Ghost

**Ghosts** are supernatural entities in *Ghosts* and its American adaptation. They are the souls of dead people who have been stuck on Earth for unknown reasons and live unseen amongst humans. In the episode Alberta's Fan, its said that only about five percent of people become a ghost according to Isaac.

## 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 Sophia Woodstone, respectively, implies that they have seen people become ghosts despite having no violent or suspicious circumstances surrounding their deaths.

In the US series, ghosts can move on as a result of dealing with unfinished business on Earth, and this has even been shown to happen to Mary and Sam's mother Sheryl. However, in the American series, if a ghost is troublesome and refuses to change their ways (like in Elias' case), they can instead be sent to hell.

### Location

Ghosts have to stay where they died and cannot escape the place of their death, which is likely a form of punishment. The area in which they must stay can be acres wide and include any buildings on the property (depending on where the land boundary is) or a few meter radius around a compact car (as it is for Jessica, who died in a car accident).

### 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 also have no way of changing their physical appearance. They cannot gain or lose weight, and they cannot add or remove items of clothing (or items carried within their clothing). These simply reappear where they were, usually within a few seconds after removal.

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.

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.

### Physical ability

Ghosts cannot interact with objects, 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 them, and can walk on staircases and go to upper and lower levels.

If ghosts try walking through living humans, they either feel an onslaught of sickness (British series) or feel excruciating pain (American series). It is unknown why this happens, but it might do with something of the fact that "living" souls and "dead" souls do not mix, so they can't work with each other.

## "Sight"

If a living person has a brush with death, such as when Alison and Sam 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".

## 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:

* Being able to touch and move objects with concentration (Julian, Trevor)
* Making people smell scents (e.g., fire, passing gas) when walking through them (Mary, Isaac)
* Making people feel high on drugs/sexually aroused (Flower, Elias)
* Being able to be seen in photographs faintly (Fanny)
* Making lights flicker when concentrating and looking directly at the light source (Robin, Thorfinn)
* Projecting their voice to be heard by the living (Jemima, Alberta)
* 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)
* Turning a car alarm on and off (Jessica)

## List of known ghosts

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

## Gallery

'''UK Series'''
**US Series**

## Notes and references

1. ↑ Pete mentions the pain is the second worst he's ever felt (the first being shot by an arrow through the neck).
2. ↑ It could also be a reference to the 1990 film *Ghost*, where ghosts felt pain when they walked through the living, more notably when they tried possessing the physics to contact their loved one.
3. ↑ One time a child saw Pete and called him a monster, which caused Pete to cry himself to sleep for weeks in the episode Alberta's Fan.