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This needs a stretch. (Feel free to remove when satisfied of completion.) Needed: * Synopsis is missing details. * Miscellaneous. |
- This article is about the episode. For the monsters in this episode, look here.
The Horrible Herd is the seventeenth episode of the second season of Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, and the forty-third overall.
Premise[]
A herd of mutated skeleton cattle are destroying farms, and heading to destroy all of Crystal Cove.
Synopsis[]
A farmer and his wife are drinking lemonade on the porch when they are attacked by a herd of skeletal cows which eat their farm house.
At The Bloody Stake, a waitress serves Scooby and Nova a plate of Scraps from the Grave. Shaggy, Velma, Daphne and Fred discuss whether the flintlock they found is the treasure. The waitress serves them a Cheese Platter of the Forever Undead. When Daphne complains about its quality, the waitress says that they're out of food because five local farms have been mysteriously destroyed this week.
The gang arrive at the farm and hear about the skull cattle. Velma says the hoofprints don't make sense.
At the Farmers Barrel of Crackerness they hear a similar tale. The only food they have is crackers and a sweet cheesy stuff they found on the road after the skull cattle went by, which Daphne describes as aged honey cheese. The ground starts to shake and everyone runs outside to see the herd approaching. They drive away, but the cattle catch the tractors and eat them, whilst the Mystery Machine has to use its jet boosters to escape.
At the Rogers mansion, Velma maps out the attacks and they create the outline of a magnifying glass centered around Destroido. The gang deduces that the only one who would create such evil creatures is Professor Pericles. Velma uses the backdoor Hot Dog Water left in the security system to spy on the villains. While Mr. E chews out Pericles for spending so much money on these animals and it has cost the lives of several scientists. Pericles cross bred cows, piranhas and bees to create the perfect monsters and are bred for only one purpose, to destroy Crystal Cove.
At City Hall, Sheriff Stone and Mayor Nettles are using the skills they learned at couples cooking class. The gang tell them about the skull cattle and the deputy confirms it. The cattle eat the roads and bridges, sealing off the town. Daphne realizes that since all of the cattle are male drones, they must be a queen at Destroido.
Taking the mayoral helicopter, they find the entrance to the cow hive and abseil down. Using industrial-sized smoke guns to subdue the bee-cows they find the queen-cow-bee-piranha-monster-thingy. Shaggy and Scooby steal an egg and lead the queen into a trap that allows the mayor to hoist her up and fly over town, causing the herd to follow.
Pericles orders Brad and Judy to fire a missile at the helicopter, which takes out its tail rotor and causes Nova to fall into the stampeding herd. The queen is dropped into the sea and the herd follow, and swim away as they are part fish. The gang realizes they just released an unnatural species into the ecosystem but the Sheriff says that there's nothing they can do.
Scooby and Shaggy find Nova unconscious and rush her to the hospital. Pericles promises to make the meddling kinder pay for ruining his plan.
Characters[]
Main characters:
Supporting characters:
Villains:
- Horrible Herd (only appearance)(no lines)
- Horrible Herd's queen (only appearance)(no lines)
- Professor Pericles
- Mr. E
- Brad Chiles
- Judy Reeves
Other characters:
- Farmer (final appearance)
- Martha (only appearance)
- Nova (no lines)
- Sullen female farmer (only appearance)
- Miss Vampire Waitress
- Deputy
- Scientist (only time heard)
- Hot Dog Water (mentioned)
Locations[]
Objects[]
- Scraps from the Grave
- Cheese Platter of the Forever Dead
- Roadkill Sweet Cheese
- Velma's laptop
- Bacon sombrero
- Smoke guns
- Rocket Propelled Grenade
Vehicles[]
- The Mystery Machine
- Tractors
- Helicopter
- The Enigma Machine
Suspects[]
- None
Culprits[]
| Culprit | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| Professor Pericles bred a genetically-modified cow-piranha-bee hybrid animal | To destroy Crystal Cove, which would leave the gang with no place to hide and therefore he would be able to get the Planispheric Disk. |
Cast[]
Continuity[]
- The gang found the old gun at the end of the previous episode.
- Scooby holds a grudge against the farmer who kept him locked up in his farm which he escaped in The Night the Clown Cried.
- Pericles implied to have killed Ed Machine and Cassidy Williams, who disappeared after their believed deaths in All Fear the Freak and The Midnight Zone; this is the first mention of Ed since he last appeared in All Fear the Freak.
- Sheriff Stone actually remembers Mayor Nettles's first name, although his fixation on her role makes him call her "Janet Mayor Nettles".
- Mayor Nettles and Sheriff Stone kiss in this episode.
- Hot Dog Water left a backdoor into Destroido's computers when she stole the pieces of the Planispheric Disk from its vault in Wrath of the Krampus.
Notes/trivia[]
- Professor Pericles announces the "previously on..." recap for this episode. This is the first time a guest character has done this instead of a member of the gang.
- A rift between Mr. E and Professor Pericles forms after the latter spent a huge amount Destroido Corp.'s funds and losing its best scientists just to create the Horrible Herd.
- Brad and Judy have become completely obedient to Pericles and his highly devious plans to destroy Crystal Cove to get the Planispheric Disk, even endangering their own son, and their former dog who's badly wounded by falling out the mayor's helicopter.
- This is the first episode in which the deputy speaks.
- Pericles can form his wings into hands.
- Mayor Nettles served time in the Air Force.
- A villain's scheme involving a mutated herd of cattle also occurred in the Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! episode, Scooby Dudes.
- Daphne states that the Horrible Herd functions like normal bees, but all of the cows are referred to as male drones by Pericles. In real life, the majority of bees in a hive are female, with the males' only purpose being to mate and die.
Cultural references[]
- Nova losing Scooby's grip and falling into the skull cattle's stampede is reminiscent of when Mufasa was thrown off a cliff by his brother Scar and was mortally wounded from falling through the wildebeest's stampede in the Disney film The Lion King.
- The Queen Skull Cow's crested head, her initial appearance attached to a giant egg sac, and her ripping free to chase the heroes after they attack her eggs is a reference to the Xenomorph Queen in Aliens.
- The Farmers Barrel of Crackerness is a pun on Cracker Barrel cheese.
Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities[]
- The farmer says they have not had cattle in 25 years, but in The Night the Clown Cried, Scooby talked to a cow in the barn.
- City Hall appears undamaged, although in the previous episode, it was burned.
- How do the gang get back in the helicopter after it lifts the herd queen into the air? That would require other winches in the helicopter or expert level prusik skills.
In other languages[]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Brazilian Portuguese | A Manada Monstruosa | The Monstrous Cattle |
| Italian | Caccia Alla Regina | Queen's Hunt |
| Spanish (Latin America) | La Manada del Horror | The Herd of Horror |
| French | La Horde de L'enfer | The Hordes of Hell |
| Greek | Το Καταραμένο Κοπάδι | The Cursed Herd |
Home media[]
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: Season Two, Part 2 - Spooky Stampede DVD set released by Warner Home Video on June 18, 2013.- Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: Season Two, Volume 3 DVD released by Warner Home Video on April 4, 2014.
- Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: The Complete Season 2 DVD set released by Warner Home Video on October 7, 2014.
- Scooby-Doo! Mystères associés: L'intégrale de la saison 2 (Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: The entirety of season 2) DVD set released by Warner Home Video on September 10, 2013.
Quotes[]
Scooby: (Watching Nova) Aah. I just love the way she rolls in the dirt. |
Mr E: This macabre herd of skull cattle you've created is costing millions of Destroido's money. My money. And I currently have twenty eight of my best scientists listed as"presumed missing". (Screams heard in distance) Make that twenty nine. |
Professor Pericles: And make no mistake Ricky. I will break any egg that gets in my way. Ed Machine, Cassidy Williams. Or perhaps even you! |
External links[]
- TBA
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| Aliens Among Us | Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated Season 2 |
Dance of the Undead |