Is Peter Venkman from Ghostbusters a narcissist?

Full of himself, yes. He's the common english/slang use of Narcissist, but not the clinical use.

And even that's contentious, as there is opposing views on Narcissistic Personality Disorder being a valid issue, if NPD should be folded into a broader category, or if it should stay as it's own diagnosis. (2010 arguments over the DSM 5 changes to Personality Disorders).

But the simplest way to see if Venkman fits the NPD diagnosis is the 5 point test:

The essential features of a personality disorder are impairments in personality (self and interpersonal) functioning and the presence of pathological personality traits. To diagnose narcissistic personality disorder, the following criteria must be met:

• A. Significant impairments in personality functioning manifest by:

  
  
  

  1. Impairments in self functioning (a or b):

     
     
     
     • a. Identity: Excessive reference to others for self-definition and self-esteem regulation; exaggerated self-appraisal may be inflated or deflated, or vacillate between extremes; emotional regulation mirrors fluctuations in self-esteem.
     
     
     • b. Self-direction: Goal-setting is based on gaining approval from others; personal standards are unreasonably high in order to see oneself as exceptional, or too low based on a sense of entitlement; often unaware of own motivations.
     
     
  
  

  2. AND Impairments in interpersonal functioning (a or b):

     
     
     
     • a. Empathy: Impaired ability to recognize or identify with the
       feelings and needs of others; excessively attuned to reactions of others, but only if perceived as relevant to self; over- or underestimate of own effect on others.
     
     
     • b. Intimacy: Relationships largely superficial and exist to serve self-esteem regulation; mutuality constrained by little genuine interest in others‟ experiences and predominance of a need for personal gain
     
     
  
  



• B. Pathological personality traits in the following domain:

  
  
  
  1. Antagonism, characterized by:
     
     
     • a. Grandiosity: Feelings of entitlement, either overt or covert;
       self-centeredness; firmly holding to the belief that one is better than others; condescending toward others.
     
     
     • b. Attention seeking: Excessive attempts to attract and be the focus of the attention of others; admiration seeking.
     
     
  
  



• C. The impairments in personality functioning and the individual‟s personality trait expression are relatively stable across time and consistent across situations.



• D. The impairments in personality functioning and the individual‟s personality trait expression are not better understood as normative for the individual‟s developmental stage or socio-cultural environment.


• E. The impairments in personality functioning and the individual‟s personality trait expression are not solely due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., severe head trauma).

Generally, Venkman does not suffer from identity issues, is confident in his self-direction (until his funding gets cut, then he quickly moves on to loftier goals), and has no issues with Empathy or Intimacy. See his relationship with Dana Barrett, both before and after they break up.

He does have some Antagonism issues, but nothing that's overly aggressive (and he's always right, so he's not making things up). His personality is pretty consistent, but both of that's normal for a 1980s New Yorker (his socio-cultural environment). Drugs and injuries are not a factor here.

But the biggest thing is that none of his personality impairs his interactions. He's a fully functional, normal adult male with mostly stable friendships, business relations, and romances.