Ghostbusters/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


The Ghostbusters

Peter Venkman (Bill Murray)

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • Anti-Hero: Snarky, arrogant, conceited and sometimes a real jerk, but still a good man.
  • Becoming the Mask: Particularly in the first movie, there's something to this. He puts on an ironic persona of being a know-it-all big shot, but by the end he's forced to back up his braggart ways and become an actual hero.
  • Brilliant but Lazy: He is actually a fairly smart guy. If only he actually cared enough to do anything with his smarts. He has PhD's in both psychology and parapsychology, but uses mostly the psychology one to help him get together with girls.
  • The Casanova: If all those phone messages he gets in the game means anything. He seems to have become quite popular with the ladies. Despite this though...
    • Casanova Wannabe: He is still not capable of winning over everyone. At least it seems that way till they start going out with him...
  • Deadpan Snarker

"You're right, no human being would stack books like this."

  • Freudian Trio: Id
  • Genre Savvy
  • Good Is Not Nice
  • Guile Hero
  • The Hero: It's a subtle thing, but if anyone in this group fill this role, it's Peter. The other members will generally do more of the heavy lifting, but Peter is higher profile and speaks for the group.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Though you have to look really hard to find the heart of gold in the first film. It's much more evident in Ghostbusters II, and he is generally much kinder in the cartoon series as well. In the Ghostbusters video game, he seems to have lost the heart and all that is left is the Jerk. A funny jerk, but a Jerk none the less.
  • Knight in Sour Armor: Despite his actions to the contrary, Peter is in fact more likely to do the right thing than not. He has his moments, when he can get away with it. He is a Jerkass for sure, but never would he step down from helping someone who really needs it.
  • Lovable Coward: For all his bravado, he's not exactly a brave guy; he'll step up to the plate if necessary, but very reluctantly, and will happily allow someone else to go first.
  • The Leader: Type IV. Not so much a leader as designated spokesperson or front man. Peter is the ladies' man of the group, and while he's less normal than Winston, he's more capable of relating to other people than either Ray or Egon. In the cartoon series, he is also the one who generally decides whether or not the Ghostbusters will take a given job.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Perhaps if he hadn't antagonized Peck so much and just showed him around, Peck wouldn't have gone and shut down the power grid.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: He is a very intelligent man, but he comes off more like a Casanova Wannabe. He obviously doesn't have any real interest in parapsychology or psychology. Despite all this the very fact that he was able to become a scientist in those fields speaks volumes of what he is actually capable of when he actually works at it.
  • Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner

"Viggy, Viggy, Viggy. You have been a bad monkey!"

  • Punch Clock Hero
  • The Slacker: He certainly tries to be this. In the first movie, he only goes to help Dana because he wanted to get into a relationship with her. Also in the game, he was busy getting coffee while the Rookie and Ray are being attacked by Stay Puft and his minions. He's basically reluctant to do anything unless some kind of personal gain is involved.
  • The Trickster He is purposely contrary to people, inciting them to become aggravated with him. Peter seems to not care much for their feelings though and goads them on. He is willing to mock or patronize even people in places of authority. Though he usually shows more discretion with these people than to the average Joe. May be unrelated, but perhaps his attitude to higher authority improved after what happened with Peck.
  • Trust Me, I'm an X: "Back off, man. I'm a scientist."

Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis)

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • Adorkable
  • Ambiguously Jewish/Jewish and Nerdy
  • Badass Bookworm: Not necessarily a Trope Codifier, but definitely one of the originals.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Not to the extent as Ray, but still.
  • Collector of the Strange: Molds, fungus and spores, mostly. He may even possibly find the scent of them attractive.
  • Creepy Child: This is implied in the second movie. While Ray and Egon are in baby Oscar's room Egon reveals to us he never had any toys when he was a child. Ray is curious and asks if he really never had any toys. Egon responds by saying he had half a Slinky once. He straightened it.
    • The novelization went further, listing a number of strange experiments young Egon enacted which got him ostracized by his peers. "I think you've been spending too much time with Egon" was a common sentiment among his friend's parents.
  • For Science!: Let's just say he can get rather disturbing with how far he'll go for the sake of science. Tricking people into thinking they're going to counseling when, in fact, he just wanted to test if slowly increasing the heat would alter their moods. Then there was that drill thing...
  • Freudian Trio: Superego
  • Gadgeteer Genius: He makes all of the equipment the Busters use. In fact, he works on so many gadgets the other characters actually asked him how he can produce so much. He tells them he's been doing an experiment where he sleeps for an average of fourteen minutes a day.
  • Mad Scientist: Close to a Trope Codifier, but a heroic version. Though he still can get a bit disturbing. Egon is primarily a theoretician and field strategist, who primarily wants to study the things which the Ghostbusters encounter, rather than destroying them.
  • Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: He is already shown to be a bit odd, but nothing too serious. Just a bit of a nerd. The whole mold, fungus and spore thing were certainly strange but nothing horrifying. Then we get a glimpse into his life before the Ghostbusters—he used to be a coroner. This isn't too bad, though. Then he says that he does it as a hobby now. Oooookay...
  • Noodle Incident: Egon tried to drill a hole in his head at some point. All we know is Peter stopped him before he could do it.
  • Not So Stoic:
    • The scene where he flips out when Peck accuses him of causing a massive explosion that Peck himself actually caused.

"YOUR MOTHER!!"

    • In the video game, as he and the Rookie are going up the elevator, suddenly they are treated to a phantom image of the Spider Witch and one of her victims. Egon is quite shaken at seeing this. In fact, he seems quite nervous throughout the Spider Witch's level.
  • The Smart Guy: While Ray is also intelligent, Egon is the strategist of the group.
  • Specs of Awesome
  • The Spock

Raymond Stantz (Dan Aykroyd)

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • Adorkable
  • Admiring the Abomination: He gets boyishly excited by a lot of the weird, gross, terrifying stuff they encounter.
  • Adult Child
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Ray is honestly the nicest guy you will ever meet, but if you mess with any of his friends, whether you be human or ghost, he will not take it lightly.
  • Butt Monkey: If he's not being manipulated or slapped around by Venkman, he's getting attacked/possessed by one demonic entity or another.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Has this in spades. He believes that an undersea mass sponge migration he once witnessed was paranormal despite the fact that the sponges barely moved a foot.
  • Demonic Possession: This has happened to him far more than any other character in the series. It's to the point where the other characters lampshade it every time he becomes possessed.
  • Ditzy Genius: For the guy who was behind the creation of the proton packs and the Ecto-1, he sure doesn't have a lot in the common sense department.
  • Drives Like Crazy: During the They're Back montage in the second film, Venkman has a look of panic as Ray is driving the Ecto-1A to a new case.
  • Dysfunctional Family: The novelization for the first movie paints his family out as one. His parents disappeared and are presumed dead, and his brother and sister refuse to talk to him or each other for what we can assume are very petty reasons.
  • The Engineer: While Egon is typically the group's strategist during missions, Ray is the mechanic and practical inventor. He built the proton packs and the stuff on the Ectomobile, and also designs something called a "Ghost Bomb," in the cartoon series.
  • For Science!: Far more mild than Egon though.
  • Freudian Trio: Ego
  • The Heart: He's considered this by the rest of the Ghostbusting team.
  • Hot-Blooded: Out of everyone, he is the most passionate when it comes to ghosts and the supernatural and is the first one to rush headfirst into the unknown.
  • Leeroy Jenkins: "GET HER!"
  • The Lancer: He's this to Venkman, making it an interesting subversion of the traditional roles; Ray is the idealistic, innocent one whereas Peter is the snarkier, self-centered one.
  • Man Child: His sheer delight at sliding down the fire pole—and at the rest of the fire station—in the first movie would put him here even if nothing else would. In general, however, where Peter is dry and cynical and Egon is clinically rational, Ray tends to have a lot of childlike enthusiasm for what they do.
  • Mismatched Eyes: Shares this with his actor.
  • Nice Guy: He's a decent person who genuinely wants to help others by using the technology the Ghostbusters create to study the supernatural and defend the city.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He unwittingly chose the form of the Destructor, though possibly subverted since Gozer likely wasn't just going to wait until one of them thought of something.
  • Nightmare Fetishist: The dream sequence he had may suggest how deep his nightmare fetish goes.
  • Mad Scientist: A heroic example.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: With Pete, who relentlessly teases and takes advantage of him, even going so far as manipulating him into mortgaging his parents' house. In spite of that, it's obvious that they care about one another as evident in their final goodbye to each other when confronting Gozer at the end of the first movie.

Winston Zeddmore (Ernie Hudson)

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • Badass Mustache
  • Cultured Badass: He is shown to be a fan of Opera, and seems to be the most civil-minded of the Ghostbusters.
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Genius Bruiser: He is a very competent member of the Ghostbusters team. In the video game, while the others were chasing after the Grey Lady, he was actually looking through the newspaper archives for info on her, though he pretended he was looking up a baseball game. In the novelization of Ghostbusters, it is shown he was once in the Marines and has experience with different kinds of technology, which helped him get into the busting more easily than one would think a new hire would.
  • Genre Savvy: When Egon explained the growing problem with the containment unit, all Egon had to do was use a Twinkie as an example.
  • Naive Newcomer: Subverted; he gets the hang of his job very quickly.
  • Only in It For the Money: His original reason for joining in the first place.

Ah, if there's a steady paycheck in it, I'll believe anything you say.

Slimer

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

The Rookie (model Ryan French)

Appeared as the player character in the 2009 video game, served as the team's prototype weapons tester (i.e. field-testing the weapons and upgrades that could explode at any moment).

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • Adorkable: One of his most remarkable traits is his clumsiness. He fell off a roof, fell down a trap, and accidentally zapped a tree with his pack.
  • Butt Monkey: He is made to do quite a few dangerous tasks like touching an inter-dimensional portal that could lead anywhere, he also has to go it alone in the huge cemetery that wasn't there yesterday. He is also trapped alone in a waterlogged hotel floor with malevolent candelabras. This dude puts up with a lot.
  • Collector of the Strange: Since the player can collect some special items, you can turn the Rookie into this. One of the items he can collect is a possessed toilet.
  • Creator Cameo: In a manner of speaking. In the Play Station 3 version of the game, associate producer Ryan French served as the base for the Rookie.
  • Funny Background Event: When he accidentally blasted a tree with his proton pack, and when he was left hanging with a high five. Also he goes plummeting down a trapdoor.
  • Heroic Mime: Never says a word aside the occasional scream or gasp.
  • Put on a Bus: After the events of the game, he leaves New York in order to expand the franchise.
  • Naive Newcomer
  • No Name Given: Enforced; the other Busters don't want to feel too attached to him due to the High Turnover Rate of the team's other rookies.
  • Sixth Ranger

Villains

Walter Peck (William Atherton)

A representative of the Environmental Protection Agency. He's highly skeptical and cynical. Especially toward Peter.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • Arbitrary Skepticism
  • Covered in Gunge: But hey, at least it was marshmallow.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: Subverted; he survives it.
  • Harmless Villain: Debateable. The containment unit gets blown up because of him in the first film, and he also manages to have the Ghostbusters sent to an insane asylum in the second movie. Peck generally doesn't do anything truly lethal to the Ghostbusters directly, but he does act as an independent Disc One Final Boss who manages to either restrain or delay the Ghostbusters, which gives the real villains more time or freedom to act.
  • Jerkass: Where to begin? He harasses the Ghostbusters based solely on rumors. He orders the containment grid to be turned off despite the warnings of the Ghostbusters and a Con Ed technician's reticence against doing so, resulting in the release of all the ghosts therein. Then he has the nerve to have the Busters arrested for the disaster he himself caused!
  • Not So Harmless: Subverted
  • Obstructive Bureaucrat
  • Red Herring Mole: In the video game, the Ghostbusters think he's the Big Bad, but it turns out he's an unwitting pawn.
  • Shared Mass Hallucination: He thinks that the Ghostbusters were using hallucinations to make ghosts.
  • Unusual Euphemism: "This man has no dick."

"Well, that's what I heard!"

Eleanor Twitty AKA Gray Lady (Ruth Oliver)

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • Ancient Keeper: She's spent decades keeping the Gozerian Codex in her last resting place.
  • Anti-Villain: Type II
  • Ascended Extra: Originally she was merely just the first ghost the 'Busters came across, than after scaring them off she wasn't mentioned again. In the video game she was given an entire level where we were introduced to who she was and shown her deep connection to the event in the game.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Or the silent ones at least. Despite seeming to be just a normal ghost, she ends up having the power to control the entire library, as well as ghosts that are not known to work together. Hurt her and you'll regret it, even if it takes nearly a century.
  • The Chessmaster: In the game, she purposely lured the Ghostbusters to her library by taking control of some ghosts and making them cause a ruckus. All this to get them to go after her murderer/ex-boyfriend so as to finally get her revenge.
  • Fog Feet: It seems to be the main way one tracks her.
  • Not So Harmless: Oh look, it's a sweet old librarian ghost! Why would anyone-OH GOD! Stop! NO! I promise I'll never bring a late book again!
  • Scary Librarian: Especially in her angry mode.
  • Snub By Omission: Her initial response to the Ghostbusters.
  • Spooky Silent Library: Her chosen domain, obviously.
  • Revenge Against Men: Her EX-boyfriend, not the Ghostbusters.
  • Unfinished Business: Subverted. After thinking they had helped her pass on by taking her book, she suddenly reappears and laughs maniacally as she transforms into her angry mode.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: She has a disturbing tendency to shift between a quiet plain librarian, to a raging grotesque ghoul.
  • Woman Scorned: Oh yes...
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Her boyfriend used her to get at her rare book collection. When this is discovered, she dumps him and revokes his pass to her collection. He then kills her, trapping her in the library she tried to protect. It is soon shown, despite her circumstances, she isn't going to mope about. Instead she'll spend her afterlife plotting the downfall of her ex-boyfriend. She succeeds, with the help of the Ghostbusters.

Gozer the Gozerian (humanoid form: Slavitza Jovan) (humanoid form: voiced by Paddi Edwards)

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

"Nice thinking, Ray."

Zuul and Vinz Clortho (Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis)

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • Affably Evil: Vinz enthusiastically gushes to Egon about how Gozer has destroyed previous worlds, and seems to expect humans to be genuinely excited about being destroyed. Vinz even politely assists Egon in mundane tasks and seems more like an excited puppy than a demonic invader.
    • Zuul, as well, was also willing to sleep with anyone who claimed the loosest affiliation with the Keymaster.
  • Demonic Possession: Dana Barrett and Louis Tully by Zuul and Vinz Clortho respectively.
  • The Dragons: To Gozer.
  • One-Scene Wonder
  • Quirky Miniboss Squad
  • Unusual Euphemism: The Keymaster and the Gatekeeper.
  • The Vamp: Zuul, while possessing Dana.

Prince Vigo the Carpathian (Wilhelm von Homburg)

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

"Wasn't he also Vigo the Butch?"

Ray: He didn't die of old age, either. He was poisoned, stabbed, shot, hung, stretched, disemboweled, drawn and quartered... Just before his head died, his last words were "Death is but a door, time is but a window: I'll be back."

Ivo Shandor

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • Ascended Extra
  • Badass Grandpa: He captured an Eldritch Abomination from another world. Granted, it was only a baby; still impressive. He was the head of the cult of Gozer, and he made himself a god!
  • Body Surf: For most of the game, unknown to the Ghostbusters, Ivo has been possessing the mayor of New York since before the game even started.
  • Deadly Doctor: He performed quite a few questionable surgeries in his time.
  • Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: He kept a painting of his mother in his church to Gozer. Despite most everything else in the church being run down, his mother's painting is the only thing that is still pristine. Even after being underwater for who knows how long.
  • Evil Old Folks: He is a cult leader who was involved with quite a few bloody sacrifices to Gozer as well as making buildings that would bring about the end of the world. Apparently he thinks mankind is too sick to survive.
  • Evil Plan: To wipe out the bastard humans, of course. Building Dana's apartment, storing energy, and everything else works toward this goal.
    • My Death Is Just the Beginning: He and his cult made sure this would happen even after their deaths. Also they had an alternate plan in case Gozer had issues the first time, and already had it set into motion.
  • A God Am I: Ivo was upset that Gozer was beaten not once, but twice. So he decided he would take the energy he was originally going to give to Gozer and empower himself with it. He goes into it with the big speeches and everything.
  • Humans Are the Real Monsters: Apparently this was his reason for trying to bring about the end of the world. After WW 1 he felt mankind was far too sick to survive. Kind of ironic considering what he had done to his fellow humanbeings. Even before he started to bring about the end to life.
  • Mad Scientist: An evil one to combat the Ghostbuster's two good ones.
  • Malevolent Architecture: Dana's apartment building which Ivo designed specifically for causing horrors to come upon the world.Ivo also worked on the Sedgwick Hotel, Library, the Natural History Museum, and his own personal island.

Spider Witch (Erin Gray)

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • All Webbed Up: Kind of goes without saying. Her entire Realm is covered in spider webs, and hanging human bodies.
  • Animal Motifs: Spiders,obviously. Even in life her spider obsession seemed to be a major characteristic of herself.
  • Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Possibly. We are not too sure if she was human or not. If she was human than after her death she became a demigod level spirit being.
  • Audio Erotica: Her soft sensual voice both seems attractive and terrifying.
  • Blood Lust: Her suite, after she disappeared, was found to be painted in blood. Her victims hung on the ceiling drained of said blood, after she dragged them around to smear it on the floor.
  • Career Killers: She worked for Shandor and is implied to have killed many men for Shandor's cult. Not really paid to do this, she just really likes to kill.
  • The Collector: She collects men's dead bodies and their souls, making them her eternal slaves.
  • Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: As if being a spider obsessed Black Widow wasn't enough for her, she had to be this too.
  • Everyone Calls Her Spider Witch : She was a professional black widow who brutally murdered her victims not for money but for a twisted hidden reason. She became known as the Spider Witch.
  • Fate Worse Than Death: Her minions, not herself. It is heavily implied the spider minions are the souls of the men she murdered. Now dead they are forced to serve her as spiders for all time.
  • Foreshadowing Her presence in the Sedgewick Hotel was hinted at early in the game. On one of the doors in the first level you can see a ghost spider with the PKE meter. This door leads to the Spider Witch's old suite.
  • Giant Spider: After her death, if she was ever even alive, she was turned into a giant spider woman.
  • Healing Factor: While the Buster battle her she can feed off... something to heal herself from damage. Depending on whether you can find her or not will define whether your battle with her will be fast or long.
  • Humanoid Abomination: Besides her spider humanoid form, she was this in life. She fashioned her suite to her bizarre tastes. Furniture was all heaped in a corner chewed up, and she painted blood everywhere in the room. Let's not forget her hanging men collection.
  • Knife Nut: She has some major Blood Lust, and enjoys carrying a knife when taking her "Husbands" to her suite. You put the picture together.
  • Lady in Red: Mostly red anyway.
  • Mix-and-Match Critters: In her ghost form she became part woman, and part spider.
  • No Name Given: Despite the crimes she committed the authorities never discovered her name, not even a false one.
  • Right-Hand Hottie: She loyally serves Ivo Shandor as a guardian over the Sedgewick's mandala node in her death. In life she had killed many men for a reason only she and Shandor know.
  • Spiders Are Scary: That's basically her levels entire theme.
  • Urban Legend: She is this to the Sedgewick Hotel staff. They were terrified enough to keep her room locked... till it was opened for remodeling.
  • The Vamp: She would seduce unknowing men so she could paint her room with their blood, and possibly make them her eternal minions.

Azetlor AKA Edmund Hoover

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Before being executed he told everyone that he was going to be reborn as Azetlor. He was.
  • Badass Bookworm: He loves books a lot. To the point he will kill for them. Though we don't know what he looked like in life Ray suggested that he was a sniveling little bookworm.
  • The Dog Bites Back: He really shouldn't have killed Eleanor Twitty.
  • Co-Dragons: He shares this with the Chairman.
  • The Collector: He collects the dead bodies of his victims, much like the Spider Witch. He also collects books.
  • Eldritch Abomination: He became a mass of Black Slime and broken furniture with a helmet after his death.
  • I Have Many Names: Edmund Hoover, Edmund Hoover the Collector, The Library Serial Killer, Azetlor, Keeper of Knowledge, Azetlor the Finder, Azetlor the Collector, Azetlor the Returner, Azetlor the Lost, Azetlor the Destroyer, and Azetlor the Bookworm. Basically the opposite of the Spider Witch.
  • Kick the Dog: When he seduced Eleanor Twitty to get at her library's rare book collection. When she figured out what he was doing he murdered her and damned her to an eternity in her beloved library.
  • Meaningful Rename: He changed his name from Edmund Hoover to Azetlor. Azetlor was a Sumerian demigod that ruled over the lost. Originally he collected all that was lost, but grew greedy and began to collect what he shouldn't. Much like what Hoover did with the Librarians he killed and his books.
  • My Death Is Just the Beginning: After his death he became a mandala guardian of the Library to continue serving his master Shandor.
  • Serial Killer: He was known as the "Library Serial Killer".
  • Would Hit a Girl: Murdered his girlfriend Eleanor Twitty, and many other women after her

Others

Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver)

I'm sorry, I don't believe in any of those things.

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts)

Is it just a mist, or does it have arms and legs?

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

"Who are you going to call?"

  • Beleaguered Assistant: Poor Janine, she is in charge of every single secretarial thing that goes on in the Firehouse. Despite being so swamped, she's able to keep everything going smoothly. Despite all she does, her boss Peter continues to refuse to hire more help around the Firehouse to ease her workload. He also expects her to come in even if there is a mass exodus of the city. Her sassy demeanor makes a lot of sense once you consider all of the work and abuse she has to deal with.
  • Deadpan Snarker:

"Dropping off or picking up?" in response to a policeman arriving at the door.

  • The Face: Janine is the receptionist for the four man organization; a notably interpersonal role. One scene in the first movie has her trying to convince a customer of their professionalism.
  • Fiery Redhead: In the second movie.
  • Sarcastic Devotee: Despite her very sarcastic interaction with her boss she remains his loyal secretary.
  • Sassy Secretary:

(under breath) "I quit better jobs than this. (picks up the phone) Ghostbusters, whaddaya want?!"

  • Unfazed Everyman: She is surrounded by men who hunt ghosts, half of whom are mad scientists. She even has a ghost in a cage close to where she works that the busters keep as a "pet". Not once has she ever batted an eye at any of this.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: She seems to take the ghostbusting business pretty well, never showing any signs of it being out of the ordinary.

Louis Tully (Rick Moranis)

Ok, who brought the dog?

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

I'm right here with you guy's!

Janosz Poha (Peter MacNicol)

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Venkman: You'll never get a green-card with that attitude, pal.

Ilyssa Selwyn (Alyssa Milano)

Just watched a giant marshmellow man blow up, no biggy.

A description of the character goes here.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
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