Winston

No way--he's another brilliantly understated character who balances out the team. Peter is the mouth, Egon the brains, Ray the heart, but Winston was the rock. He's my favorite Ghostbuster by far.

While each of the Ghostbusters had a bit of "everyman" quality to them, Winston filled this role to a tee and was easily the most relatable of the bunch. As an outsider, he offered a fresh outlook and perspective on the situation--he was the first to recognize and suggest the gravity of the situation they were facing and nobody else but Winston could have uttered that classic line in the mayor's office ("I have seen that'll turn you white!")

The induction of his character makes sense from a logical standpoint as business was booming and they needed more help. Upon his inclusion, Winston immediately came to represent the audience as the escalating situation could easily be explained to him, and by extension, us, in layman's terms (the Twinkie bit).

So no, far from a pointless character as you suggested.

He definitely wasn't pointless. He was the Everyman of the group. The average Joe who keeps things grounded. What I will say is that Ernie Hudson should've had more inclusion in the promotion of the movies. If you look at a lot of the posters, movie covers, etc., you'll notice that Ernie isn't pictured or named, despite being one of the title characters. It's a shame really.

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His character was supposed to be much larger, but the studio cut it all out at the last minute because Eddie Murphy didn't take the role.

By any means necessary.