Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley is a British special forces operator, and a prominent member of Task Force , known for his iconic skull-patterned balaclava, headset, and dark red sunglasses.
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.
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.
Returning home on leave in January , 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 , beat his father and threw him out of the house for all the abuse he had inflicted on Riley and his mother. By June , 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.
