They go by many names: ghouls, specters, phantoms, the list goes on. Ghosts and their
legitimacy are one of the biggest mysteries in reality, but in the world of animation,
it’s a completely different story. Here, not only are ghosts real, but they are also not confined to
the general description of beings that haunt the living. Cartoon ghosts have been everything from
superheroes to princesses! Some are friendly, but others are villainous. But, of all these floating
fellows, which ones are the most heroic, and which ones require a call from the Ghostbusters?
I’m Caleb with WickedBinge, and this is Cartoon Ghosts: Good to Evil
For today’s subject, we’ll begin with the most pure characters,
and then work our way down to the evil. These characters are good.
To start us off, we’re giving the Gold Medal of Good to Casper! Hey, it pays to
be a friendly ghost! Really, we couldn’t think of anyone more deserving of this spot than him.
While the character has endured many different cartoons, comics, and movies, his kind heart
always persists. While other ghosts, like his trio of uncles, exist to scare the living,
Casper instead tries to make friends with them. While he struggles in this department, he never
lets his failures get to him. Casper will try to get along with anyone, be they human or animal. He
also has no problem saving humans from disaster, which usually results in them becoming his friend.
Though he has his fair share of enemies, like the king of ghosts Kibosh, we can definitely say that
his friends far outweigh his opponents. Casper is easily the sweetest and most good-natured ghost
on this list, and we believe that makes him more than deserving of our top spot!
Crime fighting his way into second place, we’re giving our Silver Medal of Good to Danny Phantom!
Danny Phantom is an interesting character in that he’s only half ghost. After an encounter with a
very strange machine, teenage boy Danny Fenton was granted the ability to turn into a ghost,
becoming the hero Danny Phantom. Yeah, it’s not the most subtle hero name, but it is pretty cool!
As a superhero, Danny has saved the day more times than you could shake a Fenton Thermos at. He’s
defeated all kinds of ghastly ghosts, and even saved the entire world from an incoming asteroid!
When Amity Park is in danger, you can count on Danny Phantom to save the day!
That isn’t to say Danny is a perfect hero, however. Danny is no stranger to
using his powers in some not-so-heroic ways. He has used his powers to prank his bullies,
sneak out of detention, and even sneak into the girls locker room! Danny can also be a
slacker at times, and he’s definitely not the best at paying attention. And the less said
about his evil future counterpart, the better! Though he may not be the most ideal superhero,
Danny Phantom is still great at what he does. Even when things are at their lowest, Danny will
pull through and make the right choices, and we feel that is enough to give him the silver medal.
If a dog is man’s best friend, then surely a ghost dog is a ghost’s best friend? That leads us to
the recipient of our Bronze Medal of Good, Zero from “The Nightmare Before Christmas”! Like any
good dog, Zero is extremely loyal to his fellow man, Jack Skellington. He wants Jack to be happy,
and is always concerned about him. Zero is one of the few characters to show concern when Jack
becomes enamored with Christmas. Though he has his concerns, he still helps Jack go through
with his plan, showing that he really does want him to be happy. Zero also helps remind
Jack of his place as the Pumpkin King. While Jack tries to reject this for much of the movie,
he ultimately realizes that it is indeed his place. Without Zero, it wouldn’t be wrong to
believe that the events of the film would have gone much differently. Zero is far from the most
talkative character on this list, but he is proof that you don’t need a lot of words to make a big
impact. If anything, all you need is a big heart to do that, which Zero certainly has!
From “The Amazing World of Gumball” comes our next pick, Carrie Krueger! A student at
Elmore Junior High, Carrie fills the void of your typical emo-punk kid that any show with a school
setting seems to have. While she claims to enjoy being miserable and nothing else, there is far
more to Carrie’s character than meets the eye. As the show delves deeper into her psyche,
we see that Carrie is quite the compassionate individual. When Gumball and Darwin ended up
in the underworld in the episode “Halloween”, Carrie was deeply concerned for them. Another
episode saw that she would even stay with the monstrous Gargaroth forever as long as it would
keep her friends safe. She is also particularly infatuated with Darwin, whom she develops a crush
on. While she’s rather sheepish about it at first, she later starts to make her feelings more clear,
culminating in the two entering an actual relationship. Carrie may not seem like the
most selfless character when looking at her appearance, but she may just be one of the
most caring individuals in the entire series, and that’s why she gets this spot on the list!
Coming up next, it’s Hi Five Ghost from “Regular Show”! Hi Five Ghost,
like the other major characters of the show, is an employee at the park. He gets along particularly
well with Muscle Man. The two are almost always seen together, and you can see they really are
best friends. Their friendship becomes even more poignant when it is revealed that Fives
actually saved Muscle Man from a bottomless pit, which was where they first became friends.
Fives in general is a pretty friendly ghost. Though he will make jokes at their expense,
he gets along with Mordecai and Rigby better than most do. He also has a girlfriend named Celia,
who he marries and starts a family with in the future. Though he’s not the most crucial character
in “Regular Show”, you can’t ask for a much better friend than Hi Five Ghost. He’s always willing
to help out, no matter how ridiculous things sound, and we can’t fault him for that! However,
we do have one tiny question. Why is he named Hi Five Ghost when his hand only has four fingers?
Up next, we have Phantasma from “Scooby Doo and the Ghoul School”! The “Scooby Doo” franchise is
certainly no stranger to ghosts, but how about a ghost student? A member of the girl ghouls,
Phantasma stands out as the silliest of the bunch. She’s very friendly, and easy to get along with.
She’s probably the most artistic one, too. She can compose her own music,
play instruments, and dance. While she’s one of the more down-to-Earth characters on our list,
we can’t really justify putting her any higher. The reason? This TV movie was her
only appearance in the franchise. Yes, she did appear in an “Ok K.O.” crossover, but does that
really count? Still, if you were to be in the company of any of the ghosts on this list,
Phantasma isn’t too bad of an option. Even Shaggy and Scooyby were able to get along
with her pretty well! What, would you want to hang out with any of the other ghosts in “Scooby Doo”?
Next is Slimer from “The Real Ghostbusters”! While he obviously takes inspiration from his film
counterpart, this version of Slimer also has some notable differences. The first ghost the team ever
encountered, Slimer takes on life in the show as not only the Ghostbusters pet, but also the newest
member of the team. As a character, Slimer is every bit as friendly as someone like Casper, but
not nearly as reserved. He’s quite erratic, and will gladly eat everything he can get his hands
on. Even his dialogue is strange, being mostly made up of total gibberish. As the last character
to appear on this area of the list, Slimer has gone through several events that could easily
have put him lower on the list. Does anybody remember the time he was turned into hundreds of
tinier Slimers? As that fiasco progressed, he even turned into a giant, evil version of himself!
While he has been the instigator to more than a few conflicts in the show, he never means any
harm. He just wants friends, and the Ghostbusters end up perfectly filling that void for him.
As a member of their team, he also does everything you’d want in a team member. Slimer will always
try to be of aid, and he’s every bit the hero somebody like Ray or Egon is. He may not look to
be the heroic type, but Slimer is proof that even the strangest of ghosts can become a great hero!
With those good ghosts out of the way, let’s move onto the specters who aren’t good,
but aren’t evil, either. This is the Grey Area.
First, let’s look at Ghost Princess from “Adventure Time”! In the world of “Adventure Time”
it seems that if there was a theme, there was a princess to be based on it. We’ve had princesses
based upon fire, the desert, and even breakfast, so obviously there would be a ghost one,
too. While she didn’t have as many appearances as some of those characters, Ghost Princess
nevertheless had quite the interesting backstory. Before her passing, she lived as Warrior Princess.
She loved to fight, but she was also in love with a man named Clarence. Eventually,
the two battled when Clarence attempted to seize her kingdom. Warrior Princess refused to give up,
resulting in her death at the hands of Clarence. As Ghost Princess, she’s much less boisterous than
she was while alive. She’s very shy and sensitive, with almost none of her personality resembling the
headstrong warrior she once was. She’s even able to forgive Clarence for killing her, which allows
her to live in peace for all eternity. While this all sounds nice, it does beg the question. Why is
she here? For our money, we feel her warrior background puts her in the Grey Area. Not only
did her stubbornness lead to her demise, but it’s also entirely possible that she committed
some horrible acts as a warrior. Say whatever you will about Danny Phantom or Slimer, but
at least they didn’t have a bodycount! Though she has changed for the better as a ghost, we still
feel her warrior background is enough to make her the first entry into this tier of the list!
Our next character is the ghost with the most, Beetlejuice! From the animated series,
Beetlejuice is very similar to his movie counterpart,
albeit more exaggerated. He loves to pull pranks on the citizens of the Neitherworld.
If you live there, the chances are high that you have been the victim of one of his pranks.
His love of pranks is only rivaled by his hatred for order. Beetlejuice cannot stand the idea of
rules, and he hates anything clean. While he loves to prank people, even he is not immune
to the effects of his pranks. Beetlejuice is the last person who will use his powers responsibly,
which sometimes results in him becoming his own worst enemy. He is also a pretty lazy ghost.
Beetlejuice loves to come up with cons to get rich quickly, as he is completely uninterested
in getting a job. Though he seems rude and uncaring, there is a soft side to this specter. He
gets along particularly well with Lydia. The two care a lot for each other, and Lydia is probably
the only person in the show who has a handle on Beetlejuice. She even helped him conquer his fear
of sandworms. When Lydia or somebody else is in danger, Beetlejuice will drop his goofy persona
and get right down to business. While his overall demeanor is enough to put him in this area of the
list, his genuine care for Lydia is definitely enough to prevent him from sinking any lower.
Finishing off the Grey Area is “Mike Tyson Mysteries” Marquess of Queensberry! Often
referred to incorrectly as “Marcus”, The Marquess is definitely the most respectful
member of the team. He was based upon the real 9th Marquess of Queensberry,
and is treated as his ghost within the series. Marcus is very proper and has all the etiquette
that you’d expect a gentleman to have. So, why is he all the way down here if he’s so nice? Well,
have you ever looked at what his real-life counterpart has done? The actual 9th Marquess,
John Douglas, was an extremely disliked figure in 19th century London, and played a critical role in
the decline of writer Oscar Wilde. This would honestly be enough to put him lower, but just
like Ghost Princess before him, The Marquess has been able to right some of his wrongs.
He becomes something of a mentor to Mike Tyson, and he even attempts to time travel in order to
fix his prior sins. The Marquess is just about the farthest thing from a good man,
but he shows that it is never too late to change for the better, even if you’re a ghost!
With the Grey Area out of the way,
let’s look at the most ghoulish of ghosts. These characters are evil.
Kicking us off, we have to give the Bronze Medal of Evil to The Flying Dutchman from “Spongebob
Squarepants”! If there is one thing this guy loves, it’s to steal the souls of anyone and
everyone. This is exactly what he attempts to do in his debut episode, “Scaredy Pants”. He hates
seeing all of the costumes based on him at the Krusty Krab, and attempts to steal their souls as
payback. Apart from that, he also loves to scare the denizens of Bikini Bottom. Few things in the
afterlife give him as much joy as this! Though he tends to keep his villainy just to scaring people,
he has definitely done far worse than that. Take for instance the time he doomed Squidward to the
Fly of Despair. Must we forget how he tried to eat Spongebob and Patrick in the exact same episode?
He’s also turned Spongebob into a ghost, stolen his friends' souls, and threw him into Davy Jones'
locker after Krabs chose money over him. While he is a very despicable ghoul, the Flying Dutchman
has also been rather friendly to Spongebob. When Spongebob needed help with tying his shoes,
the Dutchman had no qualms about doing so. When Spongebob and Patrick recovered a treasure chest
that belonged to him, he rewarded them with one gold coin. It wouldn’t be unfair to say that the
Dutchman has been a friend to Spongebob as much as he has been an antagonist. Still, his villainous
attributes are enough to make him the first entry in this tier, and our bronze medal recipient!
Next, we’re giving our Silver Medal of Evil to Gentleman Ghost from “Batman:
The Brave and the Bold”! This villain lived as James Craddock, an infamous thief who
stole from travelers and the like. He was obsessed with the idea of immortality and,
after being sentenced to death by hanging, returned to haunt the world as the Gentleman
Ghost! Though he isn’t one of the most notable villains to appear in the show,
this gentleman would repeatedly try to make things difficult for Batman. His crimes range from simple
bank robberies to a failed attempt to raise an army from the dead. Gentleman Ghost also has no
issue about teaming up with other villains, whether they be Batman’s evil doppelganger Owlman
or the clown prince of crime, the Joker. Though he will always lose to Batman and friends,
he has proven himself to be a legitimate threat to the caped crusader. One storyline
saw him knock the dark knight unconscious, prompting him to bury him in a coffin.
While he managed to get out, it remains quite the impressive feat! Though the Flying Dutchman might
have done more villainous things, that character still has a light side to him. The Gentleman Ghost
is just rotten to the core, and that makes him the perfect choice for second place!
In first place, we give the Gold Medal of Evil to Wuya of “Xiaolin Showdown”! Wuya was a Heylin
witch who had an insatiable lust for power. She eventually managed to take over the Earth, until
a battle with Xiaolin master Dashi trapped her soul into a puzzle box. Hundreds of years later,
she was awakened by the villain Jack Spicer, and the two embarked on a journey to locate
the Shen Gong Wu, powerful objects each with their own unique ability. With these items, Wuya hopes
to take over the world once again. While Wuya may not be a ghost for the entirety of the series, she
remains a dangerous villain no matter what form she takes on. As a ghost, her abilities differ
greatly from what she can do in her human form. She could detect when a Shen Gong Wu had been
activated, and she had no issue possessing the bodies of living people. When she returns to her
human form, she is able to use magic, something that was not possible when in her ghost form.
This makes her easily the most powerful character on the list. Could Danny Phantom do anything
in his human form? She’s a very manipulative character as well, controlling several minions
and having even been able to turn heroes over to her side. Overall, it really is a no-brainer that
we call Wuya the most evil character on our list. Sure, stealing souls and robbing banks is evil,
but taking over the Earth? It doesn’t get much more classic bad guy than that!
Before we wrap this video up,
let’s give out a few medals to the characters that deserve them the most!
First, we have to give Danny Phantom the Pride Medal. His tendency to
use his ghost powers for his own gain make him the perfect fit for this one!
Second, we’re giving the Wrath Medal to The Flying Dutchman!
While he’s not the most evil character on our list, he’s definitely the angriest!
Next, Wuya earns the Lust Medal! Hey,
we didn’t say she had an insatiable lust for power for no reason!
The Sloth Medal goes to Beetlejuice! He’ll never work a day in his life,
so we can’t think of a more fitting medal to give to him!
Up next, we give Slimer the Gluttony Medal!
You won’t see anyone on this list devour more food than him!
Last but certainly not least,
The Gentleman Ghost gets the Greed Medal! What else could he be robbing banks for?
But let us know in the comment section if you agree with our ranking. And tell us what we should
cover next. Remember to hit that notification bell and binge our Good to Evil playlist,
where we break down the morality of the characters in your favorite cartoons,
shows, and movies. But most importantly, stay wicked.