Vincent Van Ghoul

Vincent Van Ghoul is a supporting character in The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, voiced by and resembling Vincent Price.
History
Van Ghoul is a renowned magician and warlock, with extensive knowledge of the supernatural. He is first visited by Shaggy, Scooby and Daphne, with Scrappy and Flim-Flam, after they need some help with their plane, which has crash-landed in a nearby temple in Tibet. After Shaggy and Scooby unwittingly unleash thirteen terrible ghosts from the chest in which they were locked, Van Ghoul tells them that they must trap them again. "Why us?" a terrified Shaggy moans, to which Van Ghoul replies, "Because you let them out!"
Despite being very angry with the pair for unleashing the ghosts, he agrees to help them in their ghost-questing, and gives the group a crystal ball through which he can contact them.
Role
Van Ghoul acts as a mentor, and readily guides Scooby and Shaggy (in the first episode it is strongly established that he believes the pair needs guidance to keep out of trouble). In "Scooba Kadoobra", he directs them to the palace where Maldor the Malevolent currently has taken over. Despite valiant effort on Scooby's part (by stealing the wand Maldor wants) it is Van Ghoul's advice that a Danish prince- Scooby himself, who is a Great Dane- can save the day.
His role is more prominent in the next two episodes. In "Me and My Shadow Demon", he actually has to come to the gang via a flying carpet, due to malfunctions in his crystal ball thanks to the Shadow Demon. He helps them escape, and later filibuster until dawn, when Queen Morbidia and her monsters lose their power. In "Reflections in a Ghoulish Eye", the gang is falsely lured to a magic convention under the belief that Van Ghoul awaits them there. He reveals that it was a trick, disguising himself and coming to the convention. He, in disguise, hands Daphne the amulet they need, which proves useful when they are later trapped in a mirror haunted by the Reflecter Specter.
In "That's Monstertainment", Zomba traps Van Ghoul and the others inside a film version of Frankenstein. While Scooby, Shaggy, Daphne and Scrappy fulfill their respective roles in the film, he and Flim Flam try to heat his crystal ball enough to transport them back to reality. However, Flim Flam overloads the crystal ball, and so Van Ghoul instead helps them capture Zomba in the Chest of Demons. In "Ship of Ghouls", Van Ghoul is shocked to find that the gang is on vacation, due to Scooby's nerves needing calming; nevertheless, he aids them from afar by letting them know their cruise ship is actually headed to the Bermuda Triangle, where the ghosts can once again be released from the chest.
Van Ghoul is being honored as Warlock of the Year in "A Spooky Little Ghoul Like You", but the power-sapping enchantress Nicara plans to take his own powers. While Van Ghoul tries to avoid her, Flim Flam mistakenly sends her to his room at the hotel; when Shaggy and Scooby discover her true identity, they warn him, but to no avail. With Van Ghoul under her spell, the gang try desperately to rectify the situation before Nicara kisses him at their wedding and drains his powers. Fortunately, the spell only lasts till midnight, at which point Van Ghoul's powers prove too much for Nicara, and he locks her in the chest.
==Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated==
In the new series, ', Vincent Van Ghoul is a movie actor known for his numerous roles in B horror films much like Vincent Price was in real life. The number of films he has starred in is stated to be over 400. In the episode "Beware the Beast from Below", when Velma questions Shaggy about missing a date, Shaggy explains that he and Scooby fell asleep watching one of his movies. In "The Legend of Alice May", Shaggy and Scooby are watching a marathon of 405 Vincent Van Ghoul movies. His appearance is almost identical. In "Nightfright", he invites Shaggy and Scooby to have dinner with him, at his castle, where they end up solving a mystery, behind a mysterious monster that torments Van Ghoul. This also marks his first real appearance in the show.
This time, he is voiced by Maurice LaMarche, impersonating Price.
Trivia
*Vincent Van Ghoul is himself a parody of Vincent Price, who voiced him, and, like Price himself, presented his character in a pseudo-serious way. He often made serious comments that still managed to be funny, much as Price did.
*Vincent Van Ghoul is also a play on the name of famous artist Vincent Van Gogh.
*In the "What's New Scooby-Doo" series, in the episode "The Vampire Strikes Back", the owner of the castle, Owen DeCassle, bears a resemblance to Vincent Van Ghoul

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See Also

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