It has been a little over 25 years since The Hex Girls first appeared in Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost, and I’m still comfortable saying this out loud: they are the coolest thing Scooby-Doo ever did, by accident or otherwise.
While I am sure I watched “Dark Shadows” before Scooby-Doo, there is no doubt that my desire to put horror into all my games, or at least the trappings of horror, comes from Scooby-Doo.
Scooby-Doo has always flirted with horror aesthetics, but the Hex Girls went further. They weren’t jokes, they weren’t villains in disguise, and they weren’t watered-down “spooky” window dressing. Thorn, Dusk, and Luna were confident, stylish, openly witchy, and most importantly, utterly uninterested in apologizing for any of it. In 1999, that was rare, especially in a cartoon aimed at kids.
What still impresses me is how unforced it all felt. The Hex Girls weren’t parody goths or moral lessons. They were just… cool. Musical witches who leaned into the aesthetic without winking at the audience. Scooby-Doo didn’t mock them, didn’t explain them away, and didn’t try to soften them. It simply let them exist, and that trust is probably why they stuck.
A lot of spooky or “dark” characters from that era feel dated now. The Hex Girls don’t. If anything, they feel more modern than many characters that came after them.
Fourteen Years of Writing About the Hex Girls (and Why I Keep Coming Back...and So Do You)
Today is also a quieter anniversary for me. It’s been 14 years to the day since the Hex Girls first appeared on The Other Side. I didn’t plan that kind of long-term relationship with a cartoon band, but here we are.
Looking back at those early posts from 2009 and 2010, what strikes me is how little my core reaction has changed. I liked them then for the same reason I like them now. They sit at a very particular crossroads of things I’ve always been interested in: witches, outsider magic, gothic aesthetics, and female characters who are defined by agency rather than trauma or redemption arcs.
Over the years, my writing has expanded outward. But the Hex Girls never stopped feeling relevant to that conversation. They weren’t just a phase or a nostalgic bookmark. They were an early example of something that would keep echoing through my work: witches as protagonists, not warnings.
That’s probably why I keep circling back to them. Not because they’re “retro,” but because they still work. They still feel honest. And in a media landscape that keeps rediscovering and rebranding “spooky girls,” the Hex Girls remain refreshingly uninterested in reinvention.
Some characters fade into nostalgia.
The Hex Girls moved in, lit some candles, and stayed.
And to be perfectly honest, you all keep coming back as well. My Hex Girl posts are some of the most frequented posts here. Hell, whole blocks of text I have written here have been used elsewhere and declared “canon” by others.
The Hex Girls for AD&D 1st Edition
The Hex Girls are a great test case for me. That is, how can I do “bards” without resorting to the Bard class, and how can I do “witch” without creating a new witch class? Sure, I could port one of my Basic witches over, or even use one of the dozen or so witches I have laying around here. But let's go with Rule As Written for right now...well, I am going to add one thing.
The Hex Girls are a Coven in all but name. Though they do call each other “sister.”
3rd-level human Cleric, Chaotic Good
Secondary Skill: Performer*
S: 10
I: 14
W: 16
D: 12
C: 12
Ch: 17
Paralysis/Poison: 10
Petrify/Polymorph: 13
Rod, Staff, or Wand: 14
Breath Weapon: 16
Spells: 15
AC: 8 (Ring of Protection +2)
HP: 11
THAC0: 20
Weapon
Dagger 1d4/1d3
Spells (Cleric)
First level: Bless, Faerie Fire, Light, Remove Fear
Second level: Hold Person, Speak with Animals, Resist Fire
Thorn is the leader of the group, the main singer and lute player, and the most spiritual of the group. The rings the girls wear are a gift from her grandmother.
I wanted her to be a druid (better fit) but I also wanted her Chaotic Good.
2nd-level human Magic-user, Chaotic Good
Secondary Skill: Performer
S: 11
I: 16
W: 15
D: 14
C: 12
Ch: 17
Paralysis/Poison: 14
Petrify/Polymorph: 13
Rod, Staff, or Wand: 11
Breath Weapon: 15
Spells: 12
AC: 9 (Ring of Protection +1)
HP: 5
THAC0: 20
Weapon
Dagger 1d4/1d3
Spells (Magic-user)
First level: Dancing Lights, Comprehend Languages
In the Scooby-doo universe Luna plays the keyboards; here she plays a harp. Though there are harpsichords and spinets. She can play those as well.
She is a Magic-user since I always see her as the “smart one.” Her spells are mainly to help with performances.
2nd-level human Illusionist, Chaotic Good
Secondary Skill: Performer
S: 13
I: 16
W: 12
D: 16
C: 14
Ch: 15
Paralysis/Poison: 14
Petrify/Polymorph: 13
Rod, Staff, or Wand: 11
Breath Weapon: 15
Spells: 12
AC: 7 (Dex, Ring of Protection +2)
HP: 7
THAC0: 20
Weapon
Dagger 1d4/1d3
Spells (Illusionist)
First level: Audible Glammer, Color Spray
Dusk is our drummer. She remains largely the same. I gave her the Illusionist class since I feel she would be good at it and like Luna, her spells aid in the performances.
My one cheat is the Secondary Skill: Performer entry. This assumes the girls had musical training before taking up their class. This fits with AD&D 1st ed, allows me to fill the role of “bard” without getting bogged down in AD&D's bard class.
If I were to do them for D&D 5th Edition, each would have a level or so of Bard before branching off to other classes.
Links
Mine
- Scooby Doo Day: Hex Girls and Earth-27
- Here’s to Us: Hex Girls and Special Guest…
- Dark Places and Demogorgons
- Those Meddling Kids
- Cortex: Hex Girls
- New: Hex Girls!
- Hex Girls Season 2 for Cartoon Action Hour
- Hex Girls
Other Links
- Wikipedia
- Hex Girls, Scoobypedia
- Hex Girls (Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated), Scoobypedia
- Visual Evolution of the Hex Girls, Reddit
I love that Reddit link; the girls were initially named Serena, Sabrina, and Samantha. All witches. And Samantha/Dusk looked really cool. And the less we talk about the “Velma” versions the better.
