User blog:DeltaHorizon020/PE Proposal: Ivo Shandor

Been a while since I made a proposal eh? Alright then:

What's The Work
Ghostbusters is a 1984 film that tells us the story about our lovable quattro, Peter Venkman, Egon Spengler, Winston Zeddemore and Raymond Stantz who banish evil ghosts in New York ofc. However, today I'm not going to discuss the film and instead I'm planning to discuss the Video Game based on the film to the point that Dan Aykroyd himself said that this Video Game is essentially the third movie.

Now, the Video Game in question? Takes place two years after Ghostbusters 2. New York is under attack again by the evil supernatural forces and this time, its not Gozer who did it (Although he did got involved in some way when he possesses Stay Puft again). But its one of his followers who is responsible for the mayhem that was caused in New York City, Ivo Shandor, by using a thing called a Mandala Node. Together, Shandor and his followers causes huge mayhem in the city and Shandor himself plans to become a god in order to remake the world in his own image.

Yep...You know that judging by the synopsis, you know who's the guy that I'm talking about right...

Who is He/What Has He Done
In life, Ivo Shandor was a rather famous architect and a controversial doctor who performed a lot of unnecessary surgery. Not only that, he is also the leader of the current cult of Gozer back in the early 20th century by using his influences to enthrall all of the most influential men back in that time.

After the World War I, he considered that society was too sick to survive so he decided to bring the end of the world by summoning Gozer to the Earth. To this end, he renovated some buildings like Sedgewick Hotel, Public Library and Museum of the Natural History while it was revealed said buildings contained a Mandala Node that could summon Gozer.

Not only that, he also designed the 550 Central Park West building using some unusual material such as cold-riveted girders with cores of pure selenium, magnesium-tungsten alloys, and gold plated bolts and this functions as the antenna so that Gozer can also be summoned into humanity itself.

After he died with his thousand followers, some of his strongest lieutenant become the guardian of Mandala Node Shandor had built and it was revealed that he is responsible for summoning Gozer to this world twice in 1984 and 1991 subsequently.

After Gozer failed to destroy the world twice thanks to the Ghostbusters who saves the day, Shandor decides to "screw it" and then possesses the body of the new New York mayor named Jock Mulligan and then kidnaps one of his descendants, Ilyssa Selwyn (This is a Walking Spoiler btw since Ilyssa being a descendant of Shandor is revealed in the last parts of the games although there are some nice foreshadowing in it) while also using Walter Peck (Yes that Peck) as his pawn and personal scapegoat.

Why did Shandor kidnap Ilyssa you may ask? Well, consider that his master failed to destroy the world twice, Shandor tries to become a god in order to remake the world in his own image and to do that, he needs the blood of a Shandor and Ilyssa is one of them so that his god form--or better known as Destructor form--could descend upon this world. Fortunately when Ghostbusters confronts him at his mauseloum at Central Park, the Ghostbusters manages to defeat Shandor, killing the mad architect once and for all!

Freudian Excuse/Mitigating Factors
Alright, this is where it gets kind of tricky... There are two potential mitigating factors I wanted to stress out and I'll try to kill the birds with one stone here and say why I don't think this mitigating factor doesn't hold up.

The first possibly mitigating factor for him is the painting of her mother that he put on his manor. You could argue that this is also a bit concerning due to his entry of EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas in Shandor's character:


 * He kept a painting of his mother in his church to Gozer. Despite most everything else in the church being run-down, his mother's painting is the only thing that is oddly still pristine. Even after being underwater for who knows how long.

Yes, when the Ghostbusters explore Shandor's manor, he actually did keep the painting of his mother and looks rather pristine. But here's the issue for me lies: When we encountered Shandor, especially when he possessed Mayor Mulligan, Shandor NEVER explicitly stated if he loves his mother or not especially in the game.

Heck, he didn't even make a passing reference or any care towards his mother so that mitigating factor is rendered null and void. Yes, you could argue he still loves his mother but like I said, he never explicitly stated if he loves his mother or not and I felt that he uses the picture of his mother to find a girl that just like him and then sacrifice her so that he could become a god. That's something to consider.

The second potential mitigating factor, is about his additional information about his crimes and goals. Yes, in the DVD version, Egon said that Shandor wants to bring the End of the World because he decided that after World War I, society is too sick to survive and due to the DVD version, you may argue that his extra crimes is rather offscreen which is understandable.

But in the game however? When we encounter Shandor, he isn't that much of a Well Intentioned Extremist and more comes across as a delusional madman who tries to become god to remake it in its own image after his master failed him twice to destroy the world. Heck, read one of his quote when we confront him as a final boss. This doesn't sound like a WIE at all and more like a madman who tries to recreate the world in his own vision:

"I am the Destructor. I am the Architect. I will pave over your fields to start anew. I will fill your seas with concrete and stone. I will pierce your world with girders of steel and panes of glass. I will crush your world under the weight of my cities. I will smother your creation under my own!"

And god even we take that, I also feel that Shandor is a bit of a hypocrite nevermind the fact due to the illegal surgery that he performed so yep. Aside from that, Zip... Shandor has no other mitigating factors, played pretty seriously and has enough of a personality to count especially when he possesses Mulligan so yeah...

Heinous Standard
In the Video Game itself? Shandor IS the heinous standard as he tried to bring the end of the world and recreate it in his own image and especially his failed attempts to bring his master to End the World, responsible for uneccessary surgery (If you count it as one of his crimes) and responsible for the outbreak of the ghosts in the Video Game? Yeah, I think it's enough.

Final Verdict
At the end, I don't think his mitigating factors hold up and I feel that Shandor is a madman who tries to recreate the world in his own image and also responsible for the mishaps that happen in the game and possibly the first movie too. Until then, thoughts?