Beetlejuice
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Character Information
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Beetlejuice, is a trickster and perverted ghost. The animated version of Beetlejuice is quite different from his film counterpart. Among the first notable changes is the spelling of his name, from Betelgeuse to the title name of Beetlejuice.
Personality[]
Betelgeuse is depicted as being mean and careless. He often scares people with pranks that may kill them. He has also exhibited lecherous behavior such as looking up Barbara Maitland's skirt.
Beetlejuice is changed so he is more of a hero, but will still be dishonest at times. Actually, that is the least of his problems as, according to Lydia, he "hasn't changed" since the day he met her, as made obvious by how filthy he tends to get (and prefers to be) and how annoyed he gets with the fact he has the same problem as his film counterpart: when he wants to leave the Neitherworld, he can only enter the Outerworld part way unless someone calls him there by saying his name 3 times but, unfortunately for him, he gets sent back the same way. He really likes to eat bugs(especially beetles, which may be why his name is Beetlejuice). His favorite activities include pulling pranks and scamming people. He really cares about Lydia Deetz and will often go to great lengths to ensure her safety and well-being.
Beetlejuice (Live Action)
History[]
While not much is known about Betelgeuse's past, (including how and when he died), he claimed to have lived through the Black Plague. It is also known that he used to work for Juno. In the movie, he used advertisements to get the Maitlands to hire him as a "bio-exorcist" to rid their house of the Deetzes. They summon him when they learn that he can be summoned if his name is said three times in a row. Things go bad when the self-proclaimed Ghost with the Most starts scaring the Deetzes in ways that seriously harm them, and even worse, wants to marry Lydia Deetz. Fortunately, saying his name three times can also be used to get rid of him. In the end, Betelgeuse ends up in the waiting room for the deceased, and gets his head shrunk when he switches numbers with the head shrinker to avoid a long wait. Humorously, he thinks he looks better with a smaller head.
Development[]
In early drafts of the script, Betelgeuse was supposed to assume a variety of forms, with his true form being that of a winged demon(the filthy pale man wearing black and white stripes we're more familiar with was originally going to be one of the many forms he assumed). Instead of being stuck in a waiting room, Betelgeuse was originally going to be destroyed.
Name[]
Betelgeuse's name is often spelled phonetically as "Beetlejuice", as in the title. However, during the film his name spelled Betelgeuse (like the star Betelgeuse) during his ad on TV, and everywhere in the grave scene.
There has been great debate over which spelling of his name is correct. Some say that because his name is the same as the introduction, this is proof they meant it as Beetlejuice, while others claim that was an error as the credits of the film spell his name "Betelgeuse". Nowhere during the film is his name spelled Beetlejuice, unless watched with subtitles on, in which it is said from Lydia's interpretation from playing charades with him. The Maitlands used the astrological spelling... after several mispronunciations.
Some also argue that he may not have been permitted to write his name the way it should, much like he can't say his own name.
Powers/Strengths[]
Beetlejuice is able to fly and walk through walls like most ghosts, but also possesses a variety of magic powers, which he usually uses to transform himself and/or his surroundings. He often uses this power to make puns(e.g. when he says he'll train someone, he'll turn into a train and run over the person he said he'd train. When he says he's tired, he'll turn into a tire. On one occasion, he says "This literall translation stuff slays me", which causes giant letters reading Literal Translation Stuff to fall from the sky and crush him). Sometimes, he can use these powers to make himself a "Master of Disfiguring Disguises".
Dispite his bad habit of acting stupid he seems to be, as Miss Shapen said, "A Regular Albert 'Slimestine'!", for he's chemically inclined due to the fact he was champion stinkbomb maker for atleast a half-century straight with his childhood chemestry set, and in later years made the "New U" cologne.
His sense of humor also gives BJ an edge with every thing he does, scam or not, plus it helps him "crack himself up" when "frozen stiff" in fear.
Having been around for centuries, Beetlejuice has caught every ailment from Black Plague to Werewolf Disease (claims to still be recovering from that one), giving him a stong immune system (if being dead didn't do that on his own) and aside the extra serious Neitherworld ailments that weaken him, BJ can re-summon some diseases at will... he even makes sure to always carries a case of the common cold with him, resurfaced by blowing his nose harder then usual, which used to create a computer "virus" on Scourge while trapped in cyberspace (Vidiots).
Weaknesses[]
BJ may be the self-proclaimed "ghost with the most" because of his powers, but isn't completely indestructable, as he can only control his powers only a tad more then he can control himself, and ends up in trouble because of his own mouth (see Juice Overuse)!
Also, despite having pride in carrying more germs than a garbage-dump, he must at least fit the undead's idea of healthy for his powers to work right (he couldn't walk through walls as ghosts are ment to when he had "Cabin Fever" and was quarentined in his roadhouse with cement, and when bitten by a goldbug he tried to eat, he came down with "Gold Rush Fever" that left him as weak as a kitten, literally and metaphorically!) In adittion to that, he has to hold himself together to use his powers at all, for although he still flies on some exceptions, like when he "lost his touch" in The Big Face-off, having his body in more than one peice (usually self-beheading) leaves him as magically limited as most of his prank victims, and what's worse it there is a time limit to how long he's to fall apart, for if he isn't in one peice by nightfall (as marked by the setting sun) he melts to the point of exorcism!
Just as important as literally holding himself together, he has to do so emotionally and mentally (his "juice" is his inborn powers, after all) for he tends to "freeze up" in fear (metephoically speaking, though occasionally the little juice he has brings that into pun), especially around sandworms, as he can't even fly when they are around unless he's to save someone else from them, though he wonders who's going to save him in such situations! Sometimes he faints (usually he places a lily in his hands, layed over his heart, as a joke to the phrase "Scared to death") and Lydia has to say or do the right thing to revive him.
Although he claims to be immune to mind control, failing against his own desire to drive people crazy (and his bug-cravings as not all beetles are safe for even the undead to eat... take, for example, the one in "Pranks for the Memories", which his own brain, Braino, gave him... which turns out to be pre-fed flaming hot peppers before BJ ate it!), leaves him vulnerable to hypnosis and brainwashing on several occations (see Snugglejuice, Forget-me-Nuts, and Sappiest Place on Earth).
He has trouble in a magic fight against other hauntings as seen on "Ghost to Ghost" and "Poultrygeist" (in the later-mentioned episode, BJ finds out in a book on exorcisims that a ghost just can't get rid of another ghost, so he's not the only one with that problem... at least he has Lydia, whose "Human" measures help him out), not to mention that, at worst, another ghost could even ground his powers so he can't use them, which is what Scourge/Deady-Eddie done in "Vidiots" with a dye-ode.
His greatest weakness, though, (as said in both the movie and the series) is that he "Doesn't Work Well with Others", and his poor social skills tends to get him into trouble... usually as his other weaknesses common denominator... and makes it hard for even Lydia to put up with him. Since his living, breathing "partner" has the patience of a saint to call him her "best friend", BJ's poor social-skills struggle against another weakness he never knew about, as its also a strength: He falls "dead-over-heals" (in love) with pretty ghouls/girls, but although his lust-driven ways do not apply to his "best friend", he cares about Lydia the most!
Powers and abilities[]
- Magic
- Levitation
- Flight
- Regeneration
- Shape-shifting
- Teleportation
- Can conjure objects
- Possession
- Can mimic peoples voices
Forms Assumed[]
Beetlejuice has assumed many aliases throughout the series.
Living World[]
These are disguises Beetlejuice uses when hanging out with Lydia in the human world.
- Betty Juice- A form he uses when at school or when Lydia is with her friends Bertha and Prudence. He simply changes himself into a (somewhat) female version of himself.
- Mr. Beetleman- He uses this form to con people in the living world. Sometimes he simply refers to himself as Mr. Beetleman while he is in his regular form. Other times, he wears clothes appropriate to whatever profession he uses in his scams.
- Cousin BJ- A form only used twice. The first time was during a family reunion in order to get closer to Lydia's relatives. The second time was when Lydia wasn't able to spend time with her father Charles.
- Grandpa Beetleman- When showing Lydia's grandmother around, Beetlejuice passes himself off as the father of Mr. Beetleman.
- Odious- A form he used when pretending to be a stray dog. For a while, he was stuck in that form due to a collar placed on him when he was in the Neitherworld. Things got worse when he was adopted by Lydia's mother Delia. Fortunately, Lydia was able to free Beetlejuice by having Jacque come over disguised as a Frenchman who was Odious's true owner.
Neitherworld[]
These disguises are only used in the Neitherworld.
- General Splattin- BJ becomes a general whenever he needs to encourage his friends that they must succeed.
- Cat Beetlejuice- BJ occasionally assumes the form of a cat, usually to prank Poopsie.
- Ultra Beetle Man- A superhero-like persona used in an effort to become popular. He later uses this disguise again whenever he describes something as "spectacular" or "amazing".
- Beautyjuice- A form used in an attempt to enter the Neitherworld Beauty Paegent.
Elmore[]
Other Personalities[]
Some episodes had BJ have his personality completely changed, or even fragmented into more than one personality.
- Beetlejuice's Funnybone- Claims to be able to "crack people up". It is shown that his ability to crack people up is in both the figurative and literary senses: People who hear his jokes laugh hysterically and start cracking into pieces.
- Serious Beetlejuice- After Beetlejuice's funnybone is removed, he acts less funny and no longer tolerates anything filthy or disgusting. He was very reluctant in having his funnybone restored, only doing it for the sake of preventing it to get out of hand.
- Beetlebones- Beetlejuice's skeleton. Unlike Beetlejuice, Beetlebones is more classy, but often acts very arrogant and rude to Beetlejuice's friends. He eventually went back into Beetlejuice's skin when after he was captured by the Skeleton Crew, a team of skeletons in the Neitherworld who capture and torture skeletons when they are not in their proper bodies(the only exceptions being those that are always skeletons).
- Clean Beetlejuice- Beetlejuice's opposite personality after spraying himself with his New-U cologne. Disgusted by how dirty he is, Clean Beetlejuice attempts to take a bath, only to change back to normal(it was explained that the effects of the cologne can be reversed if the person gets wet).
- Good Neighbor Beetlejuice- Beetlejuice after falling under the spell of Goody Two Shoes. In this form, he somewhat resembles his brother Donny.
- Snugglejuice- Beetlejuice after he is rehabilitated at Neitherneitherland. Often acts effeminate and shows great dislike in what Beetlejuice usually likes, including scams and eating beetles.
- Posijuice and Negajuice- In the series finale, Beetlejuice splits into good and evil halves. Posijuice is more friendly and benevolent than Beetlejuice normally is, but still retains some of his habits and his sense of humor. Negajuice is more mean and wicked than Beetlejuice normally is and acts more the way the character is portrayed in the movie.
- Prankenstein- A Frankenstein-esque version of Beetlejuice in BJ's head who tells him to pull pranks.
- Will Power- Beetlejuice's conscience, who seldom succeeds in telling Beetlejuice to do what is right.
- Clown Beetlejuice- Beetlejuice after he gets Scuzzo's brain.
- Cerebro- Beetlejuice's brain. Like his funnybone, the brain of Beetlejuice is very mean and mischeivous.
- Lefty and Righty- Beetlejuice's feet. They once left Beetlejuice when he neglected them.
- Beetlejuice's body- There were two episodes where Beetlejuice's head separated from his body. In both occasions, BJ's head retained his regular personality, while his body would act independent and talk with a face made by his hand.