Ghosts of Halo

Ghosts appear as indestructible characters that have been seen in multiplayer maps, apparently controlled by no one, and seemingly attack players at random. The "ghost" apparently takes the form of whatever the person's player model is, weapon, and color.

Introduction
The ghosts seemingly prefer to use Plasma Grenades to stick in-game players, all of the time successfully sticking them, and having a seemingly unlimited supply of them. Its patterns seem non-consistent; the Ghost will sometimes ignore players completely, and other times aggressively pursue players.

The ghosts do not walk like most players but instead simply glides across the map. They will glide up various ramps and jumps off of ledges. The ghosts are indestructible, and are impervious even to an assassination hit from behind (probably because he is looking straight at you, even though you do not see it like that).

Most interestingly, the character does not have a gamertag, does not appear on the score screen, and does not have an apparent controller.

History
A video appeared on Youtube in July of 2006 by a user named AfRoSaUcE who claimed it was over a year old and made by Jump Tactic's Anti Noob. It really was old, first appearing on mythica.org. It quickly became popular and speculation was raised that it was some form of mod. AfRoSaUcE denied the allegation, believing it to be a network problem. (Although, if it was a network problem, there would be slim chances of it actually saying "Killed By Guardians" when a player is killed by it)

Since the video's first appearance, several new videos have surfaced, all of which are very apparent hoaxes, with characters who do have gamertags, running animations, and the like. However, a number of mods have surfaced with players controlling characters without these, but not on Xbox Live. Recently a player called Shadow has claimed that it is not impossible for this to occur on an Xbox without any sort of System Link or Xbox Live. His "Ghostly" encounter is as follows:

Other "ghosts" however have appeared on other maps. One such occurrence was the "Ghost of Turf" found and filmed by clan HollywoodHalo. The ghost displayed all characteristics of the Lockout ghost (no Gamertag, walk sliding, no weapon animations). The most interesting thing about this occurrence is that two ghosts appeared. It was this that revealed that these ghosts were caused by extreme lag.

"Supernatural" Abilities

 * Is invulnerable to all attacks.
 * Does not need to look up or down.
 * Does not have the programming to walk
 * Glides across the map jumping from towers.
 * Can perform tricks and super jumps with ease.
 * All grenades auto-stick and can be thrown whilst looking the opposite way.
 * Can teleport anywhere on the map.
 * Has ability to mimic movements.
 * Takes the shape of whomever it meets.
 * Seems to have a mind of its own.
 * Can be docile or aggressive.
 * Always hits when shooting.
 * Sometimes when killed by them it states, "Killed by The Guardians".
 * Has unlimited ammo in all guns and can change guns with extreme speed.
 * During Forge on Local Play, Ghosts are usually indestructible.
 * Invisible to theater.
 * Can choose whatever weapons it wants, even if the map has specified weapons sets.

Theories

 * Caused by extreme lag.
 * Caused by a network problem coupled with a mod.
 * Created by Bungie to keep the game moving.
 * A game Bot created by Bungie when it was in alpha mode, to practice, but never deleted.
 * Two different online games going on at the same time in the same map, but ending up in the same server.
 * Someone modding and hacking into peoples games and killing them all or ignoring them completely and just scaring them.
 * Caused when someone leaves the game (start menu, leave game.), their Spartan 'dies' in game. This may explain why people only see a ghost after the person they were playing with exits.
 * Random, misplaced programming for game that Bungie had put into it by accident such as "Player Throw Grenade", "Player Kill Player", etc.
 * Caused by the absorbtion of energy by actual spirits. Currently, it is beleived that when ghosts manifest, they absorb energy from around them. This can cause a rise in the Electromagnetic Field, which could be resulting in the ghosts actually manifesting themselves within the game. Keep in the mind that spirits don't know that they are appearing in a game (they wouldn't know wat a video game was, seeing as they may have died before games like this came out), nor do they intend to "kill" the characters. All they know is that they are getting our attention.

Halo: Combat Evolved Ghosts

 * There have been a few multiplayer ghost sightings. In which a blue player with a Fuel Rod Gun appeared outside of the boundaries in Death Island. This ghost did not move and could be killed with many grenades. This ghost also appeared when modding was occurring.


 * In a modified version of the Island Mod of Halo Demo, a ghost in Blue Team armor occurred directly in front of Halo-facing entrance to the Silent Cartographer's shaft (outside). The ghost carried no weapons, could not be killed, and, when stuck with grenades, the grenades would not explode. Shortly after the first ghost appeared, it multiplied, so that a second now stood with it's feet in the waist of the first, standing upright, and also not holding any weapons. They continued to multiply until there were 4 of the ghosts standing on top of each other. After a half a minute to a minute, all players lost connection with the game.

In a later game, the same ghost appeared in Red Team armor, but did not multiply. Neither of these Ghosts were visible to the host of the game.


 * Again, on the Island Mod of Halo Demo, another ghost appeared using the same modification as reported above, but with further changes. This one appeared on the top of the Island, near the teleporter exit from Blue Base (Silent Cartographer's shaft entrance). It did not multiply, but had the characteristics of the afore mentioned ghosts.

Ghost of Lockout

 * The "Ghost of Lockout" is a mysterious occurrence that haunts the Halo 2 multiplayer map, Lockout. It has been in many YouTube videos, the most famous being the Ghost of Lockout. The Ghost of Lockout seemingly prefers to use grenades and always sticks the player. The ghost seems to slide instead of walking and can throw grenades backwards. This video was the first of many more appearances of the Halo Ghost.

The Ghost of Turf

 * The Ghost of Turf was filmed by Clan Hollywood Halo, this video is rather odd because two ghosts were in it and even more strange because the two ghosts were shooting at each other, ending in one of the ghosts dying. This is very strange because these ghosts are killable while ghosts in other videos are not. This has led to the speculation that this video was faked.


 * During the video in the lag there were two white Spartans that lost connection. Therefore extreme lag may have caused the two white players to become ghosts.

Others

 * There have been several other ghost sightings on other maps such as Ascension, Headlong, Ivory Tower, Midship, Backwash, Containment using a sniper, Burial Mounds, and most likely all the other Halo 2 multiplayer maps.

Ghost of Foundry

 * Players have occasionally reported grenades being thrown during forge although no origination was ever found.

Ghost of Guardian

 * There have been people claiming to have seen a green, transparent Spartan on Guardian.


 * On January 6th 2008, a lone elite was stuck in Guardian next to the active camouflage power-up. He was offline.


 * Two players were playing by themselves in a slayer game, one saw a figure go around a corner. Later the player saw a Spartan with a rogue helmet slide on the floor and the Spartan stuck him. At the time they were both elites and nobody had joined the game.

Ghost of High Ground

 * On December 6th 2007, a lone Spartan was shot with a laser while going up the beach on High ground. Later viewing of the video showed no laser or player except the Spartan previously mentioned.


 * On January 21st 2008, a player was forging offline with a friend on High Ground, when a plasma grenade exploded from the side of the wall inside the bunker. the explosion set off a pile of fusion coils in the corner as the player was flying near them while he was in monitor form. Miraculously he survived because his shields were set for 500% thier normal strength. At first, he thought it was his friend just being annoying, but he was in edit mode and in the room in back of the bunker, not even facing the player. Video of his point of view showed he was in monitor form the entire time of the event. Previously, the player was doing the grenade stick trick where you can throw a grenade and go into monitor form, and thought that was the cause as it could have been a delayed explosion. This was disproved though because 2 frag grenades, a spike grenade, an assault rifle, and after all the fusion coils exploded, a sword, came out of the explosion as if someone died. Upon further investigation, he found that inside the explosion was an elite shield flare like the one you would get when you take down shields, but no body or person was found that could have created that. Both his friend and him were offline and not trying to lag the map or overload it, so that was ruled out as an explanation to this event.
 * On Jan. 29 a lone Spartan was in forge mode and had been in it for quite a while - he looked up towards the beach and saw several grenades go off, he could hear someone up in one of the trees, and then heard something like a Spartan Laser shot - except it was hardly noticeable. The Spartan was the only one because he doesn't have Xbox Live and he was never killed.

Ghost of Isolation

 * One player, in an offline Forge, found radar blips on his scanner when nobody else was present. After investigating, nothing was found. The occurrence has also been observed on Isolation. It was thought that the Sentinels above the map may have caused the blip but further research with the motion tracker set for the highest distance and mode found that the Sentinels in fact do not emit radar signatures. While sitting in a Warthog placed in Forge, they did notice a phantom radar blip. Investigation in the end revealed nothing.


 * An Elite was forging on isolation, when he turned into player mode to test the creation and was suddenly assassinated by thin air. Simply saying, "Assassinated you" No player name, just the two words. Theater mode disproves the fact a "Super Sentinel beam" killed the player who suggested the theory.
 * In a solo game on Xbox Live a player was shooting at the Flood Growth Pods on the wall, when the last pod exploded and the scream went on for several minutes. When it stopped, a Spartan Mark V head began rising out of the floor, and then disappeared.


 * On April 4, 2008 one player, (user:spartanjohn117), witnessed a Combat Elite, wielding an Energy sword, run to a stationary mongoose. Nothing was found upon investigation.

Ghost of Narrows

 * There have been many people claiming to have seen a green, transparent Spartan on Narrows.
 * Another ghost sighting, playing a game with 4 systems and 4 players per system, system link game, a yellow Spartan with a Spartan Laser appeared and killed all players within 30 seconds. This occurred in Narrows during a Energy Sword and Gravity Hammer only game. The research ended in finding a yellow Elite.


 * While forging on the Narrows, a player managed to capture a video of a Flame Grenade coming out of a wall and hitting him. Further investigation revealed that no other players were in the game at the time of the event. An investigation on the 'ghost grenades' found out that some one could simply go in forge, throw a grenade and then quickly change to edit. Then if you wait it will come out of where you 'almost' threw the grenade. Fire bomb and frag work the best.


 * While making an on-going mancannon (placing grav lifts so that you are repeatedly going into cannons), Joe22294 was flying through the cannons backwards (in player mode) when he stopped in mid-air and was assassinated by something. Looking in theater mode he found that an elite with the Arbiter's armour assassinated him. Strangely, the elite didn't show up in any screenshots or film.

Ghost of Sandtrap

 * 2 players in an offline match had an encounter on Sandtrap, where they claimed to see a transparent yellow Spartan with a Spartan Laser by the outer wall. They were riding a Mongoose past when they caught a glimpse of it and were soon after destroyed not by the deadly mines, but by a blast from none other than a Spartan Laser. On another occasion, in an online battle, 3 players claimed to have seen and been killed by a Spartan with a Spartan Laser. With further investigation conducted by the players, there was no Spartan or weapon that the laser beam had emanated from.


 * On December 9th 2007, a lone Spartan was seen in an Infection gametype on Sandtrap. The Spartan had a mind of its own and could cut people off in a Warthog. The video was reviewed and a Spartan was found all gold with a katana, EVA head, and security shoulder pads.


 * On Martin Luther King Day 2008 A lone Spartan was playing on Alpha Zombie in Sandtrap when he found an Overshield in the sky dropping things like the game was forge. At first it seemed fun even though the Overshield dropped an equipment case on him, but then the Overshield dropped a medical crate on him and it killed him and all it said was Killed by the Guardians. Investigation revealed nothing; however he did notice that normal Overshields contain floating red items inside it but the ghostly Overshield did not.
 * March 25, 2008. Two players were forging on Sandtrap using scorpions to make the elephants fly when random laser shots seem to come from an unreachable wall and killed both players causing it to overload their Xbox 360's.
 * On March 18th 2008, a lone Spartan was on forge when random things began to fall out of the sky. The map had not been edited and the objects seemed to have a faint aura around them.
 * 2 players were together in a game of Sandtrap in forge mode, making weapons. And all of a sudden, an orange beam shot from the sky and nearly hit both of them. The orange beam appeared to be similar from the orange beam that shoots from a sentinel beam. The orange beam shoots for about 2 seconds then stops, and then shoots again. On closer inspection on theater, you get to see where the orange beam came from. It comes from a sort of floating object up high in the sky. The object looks like a gun that has not been fully designed. it is 2D and has nearly no detail. It looks similar in shape to a sentinel beam. There was no 3rd player. Only those 2. This beam has been discovered to be the beam that triggers the Mines outside the map; the Origin comes from one of the 6 spires while the ending is where the mine spawns.
 * A lone Spartan was setting up the elephant fly glitch when he heard a soft pow, and then he saw it said Assassinated.


 * In a ridiculously long yet disturbing match on Sandtrap, the game began to lag and caused all the players to die and respawn until only one was left. Then, a hornet spawned and deleted upon contact with the ground repeatedly as if almost bouncing until it reached the lone Spartan and splattered him. Upon the event the screen said, "RadicalEdward2 Killed By Guardians"
 * In the second round of the match, an orange Spartan with an EVA helmet, hayabusa shoulders, and EOD or hayabusa chest plate ran across the map to the outer area of the map and through the barrier seconds before the match ended.
 * A lone Elite was forging on top of the big ruins, when a Warthog without driver splattered him. Nothing was found afterward.
 * A lone spartan was walking in the middle of the map, and all of a sudden he saw a ghost(the vehicle) flying towards him and splattered him. There was no one else playing with him and he didn't see anyone in the ghost. All it said was "The Guardians splattered you." Upon further investigation in theater, he saw no one in the ghost and also that it spawned from nowhere.
 * During the same match, the lone spartan was walking around and all of a sudden he heard a gunshot and died. It said "The Guardians sniped you." In theater, he looked at the stream of smoke the bullet made, and saw the source. It was where the mine field was that marks the barrier. It was the same height that a regular gunshot would come from, but there was no visible sniper, and there was no visible person.

Ghost of The Pit

 * A ghost was seen on The Pit. The only two players were trying to overload the map with trip mines. One player's Xbox 360 crashed forcing him to leave and reboot. The second player turned and saw a new third Spartan phasing out of active camo and was stuck with a plasma grenade in the face. All this time the third Spartan was looking away. The second player's system then crashed too.

Ghost of Valhalla

 * On March 8th 2008 during a CTF match on Valhalla several Spartan laser shots were fired even when there was no one there.
 * A supposed ghost haunts the crashed Pelican, walking around it, holding an Energy Sword.
 * There have been several sightings and deaths caused by a ghost on Valhalla in a Ninjanaut gametype. A transparent Spartan with an Energy Sword appeared and killed everyone within the map. Only Swords and Assault Rifles were available in the game.


 * On January 16, an Elite and two Spartans were playing swords in a closed online party on Valhalla. The ghost appeared in yellowish-steel Hayabusa armor and killed them within a few seconds. Oddly enough, investigation revealed that a skull appeared etched into the rear mirror of the Pelican cargo hold, and apparently bled when it made a kill. Investigation revealed no image of the actual ghost in Saved Films.
 * On March 31st 2008 a phantom "friendly" contact showed up on radar. Only one person was playing on a closed match. Video was viewed by the player and someone else.
 * On April 4th, 2008, a lone Spartan in forge mode was placing trip mines in close proximity to the Pelican, was suddenly killed by the "Guardians" when a nearby plasma grenade exploded. Further investigation revealed nothing, but a Spartan dying. Oddly, he died a good one to two seconds before the mines exploded.

Ghost of Last Resort

 * Some friends were Playing on Last Resort (Xbox live) when someone joined in, but it wasn't on the scoreboard and it didn't have a name above it's head. Then someone got blown up from a result of a plasma grenade stick. The players all scattered to get some power weapons. They got a Spartan laser, rocket launcher, gravity hammer, and even plasma grenades and made direct hits on the ghost but it that didn't work. Before they knew it, everyone was dead and the round was over.

Ghost of Rat's Nest

 * On April 4th, 2008, a lone Spartan in a forge game was hit by an exploding barrel while riding a mongoose. Although the exploding barrel was already worked into the map, the player had set invincibility on him order to make forging easier. Later, in the same game, he was killed once again in monitor mode (once again, invincible) while away from any kind of danger or edge of the map. During this death, the sound of an exploding plasma grenade was seen and heard, though the replay only saw the player dying without an explosion. Both deaths were counted as "Killed by Guardians" kills.

Related Links

 * Edgework Entertainments Forum
 * The Unofficial Halo 2 Boards
 * VG Cat Forum
 * Ghost of Turf
 * Ghosts in Halo 3
 * Ghost of Ascension