Fearless Identity
If there's one thing above all else that makes Velma the best member of the Scooby Gang, it's her absolutely fearless sense of fashion. Some might look upon her orange uniform of a turtle-neck sweater and A-line skirt and sadly shake their heads, but she has a look, and it has helped shape perceptions of her. Though her sexuality has never been officially confirmed, many fans who are a part of the LGBT community believe Velma has been coded as queer and identify with this interpretation of the famous bookworm.
That being said, it's worth noting that since this is not canon, some of these assumptions rely on stereotypes some fans may not agree with.
1 Daphne: Independent
At the outset, it was Daphne Blake known for her fashion sense on the Scooby Gang, and that was about it. The character generally functioned as a damsel in distress, often getting captured in the course of an adventure. But like Velma, she grew as a character and became much more independent and headstrong.
Fred may lead the team, but she drives the whole enterprise, wanting to be a detective from when she was a girl. She learns self-defense and becomes much more active in solving crimes alongside Velma.