Egon Spengler

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Egon Spengler, Ph.D.
Occupation:	Scientist, Ghostbuster
Appeared In:	Ghostbusters Ghostbusters II Ghostbusters: The Video Game 88MPH Studios Ghost Busted (manga) IDW Comics Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime Ghostbusters: The Board Game Ghostbusters: Deviations
Played By:	Harold Ramis

"I collect spores, molds, and fungus."

- Egon Spengler; Ghostbusters

Dr. Egon Spengler, Ph.D. is a former professor of paranormal studies at the Columbia University. Upon his termination, Egon founded Ghostbusters, Inc. along with Doctors Ray Stantz and Peter Venkman. He is considered the brain behind the Ghostbusters and has designed and built nearly all of their equipment, including the Proton Pack and the Storage facility. Typically, Ray is the only other member of the Ghostbusters who has no trouble understanding Egon's technical jargon.

Personality

Egon is hard-working and constantly focused on the paranormal activity of New York. His life revolves around scientific study, in general as well as on ghosts. In his spare time, he collects spores, molds, and fungus. He doesn't articulate his emotions well and has described himself as "always serious." His childhood may have not been a very happy one, as is suggested his parents were emotionally neglectful; Egon once shared with Ray that they "did not believe in toys"; he described Oscar's playroom as "very cheerful" in a tone that suggested he was aware he missed out on something nice. His parents gave him part of a Slinky once, and he straightened it. Once, during the Vigo incident, Egon flatly informed Mayor Lenny's porter that the Proton Pack was not a toy. Despite Janine Melnitz' hints that she was attracted to him, he seemed to ignore her romantic advances, kept quiet, and their relationship remained platonic. However, even though Egon admitted when he was terrified at the sight of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, he stayed with the others, showing bravery and a cool head even in the face of doom. It was his idea to cross the streams, which ultimately saved the world. Egon also has a dead-pan sense of humor and has been known to be sly, such as after the Ghostbusters' first case, he discretely holds up his fingers to show Peter the amount the Sedgewick Hotel will be billed.

Egon has a very dry sense of humor, once jokingly stating that most women would be "more interested in his epididymis," rather than his intellect. He is not immune to anger, as under duress he has been shown to swear twice during the Gozer incident. He even lunged at Walter Peck in anger when Peck ordered them arrested for the disruption regarding the shutdown of the containment grid, despite the fact Peck himself was entirely responsible, and ignored Egon's repeated explanation of why it would be so dangerous to do so. After the Ghostbusters narrowly escaped from Shandor Island, Ray began enthusiastically asking how it was and if they seen anything cool, Egon simply told him to "Shut up."

Egon does, on occasion, smirk and give a wisecrack; such as during their encounter with the Opera Diva ghost during the Shandor incident Egon says "The fat lady's singing!" And while exploring Central Park's Cult Cemetery, Peter says "This isn't the Central Park I'm used to." to which Egon replies, "You still have your wallet?" Generally though, Egon remains largely pragmatic with a straight-to-the-point demeanor.

Egon puts few restraints on the scope of his paranormal research. This is evident shortly after Dana Barrett's First Avenue incident, as he conducts experiments in his lab in which he deliberately incites couples to argue. When Egon and Ray discover the Psychomagnotheric Slime, aka "mood slime", he and Ray perform various tests themselves, including shouting verbal abuse at it, singing to it, saying sweet, nurturing things to it, and Egon even sleeps with it to learn its' response. His efforts, and arguably sacrificing a personal life, pay off, as it his theories and decisions from clear-thinking, that ultimately save his friends multiple times.

History

Ghostbusters

Egon was very interested in paranormal phenomenon, even while working with Ray Stantz and Peter Venkman at the University. He and Ray Stantz studied paranormal literature in their spare time and were interested in theories of reincarnation.

Egon was usually the first to interview case subjects, adding to their mantra, "we're ready to believe you." Examples were Dana Barrett from her Zuul encounter and her carriage phenomenon with Oscar. Even people Peter called "schizo" always went to either Egon or Ray to describe their paranormal experiences, no matter how far-fetched their stories were. For his part, Venkman once took back everything negative he said about him, rewarding the fellow scientist with his favourite candy bar (a Crunch bar). Egon's only weakness is evidently sugar (or at least snacks), as he is seen, on occasion, snacking.

Egon developed the technology behind the P.K.E. Meter, the Proton Pack, the Trap, and the storage facility. He was also aware of the risk of crossing the streams. He spent a lot of time focusing on the stability of the storage facility, and was concerned about the possibilities of a P.K.E. surge of dangerous proportions. Egon was particularly critical of Walter Peck's actions, and his attitude that the Ghostbusters were responsible for the explosion of the containment unit that occurred when Peck ordered a municipal worker to shut the unit down. After their encounter with Stay Puft, Egon suggested an atypical solution when he recommended blasting Gozer's dimensional portal while crossing the proton streams to reverse the particle flow and send Gozer back to his/its' dimension.

Egon once tried to drill a hole in his own head, (A process known as trepanation.) which "would have worked" if Venkman hadn't stopped him.

Ghostbusters II

Egon as seen in Ghostbusters II

Due to the large amount of collateral damage the city of New York suffered from the battle with Gozer, the Ghostbusters were sued by nearly every county and city agency in New York. Additionally a judicial restraining order was enacted which barred the Ghostbusters from performing services as paranormal investigators and eliminators, effectively putting them out of business. Five years after the events of the first film Egon was working at the Institute for Advanced Theoretical Research and was conducting experiments on human emotions. A negative test involved keeping a couple with marriage problems locked in a room for hours and gradually raising the temperature. A positive test involved a girl in a room with dozens of stuffed animals and a puppy. He was the first person Dana Barrett contacted when her baby carriage took off by itself. Egon recommended bringing in Ray, and they both performed a physical exam on Dana's son Oscar. Egon, along with Peter and Ray were later arrested after digging a large hole under 1st avenue as part of their paranormal investigations to help Dana. During the course of their trial they were found guilty of willful destruction of public property, fraud, violating their judicial restraining order, and malicious mischief by judge Stephen Wexler (whom Egon said was known as "The Hammer"). While angrily insulting the trio judge Wexler inadvertently released the ghosts of the Scoleri Brothers; two murderers he sentenced to death by the electric chair. During the chaos judge Wexler dismisses the charges against the Ghostbusters, and rescinds the judicial restraining order allowing Egon, Ray, and Peter to capture the ghosts, effectively putting the Ghostbusters back in business. Egon had a dry sense of humor, of which he used on Peter to bewilder him, and smirked at his friend's cluelessness on what the word "epididymis" was. Egon primarily worked with Ray, both of whom were still living at the Firehouse, conducting research on the pink slime. Still very scientifically minded, Egon seems to have loosened up a little bit, letting his sense of humor show and even giving Dana a smile and Peter (who was carried away with photographing Vigo's portrait), a knowing smile.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game

Dr. Egon Spengler as seen in Ghostbusters: The Video Game

Egon becomes significantly more 'hands-on' during the course of the video game. He and Ray instruct the Rookie in the use of the Proton Pack and its eventual PCS (Paranormal Countermeasure System) upgrades. Over the course of the game, it becomes evident that he was somewhat traumatized by their exhausting trek up the stairs of 55 Central Park West. While in the alternate dimension of the library, Egon is heard to groan, "Oh no," and when Ray asks if he saw something scary, Egon replies, "Stairs, lots of stairs.."

Egon still collects spores, molds, and fungus. When the Ghostbusters return to the Sedgewick Hotel, Ray reveals Egon was once a licensed coroner in the past. He still has a minor interest in it as a hobby.

Secondary Canon History

IDW Comic Series

Roughly in the 1970s, Egon witnessed a car accident involving his friend Eugene Visitor. Eugene was hit by a car but vanished without a trace. It was one of several events that got Egon interested in supernatural phenomena. In reality, Eugene somehow captured Death in his bag and teleported to 20 years in the future. During his undergraduate years in college, studying abroad, Egon learned the Swedish language while he was researching Gjenganger and studying Draugr in Sweden. While studying abroad, Egon became interested in the Rauoskinna. He invented the P.K.E. Meter to aid him in his search for the book. He managed to collect some strong related readings in northern Europe but ultimately decided it would be better to leave well enough alone and suspended his search. He never closed his investigation and it became something of a cold case. Egon attained several degrees in various scientific disciplines.

When the Ghostbusters were banished by Koza'Rai, only Egon suffered from the effects of chronological displacement. It had an adverse effect on his personality manifesting as a form of cognitive dissonance. He also began to speak in third person. Egon adopted the tyrannical guise of the Great Defender and protected the Outer Colony of Mars from Exploding Manifestations. He automated the colony's defenses and initiated a police state. After Ray knocked him out twice, Egon came back to his senses in the present. Egon quickly deduced Koza'Rai's plans to turn Earth into a Netherworld and told the team Rachel Unglighter was not a student of his. While Egon, Ray, and Winston distracted Koza'Rai and his army, Peter and Rachel toppled the nearly reassembled Stonehenge and pulled all non-living beings back to the Netherworld.

Egon continued to create new additions to the team's arsenal, including Ectoplasmic Glasses and Arm Mounted Proton Packs. After saving some Necrotic Slime, Egon was able to quickly rig a "zombie radar" to track Zombies, controlled by Britt. During the Infestation, he was mainly concerned with safely neutralizing the caustic properties of the slime which was achieved with the team's other problem, Poltergeists.

After Ray had a weird dream, Egon analyzed him with the Aura Video-Analyzer and discovered his brain was not quite in sync. To compound matters, Ray's alpha waves were behaving like a seismograph during an earthquake. Egon concluded the dream was a precognitive episode and wished to examine Ray's brain, at Ray's suggestion, with an MRI. According to his calculations, Egon predicted the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man would return by the weekend. While going over data from his instruments and researching what could be possessing Jim Silver, Egon discovered a new entry forming out of thin air in Spates Catalog. However, the Gozerian Terror Bear returned. During the bust, Egon donned the Boson Pack and easily destabilized it with a few Boson Darts.

After the Idulnas incident, Egon wrote a computer program that calculated an almost random pattern of words that positively stimulated the brain. He ran a sample in Newer York Magazine. A month later, Peter observed the effect in action. A young woman ran up to Egon in public and asked him to sign her chest. Egon planned on publishing a paper on the reactions once he sorted through all the data.

After the Schenectady case, the ambient P.K.E. was still a lot higher than it should be. To compensate for the lasting increase, Egon modified the power of the Proton Streams but the Ghostbusters continued to have a more difficult time on standard cases. Egon concluded the spike was not related to Gozer's recent manifestation nor Idulnas' presence, it was something more potent. For a period of three days, Egon adopted a Polyphasic sleeping schedule and tried to figure out what the problem was. Once research reached an effective standstill, Egon went to Delgado's Gym and ran six miles. After running into Janine and meeting her boyfriend, Roger Baugh, Egon returned to the spot where he thought he saw Eugene Visitor and took scans. 20 minutes later, he got a ping. Egon took Ecto-1a to Belleville in New Jersey and discovered Eugene alive and well in the home of his father, Mr. Visitor. Egon tried to explain to Eugene that he was endangering the natural order of things and the physical plane by keeping Death in his bag. Eugene countered he deserved as second chance and refused to release Death until Egon returned with concrete proof about his claims.

While continuing research into the augmentation of ambient P.K.E., Egon began to suspect it was not exclusive to Manhattan. The Ghostbusters set off on a road trip across America taking on several jobs. During a private job in New Orleans, Egon and the ghost of Marie Laveau shared an interesting conversation about what defines being alive or not. Laveau contended love mattered and gifted Egon with some powerful Gris-Gris for when he was ready to be "alive." In New Mexico, Egon met Special Agent Jim Savage and the two had a heated ideological clash about the paranormal and extraterrestrials.

While investigating the Ghost Smashers, Egon concluded it would only take a day or two for the atomized ghosts to reconstitute and wreak havoc on the city. During his analysis, Egon asked Janine if she was trying to make him jealous by dating Roger.  He told Janine he had noticed how she would date men who shared one or more superficial characteristics with him whenever her advances on Egon failed, only to leave these new men when she lost interest and resume aggressive flirting with Egon. Egon told her made a flow chart of this process once for contrast while studying the haunting of a chapel in Yonkers. Janine reacted angrily, telling Egon that who she dated was not all about making him jealous and stormed off.  After she left, Egon told himself he may have ironically become jealous, and would run an analysis when there was time. In the battle against the Megaspook, Egon had enough of Ron Alexander and choked him.

Months later, in February, Egon was taken by a blue tentacled demon while on the second floor of the Firehouse. He was awoken by Peter and found the Ghostbusters were imprisoned in another dimension. Egon and Ray dismantled Ray's Proton Pack and planned to rip a hole through the dimensional fabric in order to return to New York. However, it was likelier to cause the universe to fold over and destroy both realms. Egon was elected to rip the hole. The plan was a success and the guys found themselves in Times Square. Janine was elated to see them and kissed Egon on the lips. After the Ghostbusters were freed of the Collectors, Ray and Egon elected to delve into pioneering research into extradimensional theory and went over an exhausting compilation of data. Egon even went consulted with a witch doctor on Bleecker about barring the Collectors from the physical plane of existence.

While conducting an experiment, Egon was interrupted by Roger Baugh. While upset, Egon eventually noticed Roger had Yellow Slime on him. They returned to Roger's Apartment had found Janine floating and covered in ectoplasmic discharge. Egon's attempts to neutralize the slime with the Slime Blower failed. Egon and Roger took Janine back to the Firehouse. Egon dropped his Gris-Gris on Janine but she remained unchanged. However, three Draugar manifested behind them. Egon asked how to dispel the curse but was told Janine's soul was forfeit for cheating against the Grendel weeks ago. Egon then threatened them. When they refused, Egon activated the Wall-Trap and captured two of the Draugar. Roger Baugh intervened and before Egon could stop him, the Draugar agreed to show them what happened to Janine.

Both were subjected to a form of astral projection and transported to Janine's mind. They worked their way from the fringes to where the Draugar were with Janine. Egon attempted to talk them into releasing Janine. However, the ghosts decided to kill Egon and Roger and offer their souls to Hel in addition to Janine's. While in a memory of Peter's apartment from New Years Eve 1989, Egon realized the power of mind made things tangible. They quickly ventured to a memory of the Firehouse where Egon donned the Boson Pack. Egon once again issued a threat to release Janine or else. The lone Draugar from before engaged Egon but was dispersed. The other Draugar returned Janine, Egon and Roger to their bodies. The Draugar declared they would have their revenge but Egon activated the Wall-Trap again and captured them all. Instead of discussing what all just happened, Egon went down to the basement to check on the Containment Unit.

Concerned with his well being from the Draugar battle, Egon began a thorough analysis. After several days and no sleep, all tests indicated he was in perfect health. Egon was even more concerned and wanted to know why nothing was wrong. Peter tried to get him to go out on a maritime bust involving the John Milton but Egon was adamant about studying himself. Janine attempted to talk some sense into him, but Egon made a chart. Egon finally found evidence his perceptions were mis-calibrated upon return to his natural form, a gamma wave variance of .00076%. Before he could start to corroborate it, Egon answered a call from Winston who was in Las Vegas. After insisting the Arm Mounted Proton Pack would never jam, Egon quickly guided Winston on how to troubleshoot the pack's issue which was just a loose wire.

As standard precaution, Egon and Kylie ran a series of tests on Dana and Louis in the wake of Tiamat's continued presence on the physical plane. They came to the same conclusion both were still displaying signs of the Terror Birds possessing them. Egon sprayed them with the Miniature Slime Blower but that proved to be a miscalculation. The Terror Birds manifested and chased after them. Egon and Kylie raced to the footlockers in the garage bay and armed themselves with Arm Mounted Proton Packs. Egon opened fire but obliterated Janine's computer instead. While Kylie declared she was telling Janine, Egon blasted a Terror Bird. Observing the lack of damage, Egon ordered Kylie to maximize the power output on her pack. Ten minutes later, the Terror Birds were neutralized. Egon got a Trap from his locker and shared his theory about modifying it to compensate between the difference in frequencies of a human soul and a possessing entity. With no time to think of alternatives, Egon and Kylie went to work. Egon managed to successfully extract and trap Mot from Louis Tully's body. They moved to exorcise Dana.

Egon and Kylie ran more tests on Dana and Louis and confirmed they were back to normal. Egon moved on and was pleased to study the effects of Ray's direct mental contact with Gozer. However, he and the others watched as Ray became possessed and rose up in the air. After Winston sacrificed himself to get rid of Tiamat, Egon examined him and realized his heart was no longer beating. Peter took one of Egon's medical cocktails, a mixture of Atropine, Adrenaline, and other things, and injected it into Winston. While Peter raced after the very animated Winston, Egon helped Ray manually vent the Containment Unit. Tribeca was spared from being turned into a smoking crater but a few ghosts were still released. During the firefight against Ellen Gold, Egon broke away and searched for a Trap, obscured by the Wander Hills Manifestation. Eventually, he found one and recaptured Gold along with the Crybaby Ghost. At some point, Ray and Egon constructed a Dimensional Inverter to detect and warn of fallout from a dimensional breach. On September 14, Egon was one of the personnel contracted to help Special Agent Ortiz deal with Hedylogos in St. Louis, Missouri. He believed Hedylogos' power was similar in nature to pheromones and collected some Ectoplasm for the Gateway Arch to test the theory post-incident.

Egon realized the situation at the Emmanuel Baptist Church was bigger than he thought due to the presence of Possessed Humans and four anthropomorphic constructs. Stranger when the constructs were left behind after Chi-You retreated. He examined his P.K.E. Meter and noticed levels were declining. That and a lack of aggression from them led Egon to conclude they were something else. Winston, in turn, called a cease fire. Egon continued scanning the Turtles and April O'Neil. He confirmed they were also emitting low-level phase variance at the cellular level which matched, in part, with Chi-You's readings. He believed they were out of sync with the dimension and part of the breach Kylie reported. After introductions, Egon suggested they reconvene at the Firehouse where there was equipment that could be used to track Chi-You and Casey Jones. Donatello's skepticism towards the existence of ghosts and inclination towards an alien theory caught Egon's attention. Egon made it clear ghosts existed and aliens didn't. When news of an incident at the Madison Square Garden reached the Ghostbusters, Egon felt time was better served building a teleportation unit but Leonardo pointed out not all of the Turtles were mechanically inclined. Egon revealed the energy readings he detected off the Turtles and April were degrading, readings that were crucial in them returning home to their dimension. He estimated they had 72 hours at the most.

With the added task of severing the bond between Chi-You and his thralls, Egon agreed with Donatello's suggestion of utilizing low-voltage pulses. Hours later, Egon presented modified Arm Mounted Proton Packs to the Turtles and instructed them to press the hand attachment to each thralls' chest. Meanwhile, Egon and Ray worked on building an Interspatial Teleportation Unit with April and Donatello. Once Casey was brought back, Egon examined him and determined he was back to normal. Egon went back to work on the teleporter with Donatello and suggested April work with Ray on an EMP device to take out Chi-You's thralls all at once. After several hours, Egon and Donatello made strides in recreating a functional teleportation unit in the Firehouse basement. Undaunted by the proximity alarm being tripped, Egon continued and had Donatello power on the unit. However, it became apparent Egon miscalculated the intense drain the teleportation unit would have on the containment grid's power supply. They rushed to stabilize the grid before it ruptured and caused a horrific explosion. Egon rerouted power from a panel and Donatello located several blown boards in the Containment Unit's control panel. They managed to avert disaster while the others captured Chi-You. Sparing any extraneous goodbyes, Egon stated it was time for them to go through the portal back to their proper dimension. Egon then adjusted the coordinates for Winston to dump the Trap holding Chi-You in Proxima Centauri.

The Ghostbusters returned to the Firehouse from a case and discovered parallel versions of themselves let Slimer loose by accident but retrapped him. They talked. Egon scanned and poked them. Egon suggested their first course of action should be a full battery of tests. With enough biometric data, they could be sent home. They went to the basement to look at the Interspatial Teleportation Unit. Egon and Ray compiled biometric data off the parallel Peter and Winston in order to isolate the frequency of their home dimension. A couple hours later, after double checking their findings, Egon confirmed they achieved a stable frequency and the parallel team could return home. P.K.E. readings take by Ray in the alternate Ghostbusters' dimension indicated Proteus had a potential susceptibility to quantum interruption. Egon held out a Proton Grenade and noted the yield had to be boosted. The Egons armed their Proton Grenades and tossed them at Proteus, effectively stunning him. The Ghostbusters caught him in their streams but as a result Proteus had to show them the future eight times. The Ghostbusters were knocked out.

During reconstruction at the Firehouse, Egon determined the integrity of the Containment Unit was maintained but that the damage to the building caused by Proteus would require a massive amount of money and effort to repair. He, himself, worked a lot of extended hours and wasn't sleeping much. He proposed they should talk about decentralizing operations and make use of the Ghostbusters' other properties. They were approached by Brent Mitchell to investigate a bizarre case of a woman named Karen Pearson who woke up missing an eye. The culprit, the Sandman, focused on Egon as his next target because of his habit of avoiding sleep. Ray, Peter, and Winston escaped their dream states and found Egon writing equations and notes in a room that looked like a limitless white board. The Sandman soon appeared to them. Egon conjured the Boson Pack and fired at him. The others joined in. Sandman conjured walls separating Ray, Peter, and Winston from himself and Egon. He proceeded to remove Egon's eye with a curved blade while admitting this was the first time someone fought him and caused him pain. After Ray, Peter, and Winston destroyed the barrier, Egon quickly instructed them to shoot the Sandman's hourglass totem. He was dispersed and the Ghostbusters regained consciousness on the physical plane. Back at the Warehouse, Ray determined that Egon only suffered superficial damage to the supraorbital foramen then shared his findings on the Sandman. Egon soon feel asleep.

During the bust at the United Nations Building, Egon's left leg was injured when the Werecat Ghost expelled chemically volatile ectoplasm on him. A $15,000 surcharge was added to the invoice to cover Egon's injury. As Egon was placed in the back of an ambulance, his P.K.E. Meter oddly registered something, but the paramedics were more concerned with treating him than handing it to him. Some new theories came to mind as he received medical attention and he wanted to explore where they led. He contacted Kylie and asked her to bring reference material, including the expanded Spates Catalog and three volumes of Kemp's Paranormal Encyclopedia, and six months of citywide P.K.E. scan logs. Kylie dropped them off at his apartment and tried to inquire about these "theories" but Egon rushed her into the hall. Egon got sick from some couscous he ordered from a new Moroccan restaurant down the block and was unable to attend the Ghostbusters' meeting with Erland Vinter a few days later.

As Egon continued with his recovery and investigation, he declined to take part in any extensive field work including a trip to Europe as part of a deal struck with Vinter. In particular, he refused to take any jobs with stairs. While the other Ghostbusters took a private jet to Venice, Egon visited the New York Public Library in search of a copy of "The Johansen Argument" but it was missing. He called up Ray's Occult and asked Kylie if the store had a copy but it appeared to have been already sold. He promptly hung up. During a confrontation with the Plague Doctor Ghost, Ray shot his way into a basement and discovered a Poveglian Artifact, a parchment drenched in P.K.E. with a rune drawn on it and with faint Swedish written underneath. Ray took photographs and emailed them a few hours later to Egon for a translation. They held a conference call. From his apartment, Egon confirmed the readings on the artifact matched both the readings he picked up at the United Nations and readings he took years ago in Sweden. He admitted it unearthed something of a "cold case" of his and confirmed he would continue with his investigation while the others were dispatched by Vinter to another city in Europe. Egon bid them to be careful, he didn't like where this was all heading. Egon looked at one of his old journals, open to a drawing of the exact rune on the Poveglian artifact.

Melanie informed Janine she wanted to borrow Egon and Kylie for a FBI investigation that just came up. She gave Melanie two cases to work with them while she was in town for the day and suggested she ask them for their help then. During the bust at The Olympia Restaurant, Egon prematurely blasted a register but Melanie jinxed it and one of the Olympia Restaurant Ghosts shot coins out of it. Egon tried to back out from helping Melanie on her case due to his vital research on a Scandinavian spell book. Melanie countered it was a four hour flight to Puerto Rico and he'd get plenty of reading done en route. On the off chance he was severely incapacitated during the Puerto Rico case, Egon recorded his research on the Rauoskinna for future reference. He was interrupted by the ghost in his research tank. Egon reminded him of the security measures in his apartment. He was surprised to see the ghost knew a certain gesture.

On May 12, Melanie, Egon, and Kylie arrived at a hospital in Cayey, Puerto Rico. After hearing Miguel Castillo's account of a woman in white, Egon posited they were dealing with a type of manifestation related to the Weeping Woman in White lore that included La Llorona from Mexican legend. They spent the next few hours searching locations where the ghost was sighted. After nearly exhausting every lead, the ghost appeared and tried to drown Kylie. Melanie was about to jump in after her but Egon cautioned her since Proton Packs were never tested for use in water. They watched as the ghost and a Proton Stream erupted from the surface, followed by Kylie. Despite extreme pain in his thigh muscle, Egon hurried after her with the others. It attacked Kylie with possessed earth. She used her Trap to trick her into vacating the earth. Melanie and Egon opened fire and wrangled her. Egon noticed she was almost strong enough to pull free because of his Arm Mounted Proton Pack's lower output. He threw out a Trap and captured her. They later found the Ghost Dog and determined it was just trying to warn people of the other ghost. Kylie and Egon returned home while Melanie stayed behind to verify they trapped the correct entity.

After the Cayey case, Egon got an epiphany while going over some data from recent encounters. He made some adjustments to the Psychokinetic Defibrillator to give it more offensive capability to efficiently force out a possessor while minimizing any harm done to the human host. Egon was interrupted by a visit from Loftur Þorsteinsson. Loftur presented a copy of "The Johansen Argument." Egon saw through his story about being referred by Eduardo Rivera and blasted him with the Defibrillator. However, no damage was done. Egon realized he wasn't possessed. Loftur sent Egon flying across his room. Loftur formally introduced himself. Egon released the Gulper Ghost and it slimed Loftur. Egon called him a coward for trying to manipulate the Ghostbusters into finding the Rauoskinna. Loftur admitted he should have directly asked the them for help then offered a deal to Egon, help him locate the book. Egon refused. Loftur atomized Egon and mused they might talk again once he's thought about his answer.

Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime

Egon discovered the supernatural activity, caused by the Relic of Nilhe, had a predictable migratory progression southeast from its point of origin. According to his analysis, Egon believed it was headed to the Sedgewick Hotel. However, with the team exhausted, Egon suggested it was time for the junior team to take on their first solo mission. Some time later, with testimony from Janosz Poha, Egon allowed the junior team to follow a preemptive strategy and go after other shards of the Relic.

Animated Series

He appears in the cartoon with a blonde yellow hair color and red glasses. Much like his movie counterpart he is the egghead of the group. One noted difference between him and the movie version is in later seasons when he plays more of a leadership role than he did in the two films.

The following is part of the animated canon universe for this character:

Primary Canon

• The Real Ghostbusters
• Slimer!
• Extreme Ghostbusters

Secondary Canon

• NOW Comics "The Real Ghostbusters"
• NOW Comics "The Real Ghostbusters starring in Ghostbusters II"
• NOW Comics "Slimer! and Marvel UK Reissues
• Marvel UK "The Real Ghostbusters"
• The Real Ghostbusters Magazine series
• IDW Comics "Mars Attacks The Real Ghostbusters" one-off
• IDW Comics "The Real Ghostbusters" back up story (four part series)
• Data East's "The Real Ghostbusters" video game
• "Extreme Ghostbusters" the video game
• "Extreme Ghostbusters: Code Ecto-1" the video game
• "Extreme Ghostbusters: The Ultimate Invasion" the video game
  

To read more about the Animated counterpart character, please check out "Egon Spengler "Animated".

Trivia

• The character of Egon Spengler was named after Oswald Spengler and a classmate of Harold Ramis' at Senn High School named Egon Donsbach who was a Hungarian refugee.

• Christopher Walken, John Lithgow, Christopher Lloyd and Jeff Goldblum were considered for the role of Egon.

• Egon's character was envisioned as a human computer - a 'New Wave Mr. Spock'.

• In the first movie novelization, Egon spent his childhood in the quiet suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio.

• In the novelization, young Egon read books such as "The Mysteries of Latent Abnormality," "Electrical Applications of the Psycho-sexual Drive," "Your Friend the Fungus," "Astral Projections as an Untapped Power Source," and "The Necronomicon."

• Egon is also said to have a brother in the novel. Aside from the aforementioned Slinky, Egon's brother was said to own a Lionel train set, the tracks of which young Egon had commandeered to use in an experiment. Young Egon used three concentric rings from Plasticville houses in his brother's Lionel train layout as components in a compact explosive.

• In the novelization, Egon displayed a scientific attitude quite early in life, as he would pester librarians into ordering various arcane books to read, conducting an anti-gravity experiment utilizing a jungle gym and hundreds of feet of industrial copper wire (which managed to brown out all of Brooklyn in a crude EMP burst). By observing fellow high school students making out in the park and applying a variety of scientific principles, Egon managed to precisely forecast the exact number of VD cases in Ohio state for that year. As a result, most parents would express a strong aversion to letting their children associate with him.

• In the novelization, Peter introduced Egon and Ray to each other.

• In the novelization, Egon lives in an apartment and maintains a rooftop fungus farm.

• In the novelization, Egon tells Janine that his rationale behind his interest in spores, molds and fungi is that he believes that they will become the food of the future. To which Janine flatly replies "remind me to never have lunch with you."

• In the novelization, Egon was the first scientist to hypnotize a hamster by subjecting it to low-frequency radio waves. He also made a sonic gun that set off soft-drink cans at 100 yards.

• In the 8/5/1983 script, Egon owned a 1957 Saab car.

• In the 10/7/1983 script, it was noted Egon single-handedly got Peter through graduate school.

• In the 10/7/1983 script, Egon tells Vinz Clortho he is a "Doctor of Physics, Graduate of M.I.T."

• Harold Ramis wrote the line about Egon trying to drill a hole in his head. It was inspired by a thwarted experiment by John Lilly, a prominent researcher in dolphin communication who proposed drilling a hole in his head to test some higher brain function.

• Egon has a fondness for junk food. In the first movie he's shown to be eating Cheez-Its and a candy bar, and scarfs down the Twinkee he uses to illustrate the level of PKE in the New York area. In the Ghostbusters role-playing game Egon is known to eat large quantities of fish. It's implied that this helped him attain his high intelligence quotient. (fish is regarded by some as a brain nurturing food.) Egon is also shown to enjoy Chinese takeout.

• During the first commercial, Egon looks down at his mark.

• Egon subtly gives Peter the numbers to the cost of the bill that Peter quotes to the manager of the Sedgewick in the first movie.

• In the West End role-playing game, Egon's motivation is "Soulless Science." Which means he's far more interested in the overall goal of acquiring knowledge, with little to no regard of how it might inconvenience or endanger others.

• In the Ghostbusters II August 5, 1988 draft, Egon was working as a physics professor specializing in quantum theory.

• In the Ghostbusters II August 5, 1988 draft, Egon refused to help Peter at first.

• In the August 5, 1988 and February 27, 1989 versions of the Ghostbusters II script, during the set up to the final battle and the epilogue scene respectively, Egon revealed his grandparents came to America from Ostrov in Eastern Poland.

• Egon's favorite foods seem to be Thai and Mexican.

• If the 1990 Earth Day Special is considered canon, Egon has a twin brother named Elon Spengler. Elon is President of the Wastebusters. He is also possibly the father of Egon's unnamed niece and Ed Spengler of "Freddy vs. Ghostbusters" and "Return of the Ghostbusters" fanon fame.

• The game Dungeons of Dredmor has a skill named "Fungal Arts", which says "You collect molds, spores, and fungus", a reference to Egon's hobby.

• In the 88MPH Studios Legion miniseries, Egon reveals he's moved on from a fungus to a coral hobby, admits he prefers free diving over scuba because he doesn't believe in compressed air, reveals he worked at a Krazy's one summer... and experimented in the deep fryer.

• In the Ghost Busted (manga), in Chapter One Page 18, Egon tells an actress he studied four years at Columbia University, studied two years at Oxford University, and had an extended residence with the Gnostic Monks of Carpathia.

• In Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Realistic Versions), posted up in the second floor lab area is a child's drawing. It is addressed to "Uncle Egon From Ed"
  • This was a nod to the Denver Ghostbusters fan-film series. Ed Spengler is the Denver team's resident scientist and nephew of Egon Spengler.

• In Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Realistic Versions), Egon has three total messages on the Firehouse answering machine after Checking Out the Library, Museum of (Super)Natural History, and Lost Island Rising.

• In the IDW Comics canon, Egon is occasionally accused of having Asperger's.

• In Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #20, Egon revealed he was once a victim of forced delusion but he doesn't talk about it.
  • Egon's admission is meant to be open to interpretation.

• On his Ghostbusters: The Board Game character card, Egon's employee ID # is listed as 111 75 0730.

• On page 19 of Ghostbusters Annual 2015:
  • On panel 2, to the upper left of Egon is his "Print is dead" line from the first movie, "Epidiymus" line in the second movie, and "We eat gods for breakfast" line at the end of The Video Game.
  • On panel 2, to the middle left of Egon is "Oswald Donsbach," a nod to the inspirations for the name 'Egon Spengler' - Oswald Spengler and Egon Donsbach
  • On panel 2, left of Egon's boots is "Balloon will pop," a nod to the four dimensional balloon that was originally part of the Twinkie metaphor seen in drafts of the first movie and explained in annotation on Making Ghostbusters page 104
  • On panel 2, left of Egon's boots is Thai Mexican," to ideas Egon proposed to Ray for take out as they analyzed the photographs of Vigo in the second movie.
  • On panel 2, in the lower right is a nod to Egon admitting to straightening part of a slinky to Ray in Ghostbusters II.

• In Ghostbusters International #3, on page 20, Egon's Vista credit card is visible on the table. The credit card number is 4024653159.

• Egon and Ray were once convinced the Eiffel Tower was engineered to be some kind of primitive Containment Unit.

• On page 2 of Ghostbusters International #6, Egon revealed he did research on conscious thermoregulation and as a result, he never sweats.

• In Ghostbusters International #7, Egon is atomized by Loftur in a way that is visually similar to what happened to his animated counterpart in The Real Ghostbusters episode "Egon's Ghost"

Quotes

• "Print is dead."
• "I think they're more interested in my epididymis."
• "We eat gods for breakfast!"

Appearances

• Ghostbusters
• Ghostbusters II
• Ghostbusters: The Video Game

Secondary Canon Appearances

• 88MPH Studios
  • The Zeddemore Factor
  • Legion 1
  • Legion 2
  • Legion 3
  • Legion 4
• Ghost Busted (manga)
  • Chapter 1
  • Chapter 4
  • Chapter 5
  • Chapter 6
• IDW Comics
  • "The Other Side 1"
  • "The Other Side 2"
  • "The Other Side 3"
  • "The Other Side 4"
  • "Displaced Aggression 1"
  • "Displaced Aggression 3"
  • "Displaced Aggression 4"
  • "Past, Present, and Future"
  • "Tainted Love"
  • "Con-Volution"
  • "What in Samhain Just Happened?!"
  • "Guess What's Coming to Dinner?"
  • "Ghostbusters: Infestation 1"
  • "Ghostbusters: Infestation 2"
  • Volume One
    • Issue #1
    • Issue #2
    • Issue #3
    • Issue #4
    • Issue #5
    • Issue #6
    • Issue #7
    • Issue #8
    • Issue #9
    • Issue #10
    • Issue #11
    • Issue #12
    • Issue #13
    • Issue #14
    • Issue #15
    • Issue #16
  • Volume Two
    • Issue #1
    • Issue #2
    • Issue #3
    • Issue #4
    • Issue #5
    • Issue #6
    • Issue #7
    • Issue #8
    • Issue #9
    • Issue #10
    • Issue #11
    • Issue #12
    • Issue #13
    • Issue #14
    • Issue #15
    • Issue #16
    • Issue #17
    • Issue #18
    • Issue #19
    • Issue #20
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ghostbusters
    • Issue #1
    • Issue #2
    • Issue #3
    • Issue #4
  • Ghostbusters Get Real
    • Issue #1
    • Issue #2
    • Issue #3
    • Issue #4
  • Ghostbusters Annual 2015
    • "Daydreams and Nightmares!"
    • "Hot Foot"
    • "No Sale"
    • "A Fall Wind in Summer"
  • Volume 3
    • Ghostbusters International #1
    • Ghostbusters International #2
      • Benvenuti A Venezia
      • Haunted America Case File
    • Ghostbusters International #3
      • Help Wanted
      • Haunted America Case File
        • Mentioned Haunted America Case Files on page 23
    • Ghostbusters International #4
    • Ghostbusters International #5
    • Ghostbusters International #6
      • Part 6
      • Haunted America Case File
    • Ghostbusters International #7
• Ghostbusters: Times Scare!
• The X-Files: Conspiracy: Ghostbusters
• Ghostbusters: Deviations
• Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime
• Cryptozoic Entertainment
  • Ghostbusters: The Board Game

References

Template:Reflist

Gallery

Primary Canon

He found what he was looking for....

First impressions...

Egon as seen in Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Realistic Versions)

Secondary Canon

As seen in Legion miniseries

As seen in Legion miniseries

As seen in Legion miniseries

As seen in Zeddemore Factor

As seen in Ghost Busted (manga), Chapter 1

As seen in Ghost Busted (manga), Chapter 4

As seen in Ghost Busted (manga), Chapter 6

Egon as seen in Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Stylized Versions)

Egon as seen in Profile in Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Stylized Portable Versions)

As seen in "The Other Side 1"

As seen in "Displaced Aggression 3"

As seen in "Displaced Aggression 3"

As seen in "Displaced Aggression 4"

As seen in "Past, Present, and Future"

In his 60's in "Past, Present, and Future"

As seen in "Tainted Love"

As seen in "Con-Volution"

As seen in "What in Samhain Just Happened?!"

As seen in "Guess What's Coming to Dinner?"

As seen in "Ghostbusters: Infestation 1"

As seen in Ghostbusters Issue #5

As seen in Volume 1 Issue #5

As seen in Volume 1 Issue #5

As seen in 1970s in Ghostbusters Issue #8

As seen in Volume 1 Issue #8

As seen in Volume 1 Issue #8

As seen on back of Volume 2 TPB

As seen in Ghostbusters Issue #9

As seen in Ghostbusters Issue #10

As seen in Volume 1 Issue #10

As seen in Ghostbusters Issue #11

As seen in Ghostbusters Issue #12

As seen on back of Volume 3 TPB

As seen on back of Volume 4 TPB

As seen in Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #4

As seen in Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #5

As seen in Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #7

As seen in Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #10

As seen in Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #11

As seen in Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #14

As seen in Volume 2 Issue #14

As seen in Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #15

Future version seen in Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #16

Future version seen in Volume 2 Issue #16

Future version seen in Volume 2 Issue #16

As seen in Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #17

As seen in Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #20

As seen on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters #1 Subscription Cover

As seen in TMNT/Ghostbusters Issue #3

As seen in TMNT/Ghostbusters Issue #4

As seen in Ghostbusters: Get Real Issue #1

As seen in Get Real Issue #1

As seen on Ghostbusters Get Real Issue #2 subscription cover

As seen in Get Real Issue #2

As seen on Get Real Issue #3 Regular Cover

As seen in Get Real Issue #3

As seen in Ghostbusters Annual 2015

As seen in Ghostbusters International #1

As seen in Ghostbusters International #4

As seen in Ghostbusters International #6

As seen in Ghostbusters International #6

As seen in Ghostbusters International #6

As seen in Ghostbusters International #7

Dispersed by Loftur in Ghostbusters International #7

As seen in Times Scare!

As seen in The X-Files: Conspiracy: Ghostbusters

As seen on X-Files: Conspiracy: Ghostbusters Cover RI

As seen in Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime 1st Cinematic

As seen in Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime Final Cinematic

3d rendering of Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters: The Board Game

3d 360 Turn rendering of Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters: The Board Game

Egon from in Ghostbusters: The Board Game Introduction Video

Front of figure from Ghostbusters: The Board Game

Back of figure from Ghostbusters: The Board Game

Side of figure from Ghostbusters: The Board Game

Preview of Egon's Ghostbusters: The Board Game Character Card

Egon's Ghostbusters: The Board Game Character Card

Egon's Ghostbusters: The Board Game Character Card

As seen in Ghostbusters: Deviations

Non Canon

Egon in the 2008 E3 trailer for Ghostbusters: The Video Game

Egon as seen in Ghostbusters: The Video Game Rule 3 trailer

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