The Ghostbusters Franchise has been around for over 30 years, and is all based on the first movie that was in theaters in the summer of 1984. There have been many major canon items over the years, and with that comes this page.
Note: This page is meant for people new to the Ghostbusters Franchise.
Major Items in the Franchise
Ghostbusters
The franchise launched with Ghostbusters, which was released on June 8, 1984 and was written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film is notable for many famous jokes and scenes including Peter Venkman being slimed by a flying green ghost later known as Slimer in the animated series. The film's main antagonist was the powerful entity known as Gozer (a.k.a "The Destructor", "Volgus Zildrohar" and "The Traveller"), who eventually took the form of a 100 foot tall Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, thanks to Ray Stantz's "nice thinking". The Theme Song, written and performed by Ray Parker, Jr., which featured the classic lyrics "Who you gonna call?" / "Ghostbusters!" also went on to become just as well-known and iconic as the film itself.
The Real Ghostbusters
Later known as Slimer! and The Real Ghostbusters, The Real Ghostbusters was an animated series that ran from 1986-1991. Using the characters and locations from the two feature-films, 140 episodes were made before it was cancelled. The show developed and built-on many of the aspects and concepts from the films, including giving the green-ghost the name "Slimer". Notably, the four Ghostbusters wore different colored uniforms and were altered in appearance to make the characters more appealing and also to avoid infringement of image rights.
Ghostbusters II
Ghostbusters II, the second movie, was released on June 16, 1989 and was set 5 years after the events of the first film. It included Slimer as he was popular with the fans of The Real Ghostbusters. The antagonist of the film was Vigo The Carpathian, who was a 16th century tyrant and magician. His spirit was housed in a large painting of himself, where it lay dormant until such time it could rise again. Using Psychomagnotheric Slime ("Mood-Slime") as a source of power, Vigo planned to transfer his soul into an infant, thus being "born again" and free to resume his reign of terror. A major scene of note was the animation of the Statue of Liberty using positively-charged mood-slime by the Ghostbusters to re-kindle the positive feelings of New York and thus weaken Vigo and his defenses.
Extreme Ghostbusters
Extreme Ghostbusters was the second major animated series and a sequel to the Real Ghostbusters. It aired in 1997 and had a one season run. The only characters to return full-time from The Real Ghostbusters were Egon, Janine, and Slimer. The show also introduced the following new team of Ghostbusters; Kylie Griffin, Eduardo Rivera, Garrett Miller, and Roland Jackson. The show also had revamped equipment and noted changes in looks of the Ecto-1 and Firehouse.
IDW Comic
IDW Publishing started printing Ghostbusters comics in October 2008. It began as mostly stand alone mini-series and one shot stories that continued the adventures of the Ghostbusters set after the two movies and a loose version of Ghostbusters: The Video Game then expanded into more connected ongoing series, annuals, mini-series, and cross overs starting on September 28, 2011. The final story arc focused on what happened after the Ghostbusters defeated Gozer in 1984, titled "Ghostbusters: Year One." Part Four of Year One, and the last comic from IDW, released on July 1, 2020.
Ghostbusters: The Video Game
Ghostbusters: The Video Game was viewed as canon to the two movies and was released in the summer of 2009. The plot took place in during the Thanksgiving weekend of 1991. The game focused on explaining many things that were unanswered in the films, and included upgrades for the Proton Pack which the player (the Rookie) would use. The voice acting for the game's main cast was done by the actors of the films.
Ghostbusters: Answer The Call
Ghostbusters: Answer The Call (also referred to as just Ghostbusters) was a reboot of the original movie, featuring a whole new cast and plot. Released in 2016, the movie followed the story of four unlikely heroines, Jillian Holtzmann, Abby Yates, Patty Tolan, and Erin Gilbert, who attempted to thwart a sociopath and maintenance man named Rowan North from releasing thousands of ghosts into New York in what he called the Fourth Cataclysm. The movie featured a few cameos from notable actors of the original movies such as Bill Murray. Ghostbusters: Answer The Call is not canon to the first two movies and is its own continuity. It may also be noted that there was later a crossover between the two movie franchises in the comic book mini-series "Ghostbusters 101" from IDW Comics and they continue to cross paths.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Ghostbusters: Afterlife is the next chapter. Canon to Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II, it takes place a little over thirty years after the events in Ghostbusters II. After the death of Egon Spengler at his Farmhouse in Summerville, Oklahoma, his estranged daughter Callie moves to the town with her two children. Phoebe and Trevor discover Egon is their grandfather and befriend residents of the town Podcast and Lucky Domingo as the second coming of Gozer transpires. The four children come up with a plan to use Egon's Trap Field and capture Gozer once and for all and are aided by Peter, Ray, Winston, and Egon's ghost. Egon and Callie make amends then he peacefully disperses. Winston arranges for Ecto-1 to be returned to New York City where he plans to reopen Ghostbusters at the Firehouse.
FAQ on the Ghostbusters Franchise
This section is for answering questions that may be common knowledge about Ghostbusters, but may be unknown by beginners.
- What is a Ghostbuster?
- A person or group that perform for a fee, the removal of a spirit and paranormal phenomenon from a place.
- For more on what a ghostbuster is, go here.
- Are there any female Ghostbusters?
- In short, yes.
- There have been several female Ghostbusters throughout the years:
- Janine Melnitz had first appeared with a uniform in RGB episode "Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream" as a dream manifestation of herself. Her first official episode as a Ghostbuster in uniform was "Janine's Genie".
- The second known female would be Kylie Griffin from Extreme Ghostbusters. Unlike Janine in the Real Ghostbusters, she was a full member of the team.
- Rachel Unglighter was a ghostbuster in the IDW comic series, in the story arc "Displaced Aggression". However, she was never a true ghostbuster. The divine essence of Rachel later formed the Ghostbusters Beyond in Dimension 00-D.
- The Female Rookie, which appeared in the Stylized version of Ghostbusters The Video Game was another. However, this seems to have been done only cosmetically, as the rookie is still referred to as "him" in dialog.
- Bridget Gibbons was on the junior team in Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime.
- Tara Fitzpatrick and Michelle Ying were in Ghostbusters Beeline (Mobile app).
- Jillian Holtzmann, Abby Yates, Patty Tolan, and Erin Gilbert comprise the team formed in the 2016 movie.
- Meadow Crothers and Rosa Jiminez two of the rookies in Ghostbusters Activision Video Game (2016).
- Special Agent Melanie Ortiz joined the IDW comic versions of Janine and Kylie as three of the four "new Ghostbusters" in the ongoing comic. Jenny Moran, Dani Shpak, and Lou Kamaka were on a rival business team known as the Ghost Smashers then Dani and Lou later joined the Chicago Ghostbusters branch while Jenny helped the main branch and worked for the Paranormal Contracts Oversight Commission. Cait Banner and Zoe Zawadzki were part of the inaugural 101 Cadets.
- Phoebe Spengler and Lucky Domingo, while not official Ghostbusters, wielded A Proton Pack against Gozer in Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
- Catt Delgado manages operations in Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed and took up a Proton Pack against the Nameless-possessed Winston.
- Was there ever an ape in the series or movies?
- No. That would be Filmations Ghostbusters. The series predates the movie by nine years and has nothing to do with our ghostbusters.
- Why do The Real Ghostbusters cartoon series Ghostbusters look so different from their movie counterparts?
- One reason was so it was easier to know the difference between characters in far away shots in the cartoon series. Also, they needed the characters to specifically not be based on the actors from the movie, as they would have had to pay the actors for the use of their likenesses.