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ariel-seagull-wings · 6 months

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TOP 13 FOES OF THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS (STRACZINSKY ERA)

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They started on a shoestring. Nobody gave them a ghost of a chance to succeed. Especially since ghosts were their business…or, more accurately, chasing ghosts. Itwas like trying to trap lightning in a bottle —- nobody had ever done it. Until now. Until the arrival of the one and only...

GHOSTBUSTERS!

Who were these GHOSTBUSTERS? These four misfits who singlehandedly saved New York City from supernatural destruction? In the eyes of the world they're now frontpage celebrities, heroes who laughed (well, at least sneered) in the face of unspeakable evil and brought it tumbling down (along with half a block of Manhattan Island.) Thanks to the GHOSTBUSTERS, the public can once again go to sleep secure in the knowledge that their city is safe from demons and all is right with the world. But is it? After all, nothing is forever…and that applies to the spirit world as well as our own. Every day new calls come in to GHOSTBUSTERS H.Q., seeking their help against hauntings, possessions, curses, witchcraft, spooks, spectres, and every other off-the—wall weirdness known (and unknown) to mortal man.

This was when THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS, a syndicated and ABC-TV animated series, came out in 1986 .Based on the Columbia Pictures movie of 1984 that was a major financial and critical success, THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS took up where that original movie left off, following the continuing adventures of the four GHOSTBUSTERS, their secretary Janine, and their ghost mascot Slimer, as they chased and captured rogue spooks, specters, spirits and ghosts around New York City and various other areas of the world.

All kinds of ghosts. Big ghosts. Small ghosts. New ghosts. Old ghosts. Ghosts that used to be people. Ghosts whose origins and descriptions fall between the cracks of the nether-world: combined with the humour and carisma of the main cast of heroes, the creativity to present the different classes of spooks was the main appeal that atracted audiences, critics and helped boost a great sell of merchandise.

Wheter they were deities, personifications of abstract concepts, or spirits of dead people, the ghosts and monsters would present different challenges for the REAL GHOSTBUSTERS to overcome, going trough a lot of effort in creating solutions that combined knowledge of the supernatural with technological discoveries.

They would also be very entertaining, with their colorful designs and varied personalities, from funny, to scary, to cunning, to well intentioned or to arrogance, and today, I come up with this list highligting my top 13 favorite foes of the first 78 episodes of the show, the height of the series when J. Michael Straczinsky was the story editor.

13° Killerwatt (Killerwatt)

Killerwatt was the "grand ghoul," "the ethereal master of many," and commands an army that feeds on electricity.

Killerwatt and his army of ghosts began to feed off electricity from a power plant in Brooklyn. As a result, New York City suffered a rash of power failures. When Killerwatt's army began to travel through power lines and haunt Stacy's Department Store, Mayor Lenny hired the GHOSTBUSTERS to capture them. While disposing of the captured ghosts in the Containment Unit, Killerwatt's army struck again and forced the team to rig up a peddling apparatus to keep the Unit from suffering another catastrophic failure. Egon then traced the P.K.E. surges to the Brooklyn power plant.

After stumbling into the power plant, Killerwatt appeared to the GHOSTBUSTERS and attacked. The GHOSTBUSTERS mistakingly tried to charge Ecto-1 with its electricity blasts and caused the car to become possessed. After following Killerwatt into the plant, the GHOSTBUSTERS were separated and brought before him in the control room. He then possessed equipment in the room and transmogrified it into a giant monstrosity. Shielded by the plant's power, Killerwatt was immune to the GHOSTBUSTERS' assault. Winston deduced he was drawing power from the plant's generators and they had to shut them down. Killerwatt countered and created a wide chasm between the Ghostbusters and the main switch. Luckily, Slimer found the main plug and yanked it from the outlet. Killerwatt's host body lost power and fell to the ground. Killerwatt vacated the body and was trapped by the Ghostbusters.

Killerwatt was a leader of ghosts and as such had a major ego, laughing a lot while causing trouble for the GHOSTBUSTERS. Also, when the GHOSTBUSTERS said he'd win over their dead bodies, he responded with "Dead bodies are my specialties", indicating that he enjoyed killing mortals.

Appearing in the second episode of the series, after the more friendly looking and comedic thrio of ghosts from the first episode (Ghosts R Us), this ghost in contrast was someone who tooked himself more seriously, showing an intimidating voice and facial expression, and his powers over eletricity were a creative mixture between sci fi and supernatural horror, making number thirteenth on this list.

12° Proteus (Janine Melnitz, Ghostbuster)

A shapeshifting primal God from the pantheon of Greek Mythology, Proteus manifested in Midtown Manhattan in the 13th Floor of the Erie. It served as a nexus of spectral activity, causing a lot of ghosts to appear, much like the coming of Gozer.

After capturing over 40 of the ghosts, the GHOSTBUSTERS were on their way to bust a Class 9 Free Roaming Vapor at the Gracie Mansion when Proteus first appeared at Rockefeller Center, possessing the iconic Art Deco statue of the mythological Greek Titan, Atlas. By doing so, he charged the statue with so much ectonic force, he could resist the Proton Streams. He captured the GHOSTBUSTERS and made them his prisoners.

Janine had donned a uniform and brought some equipment with her to save the GHOSTBUSTERS. After learning that Proteus's lair was in the 13th floor of the Erie, she went there and saved her friends. She stopped the elevator between the 12th and 14th floor and found the hidden 13th floor. While Slimer distracted Proteus, Janine shot the mirrors that were holding the GHOSTBUSTERS in Limbo. This caused the nexus to overload and Proteus was clearly affected. The 13th floor of the building then exploding in much the manner that 550 Central Park West did when the GHOSTBUSTERS crossed their Proton Streams into the Temple of Gozer. The level of paranormal activity returned to normal after the explosion.

A proactive deity, vengeful and arrogant, Proteus was a powerfull antagonist who took matters into his own hands, rather than relying too much on emissaries, and was one of the first villains to be motivated by a personal grudge against the GHOSTBUSTERS, which earns him the twelfth spot on this list.

11º Necksa (The Devil In the Deep)

Necksa was a maritime primal god that attacked New York.

In the 1980s, during day 12 of one New York's nastiest heatwaves and a water shortage, Necksa awakened in the East River when men laying pipes disturbed him. Disgusted by the filth, Necksa concluded the world was in need of a change and sent the Undines to claim New York for their master. Mayor Lenny hired the GHOSTBUSTERS to deal with a haunted city water supply. According to Mayor Lenny, all five Boroughs in New York City were affected. Upon confining a few Undines, the Ghostbusters were surprised when Necksa easily recalled all of them. They realized the controlling entity was in the East River and rented a speedboat. However, the Proton Streams had no effect on Necksa. To compound matters, Necksa never cared for "landling" mortals and sucked in the team. Peter Venkman was luckily blown ashore.

Peter Venkman remembered that standard ghostbusting equipment had no effect on Necksa, so he modified his Particle Thrower to emit microwave particles and cause Necksa great pain. He set out to confront Necksa again at around 10 pm. The device turned out to be a success as Necksa agreed to reason with Peter after two blasts. Necksa then went with his children to find a new home (Peter's suggestion was Antarctica). Egon Spengler, Ray Stantz, and Winston Zeddemore were unharmed and returned aboard the speed boat.

Motivated by a longing for cleaner and calmer waters on where to sleep, and afectionally refering to the Undines as his children, Necksa presented a discussion about the enviromental impacts of polution on the sea trough an interesting fantastical lens, which made this deity specially memorable and important to enter this list in the eleventh place.

10º Samhaim (When Halloween Was Forever)

Samhaim was the Ghost of Halloween and one of the few villains to face the Ghostbusters on more than one occasion. He was a strategic ghost with the ability to manipulate time in order to cause eternal night. Samhain also had the ability to control legions of ghosts at his command, however certain ghosts such as Slimer seemed able to resist him to a certain extent.

It was recorded that he was an unstoppable creature of the night. At some point he was trapped in stone. Samhain remained imprisoned in the ancient clock for centuries. In the 1980s, the clock was brought from Ireland to New York to be on display in a museum. As a result, P.K.E. activity spiked. Two weeks later, Samhain was released from his captivity by his two goblin minions on Halloween night. Once set free, he gathered all the ghosts he could and sent his minions all over New York. He also used his powers to halt the night as he planned to make Halloween an eternal night that will last forever all over the world. The Ghostbusters however ran all over town capturing his minions, leading Samhain to confront them out of rage. However, the Ghostbusters used his weakness against light to stun him. Egon came up with a plan to use all the lights in the city on Samhain but a blackout occurred. While Peter, Ray, and Winston distracted Samhain and his minions with a frontal assault, Egon set up spotlights around the building he perched atop. He was captured (along with his minions) just before the world fell under his evil reign forever.

Samhain is the type of character to take direct action, led solely by his mission. Samhain believed that ghosts had been treated unfairly in this world due to people like the GHOSTBUSTERS. He was guided by a mission to give ghosts like him a world where they rule and humans are the less dominant ones. Unlike many villains the GHOSTBUSTERS had faced, he had compassion for the ghosts he commanded as he refered to them as his "little ones."

He is willing to enter a battle and protect his minions if he felt they were being harmed. However despite his compassion, he was willing to use some force if they did not cooperate with him, as he threatened to dissipate Slimer when he refused to attack the humans and took him hostage when he recognized the close relationship between him and the Ghostbusters. Samhain's interactions with Slimer showed a darker and tyrannical side to his personality, as he showed contempt for one of his "little ones" disobeying his orders and attempting to coexist peacefully with humans (though this may be because the group of humans that Slimer associated with are the GHOSTBUSTERS, who Samhain hated for hunting ghosts) and tried to convince Slimer that it was a futile endeavor and that he could only be home amongst Samhain's legions. When this fails, he was willing to destroy Slimer, although he expressed regret about having to do so.

Since his debut, Samhain has made many appearances throughout the GHOSTBUSTERS franchise, he was one of the ghosts to make a cameo appearance on the second opening theme song and even made an appearance on the Extreme Ghostbusters theme song and end song (though never appeared in any actual episodes). He also made numerous cameo appearances throughout the show. Samhain has also appeared in the Now Ghostbusters Comics in two comics, and was mentioned in three other comics. He was also the only ghosts from Extreme Ghostbusters (other than Slimer) to receive a toy. Likewise, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man was the only ghost in The Real Ghostbusters to receive a toy other than Slimer.

His pumpkin head inspired design could run the risk of being too silly, but the animation of his facial expressions and his voice made him a real menace, and this subversion of expectations made him one of the first villains of the animated series to be become an icon on the same level of the villains and ghosts that originated in the original 1984 movie, and this marks his right to the tenth place on this list.

09º The Boogieman (The Boogieman Cometh)

The Boogieman was a legendary creature that scares children all over the world.

The GHOSTBUSTERS were approached one night by two children: Megan and Kenny Carter. They claim that the Boogieman has been living in their closet, scaring them each night after they go to bed. Terrified of the monster, the children attempt to hire the Ghostbusters with the savings in their piggy banks. Initially, Peter was skeptical, but at the insistence of Egon they investigate. The GHOSTBUSTERS arrive at the Carter residence and begin to look around. Egon's P.K.E. Meter registers high levels of paranormal activity in Megan and Kenny's closet, but when the door is opened nothing is to be found but coats and clothes. Peter was convinced the children had over active imaginations... until he saw a piercing orange light blazes from the back of the closet, and a giant, goblin-like head emergeing: it was the Boogieman.

Egon confronted the creature as it stepped into the room. In its shrill, wheezy voice the monster utters "I remember you!"

The GHOSTBUSTERS attempted to capture the him, but discovered he was not a ghost. At Peter's urging, they increaseed the power of their blast streams and managed to repel the Boogieman back into his realm. They regrouped at headquarters to figure out how to defeat the Boogieman.

That night, Egon revealed that the Boogieman used to frighten him as a child, which prompted him to start investigating the paranormal.

The GHOSTBUSTERS managed to find a vacant room connected to the Boogieman's realm and set up a faux child's room to lure the Boogieman to them. Ray, after expressing affection for one of the prop stuffed animals, was chosen to sleep in the room as bait. The plan worked, and the GHOSTBUSTERS pursue the startled creature into his realm, where the Boogieman gained the upper hand. After avoiding traps and adjusting to the altered reality of the realm, the GHOSTBUSTERS chased the Boogieman through a series of portals and closets, finally losing him in the realm. At this point, Egon devised a plan to trap the Boogieman in his realm indefinitely. Attaching a prototype Ghost Bomb to the four Proton Packs, the GHOSTBUSTERS set the devices to overload. Before they could leave, the Boogieman confronted them, blocking their escape.

While threatening the heroes, the Boogieman gestured to the Carter children's door, claiming that he would exact revenge on them after finishing the GHOSTBUSTERS. However, Kenny and Megan saw the portal open and the dire situation the GHOSTBUSTERS were in. With courage, they overcame their fear of the monster and distracted the Boogieman by insulting his appearance and odor. As he advanced on the children, Kenny spilled a bag of marbles under the Boogieman's hooves which caused him to slip off the edge of the walkway.

With the Ghost Bomb circuit seconds from detonating, the GHOSTBUSTERS ran for the Carter's doorway. Egon scooped the Carter children into his arms and leaps through the portal. Startled by the commotion in their home, Kenny and Megan's parents burst into their children's room and demanded an explanation from the GHOSTBUSTERS. Egon warned them to move away just as a violent explosion leaped from the closet. No one was injured, and a quick check of the P.K.E. Meter assured that the plan worked: the Boogieman's doors were sealed, leaving him a prisoner of his own realm.

The Boogieman was a malicious, supernatural creature whose sole purpose was to terrify human children in order to feed on their fear. He appears to have a rather high opinion of himself as evidenced by the elaborate throne he keeps in the central portion of his realm. He was incapable of showing remorse or mercy and operated strictly out of malice, greed, and revenge. Despite his observed cruelness, he did not physically harmed his child victims. Instead, he opted to harvest the fear cultivated by his repeated visits-- a form of psychological torture. He chooseed his victims very carefully and does not simply terrorize every child in existence. He used physical violence only when provoked or repeatedly antagonized (usually by the GHOSTBUSTERS) and usually avoided direct confrontation with adults.

Frequently mentioned by audiences who were children in the 1980s as a character who stayed in their memory for being one of the most scary villains, and being the motivation for one of our heroes to purse the fight against the creatures of darkness, this is one of the most iconic, if not THE most iconic encarnation of the Boogieman, and the winner of the ninth place on our list.

08º The Sandman (Mr Sandman, Dream Me a Dream)

The Sandman first appeared in Chelsea, Manhattan where he was putting people to in a sleeping spell of 500 years.

He wished to do this in order to stop all wars and create peaceful world where only dreams exist. The Sandman appeared in room 413 of an apartment on 248 West 16th Street. He put many people to sleep, and their wild dreams caused much chaos throughout the streets of New York.

These actions attracted the GHOSTBUSTERS to his doorstep. He managed to put all but Winston Zeddemore to sleep. Winston finally learned that if people realized that what they saw were a dream, they could take control of what was in their dream thanks to advice Ray Stantz gave to Peter Venkman. Winston rushed back and laid a trap for the Sandman at headquarters, which was successful when Janine Melnitz got the drop on the Sandman by dreaming she was a Ghostbuster and her dream self successfully managed to halt the Sandman. Winston then delivered another blast and Slimer successfully trapped the Sandman. After he was captured, all his victims were awakened, leaving the dreams and nightmares all dispersed.

THe Sandman seemed to be somewhat of an egotistical idealist in many ways. His ego has also led him to be paranoid at times, as he believed the GHOSTBUSTERS were laughing at him when they said nothing.

The Sandman wasn't really evil, but exceedingly misguided. His warped definition of being "humane" made him very dangerous to the very human life he wanted to protect. For example, had he put the world to sleep and a natural disaster occurred, countless innocents could be injured or killed and no one would be in a position to come to their aid. So one could say that another of The Sandman's character deficiencies was shortsightedness. He was so focused on the "enemy" that he had become the enemy. Teaching this lesson to viewers in a fun and entertaining way, and serving as a highlight to the value of Winston Zeddemore and Janine Melnitz to the GHOSTBUSTERS team, made the Sandman win the eight place in this ranking.

07º Winchester Wolf (Who're You Calling Two-Dimensional?)

The GHOSTBUSTERS were excited to get a call from Walt Fleischman Studios because many of them were fans of the studio's classic cartoons. A representative told them that strange noises were heard from Walt's private studio, where he had mysteriously disappeared forty years ago. While the guys investigated, Egon picked up a latent paranormal surge and a mysterious door appeared then sucked them all in.

The Ghostbusters were transported to a dimension with cartoon-like physics where they met Ricky Roach and Conqueror Duck. They then discovered a factory where the cartoon villain Winchester Wolf, the archenemy of Dopey Dog, had been torturing Walt Fleischman for the last forty years. Winchester had been making Walt experience all the same physical stunts that he had put his cartoon creations through. The Ghostbusters attempted to rescue Walt but they were sent through a trap door. They landed in a barren desert. Ray wondered where all the heroes were and summoned Dopey Dog. It worked and Dopey Dog apprised them of what happened.

Walt's mind had created a dimension in which all his creations were real. He photographed his creations and became world famous. He created new characters, too. However, Winchester Wolf was evil and too powerful to control. When Walt let his guard down, Winchester Wolf pulled him into the Cartoon World. Conqueror Duck was dispatched by Winchester Wolf to take care of the GHOSTBUSTERS. Egon and Dopey utilized cartoon logic to rescue the others. Dopey agreed to aid them but mused they'd have to travel to the edge of the world. Dopey Dog and the GHOSTBUSTERS marched to the edge and enlisted other cartoon heroes along the way. They rescued Walt and escaped the dimension. Dopey Dog and the others teared up the edge of film which breached the contract Fleischman made. As a result, the characters and dimension disappeared.

Winchester Wolf was incredibly knavish, cocky, cunning, fraudulent, intelligent, manipulative, and duplicitous. He was also extremely authoritative, influential, strong, powerful, and overall tyrannical in nature. He could manipulate the cartoon universe, in a way a few others could, while there he possessed near god like power, able to cause objects to appear out of thin air, teleport from place to place, and alter his form, and grow to giant sizes.

Being both a homage to classic cartoon villains while also being a fun and treatening villain on his own right, Winchester Wolf was a great example of how to combine the cartoony with the powerfull and scary, so I had to favour him with the seventh spot on this list.

06º The Unreal Shriek Squeal (Station Identification)

This character was like if Winchester Wolf and Killerwatt were put on steroids! The Unreal Shriek Squeal (also known as Big Boo) was the leading ghost of a television haunting phenomenon.

For three weeks, ghosts gathered to the The Unreal Shriek Squeal in Central Park. They formed a pirated TV station called WBOO, the Big Boo. The ghosts discovered that television was a suitable medium for ghosts to instantly travel from one point to another, no matter the distance. The Unreal Shriek Squeal led the charge to get the Big Boo network to go national. If that happened, the ghosts could terrorize the entire world at their choosing.

The GHOSTBUSTERS and Slimer tracked down WBOO and entered the phantom building in Central Park. They targeted the station's dynamo, the source that was channeling its free floating spectral energy. Once it was disabled, the station would lose its feed and would be unable to go national at midnight. The Unreal Shriek Squeal appeared to prevent their interference, first by attacking them directly, then by trying to bribe them with material goods, but was no match. He was dispersed and the building collapsed.

Energetic, clever, cunning, this agent of chaos presented a creative spin on the scary clown, and is the rightfull winner of the sixth spot of this ranking.

05º Dyb Devlin (The Devil to Pay)

Dyb Devlin ran a newspaper ad for a new game show that Ray Stantz and Winston Zeddemore decided they wanted to play, after months of watching other game shows and Peter dragging them to auditions. Ray and Winston won the auditions and answered every question, which all turned out to be related to the Devil and his minions. After they signed a contract, before midnight, with Dyb Devlin, Egon Spengler figured out that Dyb was a dybbuk, an evil spirit. The contract they signed made it so if they lose the game, they lose their souls as well. Dyb was a minor demon who was frustrated with wasting his potential and believed securing the souls of the GHOSTBUSTERS would gain him a promotion in the demon hierarchy.

After the GHOSTBUSTERS won, Dyb proved to be a sore loser and tried to kill them anyway. They used the giant roulette steel ball that was meant to kill them to destroy the surrounding area. Still in his plane of existence, Peter Venkman convinced Dyb to honor the contract, an all expenses paid vacation to Tahiti and three tons of deviled ham.

For a long time, there was the rumour that a third GHOSTBUSTERS movie would be set in a modern day setting version of hell. We didn't get that movie, but instead we got this great episode of the animated series, with an antagonist who showed how a demon from hell could incorporate modern day culture to harvest souls.

04º Wat (Mrs. Roger's Neighborhood)

After a week of no cases, the GHOSTBUSTERS received a call about a haunted house at 1313 13th Street in the Levittown suburbs of Long Island. Wat manifested in human form as an elderly old woman named Mrs. Rogers and was accompanied by its primary servitor, a demon bird in the form of a yellow canary named Precious. Wat created the house to trap the GHOSTBUSTERS, with Wat's ultimate goal being to rule and conquer the living world. While the GHOSTBUSTERS investigated the house, Mrs. Rogers was escorted to the Firehouse for safety reasons. This played into Wat's plans to open the Containment Unit to increase the size of his army. However, a new safety feature just happened to be added to the Containment Unit. Access to a security keypad was required to open the grid and only the four GHOSTBUSTERS were verified.

Eventually, the GHOSTBUSTERS were tipped off that Wat was behind the haunted house and escaped. They raced to the Firehouse to stop Wat. Wat later took possession of Peter Venkman in order to release the lock on the Containment Unit. Egon set Winston's Particle Thrower to Wat's exact frequency while he set his to Peter's electro-metabolic frequency. He was eventually separated from Peter and trapped by the GHOSTBUSTERS. As soon as Wat was trapped, the 1313 residence was sucked in through a chest and the chest vanished.

Whereas his appearance is of a wild beast, Wat was one the most strategic and dissimulated villains of the series, and it was scary how close he came to destroy the Firehouse and take over control of an army of ghosts by playing the role of the helpless victim that the team would usually attend.

03º Sir Bruce (Hard Knight's Day)

Sometime in the Arthurian era, circa fifth century A.D., Merlin imprisoned Sir Bruce in a painting and his minions in other works of art, as well. The curse anchored them to the tapestries forever. In the 20th century, Sir Bruce was freed when his painting was unveiled at the Cloisters in New York at 7:30 pm during a full moon. Now free of Merlin's curse, Sir Bruce kidnapped Dr. Doris Tibbs, who bore a strong resemblance to his beloved, Lady Genevieve. To compound matters, the Cloisters was transformed into Sans Pitie Castle and Dr. Tibbs was slowly changing into Genevieve in the Special Exhibits Room.

Since the curse was tied to the Moon somehow, it was deduced that Sir Bruce could only be trapped at sunrise. Ray Stantz and Winston Zeddemore rode Unicorns, beasts hated by Bruce, to distract and draw him into the open. However, Bruce realized the ruse and retreated, resisting the pull of the team's Proton Streams. With time running out, Peter Venkman disguised himself as Merlin and chased Bruce back outside into the sunlight. The team confined the weakened Bruce in four streams and trapped him. Sir Bruce's minions were re-imprisoned in their paintings and statues, the Cloisters was returned to normal, and Dr. Tibbs was back to normal with some minor memory loss.

What makes Sir Bruce interesting is that in his point of view, he is a romantic hero rescuing his beloved lady. But the narrative context and his actions extablish that he is actually a villain, and this nuance makes him worthy the third spot on this ranking.

02º Ghash (Slimer, Come Home)

After three nights in a row, coincidentally culminating on Winston Zeddemore's birthday, the GHOSTBUSTERS encountered Ghash, leader of a group of poltergeists. By feeding on the lesser entities, Ghash was able to increases his P.K.E. and gain the ability to roam. Due to a mishap at Winston's party, Slimer left the Firehouse and followed several entities to Ghash. He soon absorbed all of these entities to become unstoppable. The GHOSTBUSTERS adjusted their equipment to focus primarily on Slimer's unique frequency of 500,000 Mega Hertz and extract him from Ghash. They were then able to trap him and place him in the Containment Unit.

When large groups of ghosts band together for threatening haunts and chaos, there is always one that stands out and leads the pack. Ghash had the proper personality and appearance for this specific role. Even though he was an evil being that cared for nothing more than immense power, he gave lost ghosts like Slimer a false sense of security and a feeling of being wanted.

A ghost who prayed on other ghosts, who was always involved in darkness, Ghash was the precursor of many manipulative strategist ghosts to appear troughout the series, and the dark atmosphere surrounding makes him the most haunting to my mind.

And my number foe of the first 78 episodes of The Real Ghostbusters is...

01° The Master of Shadows (Slimer, Is That You?)

The Master of Shadows was an arrogant entity who believed he was superior to all mortals. He directed minion ghosts to attack several areas in New York. After a few busts, Egon detected secondary and tertiary spectral readings. He deduced an outside force was controlling and directing the ghosts.

The Master of Shadows was intrigued by Egon's intellect but upon being shot at, he threatened to plunge the city into destruction.

Back at the Firehouse, Egon used the Master's spectral frequency on a communication device. A holographic projector hooked to the device could only pick up a spectral voice mail at first. Then the Master appeared to the GHOSTBUSTERS. Egon then egged him onto a challenge at midnight, on the corner of 15th and Madison. However, Slimer hit several non insulated wires and switched bodies with Egon. Growing impatient, the Master moved up the appointment. During the match, the Master was utterly confused by Egon and Slimer's dilemma. The GHOSTBUSTERS captured him in Proton Streams and trapped him with ease.

The Master of Shadows had a fascinating sense of pride and honour: he was an antagonist less interested by reaching the goal of world domination itself, and more interested in showing off his power, searching for people to challenge him in cunning and witty just so he could proove his superiority.

Ad to that fun personality his vocal performance by none other than Prince Mamuwalde himself, William Marshall, and you get a refreshing take on the classic villain in search for a good, thrilling fight, mixing a sense of humour with dramatic dignity, making you wish he had more than one appearance in the series.

And that is why he is my favorite foe of the Straczynski Era of The Real Ghostbusters.

#ghostbusters #the real ghostbusters #my rankings #j michael straczynski #wallpapers #ghostbusters fandom #fandom musings

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