Simon "Ghost" Riley

"Let's do this!"

- Ghost.

Sergeant Simon Riley (aka Ghost) is a British character 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. He is known as the "silent killer" in MacTavish's squad. He is seen wearing red sunglasses and a skull patterned balaclava.

Modern Warfare 2: Ghost
The comic miniseries tells of Ghost's exploits before and up to the Modern Warfare 2 conflict. The first mission depicted in the series has him captured in a Ukrainian school that has been taken over by terrorists (who threaten to kill one child each hour if their demands are not met). He passes the time by telling a story of a mission in Mexico. The SAS loaned him to USSOCOM to bust a heroin cartel that has recently begun smuggling terrorists into the U.S. At some point in time, he dons his iconic skull mask and moniker.

Modern Warfare 2
Ghost starts actively participating with Task Force 141 when they are deployed to Rio De Janeiro. He helps MacTavish interrogate Rojas's right-hand man and later helps take part in cornering Rojas. He then later helps in securing an oil rig in Russia to facilitate an infiltration operation in a Russian Gulag. He seems to have replaced Gaz as the technology specialist, which is appropriate as they are voiced by the same person. Because of this, some people believe it is Gaz, as some people have survived shots to the head if it doesn't hit any parts of the brain and passes through and goes out the jaw, possibly why he wears the skull mask to cover it up.

Fate


While on a mission in the Caucasus Mountains on the Russian/Georgian border, Russia, Ghost and Gary "Roach" Sanderson are investigating one of Makarov's safehouses. Ghost and Roach manage to copy Makarov's files, only to be later killed by General Shepherd during the middle of extraction. Ghost and Sanderson's bodies are tossed in a nearby ditch, doused in petrol, and incinerated by Shepherd's lit cigar.

Trivia

 * According to December's DC Comics advance solicitations, Ghost's real name is Sergeant Riley
 * Some speculation and theories state that Gaz survived his execution by Zakhaev, and he wears the balaclava to cover his now mangled face. Another possible explanation is that Infinity Ward made it so you could never see his face, to keep the player wondering.
 * Upon close inspection, it can be seen that his Skull mask is actually painted over his Balaclava
 * Craig Fairbrass (who voiced Gaz in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare) provides the voice of Ghost. There was some fan speculation that Ghost was actually Gaz, though this is near impossible since he was shot in the head.
 * He may be the "Ghost" of Gaz (not literally of course). This is backed up by the fact that he is voiced by the same voice actor and plays the same role that Gaz did in the player's squad.
 * Coincidentally, he also dies in manner similar to Gaz, being shot with a high-caliber pistol on Day 6.
 * It is possible to consider that this may become an ongoing ingame joke within the Modern Warfare series, seeing as Ghost and Gaz are basically identical to each other and are killed in a similiar way, which means that there may be a new character in the next game like this one who is killed off near the end.
 * In military terms a ghost is someone who is undetectable and is nearly impossible to follow.
 * Ghost is the multiplayer announcer for TF141, this has been confirmed from audio heard in the recent Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 press conference footage.
 * Ghost is also the announcer for most (but not all, such as Time Trial) Special Ops missions.
 * On Infinity Ward's website Ghost was voted the most favorite (new) character in Modern Warfare 2.
 * His outfit can be bought and worn by your Xbox LIVE Avatar for 400 Microsoft points.
 * In Modern Warfare:Mobilized, almost all of the SAS dress like Ghost, but without the sunglasses
 * Ghost wears many different balaclavas, all with different colors, but they maintain the same exact skull paint.
 * One of Ghost's melee takedowns is exactly identical to the one in Call of Duty 4 when Roycewicz is killed by an OpFor terrorist.
 * An article on IGN has revealed that Infinity Ward is discussing a spin-off game for Ghost.