What is Ghost Staring?

Ghost Staring, also called Ghost Gaze, is the viral still and clip of Simon 'Ghost' Riley looking at Soap from behind his skull mask in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II.

Where did Ghost Staring come from?

The look comes from cutscenes in the 2022 Infinity Ward title Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, including a night-search scene and a car ride through Las Almas. Early viral posts included a Tumblr screenshot set from vvh1sk3y on October 23rd, 2022.

What does Ghost Staring mean?

Online, the image reads as a flat, deadpan reaction, often slotted into the 'My Reaction to That Information' template, while the video version plays as a melancholic deadpan over captioned confessions or embarrassments.

How do you use Ghost Staring?

People typically pair the mask-and-eyes still with reaction text on Twitter, or use the car-ride clip on TikTok and Twitter with the somber audio and on-screen captions describing an awkward or emotional situation.

Is Ghost Staring still popular?

Peak virality was in late October through mid-November 2022, when posts like @ItsSomjuu's November 14th tweet hit over 1.5 million views in a day. Usage has cooled since, though Ghost 'sexyman' fan art stayed common on Tumblr and Twitter into 2023.

Ghost Staring

2022reaction image / video captiondeclining

Published November 2, 2026

Ghost Staring, also known as Ghost Gaze, captures the intense, mask-shrouded look of Simon 'Ghost' Riley from the 2022 shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. After the game shipped in late October 2022, cutscene stills and short clips of Ghost looking at Soap flooded Twitter and TikTok as reaction fodder, thirst edits and the base for a mid-November TikTok caption format set to a somber tune.

call of duty memes reaction memes thirst memes fan art memes tiktok sound trends

Overview

Fans typically use the eyes-only still as a flat reaction, often slotted into the 'My Reaction to That Information' template on Twitter3. Beyond the joke posts, the look also became a cornerstone of the Ghost 'sexyman' fandom, with Tumblr and Twitter artists drawing him in soft, longing portraits that reference the eyes-only shot from the night-search cutscene7.

A second strand of the meme comes from the car-ride scene set in the fictional Mexican city of Las Almas, where Ghost blankly stares at Soap from the passenger seat. On TikTok, that clip is layered under a slow, melancholic audio while on-screen text describes an awkward confession, a petty workplace grievance or a heartbreak scenario5. Together, the still and the clip gave the character two distinct meme lives, one for quick-fire Twitter reactions and one for longer TikTok and Twitter captioned bits4.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Tumblr / Twitter and TikTok (viral spread)

Date

2022

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II launched on October 28th, 2022 as a sequel to the 2019 franchise reboot1. Simon 'Ghost' Riley appears throughout the campaign in his signature skull-print balaclava, and a night-search cutscene holds on his eyes while he speaks to Soap, with the rest of his face hidden by the mask4. Infinity Ward and Activision made the game and the character; no single fan is confirmed as the originator of the meme format.

Five days before the game's full release, Tumblr user vvh1sk3y posted a screenshot roundup of MWII characters on October 23rd, 2022 that included the eyes-only still of Ghost from that cutscene, drawing more than 2,100 likes and reblogs within two weeks2. A day earlier, on October 22nd, TikToker @gotouchgrassboz0 uploaded a Ghost fancam that featured the car-ride shot set to a somber tune5, giving the character two early seeds that would later converge into separate meme formats.

TikTok

How It Spread

Ghost's gaze went viral on Twitter in late October 2022 as a reaction image, often paired with the 'My Reaction to That Information' layout. On October 26th, @BKTOOR_ used the still to parody an official Call of Duty tweet and got more than 120 likes within two weeks3. By October 31st, @ImNOODLEZ05 worked the image into a reply to a now-deleted @charlieINTEL tweet, earning over 540 likes in a week9.

Fan art took off alongside the reaction edits. On October 31st, artist @blurryspirits shared a quick Ghost sketch that earned over 410 likes and 30 retweets in a week8. Days later, on November 5th, @JFrazzles tweeted a Ghost portrait that got around 500 retweets and 2,500 likes within two days7, helping cement the character's 'sexyman' status across Tumblr and Twitter.

The car-ride video format broke through in mid-November 2022. @gotouchgrassboz0's earlier fancam reached roughly 1.3 million views and 189,000 likes within a month on TikTok5, and a follow-up by @0sama_b1nlack1n on November 10th using the same clip and audio reportedly hit 6.8 million views and 1.3 million likes in five days4. On November 14th, Twitter user @ItsSomjuu reposted the format with an Overwatch DPS joke caption and reached more than 1.5 million views, 8,600 retweets and 91,800 likes in a single day6.

Timeline

2022-10-22

TikToker @gotouchgrassboz0 uploaded a Ghost fancam featuring the car-ride shot set to a somber tune.

2022-10-23

Tumblr user vvh1sk3y posted a MWII screenshot collection that included the eyes-only Ghost still.

2022-10-26

@BKTOOR_ parodied an official Call of Duty tweet with the Ghost reaction image.

2022-10-28

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II released.

2022-10-31

@blurryspirits shared a viral Ghost sketch and @ImNOODLEZ05 posted a 'My Reaction to That Information' edit.

2022-11-05