OSCULUM OBSCENUM

A photo of Papa Emeritus the Third performing

Welcome to my GHOST / GHOST B.C. Shrine! Still under construction momentarily.

Click here to go back to my main page

Who is GHOST?

Ghost, once known as Ghost B.C., are a swedish theatrical band that imitates a satanic church wishing to take over the world through music. They have been around since 2006 and are currently still active. The lead singer is one person, but he wore various rubber masks while performing to play different characters that aligned with the band's lore. The band's identity had remained anonymous for several years until 2017, which the leader singer was revealed to be Tobias Forge. He revealed his identity during a lawsuit happening within the band. Forge had also previously been the lead singer for bands Repugnant, Subvision, and was part of Magna Carta Cartel for some time. Ghost began posting their demos on MySpace, which is an interesting place for a band to begin. The rest of the band members are called "Nameless Ghouls," but had been given un-canon names by fans. The rest of the band revealed their identities recently, though many fans already knew who they were through leaks.

The music aligns with the band's lore as well. Their debut album, Opus Eponymous, followed the procreation and birth of the anti-christ. The second album, Infestissumam, follows the anti-christ walking on Earth. The third album Meliora diverges a little, by being a critism of the church, a detail that also follows the lore, and relates to the character who sings it, Papa Emeritus III. The fourth album Prequelle is about the black plague and pestilence. Their most recent album, Impera, has themes of rising to power and overthrowing authority, taking new role as leader.

All Papas

Papa Emeritus I

Emeritus the First, also known as Primo, was the first lead singer of the band, and sung the debut album Opus Eponymous. He is assumed to be the most serious of all the Papas as his album is more focused on the church's theme and motif. He played in mostly underground shows as Ghost was still mostly unknown at the time. Primo's ghouls wore white. He peacefully stepped down from position to make way for Emeritus II to lead.

Papa Emeritus II

Emeritus the Second, also known as Secondo. He sang on Infestissumam and the If You Have Ghost EP. He had a mini-series with Noisey called Papaganda, available on Youtube. His character was known to be less "strict" than Primo's, as he was a party-goer, but the most "intimidating" of the group. He is the only Papa to be seen without face paint in character. Secondo's ghouls wore black. It's assumed he was fired from his position for his behavior, and perhaps for beginning to doubt the church, so Terzo lead next. Terzo's face paint in his debut looked similar to Secondo's.

Papa Emeritus III

Emeritus the Third, also known as Terzo. In his debut, when Secondo stepped down, his face paint was similar to the previous. It was changed later to the one known now. He became one of the most popular Papas to lead as Ghost was becoming increasingly popular at the time of his album. His album, Meliora, relates to themes of breaking away from the satanic church. His character is more modern than the previous Emerituses. He often wore a tuxedo instead of the robes. Terzo's ghouls wore suits and silver masks. Along with Meliora, he sang the Popestar EP. He was forcefully removed from position on stage and decapitated by Cardinal Copia (not shown on video, but a photoshoot exists showing Copia holding Terzo's head).

Cardinal Copia

Before a fourth Emeritus took place, Cardinal Copia was lead for the band. In his debut, chapters were released on Youtube for the band's lore. Cardinal Copia is introduced to Nihil by Sister Imperator as a new lead for the band, but Nihil did not accept him. He sang on Prequelle. Tobias wanted Copia to be a character that fans don't like, but he became the most popular character. Copia's ghouls are still fashioned like Terzo's ghouls, with a difference in the masks; woman masks have longer hair, and all masks have a mouth hole. He stepped to power properly after Nihil's collapse.

Papa Emeritus IV

Still Copia, but now he has stepped to power and has become the fouth Emeritus. He sang Impera, an album about the rise and fall of empires, which relates to how he rose to his power after Nihil died. All Papas before him are now dead up to this point. This would mark the band having a shift in tone, become more grand in presentation than before. An example is the suits that Copia wears on stage; he no longer wears the robes, but often dons a sparkly blue suit or bat wings. The ghoul's costumes became more military styled. Copia has become very popular, even outside of Ghost, with singing Mary on a Cross and playing baseball, for some reason.

Papa Nihil

The eldest of the Papas, now deceased (but brought back as a spirit, and sometimes revived to play saxophone on Miasma). Sister Imperator, his lover, bewitched him sometime in the 60s (seen in the music video for Dance Macabre) and together they formed Ghost. He sang the EP Seven Inches of Satanic Panic, which according to lore, was released in the 60s and re-released in 2019. He's the father of the first three Emerituses, and assumed to be the father of Copia by most fans. He was introduced immediately after Terzo was removed from stage.