Simon "Ghost" Riley

"Let's do this!"

- Ghost's catchphrase. "What the hell kind of name is Ghost?"

- John "Soap" Mactavish

Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley was a British special forces operator in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 graphic novel comic series Modern Warfare 2: Ghost. He is the second in command of Task Force 141, and is seen wearing dark red sunglasses and a skull-patterned balaclava along with headphones with a mic.

Modern Warfare 2: Ghost #1
The first mission depicted in the series has a captured Special Ops soldier wearing a skull-patterned balaclava in a classroom filled with children of a Ukrainian school that has been taken over by terrorists (who threaten to kill one child each hour if their demands are not met). The soldier passes the time by telling a story of his friend, Simon "Ghost" Riley on a mission in Mexico. The SAS loaned "Ghost" to USSOCOM to bust a heroin cartel that has recently begun smuggling terrorists into the U.S. This mission takes place on the Mexican holiday, "Day of the Dead", when Riley and the others wear skull face-paint and skeleton costumes to blend in with the celebrating crowd at the party that the leader of the Heroin Cartel is throwing.

Modern Warfare 2: Ghost #2
During Modern Warfare 2: Ghost #2 it is revealed that Ghost and his team are captured by the Mexican cartel, and during their captivity they endure continuous torture and brainwashing techniques in order to be used as hired guns for various criminal and terrorist groups. Throughout this ordeal the reader sees flashbacks of Riley's early life, from his childhood and how he had to endure an abusive fiend of a father. To his early years in the SAS and how he, after coming back from his first tour of duty in Afghanistan on January 2003, takes care of his abused mother and helps clean up his drug-addicted younger brother named Tommy. In June 2006, Riley is seen as best man at his brother Tommy's wedding, who is now completely free of drugs. During these flashbacks, many of Riley's adversaries are by seen wearing "ghostly" makeup (presumably a hallucination of Riley) of similar style to that worn by participants in the Day of the Dead celebration. Eventually, the USSOCOM members Sparks and Washington are able to escape, having learned that the Mexican cartel plan to kill them due to the fact they can not break them down, but are forced to leave Riley behind. Moments later, Riley is buried alive with the decaying corpse of Major Vernon.

Modern Warfare 2: Ghost #3
At the start of Modern Warfare 2: Ghost #3, Riley digs himself out of the grave by using Vernon's lower jaw bone, which took him thirteen hours, and later found by a Texas sheriff. The story then jumps to December 18, 2010, Riley is being debriefed about his experience to his superiors. Physically Riley is fine, but his superiors fear that his mental state is still in question. Riley has nightmares every time he sleeps, with Roba haunting and taunting him. While spending Christmas with his family, Riley gets a surprise visit from Sparks. While having a beer together at a local pub, Sparks and Riley rehash old times and their experience during those hellish months in Mexico. Sparks tells Riley that he and Washington are getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan. As they are walking back home Sparks approaches a young woman he previously saw at the pub and tries to sweet talk her into bed, the young woman is not impressed. Angrily, Sparks knocks the woman out, and orders Riley to help him get her inside her house so that they can rape her. Riley secretly calls the police, and they arrive just before any harm could be done to the woman, forcing Riley and Sparks to retreat. Once they both arrive at Sparks' hotel room, Riley suspects that Sparks is up to something, and by the time he finally pieces the clues together, Sparks points a gun at Riley's head. Riley immediately disarms Sparks, and interrogates him. Sparks reveals that he and Washington have been working for Roba, showing that they had been successfully brainwashed, but before Riley could get any more information Washington arrives from a task and attempts to gun down Riley. Riley escapes by jumping through Sparks' hotel window, slightly injuring his leg, and steals a cab to make his getaway. Remembering what Roba said about his family, Riley speeds towards his family's home and witnesses a shocking display. His mother; Tommy, Tommy's wife, Beth; and his nephew Joseph have all been executed, no doubt by Washington himself. In the end, Riley claims that he will kill them all: Sparks, Washington, Roba and his entire organization.

Operation Kingfish


Ghost worked alongside Sandman, John Price, and "Soap" MacTavish on Operation Kingfish in 2013. This would have to mean that Price and Soap had met between the events of "Game Over" and "The Gulag".

In Rio de Janeiro
Lt. Simon "Ghost" Riley is first seen in Takedown talking to Cpt. John "Soap" MacTavish via radio while they search for Alejandro Rojas's assistant. After John "Soap" MacTavish and Sgt. Gary "Roach" Sanderson begin pursuing the assistant, Ghost meets up with them at the Hotel Rio and joins the chase. Once the assistant is taken down by Roach, he is seen with MacTavish preparing to interrogate him. Ghost is then heard via radio for the rest of the mission as he attempts to pursue Rojas through the Favela. After the capture of Rojas, Ghost is heard requesting extraction from Command but to no avail. Ghost appears in the mission "The Hornet's Nest" with Task Force 141. He manages to escape with Captain MacTavish and Roach aboard Nikolai's helicopter.

Infiltration of the Russian Oil Rig and rescuing Prisoner 627
"That's the control room up ahead! I can use it to find the prisoner! I'll tap into their system and look for the prisoner! It's gonna take some time!"

- Ghost to Captain MacTavish in "The Gulag".

He then takes part in the infiltration of the Russian oil rig, which is being used as a makeshift SAM (Surface-to-Air-Missile) site in "The Only Easy Day...Was Yesterday" to rescue hostages. After clearing the oil rig, Ghost takes part in the operation to rescue Prisoner 627 from a Russian gulag. He takes control of the gulag's security systems and guides Soap and Roach to the prisoner.

Infiltration of a Russian submarine base
"We have a nuclear missile launch! Missile in the air! MISSILE IN THE AIR!! Code Black! CODE BLACK!!"

- Ghost to command after price launches the ICBMs.

Ghost also appears in "Contingency", where he helps Captain Price infiltrate a Russian submarine base along with other Task Force 141 members. However, he is shocked when Price launches an ICBM at Washington D.C. where the Russian-American war rages on. Ghost contacted command of Code Black, the statement that a threat of a nuclear weapon has been launched and must be disposed of immediately. It is possible that he retracted this though after he learned of Price's intention.

The Search for Vladimir Makarov and Death
Ghost's final appearance is in "Loose Ends" where he leads a strike-team to search for Vladimir Makarov at his safehouse on the Georgian-Russian border. However, Makarov is nowhere to be found but the safehouse is loaded ( "a bloody gold mine" as Ghost said) with intel. Ghost along with Roach, Ozone and Scarecrow with sniper support from Archer and Toad, protect the DSM while it downloads information regarding Makarov's operations. As the team head to the LZ set up by Shepherd, Ozone and Scarecrow are killed by enemy mortars and Roach is injured. Ghost manages to get Roach to the LZ but Roach and Ghost is betrayed by Shepherd who fatally shoots Roach and Ghost in the head/chest at point-blank range with a .44 Magnum before he could use his ACR. Ghost's body is then thrown into a ditch and set on fire along with Roach's.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Task Force 141 (Technical Specialist and Assistant Field Commander)
 * Rio De Janeiro, Brazil - Caught Rojas, Tortured Rojas' right-hand man and escaped on Nikolai's Pave Low helicopter.
 * Vikhorevka 36 Oil Platform - Secured hostages and the oil rig. Phase 1 of Prisoner Extraction operation.
 * 40 Miles East of Petropavlovsk, Russia - Assisted Task Force 141 and Navy Seal in the rescue of Prisoner #627. Phase 2 of Prisoner Extraction operation.
 * 140 Miles East of Petropavslok, Russia - Raided a submarine base with Captain Price and Roach.
 * Georgian-Russian Border - Secured a DSM on Makarov intel. Betrayed along with Roach and shot by General Shepherd.

Video
thumb|left|300px|Shepherd betraying and killing Ghost and Roach.