The most memorable ghosts from movies and TV

As anybody who watched the “Ghostbusters” cartoon, wherein Slimer is friends with the Ghostbusters, you know what that food-loving green ghost is called. Plus, he’s so slimy! He slimed Venkman in “Ghostbusters!” It’s just a bit of a fun fact that the ghost wasn’t named Slimer for “Ghostbusters,” as he was referred to as Onionhead. But, these days, he’s Slimer through and through.

He calls himself the ghost with the most, and he may not be wrong. Betelgeuse is introduced to us as a self-proclaimed bio-exorcist. If you are a ghost (like the Maitlands) that wants humans out of their home, they can call on Betelgeuse (forever stylized as Beetlejuice, thanks to the title of every movie and TV show). The only issue is that Beetlejuice isn’t exactly ethical or moral or reliable. Of course, in the films he’s a ton of fun to watch, thanks to Michael Keaton.

One of the most famous ghosts is the comics character that has appeared in movies and television. The idea in the comics, and the idea carried over into the ‘90s film and beyond, is that Casper may be a ghost, but he’s a kind ghost. He’s just a dead kid who wants some friends. Which, well, is kind of weird. Also, as “The Simpsons” so astutely pointed out, in the comics Casper looks exactly like he’s the ghost of Richie Rich.

If you die in the “Star Wars” universe and you had tapped into the Force, you can return as a ghost. That’s true whether you are a Jedi like Yoda or a Sith like Darth Vader (though when he returned he had sort of redeemed himself). Force ghosts have become as much a part of “Star Wars” as lightsabers and retconning that convolutes the storytelling.

In the world of “SpongeBob SquarePants,” basically anything goes. That includes a pirate ghost showing up. The Flying Dutchman isn’t just any pirate ghost. He seems to be, for all intents and purposes, the Devil of the world of “SpongeBob.” He harvests souls and stuff, which is unusual for a pirate.

We wanted to make sure that this list was only ghosts, and not other sorts of undead or reanimated individuals. Jack Sparrow and company required more parsing than, say, Slimer. It is revealed in the ultra-successful “Curse of the Black Pearl” that the titular curse befalling these pirates of the Caribbean leaves them undead. They are skeletal when seen in the right light, but they are also ghostly. It’s a tricky call, but we are going with Jack Sparrow and company being ghosts. If you argue otherwise, while we can’t remember the franchise in intricate detail there has to be more-definitive ghosts in it. They got around to just about everything.

Who is, and who isn’t, a ghost in “The Shining” is left up for debate. Well, at least in Stanley Kubrick’s film. In Stephen King’s novel everything is probably explained in needless detail. Ghosts haunt the Overlook Hotel, from Lloyd the bartender to the Grady girls. The Gradys are often called twins, but that may or may not be the case. What we do know is that the Grady girls are as iconic a sight as anything from a horror film. The two ghost girls, dressed alike, beckon young Danny to come play with them. Probably wouldn’t have been a good idea for Danny to do so.

We appreciate it when somebody makes it easy for us by putting “ghost” right in their name. Marvel Comics' Johnny Blaze sells his soul and thus becomes the Ghost Rider. As seen in the Nicolas Cage movies, Ghost Rider is a bounty hunter for Hell, which is admittedly an idea that has been well-worn now. Also, executed better than a 2000s Cage movie. That being said, Marvel introduced Ghost Rider in 1972, so he really set the template.

You may think of the Headless Horseman as a character from “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” a story you likely read in a high school freshman English class. In that story, the intimation is that the Headless Horseman is, well, a legend. However, the Headless Horseman is a mythological character that predates that story, and actual, ghostly versions of the character appear in film and TV. Plus, when Tim Burton made “Sleepy Hollow” he turned the Headless Horseman into an actual ghost.

Being a kid in school can be tough enough as is. Now imagine a ghost was haunting the bathroom. Myrtle Warren, aka Moaning Myrtle, was killed in a bathroom at Hogwarts. Ever since, she has haunted said bathroom, which must make it a bathroom the students only go into when absolutely necessary. Especially since J.K. Rowling is a maniac and indicated that wizards in the world of “Harry Potter” just magic their waste away.

Both David Kessler and Jack Goodman have it rough in “An American Werewolf in London.” Fortunately, it’s a horror-comedy so things are a bit more palatable, though the humor is often pitch-black. David becomes a werewolf, which is a particularly tough thing to be in this world. That’s because, in part, the people David kills as a werewolf come back as ghosts. That includes his friend Jack, the first person he kills. Jack isn’t merely stuck as a spectral being, but he still bears the wounds left on him by werewolf David and his ghost starts to decay and rot like a corpse.

More an action cartoon than a comedy offering for Nickelodeon, “Danny Phantom” has plenty of ghosts in it. Danny himself, though, is more like the Blade of this world. Actual name Danny Fenton, after a mishap in the “Ghost Zone” he becomes a human-ghost hybrid. Now, though, he also has the ability to save the living from ghost attacks, which is also kind of a lot of pressure on a 14-year-old kid.

“Lost” had a bunch of mysteries and plenty of supernatural stuff. Toward the end, they figured they might as well have the smoke monster turn out to be a ghost. Also, he’s maybe the devil? Or at least the devil of the island? And then there’s a guy named Jacob who is the god of the island? It all got a little muddled at the end for “Lost,” but we did have Bosch himself (Titus Welliver) playing The Man in Black.

Marley was dead, to begin with. “A Christmas Carol” is one of the most-famous ghost-laden stories there is. Even when the Muppets are involved the story is filled with ghosts. While three time-related ghosts visit Ebenezer Scrooge, it all begins with his old business partner Jacob Marley.

Why did anybody watch the VHS tape from “The Ring” anyway? It was just a bunch of weird, gross stuff. Even worse, though, when you watched the video, you died seven days later. The culprit? Spooky ghost girl Samara Morgan, who would climb out of a well, and also out of your TV, for murderous purposes. Also, shout out to Sadako Yamamura, the spooky ghost girl from the original Japanese film.

Even the Haunted Mansion ride has characters, though several of them are just descriptors. Then, there is Madam Leota. The ghostly occultist can be found in the séance room, and whenever the ride has been adapted, Madam Leota shows up. In the Muppets take on “The Haunted Mansion,” she’s played by Miss Piggy. Also, that’s the version to watch. The movies aren’t very good.

In a world where every other sitcom is a workplace mockumentary, “Ghosts” deserves love. Sure, it’s not exactly original. The CBS sitcom is based on a British sitcom. That being said, both versions have been successful, with CBS’ “Ghosts” having managed to avoid cancellation heretofore. Also, the majority of the main characters are ghosts, and the show is called “Ghosts.” Clearly it belongs here.

We will end by shouting out a common trope. Right up there with amnesia and faked deaths on soap operas are ghost characters. Basically every soap opera has had at least one ghost character. Oftentimes they used to be living characters. Maybe an actor got another gig, or was difficult to work with. They can pop up for a week as a ghost, though. Trying to name every ghost character in a soap opera would be excessive. If you are a soap opera ghost, consider this our shoutout to you.