Ectoplasm (also known as Ghost Slime and Ectoplasmic Residue) is a substance that comes from ghosts and outworldly beings. It usually appears in a form of a slimy green substance, but sometimes is visually completely absent, leaving only energetic traces Egon usually finds with his gear.
All ghosts and paranormal activities are considered to be "ectoplasmic" by Ghostbusters, leading to the conclusion that it is a scientific equivalent to the occult term "magic power". It is speculated that it is the state of being which the outworldly creatures like ghosts and demons take in order to enter our realm.
It appears in all Ghostbusters media.
History
Primary Canon History
Ghostbusters (1984)
Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler encountered a translucent ectoplasmic residue left behind by the Library ghost. Peter was tasked with collection a sample in a Plastic Petri Dish but it got all over him. He rubbed it all over several books. Peter was later covered in Ectoplasm after Slimer charged into him at the Sedgewick Hotel. Egon asked Ray to save a sample of it for him. Peter remarked he felt so funky.
Ghostbusters II
Psychomagnotheric Slime is a form of Ectoplasm whose polarity is relevant to the mood of the environment it is located in. It was first encountered during the Vigo the Carpathian incident in 1989. Positively charged slime was added to the Ghostbusters' arsenal. Psychomagnotheric Slime has been known to animate objects ranging in size from a simple fur coat to the Statue of Liberty. In moments of extreme anger, it has been known to animate spirits.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Muncher left blue Ectoplasm behind on every object in Summerville he took a bite out of.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Sewer Dragon left blue Ectoplasm behind during the chase through SoHo. Trevor Spengler found a green Ectoplasm drip from the alleged black mold spot on his bedroom ceiling on the third floor of the Firehouse. He checked the attic and was slimed by Slimer. Despite its small size, Pukey regurgitated a lengthy stream of yellow-green Ectoplasm in its enclosure at the Paranormal Research Center.
Secondary Canon History
Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Realistic Version)
Ectoplasm
According to Tobin's Spirit Guide
- Catergory: Class I Supernatural Secretion
- Type: Environmental (Inert)
- Weakness: Scan only
Notes:
A thick, viscous substance, ectoplasm is formed when ghosts interact with the physical world. Usually seen as a viscous, mucuslike slime, ectoplasm has also been encountered in mistlike and even crystalline forms.
Contact Protocol:
Standard Ectoplasm is an environmental substance that you will come across very often. It has no observable behaviors and thus requires no contact protocol. After scanning once, you know everything you need to know.
Manifestation Point:
- Everywhere
Ectoplasmic Residue
The Ectoplasmic Residue are slimy ectoplasmic left-overs of the ghostly activity.
According to Tobin's Spirit Guide
- Catergory: Class I Supernatural Secretion
- Type: Environmental (Inert)
- Weakness: Scan only
Notes:
Ectoplasmic Residue identifies ares of paranormal contact or interaction. While some ectoplasm can be seen with the naked eye, Ectoplasmic Residue can only be seen while using the P.K.E.-enhanced Paragoggles.
Contact Protocol:
Like Ectoplasm, this has no observable behaviors. The only difference between this and regular ectoplasm is that some ghosts leave Ectoplasmic Residue behind, providing an ethereal trail of bread crumbs for you to follow.
Manifestation Point:
Black Slime
Black Slime is specialized form of negatively hypercharged ectoplasm that was described by Ray Stantz as being highly toxic to both body and soul. Treatment with positively charged slime to negate it was an absolute requisite before stepping into an area that had been coated with it.
Other Ectoplasm
The Cult of Gozer also kept Blue and Yellow Ectoplasm in the Slime Laboratories of Shandor Castle.[1] The function, if any, of these two strains were never revealed.
Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Stylized Version)
Ectoplasmic Residue
According to Tobin's Spirit Guide
- Category: None
- Abilities: None
Tobin's Summary:
Ectoplasmic Residue occurs when a spirit passes from the ethereal plane into our physical plane. The ectoplasm is the means by which the spirit can affect physical objects and force its will into physical reality. Fortunately this substance in its basic form isn't harmful, but merely stomach-turning and messy. I'm still studying the causative relationship between this slimy substance and the spirit that carries it with them, whether the plasm is a side effect of the interdimensional penetration or if the spirit manifests it intentionally.
Egon's Notes:
Since the advent of our protonic equipment, ectoplasm is a double-edged sword for these wayward spirits. In the same manner that it provides them with a grasp on the physical plane, it also allows our Blast and Capture Streams to latch onto the spirit, leading to their untimely capture.
Ray's Tips:
If you get it on your clothes, use bleach.
Supplemental Data
The art page can be found in Shandor's Island, during the "Shandor's Island" section. It is in a corner of the missing pump wheel room.
IDW Comics
All entities, including ghosts, demons, phantoms, specters, spooks, ghouls, and poltergeists, leave behind ectoplasm when they make contact with something or someone in the physical world. Even those that can maintain full corporeal form but they tend not to leave behind enough ectoplasm to be visible to the naked eye. A P.K.E. Meter is required to pick up the microscopic traces. [2] Over the years, the Ghostbusters encountered several kinds of ectoplasm and certain colored types come with their own special properties.
Known Varieties
Standard Ectoplasm
Also known as Green Ectoplasm, it is the most common form of residue seen. It ranges in shades from a bright forest green to a very gray with a light green shimmer. Slimer is known to emit very green ectoplasm while the Library ghost left behind a very opaque shade of it. The ectoplasm doesn't easily launder out of clothing or hair and is known to cause gastrointestinal distress if consumed.
Psychomagnotheric Ectoplasm
Black Ectoplasm
See Black Slime
Necrotic Ectoplasm
See Necrotic Slime. Necrotic Ectoplasm is considered to be the most potent strain of Black Ectoplasm.[3]
Yellow Ectoplasm
See Yellow Slime
Red Ectoplasm
See Red Ectoplasm
Purple Ectoplasm
See Purple Slime
Trivia
Ghostbusters (1984) Trivia
- In the first movie, most of the Ectoplasm was a methylcellulose compound, a powdered thickening agent used in pharmaceuticals and food products, except for the ecto shower accompanying the Containment Unit shut down. Water was employed in order to preserve the costume worn by Harold Ramis for the scene because it needed to be used again and was one of a kind. [4][5][6]
- Blair Adhesives made 165 gallons of ectoplasm for the first movie.[7]
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Trivia
- Senior SFX Technician Doug McCarthy was instructed to create an exact match to Slimer's ectoplasm that was used in the first movie. Gil Kenan even put it on his hands to rest the translucency. Once they got it, McCarthy made various thicknesses in the required colors for different shots.[8]
- A batch of standard ectoplasm used on Frozen Empire was created with mixing 24 grams of food thickener made of plant cellulose with 2.6 grams of green coloring, slowly tapping the mix in 1 liter of cold water and 1 liter of hot water, and using a mixer then when it thickens, letting it sit for 12 to 24 hours.[9][10][11][12]
- 30 grams total was used to make ectoplasm that drips from the Firehouse ceiling.[13]
- For the shot of Trevor being slimed by Slimer in the Firehouse attic, a slime rig was worn. The part worn on the back has two pressure tanks and a vessel between the tanks for the slime. A remote firing system activates it. When the valve goes, the slime goes into tubes in the back and/or front into a bowl that reverses its direction to simulate the act of being slimed. It took several weeks of testing and several test subjects to get the rig right. The digital team painted the rig out of the shots.[14][15]
- The ectoplasm made for Pukey was referred to as "Ecto Puke" by the crew. The colors were yellow with a little bit of green.[16][17]
IDW Trivia
- On page 23 of Ghostbusters 101 #3:
- In the standard ectoplasm section, Smells "Funky" is a nod to Peter's statement of feeling so funky after he was slimed by Slimer in the first movie.
See Also
- Psychomagnotheric Slime
- Black Slime
- Singing Slime
- Slime Laboratories
- Necrotic Slime
- Yellow Slime
- Purple Slime
- Red Ectoplasm
- Laughing Ectoplasm
References
- ↑ Winston Zeddemore (2009). Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Realistic Version)- Lost Island Rising Level "When Rookie and Winston enter the Slime Labs" (2009) (PC/PS3/Xbox 360). Atari. Winston Zeddemore says: "There's blue slime, pink slime, yellow slime."
- ↑ Ghostbusters 101 Class Notes (2017). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters 101 #3" (2017) (Comic p.24). Ghostbusters 101 Class Notes reads: "Entities that are able to maintain full corporeal status tend not to leave behind enough ectoplasm on contact to be visible to the naked eye, but make no mistake, even in microscopic amounts, it's there. And detectable via PKE."
- ↑ Ghostbusters 101 Class Notes (2017). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters 101 #3" (2017) (Comic p.24). Ghostbusters 101 Class Notes reads: "Highly dangerous, highly toxic. Black slime should not be approached, inhaled, stared at too long, or even mocked. The most potent strains can force an absorption of raw PKE that can mimic the effects of a possession, but without a driving intelligence -- basically turning into a zombie (not necessarily the cannibalistic ghoul found in pop culture, but an aggressive, mindless mound of flesh). The slime also attacks on the cellular level, causing painful sores to appear, internally and externally."
- ↑ Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 81 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "Joe Day applies 'ectoslime' to Bill Murray. In reality, the gooey substance was derived from methylcellulose ether -- a powdered thickening agent used in pharmaceuticals and food products."
- ↑ Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 143 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "Although a methylcellulose compound had been developed for the ectoslime featured earlier in the film, the ecto shower outside the firehouse was acheieved quite simply with water.'"
- ↑ Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 143 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Joe Medjuck says: "We had intended to use something very slimy and gooey, and have it pour down on everybody - which, quite frankly, the actors weren't looking forward to it at all. As it turned out, though, Harold Ramis was wearing a suit in the shot that we were going to be needing later. And since we had only that one particular suit, we were afraid of ruining it with our ectoslime. So we had to settle for regular water. Since they had to be drenched in the stuff, the actors were greatly relieved.'"
- ↑ Discovery YouTube "Mike lives his lifelong dream of getting slimed! | Dirty Jobs | Discovery" 6:39-6:40 3/10/2023 Scott Hegar says: "165 gallons.'"
- ↑ Ghostbusters Fans Doug McCarthy reply 3/4/2024 Doug McCarthy says: "So , I was instructed to do an exact match on the slime used when Bill was on the floor after Slimer hitting him, we spent some time on it and Gil was putting it on his hands to test the translucency and we got it spot on, but when you put in in a cup etc the colour looks far stronger, so when you see this it does Match GB1. I made various thicknesses of slime in the required colours for different shots."
- ↑ Adam Savage's Tested YouTube "Adam Savage Gets SLIMED on the Ghostbusters Set!" 1:46-2:18 3/5/2024 Doug McCarthy says: "This amount here, we're going to make two liters. Brett, my wonderful assistant, is going to get a liter of hot water, please. And a liter of cold water. We worked out that with this 12 grams per liter...I'm giving you my work away here, someone's going to take over. You'll be on the job next time and I'll be out. 12 grams per liter was exactly the right amount which looked spot on to what was on Bill Murray when he gets slimed at the first."
- ↑ Adam Savage's Tested YouTube "Adam Savage Gets SLIMED on the Ghostbusters Set!" 3:59-4:06 3/5/2024 Doug McCarthy says: "This is to get the right color, I use 2.6 grams of this green coloring which is used for children's stuff."
- ↑ Adam Savage's Tested YouTube "Adam Savage Gets SLIMED on the Ghostbusters Set!" 3:54-3:57 3/5/2024 Doug McCarthy says: "Okay, so we've done 24 grams of that."
- ↑ Adam Savage's Tested YouTube "Adam Savage Gets SLIMED on the Ghostbusters Set!" 4:55-5:03 3/5/2024 Doug McCarthy says: "Generally speaking we leave it 12 to 24 hours so that any air can come up to the surface."
- ↑ Adam Savage's Tested YouTube "Adam Savage Gets SLIMED on the Ghostbusters Set!" 2:26-2:33 3/5/2024 Doug McCarthy says: "Now, we have gone a little thicker. We've gone up to 30 grams of stuff that was kind of dripping out the ceiling real slow."
- ↑ Adam Savage's Tested YouTube "Adam Savage Gets SLIMED on the Ghostbusters Set!" 9:00-9:15 3/5/2024 Brett Ellis says: "There's a scene near the beginning of the film with Trevor in the attic. Has a run-in with Slimer so it was to create a practical effect of the slime that flies through him and they wanted an entry and exit wound of slime."
- ↑ Adam Savage's Tested YouTube "Adam Savage Gets SLIMED on the Ghostbusters Set!" 10:16-10:22 3/5/2024 Brett Ellis says: "Many weeks for our unfortunate test subjects getting slimed many times."
- ↑ Adam Savage's Tested YouTube "Adam Savage Gets SLIMED on the Ghostbusters Set!" 2:34-2:40 3/5/2024 Doug McCarthy says: "We've made another one called Ecto Puke. Yes, Pukey."
- ↑ Adam Savage's Tested YouTube "Adam Savage Gets SLIMED on the Ghostbusters Set!" 2:43-2:49 3/5/2024 Doug McCarthy says: "It's a lot of yellow. Bright yellow with a bit of green in it just to give this luminescent horribleness."
Gallery
Primary Canon Images
Secondary Canon Images
Behind the Scenes Images
