Slimer

Slimer is a male film character who features in Ghostbusters.

Biography

Slimer was a green focused non-terminal repeating phantasm, or a class five full-roaming vapor. He is a glutton and a slob, but is very affectionate and loyal to his human friends. Originally named Onionhead due to his foul smell and vague onion shape, he haunted the twelfth floor of the Sedgewick Hotel in New York City. His precise origins are unknown. Some have theorized that he was brought forth into the human world by occult rituals conducted in the hotel basement, but this would not account for him choosing the twelfth floor to haunt; others have theorized that perhaps he is the ghost of a gluttonous guest who died while staying on that floor. Whatever his origins, Onionhead was a mainstay at the Sedgewick Hotel and a constant nuisance for both guests and staff, to the point that everyone just began ignoring him.

Ultimately, when the coming of Gozer meant that Onionhead was being even more of a pest than usual, Sedgewick manager J.M. Shupp called the Ghostbusters to take care of the problem, as quickly and quietly as possible. After "sliming" Peter Venkman, the green ghost was caught by the paranormal eliminators in the Sedgewick's ballroom after a lengthy and destructive standoff (much to Shupp's dismay). He was placed in the containment unit, where he remained until Walter Peck ordered it shut down some time later. Although Onionhead escaped with the rest of the ghosts and wreaked havoc throughout the city, he eventually returned to the firehouse, because the Ghostbusters had been the first people to actually pay him any sort of attention and he was merely harmless and lonely. Although initially the Ghostbusters reacted to his presence with hostility, the ghost ended up assisting them in dealing with evil doubles of themselves created when their old uniforms became saturated in ectoplasmic residue from the exploded Mr. Stay Puft.

The ghost was then allowed to stay on, as a sort of pet. Due to being slimed by him, Venkman was the only one of the Ghostbusters who did not want anything to do with Onionhead. Ray Stantz coined his new name, "Slimer," as a joke at Venkman's expense.

Slimer resurfaced after the Ghostbusters started up again in late 1989 and had apparently gotten much fatter in the span of five years. Throughout the Vigo incident of 1989, Slimer interacted with Louis Tully. The two first met in the Firehouse's garage bay when Louis caught Slimer eating his lunch, to which the two of them fled in fear in opposite directions. On New Year's Eve, Louis decided to take up a Proton Pack and help the Ghostbusters. In an attempt to patch up their initial misunderstanding, Slimer helped an exhausted Louis by giving him a ride to the Manhattan Museum of Art in a bus on New Year's Eve. Louis wondered how he got his license but went on anyway. Slimer stole food from the second floor kitchen of the Firehouse. In the summer of 2024, Slimer's Ectoplasm dripped down into Trevor Spengler's bedroom. Slimer was inside a pile of food wrappers in the attic the Firehouse. He was disturbed by Trevor moving some wrappers aside with one of his shoes. Slimer opened his eyes, flew out from the pile, slimed Trevor, and went through a wall. Two days later, Trevor used Cheetos to lure Slimer from his trash pile. The trail led to a Trap partly concealed with more Cheetos. Trevor had a clean shot with his Particle Thrower but the Firehouse suddenly rumbled because of the Death Chill. Slimer reacted to it, saw Trevor, and charged. The next day, Slimer suddenly appeared in the second floor kitchen and scarfed down the pizza possessed by Possessor as it tried to jump off the kitchen table. He flew up through the ceiling. After Garraka was trapped in the Containment Unit, Slimer was chased around by Sewer Dragon. He flew out of the Firehouse and disrupted the impromptu press conference outside. The Ghostbusters drove off in Ecto-1 and followed after the two ghosts.

Overview

Personality and attributes

Slimer appears to lack intelligence and was all about getting a good snack. It was normally a shy ghost but was not afraid to slime when cornered. In the second movie, it appears that Slimer had become more intelligent and could drive a bus.

Notes

• Slimer was created by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis whilst he was designed by Steve Johnson and featured in the setting of the Ghostbusters universe.
• A deleted scene from the 2016 Ghostbusters film was meant to expand on Slimer's rebooted continuity origins: when he was alive, Slimer was a gangster who killed a restaurant waiter that got his order wrong, resulting in his imprisonment and execution. After his death, the Ghostbusters encounter him haunting the same restaurant, but due to the experimental nature of their equipment, they inadvertently disfigure him, destroying his legs and turning him green, before he escape

In other media

Comics

• In The Real Ghostbusters v1 #22 (1990), an origin was given to the character in the non-canon Marvel UK comics. It was shown that he was originally King Remils ("Slimer" backwards) who was an obese king that died of a heart failure.

Appearances

• Ghostbusters: (1984)
• Ghostbusters II: (1989)

External Links

• Wikipedia Entry

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