Ghost Staring / Ghost Gaze (MW2)

About

Ghost Staring, also known as Ghost Gaze or Ghost's Dreamy Eyes, refers to several images and videos of the 2022 video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II character Simon "Ghost" Riley looking at the player (Soap) from behind his skull face mask. Online, the images gained virality shortly after the game's release as reactions in memes, inspiration for fan art and for simping purposes, with one clip of Ghost sitting in a car also spawning a Bruh Moment video caption format.

Origin

On October 28th, 2022, the first-person shooter video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, a sequel to the 2019 reboot Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, was released.^[1] In the game, the character Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley is one of the main protagonists. In one cutscene, the character converses with the player during a night search, gazing at the player from behind his skull mask, with only his eyes visible (cutscene shown below).

Choices have consequences.

On October 23rd, Tumblr^[2] user vvh1sk3y posted a screenshot collection of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II characters, which included a still image of Ghost from the cutscene (shown below). The post gained over 2,100 likes and reblogs in two weeks.

Spread

Starting in late October 2022, the image achieved virality on Twitter as a reaction, often when combined with the My Reaction to That Information meme format. For example, on October 26th, 2022, Twitter^[3] user @BKTOOR_ used the image to parody a tweet by the official Call of Duty Twitter account, gaining over 120 likes in two weeks (shown below, left). On October 31st, Twitter^[4] user @ImNOODLEZ05 used a My Reaction to That Information meme based on the image to reply to a now-deleted tweet by @charlieINTEL, gaining over 540 likes in one week (shown below, right).

In late October and early November 2022, Ghost gained popularity online as a sexyman, with fan art referencing the image shared on Twitter, Tumblr and other social media platforms. For example, on October 31st, 2022, Twitter^[5] user @blurryspirits shared a sketch of Ghost that gained over 30 retweets and 410 likes in one week (shown below, left). On November 5th, artist @JFrazzles tweeted^[6] a fan art that received over 500 retweets and 2,500 likes in two days (shown below, right).

Video Captions

In one cutscene during the game, Ghost, Soap and two other characters are traveling in a car through the fictional Mexican city of Las Almas. At one point in the cutscene, Soap turns towards the Ghost, who is sitting next to him in a car, with Ghost looking at him from behind his mask and a blank stare in his eyes (shown below).

Kids, guns and balloons… That's a new one.

On October 22nd, TikToker^[7] @gotouchgrass posted a fancam of Ghost that included the shot and was set to a somber tune. The video garnered over 1.3 million views and 189,000 likes in one month (shown below, left).

Starting in mid-November 2022, the clip of Ghost staring at Soap set to the tune became popularized as a GIF and video caption format, initially on TikTok. For example, on November 10th, TikToker^[8] @0sama_b1nlack1n posted a meme that received 6.8 million views and 1.3 million likes in five days (shown below, right).

Following viral spread on TikTok, the format also gained popularity on Twitter. For example, on November 14th, Twitter^[9] user @ItsSomjuu posted a meme that received over 1.5 million views, 8,600 retweets and 91,800 likes in one day (shown below).

Various Examples

Templates

Search Interest

External References