Modern Warfare II’s Ghost trying wounded however sexyIllustration: Jarred May/IG: thatboyonfire_
The Call of Duty Modern Warfare II house has been invaded by thirsty TikTokers who’re going completely feral for Simon “Ghost” Riley, one of many recreation’s important characters who has by no means revealed his face. The sequel dropped lower than two weeks in the past, however in that temporary time frame Ghost edits have racked up thousands and thousands of views throughout a whole bunch of TikToks.
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Ghost was within the unique Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2 (he died in that one) however was introduced again for the reboot. He was rewritten to be a bit extra full of life and playful than earlier iterations and likewise recast–he’s now voiced by DJ Samuel Roukin, however was portrayed by actor Craig Fairbrass within the unique sequence, and Jeff Leach in Modern Warfare 2019 (Leach was fired final 12 months after movies of him making sexist feedback throughout a stream surfaced on-line). The newer, friendlier Ghost appears to be successful amongst TikTokers, whether or not they’re Call of Duty followers or not, if the swath of movies about him are any indication.
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The movies embody fanart of Ghost trying demure or in any other case sexualized, individuals reacting to Ghost’s voice, and cosplays of Ghost. But most of them make the most of audio taken from the “Alone” mission in Modern Warfare II, the place John “Soap” MacTavish and Ghost chat over a radio whereas sneaking by a Mexican city. “Take it off,” Soap tells Ghost, referring to the cranium masks he’s worn in each Call of Duty look. “Show my face? Negative,” Ghost says. When Soap asks if he’s ugly, Ghost responds “quite the opposite” in a voice that may be finest described as an attractive growl. We reached out to each Infinity Ward and Ghost’s voice actor to see in the event that they supposed to make him this attractive, however have but to get affirmation.
That audio is paired with a veritable smorgasbord of thirsty TikTokers imagining what Ghost seems to be like when saying the road. Some draw diagonal pink strains on his face like an anime character blushing, whereas others counsel he’s smirking by the road learn or playfully kicking his ft behind him whereas mendacity inclined. Others have gotten much more inventive, whether or not it’s squatting down like Megan Thee Stallion, sporting a g-string, or donning a full maid’s outfit.
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Many of those TikToks are both made by or focused to femme and queer-identifying people, which takes the standard online game objectification components and flips the script. There’s a decidedly female stare upon play right here, with posters specializing in Ghost’s forearms or the timbre of his voice, or turning what’s ostensibly a totem for army industrialized masculinity and making him a little bit femme boy. Booker, a 26-year-old who used to scour FanFiction.web for femme-leaning Call of Duty smut, tells Kotaku they’re having fun with this inflow of Ghost porn.
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“To take such a strong, stoic character as Simon and completely turn his image into something more sexual is so funny to me,” they inform Kotaku. “It makes the men rage, but I can’t help but think of all the Cortana porn I saw growing up. Or Lara Croft, or Princess Peach, or any female in any game really. To take guys’ fan-favorite character and make him something for the girls is the best thing to happen to COD.” Booker lately posted a TikTookay of them scrolling by Google taking a look at Ghost pics. “Google, show me this guy’s balls please,” the audio says as they scroll.
Unsurprisingly, a personality meant to symbolize the top of mysterious masculinity being babygirlified or bimbofied by Gen Z has the Call of Duty dudes pressed. Comments on attractive Ghost TikToks from self-identifying Call of Duty followers run the gamut (TikToks like this one from thecubancrusher lament “what happened to Ghost?”), however a lot of them complain in regards to the inflow of “new” followers which have come flocking to the franchise to fawn over Ghost.
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“Sexualizing him is worse than sexualizing minors,” writes one commenter responding to a TikTookay calling out the business for sexualizing teenage women like Overwatch 2’s d.VA, who’s 19-years previous.
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Jarred May is an artist who posted a TikTookay of himself drawing attractive Ghost artwork in response to backlash in regards to the character’s objectification. “The term ‘gatekeeping’ is the first thing that comes to mind when I read a lot of the comments from fans,” May tells Kotaku. “A lot of ‘you’ve clearly never played the games’ and ‘Ghost would be disappointed in you’—a fair few homophobic comments, too. Some fans seem to have taken this movement as some kind of attack on their own sexuality. Maybe they need to do some soul-searching, they might discover something interesting.”
Even well-liked Call of Duty leaker CharlieIntel has weighed in on the Bimbo Ghost discourse, tweeting, “There are thirst traps of Ghost being posted on TikTok. Everyone, please.” Clearly, whoever runs the account isn’t a fan, as are many gamers within the feedback. But it doesn’t matter what the stereotypical Call of Duty followers take into consideration Ghost getting the bimbo remedy, there doesn’t appear to be a rattling factor they’ll do to cease it. “I was able to curate over half of my FYP dedicated to him. I’m loving it,” Booker tells Kotaku.