The gang visits Fort Knox, home of the Gold-Ade factory and currently the operating base of the Secret Six, who have joined the army. However, the fort is currently under attack from within by a mysterious figure with the ability to turn anything into gold with a touch.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Attack of the Killer Whatever: The monster of the week is a gold man with a Midas touch.
- Batman Gambit: The plan to trap the gold monster involves showing him an all-access pass in the expectation that he will chase the gang and the puppies to get his hands on it. Once he does, it deploys a net.
- Chekhov's Gun: While checking on the general when he enters the experimental lab, Velma discovers something called "shutdown goo", an experimental substance designed to act as an expanding net. A gold-colored variation allowed the monster to "turn" people into gold statues with a touch.
- The Blank: The gold man has no eyes or mouth, presumably to make him spookier.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Lampshaded by Velma. The culprit needed to tunnel out of Fort Knox, and given all the gold stored there, a gold-colored costume was the best bet to remain unseen.
- It's Personal: Though the gang gets involved in the investigation early on, they double down after one of the puppies gets turned into a statue protecting Scooby from the gold monster.
- No Indoor Voice: Sgt. Payne delivers every sentence in a loud bark.
- Punny Name: The owner of the Gold-Ade company is called Sue Krose (sucrose).
- Red Herring:
- Travis Knox, a kooky local, insists that the land on which Fort Knox is built belongs to him (because the name's the same) and keeps sneaking onto the base. He gets even more furious when he learns there's gold in Fort Knox. However, he's not the person behind the haunting.
- Sue Krose, the owner of the Gold-Ade factory, complains that the constant explosions from army drills are going to force her out of business, and she's tried every way to get an audience with the general, to no avail. She ultimately parachutes onto the base. However, she's the victim, not the villain.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: When asked why he is in the research lab, the general points out that, being in charge of Fort Knox, he has the authority to be anywhere. Presumably, this answer is enough to convince Velma to rule him out as a suspect. Because unless he’s doing it for kicks, he doesn’t have much of reason to terrorize his own soldiers.
- Taken for Granite: In the opening, the gold creature turns two guards to gold statues, which the general references in the episode proper. When he tries to touch Scooby, 14-Karat jumps at him, getting turned to gold in the process. It turns out to be just a gold-colored version of an experimental army material.
- Trespassing to Talk: Having tried everything to get an audience with the general, Sue Krose parachutes onto the base in a last-ditch effort to convince him to stop the explosions. She gets arrested.
- Verbal Tic: Befitting his military background, Sgt. Payne compulsively ends every sentence with "sir" (or "sirs and ma'ams" during the end-of-mystery "meddling kids" rant).
- You Meddling Kids: The villain says he would have succeeded if it weren't for "you meddling civilians."
