Who You Gonna Call: Villains Profile: Garraka

We’ve now reached the latest mainline Ghostbusters villain, Garraka. I really like him and he is my favorite mainline GB villain. I feel he’s the most menacing villain the team has faced. All of the usual tactics they’ve used in the past don’t work on him. Also, he’s an ice villain and I like that as it brings something new to the table.

He also has the most imposing look of any movie Ghostbusters villain imo. He has to be the scariest looking villain they’ve faced and the most imposing one. This again ties back to something I’ve brought up time and again this month, the best villains in this series are the ones that take themselves seriously. We’ll see why comedic villains don’t work when looking at the reboot

First Appearance

Thankfully, we don’t have to wait to see Garraka as the movie opens with an intense prologue as we see him an adventurers type club. He was trapped inside an orb and the club foolishly recites a ritual that allows him to escape and freeze everyone to death.

It’s an intense moment showing what he’s capable of. It admittedly takes a while for him to appear in modern day New York but his presence is felt throughout. Much in the same way, the presence of Gozer is felt throughout the original movie and is built up to.

I think here, it’s also important to look at his back story which we learn from an awesome cameo by Patton Oswalt.

Yeah, this guy is serious business. We actually see the orb when Nadeem brings it to Ray’s Occult Bookstore as he and Podcast from the previous movie are running a YouTube series about haunted materials. The orb has an intense reaction and we see this it’s taken to Ghost Labs and the other ghosts there seem scared of it.

We also need to look at how he finally enters our world as Phoebe is tricked to extract her spirit from her human form as a way to forcefully recite the chant that would allow him into our world.

Personality/Most Evil Deed

For an icy villain, he is very cold by nature. He has a mission to accomplish and nothing will get in his way. He’s also something of a manipulator. In a similar vein to Samhain, he is able to force the other ghosts to work for him. This is interesting as quite a few ghosts still have free will and can think for themselves. So, he has to find other ways to get what he wants and this again ties into how he’s a manipulator.

You’ll notice how I lumped personality and most evil deed together, that’s because imo they go together. He’s using a teenage ghost, Melody as a means to get free. He has Melody trick Phoebe into freeing him by promising her that he can reunite her with the family she lost in a very bad diner fire.

This is very much an abusive relationship where Garraka holds all the power, he’s centuries old whereas Melody died as a teenager and never matured past that stage of her life due to her dying so young. Garraka holds so much power over Melody and uses her knowing she’ll do what she wants as long as the empty promise of seeing her family This is the worst thing any Ghostbusters villain has ever done (at least when it comes to the movies). It hurts on a deeper level knowing Melody can’t get what she wants from him but he doesn’t care about her wants or needs, she’s a means to an end. Melody is made to feel she’s different than the other ghosts who he controls.

Grand Desire

His desire again ties back to him being an icy villain, he wants to bring about a second ice age to remake world in his image. Yeah, it’s another world domination thing but this one seems a bit different as it feels a bit more methodical compared to Gozer and Vigo. Much like Samhain, it feels like he’s thought over what he wants for years. I appreciate a villain whose goal is clearly defined and you feel that with Garraka.

Lackey

Melody

I’ve already talked at length about Melody during a previous segment. In many ways, she’s a tragic figure who hides her pain behind sarcasm. This is a defense mechanism a lot of people use to avoid trauma or having to deal with a tragedy from their past. I do like Melody and when I first saw the movie, I felt like the movie was hinting at a wlw relationship between her and Phoebe. But both actors have come out and said they’re just friends. Admittedly, I find this disappointing as I would hope one of my favorite franchises would embrace people like me.

The interactions between Phoebe and Melody come across as flirty. And come on, ghost and human relationships aren’t new.

I don’t want to accuse the movie of queer baiting as that term is often misused but it’s a bummer that Melody and Phoebe couldn’t be more.

Demise

I love that the final fight between the team and Garraka takes place at the firehouse. He takes the fight to their home turf and crossing the streams doesn’t work. I’ve failed to mention Nadeem again but it turns out he’s what is known as a fire master and he is vital in taking down our icy villain. He’s able to freeze the stream that comes out of the neutrino wand. So yeah, it seems like all is lost but Melody helps our fire master realize his greatness and take down Garraka and Phoebe is also able to resume blasting.

Thus beating him, I feel like he put up the biggest fight of any movie villain in this franchise.

Is Garakka a Good Villain?

Yes, he’s my favorite movie villain from this franchise. He’s scary and imposing while also being ruthless. He’ll do what he needs to get what he wants.

Join me next time as I close this out by looking at the reboot’s villain.

Rowan