Murray the Mantis[2] is a fictional cartoon character in the Ghostbusters universe. A Thanksgiving float in his likeness was once possessed and fought the Ghostbusters and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
History
Murray the Mantis is the star of a popular Saturday morning cartoon where he is the sheriff of a garden who keeps the peace, including chasing away the bad Roach Brothers and the evil Hypno-Snake. He's friends with the gardener's misunderstood daughter, Posey.[3][4][5][6] Ray Stantz and Egon Spengler watch a lot of episodes of the cartoon. When questioned why they do so by Peter Venkman, Egon claimed it was because he is a good scientist and keeps his mind open to anything.[7]
On the night before a Thanksgiving Day, a crew was preparing a balloon float based on Murray in an old warehouse in the Upper West Side.[8][9] Unfortunately, since the warehouse used to be a city morgue, the commotion caused the release of death force energy and it possessed the balloon.[10]
After Peter Venkman shot the float with his Particle Thrower, the energy reformed as a giant corporeal mantis entity. The mantis went on a rampage and was finally defeated when the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man battled the entity and weakened it enough for the Ghostbusters to destroy it.
Powers
During the first encounter with Murray, Egon cross calculates the constant half-life breakdown rate of all ectoplasmic entities with the known P.K.E. pulse. He guessed Murray could have a life energy as high as Gozer's.[11][12] At the Firehouse, he cross indexes the dimensions of a standard Praying mantis, the 120 feet dimension of the float, and the ecto energy quotient of an average Class 3 Non-Transitory Specter. Egon concludes Murray the Mantis had an energy level of 45 x 10 to the 14th power Mega Watts.[13][14][15][16]
Classification
Because of its power being comparable to Gozer, Murray's classification was Class 7 or higher.
Trivia
- Both the balloon and the ghost of Murray the Mantis had only four legs, while real Praying mantis' have six.
- When Egon explained how powerful the creature was, Peter joked about it by saying that they might stand a chance if Darth Vader loaned them the Death Star.[17]
- Ironically, Murray attacks a red Volkswagen Beetle.
- Murray is referenced in What in Samhain Just Happened?! on page 14. A Murray the Mantis doll, as it appeared in its cartoon, is seen to the left of Janine Melnitz.
- On page six of Ghostbusters Issue #6, a Murray doll can be see in the Fantastic Land stand. They also appear on the Cover RI variant.
- On page six of Ghostbusters Issue #15, Murray the Mantis makes a non-canon cameo on the Thanksgiving Day Parade advertisement.
Appearances
References
- ↑ Marsha Goodman (1986). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report - "The Revenge of Murray the Mantis" (1986).
- ↑ Egon Spengler (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "The Revenge of Murray the Mantis" (1987) (DVD ts. 05:40-05:42). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "Hey. It's Murray the Mantis."
- ↑ Egon Spengler (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "The Revenge of Murray the Mantis" (1987) (DVD ts. 05:45-05:46). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "It's...uh...a television character."
- ↑ Ray Stantz (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "The Revenge of Murray the Mantis" (1987) (DVD ts. 05:47-05:50). Time Life Entertainment. Ray says: "The Murray the Mantis show is the biggest thing on Saturday morning cartoons, Peter."
- ↑ Ray Stantz (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "The Revenge of Murray the Mantis" (1987) (DVD ts. 05:51-05:59). Time Life Entertainment. Ray says: "Murray lives in this garden, see? And he keeps the peace. Sort of a sheriff. He chases away the Bad Roach Brothers and the Evil Hypo Snake."
- ↑ Ray Stantz (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "The Revenge of Murray the Mantis" (1987) (DVD ts. 06:14-06:19). Time Life Entertainment. Ray says: "Right! And Murray is the best friend of Posey, the gardener’s little girl who misunderstood by the other children."
- ↑ Egon Spengler (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "The Revenge of Murray the Mantis" (1987) (DVD ts. 06:00-06:03). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "It's a form of predator control on the range."
- ↑ Harlan (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "The Revenge of Murray the Mantis" (1987) (DVD ts. 03:57-04:05). Time Life Entertainment. Harlan says: "Well there's a good reason for that. Yeah, before the company bought this place and turned it into a warehouse. Used to be a city morgue."
- ↑ Anne Lawson (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "The Revenge of Murray the Mantis" (1987) (DVD ts. 09:00-09:04). Time Life Entertainment. Anne says: "We filled the balloon in an old warehouse in the Upper West Side."
- ↑ Ray Stantz (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "The Revenge of Murray the Mantis" (1987) (DVD ts. 09:08-09:12). Time Life Entertainment. Ray says: "That's it! A release of death force energy held dormant. An ecto surge across the continuum!"
- ↑ Egon Spengler (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "The Revenge of Murray the Mantis" (1987) (DVD ts. 09:53-10:02). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "Considering a constant half-life breakdown for all ectoplasmic entities... cross calculating with the known ecto pulse... I'd say we're in an extraordinary amount of trouble."
- ↑ Egon Spengler (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "The Revenge of Murray the Mantis" (1987) (DVD ts. 10:05-10:08). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "It could have a life energy as high as Gozer's."
- ↑ Anne Lawson (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "The Revenge of Murray the Mantis" (1987) (DVD ts. 11:13-11:15). Time Life Entertainment. Anne says: "120 feet nose to tail."
- ↑ Egon Spengler (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "The Revenge of Murray the Mantis" (1987) (DVD ts. 11:16-11:24). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "Cross index with the dimensions of a standard preying mantis... figuring the ecto energy quotient of your average Class 3 Non-Transitory Spectre..."
- ↑ Egon Spengler (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "The Revenge of Murray the Mantis" (1987) (DVD ts. 11:33-11:35). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "The energy level is 45 Mega Watts."
- ↑ Egon Spengler (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "The Revenge of Murray the Mantis" (1987) (DVD ts. 11:37-11:39). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "Times 10 to the 14th power."
- ↑ Peter Venkman (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "The Revenge of Murray the Mantis" (1987) (DVD ts. 11:40-11:45). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "It means if Darth Vader is willing to loan us the Death Star, we might have a chance."
Gallery
Collages
Primary Canon
Secondary Canon
