Professor Pericles

**Professor Pericles** is an evil parrot and the former mascot of the original Mystery Incorporated of Crystal Cove. He is the main antagonist of *Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated*  who plans on getting the power from the Evil Entity and destroy Mystery Inc.

## Personality

Professor Pericles is a genius; sinister, insane, maniacal, cold and calculating, and sadistic. Since his brain is no bigger than a cashew nut, this makes him, by comparison, uncannily intelligent and he prides himself as "The smartest criminal parrot in the world." He is shown to be deranged and slightly irrational, given his appearance and demeanor.

A master escape artist, Professor Pericles was able to escape the Animal Asylum which he was confined in, despite the fact that his detention cell was a glass dome and that he had a strait-jacket on. He appears like most parrots to have a liking for sunflower seeds. He speaks with a soft, but sinister tone, but when upset or agitated, Pericles will curse or shout in German.

Professor Pericles has a much longer lifespan than most normal parrots. Likely because like Scooby, he is also a descendant of the Anunnaki.

It may be possible he suffered from an inferiority complex. When the last Darrow attacked the new Mystery Inc., he referred to one of them as a 'big, fat, insecure know-it-all.' Most likely, he was referring to Pericles.

Even though the gang have proven useful to him, he's shown to be furious whenever they foil his plans, leaving him to make plans to destroy them once he finds the treasure.

Pericles is cold-hearted and unsympathetic to a fault. No matter who are in his way, he will not hesitate to remove them, *e.g*., Hot Dog Water, Cassidy Williams, and Officer Johnson. However, a few times he is seen showing affection to Ricky, a sign that he wished to rekindle their old relationship. He and Mr. E started working together again, but true to form, Pericles could not suppress his violent, malicious nature; he started controlling Mr. E,  and began lashing out against his owner, striking him when Ricky locked Pericles out of the system. Pericles got back at Ricky Owens for trying to kick him out of the group by poisoning his spine, inserting the venom while Ricky was asleep. By pressing the button on a remote control, he would release small amounts of the snake venom into Ricky's body, causing him to double up in pain.

He unwittingly saved Scooby Doo, whom the Evil Entity wanted to devour, by offering himself up, because, corrupted by greed and insanity, he believed that if he were eaten, he would become stronger than ever. In fact, the evil entity utterly destroyed Professor Pericles, who perished moments after being ingested.

It is ultimately explained that the reason he became evil was because the Evil Entity corrupted him, as is he shown to be friendly once the Evil Entity is erased from time.

## History

### Early life

He was once an associate of Abigail Gluck in Bavaria in the 1930's. He had somehow crashed into a tree in Ricky's front yard, when he was just a child. Despite initial mistrust, Ricky was trusted and nursed Pericles back to health until he was healthy enough to fly again. Initially sad, Ricky was then pleasantly surprised to see Pericles fly back and the two became friends ever since.

He visited the buried Darrow Mansion along with the rest of the old Mystery Incorporated.

He helped investigate the old Spanish church where the Freak of Crystal Cove had been sighted, and speculated the monster might have led them there on purpose. He was very interested when the drawing of the Planispheric Disk was discovered. Professor Pericles went to the Crystal Cove Caves with the original Mystery Incorporated and led them to a site where the first Planispheric Disk piece was found. He teamed up with Fred Jones, Sr. to betray the original Mystery Incorporated and find the treasure of the conquistadors. His left eye was injured when (the yet to be) Mayor Jones betrayed him. He was wrongly accused of a crime and sent to Crystal Cove's Animal Asylum.

### *Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated*

#### Season one

The gang discovered that he was the mascot of the original Mystery Inc. in a Crystal Cove High School yearbook.

After Gill Littlefoot was taken to jail, Velma Dinkley picked up a box she found from Mr. E. She opened it and saw a picture of the original Mystery Inc. with Professor Pericles circled. The message said, "Don't give up, this has happened before."

Pericles was found in a glass cage in the animal asylum. He was depicted as a crazy bird who had the smartest brain in the world. When Daphne Blake opened the locket she had found in the Crystal Cove Caves, music played; Professor Pericles said, "Mystery Incorporated to the rescue." He warned the Mystery Inc. gang: "Beware of those closest to you," especially Fred Jones, Jr.. In the end, the parrot broke out during the Fright Hound's attack on the Animal Asylum. The real reason was that he knew the gang was coming to the rescue. Sheriff Bronson Stone was contacted by Officer Johnson that all the inmates were rounded up except for Professor Pericles. Mr. E told Scooby and the gang to "follow the parrot."

Pericles secretly gave Aphrodite her love potion formula, then helped with the antidote, so that he could get the help of Scooby-Doo to obtain things he needed to find the lost treasure of the conquistadors. He sent a mocking message to the gang and Mr. E through his henchman telling them this.

He haunted Mayor Jones in his home by taking over his son's traps, and managed to steal his piece of the Planispheric Disk.

He watched using video monitors when the gang was attacked by the Obliteratrix, and thought about helping them because he still needed them alive.

He went to Ed Machine's house and told Ed that he wanted to deliver a message to Ricky (or Mr. E). However, Pericles didn't want to use words and attacked Ed Machine. He later showed up when the gang was down in the Crystal Cove Caves. He had used a tracker to see where the Mystery Machinewas and said there was nothing to fear. The Freak of Crystal Cove appeared and swiped Pericles, knocking him to the ground. He managed to get the piece of the Planispheric Disk away from the Freak, and mocked Scooby about it before flying away. In anger, Scooby vowed to stop Pericles.

#### Season two

He summoned the former members of the original Mystery Inc. when the kids gathered the next two pieces, tying with his own amount.

Mr. E then invited Pericles into a partnership, though this may be more than a mere partnership and they may miss each other's friendship.

He told the gang that he lived for more than 80 years as he recalled being a friend of Abigail Gluck in the 1930s. He took over her underwater robot factory after her death.

He created a mutant cattle herd to destroy Crystal Cove and give the gang nowhere to hide. However, the gang saved the town by capturing the herd's queen. Furious by this, Pericles vows revenge on the gang for ruining his plan.

He implanted mutated cobra larvae into Mr. E's spinal column in his sleep, and assumed effective control of Destroido Corp.

He had recovered the Planispheric Disk from Fred after threatening to harm Daphne. He returned to Destroido to make the preparations needed to free his master. It's revealed that he knew about the cosmological event called Nibiru the entire time.

Using slave labor from Crystal Cove, he found the underground gate leading to the cursed treasure.

He's shown to have known that the gang have found the keys required to open the gates. He used Hot Dog Water as a hostage to get the gang to cooperate. When Marcie broke free, she turned the tables by holding him hostage in order to give the others a head-start. However, thanks to Brad and Judy, Pericles escaped her grasp, and she was shot to death in cold blood. He led his group through the elemental dimensions to the sarcophagus of the Evil Entity, and freed it.

He asked to be the host of the Evil Entity instead of Scooby-Doo, but instead of gaining power as he hoped, the possession killed him (from the inside) and used his body as a vessel.

#### Post-Nibiru

Pericles, now happy and without a scar, became the mascot for a now-married Ricky Owens and Cassidy Williams at their company, Creationex Corp.

## Trivia

* Pericles is possibly an African Grey.
* Professor Pericles is somewhat similar to Professor James Moriarty.
* Despite the show's mixed reception, Pericles has gained a large fanbase.
* Pericles may be named for the renowned ancient Greek orator (c. 495 – 429 BC), as it fits his intricate schemes and erudite nature.
* His gray plumage and red tail feathers hint at his being an African Gray parrot; this species is considered one of the two most intelligent and articulate parrot species (the other being the Amazon parrot). It has been observed that African grays may be prone to behavioural problems due to their sensitive natures.
* He is voiced by Udo Kier.
* Professor Pericles become Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's enemy in *Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's Adventures of Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorperated!*.
* Professor Pericles appear in Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's Adventure Series to get his revenge on them for interfering with his plans after Diesel 10 restored him, Mr. E/Ricky Owens, Brad Chiles and Judy Reeves back to their main evil selves and regain their original memories without The Evil Entity's influence (whom's presence is erased from existence).