Peter Venkman

Peter Venkman is one of the main characters from the Ghostbuster franchise.

Dr. Peter Venkman was one of the original Ghostbusters. He usually wore a brown uniform with teal trim.

Personality
Peter is the de facto leader of the Ghostbusters, but in actuality his role is more along the lines of spokesman for the group. Although, he usually is the one who chooses whether the team will take a case or not. He has the same personality as his movie counterpart, almost identical. A good-natured, low-key slacker with a hint of con artist and womanizer thrown in.

Peter is a lot smarter than he lets on, and has almost as keen a grasp on paranormal science as Egon and Ray. He admits he generally adopts the guise of an easygoing slacker because it makes it harder for opponents to second guess him. He has on occasion come up with some particularly shrewd plans.

Peter does revel in the money and glory the job sometimes brings him. In fighting the Sandman it is revealed that Peter dreams of being rich and famous, with fancy cars and winning awards and accolades. It would appear that Peter needs such accolades as a means for self-validation, as it doesn't seem like he got much validation out of his family growing up. But the well-being of his teammates and the safety of innocents still comes first.

Peter is shown to be a con artist, like his father and a bit of a womanizer. He's usually the one who tries to hit on any attractive women in their adventures. Peter honed his gift for gab working his way through college as a carnival barker on Coney Island. Unlike his father, Peter does adhere to a notably higher level of personal ethics. While Peter will always try to get the best angle for himself and his team, he never uses his gift for gab to swindle or cheat others.

Abilities
The main equipment used by the Ghostbusters to capture ghosts is the proton pack: a reportedly unlicensed nuclear accelerator which fires a proton stream that polarizes with the negatively charged energy of a ghost, allowing it to be held in the stream while active. The proton packs' particle throwers were originally portrayed as wands worn on each arm. In current versions, it consists of a hand-held wand (neutrino wand as described and scripted by Aykroyd, also called a proton gun or particle thrower within the franchise) connected to a backpack-sized particle accelerator. The Proton Stream can also fire a hard-hitting boson dart which can be fired alone or collided with the Proton Stream to fire a Boson Collider.

The Slime Blower is seen and developed in the movie Ghostbusters II; this piece of equipment is a metal tank strapped to the back of its user, with an attached sprayer used to project streams of the psychomagnetheric mood slime that has been reinforced with positive emotions so as to neutralize its negatively reinforced counterparts. In Ghostbusters: The Video Game, the slime blower is modified to shoot positively charged slime, and can also shoot slime tethers, the slime tether in turn can be attached to one object, then the other end to another solid surface to pull that heavy object (also used to open heavy doors) which usually would be difficult to move without use of some tremendous amount of force, so the slime tether helps get the job done. The Ghostbusters can also attach one end of a slime tether to a ghost, then attach the other end to a nearby already deployed ghost trap allowing for a quicker trapping of a ghost. A toy slime blower was released with the Kenner Real Ghostbusters toy line. In the Ghostbusters comics, the Ecto-Splat is a flamethrower-like device that fires a hard jet of ectoplasm, which can damage or dissipate ghosts.

The Shock Blaster is the close-range weapon of the Ghostbusters arsenal. It fires a blast of stripped dark matter particles that diffuse quickly when they come in contact with the outside world. The Ghostbusters use the Shock Blaster for fighting close-proximity entities and inhabiting swarmers. The Shock Blaster also fires a Stasis Stream which fires a high-capacity stream that hypobond to ectoplasmic matter. If a Ghostbuster trains the stream on a ghost long enough, he can actually stop it entirely.

The Ghostbusters also use equipment to hunt and find ghosts. The PKE meter is a handheld device that locates and measures psycho-kinetic energy (PKE), which is an environmental byproduct emitted only by ghosts. The device's most prominent feature are winged arms that raise and lower in relation to the amount of PKE detected while a digital display gives an exact reading for the operator. The giga meter is a device similar to the PKE meter featured in Ghostbusters II. As explained by Egon in the original script, the giga meter measures PKE in GeV, or giga-electronvolts. Ecto-Goggles, sometimes known as Spectro-Visors, are a special pair of goggles that visually trace PKE readings. They are particularly useful in helping the wearer see normally invisible ghosts. There is also a Ghost Sniffer only seen used by Venkman in the first movie. A toy Ghost Sniffer was released as part of the Kenner Real Ghostbusters toyline.

In the Ghostbusters fiction, ghosts cannot simply be destroyed. Instead, they become temporarily destabilized. However, from their encounter with the Gray Lady in the first movie, Egon devises several pieces of equipment that are used to trap and contain ghosts.

The trap is a box with a split, hinged lid, remote-controlled by a simple pedal switch, attached to the end of the box by a long cable. When a ghost is brought close to the trap (usually by means of the proton pack), the ghost trap is activated by the foot switch. Its lid then opens, and a force field draws the ghost inside. When the ghost is captured, the trap emits smoke and a strong, bad smell. Characters are advised to refrain from looking directly at the trap when it is activated. The ghost can then be transported to the larger, more permanent containment unit. More than one ghost can be stored in a trap, but a maximum number has never been established, nor for how long a ghost can be held. A captured ghost can be released from the trap by opening it.

The Ecto-Containment Unit, also referred to as the Containment System, is the large facility in the basement of the Ghostbusters' headquarters. It was developed after Dr. Spengler and Dr. Stantz made their first actual contact in the basement of the New York Public Library with the ghost of its librarian Eleanor Twitty, who is referred by them as the Gray Lady. Data from that experience indicates they could capture and hold ghosts indefinitely. This idea makes the Ghostbuster business possible. All captured ghosts are stored in the containment unit. The unit itself utilizes a high-voltage grid of lasers to do its job. Turning off the protection grid without following proper procedures will result in a catastrophic and explosive release of all ectoplasmic entities and psycho-kinetic energy stored in the unit. The containment unit has an easy-access slot, where the ghost can be transferred from the trap into the unit's containment field.

Trivia

 * Peter appeared to have had a precognitive dream about the Sandman just before the team first encountered him.
 * Peter thought Robert Redford would be dying to play him in the Ghostbusters movie.
 * Peter supposedly saw (part of) the lipsticked, "Venkman, burn in Hell!" graffiti and Bill Murray "playing" him in the episode "Take Two". He said that he doesn't look a thing like him.
 * Peter reveals to Cynthia Crawford that he fought a person named Rick in the third grade. Peter noted he was a big guy with big muscles, but the brains of a trout.
 * Peter Venkman became indifferent to Christmas because his father, Jim Venkman, was always away during Christmas on business trips.
 * Peter always wanted to fire a cannon and got the chance to against Captain Jack Higgins.
 * The Forces of Good and Forces of Evil played a game of baseball for Peter's soul.
 * Peter is honored in the Tri Kuppa Bro frat history book for the day he ran his underwear up the flagpole when he was still wearing them.
 * Peter was weak in Economics in college.
 * Peter's license plate on his Y-car is a vanity one and reads "Dr.V."
 * Peter takes his suits in size 38 Long.
 * Peter has an Uncle Alf. He advised Peter to open a hardware business.
 * Peter spent seven years in college.
 * Peter attended the Woodstock music festival.
 * At the end of the Hob Anagarak incident, Jim was supposed to be sent back home to a farm in Iowa. This implied Peter was from the Midwest like Egon.
 * Peter has loved trains since he was a child. He dreamed about driving a big locomotive. He studied engineering in college for two years before he discovered it had nothing to do with trains.
 * Peter is a fan of Humphrey Bogart and Spencer Tracy.
 * Peter spent his time in college reading Dewey Lamort-authored westerns.
 * Peter once tried to cheat the ghosts of the Earp Brothers and Doc Holliday in a friendly game of Poker.
 * Peter keeps his jellybeans in a box under his pillow.
 * When he was in high school, Peter used to work for carnies during summers.
 * Peter confesses to playing a prank on Janine the week before the Dyb Devlin incident. When she was showering, he sent Slimer up the water pipe under the impression there was a doughnut in her shower cap.
 * Peter watched a lot of roller derby when he was a child.
 * Peter hates it when his hair is tousled and dislikes cockroaches, bats, bugs, snakes, and rats. He hated bugs since he was a child. Peter's three main fears are falling, premature burial, and being eaten.
 * Peter's favorite television show is "The Bob Newhart Show."
 * This was a nod to the voice of Peter at the time, Lorenzo Music, who produced "The Bob Newhart Show."
 * Peter flunked music in high school.
 * Bill Murray, who played the original version of Peter Venkman, had complained that Lorenzo Music's voice for the character sounded too much like the cartoon cat Garfield, also played by Music and later - ironically - by Bill Murray himself. Because of this, Dave Coulier replaced Music as Peter's voice from "Baby Spookums" to the remainder of the series and appearances in Extreme Ghostbusters.
 * Peter has a collection of baseball cards.
 * Peter mentioned his mother twice in "The Two Faces of Slimer ."
 * Peter used to be a box boy.
 * Peter hates goodbyes.
 * Peter has at least one filling but lost it during dessert at the Micawb Mansion.
 * Peter mentions his mother while commenting on the Spider Hair Fondue served at the Micawb Mansion.
 * Peter watches the television series "Moonlighting."
 * According to the call sheets for "The Grundel", Maurice LaMarche filled in for Dave Coulier as the voice of Peter.
 * Peter attended a junior high school that Alec Meredith and Lee Meredith went to.
 * Peter suffers from hay fever during spring.
 * Peter lost his T-Bo the Bunny lunchbox in the 6th grade.
 * Peter thinks he does a terrific Elvis impersonation and is a natural born actor.
 * Peter was once tricked into thinking he was being auctioned off to the highest bidder at the Ladies' Charity Function.
 * Peter sold the TV rights to ABC for two specials, one about Al Capone and one about the Bermuda Triangle, before the others could stop him. In addition to money, jukeboxes may have been part of the deal.
 * After a car crash during the battle against Al Capone, Peter asks his dad to borrow the car for prom and promises to get it back in one piece.
 * Peter waited five years to slime Slimer.
 * Peter did his taxes through Louis Tully at least once.
 * Peter went to Riverota, South Dakota every summer as a child.
 * The first time he went camping with his father, Peter learned there is nothing too big to handle in life.
 * During his childhood, Peter lived in a bad neighborhood.
 * While dreaming, Peter mentions he is a Scorpio.
 * Peter doesn't know diddly about computers.
 * Every spring, the Venkman's basement got flooded.
 * Peter once watched Lawrence Tully because he owed Louis $50.
 * For Lawrence's birthday party, Peter dressed as a clown and went by the stage name "Venko the Clown."
 * The clown costume appears to be loosely inspired by Grimm, a character dressed up as a clown portrayed by Bill Murray in "Quick Change".
 * During Lawrence's party, Peter demonstrated his proficiency in juggling.
 * An Egyptian water spirit once dragged Peter 50 feet underwater in the East River. Peter found it cute but moody.
 * Peter failed math twice in college but that didn't stop him from becoming a scientist.
 * This version of Peter Venkman makes an unofficial cameo on IDW Comics' "What in Samhain Just Happened?!" one-shot issue. On page 17, he is one of the guests attending Artie Lester's Halloween gala. He was flirting with Lester's assistant, Sherri.
 * Peter appears on the RI cover of Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #8.
 * On the subscription cover of Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #16, Peter makes a non-canon cameo.
 * On page 1 of Ghostbusters 101 #4, in panel 2, Erin Gilbert's flight suit is based on the one worn by Peter.
 * On page 21 of Ghostbusters Crossing Over Issue #2, Peter's file photo is from "Mrs. Roger's Neighborhood".
 * Peter was mentioned in The Real Ghostbusters' bio on the 33rd Crossing Over Virtual Trading Card, posted on June 12, 2018.[97]
 * On cover A of Ghostbusters Crossing Over Issue #4, Peter is featured.
 * Peter was mentioned in the Groovy Doom Dimension bio in the 40th Crossing Over Virtual Trading Card, released on July 5, 2018.[98]
 * On page 15 of Ghostbusters Crossing Over Issue #5, Peter's possessed design is visually based on when he was possessed by Wat in "Mrs. Roger's Neighborhood".
 * Peter appears on Cover RI of Ghostbusters Crossing Over Issue #6.
 * On page 13 of Ghostbusters Crossing Over Issue #6, Peter 68-R's possessed look is based on his possession in "Mrs. Roger's Neighborhood".
 * Peter appears on the front cover of the Ghostbusters Crossing Over TPB.