Born: 1982

Astrological Sign: Taurus

Appearance: Mike is about average height, though he appears to be slightly shorter than most people. He appears fit (That’s ‘appears’ not ‘is’) except for a very round spare tire around his midsection, He has his pitch black hair cut extremely short, and green eyes which are always covered by thin wire glasses. Outside of his light grey jumpsuit, he is often seen in brown or khaki slacks, t-shirts, or thin cotton long-sleeve shirts, usually of a solid color. He is never without his trusty blue sneakers, or a black hooded coat in the winter months.

Personality: Mike has a severe case of what psychologists once called ‘Genius Syndrome.’ He has an extremely obsessive personality, and once he gets a particular idea in his head he focuses only upon that idea to the extent he ignores or neglects all other things around him. He has been known to, among other things, wander the warehouse in his pajamas, forget to cash his paychecks, and even neglect to shave or brush his teeth when a particularly puzzling idea has entered his psyche. Any attempts to steer him off from his one track mind will result in a rude or angry response from him. His obsessive personality is the backbone of his encyclopedic paranormal knowledge, so often these momentary losses of lucidity are tolerated.

One thing he never neglects in his intellectual pursuits is food. He is almost never without a snack or some fast food on hand to glut on while he's distracted, his favorites being fried chicken and snack cakes. while entranced he may leave food cartons and wrappers lying around in the open, much to the chagrin of the rest of his team. He also has a tendency to let his weight fluctuate to the point where he's temporarily not physically fit enough to do field work. Fellow Ghostbuster Jason Knetge has been put in charge of keeping him in shape, with modest results.

In moments when he’s not obsessing, Mike is a bit self centered, but mostly he is a pretty eager and amiable guy. He enjoys being a Ghostbuster and he works as hard as he can in order to maintain his status as one. It’s a difficult task given that his genius syndrome, as well as a dozen other mental eccentricities he has experienced often threatens his credibility. His public persona has been significantly damaged because of an incident involving news pundit Grace Adler, and he’s been scrutinized by GBI Internal Affairs, both times in incidents which in the long run could be understood as a complete misunderstandings.

Mike has the biggest case-to-bodily possession ratio of the entire team, and possibly ranks fairly high among the total amount of franchises for the numerous times he’s been possessed, transmogrified, or otherwise influenced by paranormal activity. He appears to be a magnet for spiritual malevolence, and Dr. Baugh occasionally uses him as a test subject in an attempt to isolate the reason behind this particular phenomena. That is if it actually IS a phenomenon, and he’s not simply just an enormous klutz blindly walking into ghostly potholes.

History: Mike lived a fairly normal life until about age 12. He became a victim of ghostly possession when he found a teddy bear behind his father’s tool shed. He took it home and within a few days, he believed himself to be a 6 year old girl named Polly. Luckily, Mike’s family figured out the source of the possession was the teddy bear, and Mike returned to normal when his older brother set it on fire.

The incident with the teddy bear sparked Mike’s interest in the paranormal. Though he attempted to live a normal life putting his complex mind to more plausible use, he felt that ghosts were his true calling. He was inspired by the work of the Ghostbusters of New York and Denver, to strike his own path, in his own small home town. By age 18, he had received a PHD from Peter Venkman’s mail-order paranormal science and technology course. He established himself as a paranormal authority in El Paso until he was informed that his degree was not recognized in the state of Texas.

Undeterred, Mike began to market himself as a freelance paranormal investigator, coming to LA and eventually meeting up with Ghostbusters West Coast members Jeremy Hicks and Mick Neilson. After assisting them in the capture of a particularly dangerous medieval entity known as Sennin, Mike was permitted to join the team.

Personal Goal: He wants to be recognized as a scientist in his own right, and possibly discover a paranormal phenomenon he can have named after himself.