Eric Staufer is a college student who is responsible for creating the Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase video game.
Physical appearance[]
Eric is a young adult man, with black hair, wearing a lab coat, and both a yellow collar shirt and a blue-green shirt underneath his lab coat, and wears big rounded framed glasses. He had a card necklace which is likely part of the university's security.
Personality[]
Eric takes huge pride in designing his own video game, which is highlighted by his college major in such fields. He cares and trusts his friends deeply and holds a good amount of respect for Professor Kaufman. Eric has a heavy conscience often feeling guilty for things even if he had no control over how it could have happened. Likewise, he does not tolerate any acts of crime and dishonesty committed by others, as he felt betrayed by Bill, when he became exposed as the main culprit for releasing the Phantom Virus.
History[]
Early life[]
While it was never fully explained how they met, Cyber Chase's continuity establishes that Eric has been friends with Mystery Inc. since at least high school. He is very passionate about stuff relating to computers and technology, as Fred claims that Eric "practically lived" in their old high school's computer lab.
They kept in touch and they told Eric about many of their capers including the various costumed capers they solved including the times they unmasked "monsters" such as the Creeper, Old Iron Face, the Jaguaro, the Tar Monster, and the Gator Ghoul.[1]
Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase[]
Eric and his "best friend" Bill McLemore created a laser that could convert real-world objects into digital code or make digital code into real-world objects. They entered it a science fair with a $250,000 cash prize however, they needed an example and Professor Kaufman decided to use Eric's newly created game Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase, based on his friend's adventures, rather than Bill's baseball game. However, Eric's game soon got a virus meaning they couldn't safely use the laser. Late into the night they still hadn't fixed the game and suddenly the laser turned on and brought the virus into the real world. Eric tried to use a phone to call for help but the virus made the phone go haywire and attack Eric with its wires. The Phantom Virus was soon stopped by Professor Kaufman when he used a magnet to weaken and scare away the virus.
The next day Mystery Inc. came to visit Eric at the university to see what he made based on them. When they arrived at the computer lab Eric gave them the tour and promised to take them out for dinner after the tour. Eric introduces Mystery Inc. to Bill and Professor Kaufman before explaining how his laser worked and how it summoned the Phantom Virus. During this explanation, he also showed off his Scooby game and told them about some of the game design. Eric comes up with a plan if the gang can lure the Phantom Virus to the computer lab he can use the laser and beam him back into cyberspace.
After the gang were beamed into the Scooby game he worriedly watched them try to beat each level with Professor Kaufman, Bill, and Officer Wembley, his worries only worsened knowing that nobody had been able to beat the game's final level. In the end, after the gang got back to the real world and explained all the clues of who'd created the Phantom Virus, Eric thought it was strange the clues they found simply meant that the Virus really liked baseball, making him realize that Bill, his best friend, was the one who created the Virus. Bill was handcuffed and admitted to trying to sabotage Eric's game because Professor Kaufman had chosen Eric's game over his own even though Bill had been a student two years longer than Eric had, so he decided to create the Phantom Virus to scare Eric away so he could take the $250,000 cash prize for himself. Eric joined everyone in laughing about how Bill was to say the famous line about how he would have gotten away with it if wasn't for those meddling kids. At a soda shop, Eric got everyone lunch as a way of thanking them for stopping the Phantom Virus. He apologizes for them being sent to cyberspace and after they talk about the game for a bit he lets Scooby-Doo use his laptop to play the game.[2]
Other versions[]
Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase (GBA)[]
Eric Staufer was suspected of having unleashed the Phantom Virus despite being a friend of Mystery Inc. due to his strong motive since if he scared off Bill McLemore he could keep the prize money for himself. When he is the person who unleashed the virus since the game ends as soon as anyone is picked as the mastermind, it's never explained what his true motives were however he was likely arrested by the officer who was nearby.[3]
Appearances[]
- DTV4. Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase
- Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase (novel based on the film)
- Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase (GBA tie-in game with the film)
Quotes[]
Eric: We couldn't have done it without you, Professor Kaufman. You should share in the reward too. |
Eric: The game doesn't work that way. They'll have to play through all the levels to get out. |
Eric: All I'm getting is that the virus had a thing for... Baseball!! Bill!!" |
Eric: Lunch is on me, guys! |
Trivia[]
- He has the same name and black hair as Prince Eric from Disney's The Little Mermaid.
- He wears similar glasses to what young Bill Gates wore.
In other languages[]
| Actor | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Erik Skøld | Norwegian | |
| Dan Bratt | Swedish | |
| Artur Kaczmarski | Polish |