Ghost

The main characters of the UK and US versions

Ghosts are the ethereal remains of formerly corporeal beings, particularly human beings, who have died. Usually immaterial, intangible and invisible, they are considered the earthbound energies of human beings who have not passed on to a higher level of existence and have instead remained within the earthly dimension or a plane of existence cohabiting the earthly realm and typically unseen by human beings. The reasons for this existence is unrevealed. In Alberta's Fan, Isaac theorizes that only about five percent of deceased people seem to become ghosts.

Several ghosts appear within the original British series Ghosts and its American, German, French, Australian, and Greek adaptations.

Characteristics

Afterlife

A popular notion relating to ghosts is that when a person dies in a violent way (such as getting shot like Thomas) or there is some unfinished business keeping them tethered, they are unable to move on to the afterlife. Most ghosts don't know why they haven't moved on and simply continue "living" as they normally do. In the British and American series, the ghosts' response to the death of Heather Button and Sophie Woodstone, respectively, implies that they have seen people become ghosts despite having no violent or suspicious circumstances surrounding their deaths.

Recently deceased people are sometimes immediately able to move on (often referred to as getting "sucked off"), while others can only do so after completing their unfinished business, as was the case with Mary and Sam's mother, Sheryl. However, in the American series, if a ghost is troublesome and refuses to change their ways in the afterlife (like in Elias' case), they can instead be sent to hell. The Australian series also mentions some people "going down" instead of getting sucked off.

Location and boundary

Most ghosts are restricted to staying within a "ghost boundary", often a property line, which is likely a form of punishment. If they try to pass through the boundary, they are forced back. Depending on their cause of death, a ghost may be tied to an object instead and are forced to stay within a certain distance. In the American series, a ghost named Jessica, who died in a car accident, was bound to the car she died in and was forced to stay within a small radius around the car. Poltergeists, like Saul Henry, are instead bound to people and are forced to follow them around, though they can attach to other people.

Some abilities may allow a ghost to pass over boundaries, as is the case of Pete, who found he could travel outside of Woodstone Mansion's property line. Chris discovered his ability to wander, as he stayed airborne.

Health and appearance

Ghosts stay in the state that they died, whether that be beheaded, shot, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol. They cannot gain or lose weight, and they cannot add or completely remove items of clothing (or items carried within their clothing). These simply reappear where they were, usually within a few seconds after removal. However, it has been shown in the American series that ghosts can change their appearances slightly, such as by removing a hair ribbon to let their hair down, which Isaac does in "The Work Retreat". The ribbon, or other item, would still need to be in contact with them (in their hand, for example) for this alteration to stick and their appearance to not immediately revert to normal.

Ghosts can smell food from the living world even though they can't eat it. However, in the American series it was shown it is possible for ghosts to taste food or beverages if it was in their (or another ghost's) possession when they died.

Ghosts still sleep, although they probably have no need to. In the British series, the ghosts still have their bodily functions, but whatever expels from their bodies simply turns to dust. In the American series, the ghosts no longer have these bodily functions.

Physical ability

Ghosts cannot interact with objects or living beings, unless that is their ghostly ability, and they can freely pass through walls. This does not always apply, however, as they can sit and lie on furniture without falling through, and they can use staircases to get to upper and lower levels. It is shown in the American series that there are some materials that ghosts cannot pass through, though the composition of the material in question is unknown.

If ghosts walk through living humans (or vice versa) - known as "throoming" in the Australian series - they can feel an onslaught of sickness (British series), excruciating pain (American series), or a mix of both (Australian series). It is unknown why this happens, but it might have something to do with the fact that "living" souls and "dead" souls do not mix, so they can't work with each other. For some ghosts, like Flower, walking through a living allows them to use their power on the living.

Ghosts can touch other ghosts like they could physically touch another person when they were alive. In terms of sexual intercourse, ghosts can have sex and masturbate; however, it's been mentioned that they are unable to climax. In the American version of the series, one of the ghosts has an orgasm because of a washing machine, despite the fact that another of the ghosts said that they can't climax.

Possession

When a living person has been shocked and is pushed into a ghost, the ghost will essentially possess the living. It is impossible for a spirit to do it on their own, and it is a rare occurrence. The ghost does not totally have absolute control over the body, and the living soul can regain control, but the ghost is able to exert full control.

The ghost will not be able to communicate with other ghosts when possessing, unless they possess a person with the ability to see ghosts, then they will still be able to communicate with fellow spirits.

The ghost will also be able to use their ghost power while possessing.

In the case that a living soul is ejected from their bodies, they enter an in between state and gain ghost powers (such as walking through walls) and can interact with ghosts. However, should their body be unoccupied, it enters a zombie like state.

Visibility

If a living person has a brush with death, such as when Alison, Sam, and Kyle Rosenblat (offscreen), Emma and Alison Cardinet had their accidents, then a person can gain the ability to see and hear ghosts.

Though rare, sometimes young children can see ghosts. The child in question might even call them their "imaginary friend". such as a young Hetty seeing Thorfinn.

In the British series, Robin mentions a bear was able to see him and tried to attack him. As he was already dead, the bear's attacks were in vain.

Some ghosts may also possess the ability to be seen by living people as their ghostly power. Fanny can be seen by the living in digital and analogue film. While her American counterpart, Hetty, can be seen and heard by the living one day a year. Sasappis can enter dreams, allowing him to be seen and heard by living.

Powers and abilities

Ghosts can have unique powers, though not all of them do. Others may have simply not discovered theirs yet. Some of these powers include:

• Possessing the living (any ghost can do this; however, it should be noted that this only occurs under special circumstances and is indeed quite rare)
• Being able to touch and move objects with concentration (Julian, Trevor, Joachim, Roland, Satan)
• Making people smell scents (e.g., fire, passing gas) when walking through them (Mary, Isaac, Griet, Berthe)
• Making people feel high on drugs, sexually aroused, or drunk (Flower, Elias, Eileen)
• Making lights flicker when concentrating and looking directly at the light source (Robin, Thorfinn, Urs, Tayac, Lindy)
• Projecting their voice to be heard by the living, or devices like Alexa (Jemima, Alberta, Lotti, Isabelle)
• Being able to be faintly seen in photographs (film and digital) and video baby monitors (Fanny)
• Turning a car alarm on and off (Jessica)
• Going into and influencing dreams of the living (Sasappis)
• Passing the ghost boundary (Pete, Joan)
• Being able to be only visible for livings one day of the year (Hetty)
• Flight (Chris)
• Affecting the temperature in a room (Miranda)

List of known ghosts

This is a list of ghosts from the British series and its adaptations, ordered chronologically by date of death, along with their cause of death and unfinished business that may prevent them from moving on.

Ghosts UK

Name	Era	Cause of death	Status
Robin	Prehistoric	Struck by lightning
Clarence, Godrick, Elizabeth		Unknown. Mentioned by Robin (Gone Gone).	Moved on
William (En Francais)		Seemingly died from a stab wound to the chest	Moved on
Plague ghosts	Plantagenet	Bubonic plague	Ghosts
Humphrey	Tudor	Beheaded by two swords which had been displayed over his fireplace
Mary	Stuart	Burned at the stake after being accused of witchcraft	Moved on
Annie	Stuart	Choked on food	Moved on
Roundhead Ghost (Part Of The Family)	Stuart	Seemingly died in battle against the Cavaliers, who served Charles I, in Oliver Cromwell's army
Kitty	Georgian	Bitten by a Spider	Ghost
Jemima		Bubonic plague
Thomas	Regency	Shot in a duel	Ghost
The Woman in Black		Possibly run over by a carriage
Fanny	Victorian	Murdered by her husband, George, who pushed her out of a window
The Captain	WWII	Heart attack
Helmut and Wolfgang (Getting Out)	WWII	Presumably had their plane bombed and died in the explosion or after jumping out of the plane
The Carvell Estates Ghost (Getting Out)		Unknown, post-1960s serving an aristocratic party
Maddocks		Stepped on a badger trap
Hitchhiker (Bump In The Night)	Modern	Murdered by an unidentified person who gave her a lift
Pat	1980s	Shot accidentally in the neck with an arrow by Keith Darren Dean
Julian	1990s	Had a heart attack during sex	Ghost
Dead Doctor (Gorilla War)		Unknown cause, sometime on duty
Pigeon ghost (Getting Out)	Modern	Eaten by one of Barclay Beg-Chetwynde's dogs

• As of the series finale, Thomas, and Julian are the only main ghosts confirmed to still be at Button House, as well as the Plague ghosts, when Mike and Alison are old.

Ghosts US

Name	Era	Cause of death	Status
Thorfinn	Viking Age	Struck by lightning
Bjorn	Viking Age	Unknown
Gorm	Viking Age	Shot in the chest by an arrow
Sasappis	Discovery Age	Unknown
Shiki	Discovery Age	Unknown
George	Colonial Era	Unknown
Patience	Colonial Era	Bloodletting
Nigel Chessum	American Revolution	Shot accidentally by Isaac
Baxter	American Revolution	Impaled by a bayonet
Jenkins	American Revolution	Unknown
Isaac Higgintoot	American Revolution	Dysentery
Cholera ghosts	Antebellum Era	Cholera
Nancy	Antebellum Era	Cholera
Nigel (cholera ghost)	Antebellum Era	Cholera
Stuart	Antebellum Era	Cholera
Creepy Dirk	Antebellum Era	Cholera
Catherine	Antebellum Era	Cholera
Cody	Antebellum Era	Cholera
Ralph	Antebellum Era	Cholera	Moved on
Luella	Before 1895	Unknown	Moved on
Flat Maria	Before 1895	Trampled by a cattle herd	Moved on
Elias Woodstone	Gilded Age	Suffocated after being locked in a vault	Dragged to Hell
Hetty Woodstone	Gilded Age	Suicide by hanging with a phone cord
Molly	Gilded Age	Unknown	Moved on
Winky	Progressive Era?	Trampled by a horse
Saul Henry	1920s	Hit in the head with a baseball
Alberta Haynes	1920s	Murdered by poison
Doctor Fred	1930s?	Unknown
Joan	1940s	Unknown
Crash	1950s	Beheaded, possibly in a car accident
Judy Farnsby	1950s	Unknown
Peggy Sue	1950s	Impaled on car fins
Flower	1960s	Mauled by a bear
Pete Martino	1980s	Shot accidentally in the neck with an arrow
Stephanie	1980s	Murdered by a serial killer with a chainsaw
Donna	1980s	Hit on the head by a cellphone dropped from above
Richard (Pinkus Returns)	After 1984	Unknown
Trevor Lefkowitz	Turn of the Millennium	Drug overdose
Gloria (The Traveling Agent)	Turn of the Millennium	Trampled by crowd
Mike (The Traveling Agent)	Turn of the Millennium	Trampled by crowd
David Woodstone	After 2000	Brain aneurysm
John Duffy (The Witch)	2000s or 2010s	Unknown
Sheryl	2010s	Allergic reaction to shellfish	Moved on
Sophie Woodstone	Present	Old age	Moved on
Eric	Present	Electrocution	Revived
Carol Martino	Present	Chocking on a donut hole	Moved on
Chris	Present	Plummeted to his death
Construction worker ghost (Hello!)	Unknown, recent	Impaled by an I-beam while working
Elderly couple ghosts (Hello!)	Unknown, recent	Likely run over by a car while crossing the street
Jessica	Unknown, recent	Hit a telephone pole while drunk driving
Sondra	Unknown, recent	Heart attack
Schmitty (The Heir)	Unknown, recent	Food poisoning
Deal Mart Ghosts (The Traveling Agent)	Unknown, recent	Unknown, but some were likely fighting eachother for products
Butcher ghost (The Traveling Agent)	Unknown, recent	Hit on the head with a cleaver
Ghost Snail	Unknown	Unknown	Moved on

Ghosts Germany

Name	Era	Cause of death	Status
Urs	Prehistoric (Neanderthal)	Struck by lightning
Claudius	Early Roman Empire, 1st century	Crushed by stacks of marble plate documents
Griet	Holy Roman Empire, 1600s	Burned at the stake
Friedrich Dorn	Holy Roman Empire, 1790s	Shot in a duel
Adelheid von Donnerhall	German Empire, late 1800s	Pushed out of a window
Imperial Soldier	German Empire, unknown	Beheaded, possibly in an explosion
SS Officer	World War II	Unknown
Svenni	Federal Republic, 1980s	Shot with an arrow by one of her students
Joachim	Federal Republic, 1990s	Stroke or heart attack
Mrs. von Donnerhall	Federal Republic, 2020s	Old age	Moved on
Ralf Wagner	Federal Republic, 2020s	Slipped and fell from a window
Dr. Jahn	Federal Republic	Unknown
Lotti	Unknown	Drowning
Dolores	Unknown	Unknown
Hanged ghost	Unknown	Suicide by hanging

Ghosts France

Name	Era	Cause of death	Status
Tayac	Prehistoric (Cro-Magnon)	Unknown
Gallic ghosts	Iron Age	Food poisoning
Albos	Iron Age	Food poisoning
Knight ghosts	13th-15th century	Probably combat
Berthe	15th century	Unknown
Marie-Catherine de Mérudeaux	18th century	Unknown
Auguste Montfleury	Early 19th century	Unknown
Isabelle	Late 19th century	Illness
François Laval	World War II	Unknown
Georges Peyrache	World War II	Unknown
Nazi ghosts	World War II	Unknown
Daniel Quignon	Fifth Republic, 1970s	Shot in the neck with an arrow by a scout
Roland Givorant	Fifth Republic, 1980s	Unknown, died in an orgy
Antoinette de Mérudeaux	Fifth Republic, 2020s	Old age	Moved on
Doctor	Fifth Republic	Unknown
Gardener ghosts	Unknown	Killed with gardening tools

Ghosts Greece

Name	Era	Cause of death	Status
Vangelis	Prehistoric	Unknown
Theophania	1st Century AD	Killed by Romans
The Headless One	Frankokratia	Decapitation
Bilio Karatasou	1820s	Burned Alive
Kallirroi Paparrigopolou	1830s-1860s	Pushed out of a window
Gerasimos Zidoros	1900s	Killed in a duel
Athanasios Karkalentzos	WW2	Killed by Germans
Paraskevas Papazoglou	1980s	Accidentally shot in the neck with an arrow
Apostolos Nikolopoulos	1990s	Heart attack during an orgy
Plague Ghosts	430 BC	Died during the Plague of Athens (possibly by typhus)

Ghosts Australia

Name	Era	Cause of death	Status
First Fleet Convict Ghosts	Late 1700s	Unknown, one of the six has a prominent noose
Gideon	Late 1700s	Stabbed through the chest with a wooden spear
Joon	Gold Rush	Unknown
Eileen	1800s	Unknown
Miranda	Early 1900s	Unknown (possibly influenza)
Lindy	1980s	Unknown
Satan	1990s	Unknown

Gallery

• UK series

US series