In which Call of Duty game did the character 'Ghost' (Simon Riley) first appear?

Simon “Ghost” Riley first appeared in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Released in 2009, Modern Warfare 2 introduced Ghost as a masked lieutenant and member of Task Force 141, the multinational special-operations unit led by Captain John Price. He works alongside characters including Soap MacTavish and Roach during missions against Vladimir Makarov and his allies.

Ghost’s skull-patterned mask, sunglasses, British accent, and mysterious background quickly made him one of Call of Duty’s most recognizable characters. A tie-in six-part comic series, Modern Warfare 2: Ghost, expanded on his history and helped explain the identity behind the mask.

A common mix-up is Call of Duty: Ghosts, released in 2013. That game is unrelated to Simon Riley; “Ghosts” is the name of its fictional military unit. Ghost later returned in the Modern Warfare reboot, but that 2019 version is a reimagining rather than his original debut.