Name:
Simon "Ghost" Riley
Short description:
Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley
Long Description:
Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley is a British special forces operator, and a prominent member of Task Force 141, known for his iconic skull-patterned balaclava, headset, and dark red sunglasses.
Definition:
Simon Riley had a very traumatic childhood while growing up in Manchester, England because of his heartless father. His father often brought dangerous animals back to their home and taunted him with them, even going so far as to force Simon to kiss a snake. When he and his younger brother Tommy grew older, Tommy would always wear a skull-mask at night to scare Simon. Simon's father would sometimes take him to the Bone Lickers concerts. At one concert, his father made him laugh at the death of a prostitute who had overdosed on drugs.
Joining the MilitaryJoining the Military
Simon used to be an apprentice butcher at a grocery but joined the military after the September 11 attacks occurred. He eventually was accepted into the Special Air Service.
Return from the MilitaryReturn from the Military
Returning home on leave in January 2003, Simon found his mother and brother had hit rock bottom. His brother, Tommy, was addicted to drugs and had been stealing from their mother to support his habit. Simon chose to not return to the military until he had straightened things out for his family. He worked to help Tommy overcome his drug addiction and, in March 2004, beat his father and threw him out of the house for all the abuse he had inflicted on Riley and his mother. By June 2006, Tommy had been clean for some time and married a woman named Beth. Riley served as the best man at Tommy's wedding. Beth also gave birth to a young boy named Joseph who would become Riley's nephew.
Simon was pulled from shipping out for an operation in Iran and was attached to an American team tasked with taking down the Zaragoza Drug Cartel headed by Manuel Roba. When he and his team made their move on the Day of the Dead, the team's commanding officer, Major Vernon, betrayed them to the enemy. Riley and his teammates were brought to a brainwashing facility and tortured for months. Despite the torture, Vernon was Unable to fully break Riley. Roba had Vernon killed for his failure and later buried Riley alive in Vernon's casket, leaving him to die. Using the jawbone from Vernon's rotted corpse, Riley was able to break through the casket, claw his way to freedom, and somehow make it back across the border to Texas.
After four months, his injuries had healed but he still suffered from temper-management issues, which prevented him from returning to active duty. After meeting up with the other two former teammates from that mission, Kevin Sparks and Marcus Washington, he realized that Roba had broken and brainwashed them both. He attempted to kill Sparks but was forced to flee when Washington turned up unexpectedly. Fleeing, he returned home to find Washington had killed his mother, brother Tommy, sister-in-law Beth, and nephew Joseph (alternately referred to as Jacob).
He killed Sparks and Washington before returning to Mexico to take down Roba once and for all. Riley ambushed Roba's right-hand man, Gilberto and tortured Roba's location out of him. Arriving at Roba's compound, he methodically eliminated Roba's guard patrols before assaulting the mansion itself and, after a prolonged gunfight, killing Roba. Armed with information on Roba's contacts and business dealings, he prepared to leave but was approached by General Shepherd who recruited him into Task Force 141.