- This article is about the original incarnation from the A Pup Named Scooby-Doo. For other incarnations, see Red Herring (disambiguation).
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This needs a stretch. (Feel free to remove when satisfied of completion.) Needed: History is missing details. |
| “ | That's not very funny! | ” |
—Red, after he makes fun of the gang, and then has an immediate accident. | ||
Red Herring was Coolsville's neighborhood bully, and Freddie Jones's prime suspect of any of the town's crimes. Out of the many, many times he was accused, only once did he actually commit the crime, and that was when Fred did not accuse him.[1]
Physical appearance[]
Red is a short, chubby, young adolescent male, with curly, bushy red hair, and lots of freckles. He wears a dark green sleeveless jacket with a white tank top underneath, as well as beige pants, and brown boots. He also has a heart and arrow tattoo on his upper right arm.
Personality[]
He tends to make things hard for the neighborhood kids, often making a joke at their expense, only to fall into a trashcan or something, to delight of the gang, leading to him saying "That's not very funny". He is apparently a loner.
History[]
Early life[]
As an infant, Red once pretended to be a monster on the playground, which Freddie never forgot, and therefore believed every crime and monster scheme would be done by Red.[2]
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo[]
Season one[]
Shaggy Rogers' bike had been stolen by a ghost, and Freddie thought Red was the culprit, so they searched his hideout, Weirdo Woods. Red pretended to be a swamp monster in order to scare them. Freddie accused him of stealing it when they found a blue bike, however, Shaggy's was red. It was actually Red's bike, but Freddie didn't believe this and thought he painted it so that they wouldn't recognize it. He used a sandblaster on it in an attempt to reveal that he painted it, but he was wrong and the sandblaster ended up damaging the bike. In retaliation, Red got on the bike and ran him over. The gang were forced to pay for the damages to Red's bike.[3]
When Shaggy and Scooby-Doo attended the Coolsville Comic Book Convention, Red disguised himself as the Eyeball Monster to scare them. He then planned to sneak up on a group of kids and make them cry, only to get laughed at when he got hauled off by a security guard. When Shaggy's first edition of Commander Cool (among many others) was stolen by Dr. Croaker, Shaggy and Scooby questioned several people, including Red. In retaliation, Red accused Shaggy, claiming that his interrogations were just a cover-up. Once the real culprit was caught, Red attempted to steal a comic, but it was booby trapped, exploding in a gummy mess, trapping Red.[4]
When word got out about a Headless Skateboarder abducting dolphins, Red hired the gang to prove that he was not the Headless Skateboarder. Once the culprit was caught, Freddie accused Red anyway. Red reminded him of why he hired them for this case in the first place, after which Freddie apologized for the accusation.
Season two[]
When Mr. O'Greazy's restaurant was haunted by a Burger Monster, the gang met Red there, where he informed them that it was his favorite place to eat. He offered Scooby a hot dog, but when he tried to eat it, he took it away and told him to get his own. He accidentally walked into a trash can, causing him to spill his food and get covered in garbage. Despite O'Greazy's being Red's favorite restaurant, Freddie still accused him of being the villain, only for Red to show up and point out how little sense it made to do so. According to Velma, he was wrong for the 647th time that month - a new record.[5]
After the Ghost of Zombo was captured, Freddie was unsure of who the culprit was. Red appeared and reminded him that that was the part where he was supposed to accuse him of being the culprit. He did, and Red put a clown nose on him and squeezed it, informing him that he was wrong yet again.[6]
Season three[]
Red pulled out of his Boogey Biker costume.
He decided to clean and spruce up his aunt's bike, and dressed up as the Boogey Biker to scare the gang away, so they wouldn't ruin his reputation. He was forgiven, and justified Freddie's accusations (and paranoia).[1]
Once Bigwig was out of breath, Freddie calls Red’s name twice but he doesn’t show up. Red was seen reading a newspaper then tells Freddie he’s innocent and to leave much to his disappointment.
Red challenged Freddie to a wrestling match following the capture of the Ghost of the Hooded Heifer, saying that if Freddie won, Red would take the blame. Freddie lost, prompting Red to refer to him as a "mega-weenie".[7]
Season four[]
After the gang had captured Nasty-Doo and began speculating on who his true identity was, as always Freddie accused Red Herring of being the were-doo. Among saying that, Red showed up at Doo Manor to congratulate Freddie on the ten-thousandth time he falsely accused Red of being the culprit, and "honored" him with the Golden Wiener plaque, which Freddie was delighted to accept.[8]
Scooby-Doo! Team-Up[]
Red was one of the culprits behind the giant Scrappy-Doo.
Appearances[]
Television[]
Comics[]
Quotes[]
Red: I'm gonna "oops" you, Freddy! (runs his bike over Freddy, leaving a tire mark) |
"What a weenie!" |
(Usually uttered after he gets his comeuppance) |
Notes/Trivia[]
- In some episodes of A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (especially early on in the series), Red being considered a suspect did make some sense -- in some episodes, the gang would find him near the scene of the crime and/or he would've had some kind of motive that would make him a suspect. But as the show went on, Fred accusing Red Herring of doing it made less and less sense and was played more as a joke.
- Red's name is a play on the literacy device which puts one on a false trail, based on the old criminal device of drawing a smoked ("red") herring across the scent of a fugitive, in order to divert pursuing hounds. This in turn was based on a Mother Goose rhyme, "A man in the wilderness asked of me,/'How many strawberries grew in the sea?'/I answered him, as I thought good,/'As many as red herrings grow in the wood,'" from which the phrase, "looking for red herrings (in the wood)," came to mean "to waste time on a pointless task, to look for something that isn't there."