| 1 | [[center:[-'''[[Characters/{{Ghostbusters}} Main Character Index]]''' | '''Ghostbusters''' | [[Characters/GhostbustersFilmSeriesOtherHumanCharacters Other Human Characters]] | [[Characters/GhostbustersFilmSeriesVillainsAndGhosts Villains and Ghosts]]-]]] |
| 2 | ---- |
| 3 | '''ALL spoilers are unmarked'''. [[{{Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned}} You Have Been Warned.]]\ |
| 4 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 5 | !!Original Team |
| 6 | [[folder:In General]] |
| 7 | !!The Ghostbusters |
| 8 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ghostbusters_7.png]] |
| 9 | [[caption-width-right:300:''"We're ready to believe you!"'']] |
| 10 | |
| 11 | ->''"Who you gonna call?"'' |
| 12 | |
| 13 | A team of eccentric scientists who discover ghosts (or "ectoplasmic entities") are real and develop technology to capture them. They start a ghost-catching business in New York City. |
| 14 | ---- |
| 15 | * TenMinuteRetirement: Peter and Winston retire from Ghostbusting in the interim between ''Afterlife'' and ''Frozen Empire'', while Winston has Ray KickedUpstairs due to concerns about his health and age. The events of the latter film result in them suiting up yet again to help stop Garraka from causing a second ice age. |
| 16 | * AerithAndBob: Peter, Ray, Winston, and ''Egon''. |
| 17 | * BackInTheSaddle: The surviving team come out of retirement to help their younger counterparts in the climax of both ''Afterlife'' and ''Frozen Empire''. |
| 18 | * BigDamnHeroes: In ''Afterlife'', the surviving members of the team arrive in Summerville just in time to provide some extra firepower in the FinalBattle with Gozer. Serving as an unseen SpiritAdvisor throughout the film, Egon's ghost joins as well to reunite the full crew one last time to take down their ArchEnemy for good. |
| 19 | * BreakingTheFellowship: Following the events of the second movie, the Ghostbusters closed down due to lack of business and Egon running off with most of their equipment. |
| 20 | * TheCavalry: In ''Afterlife'', Ray, Peter, and Winston finally arrive during the final battle to help the kids defeat Gozer. Not long after, Egon’s ghost manifests to do the same. |
| 21 | * CoolOldGuy: In ''Afterlife'', Peter, Ray, and Winston are now in retirement age, but they can still bust ghosts just as well as they did in the '80s (albeit with the hits they take being a bit more painful). |
| 22 | * TheFellowshipHasEnded: The team disbanded after business started to dwindle in the early '90s (Peter claims they got too good at their job) and Egon took off with all their equipment without warning. Ray went back to running his occult bookstore, Peter became a professor teaching advertisement, and Winston went into finance and made a fortune for himself. |
| 23 | * FourTemperamentEnsemble: Ray is Sanguine, Peter is Choleric, Egon is Melancholic, Winston is Phlegmatic. |
| 24 | * HunterOfMonsters: Well, hunters of ectoplasmic entities, which often happen to be monstrous. |
| 25 | * LegendaryInTheSequel: In ''Afterlife'', Phoebe's never heard of them and doesn't believe in ghosts. Trevor has heard of them but seems to think they were a made-up ghost story. |
| 26 | * NiceMeanAndInBetween: The members of the team have 3 different reasons on why they want to bust ghosts. Ray does it for fun (nice), Peter and Winston do it for money (and getting women in Peter's case) (mean) and Egon does it for science (in-between). |
| 27 | * OldMaster: ''Afterlife'' shows they haven't lost their touch despite being in their seventies and at least thirty years out of practice. |
| 28 | * OneLastJob: By the time of ''Afterlife'', the Ghostbusters have long since retired from ghost busting, though not because they grew tired of the lifestyle. Ray points out to Phoebe during their phone call that jobs grew less and less available and hauntings became less frequent, with them going from ten calls a week to barely one a week (Ray says Peter claimed they got "too good"). When Egon left for Summerville and took all their equipment and the Ecto-1, they were officially done. Phoebe's phone call is what propels Ray to get Winston and Peter to go to Summerville themselves and bust some ghosts one last time, just in the nick of time to help Egon's family trap Gozer. TheStinger, however, implies that Winston may be reviving the Ghostbusters as he brings Ecto-1 back to New York and into the old firehouse headquarters. |
| 29 | * OutOfFocus: |
| 30 | ** Very much so in ''Afterlife'': Peter, Ray, Winston, and Janine only appear in two scenes each since the primary focus is on the Spengler family and the legacy left by the recently deceased Egon. The original Busters do have their BigDamnHeroes moment in the climax, though. |
| 31 | ** Downplayed in ''Frozen Empire'', where they do have more screen time, but Ray is the only one to get a full character arc. |
| 32 | * ParanormalInvestigation: Although they're more like a decontamination crew than detectives or investigators. |
| 33 | * PuttingTheBandBackTogether: Though the gang has disbanded for decades, the surviving members return in the finale of ''Afterlife'' to help the new group, with Egon's ghost helping them for one last time. The post-credits scene shows Winston, now a wealthy man, has reclaimed the firehouse and plans to repair the Ecto-1. |
| 34 | * RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Apart from being scientists (save for Winston), they all have very different backgrounds and personality quirks and are often regarded as loonies by the authorities. |
| 35 | * TrueCompanions: In spite of not having spoken to each other for decades, when Gozer returns and Ray comes calling, Peter and Winston immediately agree to follow him to Oklahoma within a day, proving just how strong their bond truly is even after so many years spent drifting apart. In ''Frozen Empire'', when Garraka threatens to tear apart the old Fire House and release every ghost they captured over the last 40 years they along with Janine ''immediately'' band together to stop the mad god from destroying the old home that bound them together in laughter and friendship as a '''family.''' |
| 36 | * WeUsedToBeFriends: As Ray reveals during his phone call with Phoebe in ''Afterlife'', the group slowly drifted apart as ghost sightings became less and less frequent, with Peter claiming they became too good at their job. The real driving point, however, was Egon's increasing paranoia when he discovered Gozer's impending return and took most of their equipment and the Ecto-1, all but driving a wedge between him and the rest of the Ghostbusters as well as solidifying their dissolution. Despite Ray's obvious anger towards his old friend, even telling her that Egon could go rot in hell, he does still care about him as he becomes downtrodden upon learning he died less than a ''week'' ago. |
| 37 | * WhoYouGonnaCall: They're the {{Trope Namer}}s, as it's their CatchPhrase when advertising their business of investigating paranormal activities and capturing/neutralizing ectoplasmic entities. |
| 38 | * WorkingClassHero: They start out as scientists and parapsychologists (save for Winston), but after getting fired from their university jobs, they spurn the academy by taking their ghost-hunting technology and entering the world of private business (together with a blue-collar, street-smart new recruit), becoming the supernatural version of vermin exterminators. This proves to be a far more lucrative and fulfilling career path. |
| 39 | [[/folder]] |
| 40 | |
| 41 | [[folder:Peter]] |
| 42 | !!Peter Venkman, [=PhD=] |
| 43 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/petervenkman.jpg]] |
| 44 | [[caption-width-right:300:''"I don't have to take this abuse from you, I've got hundreds of people dying to abuse me."'']] |
| 45 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/BillMurray |
| 46 | !!!'''Dubbed by:''' Bernard Murat[[note]]first two movies[[/note]], Bernard Metraux[[note]]''Afterlife''[[/note]], (European French) | Jorge Roig[[note]]In the original TV dub and the DVD dub[[/note]], Creator/HumbertoSolorzano[[note]]In Sony's redub for streaming services[[/note]] (Latin American Spanish) |
| 47 | !!!'''Appears in:''' ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}'' | ''Film/GhostbustersII'' | ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'' | ''Film/GhostbustersFrozenEmpire'' |
| 48 | |
| 49 | ->''"24 hours a day, seven days a week. No job is too big, no fee is too big."'' |
| 50 | |
| 51 | TheFace of the Ghostbusters, Venkman is a psychology professor (though sleazy ConMan would be a more accurate description) who founded the Ghostbusters with Egon and Ray less in pursuit of studying the paranormal and more to turn a profit. He acts as the Ghostbusters' spokesman and is the one who usually talks with clients. |
| 52 | ---- |
| 53 | * AboveTheInfluence: For all his womanizing and pick-up artistry, he refuses to have sex with a Zuul-possessed Dana (though he does claim it's more of a guideline than a rule). |
| 54 | * AdvertisedExtra: He's displayed pretty prominently in the advertising for ''Frozen Empire''. In the poster, he's the most prominent original Ghostbuster and even stands tall in front of most of the newer cast, including the actual protagonist, Phoebe. In reality, Peter's only in the film for one scene prior to the last twenty minutes and the final battle, and doesn't play nearly as significant a role in the movie's events as Ray or Winston. |
| 55 | * AntiHero: Snarky, arrogant, conceited, womanizing and sometimes a [[{{Jerkass}} real jerk]], but still a good man. He softens up quite a bit in ''Ghostbusters II''. |
| 56 | * BadassBoast: "We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!" |
| 57 | * BecomingTheMask: Particularly in the first movie, where 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 a real hero. |
| 58 | * BrilliantButLazy: He is a fairly smart guy. If only he cared enough to do anything with his smarts. He has [=PhDs=] in both psychology and parapsychology, but uses mostly the psychology one to help him get together with girls. |
| 59 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: Dana calls him out on his unprofessional behaviour. |
| 60 | -->'''Dana:''' You know, you don't act like a scientist.\ |
| 61 | '''Peter:''' They're usually pretty stiff.\ |
| 62 | '''Dana:''' You're more like a game show host. |
| 63 | * TheCasanova: If all those phone messages he gets in the game means anything. He seems to have become quite popular with the ladies. |
| 64 | * ChivalrousPervert: He's interested in dating his female students, but he refuses to take advantage of Dana when she's sexily-crazed, having been possessed by Zuul. |
| 65 | * CloudCuckoolandersMinder: [[NoodleIncident Egon apparently tried self-trephination, but Peter stopped him]]. |
| 66 | * ConMan: Venkman is the least sincere of the four, exploiting the field of "parapsychology" to swindle universities, push nonsense papers all day, flirt with his research subjects, and basically get paid for doing nothing. |
| 67 | * {{Cuckoosnarker}}: A general airy detachment lends his jibes a potent edge. |
| 68 | * DeadpanSnarker: Takes the top prize as the biggest snarker in the film series. |
| 69 | -->'''Peter:''' You're right; no human being would stack books like this. |
| 70 | * DemotedToExtra: He's the main protagonist of the first two films, but takes a backseat in the reboot series. In ''Frozen Empire'', he's the last of the original cast to be reintroduced and he only has one scene prior to showing up for the final battle. |
| 71 | * EleventhHourRanger: In ''Frozen Empire'', he arrives before the final battle to provide aid to the other Ghostbusters. Amusingly, he doesn't appear to have been contacted to help out, but decided he wouldn't be kept out of the fight and dropped in on his comrades for old times' sake. |
| 72 | * EveryoneHasStandards: |
| 73 | ** While he frequently mocks authority figures, it's clear that he knows it's not a good idea to extend this treatment to the police. When Peck returns to the Ghostbusters headquarters with an NYPD officer, Peter is extremely polite to the latter and tries calmly explaining the situation to him. |
| 74 | ** He's smooth-talking, somewhat sleazy and more than a little irreverent, but if you step on a church in his town, he will ''roast'' your supernatural ass. |
| 75 | ** He may be a ladies' man and is attracted to Dana, but when a Zuul-possessed Dana tries to bed him, he quickly recognizes Dana is possessed and refuses to take advantage of her, instead gathering information on Gozer and trying to coax Zuul to let him talk to Dana. |
| 76 | * TheFace: Peter is the group's ambassador and generally does the talking. He's not exactly a ''smooth'' talker, with his acerbic wit always at hand, but he's smart enough to know the right buttons to push. The mayor wasn't exactly thrilled with Peter assuming a FirstNameBasis with him on their first meeting, but Peter knew that outlining the political support he'd receive from letting the Ghostbusters save the city would help him get away with it. |
| 77 | * FlatEarthAtheist: At the start of the second film, even after dealing with real ghosts and an extradimensional deity, he still thinks the only reason a person would write a book about the end of the world would be to make a quick buck from gullible readers. Possibly justified by his line to Dana in the first film saying ''most'' people who say they see ghosts are nutjobs. In the second movie he's actually really bitter about this, believing his work with the Ghostbusters was the high point of his life, and now that they're (apparently) not needed anymore, his life is essentially over. |
| 78 | -->'''Producer:''' This is the best we could do on such short notice. Look, no respected psychic will come on the show! They think you're a fraud.\ |
| 79 | '''Venkman:''' I ''am'' a fraud! |
| 80 | * FreudianTrio: Ego |
| 81 | * TheGadfly: Especially in the sequel, where he takes special delight in winding up both Judge Wexler and the Mayor's obstructive assistant, Hardemeyer with barely-concealed impertinence. |
| 82 | * GeniusesHaveMultiplePhDs: Despite his laziness and sleaziness, you know Venkman must be smart because he has [=PhDs=] in parapsychology and psychology, as he explains to Walter Peck. (Peck fails to address him as "Doctor" through the entire conversation, deliberately calling him Mr. Venkman.) |
| 83 | * GoodIsNotNice: He's a sarcastic wise-ass, despite being one of the series' lead heroes. |
| 84 | * GuileHero: Can trick and bluff his way out of any pinch. |
| 85 | * HappilyMarried: To Dana as implied in TheStinger in ''Afterlife''. |
| 86 | * JerkassHasAPoint: In several ways during his first meeting with Peck. |
| 87 | ** First of all. Peter greets Walter Peck in a purely professional manner while Peck is in the Ghostbusters office, as Peck could well be a paying client, and he only drops his polite tone when Peck, without showing any credentials, threatens the Ghostbusters' operation, without any form of just cause. |
| 88 | ** Second. Peter rightly responds that any interruption of their business, without evidence, just cause, or even a proper warrant, which the Ghostbusters would then have the right to appeal, would open Peck up for a proper retaliatory lawsuit. |
| 89 | ** Third. Peter has no obligation to show Peck the delicate, and highly classified, containment unit, especially as Peck is not in Ghostbusters HQ in any official capacity, but merely ''claimed'' to be an agent of the EPA, and "asked" to see the unit purely for the sake of his own curiosity, not because of any violation of code on the part of the Ghostbusters, nor any active complaint, civil or criminal. |
| 90 | ** Lastly, when Peck angrily starts ranting about shutting down the business, without cause, as opposed to listing proper violations of code, informing Peter of due notice regarding a hearing, or simply mentioning that the Ghostbusters would be contacted by his office regarding non-compliance, Peter is right to toss Peck out on his ear, considering that Peter has long experience with con-men (especially being one himself), he knows a shakedown when he sees it, and ''usually'', when a con-man who claims to be a government official, but isn't is met with a mark that won't be intimidated, goes to look for a sucker somewhere else. |
| 91 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: |
| 92 | ** 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 video game, he seems to have lost some of that heart and the Jerk seems to have resurfaced. A funny jerk, but a [[{{Jerkass}} Jerk]] none the less. |
| 93 | ** It comes up a few times in the IDW comics. Take the first issue where Winston drags him along on a pro-bono job for a kid. Pete bitches and moans the whole car trip over. Then he sees how bad the apartment complex they're working has gotten (read: slime gushing out of literally ''every'' window), then gives the superintendent a ''brutal'' verbal dressing down over all the public health and safety laws the guy broke just to try to save out on the charges involved in a supernatural elimination, and is afterward actually taking the job pretty seriously, despite resorting to further bitching and moaning. |
| 94 | * TheKirk: An acerbic version. He nets all of the chicks and saves the day by breaking established rules (like EPA codes) and rebelling against authority. |
| 95 | * KnightInSourArmor: 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. Notably, in the first film, he's willing to go back to jail (and quietly) if it turns out they're wrong about Gozer. |
| 96 | * LastNameBasis: Venkman's first name is rarely used even by his friends, which stands out as the other three go primarily by their first names. |
| 97 | * TheLeader: 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. |
| 98 | * LetsMockTheMonsters: While the guys consider [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu flipping the bird]] to supernatural bad guys standard operating procedure, no one does it better (or faster) than Peter. See the SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome page for how he used his taunts on Vigo to distract him, even while injured and ''crawling'' towards a supernatural being that could stomp him flat. |
| 99 | * LovableCoward: 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. |
| 100 | * TheMillstone: Every problem the 'Busters have to deal with in the original film is caused by him. It's his freewheeling attitude that gets them kicked out of Columbia, his overt come-ons with Dana nearly cost them their first customer, and his standoffishness with Peck is what gets the containment grid shut down. Every one of these incidents is mitigated because Venkman's cleverness and quick tongue always end up fixing the problems he causes. |
| 101 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: 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. |
| 102 | * ObfuscatingStupidity: He is a very intelligent man, but he comes off more like a CasanovaWannabe. 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 capable of when he works at it. |
| 103 | * OOCIsSeriousBusiness: His usual demeanor is completely absent when the group watches Egon's ghost interact with his family and ascend into the afterlife. |
| 104 | * PapaWolf: Even though Oscar is not his child, he does his part to protect him from Vigo. |
| 105 | * PetTheDog: At the start of the first film, he's got very few good qualities but Dana becomes his MoralityPet. He does become more heroic at the end of the film, and for all his sleaze, he is so not going to sleep with a woman under the influence of a Babylonian god. |
| 106 | * PhonyPsychic: A charlatan in the field of telepathy (later 'promoted' to a cable TV host on a paranormal talk show) finds himself getting dragged along on a hunt for real ghosts. |
| 107 | * PreAssKickingOneLiner: He has some of the most iconic in the franchise. |
| 108 | --> "All right -- this chick is ''toast!''"\ |
| 109 | "Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown!"\ |
| 110 | "Viggy, Viggy, Viggy. You have been a bad monkey!" |
| 111 | * TheProtagonist: It's subtle, but if anyone in this group fills the role in the first two films, it's Peter. The other members will generally do more of the heavy lifting, but Peter is higher profile and speaks for the group. |
| 112 | * PunchClockHero: He's OnlyInItForTheMoney and treats what he does as the paying job it is, not some selfless mission or higher calling for the good of mankind. |
| 113 | * TheSlacker: As Dean Yager rightly notes in the first few minutes of the first movie, Venkman "uses science as some sort of dodge", and he only goes to help Dana because he wants to get her into bed. In the game, he's 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. |
| 114 | * TookALevelInKindness: |
| 115 | ** While still TheGadfly, he's far less overtly dickish in ''Ghostbusters II'' than he was in the first movie, notably in his interactions with Dana and Oscar. |
| 116 | ** While Peter was always a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, his appearance in ''Afterlife'' shows him as still with a sarcastic side but much more genuine and friendly. He is the first to check on Callie after Gozer is defeated, and in TheStinger he seems to have maintained a loving relationship with Dana, admitting to some of his sketchier behavior with grad students and patiently enduring the same shock tests he gave to them. In ''Frozen Empire'', he tells Ray he's proud of him for quitting smoking (which is notable given how snarky Peter usually is with Ray) and is even rather jovial when talking to his former archnemesis Walter Peck at the end. |
| 117 | * TheTrickster: 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, whereas Ray and Egon would be more-easily cowed and cautious. 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. |
| 118 | * TrustMeImAnX: "Back off, man. I'm a scientist." |
| 119 | * VitriolicBestBuds: He can be a snarky jerk towards his teammates (mostly Ray), but he clearly cares about them nonetheless. |
| 120 | [[/folder]] |
| 121 | |
| 122 | [[folder:Ray]] |
| 123 | !!Raymond "Ray" Stantz, [=PhD=] |
| 124 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dan_aykroyd_ghostbusters.jpg]] |
| 125 | [[caption-width-right:300:''"Well, this is great. If the ionization-rate is constant for all ectoplasmic entities, we can really bust some heads... in a spiritual sense, of course."'']] |
| 126 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/DanAykroyd |
| 127 | !!!'''Dubbed by:''' Creator/RichardDarbois (European French) | Creator/PedroDAguillonJr (Latin American Spanish) |
| 128 | !!!'''Appears in:''' ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}'' | ''Film/GhostbustersII'' | ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'' | ''Film/GhostbustersFrozenEmpire'' |
| 129 | |
| 130 | ->''"As a duly-designated representative of the City, County and State of New York, I order you to cease any and all supernatural activity and return forthwith to your place of origin, or to the next convenient parallel dimension."'' |
| 131 | |
| 132 | TheHeart of the Ghostbusters. Ray is the one who is the most interested in ghosts, and will often be the most excited when encountering something supernatural. He provides knowledge of folklore to compliment Egon's scientific knowledge when figuring out how to deal with a ghost. In ''II'', he's shown to have opened an occult bookstore, Ray's Occult Books, which is still open as of ''Afterlife''. |
| 133 | ---- |
| 134 | * AdmiringTheAbomination: He gets boyishly excited by a lot of the weird, gross and terrifying stuff they encounter. |
| 135 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: 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. He also hates it when kids are being threatened. |
| 136 | --> '''Ray:''' (''to Vigo'') You want a baby? Go knock up some willing {{hellhound}}. Otherwise, I am giving you to the count of three to march back in that painting! |
| 137 | * BornInTheWrongCentury: He describes himself as such word for word in the Richard Mueller novelization when trying on an old military uniform.[[note]]This was the infamous DeletedScene where the Dream Ghost was originally supposed to appear[[/note]]. |
| 138 | * ButtMonkey: If he's not being manipulated or slapped around by Peter, he's getting attacked/possessed by one demonic entity or another. |
| 139 | * TheCameo: In ''Film/{{Casper}}''. Which was rendered a non-canon appearance which is welcomed by fans due to how cowardly it makes Ray look. |
| 140 | * CelibateHero: The only original Ghostbuster who never got married or had kids. |
| 141 | * CloudCuckoolander: 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. |
| 142 | * DemonicPossession: This has happened to him far more than any other character in the series, including most prominently with Vigo the Carpathian in ''II''. It's to the point where the other characters [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] it every time he becomes possessed or slimed. |
| 143 | * DitzyGenius: For the guy who was behind the creation of the proton packs and the Ecto-1, he sure doesn't have a lot of common sense. |
| 144 | * DrivesLikeCrazy: During the [[HesBack They're Back]] montage in the second film, Peter has a look of panic as Ray is driving the Ecto-1A to a new case. A DeletedScene explains that Vigo possessed him to make him crash the Ecto-1A at high speed in order to kill the Ghostbusters, but Winston managed to wrestle control of the car. |
| 145 | * TheEngineer: While Egon is typically the group's [[TheStrategist strategist]] during missions, Ray is the mechanic and practical inventor. He designed and built the ecto-containment system, the proton packs and the stuff on the Ectomobile, and also designs something called a "Ghost Bomb" in the cartoon series. |
| 146 | * ForScience: Far milder than Egon, though. |
| 147 | * FreudianTrio: Id |
| 148 | * GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Good on Ray's part. He's seen with a cigarette in almost every scene in the movies. In "Frozen Empire", he mentions having quit back in the 90's, though this unfortunately leaves him without a lighter in a situation where one would've been ''very'' useful. |
| 149 | * TheHeart: He's considered this by the rest of the Ghostbusting team and Venkman introduces him exactly as such when greeting the cheering crowds before they head inside Spook Central in the first film. |
| 150 | * HeroicBSOD: Goes through a temporary one after accidentally summoning the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man. He snaps out of it in time to fight Gozer. |
| 151 | -->'''Venkman:''' Ray has gone bye-bye. |
| 152 | * HollywoodAtheist: An interesting case. In a short scene toward the end of the first movie, Ray and Winston are alone in Ecto-1, and Winston asks if Ray believes in God. His response is a brief "Never met him." It's rather strange to hear this coming from someone who sees strange spiritual events every day. Ray goes on to quote the Book of Revelations regarding the End of Days, showing that he has some Biblical knowledge. So, he may not be an atheist per se -- he might be agnostic.[[note]]Dan Aykroyd has stated that he portrayed Ray as someone who flunked out of seminary school after losing his faith and took up paranormal investigation as a desperate need to believe in ''some''thing.[[/note]] |
| 153 | * HonouraryUncle: Has become "Uncle Ray" to the Spengler kids and Podcast in ''Frozen Empire''. |
| 154 | * HotBlooded: 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. |
| 155 | * TheIdealist: His joyous enthusiasm shows a sincere belief in goodness. When the Particle Throwers fails to crack the shell of hate-infused Mood Slime around the Manhattan Museum of Art, Ray, while wearied by the odds, submits a heartfelt conviction that beneficence merely requires some kind of ignition. |
| 156 | -->'''Egon:''' That slime wall is pulsing with evil. It would take a tremendous amount of positive energy to crack that shell, and I seriously doubt that there's enough goodwill left in this town to do it.\ |
| 157 | '''Ray:''' ...You know, I just can't believe things have gotten so bad in this city that there's no way back! I mean, sure, it's dirty, it's crowded, it's polluted, it's noisy, and there's people all around who'd just as soon step on your face as look at you. But come on! There gotta be a few sparks of sweet humanity left in this burned-out berg! We just have to figure out a way to mobilise it! |
| 158 | * InconsistentSpelling: Stantz in the movies and video game, Stanz in ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters''. It's generally accepted that the cartoon misspelled Ray's surname, as opposed to how fans argue over whether Winston's is Zeddemore or Zeddmore. |
| 159 | * IntergenerationalFriendship: With most of the new Ghostbusters in ''Frozen Empire'', particularly Podcast and Phoebe, who refer to him as "Dr. Ray". |
| 160 | * TheLancer: To Peter, making it an interesting switch of the traditional roles; Ray is the [[ThePollyanna idealistic]], innocent one whereas Peter is the [[DeadpanSnarker snarkier]], self-centered one. |
| 161 | * LastNameBasis: Unique among the main characters in that he generally refers to everyone except Winston by their last name. This seems more personal preference than reflective of his feelings towards them, however. In the second movie, he starts nicknaming everyone instead. |
| 162 | * LeeroyJenkins: "GET HER!" Leading to a hilarious brick joke. "Go GET HER... Ray!" |
| 163 | * MadScientist: A heroic example. |
| 164 | * ManChild: 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. In the second movie, when he fails to possess Oscar, Vigo decides Ray's just as good. The fact that Vigo specifically requested a child to live through speaks volumes of Ray's man-child tendencies. |
| 165 | * TheMcCoy: Though more agreeable than his partners, he does jeopardize their safety with his headstrong personality. |
| 166 | * MrExposition: In ''Afterlife'', Ray is the one who explain to Phoebe (and the audience) what happened to the Ghostbusters in the last 30 years. |
| 167 | * NiceGuy: 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. |
| 168 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: He unwittingly chooses the form of the Destructor after his childhood favourite mascot, Mr. Stay-Puft, "just popped in there" after Gozer commands them to choose how they wish to perish. |
| 169 | * NightmareFetishist: The dream sequence he has, featuring a beautiful floating spectre who unbuttons his flies, may suggest how deep his nightmare fetish goes. |
| 170 | * NotSoAboveItAll: While normally a textbook NiceGuy, he's all for releasing Slimer when the hotel manager initially refuses to pay the bill for the team capturing him and is the one who dubs Walter Peck "Dickless". |
| 171 | * TookALevelInCynic: ''Afterlife'' reveals that Ray has become a lot more bitter in the modern day. Already saddened by Peter and Winston leaving the team when paranormal activity died down, he suffered a major blow when Egon suddenly took off with all of their equipment without telling Ray where he was going. This left him alone to manage his bookshop and when Egon finally contacted him years later, he was so angry that he refused to listen to his warnings of Gozer's upcoming threat. He regains his idealism by the end of the film, returning him to the same NiceGuy he was in the original films. |
| 172 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: While he was rightfully upset with Egon just disappearing and only getting in touch with him after 10 years without explaining himself prior, Ray's refusal to hear him out caused Egon to deal with the threat of Gozer's return on his own, leading to his death in ''Afterlife''. Upon reuniting with Egon's ghost, Ray apologizes to him for not listening. |
| 173 | * VitriolicBestBuds: With Peter, 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. Ray can occasionally dish some out too, such as choosing to call the TeamPet "Slimer" just to annoy Peter. |
| 174 | [[/folder]] |
| 175 | |
| 176 | [[folder:Egon]] |
| 177 | !!Egon Spengler, [=PhD=] |
| 178 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/egonspengler.png]] |
| 179 | [[caption-width-right:300:''"Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light."'']] |
| 180 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/HaroldRamis, Creator/BobGunton & Creator/IvanReitman (''Afterlife'') [[note]]Ramis's likeness was used in ''Afterlife'', with Gunton (billed as "Ghost Farmer") and Reitman as body doubles.[[/note]] |
| 181 | !!!'''Dubbed by:''' Jean-Pierre Leroux[[note]]first two movies[[/note]], Laurent Morteaux[[note]]end credits scene in ''Afterlife''[[/note]], (European French) | MartĂn Soto (Latin American Spanish) |
| 182 | !!!'''Appears in:''' ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}'' | ''Film/GhostbustersII'' | ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'' |
| 183 | |
| 184 | ->''"I collect spores, molds, and fungus."'' |
| 185 | |
| 186 | The brains of the Ghostbusters. He designed all the team's equipment and normally comes up with the plan to trap the ghosts. Overly analytical, Egon comes off as colder and more distant than he actually is. He's the father of Callie Spengler, and the grandfather of Trevor and Phoebe Spengler. |
| 187 | ---- |
| 188 | * ActionDad: He regularly fights ghosts for a living, and has a daughter, Callie, who would have been about two years old by the first movie. By the time of the sequels, he's an Action Grandpa, now having two grandkids. |
| 189 | * AdmiringTheAbomination: Admires some of Ivo Shandor's work in the 2009 game but is also quick to admit that he was also very evil. |
| 190 | -->'''Winston:''' Stay in the light, Egon.\ |
| 191 | '''Egon:''' I'm trying. |
| 192 | * AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Harold Ramis played Egon's twin brother Elon in an Earth Day special. Dr. Elon Spengler is the leader of the Wastebusters, an environmental association. He looks exactly like Egon, down to the hairstyle. The only visible difference is the lack of a proton pack and the fact that Elon wears white tennis shoes as opposed to the Ghostbusters' standard black boots. |
| 193 | * AmbiguousSituation: His death in the beginning of ''Afterlife''; was it the result of using the PKE taser on himself to deny the being chasing him a host or was it a genuine heart attack brought upon by the stress of the car crash, his trap failing, and fending off the entity? |
| 194 | * ArbitrarySkepticism: In the IDW comics. He's fine with ghosts, demons, parallel realities, and alternate timelines, but he absolutely draws the line at aliens. Imagine his surprise when [[ComicBook/TransformersGhostbusters he meets some shape-shifting robots from the planet Cybertron]]... |
| 195 | * AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: After the Ghostbusters are able to defeat Gozer once and for all in ''Afterlife'', Egon's spirit remains long enough to reconcile with his family before moving on to the afterlife. |
| 196 | * BadassBookworm: Not necessarily a TropeCodifier, but definitely one of the originals. |
| 197 | * BeingGoodSucks: In ''Afterlife'', it's revealed that he discovered Gozer was going to try to come back to Earth and dedicated the rest of his life to ensuring they would be defeated again, at the cost of him alienating himself from his friends and family. |
| 198 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: |
| 199 | ** Egon completely ''flips his shit'' when Peck accuses the Ghostbusters of causing the containment breach, something that Peck caused. |
| 200 | ** The IDW comics' ''Crossing Over'' event saw him dealing with Jillian Holtzmann and Ron Alexander's memories of how transdimensional technology worked by having them (''unknowingly'') read a subliminal messaging code that would interrupt their ability to think about it. [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment With the Chicken Dance.]] |
| 201 | --->'''Ray:''' Any side effects?\ |
| 202 | '''Egon:''' Not... As far as I know. |
| 203 | * BigGood: In ''Afterlife'', having orchestrated the plan to defeat Gozer before they could destroy the world, and assisting his family and friends as a spirit throughout the film. |
| 204 | * TheCavalry: In ''Afterlife'', just as it appears Phoebe will be destroyed by Gozer, Egon's spirit form appears to steady her aim and distract Gozer long enough for the rest of the original team to fire their Packs at her. |
| 205 | * ChasteHero: Despite the interest of Janine and many female students, he shows no interest in romance in the first two films. ''Afterlife'' retroactively reveals that he had a daughter, Callie, prior to the events of the first movie. |
| 206 | * CloudCuckoolander: Not to the extent as Ray, but he did once try to drill a hole through his head. |
| 207 | * CollectorOfTheStrange: Molds, fungus and spores, mostly. We see his gruesome collection in ''Afterlife'' when granddaughter Phoebe discovers his lab. |
| 208 | * TheComicallySerious: In his own words: "I'm ''always'' serious." |
| 209 | * CrazyPrepared: ''Afterlife'' establishes him as such, by revealing that he spent years building out a series of defensive measures to keep Gozer and the spirits in the Shandor Mine at bay, including a field of traps buried under the dirt farm at his property (part of a gambit to trap Gozer and[=/=]or the Terror-Dogs if they arrived), jury-rigged traps to stop the Well of Souls from coming up from the Mine, hidden compartments in his property to stash gear if he needed it, and enough gear in his underground lab to aid anyone else who may have needed to utilize it in their mission to stop Gozer... which comes true when his spirit form guides Phoebe to said tech. |
| 210 | * CreepyChild: |
| 211 | ** Implied in the second movie. While Ray and Egon are in baby Oscar's room, Egon reveals he never had any toys when he was a child. Ray is curious and asks if he really never had any toys, not even a Slinky, and Egon responds by saying he had ''part'' of a Slinky once (but he straightened it). |
| 212 | ** The novelization of the original film goes 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 friends' parents. |
| 213 | * CryingWolf: Another reason Egon wasn't able to get the help of the other Ghostbusters prior to the events of ''Afterlife'' was because he had gone after several other false leads that they were sick of being dragged into. |
| 214 | * DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: He left his family behind while his daughter was still young in order to prevent Gozer's return. |
| 215 | * DeadpanSnarker: Egon has his share of dry comedy moments. |
| 216 | ** As seen when the guys are firing up their Packs. |
| 217 | -->'''Venkman:''' Dooooooo--\ |
| 218 | '''Stantz:''' Reeeeeeeee—\ |
| 219 | '''Egon:''' Egonnnnnn! |
| 220 | ** When Phoebe is examining a proton pack, she wonders aloud how he got a part to be so small. Egon's spirit quickly moves the head of a desk lamp so it illuminates a whole wall of collegiate diplomas. |
| 221 | * DefrostingIceQueen: Hard to tell, but he smiles a lot more in the second film and is less serious and awkward in tone. |
| 222 | * DotingGrandparent: Forms a genuine bond with Phoebe, due to their similar personalities. His first action as a specter after his death is to get his granddaughter's attention through a game of chess. From then on, he slowly guides her around the farmhouse and helps her in fixing the proton pack. He also helps Trevor in fixing the Ecto-1, and the way he closes the hood, revealing the open barn door in front, seems like he's giving his grandson the approval to drive the car. |
| 223 | * DyingAlone: He dies after being attacked by Gozer's minions alone in his farmhouse, in a way that looks like he passed of natural causes. On the less depressing side of things, he at least gets to reconcile with his family and friends as a spirit before passing on to the next world. |
| 224 | * EndearinglyDorky: How could Janine resist such a handsome, shy, soft-spoken genius with NoSocialSkills? |
| 225 | * FakeShemp: Creator/BobGunton portrays Egon in the cold open of ''Afterlife'' under heavy makeup and with his face heavily shadowed and never in focus; after this, Egon spends most of the movie as an invisible ghost. He finally appears onscreen during the climax, [[DigitalHeadSwap with CGI used to recreate his face]], but never speaks. |
| 226 | * ForScience: 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. Wanting to conduct a gynecological examination on Dana while investigating the baby carriage incident. Then there was that [[NoodleIncident drill thing]]... |
| 227 | -->"That would've worked if you hadn't stopped me!" |
| 228 | * FreudianTrio: Superego |
| 229 | * FriendlyGhost: One of the few the Ghostbusters encounter. After his death, Egon continues to remain in the living plane to ensure Gozer's defeat. Initially appearing as a Class 1 entity, he slowly repairs the relationship with his family and by the end of the film, he is able to fully manifest as a Class 4 ghost to help his friends and family to defeat Gozer once and for all. |
| 230 | * GadgeteerGenius: He makes all of the equipment the Ghostbusters use. In fact, he works on so many gadgets, the other characters [[LampshadeHanging 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. |
| 231 | * GeniusSweetTooth: Describes UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity's telekinetic energy in terms of Twinkies, using his own as a visual aid. Accepts a Nestle Crunch bar as a reward. When Phoebe discovers his original Ghostbuster jumpsuit 32 years later, she finds a half-eaten Crunch bar in one of the pockets. |
| 232 | * TheHermit: In the thirty two years in between the second movie and ''Afterlife'', Egon moved to Summerville and lived in a farmhouse. He was treated as a pariah by the townsfolk because of his eccentric behavior, and was given the nickname "Dirt Farmer" because he didn't grow anything despite constantly digging. |
| 233 | * HeroicComedicSociopath: He seems rather detached from other people's feelings, and occasionally misleads or disturbs others for his own strange scientific goals, but his ultimate goal is for the common good. |
| 234 | * KilledOffForReal: Dies in the opening of ''Afterlife'' trying to stop Gozer's return. His ghost sticks around to help his grandkids finish the job. |
| 235 | * MadScientist: Close to a TropeCodifier, but a heroic version (though he still can get a bit disturbing). Egon is primarily a theoretician and field strategist who mainly wants to study the things which the Ghostbusters encounter, rather than destroy them. He also deals in morally questionable sociological experiments when not working with the Ghostbusters, at one point attempted to drill a hole into his own skull supposedly to increase his intelligence, and has a fascination with the horrifically evil work of Ivo Shandor from a pure intellectual standpoint. |
| 236 | * MarriedToTheJob: Egon ultimately prioritizes protecting the world and his daughter from Gozer's return over his marriage, resulting in Callie resenting him for abandoning her and her (unnamed) mother. |
| 237 | * MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: He seems to be mildly sociopathic, as he routinely puts people in unpleasant situations [[ForScience for scientific purposes]] and shamelessly lies and jerks people around just to see what kind of reaction he gets. The best example of this is in the beginning of the sequel when he tests the effect of human emotion on the environment by ruining a couple's marriage and giving a little girl a puppy only to take it away again. Despite this ambiguity, Egon hasn't purposefully harmed anyone that the audience knows of, and does appear to care about others in some fashion or another. |
| 238 | * NerdsAreSexy: At least, Janine, Kylie, and his college students think so. He's not entirely happy about it. |
| 239 | -->"I think [my students are] more interested in my epididymis." |
| 240 | * NightmareFuelStationAttendant: |
| 241 | ** He is already shown to be a bit odd, but nothing too serious, and can be frank about otherwise horrifying information like the possibility of the world being destroyed. The whole "I collect molds, spores and fungus" thing is 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. |
| 242 | ** In ''Afterlife'', Egon spent decades preparing for Gozer's arrival but since no one believed him, it strained his relationship with his old teammates and his eccentric behavior labeled him mad by the people of Summerville, who kept their distance from him. |
| 243 | * NiceGuy: Although he's a mad scientist, whose methods are questionable, Spengler has a soft side only seen by his friends and Janine. Additionally, while it's subtle, he clearly does care about people, just not in the standard fashion; his daughter and grandkids are proof positive. |
| 244 | * NoodleIncident: Egon tried to drill a hole in his head at some point hoping to increase his intelligence further. All we know is Peter stopped him before he could do it. |
| 245 | * NotTooDeadToSaveTheDay: In the climax of ''Afterlife'', both generations of Ghostbusters are losing the fight against Gozer and just when his granddaughter is about to lose a BeamOWar with the evil god, Egon is able to manifest as a Class 4 entity to help his friends and family even the odds. |
| 246 | * NotSoStoic: |
| 247 | ** The scene where he flips out when Peck accuses the Ghostbusters of causing a massive explosion that Peck himself caused. |
| 248 | --->"[[YourMom YOUR MOTHER]]!" |
| 249 | ** 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. He also angrily tears up a sign prohibiting the Ghostbusters from entering the hotel at the beginning of the level. His uncharacteristic edginess may be explained by to his own in-game notes: Egon admits he has arachnophobia. |
| 250 | ** His reaction to getting snarked at by a serious {{Jerkass}} in the IDW comic is a scream and an attempt to ''throttle him''! Another comic has him fighting a ghost woman, ending with him standing over her and ''growling''. He has to be calmed down by the others and doesn't even recognize them at first. |
| 251 | ** Egon seems to have something of a hot temper in general, and when he's agitated, his first response seems to be to ''go directly for the throat''. BewareTheNiceOnes indeed! |
| 252 | * ObliviousToLove: How the animated series and IDW comics interpret his relationship with Janine. |
| 253 | * PapaWolf: Not even death can stop Egon from coming back from the dead to help his granddaughter destroy Gozer for good. |
| 254 | * ThePeepingTom: The Richard Mueller novelization says that as a teenager, Egon would spy on his friends having sex then managed to devise a way of predicting who would catch [=STD=]s and posted the results on the school notice board. |
| 255 | * PoorCommunicationKills: In ''Afterlife'', after he discovered that Gozer was going to return, he took off for Summerville with all of the team's equipment without telling Ray where he was going. When he finally reached out to him ten years later to explain himself and get his help, Ray didn't want to hear it and refused. |
| 256 | * RebuiltPedestal: Ray comes to regret all the resentment he had towards Egon upon realizing he didn't go crazy, and his actions helped save the world from Gozer once more. |
| 257 | * RetiredBadass: In ''Afterlife'', the prologue opens with him catching Vinz Clortho (the same spirit / Terror-Dog that possessed Louis Tully in the original film) at the Shandor Mine, transporting him back to the farmhouse (while being pursued by Zuul) and attempting to utilize the farm's defenses before hiding the trap to keep Vinz sealed. While Zuul eventually catches (and kills) him, it's clear that he gave everything he got, and then some, before going down. |
| 258 | * SerkisFolk: Egon during the final battle in ''Afterlife'' was portrayed on-set by Creator/BobGunton and Creator/IvanReitman, [[DigitalHeadSwap with Harold Ramis's face added later]]. |
| 259 | * ShoutOut: Named for Egon Kisch (a famous Czechoslovakian journalist who, among other things, helped popularize the Golem of Prague and claimed to be descended from its creator, Rabbi Loew) and [[UsefulNotes/DichterAndDenker German philosopher]] [[Literature/TheDeclineOfTheWest Oswald Spengler]]. Sources conflict a bit, as "Egon" might not come from Egon Kisch, but from a classmate of Harold Ramis's in high school named Egon Donsbach, who was a refugee from UsefulNotes/{{Hungary}}. |
| 260 | * SilentSnarker: In ''Afterlife'', after Phoebe wonders how he was able to build the proton pack in the first place, Egon's spirit quickly manipulates a lamp to illuminate a wall covered with all of his collegiate degrees. This is justified since he's a poltergeist at this point and can't actually talk. |
| 261 | * TheSmartGuy: While Ray is also intelligent, Egon is TheStrategist of the group and has a noticeably stronger grasp of the raw physics behind what they do. Case in point Ray was elated that they vaporized an extra-dimensional god entity right up until Egon pointed out that they hadn't strictly speaking banished it and were now in potentially much greater danger. |
| 262 | * SpecsOfAwesome: He's the biggest nerd in an 80s sci-fi film -- what did you expect? |
| 263 | * SpiritAdvisor: Is killed in the prologue of ''Afterlife'' by Gozer's minions. His ghost sticks around to guide his granddaughter to his lab and tools and eventually manifests in the final battle to aid her and the other OG Ghostbusters in stopping Gozer once and for all. |
| 264 | * TheSpock: Pure intellect -- they didn't dub him "The Head" for nothing. Even when reacting with abject terror, his response is to state his own inability to form rational thoughts due to fear rather than scream or panic. |
| 265 | * TheStoic: Any disquiet he shows is usually contained by an unflappable sobriety. When he, Ray and Winston are drenched in negatively charged Mood Slime, Egon realizes [[BrainwashedAndCrazy what's happening]], and urges them to take off their slimed overalls; although this may be at least partly because the other two emerged from the Slime first -- in the novelization, Egon attempts to join in the emerging fray. |
| 266 | * SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: Is killed in the opening scene of ''Afterlife'' by either Zuul or Vinz Clortho, then goes on to be the unseen SpiritAdvisor for Phoebe and Trevor throughout the film before reappearing in ghost form in the film's climax to help put down Gozer for good beside his old teammates. |
| 267 | * TakeUpMySword: Following his death, he guides his granddaughter into discovering what he has been doing over the last few decades. Taking interest in his work and wanting to know more of Egon, Phoebe follows his footsteps and assembles a new generation of Ghostbusters to complete her grandfather's work. |
| 268 | * ThatMakesMeFeelAngry: In the first film's climax, Egon drops the following gem while his tone of voice is only slightly more emotional than normal: |
| 269 | -->"I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought!" |
| 270 | * TheVoiceless: Though Harold Ramis' likeness is digitally used on a body double, Egon has no lines outside of archive footage throughout ''Afterlife'', even when he is still alive in the beginning. He rectifies this by communicating with his family via the use of chess pieces, his P.K.E. Meter, and moving the lights around in his house. |
| 271 | * WhenHeSmiles: Sometimes when he does smile it comes across as [[TheUnsmile ominous or threatening]]. However, when he does it for genuine reasons it's nice to see, such as when he's assuring Dana that he won't use anything to hurt Oscar during a routine check-up or silently telling his grandchildren "good job" for going up against Gozer. |
| 272 | [[/folder]] |
| 273 | |
| 274 | [[folder:Winston]] |
| 275 | !!Winston Zeddemore |
| 276 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/winstonzeddemore.jpg]] |
| 277 | [[caption-width-right:300:''"We had the tools, we had the talent!"'']] |
| 278 | %%[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]] |
| 279 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/ErnieHudson |
| 280 | !!!'''Dubbed by:''' Creator/MedHondo[[note]]first two movies[[/note]], Serge Faliu[[note]]''Afterlife''[[/note]], (European French) | Emilio Guerrero[[note]]In the original TV dub and the DVD dub[[/note]], Octavio Rojas[[note]]In Sony's redub for streaming services[[/note]] (Latin American Spanish) |
| 281 | !!!'''Appears in:''' ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}'' | ''Film/GhostbustersII'' | ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'' | ''Film/GhostbustersFrozenEmpire'' |
| 282 | |
| 283 | ->''"If there's a steady paycheck in it, I'll believe anything you say."'' |
| 284 | |
| 285 | The "normal one" of the Ghostbusters, Winston joined when he saw an advertisement in the newspaper looking for a fourth member. The most down-to-earth member of the team, originally joined for the money, but is still a loyal and heroic member of the team. |
| 286 | ---- |
| 287 | * ActionDad: Winston had kids at some point during the interim between ''Ghostbusters II'' and ''Afterlife''. He's still not afraid to strap on a Proton Pack when the situation calls for it. |
| 288 | * AdaptedOut: Is weirdly absent from the [[VideoGame/Ghostbusters1990 1990 video game]]. |
| 289 | * AffectionateNickname: Ray calls him "Zed". |
| 290 | * AllThereInTheManual: The entirety of Winston's backstory is relegated to secondary works, and he receives little characterization in the first two films. |
| 291 | * AnonymousBenefactor: ''Afterlife's'' second {{Stinger}} reveals that he is the one who keeps paying the rent for Ray's Occult Bookstore, jokingly saying to Janine that "it's bound to turn in a profit someday". He also bought back the original Ghostbusters Firehouse HQ, and is planning to restore the (really beat-up) ECTO-1, in its original state. This results in him being TheTeamBenefactor in ''VideoGame/GhostbustersSpiritsUnleashed'', which is set after the movie and features players as a new team under his purview. |
| 292 | * AudienceSurrogate: Lends a dryly lay perspective to the unorthodox academia of the first three 'Busters. |
| 293 | * BasementDweller: The Richard Mueller novelization says he lives at home and applied to the Ghostbusters because his mother kept hen-pecking him to look for a job. |
| 294 | * BigGood: Winston becomes the financial backer of the Ghostbusters organization as a whole due to his newfound wealth in the finance industry, and ''Frozen Empire'' highlights him expanding the scope of supernatural research and protecting his friends and families of his friends from an unfriendly mayor. With Peter retired and Ray being more focused on lore and artifacts, it falls to Winston to ensure that the Ghostbusters don't go under like it did in the past. |
| 295 | * TheBigGuy: A former marine who provides the muscle and firepower in a team otherwise composed of scientists. |
| 296 | * CulturedBadass: He is shown to be a fan of opera and seems to be the most civil-minded of the Ghostbusters. When he does earn his doctorate (in the video game), it appears to be in either History or Egyptology. |
| 297 | * DeadpanSnarker: Must be a job requirement. |
| 298 | * FamilyMan: He briefly mentions in ''Afterlife'' that he has kids, though whether he's also married remains unclear. |
| 299 | * GeniusBruiser: He is a very competent member of the Ghostbusters team. In the video game, while the others are chasing after the Grey Lady, he is looking through the newspaper archives for info on her, though he pretends he's 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. This evidently extends to his post-Busting years, as the second stinger to ''Afterlife'' reveals him to be a very skilled businessman who made it big and even [[UndyingLoyalty helps keep Ray's bookshop afloat.]] |
| 300 | * HiredOnTheSpot: He's immediately hired after being introduced to Peter and Ray due to their sudden increased work load. |
| 301 | * ImprobableAimingSkills: Well, that might be pushing it, but Winston is far and away the best shot with a Neutrona Wand. |
| 302 | * InconsistentSpelling: Is it "Zeddmore" or "Zeddemore"? Both of the movies and the game spell it Zeddemore, leading people to believe ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'', which used "Zeddmore," misspelled Winston's surname. |
| 303 | * OnlyInItForTheMoney: His original reason for joining in the first place. |
| 304 | -->'''Winston:''' If there's a steady paycheck in it, I'll believe anything you say. |
| 305 | * OnlySaneMan: Compared with his colleagues, the quirky paranormal scientists, he has more common sense. |
| 306 | * PreAssKickingOneLiner: In ''Afterlife'': "Let's ''toast'' this muffin!" |
| 307 | * PunchClockHero: Took up ghostbusting purely to get a steady paycheck. |
| 308 | * RankUp: Goes from the newbie of the team in the original ''Ghostbusters'' to the BigGood managing the company by the time of ''Frozen Empire''. |
| 309 | * RealMenLoveJesus: Or, in his case, Jesus' style. |
| 310 | * SemperFi: A former marine, he has a bit more physical aptitude for the job than the other three 'Busters with their GeekPhysiques, and has a mind for readiness. He's also the best shot with the proton pack's Neutrona Wand emitter and is insistent on full equipment a few times in ''Ghostbusters II''. He's the only one who wears his proton pack into the museum on the surprise inspection, and also insists (to no avail) to go back for the proton packs when they delve into the subways. He's also the most likely one to be in uniform in the sequel after they are back in business, even at the station. Once a marine, always a marine... |
| 311 | * SixthRanger: Doesn't appear until the second half of the first movie, which explains why he tends to be left off some promotional materials for the movie, especially during its theatrical release. |
| 312 | * SkepticismFailure: He notes that he didn't believe in the supernatural when he joined the Ghostbusters. That doesn't last long, of course, as he famously explains to Mayor Clotch's office staff. |
| 313 | -->'''Winston:''' Look, I've only been with the company for a couple of weeks. But I gotta tell you, these things are real. Since I joined these men, I've seen shit that'll turn you ''white!'' |
| 314 | * TokenMinority: The team's resident black guy. |
| 315 | * TokenReligiousTeammate: The only explicitly religious member of the team. |
| 316 | * UndyingLoyalty: The way he says it in ''Afterlife's'' second {{Stinger}} "he is a Ghostbuster first and a businessman second". After the original team disbanded and he made it big in business, he kept looking out for his former teammates. |
| 317 | * UnfazedEveryman: He takes the whole Ghostbusting business very well and he seems to be the most normal out of all of its members. No major idiosyncrasies to make him quirky or anything; he is just a normal guy with a job as a spectral exterminator. Perhaps, ironically, the lack of any major defining quirks among a group as odd as the Ghostbusters ''is'' his quirk. |
| 318 | * WealthyEverAfter: ''Afterlife'' reveals that after he and Peter left the team, Winston got into the finance industry and made a fortune for himself. |
| 319 | [[/folder]] |
| 320 | |
| 321 | [[folder:Janine]] |
| 322 | !!Janine Melnitz |
| 323 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/janinegb.png]] |
| 324 | [[caption-width-right:300:As she appears in the original two films]] |
| 325 | [[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/janine_melnitz_afterlife.jpg[[/labelnote]] to see her as she appears in ''Afterlife'']] |
| 326 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/AnniePotts |
| 327 | !!!'''Dubbed by:''' Creator/MaikDarah (European French) |
| 328 | !!!'''Appears in:''' ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}'' | ''Film/GhostbustersII'' | ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'' | ''Film/GhostbustersFrozenEmpire'' |
| 329 | |
| 330 | ->''"I've quit better jobs than this!"'' *answers phone* ''"Ghostbusters, whaddya want!?"'' |
| 331 | |
| 332 | The Ghostbusters' secretary/receptionist, Janine is incredibly sarcastic but very loyal to the Ghostbusters, and often entrust her with keeping everything running that they are too busy to handle. In most continuities she acts as SixthRanger for the Ghostbusters whenever they need extra muscle or a replacement. |
| 333 | ---- |
| 334 | * AllLoveIsUnrequited: Has a crush on Egon, who is just not interested in a relationship, unless you count a deleted scene in ''Afterlife'' canon, then it turns bittersweet. |
| 335 | * AllWomenAreLustful: She is quite forward with both Egon and Louis, and is the one to make the first move when the latter is clearly too shy to do so. |
| 336 | * AmbiguouslyJewish: Like Egon, she has a very Jewish-sounding name, but her ethnicity is never mentioned. |
| 337 | * AmbiguousSituation: In ''Afterlife'', she's deliberately vague when describing her relationship with Egon to his estranged daughter. And in TheStinger, it's again not clear if she's just visiting Winston for a chat, or if they have some more formal relationship. |
| 338 | * BadBadActing: As seen when she and Louis are roped into acting in a cheap TV commercial for the company. |
| 339 | --> "''Who'' are you going to call?" |
| 340 | * BeleagueredAssistant: Poor Janine -- she's 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 stresses she has to deal with, not to mention the babysitting she has to do for three nutcase {{Mad Scientist}}s before Winston added a bit more sanity. |
| 341 | * {{Bookworm}}: She says that she reads a lot, and her first appearance has her reading a magazine at her desk. |
| 342 | * CloudcuckoolandersMinder: Was this for Egon prior to ''Afterlife'', making sure his bills were paid because he only focused on stopping Gozer. |
| 343 | * DeadpanSnarker: Easily the biggest snarker in the series next to Venkman. For example, in response to a policeman arriving at the door: |
| 344 | --> "Dropping off or picking up?" |
| 345 | * TheFace: 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. |
| 346 | * FieryRedhead: Has red hair and is quite the DeadpanSnarker. In the second movie, she has a makeover to look more like her cartoon counterpart. |
| 347 | * KickedUpstairs: In the IDW comics, after a fashion. Peck offers Janine the role of liaison for the Paranormal Contract Oversight Commission, specifically citing her role as TeamMom (the Ghostbusters respect her authority already) and SassySecretary (Peck knows she won't take flak from either the Ghostbuster or the P.C.O.C. and will be vocal about it). Janine accepts. |
| 348 | * OnlySaneWoman: Until Winston shows up. After that, they trade off on the "babysitting the mad scientists" duty. |
| 349 | * PairTheSpares: She hooks up with Louis in the second film, or at least makes out with him. |
| 350 | * RankUp: In ''Frozen Empire'', while she maintains her old job as the Firehouse's secretary, she is also shown assisting Winston in more integral matters of the Ghostbusters organization and being privy to things that even the current roster of Busters aren't, which makes sense given her loyalty and seniority to the company. |
| 351 | * SarcasticDevotee: Despite her very sarcastic interaction with her bosses, she remains their loyal secretary. |
| 352 | * SassySecretary: She's very vocal about any grievances with the job and is incredibly dry and sarcastic in tone. |
| 353 | -->[on a call to a customer] "Well they couldn't get to you until after the New Year....Well just don't go in there!" *slams phone down* |
| 354 | * SitcomArchNemesis: She's mostly contemptuous of Venkman. Her first scene has him ineffectually attempting to make conversation while she fires back with short, disinterested responses and a DeathGlare. |
| 355 | * TeamMom: Especially in the comics continuity when she keeps on eye on how everyone is doing emotionally, and when the Ghostbusters go missing, runs the entire organization. |
| 356 | * TookALevelInBadass: |
| 357 | ** The comics and animated series show that she is proficient enough with a proton pack and a trap to blast ghosts if she has to. She takes another one in the comics, taking over as liaison for the P.C.O.C. at the end of the ''Crossing Over'' event. |
| 358 | ** Finally comes to fruition in live action when she gears up with the other Busters for the battle against Garraka in ''Frozen Empire''. |
| 359 | * UnfazedEveryman: She is surrounded by men who hunt ghosts, half of whom are [[MadScientist mad scientists]]. Not once has she ever batted an eye at any of this. |
| 360 | * UnusuallyUninterestingSight: She seems to take the ghostbusting business pretty well, never showing any signs of it being out of the ordinary. |
| 361 | [[/folder]] |
| 362 | |
| 363 | [[folder:Louis]] |
| 364 | !!Louis Tully |
| 365 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/louistully.jpg]] |
| 366 | %%[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]] |
| 367 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/RickMoranis |
| 368 | !!!'''Dubbed by:''' Marc François (European French) |
| 369 | !!!'''Appears in:''' ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}'' | ''Film/GhostbustersII'' |
| 370 | |
| 371 | ->''"Who does your taxes?"'' |
| 372 | |
| 373 | An accountant and Dana Barrett's neighbor who gets possessed by Vinz Clortho in the first film. In ''Ghostbusters II'', he is forced to be the defense for Ghostbusters at their trial, then gets to be a temporary Ghostbuster. |
| 374 | ---- |
| 375 | * ButtMonkey: Especially in the first movie. He's all but ignored by Dana, has his apartment trashed by the Terror-Dog form of Vinz Clortho, suffers the indignity of being possessed by said demon in front of a restaurant with open windows (whose patrons do not care at all), gets turned into a Terror-Dog himself, and by the end, ends up mostly ignored and treated as a random victim by the paramedics while the rest of the team are greeted to cheers from the crowd. |
| 376 | * ClosestThingWeGot: He specifically warns the main quartet that he doesn't know criminal law when they're arrested for digging up 6th Avenue. Sure enough, he botches the defense and the judge rules against them. It's only the timely appearance of ghosts (thereby proving to the disbelieving judge [[CassandraTruth that ghosts are real]]) that get the Ghostbusters off the hook. To his credit, Tully does rise to the occasion and plays legal hardball at that moment to force the judge to rescind the restraining order. |
| 377 | * DemonicPossession: His defence statement when defending the guys in court? [[CallBack He was once turned into a dog and the Busters helped him]]. |
| 378 | * {{Determinator}}: Louis may not be as tough as many of the characters, but he managed to outrun a terror dog before it cornered him. To add bonus points, he survived jumping over a wall near the Tavern on the Green, without any injury. Creator/JamesRolfe pointed out, during a tour of the Ghostbusters locations, that said wall would risk breaking your legs due to its long drop. |
| 379 | * DoggedNiceGuy: To Dana, who views him as a vaguely harmless bother, and later Janine. The first film's novelization notes that with Dana, at least some of his attraction stems from the fact he is/was destined to be the Keymaster to her Gatekeeper. |
| 380 | * FatAndSkinny: The Skinny to Slimer's Fat. |
| 381 | * FriendToAllChildren: Louis, despite his awkwardness, is good with kids, managing to get Oscar to sleep. The second Oscar gets kidnapped, he goes to get the Ghostbusters out of the Asylum and [[TookALevelInBadass then suits up himself.]] |
| 382 | * MuggingTheMonster: A DeletedScene has a possessed Tully being confronted by a gang in the park and scaring them off with a roar. |
| 383 | * NerdGlasses: Of the thick, clunky, and unflattering type. |
| 384 | * NonActionGuy: At first. He picks up a proton pack in the second movie. |
| 385 | * NonPoweredCostumedHero: While not being an expert fighter, he puts on the Ghostbuster uniform and does his part to help save the day in the second movie. |
| 386 | * ObliviousToLove: During a party at his apartment, an attractive, curvaceous blonde woman becomes angry that he's not giving her attention and quickly becomes giddy when he offers to dance with her. He doesn't seem to read too much into this, perhaps only having eyes for Dana. |
| 387 | * OddFriendship: Once he gets over being scared of Slimer, the pair seem to get along pretty well. |
| 388 | * PutOnABus: He doesn't appear in the 2009 video game due to Rick Moranis' semi-retirement. He still works with the Ghostbusters as their accountant and is helping them franchise, but his absence is explained as him being sick that week. He goes without even a mention in ''Afterlife'', where all of the rest of the main cast cameo at least. This absence or lack of mention continues into ''Frozen Empire''. |
| 389 | * SixthRanger: In the second movie. He acts as the Ghostbusters' lawyer and accountant, and later suits up to help the team with a Proton Pack in the finale. |
| 390 | * StalkerWithACrush: He comes off as such in the first film, apparently sitting just inside his apartment door all day long so he won't miss Dana walking down the hall. (Though, again, it may not be entirely his fault, see above under DoggedNiceGuy.) |
| 391 | * TookALevelInBadass: He does strap on ghostbusting equipment to help the team out in the second movie, but he's still far from badass... at first. When Vigo's power is weakened by the chanting crowds outside the Museum of Art, Louis blasting the psychic shell surrounding the building with his borrowed proton pack begins to work. |
| 392 | --> I'm right here with you, guys! |
| 393 | [[/folder]] |
| 394 | |
| 395 | !!New Team |
| 396 | [[folder:In General]] |
| 397 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_new_ghostbusters.jpg]] |
| 398 | One day, over thirty years after the Ghostbusters' heyday, the teen grandchildren of Egon Spengler move to Summerville, Oklahoma, which is struck by a wave of supernatural phenomena. They find the Ghostbusters' old equipment and the Ecto-1 in a farm once owned by the late Egon and, together with friends, decide to put them to use against the supernatural entities, thus becoming the new Ghostbusters. |
| 399 | ---- |
| 400 | * AffirmativeActionLegacy: |
| 401 | ** The original team consisted of four males, with Winston being the lone minority. The team in ''Afterlife'' consists of two males and two females, with one of the males (Podcast) Asian and one of the females (Lucky) Black. |
| 402 | ** Downplayed in ''Frozen Empire'': Podcast and Lucky are no longer core members of the team, which is comprised entirely of the white Spengler family plus Grooberson. However, there are still two women in the group (Phoebe and Callie). |
| 403 | * BadassFamily: At the start of ''Frozen Empire'', the new Ghostbusters are the three members of the Spengler family plus Grooberson, who has become a ParentalSubstitute for Phoebe and Trevor. |
| 404 | * CoolCar: The old Ecto-1 is put to use once again. |
| 405 | * InstantExpert: While Phoebe at least had a short practice with a Proton Pack, Lucky and Trevor on the other hand do not but quickly know how to operate one when battling Gozer. |
| 406 | * {{Kid Hero}}es: The younger members of the group range from 12 to around 17, and the oldest, Lucky, is at most a high school senior. |
| 407 | * {{Legacy Character}}s: They found the Ghostbusters' equipment and car in an old farm once owned by Egon Spengler and put them to use as they encounter new supernatural threats, this time in [[EverytownAmerica Summerville, Oklahoma]] instead of New York City. They all have personality traits similar to the original team (though not in perfectly identical bundles like the originals). |
| 408 | * SiblingTeam: Phoebe and Trevor are the first pair of siblings to pick up a proton pack. |
| 409 | * TwoGirlsToATeam: Phoebe and Lucky are the first two female members of the team in ''Afterlife''. They're later joined by Callie in ''Frozen Empire''. |
| 410 | [[/folder]] |
| 411 | |
| 412 | [[folder:Phoebe]] |
| 413 | !!Phoebe Spengler |
| 414 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/phoebe_87.png]] |
| 415 | [[caption-width-right:300:''"My grandfather died. My mom says we're just here to pick through the rubble of his life."'']] |
| 416 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/MckennaGrace |
| 417 | %%!!!'''Dubbed by:''' |
| 418 | !!!'''Appears in:''' ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'' | ''Film/GhostbustersFrozenEmpire'' |
| 419 | |
| 420 | The granddaughter of Egon Spengler. |
| 421 | ---- |
| 422 | * AffectionateNickname: Her family often calls her "Pheebs". |
| 423 | * AmbiguouslyGay: While Podcast obviously has something of a crush on her she doesn't reciprocate at all (though whether this is due to IncompatibleOrientation or her just generally being awkward is unclear) - and in the sequel Melody and Phoebe share lots of [[HoYay intimate and tender moments]] but they never officially state their relationship. |
| 424 | * AnAstralProjectionNotAGhost: When Phoebe uses the de-possession machine to remove her soul from her body in order to better interact with Melody, it is made clear that she is still very much alive and still linked to her body as she states beforehand that her soul would return in 2 minutes after separation, and her body's lips move with her spirit's when she gets possessed by Garraka. |
| 425 | * BadassAdorable: She's charmingly sweet-looking, with cute QuirkyCurls and huge blue eyes, but her powerful scientific mind belies her tender 12 years. |
| 426 | * BadBadActing: The first act establishes that Phoebe has a stable of corny jokes she trots out in an attempt to impress her family -- to little response (Trevor even recommends against it). She does the same to Gozer the Gozerian in the third act, using her corny jokes to distract the entity long enough for Podcast to get the RTV in place to release her mother from the Terror-Dog. |
| 427 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: Usually she is very calm and reasonable, but when Sheriff Domingo insults her grandfather, she grabs the Neutrona Wand and tries to threaten him with it. |
| 428 | * BrilliantButLazy: She's a genius with a keen scientific mind, but regular schooling bores her which is why she has to attend summer school. |
| 429 | * CannotTellAJoke: While her jokes aren't that bad, the only one who seems to find them genuinely funny is Podcast. |
| 430 | * ChildProdigy: Phoebe is described as "science-obsessed". She is able to quickly learn how the P.K.E. Meter and the Proton Pack work. |
| 431 | * DisappearedDad: She and Trevor were raised by their single mother, Callie. Apparently their father wasn't able to make a connection to Phoebe, which led to him eventually leaving. Gary calls him a royal scumbag for that, though Callie insists [[DistinctionWithoutADifference he was just a run-of-the-mill scumbag]]. |
| 432 | * DoItYourselfThemeTune: The end credits song "Haunted House" is sung by her actress. |
| 433 | * GadgeteerGenius: She's [[EstablishingCharacterMoment introduced]] rewiring her family's apartment to better leech off their neighbor. On Egon's farm, she quickly figures out what's wrong with a proton pack and gets it back into working order with a little paranormal assistance. |
| 434 | * GenerationXerox: She's essentially an adolescent female version of Egon: same dark curly hair, same kind of glasses, same quirky emotionally subdued demeanor, same inquiring mindset, same interest in science. Egon's spirit even bonds with her by showing her his lab and how to fix some of the old Ghostbusters equipment. She has also inherited Egon's suddenly explosive temper as shown by her reaction to the Ecto-1 getting impounded, their gear getting confiscated, and the sheriff insulting her grandfather. It's exemplified in the scene where she finds all the old equipment in Egon's hidden lab; she finds the old jumpsuit uniforms and pulls out glasses stuffed in the pocket of Egon's uniform, compares them with her own glasses... and finds that the frame styles are identical. |
| 435 | * HatesBeingTouched: Downplayed. She gets startled and doesn't like it when Callie or Podcast hug her. [[CoolBigBro Trevor]] seems to give her high fives instead of hugs as well. |
| 436 | * InTheBlood: Phoebe has a confirmed operational Proton Pack strapped to her back. Podcast has a satchel with an empty Ghost Trap in it. She sees a ghost roving about in the refinery ruins. What's the first notion she has? ''Try to catch it''. She's Egon's granddaughter through and through. |
| 437 | * LittleMissBadass: She's only twelve, but takes to active duty as a Ghostbuster as well as her grandfather did, even facing down an evil Sumerian god. Notably, she's the youngest character to ever hold a proton pack, and it's nearly as big as she is! |
| 438 | * NerdGlasses: She wears glasses very similar to her grandfather's. |
| 439 | * NervesOfSteel: Hanging out the side of a moving car while her brother DrivesLikeCrazy, firing a proton pack at a fleeing ghost? Staring down ''freaking Gozer'' and distracting them with the jokes you can find on bubble gum wrappers even ''knowing'' that this entity killed her grandpa? Yeah. She even says excitement makes her ''calmer''. |
| 440 | * NiceGirl: She may be slightly awkward, but she easily hits it off with Podcast and Mr. Grooberson thanks to her amiable personality. |
| 441 | * QuirkyCurls: She has short curly hair. |
| 442 | * SkewedPriorities: When Garraka attacks the fire house, Phoebe is more focused on talking to Melody then helping to fight him off. |
| 443 | * SmallGirlBigGun: A preteen girl with a Proton Pack. |
| 444 | * StrongerThanTheyLook: For a 12-year-old girl with a scrawny build, Phoebe is able to carry a Proton Pack with ease.[[note]]The props for the Proton Pack are about 35 pounds (16 kg), and would weigh more in-universe.[[/note]] |
| 445 | * StrongFamilyResemblance: Her glasses and curly hair give her a strong resemblance to her grandfather. |
| 446 | * ThatMakesMeFeelAngry: When Podcast pushes her on how she feels at the prospect of her mother and Grooberson getting it on, she says she's vomiting inside while not reacting outwardly. Evidently one of many things she inherited from her grandfather. |
| 447 | * TookALevelInJerkass: Due to being benched from Ghostbusting until she's 18, Phoebe becomes considerably more biting towards everyone around her, notably insulting Meldoy's name and repeatedly insisting her mother doesn't deserve to be a Ghostbuster. |
| 448 | * UnfazedEveryman: Another trait she inherited from Egon. Most children her age would very likely scream if they see a ghost. Phoebe on the other hand is not even spooked by the fact that there is a ghost playing chess with her, before even knowing it was her grandfather. |
| 449 | * YoungerThanTheyLook: Due to her serious demeanor, it's easy to forget that she's ''twelve''. |
| 450 | * YoungAndInCharge: She appears to be the de facto leader of the new Ghostbusters team, despite being only 12 years old and the presence of two older members. This is because she is the first to learn of her grandfather's exploits and the only one to understand how most of the equipment works. |
| 451 | [[/folder]] |
| 452 | |
| 453 | [[folder:Trevor]] |
| 454 | !!Trevor Spengler |
| 455 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/trevor_spengler.jpg]] |
| 456 | [[caption-width-right:300:''"We're completely broke and the only thing that's left in our name is this creepy old farmhouse our grandfather left us in the middle of nowhere."'']] |
| 457 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/FinnWolfhard |
| 458 | %%!!!'''Dubbed by:''' |
| 459 | !!!'''Appears in:''' ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'' | ''Film/GhostbustersFrozenEmpire'' |
| 460 | |
| 461 | The grandson of Egon Spengler. |
| 462 | ---- |
| 463 | * AwesomenessByAnalysis: In the climax, once he gets his proton pack repaired, he realizes that there's already four people with Proton Packs holding Gozer down and that what the group really needs is a way to power the Trap field. Thus, he fires his beam at the transformers that failed the first time to energize them, and the traps are finally powered up. |
| 464 | * BigBrotherInstinct: He's fiercely protective of Phoebe, and quite literally uses himself as a shield to protect her from the death pit. |
| 465 | * BookDumb: While Trevor is far from unintelligent, he's not as academically inclined as his sister, so she has to bring him up to speed on the subjects like how to read a seismic map. |
| 466 | * CoolBigBro: He makes legitimate efforts to help Phoebe socialize better and [[BigBrotherInstinct will always step in to save her from any danger.]] He also more aware that she [[HatesBeingTouched doesn't like hugs]] and gives her high fives instead. |
| 467 | * DeadpanSnarker: He's essentially the new generation's Peter, as he's always making sarcastic quips and has an eye for the ladies. |
| 468 | -->'''Trevor:''' Hey, remember that one summer when we died under a table? |
| 469 | * DisappearedDad: He and Phoebe were raised by their single mother. |
| 470 | * DrivesLikeCrazy: He did fail his driver's test three times, and it shows when he gets Ecto-1 in a high-speed chase. |
| 471 | * GenerationXerox: While not to the same extent as his sister, it's clear that Trevor has inherited Egon's knack for mechanics and engineering, as he frequently makes repairs to the family's car and is able to tinker with the Ecto-1 enough to get it running. He also inherits Peter's habit of snarking about ''everything'' and issues with Slimer. |
| 472 | * HiddenDepths: During the final battle, when Gozer has already been held down by four Proton Packs, Trevor, in a moment of ingenuity, fires his beam at the transformers to activate the ghost traps beneath the farm, showing that while he is not as smart as his sister, Trevor does inherit his grandfather's intelligence. He is also able to bring the Ecto-1 back into service despite only being 15 years old. |
| 473 | * LoveAtFirstSight: He's smitten with Lucky the moment he sees her at the drive-in, applying for a job there on the spot. |
| 474 | * MrFixit: Upon seeing the derelict Ecto-1 in Egon's barn, Trevor uses the free time he has to fix it and manages to get it up and running again with a little help from his grandfather's spirit. |
| 475 | * ReallySeventeenYearsOld: Trevor's appearance and ability to drive indicate he is an older teen, and he tells Lucky that he is 17. This turns out to be a lie as his sister reveals that he is actually 15. |
| 476 | * SayMyName: He shouts Phoebe's name a few times before grabbing her away from the death pit. |
| 477 | * StrongFamilyResemblance: Shares his sister's dark curly hair, again making him resemble his grandfather. |
| 478 | * YoungerThanTheyLook: Downplayed but because of his appearance, and that he has failed his driver's test three times, he can actually pass for an older teen. It turns out he lied about his age and that he is actually 15. |
| 479 | [[/folder]] |
| 480 | |
| 481 | [[folder:Podcast]] |
| 482 | !!Podcast |
| 483 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ghostbusters_afterlife_podcast.jpg]] |
| 484 | !!!'''Played by:''' Logan Kim |
| 485 | !!!'''Appears in:''' ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'' | ''Film/GhostbustersFrozenEmpire'' |
| 486 | |
| 487 | A kid in Summerville around Phoebe's age who befriends her and has his own podcast that covers supernatural phenomena. |
| 488 | ---- |
| 489 | * ActuallyPrettyFunny: He is the only one that finds Phoebe's jokes genuinely funny. |
| 490 | * AscendedFanboy: |
| 491 | ** He is super excited when he finds out that Phoebe's grandfather is a Ghostbuster and eagerly helps her out test the repaired proton pack and joins her to finish what Egon started. |
| 492 | ** ''Frozen Empire'' has him interning at Ray's bookshop for the summer (while telling his parents he's at space camp). |
| 493 | * BewareTheSillyOnes: Is the one who provides a good amount of the humor for the movie but when he has to deal with the mini Stay-Pufts, he gleefully starts tasering them to drive them off, and ends up getting covered in marshmallow goo. |
| 494 | * ChekhovsGun: Subverted because he tries to use the Aztec Death Whistle he got earlier against Muncher, but just gets him angry. |
| 495 | * ConspiracyTheorist: It's one of the topics of his podcast, next to supernatural events and restaurant reviews. |
| 496 | * FailedASpotCheck: He is a podcaster on the supernatural yet didn't know who the Ghostbusters were. Gary calls him out on that. |
| 497 | * GenerationXerox: Acts as Ray's counterpart, being just as interested in the supernatural as Ray, while also running something related to the supernatural. Hilariously, the ''one'' persistent subscriber to his podcast '''''is''''' Ray. |
| 498 | * GrowingTheBeard: It's said InUniverse that Podcast's podcast doesn't get good until episode 46. |
| 499 | * TheKnightsWhoSaySquee: He's a Ghostbusters, supernatural, and conspiracy theory geek with his very own podcast about it. Needless to say, he's over the moon when he meets his one subscriber who just so happens to be a Ghostbuster. |
| 500 | * OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: He introduces himself to Phoebe with his moniker and never reveals what his birth name is. We still don't know by the time of ''Frozen Empire''. |
| 501 | * RealMenWearPink: His flash drive of choice is a [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Rainbow Dash]], indicating that he's a [[FanCommunityNicknames Brony]].[[invoked]] |
| 502 | [[/folder]] |
| 503 | |
| 504 | [[folder:Lucky]] |
| 505 | !!Lucky Domingo |
| 506 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/celeste_oconnor_ghostbusters_9e0c853.jpg]] |
| 507 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/CelesteOConnor |
| 508 | !!!'''Appears in:''' ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'' | ''Film/GhostbustersFrozenEmpire'' |
| 509 | |
| 510 | The daughter of the local Summerville sheriff and Trevor's love interest. |
| 511 | ---- |
| 512 | * AscendedExtra: While her role wasn't too minor in ''Afterlife'', she gets an expanded one in ''Frozen Empire'', now interning at Winston's Paranormal Research Center. |
| 513 | * DemonicPossession: After being exorcised from Callie, Zuul later possess Lucky during the climactic battle, turning her into a demon dog. |
| 514 | * TheGadfly: She takes great joy in teasing Nadeem about his grandmother's secret room of artifacts that she jokingly refers to as a "sex dungeon". |
| 515 | * GenerationXerox: Is the new Ghostbusters' version of Winston, being the last member to join. |
| 516 | * InstantExpert: Downplayed. She makes an admirable effort singlehandedly holding down the hobbled Gozer with a proton pack that she probably never used before, before equipment failures elsewhere leads to her going down for the count. |
| 517 | * SassyBlackWoman: She's a definite smart-aleck who enjoys teasing Trevor. |
| 518 | * SixthRanger: She is the final member of the new Ghostbusters, but only officially joins them right before the climax of ''Afterlife'' begins. |
| 519 | * TheTease: She is well aware of Trevor's crush on her and loves to tease him about it. |
| 520 | [[/folder]] |
| 521 | |
| 522 | [[folder:Callie]] |
| 523 | !!Callie Spengler |
| 524 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/callie_1.jpg]] |
| 525 | [[caption-width-right:300:''"I'm fine with Trevor, but with Phoebe, she really keeps me on the outside."'']] |
| 526 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/CarrieCoon |
| 527 | !!!'''Appears in:''' ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'' | ''Film/GhostbustersFrozenEmpire'' |
| 528 | |
| 529 | The single mother of Phoebe and Trevor. |
| 530 | ---- |
| 531 | * AlcoholicParent: It’s clear that she's lapsed into drink-dependency as a result of her current financial situation, being seen at one point passed out at the Spengler farm's kitchen table while still clutching a glass of red wine. |
| 532 | * AmbiguouslyAbsentParent: There's no mention at all of Callie's mom. |
| 533 | * AntiEducationMama: Callie dislikes scientists, because her [[DisappearedDad deadbeat father]] was one, and so she has trouble coming to terms with the fact that her teenage daughter Phoebe wants to be a scientist one day. |
| 534 | * BrokenBird: It took seeing her childhood photos in her father's basement to break Callie from her cynicism and she can barely hold back her tears. Right before Egon moves on, Callie shares a tearful hug with him, showing she's finally overcome her disdain toward him. |
| 535 | * CallingTheOldManOut: Callie has nothing but disdain toward Egon for being absent for her entire life, and whenever the topic of him is brought up she will negatively comment about him. It isn't until she finds out that Egon was keeping tabs on her and kept childhood photos of her in his lab that Callie realizes that her father indeed loves her. |
| 536 | * DeceptiveLegacy: She's come to believe that her father was crazy and did not love her. She extended this belief to her children. She is shocked to find out later that Egon had a wall full of photos chronicling her childhood and adolescence in his lab. |
| 537 | * DefrostingIceQueen: After spending the entire film being an IceQueen toward everyone including her own children, Callie becomes more cheerful upon realizing that her father indeed loved her. |
| 538 | * DemonicPossession: She gets possessed by Zuul midway through ''Afterlife'', prompting her children to step up and rescue her. |
| 539 | * DisappearedDad: Whether Egon was never in her life or left when she was young is unclear, but she grew up without him and became resentful of his absence. |
| 540 | * FantasyForbiddingMother: While Callie makes no attempt to hide her distaste for science, and allows Phoebe to pursue hobbies related to science and has no problem with Trevor's interest in automotive repairs, when Phoebe's curiosity about her grandfather's job causes her, Trevor, and Podcast to be arrested she immediately puts her foot down. |
| 541 | * FreudianExcuse: Callie suffers from abandonment issues since she was a child, from both her father and ex-husband, and because of this, is rather aloof toward both of her children. |
| 542 | * FinalFirstHug: She gets one with the spirit form of her father at the ending of ''Afterlife''. |
| 543 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Though she can be abrasive to her children and an alcoholic thanks to her abandonment issues, she proves to be a loving person, ultimately forgiving her father in his spirit form after realising everything he did was to protect his family. |
| 544 | * LikeParentUnlikeChild: She happens to be on both ends of the trope with her father (Egon) and her daughter (Phoebe), exemplified by her blond hair and her distaste for science. |
| 545 | * LockedOutOfTheLoop: She spends a majority of ''Afterlife'' not knowing of her father's role as a Ghostbuster, something both her children had already found out, likely due to her disdain toward Egon. She only finds out in the second half of the film, right before being possessed by Zuul. |
| 546 | * RememberTheNewGuy: According to Egon's notes on a note card seen at the 1:26:37 mark of ''Afterlife'', Callie celebrated her second birthday in 1984. Therefore, she was born in 1982. Which means she was born before the first two movies despite Egon mentioning no partner or children. |
| 547 | * StrugglingSingleMother: She's broke and she and her children have been evicted from their home as a result, which forces them to move into an old farm her father (Egon Spengler) owned in Oklahoma. |
| 548 | * TookALevelInBadass: She is much more of an active participant in ghost hunting in ''Frozen Empire''. |
| 549 | * TransformationOfThePossessed: When Zuul possesses her, she changes [[InstantCostumeChange Callie's clothes]] to a gold dress, then later turns her into a Terror Dog. |
| 550 | [[/folder]] |
| 551 | |
| 552 | [[folder:Grooberson]] |
| 553 | !!Mr. Gary Grooberson |
| 554 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/grooberson.jpg]] |
| 555 | [[caption-width-right:300:''"Wow! Killer replica!"'' [[note]]It's the real thing.[[/note]]]] |
| 556 | !!!'''Played by:''' Creator/PaulRudd |
| 557 | !!!'''Appears in:''' ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'' | ''Film/GhostbustersFrozenEmpire'' |
| 558 | |
| 559 | ->''"Somehow, a town that isn't anywhere near a tectonic plate, that has no fault lines, no fracking, no loud music even, is shaking on a daily basis..."'' |
| 560 | |
| 561 | The science teacher of Phoebe and Podcast. |
| 562 | ---- |
| 563 | * ActorAllusion: He retains a penchant for Baskin-Robbins ice cream -- a nod to Creator/PaulRudd's similar tastes in ''Film/AntMan1''. |
| 564 | * TheAllegedCar: Grooberson owns a Toyota Corolla that ends up losing its windshield during an experiment with a Ghost Trap. When chased by Vinz Clortho, he tries to escape in it, but he fumbles to get his keys in the ignition and its tires flatten once the Terror-Dog sits on the hood. |
| 565 | * AlliterativeName: '''G'''ary '''G'''rooberson. Lampshaded by Phoebe. |
| 566 | * ApatheticTeacher: His lessons during summer school amount to just showing the students old horror movies while he works on his research regarding the recent quakes in town. |
| 567 | * AscendedFanboy: He was a big fan of the original Ghostbusters when he was a child. ''Frozen Empire'' reveals he moved to New York with the Spenglers and became a full-fledged member of the team. |
| 568 | * BadassTeacher: Well, ''former'' teacher, but in ''Frozen Empire'' he's [[TookALevelInBadass taken a level in badass]] to become a new member of the team alongside one of his former students. |
| 569 | * BirdsOfAFeather: He takes interest in Phoebe due to her intelligence as well as their mutual love of science. |
| 570 | * ButtMonkey: He is often made fun of by people around him, for his name, for doing his job poorly, and that Callie doesn't enjoy their date. And that's before he is possessed by Vinz Clortho. |
| 571 | * DemonicPossession: He is chased down and possessed by the Terror-Dog representing Vinz Clortho, and turns into a Terror-Dog himself for the final reel of ''Afterlife''. |
| 572 | * EveryoneHasStandards: Normally a chilled guy, one of the few things that sets off his strict mode is when Phoebe was flat-out insulting her mother as seen in ''Frozen Empire''. |
| 573 | * GoodStepfather: In ''Frozen Empire''. Gary may not be Trevor and Phoebe's biological father but he loves and protects the two as if they were his own. It's a point of contention between him and Callie that he can't just be the kids' buddy, he needs to also step up and be a proper dad, complete with discipline when necessary. At the end of the film, Phoebe calls him dad, much to his delight. |
| 574 | * HiddenDepths: Fully admits that he wants to be more of a dad than a buddy to Phoebe but is afraid to get strict since he doesn't want to overstep his bounds. It's only when Callie gives him full permission that he allows himself to be strict when Phoebe insults her mother in a rather cruel manner. |
| 575 | * IdiotBall: Despite being the only person in town to know who the Ghostbusters are and realizing that the trap Phoebe brought with her contains a ghost, Grooberson deliberately opens the trap, which releases a Terror-Dog and dooms the town. |
| 576 | * MrExposition: Besides giving more context regarding the Ghostbusters' legacy and prominence in culture for Phoebe's benefit, Grooberson is also able to give her an {{Expodump}} on the history of Summerville and the nature of the quakes in and around the town. Additionally, he instantly recognizes the object Phoebe brought to school to show Podcast -- a ghost trap. |
| 577 | * NiceGuy: Grooberson quickly bonds with Phoebe due to their shared interest in science and becomes her mentor, being a better role model to her than her mother. In ''Frozen Empire'' he finds it hard to be strict with Phoebe and has to be coached into it by Callie. |
| 578 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: Grooberson opens the ghost trap Phoebe found, causing the release of a Terror-Dog, and signaling the return of Gozer. |
| 579 | * OlderThanTheyLook: Appears fairly young, but is old enough to remember the original team's heyday in the 80s. Of course, he's played by the famously "immortal" Paul Rudd. |
| 580 | * {{Permastubble}}: During the interim between ''Afterlife'' and ''Frozen Empire'', Grooberson shaves his beard down to stubble. |
| 581 | * SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: He combines Ray Stantz's child-like love of ghostbusting and Louis Tully's quirks with none of the StalkerWithACrush when it comes to romance. Like both, especially Louis, Grooberson is also possessed by Vinz Clortho. |
| 582 | * TookALevelInBadass: After being a helpless victim in ''Afterlife'', he suits up as one of the new members of the Ghostbusters in ''Frozen Empire''. |
| 583 | * YourCostumeNeedsWork: At first he assumes the ghost trap that Phoebe brings to school is a realistic replica. '''''It's not.''''' |
| 584 | [[/folder]] |
| 585 | |
| 586 | !!Others |
| 587 | |
| 588 | [[folder:Ecto-1]] |
| 589 | !!Ecto-1/The Ectomobile |
| 590 | [[quoteright:397:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ectomobile_6.png]] |
| 591 | !!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}'' | ''Film/GhostbustersII'' | ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'' | ''Film/GhostbustersFrozenEmpire'' |
| 592 | |
| 593 | The Ghostbusters' car. |
| 594 | ---- |
| 595 | * TheAllegedCar: In the first movie, when Ray purchases it he mentions that it needs ''[[{{Understatement}} a lot]]'' of work and parts to get it into a decent working condition. By the time of the second movie, it ends up breaking down completely and by ''Afterlife'' it's been stuck in a barn in the middle of Oklahoma for about 30 years. When Trevor first finds it, he has to do extensive work just to get it running again. In ''Frozen Empire'' Winston pays to have it fully restored but there's still some issues: the air conditioning doesn't work, the windows in the back don't roll down, and occasionally the power to the sirens (and presumably other systems) fails needing someone to physically mess with some wiring to get it working again. |
| 596 | * CoolCar: It doesn't get any cooler than the Ecto-1, or the Ectomobile, a modified 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor Futura Duplex the team use to get about upon being called to solve ghost problems. It's even the current page image for the trope. |
| 597 | [[/folder]] |
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