"Sometimes I think the universe just waits for me to get cocky."

Voice Actor:
Maurice LaMarche

Egon Spengler is a genius. He got his first degree at ths same age his contemporaries were leaving grade school. Egon devised the theories that make the Ghostbusters proton packs, ghost traps, and Ecto Containment Unit work; he even later devised means of cracking the dimensional barriers, first with a door-like gateway, and later with the transdimensional warp drive mounted in the ECTO-4 (as seen in the Now Comics). He's proficient in ancient languages, including Sumerian and the esoteric script a Ragnarok announcement was written in, one that allegedly only two other people in the world know. In the Now Comics, he seems to be individually recognized by the mystic community.

Egon's curiosity gets the better of him more than once; he is by far the Ghostbuster most prone to getting blasted into alternate dimensions or turned into a werechicken due to being tuned out of reality while conducting his strange experiments.

Egon was born in Ohio, and it appears Egon's looks are the result of genes that run strong in his family--at least two of his ancestors (mostly scientists and scholars) looked just like him. Egon's mother doted on him and gave him the nickname "Spookums"; his paternal uncle, Dr. Cyrus Spengler, runs Spengler Labs back in Ohio, and once had trouble accepting his nephew's vocation. But it was a childhood trauma--the malevalent entity called The Boogeyman living in his closet--that made Egon so driven to investigate the paranormal.

That's not to say Egon is an emotionless robot, however. He manifests a dry sense of humor that comes out when deflating Peter's egotism, and a wonderful sense of understatement that describes the end of the universe simply as "bad". He keeps a cool head during a paranormal crisis, and is usually the one to find the way to solve it.

Still, he has trouble dealing with his emotions, and nowhere does that become more apparent than his relationship with the Ghostbusters' secretary, Janine Melnitz. At the very first, he seemed more annoyed than flattered by her over-stated flirtations (not exactly being proficient in the romantic arts herself), but over time, he grudgingly began to return the feeling. He whispered her name when he thought he was about to die on one occassion. He met Janine's family and went on dates with her that he denied were dates. He oozed jealousy when she dated Paul Smart and Louis Tully (in issue 16 of the Now Comic, they argue about the issue and Janine dismissed Louis as "Sweet but harmless").

It wasn't until the Ghostbusters discovered that she had been warped and manipulated by the Makeoverus Lotsabucks that he finally admitted that he loved her: it was that simple truth, not the proton pack he discarded, that broke the creature's spell over her. They started dating more seriously after that, going to science films.

[Link] [Revise] Egon Spengler In Extreme Ghostbusters

When the Ghostbusters go out of business, Egon is the one who lives in the Firehouse and keeps watch over the Containment Unit. He becomes a college professor, and when ghostly activity returns to New York, his latest class of students become the Extreme Ghostbusters. Together with his longtime love interest Janine Melnitz, Egon serves as the mentor to the newer team.

View Extreme Ghostbusters Page for Dr. Egon Spengler

[Link] [Revise] Trivia

-Scientists and scholars are said to run in Egon's family. There has also been a wizard, but he is generally never talked about and looked down upon as a crackpot. All his ancestors are shown to resemble him facially, have blond hair and glasses. Curiously enough, Egon's ancestor during the Salem which trials is also shown to have Egon's pompadour and rat tail hairstyle.

-It is also a tradition among Spengler males to repress their emotions and focus on everything in a detatched, scientific manner. This explains why he tends not to be reciprical to Janine's affections for the most past. But he HAS shown signs that she has taken some claim to his heart. Faint displays of jealousy, dissapointment, relief, remorse and even mild pleasure have been displayed by him in matters regarding her. He even admits to her in the comic that he isn't very good at dealing with people he cares about. Egon even said words to the effect that he would not be adverse to the idea of a kiss from her when he got back.

-Egon knows at least two other languages, Sumerian and Sign Language.

-When Egon was a baby, his mother used to call him "Spookums". His mother makes a couple appearances on the show. Egon seems to have inherited his penchant for occasional dry humor from her.

-While it isn't outright stated, it seems likely that Egon has a Jewish background, although he isn't particularly devout regarding it. His name is a Jewish last name and even his mother even shows hints of a stereotypical Jewish mom.

-Egon wears an old-fashioned nightshirt and cap when sleeping. On one occasion he was seen brushing his teeth wearing normal pajamas with molecule chains printed on it.

-Egon mentioned on a date with Janine that he graduated high school at the age most kids are starting grade school. It's also been inferred that he might have been an instructor to Ray and Peter in college.

[History] [Revise]Dr. Egon Spengler

[Link] [Revise] Egon Spengler In Extreme Ghostbusters

[Link] [Revise] Trivia