10 Gaming Characters Who Never Deserved To Die

6. Modern Warfare 2: Ghost

Not to be confused with the name of the game coming out this autumn, Ghost is an operative in Modern Warfare 2. He's an integral part of "Soap" MacTavish's squad in the wildly popular sequel to Call of Duty 4, and they seek to combat the efforts of Russian Ultranationalist terrorist Vladimir Makarov. For unknown reasons, he's trying to engulf the world in war, using politics, terrorism, and the very-much-infamous No Russian scene at the beginning of the game.

Spoiler Alert: they weren't successful

Over the course of the game, despite attempting to defuse the impending World War III by staging missions in Brazil and Europe, war occurs anyway as an enraged Russian nation deploys an invasion to the United States which results in devastating casualties for both sides. However, long before this, Ghost meets his end just as the true antagonist is revealed.

Seeking a captured American defense module on Russian property, Roach (you, the player in Ghost's squad) is sent to retrieve it for your superior, General Shepherd. The squad is successful, you and Roach returning the item to the general - who promptly shoots both of you at point-blank range, finishing by dousing your bodies in gasoline and burning the evidence. Hardly the heroic, honorable death that both characters received.

Despite the questionable A.I. of ally characters in the Call of Duty series, Ghost stood out. By the time you finished navigating the Brazilian slums and the Russian forests, Ghost grew on you significantly - just in time to be relentlessly executed by the mad, war-mongering villain of the game. I wish it wasn't a frequent habit, but let's face it: Infinity Ward isn't ever very good about the preservation of original characters, very few of whom actually survive the events of a whole game.