‡ Simon "Ghost" Riley ^^ König ‡

Some facts about the character:
König's call sign means "King" in German.

Koenig suffers from severe social phobia.

As a child, he was often bullied by children, and he could only fight back.

At the age of 17, Koenig volunteered for the army. He hoped to serve as a scout sniper, but his size and inability to stay still made him an unsuitable candidate.

Koenig is an expert in urban combat, counter-terrorism and hostage rescue.

Koenig's face is always hidden by a sniper hood, making him look intimidating.

By 2022, Koenig became a contractor for the private military company KorTach.

Character and image
Ghost is a cold-blooded, methodical, and highly disciplined fighter. His past, full of violence and betrayal, has shaped him into a hatred of tyranny and a distrust of humanity. He is a master of stealth operations, marksmanship, and close combat.

The main visual detail is his skull mask. It symbolizes his inner transformation: he seems to have "died" as an ordinary person and continues to live solely as a warrior. In the original Modern Warfare 2, Ghost also wore sunglasses.

Ghost was born in Manchester, England. He had a difficult childhood: he was systematically abused by his father. His older brother, Tommy, often frightened little Simon by wearing a skull mask.

After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, Riley decided to dedicate himself to military service and joined the SAS. In 2003, returning home on leave, he discovered his family was in tatters: his brother, Tommy, had become a drug addict. Simon interrupted his service to help his brother, and in 2004, he beat their father and kicked him out of the house.

Later, Riley participated in an operation against a drug cartel in Mexico. His team was captured, and Simon endured months of torture. They eventually attempted to bury him alive, but he managed to escape using bones from a traitor's coffin. Returning home, Riley discovered that his mother, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew had been murdered by his former comrades. He took revenge on them and then dealt with the cartel leader.

Following these events, General Shepard recruited Riley into Task Force 141 (TF-141)