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Norville "Shaggy" Rogers is a fictional character in the American animated television series Scooby-Doo, about the adventures of four crime-solving teenagers and Shaggy's pet Great Dane, Scooby-Doo.
Shaggy closely reflects the late 1960s time era the original Scooby-Doo series was created in, particularly in his manners of speaking (he often punctuates his sentences with the word "like") and dress—his typical look consists of a green T-shirt, bell-bottom pants, lanky, bushy brown hair, and a rough goatee. He embodies elements of both the early-1960s beatnik, and the late-1960s hippie; direct inspiration for Shaggy came from Maynard G. Krebs, a beatnik character played by Bob Denver in the early 1960s sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.
Both Shaggy and Scooby-Doo have tremendous, insatiable appetites, as well as tendencies towards goofing off and cowardice. Due to these similarities, Shaggy typically treats Scooby as a normal person rather than his pet. Shaggy uses his catchphrase "zoinks!" whenever he's surprised or scared, which is frequently.
Although usually considered a coward, Shaggy often proves useful in ferreting out the "monsters" and "ghosts" that are usually at the heart of the gang's mysteries (sometimes by reluctantly acting as "live bait" for a trap), and providing a necessary distraction for their eventual capture. Shaggy also has athletic, disguise and ventriloquism skills which often help the gang.
Shaggy's traditional voice artist in the original series and various spinoffs was Casey Kasem. Scott Innes and Billy West briefly took over the role in several of the direct-to-video films produced in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In the recent series What's New, Scooby-Doo?, Casey Kasem resumed the role. In the two live-action Scooby Doo movies, he is played by Matthew Lillard.
Currently Shaggy is a vegetarian, by request of Casey Kasem who in real life is a vegetarian. In the past Shaggy had a tendency to overeat and eat anything he could. Shaggy's eating habits angered Kasem. In 1995, Kasem walked out as the voice of Shaggy, when Shaggy and Scooby-Doo were to be portrayed in a Burger King Commercial.
Relatives
Relatives of Shaggy shown during the series include (*):
- Mom and Pop Rogers: Shaggy's parents. Shaggy's father is a police officer. At one point, Shaggy's parents lived in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
- Gaggy Rogers: Shaggy's uncle, who likes to play practical jokes.
- Maggie Rogers: Shaggy's sister. In A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, she is portrayed as a baby named "Sugey" (pronounced SHOO-gee), which was possibly Maggie's nickname.
- Wilfred: Maggie's fiancee/husband, and Shaggy's brother-in-law.
- Uncle Shagworthy: Shaggy's rich uncle. Not only does he look like his nephew-he has the same appetite. Not surprisingly he keeps his most precious possession (food) in a safe!
- Great Uncle Nat: Shaggy's great-uncle.
- Shagbert (Shaggy from livingston): Shaggy's Scottish cousin from the band jakata.
- Fearless Shagaford: Shaggy's uncle, who owns the Fearless Detective Agency (see Fearless Fosdick)
- Betty Lou Shaggbilly: Shaggy's Southern cousin, a hillbilly.
- Uncle Beauregard: Shaggy's Southern uncle, deceased. Appeared in Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers
Ancestors of Shaggy included McBaggy Rogers, a Pilgrim who came to Plymouth, Massachusetts aboard the Mayflower in 1620.
In A Pup Named Scooby Doo, Shaggy is shown as having an infant sister named "Sugey", (pronounced "Shoogie") who presumably was the younger version of Maggie (which would make "Sugey" a nickname). However, the difference between the two siblings' ages in Pup seems greater than the difference when both are older (i.e., Maggie apparently aged at a faster rate over the ensuing years than Shaggy did). A similar phenomenon is found in the popular comic strip Peanuts, where Sally was aged from infancy to being a year or two younger than her brother Charlie Brown.
Cultural references
Because of Shaggy's appearance and voracious appetite, Shaggy is often perceived to be a stoner. This however is usually seen as fan speculation. Shaggy has been spoofed in such series as Saturday Night Live, Robot Chicken, and such movies as Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and even Clone Wars. In these and some other parodies of the Scooby-Doo series, Shaggy's constant giddy, hungry, and confused state is often parodied as a sign of supposed marijuana usage. In "Scooby Doo," Shaggy connects with a girl on the flight to Spooky Island through a common love of "Scooby Snacks," a term which has come to be used in stoner culture as slang for drugs. Furthermore, the girl on the flight is named Mary Jane, a common euphemism for marijuana. Upon learning the girl's name, Shaggy responds, "No way. That is, like, my favorite name." These and other veiled drug references in both the original cartoon and its live action progeny may seem to justify popular culture's interpretation of the zany pair. This was also addressed in an episode of the animated series Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law entitled "Shaggy Busted." In it, Shaggy and Scooby are arrested under suspicions of drug use. Freddy later states that Shaggy and Scooby aren't high, but that "they're just stupid."
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Billy West-potrayed characters | Scooby-Doo characters | Fictional sidekicks | Fictional vegetarians | Fictional overeaters
"Shaggy Rogers"