Professor Pericles

"I am The Smartest Criminal Parrot in the World, you didn't think I had a backup plan? Aha, ha, ha, ha! Until we meet again, Auf wiedersehen Mystery Incorporated."

- Pericles mocking the Mystery Incorporated.

Professor Pericles is the main antagonist of the animated series ''Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated''. He is a parrot who was the former mascot of the original Mystery Inc. He and Mayor Fred Jones, Sr. are the reasons behind the original Mystery Incorporated's disappearance.

He was voiced by Udo Kier.

Personality
Professor Pericles is a genius; 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 insane, 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 was even able to tie a tazer to his guard's hand and subsequently shock him into submission when he kept eye contact and remained entirely still the entire time). He appears to have a liking for sunflower seeds, like most parrots, and speaks with a distinct German accent. He also possibly suffered from an inferiority complex. When Danny Darrow attacked the new Mystery Inc, he referred to one of them as a "big, fat, insensitive know-it-all", which most likely means Pericles. This trait may have originated from being the animal mascot despite being the smartest one of the group and may have been what allowed Mayor Jones to turn Pericles against his friends.

Appearance
Professor Pericles has a cataract and a big scar over his left eye from years before when Mayor Jones knocked Pericles out with chloroform. A rock cut his face as he was thrown to the ground, which left a permanent mark. Pericles has pink feathers, a sharp beak, a big head, and two-toed feet. Officer Johnson says his brain is no bigger than a cashew nut, yet pound for pound it is the smartest brain in the world. His skin in the light is dark purple; it is bluish-black when in the dark. He also wears a purple ascot.

History
Professor Pericles is once a friend of Abigail Gluck in 1930s. It is known that he first met her in Bavaria, though otherwise his early life prior to that meeting remained unknown. He took over her robot factory after her death and took control of her Kriegstaffebots.

When Ricky Owens was just a boy, Pericles met him when he accidentally crashes into a tree in Ricky's front yard, and is injured from it. 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 flies back and the two became best friends ever since. Together, they founded the original Mystery Inc., alongside Cassidy Williams, Brad Chiles and Judy Reeves, and solved several mysteries (which inspired the new Mystery Incorporated years later). Pericles proved himself helpful in many situations such as when he visited the buried Darrow Mansion along with the rest of the old Mystery Incorporated. Additionally, he helped investigate the old Spanish church where a monster had been sited, and speculated the monster might have led them there on purpose. Pericles was very interested when the drawing of the Planispheric Disk was discovered.

Also, Professor Pericles went to the Crystal Cove Caves with the original Mystery Incorporated. He led them to a site where the first Planispheric Disk piece was found, but was corrupted by it, resulted him 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, so Pericles was ultimately wrongly accused of a crime and sent to Crystal Cove's Animal Asylum, while his gang disappeared from the town as Fred Jones Sr. forced them to never return.

Season 1
In the present, the new Mystery Incorporated, following the orders of Ricky, who poses as Mr. E, released Pericles from his imprisonment.

Now freed, Pericles started to put his plans into motion. To do this, Pericles first secretly gave Aphrodite her love potion formula to influence the entire Crystal Cove, 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.

Pericles then haunted Mayor Jones in his home by taking over his adoptive son's traps under the disguise of the Shadowy Figure, and managed to steal his piece of the Planispheric Disk.

After watching the Mystery Gang using video monitors when the gang was attacked by the Obliteratrix (Alice May), he thought about helping them because he still needed them alive. Pericles then went to Ed Machine's (a henchman of Mr. E) house and told Ed that he wanted to deliver a message to Mr. E, but Pericles didn't want to use words and attacked Ed Machine instead, presumably killed the latter. Pericles later showed up again when the new Mystery Inc. was down in the Crystal Cove Caves, having used a tracker to see where the Mystery Machine was and said there was nothing to fear. However, Mayor Jones, disguised as The Freak of Crystal Cove, suddenly appeared and swiped Pericles away, knocking the parrot to the ground. Despite this, he still managed to get a 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 2
With the mystery of him and his old gang now uncovered, Pericles summoned the former members of the original Mystery Inc. when the kids gathered the next two pieces tieing with his own amount. Mr. E then invited them into a partnership, though this may be more than a mere partnership and may miss each other's friendship. After setting up a plan to kills the new Mystery Inc., Pericles told the new gang that he lived for more than 80 years, as he recalled being a friend of Abigail Gluck in the 1930s, and took over her underwater robot factory after her death, used it to achieve what he needs. He then departed as the factory exploded, killing Cassidy Williams in the process.

Pericles eventually created a mutant cattle herd to destroy Crystal Cove and give the gang nowhere to hide. To force Mr. E to obey him, Pericles also implanted mutated cobra larvae in Mr. E's spinal column in his sleep to use as a death threat against him, and assumed effective control of Destroido Corp.

After having recovered the Planispheric Disk after exchanging it from Fred to save Daphne, he returned to Destroido to find and free his master, who is an ancient evil Annunaki known simply as the Evil Entity. 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.

Following behind Mystery Inc., Pericles led his group through the elemental dimensions to the sarcophagus of the Evil Entity, where Pericles freed the Entity when Nibiru was at hand. Pericles offered himself up as the Evil Entity's vessel instead of Scooby-Doo; but instead of gaining the Entity's immense power as he'd hoped, the possession overwhelmed and killed him and transformed his body into the Evil Entity's monstrous vessel.

Post-Nibiru
After the Evil Entity was killed, in the new timeline this created when the Entity's destruction removed its influence from history, and Professor Pericles is no longer evil. He is now happy and without a scar, and had become the mascot for a now-married Ricky Owens and Cassidy Williams at Creationex Corp.

Quotes
"Well, Mystery Incorporated, it appears you made an enemy. Fortunately for you, I still require you alive."

- Pericles to the Mystery Incorporated.

"Is it, Velma? Or is it so brilliant you cannot begin to fathom its true genius?"

- Professor Pericles shows up in The Man in the Mirror.

"Hello, Ed Machine. (Ed: What are you doing here?) I'd like you to deliver a message to Ricky. Or should I call him Mr. E? (Ed: Say what you want to say Pericles, then get out of my house.) Dear Ed, you misunderstand. I don't want to say anything."

- Pericles attacks and presumably kills Ed Machine.

"Don't be afraid, Scooby. I've no reason to hurt you. I have what I came for."

- Pericles in the Season 1 finale.

"And make no mistake, Ricky, I will break any egg that gets in my way: Ed Machine, Cassidy Williams, or perhaps even you. My herd of skull cattle is perfect in every way. I have crossbred cows, piranhas, and bees to create ultimate monsters. And I'm their master. My precious creations exist for one purpose: to devour Crystal Cove. My herd of male drones shall level this city to the ground, leaving nowhere for the Mystery kinder to hide the Planispheric Disk."

- Pericles to Ricky.

"Soon Crystal Cove will cease to exist and the Planispheric Disk shall be mine. THEN no one will ever stand in my way AGAIN."

- Professor Pericles talks about his plans.

"Ah! Lovely. I see you have met what's left of Frau Glück. I met Frau Glück in Bavaria in the 1930s. She discovered the missionaries possessed the fifth and the sixth pieces of the Planispheric Disk. She built this lab and a host of robots to aid her search for the pieces. I finally found this lab and continued the Frau's work, building a legion of her Kriegstaffebots to retrieve the pieces for me. My holographic masquerade as Frau Glück bought my bots all the time they needed. And I would have gotten away with eliminating Cassidy if it weren't for you meddling kids. Now that I have everything I need, I can dispose of this place and all of you at the same time. Farewell, darling kinder. Farewell."

- Pericles about his past.

"Oh, Ricky, Ricky, my loyal Brad and Judy told me of your little mutiny. So, last night while you were asleep, I put mutated cobra larvae in your spine. Every time I press this button, a little venom is released. So, as you can see, or feel, I'm still very much in control. You do as I say. First, we steal the Planispheric Disk from the kinder, then we destroy them. WE DESTROY THEM!"

- Professor Pericles, to Mr. E.

Trivia

 * Pericles is the original Mystery Inc. equivalent of Scooby-Doo.