Scooby-Doo has lasted an unusually long time as a franchise, and much of that success is due to the five characters that make up Mystery Incorporated. It is surprising that their many changes and versions over the last half-century have continued unabated so successfully.
Fred Jones has almost always been considered the leader of the gang, and while the shifting landscape of his character has sometimes moved him out of this role, Fred has always found his footing and continues to surprise audiences with his personality shifts through time.
7 Cameraman Fred (Scooby-Doo On Zombie Island)
After many years of leading the Mystery Gang in multiple television shows, the first time that Fred was forced to reinvent himself was in Scooby-Doo On Zombie Island. After the Mystery Gang broke up, Fred actually began to follow Daphne as she ventured out to create and star in a television show.
Fred ended up helping her and when she came to Zombie Island, he helped her bring the gang back together and worked as her cameraman throughout the film. Taking more of a backseat and still finding his feet as an amusing, fun character who had more drive than usual in his attempts to get the scoop was excellent.
6 Pirate Fred (Scooby-Doo: Pirates Ahoy)
Fred brought his friends along with him for his birthday present in Pirates Ahoy, where the whole gang ended up on a mystery cruise with his parents. However, when the ship was attacked by a crew of ghostly pirates and Fred’s parents were kidnapped, he and the gang had to jump into action to save them.
Fred ended up steering the ship out of danger in the nick of time in the finale. Of all the times Fred has taken charge and saved the day in the past, this was perhaps the most incredible of actions he has pulled off.
5 Summer Camp Fred (Scooby-Doo: Camp Scare)
Fred has never been more childishly free than when he took the gang to his old summer camp from when he was younger. He goes all the way into boy scout mode and acts a lot like he did back when he was younger. This is a deeper dive into how Fred became the leader and the person he ends up being as a member of the mystery gang.
Battling the Woodsman terrorizing the camp and finding himself in the middle of a bit of a love triangle with Daphne and Jessica was a different situation for Fred, and he had to face his past while considering his future.
4 Fred & Daphne At Last (Scooby-Doo: Stage Fright)
There may not be a lot of continuity between Scooby-Doo shows and films, but one thing that has endured through the decades is the will they/won’t they relationship between Fred and Daphne. In Stage Fright, this relationship was finally examined more closely and given something of a resolution at last.
Throughout the film, where Fred & Daphne are performing in a talent competition together, they each ask other members of the gang about their relationship and whether they should finally make things official. It leads to an incredible finale where they finally get together and everything Fred has ever wanted comes about all at once.
3 Live-Action Fred (Scooby-Doo 2002)
The entire cast of the 2002 live-action Scooby-Doo film was incredible, and Freddie Prinze Jr as Fred was excellent casting that both showed the best version of a traditional Fred and managed to move him forwards. The shallowness of Fred’s character was explored in full and the film began to deepen the lines of his personality as well.
Freddie didn’t mind Fred taking more of a backseat in some ways, trying to continue guiding the group but struggling in his attempts to bring them back together. It works in the end but the journeys of Velma, standing out on her own and Fred letting her, and Daphne learning to fend and fight for herself, are able to happen and shine because Freddie’s Fred sat back a little and didn’t lead as much.
2 Cheerleader Fred (Scooby-Doo And The Curse Of The 13th Ghost)
The only other time that Fred sat back and let someone else in the group take the lead was in Scooby-Doo And The Curse Of The 13th Ghost. This return to a TV series that Fred didn’t even star in led to him becoming a background character in some ways. This was a hard step for him, as Daphne took the lead, but it led to some of the best character work Fred has done.
Fred became an actual cheerleader for Daphne and the team, revealing that holding the team together has always been the real center of his character over anything else. It is a special moment for Fred to realize that he doesn’t always need to be in control.
1 Broken-Hearted Fred (Scooby-Doo: Frankencreepy)
Nothing in Fred’s recent film career or his entire life has been as significant and enduring as his relationship with the Mystery Machine. The moment when it exploded in the opening moments of Frankencreepy broke him completely, and he spent the rest of the film in a frenzy of vengeance and depression which was both a hilarious character moment and a tragic change of pace for him.
From creating various other versions of the Mystery Machine to having actual PTSD flashbacks to the destruction of his beloved van, Fred didn’t get over the loss until a new and improved Mystery Machine was gifted to him. Losing it again could destroy him completely, but the Frankencreepy version of the character will always remain the most comically brilliant.