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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"What is a ghost? A tragedy doomed to repeat itself?"''|''[[The Devil's Backbone]]''}}
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# The ghost hasn't yet figured out they're dead, or are so attached to what they did in life they are still doing it out of habit and/or affection. This can lead to a [[Tomato in the Mirror]] shock, an [[Obi Wan]] or a [[Ghostly Advisor]].
# They're aware they're dead and angry at the living for still living.
# The ghost suffered so in life that the spirit was drawn to the place where the worst torment took place.
# [[Living Memory|Resounding psychic echo]]. The ghost [[Our Souls Are Different|isn't even the person's soul]], but just a spectral imprint left behind by the person's death that's gained a form of sentience. In paranormal fields, these are usually called residual hauntings.
# [[The Power of Love]]. They feel someone they love can't make it without them, or needs protection.
# No funeral, no
# [[Due to the Dead|Their graves have been improperly moved or desecrated]], and they're angry about it.
# [[Due to the Dead|Someone saw to it that they received proper funeral rites]], and they must reward this person before they go on.
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'''Powers include:'''
* [[Intangible Man|Intangibility or Phasing]]: Default state of ghosts tends to be intangible. They can, with an effort of will, become tangible, but they usually cannot pass on that intangibility to anything they were holding. Typically, if they pass through solid matter while holding something, the solid matter remains behind after the ghost has passed through.
* [[Invisibility]]: Ghosts can usually, but not always, decide whether or not to be visible.
** For example; ghosts in [[Ghost Whisperer]] are always invisible to humans who don't have the gift required to see them.
* [[Blow You Away|Wind]] powers are usually a common ghostly ability.
** Sometimes they have [[Playing with Fire|fire]]/[[Ghost Lights|Will-o'-the-wisp]] powers too.
** Or equipment the ghost used in life becomes an [[Jacob Marley Apparel|ectoplasmic version of same]] that can hurt other ghosts.
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** Other times, they can project [[Screamer Trailer|Scary Visions]] into the mind of a victim.
** [[Master of Illusion]] is also common, as are creating [[Cold Flames]] or ''actual'' [[Playing with Fire|flames]] in the case of the ghosts of arsonists and their victims.
* [[Voluntary Shapeshifting]]: Ghosts can sometimes take on horrific (or amusing) shapes to terrify their haunts.
* Materializing: Ghosts can usually create a body/illusion of themselves as they were when alive. However posing as a human will usually result in [[Glamour Failure|slight flaws]] in their facade, like lacking a pulse or cold skin.
* [[Demonic Possession]]: Some ghosts can take over the body of a living person and operate it like a puppet. For some ghosts, this is the next best thing to being alive again. For others, it's simply an expedient because they can't experience what their host is experiencing.
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* Some ghosts are only able to show up between sundown and sunrise.
* [[Jacob Marley Apparel]] - the ghost is confined to appearing what s/he wore at the time of death [sometimes the condition in which it was at the time of death]
* Wounds - Ghosts who died in particularly violent fashion end up carrying their wounds with them into eternity.
* Some ghosts are unable to enter churches.
* Most ghosts are [[Closed Circle|restricted to haunting a specific house or object]]. If you can leave the premises you're usually safe. Destroying said house or object will usually remove the ghosts' anchor to the material world and force it to move on. Except when that just frees it to haunt wherever it wants.
'''Interaction With The Living'''
* Avenge Me! Ghosts can often appear to their closest friends or family. Like, you know, [[Hamlet]].
* Attention-seeking. A lot of paranormal investigators who subscribe to the view that ghosts are spirits believe that this is the major reason for most hauntings.
* [[Psychic Powers|Mediums]] can [[I See Dead People|see and/or hear ghosts]].
* [[Magitek]] - Ghosts can become a literal ghost in the machine, and operate phones, computers, etc. without actual tangible hands. (See psychic powers above)
* Artifacts - there are magical gewgaws and doodads, [[Holy Relic]] items and that sort of thing lying around [[The Verse]] that will allow one to contact ghosts. Or are ''[[Artifact of Doom|possessed]]'' by ghosts.
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* Haunting - They will torment the living, annoy or bedevil the living, or seek to drive the living into confessing if they've done wrong.
* [[Angst]] and [[Wangst]] are often involved with ghostly hauntings, particularly when love is involved.
* Often (particularly in media intended for children) [[Ghostly Advisor|only a select few can see/hear them]].
* Popping in and disappearing just as fast, leaving those who saw them claiming [[It Was Here, I Swear]].
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* [[Jacob Marley Apparel]]: As they looked at the moment they died.
* [[Bedsheet Ghost]]: Covered in a shroud. This white sheet may be the only part of them that's visible.
* [[Stringy
* As they looked right after they died.
* As they look now - rotted, filthy, partially skeletal and covered in worms or maggots, wearing the clothes they were buried in.
* Any of the above can also be combined with transparency or the ability to become invisible.
* Good ghosts may be even more beautiful than they were in life, either as a reflection of their true self or as a reward.
Some good ghosts get to [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence]] (either literally [[Fluffy Cloud Heaven|heaven]], or something else) once they've [[But Now I Must Go|sorted out]] their issues or unfinished business. Bad ones can get the express elevator [[Hell|down]]. Some of them have problems with [[Ghost Amnesia]]. Every ghost has different [[Ghostly Goals]], again depending on what they want.
Shows and movies will usually address these baseline rules, whether or not they're enforced.
See also [[Our Souls Are Different]]. Compare [[Living Memory]].
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Stock traits:
* [[Back
* [[Dead to Begin With]]
* [[Disappears Into Light]]
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Types of ghost:
* [[An Astral Projection, Not a Ghost]]
* [[Bedsheet Ghost]]
* [[Cute Ghost Girl]]
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* [[Hellish Horse]]
* [[Poltergeist]]
* [[Stringy
* [[Spirit Advisor]]
* [[Undead Child]]
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{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* In one of the few ''[[Inuyasha]]'' stories to take place in the present day, Kagome encounters the spirit of a little girl who died in a fire and is angry at her mother for not rescuing her. The girl haunts her mother and little brother until Kagome manages to redeem her with [[The Power of Love]].
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* In ''[[Hikaru no Go]]'', a ghost (Fujiwara-no-Sai) is one of the main characters.
* Spirits and corpses in [[Shikabane Hime]] are animated through regrets they had when alive, such as a mother who died giving birth and is hanging around to take care of her child, except as a giant hideous monster. A few more powerful shikabane result from people embracing their true natures and in doing so discard their humanity.
* Oshizu of [[To
* In ''[[Bleach]]'' all the major characters and antagonists are fundamentally ghosts, or are humans with ghost related, derived, exterminating powers. Ghosts themselves come in three flavours: 'pluses' -- your regular unquiet spirits, 'hollows' -- pluses who lingered in the mortal world too long and became monsters, and [[Shinigami]], who have been granted tremendous supernatural powers to police the afterlife.
* {{spoiler|Nahashi and Lilith's ghosts}} in ''[[Venus Versus Virus]]'' episode 12 get summoned by Laura, and restrain [[Big Bad|Lucif]] from attacking the girls. See types 2 & 7.
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* [[Honey Crush]] revolves around ghost of [[Schoolgirl Lesbian]], who later meets another (living) [[Schoolgirl Lesbian]] who can see ghosts, who she develops feelings for, who is then targeted by (another dead) [[Schoolgirl Lesbian]]. You might have guessed that series is [[Girls Love]] series.
* One of the weirder episodes (which is saying something) of ''[[Paranoia Agent]]'' revolves around three people trying to kill themselves. At its conclusion, they realize that they succeeded early on and didn't notice. The implication is that ghosts in the ''Paranoia Agent'' universe don't know they're dead. The only visual sign of their death is that ghosts don't have shadows (as made clear when a man tries to kill himself by jumping in front of a subway train; he staggers away, bitching about his failure, but he has no shadow - and really, you can't survive that). There's an odd moment after [[The Reveal]] when the ghosts, happy to have died, stop in the background of a schoolgirl's picture-taking; when the girls look at their photo, they scream in terror. We don't see the picture, so it's not clear what happened (though it's possible only ''we'' see the ghosts as they were in life, and the ''girls'' saw their corpses).
* In ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura]]'', Nadeshiko (the protagonist's mother) died at age 27 from [[Ill Girl|an unknown illness]]. She was very attached to her family, so she often makes appearances to check up on them. She eventually stops doing that, particularly after {{spoiler|Touya gives up his clairvoyant ability to save his boyfriend.}} She is notably very different in that she appears more like an angel than a ghost.
** Also, from the first movie to that series, we have the "Madoushi", Clow Reed's unnamed ex-girlfriend (and former student) who has been waiting for centuries for him to free her from [[Sealed Room in the Middle of Nowhere|an interdimensional prison]] he made for her after [[Moral Event Horizon|she started practicing dark magic.]] {{spoiler|Sakura helps her move on, even facing her fear of ghosts... and this particular one's wrath.}}
* [[Ano Hana]] revolves around Memma, a [[Cute Monster Girl|Cute Ghost Girl]] trying to rest in peace sort of.
* ''[[Ai Kora]]'' had a chapter involving a [[Cute Ghost Girl]] who was being haunted by a horde of other, male ghosts who had fallen madly in lust with her and who wouldn't pass on until she did a sexy dance for them(with some encouragement from Hachibei and Shibusawa). She showed up in a later chapter having possessed Shibusawa's mentor Aburazaka, where it turned out {{spoiler|she was actually the spirit of a girl who was still alive, but in a coma.}}
* ''[[Kinnikuman]]''
** During his match against Kinnikuman, Atlantis calls upon the ghosts of Stecasse King, Black Hole, Mr. Khamen, and The Mountain to attack Kinnikuman. Kinnikuman somehow got covered in their blood before the match. Mongolman, Brocken Jr., and Terryman put a stop to their attacks by turning into spirits themselves and attacking them.
** During a tag-team match against the Muscle Bros., Ashuraman covers the ring with his Hell Canvas, which is made of the blood-stained canvas from previous matches. The spirits of fallen Devil Choujin show up and gang up on Kinnikuman and Kinnikuman Great. Kinnikuman Great puts a stop to this by using Muscle Salt<ref>Salt created by evaporating Kinnikuman's sweat</ref> on the canvas and flattening the vulnerable spirits with Muscle Rolling.
== Ballads ==
* Many [[Child Ballad
* In some variants of ''The Famous Flower of Serving Men'', the heroine's love appears to the king as a bird to explain how he was murdered and the heroine had to disguise herself as a man and go to work for the king.
* In "The Unquiet Grave", the dead love begins to speak after [[A Year and a Day]] to complain that the lover's laments will not let her rest.
== Comic Books ==
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* Johann Kraus from ''[[BPRD]]'' is a ghost that's technically still alive.
* Ye Olde Tyme Golden Age Comics had Sgt. Spook, the ghost of a police officer who was able to interact with his medium - an orphan boy, of course - and solve crimes. These crimes varied from bank robbers and gangsters to supernatural romps.
* The comic book mini-series ''[[Brody's Ghost]]'', naturally enough, has several types of ghosts.
** Regular ghosts, like title character Talia, are invisible and intangible, but can interact with the world in one specific way that’s different for every ghost. Talia, for example, can break glass with her mind.
** Site specters, are the same as regular ghosts, except that they attach themselves to specific locations.
** Demighosts, which are ghosts controlled by other ghosts, and who can actually touch things.
== [[Fairy Tales]] ==
* One tale by [[The Brothers Grimm (creator)|The Brothers Grimm]] featured a ghost of a little girl. Someone finally realized she looked like she was trying to pull up a board in the floor. They looked, and found a coin her mother had given her to give to a beggar, but which she had kept for herself. They gave it to the next beggar and she stopped walking.
* A common trope in fairy tales is the hero having paid off a dead man's debts so he could be [[Due to the Dead|buried]], he [[Hitchhiker Heroes|acquires a companion]] who aids him. In the end, the companion tells him that he was the dead man. This is known as the "grateful dead man." (Yes, BTW.)
** One such is ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20130718151331/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/firebird/stories/birdgrip.html The Bird Grip]''.
** A great many more [http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0505.html here].
* [[Fairy Tale]] stepchildren are often aided against the [[Wicked Stepmother]] by their dead mother, as in [https://web.archive.org/web/20130824062133/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/german.html Aschenputtel] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20131104152714/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/birch.html The Wonderful Birch].
* "The Shroud", another Grimm Brothers one, had the little boy returning because his mother was mourning too strongly: her tears had soaked his shroud so he could not sleep.
== Fan Works ==
* [[The Anatomy of a Fall]] has ghost!Frank interact with living characters with varying degrees of difficulty.
* [[The Price Of Magic]] takes place after Harry's death, and stars him in a romance with Snape.
* ''[https://m.wattpad.com/234962998?m=1 Night of the Seance]'', {{spoiler| [[ABBA| Agnetha]]'s ghost}} takes over Frida's body in order to speak with Andy, Simon, David, and the priest. Her goal is simply to {{spoiler| [[Talking Down the Suicidal| talk Frida out of committing suicide]]}}.
== Film ==
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** he believed he'd been mugged but turned out to have been murdered. So he became an Avenge Me!
** he could not leave his girl due to [[The Power of Love]], but then he realized his murderer was also after her.
** he needed to learn [[Psychic Powers]], so sought out a [[Spirit Advisor]] in the form of another ghost. Once learning them, he used them to torment his murderer.
** Oda Mae was the [[Psychic Powers|Medium]] Sam tormented with bad singing until she agreed to help him. Oda Mae was also the one possessed; once willingly, once not.
** With effort and training, Sam mastered the [[Intangible Man|intangibility]] power. He was able to physically lift a penny to prove to Molly he was really there.
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** [[Jacob Marley Apparel]] - Frank's two friends were stuck in the outfits they'd been wearing in death until {{spoiler|they went to heaven, at which point they got wardrobe updates}}.
** [[Psychic Powers|the Medium]]: Frank himself, and Lucy, later.
** A ghost who'd been in the military in life had spectral, ectoplasmic machine guns that could deal damage to other ghosts.
** A ghost who was masquerading as [[The Grim Reaper]] had a scythe that could deal damage equally to humans or other ghosts. And when this ghost was defeated, its victims turned out to be very polite, laid-back Avenge Me! types.
* ''[[Poltergeist (film series)||Poltergeist]]'' had a group of ghosts who were of the "angry at the living" type. Adding insult to injury, their graves had been desecrated.
** These ghosts were adept with the haunting.
*** They turned an already-creepy clown doll into an [[Monster Clown|extremely creepy one]]. They also used trees and ectoplasmic tentacles.
*** They also had the power of illusion to make the hallway to Carol-Ann's room seem five times longer than it really was.
* ''[[Scrooged]]'': see ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'' in the Literature section.
* ''Ghost Dad'' was the "protect the loved ones" sort.
* ''[[Bill and Teds Bogus Journey]]'' is a significant subversion. The comedy featured Bill and Ted dying, coming back as ghosts, and then getting exorcised and sent to hell when they tried to communicate about their predicament. At which point they challenged [[The Grim Reaper]] to games for their souls, and went to petition Heaven for assistance against the bad guy before returning to earth alive and well.
* ''[[Monster House]]'' {{spoiler|is a case of an angry and vengeful spirit who hates ''children'' in particular, possessing her own house after her reactions to prankster children caused her accidental death.}}
* ''[[The Nightmare Before Christmas]]'' has a ghostly animal: Zero is Jack's ghost dog.
* ''[[Ghost Dog]]'' was actually Forrest Whitaker as a samurai hit man, and not a ghost.
* ''Scoop'' had a recently deceased legendary reporter interview a recently deceased secretary who thinks she was poisoned because she found out information that could lead to a notorious serial killer. The reporter escapes back to the land of the living a few times to reveal hints, clues, or whacks with a guilt club to the school newspaper reporter he randomly appeared to the first time appeared.
* The '90s horror flick ''[[Idle Hands]]'' has examples of Jacob Marley Apparel and possession. After the protagonist's best friends are murdered by his hand they decide not to go to heaven and possess their own dead bodies. The bodies function normally despite the fact that one has a beer bottle in his head and the other was decapitated. They can interact normally with everyone else too. Once they duct tape the head back on they can even go out in public. So I guess they aren't really ghost even though they are dead. You know what, never mind.
* ''[[Repo! The Genetic Opera]]'' has Dead Marni. She died of a rare blood disease shortly after her daughter was born, and apparently hung around. She mostly appears to Nathan to guilt trip him.
** She's also once helped along in the apparition department by Blind Mag in 'Chase The Morning.'
*** She's a ''hologram.'' A ethereal lookin' one, but still...
* The ghost in ''[[The Devil's Backbone]]'' is caught in an existential loop, doomed to repeat his death until he can get revenge. {{spoiler|The heroes help him out (and vice versa), but he actually kills the bad guy personally.}}
* The [[Creepy Child|child ghosts]] in ''[[The Orphanage]]''.
* The ghosts in ''[[Ghost Town (film)|Ghost Town]]'' reverse the traditional Unfinished Business idea - it is the inability of the ''living'' to let their loved ones go that keeps the ghosts around.
* Ben Willis/The Fisherman in ''[[Ill Always Know What You Did Last Summer]]'' appears to be the Resounding Psychic Echo type. He's actually lacking in a lot of powers associated with ghosts (apparently only able to appear and vanish at will) and can be physically harmed (even bleeding, though it's evident the only thing that actually hurts and doesn't just annoy him is his original hook).
* From the film versions of ''[[The Ring]]'':
** Sadako Yamamura seeks vengeance upon all of mankind. Her manifestation is {{spoiler|originally}} psychically anchored to the well where she died, whereupon it projects abstract thoughts and images that can be conveniently recorded by electronic equipment. Anyone who experiences this is cursed to die in seven days, and experiences both psychic projections as well as prophetic dreams (whether they're awake or asleep.) Her appearance is similar to the clothes she died in ([[Stringy
** Samara Morgan, in addition to Sadako's attributes above, also has full control of her psychic
* Dave Bowman in ''<nowiki>[[2010: The Year We Make Contact]]</nowiki>'' was kinda-sorta a ghost of the "resounding psychic echo" variety. He even says at one point "I was Dave Bowman."
* Although ''[[What Dreams May Come]]'' is primarily about the afterlife, its protagonist does hang around in the living world as an invisible, intangible ghost for a bit, unwilling to bear leaving his home or wife. When he tries to touch her, she's immediately overwhelmed by her grief and wails miserably, which convinces him he should move on and spare her from the pain of his unseen, unreachable presence.
* [[Lake Mungo]]: Alice's ghost is pretty standard with the exception that {{spoiler|she saw her own ghost before she died.}}
== Literature ==
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** Some also displayed the wounds that killed them.
** Ghosts in the [[The Dresden Files]] are described as fossils, imprints of a personality. The more emotionally charged the death, the stronger the ghost. For example, graveyards in the books are always filled with ghosts, but most of them are so weak that they are imperceptible to normal people. While if someone commits suicide, or dies while emotionally distressed their ghosts can take on physical forms and even heavily effect the material world. Ghosts don't disappear unless killed by magical means or the reason they are created (normally unfinished business) is fulfilled.
*** It is possible for a ghost to be created even if someone's death is very brief, i.e. they were revived via CPR after suffering a bout of clinical death. Also, powerful individuals like wizards can leave very powerful ghosts behind when they die. In ''Grave Peril'', {{spoiler|Harry takes advantage of this by passing unconscious so a ghost can kill him in his sleep, only to be revived by CPR, and thus creates a ghost ''of himself'' that he teams up with to beat the crap out of the hostile ghost that killed him. The ghost Harry disappears once this is accomplished, as the purpose that caused him to linger as a ghost has now been fulfilled.}}
**** And in ''Ghost Story,'' Harry gets to know just ''how'' different these ghosts are, since {{spoiler|he's now one himself, a la Type One, Avenge Me style. At the end he discovers that his body is still clinically alive, having been kept on magical life support by Mab and Demonreach, enabling him to return to life and explaining why he was able to run around Chicago as a genuine disembodied soul rather than the "psychic imprint" type of ghost previously described.}}
* ''[[Harry Potter]]'':
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** Moaning Myrtle haunts a girls' toilet because {{spoiler|she had been hiding there from her tormentor, classmate Olive Hornby, when she died. Initially after her death Myrtle followed Olive everywhere until the Ministry of Magic forced her to stop, at which point she returned to the toilet and stayed there.}}
** Peeves the Poltergeist is most likely the last type of ghost; it's suggested that he's simply a spirit of chaos who never was a living being, and just showed up when the castle was built.
* The Sonja Blue Series by Nancy A. Collins had a mad architect design a house he called Ghost Trap; and it did just
* The title character of the 1965 young-adult book ''The Ghost of Dibble Hollow'' by May Nickerson Wallace had unfinished business holding him to the earth, and very strict conditions controlling who could see (and thus help) him.
* ''[[Discworld]]'':
** King Verence I and the other ghosts in the
*** Note that ghosts' [[Psychic Powers]] seem quite limited in this setting, as it took every bit of fortitude Verence I had, merely to sprinkle unpalatable amounts of salt on his killer's food.
** One-Man-Bucket from ''[[
* [[Douglas Adams]]' ''[[Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency]]'' features a character who's learning what it's like to be a newly restless spirit. He's definitely in the Unfinished Business camp; luckily his business consists merely of {{spoiler|finishing the long-winded voice messages he was in the middle of when he was so shockingly, unexpectedly shot}}.
** Although the main point of {{spoiler|finishing his message was to warn his sister.}}
* [[Forgotten Realms]] in addition to usual [[Dungeons
* [[Peter S. Beagle]]'s ''A Fine And Private Place'' revolves about a romance between two recent ghosts.
* [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[The Graveyard Book]]'' features a young boy who lives in a cemetery that is inhabited by ghosts and ghost-like creatures, and they accept him as one of their own. The villain is actually another human.
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"I think not," the lady readily replied--quite as if she had thought it out, long ago. "It has to be something thick. For instance, you might welter in bread-sauce. That, being white, would be more suitable for a Ghost, supposing it wished to welter!"'' }}
** Central to his poem "Phantasmagoria"
* In the [[Night Huntress]] series, sentient ghosts are rare and are created when a person felt an usually strong emotion at their time of death. They can only be seen by the undead. They cannot possess humans but they can experience sensations such as drinking alcohol by passing through the human's body.
* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s ''The Hour of the Dragon'', [[Conan the Barbarian]] surprises a follower who thinks he's this.
{{quote|''Why have you come back from the gray lands of death to terrify me? I was always your true liegeman in your lifetime--''}}
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* In ''[[Magic for Beginners]]'', a collection of short stories by Kelly Link, there is a story called "The Great Divorce" wherein [[Mundane Fantastic|the existence of ghosts is common knowledge]]. Living people and ghosts can marry and are even able to have children together (the offspring of the coupling are usually born dead). Predictably, marrying a ghost is not without its complications. The story is probably one big metaphor, but the events and descriptions are played straight enough.
{{quote|Life, like red hair and blue eyes, is a recessive gene.}}
* ''[[Labyrinths of Echo]]'' has some colorful ghosts, and all stories in ''Chronicles of Echo'' sub-series involve ghosts. There are also some creatures who are incorporeal former humans, but definitely distinct from "ghosts", and with others it's not clear whether they count.
** Abilities: they can fly and change form (though some dislike or even fear leaving the old shape even for a moment), track people unerringly, move between worlds (but cannot visit dreams, unless invited by a living dreamer) and require very strong magic to kill all the way. Near-invisible in daylight, but still can talk. They are incorporeal and require enchantments to interact with inanimate objects, but their touch can be felt (reaction of the living participants... vary greatly). They still can use magic, though this apparently adds much limitations and/or requires re-learning.
** Origins: the common variety are dead people who stuck around in a less palpable form for some or other reason - often from feeling strong emotions while dying, which is one of the reasons why many are quite insane. Or running into some magic. There's even a magical procedure to ''make sure'' the subject will become a ghost upon death (at any later time, there's no limit) - amusingly, some purchased this service not because they fear the great unknown or want to play a [[Spirit Advisor]], but as a deterrent to the potential killers. There are at least two other sorts: some other types of free-roaming spirits were snared in weird magic that turned them into humans "real" in almost every way, but when they are killed or this magic loses power they become "ghosts" (and implied to not even leave corpses behind); it's also possible to [[Liquid Assets|transfer away]] someone's corporeality, which turns the subject into a ghost - the process skips the whole "dying" part, and can even be reversed.
** Status: ghosts are banned in vicinity of Echo (not clear whether they are kept away from state secrets or Heart of the World), but it's not enforced too seriously. The rumours that Secret Investigators destroy every ghost they meet, while exist, are greatly exaggerated. For one, Lesser Secret Investigations Force ''itself'' has ghosts on payroll, just not in the capital; Juffin being Juffin, he took it as the challenge to invent method of making a ''card deck'' ghostly to play with them, but none proved to be a worthy partner. Also, father-in-law of one LSIF member was allowed to stay in Echo by the King's decree - [[I Want Grandkids|he wanted grandkids]] and to look after his shop until he'd have some, and the King decided there's no reason not to, and it's a good excuse that this shop is ancient enough to be considered a national endowment. There's also former Chief of Huron River Harbor, who was killed when very drunk, and remained in this state - his legal status is unknown, but authorities evidently consider his presence beneficial - after all, he stays around the Custom House and appears mostly to scare some unfortunate smuggler into showing all the stashes. Usually, found ghosts are quietly presented to "Most Reverend Chief", who gives them some starting tips on their new existence - especially the multiverse-traveling part.
* In the TV version of
▲== Live Action TV ==
▲* In the TV version of "[[Topper]]'' it's not really made clear if George and Marion are being forced to try change Cosmo Topper's stodgie ways in order to move on to pay for their own wasted lives, or if they are just doing it for fun and their own concern for the banker. Ether way, Neil's just in it for the booze.
* The [[Too Good to Last]] ''[[Dead Last]]'' was about a band ready to break through until they find the amulet that turns them into a ghost Unfinished Business Resolution Service.
* ''[[Reaper]]'' is about a kid forced to apprehend souls escaped from Hell. As they're escaped from Hell, they're all of the nasty poltergeist sort. They were murderers and vandals in life, and they have powers that reflect what they got sent to hell for.
* This editor isn't sure why the ghost in ''[[The Ghost and Mrs. Muir]]'' stayed around in the movie or the TV show.
** In both the series and the film, it is stated that Captain Gregg the Ghost remained more out of stubbornness than anything else: he had intended to renovate the house, and he was not about to let his unplanned death interfere with what he had decreed would occur! As film/series continues, he realizes how foolish it has been for him to haunt the house over petty mulishness, but by then, he had fallen in love with the widow Mrs. Muir.
* Marty Hopkirk in ''[[Randall and Hopkirk Deceased]]'' was of the Avenge Me! stripe. He stayed out of his grave for too long and couldn't go heaven for another 100 years (in the Remake he only had to wait until the person he was haunting, his ex PI Partner Jeff Randall, dies). Ghosts can only wear white. The only people who can see him are Jeff (who he's haunting but in a non-malicious way), animals, and occasional psychics and very young kids.
* Of course, ''[[Ghost Whisperer]]'' and ''[[Medium]]'' are [[Dueling Shows]] that involve psychic women helping ghosts finish their business. Medium uses the dream method, while in GW, the ghosts are only visible to the lead (and her coworker's son in later eps).
* [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] had an episode wherein there was a spell in effect that turned your costume literally real. Willow was wearing a ghost costume, so she became ghostly without dying.
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* [[Angel]] had Spike turn up as a ghost after a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] in the [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] finale.
** The show also has the recurring character of Dennis, Cordelia's phantom roommate. He's a surprisingly nice guy, considering {{spoiler|his own mother bricked him up in a wall because she didn't like his fiancé.}}
* ''[[Ghostwriter (TV series)|Ghostwriter]]'' was a ghost which could read and arrange letters and phrases to communicate with persons he choose, but couldn't see any images or talk. Just who or what he was before is very ambiguous. He also gains [[New Powers as the Plot Demands]], such as traveling over the Internet or ''[[Time Travel]]'' with enough concentration, though that one takes enough out of him that he wound up having to take [[The Slow Path]] back to the present after repeated trips. What non-word-related aspects of the world he can see can vary with the plot as well.
* ''[[Beetleborgs]]'' had this in the form of Flabber- a phasm who looked like a cross between Jay Leno (host of ''The Tonight Show With Jay Leno'') and Elvis Presley. Flabber's a rather genie-like ghost who lived in a pipe organ until he got freed accidentally by those kids. Plus he's the one that gave them their powers.
** On one episode of ''The Tonight Show With Jay Leno'' during the Monday headlines segment, a picture of Flabber was sent to Leno, which got laughs from the audience but Leno was more than just not pleased with it.
* Filmation's ''The Ghost Busters'' dealt with ghosts who took the forms of classic film and literature ghosts (e.g. Count Dracula, Dr. Frankenstein and the Monster, the Abominable Snowman, etc.) but all had some comical twist.
* Subverted on [[Eureka]], when Allison thinks she's seeing a ghost, but really it's a hologram programmed into her logic diamond necklace.
* ''[[Bones]]'' had a full-on TANGIBLE ghost showing up when Booth was trapped on a ship about to explode. Tangible as in, could pick stuff up, could help Booth open doors, Booth physically picked the guy up and carried him... and then the guy disappeared as the helicopter came to rescue him.
* ''[[Being Human (UK)]]'' has Annie. She can interact and pick things up like a living human, but her visibility rides up and down the scale with her confidence. She can also teleport.
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* This is played with in ''[[Lost]]'', when Hurley learns of Miles' ability to talk to ghosts. Hurley says that ghosts regularly talk to him and even play chess, but Miles insists that, in his experience, ghosts only represent the last thoughts of dead people and cannot interact with the living.
* Ghosts appear regularly on ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]''. Their appearances are heralded by a [[Ghostly Chill]]. They can be repelled with salt and iron. Laying them to rest usually involves destroying their remains with fire, though one was simply persuaded to [[Go Into the Light]].
** Hostile ghosts tend to be [[Stringy
** Benign spirits and those [[Tomato in the Mirror|who don't know they are dead]] can be indistinguishable from the living.
** Eventually ''all'' ghost that haven't ascended to the afterlife end becoming vengeful spirits.
* [[Poltergeist: The Legacy]] tends to feature the wrathful variety, with the occasional [[Unfinished Business]] thrown in.
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* In ''[[American Horror Story]]'' the Ghosts are confined to the house and its grounds. They can manifest physically to an extent that they are indistinguishable from the living, which can get really confusing. They can also be invisible but can still affect the physical world.
* ''[[The Fades]]'' has the titular Fades, spirits unable to move on to the afterlife. They're [[Invisible to Normals]] and can't generally interact with anything physical, though they aren't intangible and can't fly. They can, however, regain a physical form by [[I'm a Humanitarian|eating human flesh]].
== Music ==
* Dickie Lee's song "Laurie (Strange Things Happen)" is about a young man who picks up a girl who needs a ride. When he gets to her destination, the seat beside him is empty, though he never stopped the car. All that remains is her sweater. When he knocks on the door with the sweater to see if she went inside while he wasn't looking, the person who answers is astonished to see the sweater. It belonged to his daughter, who was killed in a car crash at about the spot where the young man picked up the hitcher girl...25 years earlier. The song was inspired by the urban legend of the Vanishing Hitchhiker.
** As this editor recalls, the young man of the song takes Laurie back to her home, leaves, realizes he forgot the sweater he gave her to keep warm with, and goes back for it. The person at the house tells him "She died a year ago today" and that she's buried in the local cemetery. He goes there to look at her grave, and finds the sweater folded up on top of it. So, even truer to the Vanishing Hitchhiker legend.
*** All made especially effective and actually creepy by the disarming early 60's (made in 1965) music that accompanies this telling. Not surprisingly, Dickie Lee was responsible for about three or so of the songs that [[Don McLean]] called 'dirges in the dark' in American
== Tabletop Games ==
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** People and places that kept a ghost attached to the world of the living were called fetters.
** Wraiths in the World of Darkness saw said same world as way darker than the living did. Shiny new cars would be dilapidated wrecks. Buildings would be all run down and in disrepair, etc.
** Wraith powers are called Arcanoi (plural of Arcanos), and range from telekinesis to limited substantialness to emotion control to possession of objects and people. ''Orpheus'' had similar skills, called Shades, but they were more of a direct reflection of the character's personality.
** Wraiths bear remnants of how they were killed, known as "Deathmarks."
* In the [[New World of Darkness]], ghosts are somewhat less elaborate. Whether or not they are the human soul is deliberately unclear, but magic can bind a person's soul to an anchor and thus make it into a ghost. They have trouble communicating with mortals, and the specifics of their powers (Numina) vary from ghost to ghost. A ghost tied to its Anchors is basically a psychic echo of the actual human, unable to fully comprehend that they're dead and unable to change. Once the ghost is free of its Anchors and descends to the Underworld, however, it regains its sense of self and is able to change.
** And then there's ''[[Geist: The Sin Eaters]]''. The geists of the title are essentially ghosts who've been boiled down to the bare essence of what defined them in death (e.g., a soldier who died at Ypres in a gas attack becomes the Gasping Colonel, a gaunt figure with wheezy breath and a gas mask that appears to be made of tanned human skin). As a result, their human memories are fragmented, to say the least, but they gain access to the power sources of the Underworld and can make bargains to bring the mystically inclined back from the dead... as long as they get to come along as passengers.
* [[Warhammer
* ''[[Dungeons
** D&D in its various incarnations has so many different types of undead, corporeal or otherwise, that any attempt to tell them apart merely by sight and behavior is probably quite doomed to failure. Is that figure flitting about in the ruins a ghost? A specter? A wraith? Something notionally else altogether? Usually you won't know until it attacks, and sometimes not even then. Just make sure you bring along a cleric.
* No surprise that [[Ravenloft]] has ghosts by the truckload: about the only variants of this trope that ''aren't'' present are the hokey bedsheet-wearer and anything played purely for comedy.
** Au contraire - there is, in fact a bedsheet ghost: The [https://web.archive.org/web/20131028210045/http://www.headinjurytheater.com/article73.htm Sheet Phantom]. Admittedly it was a First Edition critter IIRC (in the Fiend Folio), but there was at least one Third Edition (unofficial) sourcebook that took every 1st ed critter that didn't make the cut and gave third ed stats for it. As well, the original Ravenloft module was in first edition, meaning a GM could insert them as well.
* In [[In Nomine]], humans who have either achieved their Destiny or met their Fate in life, and who have some kind of unfinished business, or strong attachment to some particular thing, may instead of ascending to their heavenly reward, or descending to Hell, end up lingering on the corporeal plane, bound to some object, or place that was significant to them. Unfortunately the process requires giving up part of their being, so some ghosts end up as nothing more then will'o'wisps, with no sapience, or ability to interact with the world, others end up as poltergeists, non-sapient but able to interact tangibly with the physical world, or apparitions, with intelligence, but not the ability to affect the physical world directly, true ghosts with both intelligence and the ability to interact with the physical world are quite rare, partially because they are the ones most likely to complete their unfinished business or resolve whatever attachment kept them from moving on. Of course, all types of ghost can also simply be banished, with a ritual or by destroying their anchor, or destroyed outright.
* In the world of ''[[Exalted]]'', ghosts didn't even exist at first. Then the titular Exalted killed a few of the creators of the world, who were too vast and complex to be subject to the cycle of [[Reincarnation|death and rebirth]] they had ordained for the rest of the world. The result was the creation of the Void, and the Underworld that formed around it. Now, anyone who dies with a strong attachment to the world will end up as a ghost in the Underworld instead of reincarnating. If they're lucky, they can resolve their attachments and return to the cycle of reincarnation. Otherwise...Well, remember the Void in the middle of the Underworld? The ghosts of the slain Primordials are still there, they're bent on [[Omnicidal Maniac|destroying everything so they can die for good this time, and they have a nasty habit of overwhelming ghosts with the desire to kill everything that lives and destroy everything that's not alive, consigning all that exists to Oblivion]]. Or [[And I Must Scream|forging the uncooperative ones into soulsteel]].
** Since humans have [[Anatomy of the Soul|two souls]], only one of which can be reincarnated, they also leave behind a Hungry Ghost, a generally animalistic entity that guards the corpse of the fallen, and can be given to rampage if they don't recieve proper [[Due to the Dead]] or the body (or its [[Grave Robbing|tomb]]) is desecrated.
== [[Theatre]] ==
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* ''[[Hamlet]]'s'' dad. Definitely wants revenge.
** And boy, [[Kill'Em All|does he get it]].
== Theme Park ==
* [[Disney Theme Parks]] offer three different variants. The Haunted Mansion is said to be a retirement home for spirits from all over the world. ''[[The Twilight Zone]] Tower of Terror'', however, states that the ghosts there are trapped within the hotel permanently. Finally, the Phantom Manor contains a malevolent ghost tormenting a bride in old age.
** In one of the very few cases of ghosts appearing, Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights 2010 will feature TWO houses involving ghosts: Legendary Truth: The Wyandot Estate, which is about ghost hunters purposely trying to gather the spirits murdered in a house in Ohio and getting more than they bargained for, and Psychoscarepy: Echos of Shadybrook, which has you traveling through the Shadybrook Asylum of past horror events 15 years after closing and facing the restless spirits of the patients.
== Video Games ==
* ''[[Alone in
* When a Sim dies in [[The Sims]] 2, the method of its death is visible to the player and affects the game.
** Drowned Sims turn blue and leave puddles and may leave bubbles in bathtubs.
** Electrocuted Sims randomly jitter with electric shock.
** Sims who burned to death turn red and occasionally leave piles of ash.
** Sims who starved to death will attempt to raid the refrigerator.
** Additionally, the ghosts in the Sims are haunters who can scare other Sims badly enough they wet themselves. Or ''die of fright'' Which produces a pink ghost.
** And rather than call a ghostbuster or someone of that nature, simply moving the gravestone can get rid of a Sim Ghost.
** They become playable characters in ''[[The Sims]] 3'' once you complete a certain opportunity. They control more or less the same as normal sims, though they can walk through walls and other objects, as well as have a creepy sound effect on at all times. They're also immune to most forms of death. By making ambrosia, you can fully restore them to life. They are also capable of having ghost children.
* Ghosts are just another type of Pokémon in the ''[[Pokémon]]'' games. In general, most Ghost-type Pokémon like to play pranks on people and scare them.
** The exception to that general rule are Yamask and Cofagrigus, who are real human ghosts.
** Drifloon and Drifblim are also stated to be human and pokemon spirits.
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** Don't forget the ghost of the Zora Queen, or the very chilling ghosts of the guards of Hyrule castle, who silently and desperately point Link to the Princess.
** The very first Zelda game featured ghosts called Ghinis haunting the graveyard in the West of Hyrule. Most games since have featured ghosts of some sort, including friendly ghosts and [[Boss Fight|boss fights]] against ghosts. Also of note: in the first game, Peahats (flowery enemies fluttering around the screen) are described as being the spirits of ''dead plants''.
** Princess Zelda herself is a fairy-like ghost in ''[[Spirit Tracks]]''. So we got a [[Cool Train]] and a [[Everything's Better with Princesses|Princess]] who also is a
* All spirits seem to linger near their bodies after death in ''[[Ghost Trick]]'', but only certain ghosts have special ''ghost tricks' which allow them to move around and affect the world through possessing inanimate objects {{spoiler|or living bodies, or swapping similarly shaped items}}, as well as go back in time four minutes before a recently-deceased person's death. {{spoiler|Only people who die near the Temsik meteorite receive ghost trick power, indicating even in that world it's a very unusual thing.}}
* The ''[[Metroid]]'' series gives us Phantoon, a flying, bulbous, tentacled thing with an eyeball in its mouth. Its powers include [[Invisibility]], levitation, [[Intangible Man|intangibility]], and attacking with flaming blue balls of plasma. Apparently it gets its nutrition by sucking on the electrical current of the wrecked ship it lives in. Also inhabiting the wrecked ship are coverns, ghost-like entities that look like half a dozen rotting human heads rolled together into a ball.
* [[Pac-Man]] is a partial subversion. Inky, Pinky, Blinky, and Clyde (or Sue) are ghosts that are deadly unless Pac-Man (or Ms. Pac-Man) eats a power pill.
** Them being ghosts may not be true. They're referred to as either "monsters" or "ghost monsters", the "ghost" part being due to an early [[Fan Nickname]]. They appear to be alive and made of flesh, instead of being dead and untouchable.
* The Unsent in [[Final Fantasy X]], who look and act like alive people do, but due to incompetent 'burial rituals' (Dead person's soul must be sent to afterlife by summoner) they continue living.
** Though some can also be held to the realm of the living if their death was
* ''[[Ultima Underworld]] II'' has various kinds of ghosts. Normal ghosts are white, with red haunts and black shades as more powerful variants. A few of the ghosts in the game are still rational and are important characters, though most seem to be mindless.
* The titular Phantoms of ''[[Phantom Brave]]'' unable to interact physically unless confined to an object.
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** She also has [[Ghost Amnesia]] and can't even remember being alive because she's been dead for over 1000 years. Incidentally, that's the beginning of some bizarre [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|age inflation]] for the villains of the series.
** There's also the case of the Prismriver sisters, a trio of poltergeists. Technically, they were never alive to begin with, being [[Replacement Goldfish|magically-created phantom copies of existing people]] made by the fourth sister. All four original Prismrivers are long dead now, but the poltergeists "live" on rather normally.
* The ghosts that appear in ''[[System Shock 2]]'' and ''[[
* Fomors in ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'' are the restless souls of dead soldiers and adventurers given shape. One region in the game has them aggro depending on if you've defeated more of them or the beastmen that murdered them. Appease them enough, and they won't attack you unless you engage them.
* ''[[Project Zero]]''/''[[Fatal Frame]]''. The games are all about people being drawn to/trapped in haunted areas, the spirits of the dead are either the original inhabitants who died during a horrible supernatural event, or the spirits of other people who later became trapped and killed by the ghosts there. There is also the [[Magitek|Camera Obscura]], your only weapon in the games, which seems to steal energy from the ghosts until they can no longer materialise (as opposed to capturing them, since they have a habit of turning up again later).
* A number of characters in ''[[
* In ''[[King's Quest IV the Perils of Rosella]]'', the heroine must lay to rest several ghosts in a haunted house. To achieve this, she must unite them with an object that was dear to them during their lifetimes. For instance, the baby wants its rattle; a weeping woman wants her locket, the miser desires a pouch of money; a soldier is searching for his medal; a little boy wants a toy horse. Oddly enough, all these objects are found ''in the graves'' of these individuals, alongside their earthly remains...leading one to wonder why that wasn't enough to set them all at rest, or why the ghosts themselves didn't know where these items were.
** Of course, the requisite shovel can be used [[Guide Dang It|precisely]] [[Lost Forever|five times]].
* Naturally, ghosts play a central role in ''[[The Lost Crown]]: A Ghost-Hunting Adventure'', where they range in power and malevolence from fleeting translucent figures, to a pesky kid who keeps pushing the elevator buttons, to dangerous roiling black smoke-columns that hound you around the room.
* Ghosts in [[Elder Scrolls]] are immune to 'normal' weapons and arrows(they pass though them) but are apparently solid if you try to walk pass them, even able to hit you. They also seem to be related to werewolves in that they can be killed by silver weapons.
* ''[[Eternal Darkness]]'' has several character return from the dead as glowing blue ghosts to continue their struggle against the Darkness.
* Ghosts are in [[Monster Rancher]].
* ''[[The World Ends With You]]'' {{spoiler|They're called Players, can eat, exist on a separate planes, are invisible, and are fighting to get [[Back
* [[Silent Hill 3]] says that ghosts who killed themselves or were killed unexpectedly must re-live the moment of their death over and over because they don't know they're dead, and will try to kill other humans because they've grown mad from it. {{spoiler|Needless to say, one tries to kill you.}}
** Also in [[Silent Hill 4]], the ghosts you encounter are all {{spoiler|Walter's Victims.}} They come out of walls leaving blood and goo behind, and just being near them causes Henry to get massive headaches and lose health. They look like mangled versions of their former selves, and in the case of some of them like [http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090119220034/silent/images/5/58/Victim17.jpg Jasper]{{Dead link}}, exactly how they looked while dying.
* ''[[City of Heroes]]'': Metronome, the [[Mirror Universe|Praetorian counterpart]] to the [[Brain In a Jar|Clockwork King]] is described as a disembodied psychic entity. He has a tendency to inhabit robotic bodies, has the power to control multiple robots simultaneously, and can {{spoiler|transfer other beings' souls.}}
** There's also Ghost Widow, one of [[Big Bad]] Lord Recluse's lieutenants, the Ghost Ship, the ghosts haunting [[Thriving Ghost Town]] Croatoa, the Pirate Ghosts in Fort Hades...it has a lot of ghosts, really.
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* In ''[[Dead Space (series)|Dead Space]]'', numerous people, a significant portion of them Unitologists, have claimed to see 'ghosts' near areas where necromorphs are on the loose. {{spoiler|This phenomena is actually caused by the presence of a [[Artifact of Doom|Marker]], which can project the images of dead people- but only dead people- into other peoples' minds in order to manipulate them. The Black Marker did this in ''[[Dead Space Martyr]],'' and in the original ''[[Dead Space (video game)|Dead Space]]'', the Red Marker did this by creating an image of "Nicole" to keep Isaac on track.}}
* In ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'', ghosts of dwarves who were [[Due to the Dead|never buried and never received a memorial slab]] will haunt your fortress. Most will hang out scaring your living dwarves (which gives them unhappy thoughts); some will attack living dwarves as well (in addition to the obvious danger, this also gives the unhappy thought "has been attacked by the dead"). [[Crowning Moment of Funny|Sometimes they even throw parties!]]
* ''[[
* ''[[First Encounter Assault Recon|F.E.A.R.]]'' has a couple very odd ghosts. The main antagonist of the series, Alma, has been dead for nearly 30 years, walks through walls, teleports, and does other things you'd expect of a ghost... yet still seems to have a physical body; her full powers weren't unleashed until her corpse is released from its stasis pod, and at the end of the second game, she {{spoiler|gets pregnant}}. She also is able to conjure hundreds of ghostly beings out of her fractured psyche unconsciously. It seems a trait of extremely powerful psychics in this series to simply ''not die'' when they die, and Alma is the single most powerful psychic to ever live...
* ''[[Monster Girl Quest]]'' has two types. The first are the standard ghosts of dead people, which apparently can only be left by dead humans (not by monsters or angels). The second are Ghost Girls, undead monsters born from dark magic and souls. The latter type has several subtypes such as Mimics.
== Web Comics ==
* The defunct ''Ghost Cat'' webcomic
** Ghost Cat could become tangible if it wished... at least solid enough to stick a Post-It note to.
* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' had a problem with ghosts for a while when they lived in Kesandru House. <!-- ** And Oasis might be a weaponized ghost. JOSSED -->
** Mort is a [[Bedsheet Ghost]] who's a [[Shape Shifter]] and a [[Master of Illusion]], haunting the Court and trying to scare people simply because it's his job. (When he isn't trying to scare you, he's a pretty nice guy.) He's visible to anyone, and he has implied that ghosts are attracted to Spirit
▲* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'':
▲** Mort is a [[Bedsheet Ghost]] who's a [[Shape Shifter]] and a [[Master of Illusion]], haunting the Court and trying to scare people simply because it's his job. (When he isn't trying to scare you, he's a pretty nice guy.) He's visible to anyone, and he has implied that ghosts are attracted to Spirit Mediums -- or maybe he's just attracted to one Medium in particular. According to [[Word of God|Word of Tom]], Mort's haunting is not normal for spirits in the afterlife, but something that had to be arranged with the [[Psychopomp|psychopomps]].
** Martin (the boy in the hospital in ch 16) presumably is a more "normal" ghost. He was lingering in this world because he didn't realize he was dead, and because he was scared of [[Psychopomp|The Guides]]. He seemed to possess powers similar to Mort's, but which operated on a completely subconscious level, and were [[Glamour Failure|negated in the presence of a Medium]]. His coming to grips with his own death allowed him to pass on.
** Although it's unclear if he would have been able to remain there if there wasn't a dispute between two Guides about who held jurisdiction.
** There is also a Ghost Lady With A Sword ( {{spoiler|Jeanne}}), who attacked Antimony. {{spoiler|An etheric arrow split her soul into pieces, and the Ghost is all of Jeanne's rage and despair, forged into a spirit of undirected vengeance. As a result, the Guides don't have any idea who she is, and (according to [[Word of God]]) it's possible she would kill any Guide that tries to take her into the afterlife.}}
* In ''[[Misfile]]'' Kamikaze Kate's sister Angelica was a combination of types 1, 2, 4 and 7. {{spoiler|She was eventually persuaded to move on when [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Rumisiel showed her just how much her presence had hurt her sister's life]].}}
* {{spoiler|Lee}} in ''[[Hanna Is Not a Boy's Name]]'' is one with a wide variety of [[Ghostly Goals]]: he wants to protect someone, he can't rest because he's {{spoiler|hanging from his neck in an abandoned theater}}, he's a bit in denial about being dead, and he's angry at Zombie for getting a second chance at life.
* ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' has ghosts of the Greenhilt family, only visible to other members of that family, and only then when holding the sword. This particular setup is caused by the [[Celestial Bureaucracy]].
** There's also the positive energy spirits of the Sapphire Guard. Redcloak muses on the presence of this trope in ''[[Dungeons
* In ''[[Minus]]'', [http://www.kiwisbybeat.com/minus28.html here].
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Concession]]'' ghosts are usually after revenge, and can bond to a living person (like a relative or lover) and give them [[Powers Via Possession|enhanced psychic powers]]. They also seem [[
** Recent hidden pages suggest that {{spoiler|the body protects the spirit from a form of radiation, and the longer a ghost refuses to pass on the more like an [[Eldritch Abomination]] they become, also Miranda [[Emotion Eater|feeds on despair.]]}}
* In ''Crazy Ghosts'' you get a whole bunch of different ghosts living together in one house, one of which is the personification of death and a another is apparently the prototype for all ghosts
** There is also the ghost of a succubus and a the ghost of a [[Catgirl]]
* ''[[Homestuck]]'' has [[Stringy
▲* ''[[Homestuck]]'' has [[Stringy Haired Ghost Girl]] Aradia Megido. At least until {{spoiler|her soulbot exploded, and then she [[Came Back Strong]].}}
** {{spoiler|About an hour later from the Troll's perspective, Feferi Peixes gets killed, only to also come back as a ghost. Though, the latter was known well before the former.}}
** Weirdly, the game's kernelsprites display more of the properties of traditional ghosts than actual dead people do. All sprites have [[Fog Feet]]. Additionally, Nannasprite and Jaspersprite have also been shown flying through walls and leaving a trail of ectoplasm behind, but both were prototyped with the remains of the dead. It's uncertain whether the sprites made from those who were still living at the time can do this or not.
* In ''[[Thistil Mistil Kistil]]'', [http://tmkcomic.depleti.com/comic/ch03-pg08/ he's afraid of being thought to haunt the living].
* In ''[[Erstwhile]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20130902124323/http://www.erstwhiletales.com/littleshroud-04/ the little boy returns, and starts to cry when he sees his mother crying.]
* ''Dangerously Chloe'' had Teddy "only mostly dead"... and as such, visible to humans only via special goggles. During misadventures while his friendly roomie succubi tried to revive him, {{spoiler|Abigail}} accidentally got sort-of-killed, but not assigned anywhere (it's not "her time" at all). Confirming her status as the resident [[Cloudcuckoolander]], she started with "Wheeee! I can fly!", then managed to get into Heaven and be brought ''back'' before she noticed her own body on the floor, and even then it took her a little while to figure out that it's her and that she's technically dead.
== Web Original ==
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* [[Gaia Online]] had a Halloween event that started when a by-product from the [[Omni Drink]] Corporation's operations was revealed to form a spectral barrier that prevented the spirits inhabiting the graveyard where it was dumped from moving on. Unfortunately, by the time [[The Atoner|OmniDrink's disinherited heir]] managed to fix this, the ghosts had all gone a bit [[Ax Crazy]] from [[And I Must Scream|being trapped in their graves for decades...]]
* In ''[[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]]'', ghosts are spirits fuse with [[Horny Devils|Succubi]]'s demonic energy, so they are all pervert. At first, they can't interact with the world physically and will [[Demonic Possession|possess humans]]. The victim will get his or her mind filled with obscene imaginary from possessing ghost. The ghost will get spirit energy by absorb it from a male host (or during female host's sex act), until it's enough to manifest herself in physical world, then she will engage in sex act directly.
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Casper the Friendly Ghost]]'' is a complicated case. In [[The Movie]], he was a boy who died of an illness, but in the comic books... it would seem that ghosts in the comicverse are one more Enchanted Forest species, not humans who die. The animated shorts do little to clarify, though one does involve a fox that Casper tried and failed to save becoming a ghost.
** As for abilities, "Ghostly Powers" in the comics are kept [[Magic A Is Magic A|very consistent]] and what they are is told often: they can fly, become invisible, or become intangible - all under the ghost's control. Occasionally, Casper encounters a "ghostproofed" wall or prison. What is inconsistent is which objects can be turned invisible or intangible along with the ghost: Spooky's hat ''never'' becomes invisible with him and has given him away many times, but Pearl's bow has changed with her sometimes and not others.
*** [[The Simpsons (animation)|
** The new cartoon ''Casper's Scare School'' has Casper and his uncles back to being ghosts that were never "fleshies".
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' has Yue, Roku, and his three predecessor Avatars turning up as [[Spirit Advisor
* ''[[Thundercats]]'' and ''[[Thundercats 2011|ThunderCats (2011)]]'' have [[Court Mage]] Jaga as [[Spirit Advisor]].
* Hanna-Barbera has several:
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** Ember McLain got power from the adulation of fans she never got in life.
** Desiree was obligated to grant wishes, though not always as the wisher [[Literal Genie|would have preferred]].
** Sidney Poindexter was bullied in life so much that his spirit haunts a ghostly clone of Casper High circa 1955. Seeing people get bullied turns on his poltergeist rage. He once possessed Danny under the mistaken impression Danny was a bully.
** Ghosts in the [[Danny Phantom]] [[The Verse|'verse]] are capable of reproduction. {{spoiler|Box Lunch is the future child of the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady.}}
** Possession is called "overshadowing" instead because it's a kids show.
*** And for some reason, despite at least one common victim stating more than once that he hates being overshadowed, the concept of overshadowing people without their permission for no good reason being an immoral violation not befitting a hero is never, ever touched upon.
** Ghost animals:
*** The ghost puppy who got Danny in dutch with Valerie could morph from cute puppy to vicious hound until Danny resolved his
*** Vlad Masters has a hunting lodge. Every animal that appears as a trophy on the wall is a ghost animal under Vlad Plasmius' thrall. He also has ghost vultures.
*** Youngblood has a ghost sidekick which could morph into an animal of its choice to fit whatever costume Youngblood was using at the time (Parrot for pirate, Horse for Cowboy).
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*** Every other ghost is made of ectoplasm and doesn't resemble any living or human being.
** Nonhuman Ghosts:
*** Skulker is a weird little ghostly entity who does not appear to have ever been human; he wears a cybernetic suit.
*** The ghosts who taught Danny to use his freezing power are all sort of werewolf-ish.
*** There's a ghost who is a plant and who controls them.
** Ghost Gear:
*** There's a metal that harms ghosts or half-ghosts.
*** Johnny 13 has a ghost motorcycle.
*** Youngblood has a ghost pirate ship.
*** Ember's ghost guitar would let her use [[Mind Control]] based on what song she was playing.
*** Skulker has a number of ghost traps, weapons and devices (with the weakness of being hackable by normal earth tech).
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*** Jack and Maddie Fenton were able to invent and use (with varying degrees of success) devices that protected from ghosts or trapped them. The garage sale episode featured a lot of mundane stuff the family owned getting contaminated with ectoplasm.
*** Enemy Freakshow has a staff with a gem on it that exerts [[Mind Control]] on ghosts. Danny is only partially susceptible.
** Overall, it seems that in [[Danny Phantom]] there are three main types of ghosts. 1) Ghosts of people/creatures who died, like Poindexter and Cudo. 2) A entity that was never living, but seems to be a unique life-form formed of ecto-plasm, who can create races and even reproduce. (Such as the race of the 'Far Frozen'). 3) A concept or idea that has taken on conscious form. Clockwork is the ghostly form of Time, Vortex the manifestation of bad weather, etc.
* The animated ''[[Beetlejuice (animation)|Beetlejuice]]'' has most of the same tropes as the movie, but:
** The method of death showing up on the ghost has been removed. It's a kids' show.
** The Neitherworld, where Beetlejuice dwelled, was full of nonhuman ghostly entities.
** Beetlejuice himself was arguably an [[In-Universe]] version, since he displayed all kinds of strange powers most other ghosts didn't seem to have.
* ''[[Ben 10]]'' has Ghostfreak who is a ghost-like alien.
** Who then becomes [[Nightmare Fuel|a lot scarier]] [[Enemy Without|when he escapes]], and wants [[Revenge]] on Ben.
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** Hermes does comment that the last ghost [[Deader Than Dead|died]] over 200 years ago, to which Bender responds with "the last ''human'' ghost."
** In the episode "Ghost in the Machines", Bender dies and emerges as a ghost. The Robot Devil explains to him that he's stuck in Limbo -- "Your software was exported to the computational cloud. Your disembodied programme is now running on the wireless network shared by all machinery." Bender later discovers that his software can control electronics, and uses this to haunt Fry.
* The ghosts of ''[[The Real Ghostbusters]]'' usually resembled living monsters more than ghosts; discussions of death were ''verboten'' in Saturday morning fare at the time. There did seem to be a broad definition in-story of what was a “ghost” and what was “not a ghost”; if the heroes’ equipment was at least useful in “busting” it, it was a ghost. If not, it was “not a ghost”, a group that consisted of trolls, gremlins, vampires, and the Boogeyman. Creatures defined as “ghosts”, on the other hand, included skeletons, zombies, goblins, lycanthropes, and various demons.
** The [[Sequel Series]] ''[[Extreme Ghostbusters]]'' took this [[Up To Eleven]], as it was rare for the heroes to bust monsters that could be considered traditional ghosts. Leprechauns, Golems, the Sphinx, the Pied Piper, Fenris, and demons of all varieties (including Native American, Indian, and Japanese origins) all seem to qualify as “ghosts” via the definition above.
* ''[[Filmation's
* An episode of ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'' had [[Big Eater|Beezy]] being haunted by the ghost of his uneaten pizza crusts.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Haunted Index]]
[[Category:Our Monsters Are Different]]
[[Category:Our Tropes Are Different]]
[[Category:Index of Fictional Creatures]]
[[Category:
▲[[Category:index]]
[[Category:Undead Index]]
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