Walter Peck
Talk0this wiki
 This article is about content that is either unreleased or only out recently that may be seen as a spoiler. This means that there is no spoiler rule in effect. Read the Spoiler Policy. |
| Walter Peck | |
|---|---|
|
Environmental Protection Agency Inspector | |
| |
| Appeared in | Ghostbusters Ghostbusters: The Video Game IDW Comics |
| Played by | William Atherton |
"Forget it, Venkman! You had your chance to co-operate, but you thought it'd be more fun to insult me; well now it is my turn, wise-ass."
- Walter Peck; Ghostbusters
Walter J. Peck was an inspector for the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, for the third district, in the greater New York area.
Contents |
Personality
Edit
Mr. Peck, though initially professional in his demeanor can be quickly reduced to visible agitation when he is not co-operated with. He was particularly offended by Peter Venkman's unwillingness to allow him to inspect the Ghostbusters' facilities. As a result, he has shown that he is perfectly willing to lay spurious charges against those under his suspicion when he obtained a court order against the Ghostbusters under claims that they were in criminal violation of the Environmental Protection Act. He has also shown his ability to ignore his own responsibility for mishaps such as the city-wide disruption caused when he ordered a city worker to shut down the Containment Unit's power grid despite the warning of the Ghostbusters currently on site, then later pinning the blame on them for the explosion. Walter Peck is also a skeptic by nature and therefore does not believe in the supernatural.
It is presumed his attitude regarding the existence of the supernatural has since changed, when he is hit literally over the head with it in a large deluge of melted marshmallow. This attitude has been confirmed by the video game, where he's placed in charge of PCOC. His over-zealousness and inflexibility, however, remain unchanged.
Walter Peck follows his orders to the letter and apparently does not believe in flexibility or grey areas. Walter possesses little to no sense of humor and approaches his job with almost unshakeable seriousness. He seems to genuinely believe that he is a noble crusader, fighting "The Good Fight" and that ANY opposition to him is essentially an admission of guilt.
Walter's title as a "civil servant" is an amusing paradox in regard to his demeanor, as he's about as uncivil as one can be.
HistoryEdit
GhostbustersEdit
Mr. Peck was interested in the production of hazardous, possibly noxious gases created by the Storage facility that the Ghostbusters used to house their captured spirits.
After Dr. Peter Venkman refused to allow him to tour the facility, Mr. Peck secured a cease and desist all commerce order, a seizure of premises and chattels, a ban on use of public utilities for unauthorized waste handlers, and a federal entry and inspection order to tour the facility. Under pure speculation and against both the firm warnings of the Ghostbusters and an attending hydro worker's reticence against it, he had the grid shut down and released all the spirits back into the city. This caused a massive explosion in the process which he later claimed was the responsibility of Ghostbusters, Inc.
In a meeting with the Mayor, Mr. Peck tried to tell him that the Ghostbusters were running a scam operation using sense and nerve gases to induce hallucinations of ghosts as well as repeating his spurious charge of them causing an explosion he himself is responsible for. However, Peck's immature fury of the Ghostbusters' contempt for him and the attending civil servants', including the Fire Chief, firm rebuttal of his claims with numerous reports of bizarre phenomena that cannot be explained as anything but supernatural completely undermined his credibility. With this support, Venkman is able to convince the Mayor of New York City of the dire threat and their readiness to attempt to stop it and Peck was promptly ejected from the office while he childishly swore revenge against the Ghostbusters.
Ghostbusters: The Video GameEdit
Walter Peck returns in "Ghostbusters: The Video Game" as a liaison between the Office of the Mayor and the Ghostbusters themselves. When Mayor Mulligan wins the election on an pro-ghost campaign, he hires the Ghostbusters as official city workers. The Mayor then chooses Walter Peck, who is the new head of Paranormal Contracts Oversight Commission (PCOC, pronounced "peacock") [1] to become involved because he has vaguely heard that Peck has had experience working with the Ghostbusters in the past.
The Ghostbusters protest being saddled with Peck while the equally belligerent civil servant's first declared intention is to remove the business' certification. However, the Mayor points out that they need each other since the business needs Peck to gain creditability with City Council and Peck's own job would be eliminated if he put Ghostbusters, Inc. out of business.
Game creators have revealed that Peck has allowed, the Ghostbusters a certain degree in flexibility in the destruction of property during an assignment, albeit grudgingly. But he will not hesitate to fine them if they go above a set limit of damage expenses.
Peck is shown in the trailer for the game cowering under a table, and later getting possessed by a ghost himself. Peck's animosity for the Ghostbusters has not diminished over time, and the feeling is mutual with Venkman and the boys. They still make Freudian based jokes regarding Peck's last name. Whether or not Peck and the Ghostbusters will continue working together after the Video Game remains to be seen as the antagonism between him and the Ghostbusters remains as strong as ever.
William Atherton reprises his original role as the voice of Walter Peck.
Secondary Canon HistoryEdit
Walter Peck from the Animated SeriesEdit
Walter Peck appears in the episode "Big Trouble With Little Slimer". Having been fired from the EPA and now a member of the government organization B.U.F.O. (The Bureau of Unidentified Flying Organisms) He tries to bring the Ghostbusters down by destroying Slimer who he thinks is fake and ends up causing more trouble. To find more about animated version, go here.
IDW ComicsEdit
Sometime after the Gozer Incident, Peck was hired by the B.U.F.O. along with Jack Hardemeyer. Days before the appearance of Idulnas, the Paranormal Contracts Oversight Commission was reinstated by the City & County of New York. Peck was also reinstated as the head of the commission. After first hand witnessing "Apocalypse Events," Peck admitted his perspective had changed and believed the Ghostbusters should exist but needed to be kept in check for the good of the public and best interest of the city. With a temporary office set up in the Department of Public Safety, Peck was granted full access to audit any documentation, was authorized full access to inspect premises and property, write full reports to all city contracts, and report on anything related like patents and proposals.
During the rampage of the Gozerian Terror Bear, Peck made an appearance at the Firehouse and was infuriated by the lack of response. When the Ghostbusters returned from Queens, Peck made an empty threat to fire and replace them all. After an angry exchange with Janine, Peck informed them all the PCOC office would fax them details on the Terror Bear then he left. Two days later, as the Re-Selection of Gozer's Destructor Form drew closer, the Mayor called Peck and demanded to know why the Ghostbusters hadn't mobilized yet. He then called the Firehouse and requested assurance from Janine that the Ghostbusters were handling the situation. Peck was confused when Janine alluded they were taking to the air. Less than pleased with the destruction of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, Peck greeted the Ghostbusters outside the Shandor building and informed them of new physical requirements. Until the guys could meet the standards, they wouldn't get paid from the city and would lose their permits.
AppearancesEdit
Primary Canon AppearancesEdit
Secondary Canon AppearancesEdit
TriviaEdit
- According to the October 7, 1983 script, Peck is described as a junior EPA administrator. [2]
- Walter Peck is one of two Ghostbuster antagonists to get doused in goo. The second being Janosz Poha in the second movie.
- Two separate insults on Peck in the same Mayor's office scene were filmed, the Theatrical and Home Video Versions still contains the "dickless" insult, while the TV version contained the lesser toned "Wally Wick" insult. The Comedy Central version keeps Rays line of calling Peck "Dickless", but changes Peters line to: "Yes it's true your honor, this man is some kind of rodent, I don't know which."
- While the antics of the Ghostbusters still provoke his suspicion and ire, jokes and insults regarding his name and personality don't seem to phase him much, if at all. Even when Mayor Mulligan outright said Peck was annoying, Walter didn't seem to mind the appellation at all. So personal insults don't seem to be an issue with him.
- In the realistic versions of Ghostbusters: The Video Game, the possessed Walter Peck is used as the image for the Tobin's Spirit Guide entry on the Possessed Human.
- In the omitted Thanksgiving Day Parade Lost Level (realistic version) of Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Walter Peck is doused in Black Slime by Blinkers the Science Pup.
- In his first scene in the stylized version of Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Peck's mouth does not move while speaking. All of his other scenes are normal.
- In the stylized version of Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Walter Peck's likeness is used for the art page of "The Skeptic" in Tobin's Spirit Guide.
ReferencesEdit
GalleryEdit
OverallEdit
Primary CanonEdit
