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Description
Velma Dinkley (last name revealed to be an Americanization of Von Dinkenstein) is a fictional character in the American television animated series Scooby-Doo. She is prone to losing her glasses. She is usually seen wearing a baggy orange turtleneck, short pleated skirt (or in later episodes an A-line skirt, or sometimes shorts), knee socks, and Mary Janes. She is seen as the brain of the group.
Throughout her various incarnations, Velma is usually portrayed as a highly intelligent young woman with highly specific interests in science (which in the Scooby and Scrappy Doo series leads her to pursue a career as a NASA research scientist) or merely being very well read on obscure fields, such as Viking writing (as in the third Scooby-Doo series The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries). In Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo, Velma is described by her younger sister Madelyn as being "born with a mystery book in her hand". Consequently, Velma is usually the one to figure out the mystery, sometimes with the help of Fred and Daphme. The Velma character was inspired by the brainy tomboy Zelda Gilroy, as played by Sheila James, from the late 1950s/early 1960s American sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.
A running gag in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and The New Scooby-Doo Movies is Velma's severe nearsightedness and her trouble with keeping her glasses on her face (often resulting in them falling off while she is being chased by the villain). Another running gag is that despite the fact that she is the smallest of the Scooby Doo gang she can actually carry away the whole gang in her arms from a villain.
When Scooby-Doo is too afraid to volunteer to help with a mission, Velma often offers him a dog treat called a "Scooby Snack" as a bribe. Her catchphrases are: "Jinkies!," and "My glasses! I can't see without my glasses!" (when she accidentally loses her glasses).
