Velma Dinkley was inspired by the brainy sweater girl Zelda Gilroy, as played by Sheila James, from the late 1950s/early 1960s American sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. In Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo, Velma is described by her younger sister Madelyn as having been 'born with a mystery book in her hand.' Due to her intelligence and problem-solving abilities, Velma is typically the first one to solve the mystery and, like Sherlock Holmes and many other fictional detectives, often keeps her conclusions secret till the end of the story. She is also often portrayed as being very well-read on obscure fields such as Norse writing (as in the third Scooby-Doo series The Scooby-Doo Show). Throughout her various incarnations, Velma is usually portrayed as a highly intelligent young woman with an interest in the sciences.
