Ethan Kaine

Ethan Kaine ^[1] was a former stage magician in Las Vegas.

History

Ethan Kaine performed magic acts at the Golden Spade's main ballroom for much of his own career. It was rumored that Kaine's ghost haunted the Spade. In the present, The Olive went through with plans to expand its hotel and casino. One of the buildings to be cleared away was the Golden Spade, which at the time was small and run-down in comparison. The closure and demolition triggered the manifestation of Ethan Kaine's ghost. ^[2] Kaine tapped into the stored power of the River of Slime underneath the city. ^[3] Kaine began transforming buildings along the Las Vegas Strip into skewed versions of the past. The remaining casinos played along and took bets on what the ghost would change next. Special Agent Melanie Ortiz was asked by the Federal Bureau of Investigations to look into the matter. While on scene investigating, Melanie witnessed the transformations changing from skewed to nightmarish and legions of ghosts arriving. The ghosts didn't directly harm any civilians but the transformation of the casinos did. Several suffered minor injuries from building and furniture being rearranged and hitting them. Melanie contracted Ray Stantz, Ron Alexander, Lou Kamaka, and Dani Shpak in an attempt to put down the rapidly escalating situation as soon as possible. Ron, Lou, and Dani drew the ghosts away while Melanie and Ray searched for Kaine.

Ray was suspicious of Kaine's ability to transform so much of the surrounding area and draw in ghosts. On a hunch, he and Melanie explored Las Vegas' underground network of tunnels. They soon found the River of Slime. Ray wired a Slime Spritzer canister of positively charged Psychomagnotheric Slime to a Proton Grenade and threw it into the River. The resulting explosion and dissemination severed Kaine's connection to the River. ^[4] With it neutralized, the transformed buildings, except the Olive, returned to their original state. ^[5] Slime was also incidentally forced up into the fountains of the RKO Casino. Lou and Dani located Kaine and trapped him. The untrapped ghosts faded away from the city. Ron claimed to have encountered a ghost with "crazy hair, and wearing a black and white suit" who promised to return in the near future to "shake things up." The contaminated fountains of the RKO Casino were fully drained, cleaned, and refilled. The casino demanded a $470,000 reimbursement from the FBI and the Ghostbusters. ^[6] In light of the incident, an early-warning P.K.E. monitor was installed at the FBI's Las Vegas Field Office.

Powers

While connected to the River of Slime, Ethan Kaine had the power to change buildings ranging from skewed versions of the past to nightmarish transformations. He could also act as a paranormal beacon and attract lesser ghosts to him. ^[7]

Classification

Ethan Kaine is a Class 5 Aggressive Manifestation with a P.K.E. reading of 0011138.12 on the high spectrum.

Appearances

IDW Comics

• Ongoing Series
  • Volume 3
    • Ghostbusters International #7
      • Haunted America Case File only

References

1. ↑ Spectral Incident Report (2016). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters International #7" (2016) (Comic p.23). Spectral Incident Report reads: "His research led him to believe that it was the ghost of Ethan Kaine, a magician who had played at the Golden Spade's ballroom for much of his own career; and was rumored to have haunted the site."
2. ↑ Spectral Incident Report (2016). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters International #7" (2016) (Comic p.23). Spectral Incident Report reads: "The closure and demolition of a small, run-down casino - The Golden Spade - to make way for an expansion of the much larger Olive Hotel and Casino was the trigger for the manifestation of a spectral magician, who set to transforming the buildings along the strip."
3. ↑ Spectral Incident Report (2016). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters International #7" (2016) (Comic p.23). Spectral Incident Report reads: "The tunnels were overflowing with psychomagnatheric ectoplasm (AKA mood slime, see report 1410 for a rundown on the various types and of ectoplasm and their properties.) This mood slime stored a high amount of power from the emotional energy of gamblers, and Kaine was able to tap into it in a manner similar to that of Vigo the Carpathian (see form 11470H, filed by the New York field office)."
4. ↑ Spectral Incident Report (2016). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters International #7" (2016) (Comic p.23). Spectral Incident Report reads: "Dr. Stantz wired a canister of positively charged mood slime to an ecto-grenade and placed it within the slime beneath Vegas; the resulting explosion severed Kaine's connection to the stored power of the slime, but also allowed the slime into the fountains at the RKO Casino."
5. ↑ Spectral Incident Report (2016). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters International #7" (2016) (Comic p.23). Spectral Incident Report reads: "The buildings on the strip started to revert to normal, with the exception of the Olive, which remained transformed until Kaine's ghost was trapped by Kamaka and Shpak."
6. ↑ Spectral Incident Report (2016). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters International #7" (2016) (Comic p.23). Spectral Incident Report reads: "The fountains of the RKO Casino (a closed system) were contaminated and required a full draining, cleaning, and refilling, which cost $470,000. The casino is demanding reimbursement from the Bureau and Ghostbusters for this."
7. ↑ Spectral Incident Report (2016). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters International #7" (2016) (Comic p.23). Spectral Incident Report reads: "In Stantz' opinion, the Spade's demolition certainly disturbed Kaine's rest, but his ghost shouldn't have been powerful enough to radically transform so much of the surrounding area, let alone act as a beacon for a legion of ghosts."