Vigo von Homburg Deutschendorf
Vigo the Carpathian is a male film character who features in Ghostbusters.
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Biography
Vigo von Homburg Deutschendorf was the ruler of Carpathia and Moldavia. On a mountain of skulls, in a castle of pain, he sat on a throne of blood. Not exactly a man of the people, the evil tyrant gave himself such nicknames as the Scourge of Carpathia and the Sorrow of Moldavia, and was also known to his people as Vigo the Cruel, Vigo the Torturer, Vigo the Despised, and Vigo the Unholy (and, according to Peter Venkman, he was also Vigo the Butch). In 1610 his people rebelled against him, and decided that his death should equal his cruelty. Vigo was poisoned, stabbed, shot, hung, stretched, disemboweled, and finally drawn and quartered. Before he finally died, his severed head uttered his last words: "Death is a but a door, time is but a window. I'll be back!"
And in 1989, he did come back. His spirit possessed a portrait he had painted of himself which was on display at the Manhattan Museum of Art. His plan was to draw strength from an underground river of slime generated by the negative emotions of the people living in New York, then possess the body of a child on New Year's Eve so that he could live again. Using his dark magic, he brainwashed the museum's curator, Janosz Poha, instructing him to find an infant. Janosz picked Oscar, the baby of his employee Dana Barrett, and eventually kidnapped him. Vigo would eventually be thwarted by the Ghostbusters, who researched his background and deduced his connection to the river of slime.
On New Year's Eve, Vigo had gathered enough strength to actually exit the painting and attempt to take over Oscar's body, but the evil spirit was weakened by the singing of crowds outside the museum who were celebrating the birth of the new year. Vigo retreated back into the painting, transforming into a hideous monster, and briefly took over the body of Ray Stantz. The other Ghostbusters then covered Ray with positively-charged slime, blasting Vigo back into the painting again. Vigo's ghost was then dispelled forever when the painting itself was doused in the slime.
Overview
Personality and attributes
Commonly, he was referred to as Vigo the Carpathian where he was also known as the Scourge of Carpathia and as the Sorrow of Moldavia. He also came to be known as Vigo the Cruel, Vigo the Torturer, Vigo the Despised, and as Vigo the Unholy.
As a ghost, one of his goals was to find a vessel through which he could be reborn into the world of the living.
Powers and abilities
Originally, Vigo was born a human who came to be a warlock skilled in black magic, enabling him with an unnaturally long-life span.
Vigo could change matter as well as utilize telekinesis, mind control, and telepathy. Through eye contact, he was able to cause others to fall under his control.
In addition to the dark arts, Vigo was also skilled in painting. This combination provided him with the means to remain within the mortal realm after death. Vigo's spirit possesses and remains within his life-size self-portrait.
Vigo drew his strength from the negatively-charged rivers of psychomagnotheric 'mood' slime. Contact with this mood slime was able to affect the minds of humans and increase negative feelings such as anger. He was able to gather enough of it into a river of slime that followed his commands. In doing so, his potency increased to the comparable levels of a Class 7 entity.
Notes
- Vigo was created by Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd where he was portrayed by actor Wilhelm von Homburg and featured in the setting of the Ghostbusters universe.
- The life size portrait of Vigo used in the Ghostbusters II movie was painted by scenic artists David Rymar and Leslee Turnbull.
In other media
Television
- In The Real Ghostbusters, Vigo was mentioned in the setting of the animated television series during the sixth episode of season 5 "Partners in Slime".
Video games
Comic Books
Appearances
- Ghostbusters II:
