#classic ghost

In order to join the SAS you have to at least be 18, so we know when he joined in 2001 he had to have been at least 18.

5 years pass before he loses his family, meaning for the youngest possible age Ghost was 22-23.

Although n!Ghost (Reboot Ghost) doesn't have an outright explanation, there are many shown reasonings. o!Ghost (Classic) definitely does come out and say so, in the Call of Duty Comic Series released before Modern Warfare 2.

o!Ghost

Ghost, a.k.a Simon Riley, grew up in an incredibly abusive household, under the boot of his father. To get away he joined the SAS, where is talent in brutal efficiency marked him as a super soldier. (Reasoning 1)

As an SAS soldier he was sent to track down Manuel Roba, a drug cartel leader. Things didn't go well. He would be captured by Roba, tortured, and left for dead.

Upon escaping his death Roba decided to get back at Ghost by killing the family members Ghost did have left, being his mother, brother, and nephew, all whom he did like. It was his identity that lead his family to become such a target in the first place, and he was obviously already growing ashamed of it. (Reasoning 2)

Roba sent a fellow SAS soldier to do the dirty work, which wouldn't be the first or last time SAS soldiers would betray him (Reasoning 3)

Their deaths were committed in a way to frame Ghost. Enraged he tracked down the man who did it, and swapped dog tags after killing him, and burning down the place. Meaning Simon Riley in the system in dead, and he simply views himself as a Ghost to that person. (Reasoning 4)

(He also murdered his father)

Ghost promptly does a lot of covert, dangerous, and morally questionable work. That alone is also a good reason why to keep an identity hidden.

n!Ghost

Although this Ghost's backstory is never really given, we are still shared a lot of potential reasons his character would prefer to remain unidentifiable.

There are also a few references in the Modern Warfare 2 (2022) campaign that references the comic, so perhaps the backstories are shared anyway, but it's not confirmed.

Ghost is a lone worker, even more so in the Reboot Universe. He specializes in clandestine, highly classified missions. As part of the SAS he is one of the few detailed taking missions solo, with zero back-up. He does a lot of dirty work similar to his alternate universe counterpart. (Reasoning 1)

Before joining taskforce 141, Ghost worked for a group known as Armistice. Armistice would fall, with members of the force betraying each other, several splitting off to work for Zakhaev. This included soldiers viewed to be Ghost's level, and wouldn't be his first or last betrayals. (Reasoning 2)

Ghost is shown working with several types of organizations not tied to the SAS, so he is likely even his own entity when it comes to things.

My thoughts?

Appears in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Soap’s Journal, Call of Duty: Heroes, Call of Duty: Mobile, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2: Campaign Remastered, Modern Warfare 2: Ghost (As well as a few others but only mentioned/pictured)

CW: Spoilers for the Modern Warfare Classic Timeline

There are two versions of Ghost. Ghost Classic from the original Modern Warfare timeline where he is eventually killed by General Shepherd through betrayal. Then there is Ghost Reboot, who is from the rebooted Modern Warfare Timeline. Both are absolute fan favorites and I don’t blame them.

Ghost is a British man from  Manchester, England. He’s 6′2″ and many details about his true appearance are unknown. 

Ghost is primarily in the Classic Modern Warfare timeline. But he has a reboot counterpart in the Reboot Modern Warfare timelines.

Simon Riley first appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

After surviving his risky childhood Ghost makes it into the SAS after being willing to join. Eventually his obvious skills and interesting backstory would bring him to Shepherd’s taskforce 141. 

There he would meet the other members of the taskforce, and go various missions by their side all around the world. He’d prove to be more than useful with his brutal efficiency, technology skills, and apathy towards violence. Ghost would assist in rescuing Price from a gulag, and making major contributions to the hunt of Marakov.

However all of those successes would end swiftly, when Roach and Ghost, separated from the rest, are betrayed by Shepherd. There they are both shot point blank, and their bodies are burned to cover Shepherd’s tracks.

Two of Ghost’s primary traits is his brutality and dark sense of humor. He is incredibly brutal, which he likely gets from his abusive childhood, and the fact that he no longer has any family. He is seen torturing the info out of their enemies, and hunting down others in long running pursuits similar to Price.

Although Ghost shares a friendly rivalry with Soap, started between the national rival of their identities (English & Irish) and by their close skill in the military, this frenemies relationship turns into a strong bond. (And later a bromance friendship with the Reboot versions)

Ghost himself, grew up underneath the abusive boot of his father, who exposed Ghost to violence and apathy in gross ways during his childhood. Ghost also had an older brother named Tommy, who wasn’t the best person either. However Ghost loved his family (excluding his father), and cared for them whenever he got the chance.

Tommy would go on to marry someone, and produce Ghost a nephew. However a lot of that love would be short lived for Ghost because tragedy would strike, and an old brainwashed comrade of his would slaughter his family. (Excluding his father, Ghost killed that guy himself)

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