Simon "Ghost" Riley is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

in the ''

Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter video game Media franchise, franchise published by Activision. Starting out in 2003, it first focused on games set in World War II. Over time, the series has seen games set in the midst of the Cold W ...

'' story arc ''Modern Warfare''. He first appears as a non-playable character in '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,'' where he is captain

Soap MacTavish John "Soap" MacTavish is a fictional character in the '' Call of Duty'' story arc ''Modern Warfare''. He first appears as a main playable character in the 2007 video game '' Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare'' where he is part of the 22nd Specia ...

's second in command. He is known for his iconic skull-patterned balaclava, headset, and dark red sunglasses. His backstory is elaborated upon in the comic '' Modern Warfare 2: Ghost,'' which explored events leading up to him becoming a member of Task Force 141, and the short film '' Find Makarov: Operation Kingfish.'' The reboot version of Riley was briefly mentioned in the 2019 title '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare'', being playable in its multiplayer and '' Call of Duty: Warzone.'' He made his campaign debut in the 2022 sequel, ''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II''. This version of Riley is depicted as having his entire face, save for his eyes, concealed by a skull-shaped mask. An alternate version of Riley appears as a protagonist of '' Call of Duty: Mobile'', and appears in '' Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare'' and '' Call of Duty: Ghosts'' as a skin in multiplayer. Riley is considered to be a

breakout character A breakout character is a character in serial fiction, especially a member of an ensemble cast, who becomes much more prominent, popular, discussed, or imitated than expected by the creators. A breakout character may equal or overtake the oth ...

for ''Modern Warfare 2'', and is oftentimes cited as one of the most popular characters of the ''Call of Duty'' franchise.

Character design

Riley is first introduced in the fifth mission of ''Modern Warfare 2,'' "Takedown." He is voiced by

Craig Fairbrass Craig John Fairbrass (born 15 January 1964) is an English actor, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his roles as Delmar in the thriller film ''Cliffhanger'' (1993), Dan Sullivan in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (1999–2001), ...

. His backstory is explored in the comic book mini-series ''Modern Warfare 2: Ghost'', where he is depicted as a survivor of

domestic abuse Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner v ...

from his father and struggling with complex psychological issues. His signature skull-patterned balaclava has been likened to similar usage of skull masks among real-world soldiers. In ''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II'', Riley returns to the campaign, which takes place in a new timeline. He is voiced and portrayed via motion capture by actor

Samuel Roukin Samuel Roukin (ROO-kin; born 15 August 1980) is an English actor and DJ. He is best known for his role as John Graves Simcoe in the series, '' Turn: Washington's Spies'' and Simon "Ghost" Riley in ''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II.'' Early li ...

, in spite of early reports suggesting that Fairbrass would return to voice the character. His character was intended by

Infinity Ward Infinity Ward, Inc. is an American video game developer. They developed the video game ''Call of Duty'', along with seven other installments in the ''Call of Duty'' series. Vince Zampella, Grant Collier, and Jason West established Infinity Ward ...

to be explored and humanized in greater depth than the original. In the reboot, his past is kept a secret to preserve his anonymity and is described as being an "expert in clandestine tradecraft." He is known to prefer doing missions alone and suffers from trust issues.

Appearances

Original ''Modern Warfare'' sub-series

''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2''

In ''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2'', lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley is established to be a member of the SAS recruited by General Shepherd to serve in Task Force 141. He is sent on a mission in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

to capture Alejandro Rojas, the supplier of terrorist Vladimir Makarov who caused a massacre of a Russian airport. He captures and prepares to torture Rojas' assistant, before narrowly escaping the favela amidst an incursion by a Brazilian militia. Using information extracted from Rojas, the group conducts a raid upon an oil rig leading to a "gulag" containing the prisoner

Captain Price Captain John Price is a fictional character in the ''Call of Duty'' series. He is the main protagonist of the original ''Modern Warfare'' sub-series. In the trilogy, Price first ranked as a lieutenant, before being promoted to Captain and taki ...

, with Riley hacking into the security system of the prison to help guide the team to Price. After discovering two possible locations for Makarov and his men, Riley and Gary "Roach" Sanderson raided a safe house in the Georgia-Russia border, finding crucial intelligence on the Ultranationalists. The two are then betrayed by General Shepherd upon their extraction, being fatally shot and their bodies incinerated, falling victim to Shepherd's plan to make himself a war hero by eliminating Makarov himself.

Rebooted Modern Warfare sub-series

''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare'' and ''Warzone''

In the ending scene of ''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare'', Riley first appears as potential recruit for Task Force 141, along with MacTavish and Kyle "Gaz" Garrick. Riley appears in the multiplayer modes, released with the Season Two Battle Pass. During the events of '' Warzone'', Riley enters Verdansk to find Armistice members fighting against one another for survival against the toxic gas that was released into the city, and requests Price to send in backup. Months later, he groups up with the rest of Task Force 141, tracks down Viktor Zakhaev, and prevents him from launching a nuclear missile.

''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II''

In ''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II'', Riley is first seen under the command of General Shepherd, where assists Task Force 141 in the assassination of Iranian general Ghorbrani. He is then deployed to Mexico's

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

and the city of Las Almas, where he captures

Quds Force The Quds Force ( fa, نیروی قدس, niru-ye qods, Jerusalem Force) is one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) specializing in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. U.S. Army's Iraq War ...

Major Hassan Zyani, releasing him with a tracking device to prevent political fallout. Riley leads a raid on an abandoned oil rig to prevent a missile launch, but is then betrayed by Shadow Company commander Phillip Graves and General Shepherd, who take over the base and detain his men. Killing several members of the Shadow Company in pursuit, Riley manages to flee along with Soap, who he guides and bonds with as they escape Las Almas. The two men, alongside Rodolfo Parra, manage to break Alejandro and the rest of Los Vaqueros out of detainment while rendezvousing with Price and Gaz. In a warehouse owned by Alejandro, Riley unmasks himself and forms a "Ghost Team" with the 141 and Vaqueros to eliminate Graves before being alerted of a plot to fire a missile from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

into Washington D.C.. The team thwarts the plot and Riley kills Hassan just as he is about to throw Soap off of a building. Riley is last seen masked in a cafe where Price identifies the leader of the Russian Ultranationalists as Vladimir Makarov.

Other appearances

Riley was featured as a playable character on the 2014 mobile game '' Call of Duty: Heroes''. The original Riley appears as a playable character in ''Call of Duty: Mobile'' and a protagonist of its comic book storyline, being added as a part of the Season 1 Battle Pass, while his reboot version appears as a costume.

Reception and legacy

Simon "Ghost" Riley is considered to be one of the most iconic characters of the franchise. Ranking him as the best character of the series, Jorge Aguilar of

Dot Esports The GAMURS Group, simply known as Gamurs, is an esports media and entertainment publisher. Established in December 2014, the group operates multiple brands focusing on the esports and entertainment news markets, including the websites: ''Dot Espo ...

describes him as "one of the best soldiers in the game" and that "his cool mask, sunglasses, and badass style caught fans’ attention." Riley's death in ''Modern Warfare 2'' is often cited as an example of an impactful

plot twist A plot twist is a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction. When it happens near the end of a story, it is known as a twist or surprise ending. It may change the aud ...

in gaming, with his betrayal at the hands of his own superior shocking players and solidifying Shepherd's role as the game's central antagonist. The reboot version of Riley has been praised for Roukin's portrayal, though the campaign of ''Modern Warfare II'' has been criticized for his increased characterization compared to the original. His popularity has led to speculation of a spin-off game focused on his character, as well as being the namesake of Riley, a playable

German Shepherd The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899. It was originally bred as a herding dog, for he ...

in ''Call of Duty: Ghosts''. The presence of Riley, along with other male characters in

fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction (also abbreviated to fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF) is fictional writing written in an amateur capacity by fans, unauthorized by, but based on an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted characters, settin ...

of the series has been the subject of scholarly attention. Riley's depiction in ''Modern Warfare II'' has led to him becoming the subject of homoerotic

fan art Fan art or fanart is artwork created by fans of a work of fiction and derived from a series character or other aspect of that work. They are usually done by amateur artists, semi-professionals or professionals. As fan labor, fan art refers to ...

and

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting Commodity, commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it h ...

with series protagonist

. Critics noted his sex appeal and voice as having attracted users on

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

to the game, considered to be outside the game's usual target demographic of heterosexual men. The trend has inspired commentary on the

sexualization Sexualization (or sexualisation) is to make something sexual in character or quality or to become aware of sexuality, especially in relation to men and women. Sexualization is linked to sexual objectification. According to the American Psychologi ...

of men in video games. Apart from that topic, a clip of Ghost uncannily staring at MacTavish has also became an

internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

which was then used with eerie music in the background for the purpose of humoristic short video edits and montages made by internet users.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Simon Activision characters Call of Duty Fictional British people in video games Fictional lieutenants Fictional people from Manchester Fictional murdered people Fictional Special Air Service personnel Fictional soldiers in video games Fictional victims of domestic abuse Fictional War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) veterans Fictional World War III veterans Video game sidekicks Male characters in video games Video game characters introduced in 2009 Internet memes Video game memes