Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

> *"Oh, I long for the blissful ignorance of my former self." - Scooby Brainiac, Transformers*
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**Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed** (also referred to as **Scooby-Doo 2**) is a 2004 film based on the Scooby-Doo franchise. The movie was written by James Gunn, directed by Raja Gosnell, and produced by Charles Roven and Richard Suckle for Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the movie in which The Potions Scene comes from.

## Synopsis

The film is about Mystery Incorporated solving a mystery related to the stolen monster costumes from their museum. Their search features many encounters with monsters from their past mysteries. During this investigation, Shaggy and Scooby decided to be more proactive and investigate on their own in order to prove their worth to the team.

## Relation to the Potion Scene

In the 14th scene titled "Transformers", Shaggy and Scooby are investigating on their own and come across a secret elevator leading to a laboratory while running from The Skeleton Men. The lab is full of potions, and the two end up drinking some of them, transforming into different things.

Throughout the rest of the movie, the laboratory is visited several more times. Two dents created by Buff Shaggy and Scooby Brainiac after an explosion can still be seen on the wall during these parts. Aside from that, everything else relating to the scene, such as the potions and transformations, are not referenced or shown again for the rest of the film.

In terms of plot, the only purpose for this scene is to reunite the rest of the gang with Shaggy and Scooby, as well as open the door to The Monster Hive. Much like other Scooby and Shaggy scenes, it seems that this was simply just an irrelevant scene from the sake of comedy. Some adaptations, like the GBA game, completely skip the scene. The scene is also largely absent from most promotional material.

### Debatable relations

Thematically, this scene could be seen as part of Shaggy and Scooby's character arc within the movie, wanting to change from being screwups. Throughout the movie, they change their clothing and actions to better fit in with the rest of the gang. So, them literally changing into different creatures through transformations could be interpreted as them trying to become something they aren't. The forms Shaggy and Scooby take on may be references to the gang members' traits Shaggy and Scooby wished they had (Shaggy Chick references Daphne's beauty, Buff Shaggy represents Fred's strength, and Scooby Brainiac represents Velma's intelligence). This also contributes to the film's overall theme of embracing who you are and not what people want you to be, with Velma and Fred going through similar character arcs. By the end of movie, Scooby and Shaggy learn to be themselves.

It's also possible that this scene was a clue to the true identity of Jonathan Jacobo, who disguises himself as Heather Jasper Howe. In the scene, one potion turns Shaggy into a woman from the neck down, similar to Jacobo's disguise. There are several facts that would back this theory up:

* Jacobo created the potions himself, meaning he was doing experiments in changing subject's forms with potions. He doesn't seem to ever use the potions for anything in his evil plot, so it's possible the purpose of them was already fulfilled by creating his male-to-female potion.
* Ned, the cameraman who helped Jacobo (not knowing of his disguise) mentions they "cuddled", implying that his body would have been very convincing if they were at such close proximity to each other.
* There are many scenes of Heather Jasper Howe wearing outfits that clearly show her possessing a female body, which would have been hard to fool as Jacobo and Howe have different body types.
* The potion's effects only apply below the neck of the user, and Jacobo wears a mask over the one part that wouldn't have transformed. During his unmasking, his outfit makes it hard to see what body type he has in that moment.

Despite this supposed connection, during the unmasking scene in the film where all the clues are usually explained and put into context, Scooby or Shaggy do not mention the incident as a clue, adding onto this being a strange coincidence rather than a deliberate foreshadow.