Amanda Smythe is a chemist and former Crystal Cove High School student. She disguised herself as Aphrodite as an attack against Crystal Cove, rendering the entire town subservient to her with the use of an artificial chemical.
Physical appearance[]
Smythe is a middle-aged woman with long bright blonde hair and blue eyes. Although she was considered quite unattractive in her youth (with freckles, glasses and braces), she grew up to be a conventionally pretty woman, with Daphne admitting so. While in her youth, Smythe was only seen dressed in a pink ball gown (the same kind she used for her Aphrodite-costume), she wore a lab coat, a seemingly white t-shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and finally a pink headband (which she also wore as a teen) as an adult and outside of her monster-costume (excluding the headband when she was unmasked).
Personality[]
Smythe is a vengeful woman deeply traumatized from being bullied as a teenager. As she perceived herself as the smartest student in the history of Crystal Cove, she felt deserving of widespread praise and believed she was unfairly treated by her peers. After a particular incident in which she was humiliated in front of the entire school, Smythe grew to be misanthropic and blamed all of Crystal Cove for her ordeal, and sought to destroy the town as revenge. She could be described as a "mad scientist" as she used her talents in chemistry as a means to harm other people for personal gain.
While she upturned the entire social order of Crystal Cove, she became increasingly egotistical and power-hungry as she placed herself at the top of the social structure, declaring herself the rightful ruler of the town. Smythe hosted a lavish celebration to crown herself as queen, which would not gain her any political power and would only serve as a symbolic gesture. She also used her power to exert total control over her victims, giving herself the power she felt she was deprived of in her past life. Smythe described her servants them as mere "puppets" who would do her bidding for her without question.
History[]
Early life[]
Smythe as a teenager.
In her adolescence, Smythe was a student at Crystal Cove High School, described by the school newspaper as a "science whiz". However, bullying her for her appearance, Smyth's peers staged a cruel prank against her, in which they promised to crown her as a prom queen but instead placed a monster mask on her face. Humiliated by the ordeal, Smythe disappeared from public view in Crystal Cove, but vowing to get revenge on those who wronged her.[1]
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated[]
Season one[]
While she was planning her revenge, she exchanged messages with the genius parrot Professor Pericles, who had recently escaped incarceration at the Crystal Cove Animal Asylum. As Pericles had ulterior motives to help her, he gave Smythe the formula for an artificial pheromone which could render victims completely subservient to her command. Using this substance, she disguised herself as the ghoul-like Aphrodite (based on the Greek goddess of love) and used the chemical on several victims and placing them in a lovestruck trance. Smythe first attacked during a high school soccer game, then attacked the remaining high school students the next day and eventually the entire town.
Smythe unmasked.
Despite her best efforts, she was unable to infect Scooby-Doo of Mystery Incorporated (who is unaffected as he is not a human), who collaborated with Pericles to create an antidote. Though Smythe attempted to seize their antidote sample, she failed to do so, and this allowed Scooby to cure the other members of Mystery Inc. She later held a prom event at the city hall to crown herself as prom queen, but Mystery Inc. struck at this event, spraying antidote on all the guests and capturing her in a trap. She was then unmasked, exposed for her crimes, and handed over to Sheriff Bronson Stone.
Post-Nibiru[]
When the Evil Entity was destroyed, it altered all of reality for Crystal Cove, erasing Smythe's crimes as Aphrodite from existence.[2]
Appearances[]
- Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated
- 116. Where Walks Aphrodite
- 226. Come Undone (flashback only)(no lines)
Notes/trivia[]
- Tricia Helfer's sole credit is for playing Aphrodite.
- Smythe didn't create the disguise herself since the people who mocked her came up with the mask.
- By coincidence, her name Amanda means love and she disguised herself as the Greek deity of love.
- Smythe's plight at the prom is reminescent of Carrie White, who was cruelly pranked by some of her classmates into being Prom Queen.
- However, unlike with Smythe, her actions resulted in numerous deaths and the destruction of her town, Chamberlain, Maine.
In other languages[]
| Actor | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chiara Gioncardi | Italian |
References[]
- ↑ Where Walks Aphrodite, season 1, episode 16.
- ↑ Come Undone, season 2, episode 26.