Ghost

Ghost

Game feature, life state · Featured in:

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The Sims Wiki's Featured Article for September 16–30, 2011

Ghost

A ghost reading a book.

See also: Ghost pet

Ghosts are featured in most The Sims games after Sims die. Some lots will have pre-made ghosts, and after Sims die, they linger as ghosts. Ghosts appear as transparent color-varied Sims.

The Sims[edit | edit source]

Ghosts appear on residential lots that have the remains of a deceased Sim in a form of either an urn or tombstone. They can appear at any time between 12:00 am and daybreak but they don't always appear. When they appear, eerie music will play indicating their presence. They will usually hang around for a few hours doing nothing but just walking around while making windy noises. They take on the same appearance that they had when they died, except that they appear to be pale green-blue and transparent. Although playable Sims cannot interact with them, ghosts can "Spook" living Sims. When this happens, the ghost will sneak up on the Sim and vanish and then jump up behind the Sim while moaning and laugh. This causes the Sim to scream frantically and then run away, while some of his or her needs will be depleted. This "Be Spooked" interaction can be canceled. It will not override what is in the Sim's action queue, so it can be canceled before the Sim is spooked. One premade lot where Sims can see ghosts is the cemetery of the Goth family, which has the ghosts of dead relatives, i.e. Boy, Bratty, Uncle, Auntie, Grandma, Grandpa, Cousin, and Vegas.

In Makin' Magic, magical Sims can make the Shed Your Skin charm. When it's used at night, the Sim who used it will be transformed into a green, ghost-like figure and will be able to talk to ghosts, as well as walk through walls and objects. Also, drinking Magic Nectar (x2 Grapes, x1 Toad Sweat) has the same effect as Shed Your Skin - but can be used during the day, as well.

The Sims 2[edit | edit source]

There is a different type of ghost for each type of death in The Sims 2. Each has their own color and many have special abilities. All ghosts can scare living Sims—sometimes even to death—by showing themselves. Seeing a ghost is a common want for Knowledge Sims, and they will get a positive memory when they see one. Other Sims will get a negative memory. Sims may also have wants to "See the Ghost" of Sims they are enemies with or furious at. All ghosts can interact with some objects, for example: making a chair float or a teddy bear's head spin. Sims do not seem to notice or react to ghosts unless one chooses to make its presence known.

All Sims aged child and older can become ghosts. Babies and toddlers are not able to die, and so cannot become ghosts.^{[n 1]} Dogs and cats will also become ghosts when they die. Ghosts cannot harm pets, but they can disturb them.

The environment need of a Sim who goes outside at night while more than one ghost is out haunting will drastically fall down into the red zone.

Abilities[edit | edit source]

Walk through walls, fences, and furniture.
Scare Sims (Sims can die from fright if four needs are low enough while being scared)
Float chairs (even if Sims sit on them), other small objects and even their graves.
Wither flowers.
Turn on electronics.
Make objects float, such as microwaves, teddy bears, table lamps, and surgical dummy.
Make a bowling alley float.
Make xylophone play by themselves.
Fill bathtub and dirty them, if they're angry.
Visit their bed (the last one they slept in) and other objects they might have been close to. For example: the ghost of a Sim who used to paint a lot may check the easel.
Cry over other Sims who have died recently.
The ghosts who died by fire can go swimming if there is a swimming pool or ocean.
The ghosts who died by drowning will leave behind puddles.
The ghosts who died of hunger may open the fridge and look around in it, and steal food from it. They will be unhappy if there is no fridge on the lot, the fridge is empty, or the ghost cannot gain access to it (e.g. water blocking their way).
The ghosts who died by disease, electrocution and hail will reenact their death.
Clean counters.
Take out the trash.
Hold babies and toddlers.^{[confirmation needed]}

Angry spirits[edit | edit source]

A ghost can become angry if:

They died of starvation and there is no food in the fridge
Their grave is kicked or smashed
Their spouse remarries
Their family members move out and another family reside the lot
The ghost's family dies out
The Sim's most used object, usually the bed they slept in or a toilet, is sold. Thus, if the player plans to keep tombstones on the home lot, it's wise to buy the best beds and toilets before anybody dies so the player won't anger the ghosts by selling the item to buy a better one.

Although all ghosts interact with objects and scare Sims, angry ghosts do so more violently. Normally, a ghost will only scare a Sim if they're close enough. Angry ghost will have wider range to scare Sims. An angry ghost may do things such as:

Break electronics
Make threatening gestures
Haunt a specific Sim
Yell and think about what made them angry
Make bathtubs dirty

When to expect them[edit | edit source]

Ghosts often appear just after 8:00 p.m. (20:00), but they sometimes appear later in the night, closer to midnight. Ghosts disappear at or around 6:00 am. They're never seen in the daytime or within the hour before or past light (with one possible exception). More than one angry ghost can appear at night, but it's more common to only see one. When there are only a few ghosts, they tend to appear around every three nights. When there are more than five though, they may appear every night. When a tombstone is on the lot, eerie background music may play if a Sim is outside. When a ghost is out, the music will be percussionary, and will play at intervals or whenever a ghost jumps into something. Ghosts themselves emit an eerie ambience (windy noises/howling) whenever they are haunting a lot, it can be heard in the entire lot and becomes louder, the closer the Ghost is to the player.

If a Ghost disappears to scare a Sim, their ambience will stop playing until the targeted Sim has been scared.

The exception to the daytime rule is if a grave is struck by lightning. A blue rod can strike a gravestone, resulting in a ghost appearing during daytime hours. They will float around the house for a much shorter period than they would during the night before returning to their grave.

Keeping ghosts at bay[edit | edit source]

The easiest way to keep ghosts quiet is to move their graves to a cemetery. When there, several anger triggers won't work; however, a starving ghost will still be unhappy if there is no fridge. Mourning a grave will keep the ghost quiet for the time being, and building a moat around the grave site will stop them from invading the Sim's home, as they can't cross water. If Testingcheatsenabled is on and there is a ghost wandering around, the player can pause the game and make the ghost selectable, then just cancel the "Haunt" action and quickly make the ghost unselectable again. The ghost will then disappear. It is also possible to ForceError them, as this acts like canceling the action.

Players who are irritated by ghosts raiding the fridge or leaving puddles can change how they died by first using testingcheatsenabled and then shift clicking on the ghost's tombstone. Options will then appear to change the cause of death; old age and satellite create fairly quiet ghosts.

Types of ghosts[edit | edit source]

Old age: Sim or pet appears white. Ghost dogs dig phantom holes. While these ghosts are not always peaceful, they are less likely to have a temper.
Fire: Sim appears red. They will sometimes swim in pools, bathtubs or in the sea.^[TS2:BV] While these ghosts are not always angry or violent, they are more unlikely to be quiet.
Electrocution: Sim appears yellow and occasionally re-enacts their death.
Drowning: Sim appears blue, leaving puddles of water on the lot.
Fright: Sim appears pink.
Starvation: Sim appears pale blue and occasionally opens the fridge, removing food points from it. Ghost gets angry if there is no fridge on the lot or if the fridge is empty.
Illness: Sim appears bright green and occasionally re-enacts their death.
Satellite: Sim appears orange.
Flies: Sim appears purple.
Cowplant^[TS2:U]: Sim appears yellow green. If the Cowplant is still on the lot, the ghost Sim will taunt it with a slab of meat. Additionally, if another Sim drank the ghost Sim's life essence, then the ghost will be angry at that Sim. These ghosts usually spend the whole night taunting the plant and rarely tend to roam around
Sunlight^[TS2:NL]: Sim appears pale blue and is still a vampire.
Rally forth^[TS2:OFB]: Sim appears golden with a megaphone in his/her hand.
The ghost of a Sim who died by Rally Forth.
Hail^[TS2:S]: Sim appears magenta and occasionally re-enacts their death.
Wishing Well^[TS2:S]: Sim appears white.
Murphy bed^[TS2:AL]: Sim appears pale blue.

Certain types of death don't have a unique ghost color. Instead, their color will be similar to Sims who die of starvation, but their behavior might differ. The ghosts include the death by sunlight, coffin scare, and murphy bed. The wishing well ghost will be similar to ghosts of old age. Ghosts who were struck by lightning will be similar to ghosts of electrocution. The Running with Scissors Playset ghost will be similar to death by fright.

Trivia[edit | edit source]

In The Sims 2, all adult male ghosts are voiced by Stephen Kearin, while all adult female ghosts are voiced by Gerri Lawlor, regardless of the voice they had when they were alive.
Saying goodbye to a living Sim on the lot can cause the ghosts currently on the lot to disappear.
In Apartment Life, ghosts are unaffected by the Tempus Interruptus spell^{[confirmation needed]}. Also, using Expello Simae on a ghost will cause it to hover back to its grave and disappear.
Deleting a tombstone or urn will prevent that Sim's ghost from appearing, but this should not be done as the sim can no longer be resurrected due to their character file being unlinked and turned into a "stub" file containing the Sim's bare-bones character data.^[1] Placing a tombstone or urn in a sim's inventory will also keep the ghost from appearing, but it will be deleted if it's in the inventory when the sim dies. The best way to get rid of tombstones is by moving them to a graveyard^[TS2:NL]⁺
When ghosts appear for the first time, they will cry and then disappear as if they were attempting to haunt an object. Meanwhile, a thought bubble with a red "X" will appear.
Also if a ghost appears for the first time, they will spawn right where they have died
If the object—which the ghost was close to—is still on the lot, the ghost will clap and cheer at them.
Ghosts may react to rain as living Sims do when they come out of the house during a storm.
If they are near to the Grim Reaper, ghosts may scare him, causing the Grim Reaper to wet himself.
There is a glitch that makes a Sim's cause of death (and ghost color) reset to old age (white) regardless of their actual death when moving the Sim's grave or urn to a community lot using the "Move Grave" option. The ghosts will reset the same way if a function to move multiple graves at once is used, as well. A fix is offered in this mod.
The first time a ghost comes out of their gravestone or urn, they will cry over their own death.
Toddlers will cry when they witness a ghost haunting an object.^{[confirmation needed]}
Ghosts might also change their clothing to an outdoor clothing when the weather is cold and they are exiting the house.
The most notable sign of ghosts being angry is when they are angrily waving towards the player while yelling. They might also crack their fingers or do other threathining poses afterwards.

The Sims: Bustin' Out (PS2/GameCube/XBOX)[edit | edit source]

In The Sims: Bustin' Out, ghosts work mostly the same as they do in The Sims for PC. The ghosts of dead Sims will appear at night and haunt the living Sims and scare them, and "scary" music will also play when ghosts appear on a lot. Only one lot, Goth Manor, has pre-made ghosts. The ghosts on that lot can be exorcised by using the Séance Table.

The Sims 2 (console)[edit | edit source]

In the home console versions of The Sims 2, all dead Sims become ghosts that the player can fully control. Ghosts will be able to perform different social interactions with living Sims, including the ability to possess and scare them. Their needs will be static in the middle. All ghosts look the same regardless of how the Sim died. Unlike most Sims games, ghosts will appear at all times of day. Ghosts can also be revived by winning a fiddle challenge with the Grim Reaper or giving him §100. Dead Sims are never really lost forever (or at least for a long time) as they are in the PC version.

In the PlayStation portable version, the main character can only die and be controlled. As playing with this life state, the player can move the character throughs walls or scare others. The Sim will stay as a ghost until the Grim Reaper himself resurrects the Sim or is asked by the player before the duration's expiration.

The Sims 2 (DS)[edit | edit source]

Although Sims will only pass out and wake up in the Manager's Suite Nintendo DS version of The Sims 2, there is one ghost that can haunt the hotel. When the Cute Ghost painting is placed in the hotel, Sims may start receiving phone calls and text messages from the guests and concierge complaining about the hotel being haunted. The players may find the cute cartoonish looking ghost (who dons the original look of a ghost opposed to looking like a Sim) floating around Strangetown, he appears mostly in the lobby. He attempts to scare guests but can be temporarily removed via vacuum cleaner; he will return as long as the painting remains in the hotel. Due to the ghost not looking like a Sim it is unknown who he actually is, guests will just refer to him as 'Ghost'. He makes child like noises, so could be a child. The Concierge will ring the player saying the ghost visited and started crying, though the player will never see this. If the ghost is nearby while the player is socializing with another sim it may reduce the amount of successful interactions needed to successfully perform an interaction.

The Sims 3[edit | edit source]

Ghosts also appear in The Sims 3, and are fairly similar to those in The Sims 2. They also appear in different colors depending on how they died, but are much richer in color and appear to have higher visual fidelity than those in The Sims 2. There are premade ghosts in each graveyard and also in some houses that ship with The Sims 3 and each of its expansions. Unlike in previous games, ghosts are treated like normal Sims and can be interacted with as soon as they appear on the lot by simply clicking on them. They can also be turned into playable characters and can do all of the things normal Sims can do. They are the only life state other than normal Sims in The Sims 3 base game. The ghost state can be combined with all other life states.

They are also seen briefly right after a Sim dies as the Grim Reaper comes to reap the ghost Sim from their mortal body. This also makes it possible for a Sim to fulfill a wish to see a ghost just after another Sim dies.

When talking to a ghost, they sound like a normal Sim with a little echo. Prior to patch 1.26, they would scream or shriek at random. Ghosts move by floating instead of walking. They can become invisible, as well as possessing and haunting furniture. Ghosts, including playable ones, have free will actions which tell them to scare other Sims, but they do not do this all the time, and scaring Sims cannot cause death. The most ghosts could do is make a cowardly Sim faint. As of patch 1.6, ghosts float rather than stand (but do walk up and down stairs), and autonomously go through objects, walls and even other Sims.

When a Sim's spouse dies (of any cause except for old age), it will still show the Sim as being in a relationship with their deceased partner. Therefore, if the ghost finds their living spouse (who will be shown as a fiancée instead) doing any strong romantic action with their new partner, the ghost will be angry, as he or she will think of it as cheating. If a Sim goes around town and performs romantic interactions with their new romantic interest, girl/boyfriend, fiancée, or spouse, he or she may get the cheater reputation. The player can stop this by having the surviving partner break up with the ghost when he or she is haunting. However, angry ghosts can be quite violent, so it would be easier to either put the grave in the graveyard, sell it, place it in a Sim's inventory, or hire a ghost exterminator.

Another unique thing about ghosts in The Sims 3 is that they can also go outside of the graveyard to go to other lots and haunt other Sims, but they will only target homes that are somehow related to them. If taken notice of at the graveyard when they are already floating around, some ghosts will seen going out to the entrance and driving away in cars (either a Sloppy Jalopy or Big Lemon). However, the cars will look perfectly normal, not like ghost cars.

Note that, when a ghost goes back to its grave, the relationships will reset to zero. Therefore, it is useless trying to have a Sim become friends with a ghost unless the ghost's urn or tombstone is placed in the Sim's inventory and taken into his or her house.

Sometimes, when using the cheat ResetSim [InsertNameHere] on a ghost, the ghost may return to the Netherworld.

Types of ghosts[edit | edit source]

See also: Hybrid

As in The Sims 2, ghosts have different colors depending on how the Sim died, but their appearance is rather different. They have blank eyes, which is their most notable feature. Different ghosts may behave a little differently depending on their traits when they were alive and how they died.

Types of ghosts by death
Death type	Color	Traits / Notes
Old age	Cloudy grey skin with sparkles	Occasionally nap in empty beds or complain that they're tired and bored.
Drowning	Blue with rippling skin and dripping water (does not create puddles of water like they did in The Sims 2).	Will avoid water and often complain of exhaustion. Sims who died of the pit monster in the Door of Life and Death also have this type of ghost.
Electrocution	Yellow with electrical sparking skin and sometimes emit blue electric sparks.	Will act scared if it encounters broken electrical objects.
Fire	Orange with fiery skin and smoke.	Sims can die like this in many various ways, like spontaneous combustion, inventing failure, or being too close to a meteor impact. The ghost occasionally takes showers and baths. When the ghost is in a pool, it turns invisible, except for its hair.
Starvation	Pink-purple with cloudy skin. Will only make ghostly noises if they move.	Eats any food left lying around, or will prepare food for themselves. They will always be thin, no matter how fat they were when they were alive. Sims killed by the Cowplant will also have this type of ghost.
Mummy's curse^[TS3:WA]	Gold with cloudy skin and emits black haze. Will only make ghostly noises if they move. Prior to Late Night and its subsequent patch, the ghost was dark grey or black.	n/a
Meteor^[TS3:A]	Dark orange with fiery skin.	Treated as a death by fire.
Thirst^[TS3:LN]	Dark crimson with rippling skin, emits a pulsing red light accompanied by a heartbeat from their chest.	Vampires only. Will also be skinny, like ghosts who died from starvation.
Watery grave^[TS3:ST]	Dark blue. Prior to patch 1.50, the ghost was same color as that of a Sim who drowned.	Unskilled Magicians who fail to execute the watery grave trick with the Box of Danger have a chance of dying.
Buried alive^[TS3:ST]	Invisible with hints of black.	Unskilled magicians who fail to execute the buried alive trick with the Box of Danger have a chance of dying. Losers who fail this trick and die will not be resurrected despite their trait's ability to escape most other deaths.
Jelly bean^[TS3:SN]	Dark purple with electric blue hair and outlines. They will have jelly beans floating around inside them.	n/a
Haunting curse^[TS3:SN]	Dark green with light green hair and outlines. Sprites of skulls, tombstones and crescent moons surround the ghost.	Witches only.
Transmutation^[TS3:SN]	Bright gold with gold stars and sparkles when moving.	n/a
Freezing^[TS3:S]	White with light blue hair and highlights.	If playable, they will have the "Teeth Chattering" moodlet regardless of actual temperature, and roll unachievable wants to warm up.
Blunt force trauma^[TS3:UL]	Magenta with white hair and highlights. Feathers will float around them.	n/a
Ranting^[TS3:UL]	Green with lime green hair and highlights. Grawlix symbols surround the ghost.	n/a
Shark attack^[TS3:IP]	Purple with pink highlights and water flowing in their body.	n/a
Running out of air^[TS3:IP]	Dark turquoise with water flowing in their body.	n/a
Dehydration^[TS3:IP]	Golden yellow.	Mermaids only.
Jetpack crash^[TS3:ITF]	Red with orange hair and lava-like textures.	n/a
Time anomaly^[TS3:ITF]	Light orange with light blue hair. Will have almost invisible arms and legs, and a light going through them.	n/a
Future urnstone hologram^[TS3:ITF]	Blue with hologramic appearance.	This is the only ghost in The Sims 3 that is not tied to any death. This type of ghost can only become playable if created via Create-a-Sim in Supernatural, and ghosts created this way still have their gravestones in their inventory, despite this not being a real death. This ghost is also used with futuristic gravestones, as well as when plumbots with holo projector trait chip summon a Sim.

Playable ghosts[edit | edit source]

Ghosts can be resurrected to become playable using the Oh My Ghost! opportunity. The player can get this opportunity 2–3 days after the Sim dies. They can get married and have babies, including ghost babies. As a playable character, the ghost will be added to the household, like a family member. They can then be resurrected as normal Sims if they are fed with Ambrosia. Ghosts who have lost their gravestones cannot be resurrected. In The Sims 3 for console, a ghost can be brought back to life by using the Divine Intervention Karma Power.^[2] If a Sim in the player's household dies, that Sim will be playable as a ghost for 5 days. After which the ghost returns to the Netherworld and is never seen again.

There are multiple ways to revive a ghost. If a Sim has a death flower in their inventory when they die, the Grim Reaper will take the flower and bring the Sim back to life. Ghosts can attempt to travel back in time using the time machine for a chance of revival.^[TS3:A] Sims can also wish for a Sim to be resurrected using the genie.^[TS3:ST]

Ghost Sims carry their own tombstones in their inventory which cannot be removed. If the player no longer wishes for the ghost to be around, the ghost can be dismissed by simply clicking on it and selecting the "Return to the Netherworld" option. This will revert the ghost to its remains, which will then need to be reburied or turned into an urn.

Ghosts act in many ways similar to normal Sims. They eat food, clean messes, and sleep. Ghost children even go to school, even though they are dead. A child's grade always starts at C, no matter how high the grade was before death.

If the Generations expansion pack is installed, a Sim who is good with the chemistry set or has a Ghost Potion in their inventory can turn into a ghost for three hours. While under the effects of the Ghost Potion, the Sim has the appearance of a ghost who died of old age and has all of the abilities of a true ghost; however, as they are not actually dead they do not have an urn in their inventory and therefore cannot use the "Return to the Netherworld" interaction.

The console version of The Sim 3 Pets will have a karma power named "Ghostify" which will turn a Sim to a ghost and can be upgraded to choose a type of ghost.

If the Supernatural expansion is installed, playable ghosts can be created in Create a Sim, and their type of death can be chosen. Deaths from other expansions can also be chosen even though the player doesn't have the corresponding expansions installed. (This is because the codes for expansion-ghosts types are carried forward through the different patches for The Sims 3. In order to kill Sims to get these types of ghosts, however, still require their corresponding expansions.) Playable ghosts of pre-existing Sims (as well as ghost pets and Plumbot ghosts) can also be added to a household by using the Philosopher's Stone.

At the initial release of The Sims 3, ghosts were unable to become partners in or buy out businesses. However, in fully-updated games, ghosts can now purchase properties (including businesses) by using the "Check Real Estate" interaction on their cell phone.

Related opportunities and wishes[edit | edit source]

Gold Digger lifetime wish

Sims with the Gold Digger lifetime wish want more than anything to see the ghost of their rich spouse. This can be easily achieved by marrying a young adult Sim to a wealthy elder.

Indian Burial Ground: When a family first moves in to a home, they may find their property is haunted by random ghosts. Sims can deal with the ghosts themselves or keep them. Sims will shortly be offered help from a repo-man in order to get rid of the urns.

Sometimes, when given this scenario, some of the ghosts may appear with a death type from an expansion pack the player does not have installed. This is because the codes for ghost types are carried forward in the patches, and not exclusive to the expansion pack. Killing Sims in certain ways requires the corresponding expansion pack, however.

Misc wishes

Sims with the Evil trait often wish to see the ghost of living Sims around them.
Several of the Photography photo album in the skill journal include capturing the snapshot of a ghost, some ghosts, and a Mummy-Ghost.

Ghost glitches[edit | edit source]

In The Sims 3, a glitch might occur; when a ghost is haunting the lot, they may continue to haunt the lot forever and never return to their graves. In order to send the ghost back to its grave, the player must activate "Testingcheatsenabled", hold down shift and left-click on the ghost. The player will see an option titled Force Object; if it is selected, an option titled "Delete it" will become available. Select this and the ghost will disappear, as if it never came out to haunt the lot in the first place. This cheat is mostly harmless and can be used to send a ghost back to their grave if this glitch occurs. Another way is to send the ghost back to its grave is to use the ResetSim cheat (ctrl+shift+c, then type "ResetSim (first name) (surname)"). Type the name of the ghost into the ResetSim (without the brackets) and they will go back into their urns or graves.

Another bug in the game causes ghosts on community lots to leave the lot and drive to a random unoccupied lot instead. The ghost will move onto the unoccupied space and then vanish. If the player attempts to interact with the ghost or clicks any interaction on it the ghost will disappear. Because of this bug, ghosts will no longer haunt the lot even if they are in a graveyard. This will also happen on unselected households.

Prior to Patch 3, it was common for ghosts to lose their gravestone if the player switched families. That meant it could not be resurrected nor could it die.

If a ghost is asked to move in and join the active household, the urn or grave for that ghost can be deleted; however, the sparkles on the ghost that died of old age will be lost. If the ghost eats ambrosia, it cannot be brought back to life. Deleting its urn or grave will also cause the ghost state to be permanent.

The Sims 3 (DS)[edit | edit source]

Ghosts in The Sims 3 for Nintendo DS look much like regular Sims, but their features are grayed out slightly, and they are transparent. They don't 'walk', so much as they 'float', by lifting their legs up and moving. They cannot drive cars. They also appear prone to glitches, including getting stuck in the ground, and appear more frequently at night. They can be talked to, angered, and even flirted with, but a ghost has the extra ability to scare other Sims. They can go through walls, and when they move, ghostly Simlish can be heard.

It is known that when normal Sims (especially Sims with the coward trait) try to interact with ghosts, their hair turns white, and the normal Sim runs away. When this happens, the ghost that the normal Sim ran away from will usually reenact the normal Sim's fright. Most normal Sims will run to the stoplight beside the road outside the graveyard, scream, and faint; ghosts will run there (or float), and will do what the Sims did. They will scream, fan themselves if it is a female Sim/ghost, and faint, but instead of being transported to the hospital after fainting like normal Sims, they will get back up and float to back to the graveyard. This could be a sign that ghosts are offended when normal Sims get scared of them.

The 3 ghost characters are Sarah Abreu, Abrams Daigle, and Star Vega. Obviously, all three start out unemployed. None have lifetime wishes, but the players can give them one through the Mid-Life Crisis lifetime happiness reward. Strangely, Abrams and Sarah both have the insane trait, while Star Vega has the kleptomaniac trait. All three of these characters can be found at Pleasant Rest Graveyard, usually only at night. One can play as a ghost by befriending them, inviting them over and convincing them to move in. When played, ghosts act much like regular Sims, and can pursue careers. They can last indefinitely without food, and do not need to use the bathroom or clean themselves. They do, however, have a fun need, sleep need, and social need. When they get a job, or have a Magic Moment, the ghost will appear alive. This can also be seen if one attempts to edit the appearance of a ghost.

Ghosts are generally quite grumpy, and are hard to make friends with. Abrams will usually reject a proposal.

The Sims 4[edit | edit source]

The Sims 4 did not originally contain ghosts. When Sims died, they were permanently unplayable. Ghosts were added to The Sims 4 via a game patch on October 1, 2014. As in The Sims 3, ghosts come back as non-playable Sims that haunt the area around their graves upon death. Developing a good relationship with them can allow Sims to ask them to join the household.

Ghosts change to certain colors depending on their emotional state:

White: Fine
Green: Happy
Blue/Teal: Confident
Magenta: Playful
Red/Fire Engine Red: Angry
Grey: Bored
Lime: Energized
Purple: Focused
Dark Blue: Sad
Yellow: Embarrassed
Orange: Uncomfortable
Amber: Tense
Pink/Brilliant Rose: Flirty
Lavender/Amethyst: Dazed
Cyan/Light Sea Green: Inspired
Reddish Purple/Eggplant: Scared
Navy Blue: Asleep

Sims can interact with ghosts like they can with normal Sims. There is a friendly interaction for ghosts in which ghosts can pass through Sims. Sims can also "Ask Them What Happened" to figure out how they died. Ghosts can appear at any time of the day.^{[confirmation needed]} Having ghosts in a household is the requirements for two achievements.

Ghosts can possess objects and go through walls and objects, though the player can choose which objects to possess. Ghosts can also break and/or "Ghostly Repair" objects through this possession ability, which is useful for Sims with lower handiness skill.

If Spooky Stuff is installed, ghosts can wear any carved pumpkins on their heads, which will provide them with a happy moodlet.

Types of ghosts[edit | edit source]

The known ghost types and their respective attributes are:

Old age: The ghost of a Sim who has reached the end of their lifespan will prefer to take it easy.
Hunger: A Sim who starves to death will seek to satisfy their hunger in the afterlife.
Fire: Imbued with fire, the ghost of a Sim who burned to death can start fires at will, as well as set off continuous fires when they're angry on the lot they live on.
Electrocution: Imbued with electricity, the ghost can give other Sims an electric shock. When the ghost is angry, they can possess electronics to break them.
Cowplant: A Sim who is consumed by a Cowplant becomes one with nature. If the ghost is happy, they can help plants grow and mature faster. If the ghost is angry, the ghost can choke plants with weeds, and make them decay in quality.
Laughter: Humor doesn't end at the grave, and Sims who are nearby to the ghost will become playful or happy.
Anger: The ghost will negatively influence the mood of Sims living in the house.
Embarrassment: Shame follows the deceased to the afterlife, and nearby Sims will feel embarrassed to be in the ghost's presence.
Overexertion: The ghost of a Sim who has pushed the limit will prefer to take it easy in the afterlife.
Drowning: The ghost remains eternally wet, causing puddles of water to form wherever the ghost roams.
Steam:^[TS4:SD] Too much use of the sauna can be fatal. The ghost of Sim killed by steam will be eternally hot and dehydrated. The ghost can absorb puddles of water for hydration.
Pufferfish:^[TS4:CL] Eating a low quality Nigiri Pufferfish could prove fatal.
Sunlight: ^[TS4:V] Vampires who stay in the sunlight too long will burn to death. A sun is visible inside the ghost vampire that died from it.
Poison:^[TS4:JA] When a Sim is exploring the jungle, there's a chance that Sim can get poisoned. This can happen by a spider, a bee swarm, poison dart, scorpion, when they opened a treasure chest or when they're trying to pass a gate with poisonous gas.
Rabid Rodent Fever:^[TS4:MFPS] A Sim needs to get bitten by their rodent pet while their cage is dirty. The ghost appears as an oversized ghostly hamster that's foaming at the mouth. They can spread the fear of the disease, which will cause all sims in the room to run in panic.
Lightning:^[TS4:S] Sims struck by lightning have a chance to die, especially if they are struck multiple times.
Freezing:^[TS4:S] Sims who stay outside in cold weather without appropriate clothing on for too long will turn blue and freeze to death.
Overheating:^[TS4:S] Sims who stay outside in hot weather without appropriate clothing on for too long will burst into flames and die.
Consumed by the Mother:^[TS4:SV] The ghost of a Sim who is consumed by the Mother Plant will have plant spores floating around them, and will have no motive decay.
Spellcaster Overload:^[TS4:ROM] Spellcasters who push their spellcaster charge to it's limits and continue casting spells will cause their magic to react explosively, if done multiple times they will die. The ghost will have light beams coming out of their chest as well as have magic sparkles around them.
Crushed by Murphy Bed:^[TS4:TiLS] Sims who try to pull down a broken murphy bed will have a chance of being crushed by it resulting in death. The ghost will have Z's coming out of their chest. These ghosts can steal energy from living Sims by momentarily possessing them.
Flies:^[TS4:EL] A lot with the Reduce and Recycle trait will attract flies if trash is allowed to overflow, and these flies may end up swarming Sims and killing them.
Beetles:^[TS4:EL] Sims who drink beetle juice three times in succession will instantly turn into a ghost. Beetle juice can be made at level 10 of the mixology skill with beetle nuggets in a Sim's inventory.
Falling From Heights:^[TS4:SE] Sims who go rock climbing in dangerous conditions in Mt. Komorebi with too low of a skill level may fall off the mountain and die.
Vending Machine:^[TS4:SE] Shaking a vending machine to get out stuck items carries the risk of the machine tipping over and crushing the Sim to death.

Tip

Dead Sims can be resurrected by using the Book of Life, Ambrosia, the Whispering Wishing Well, or Spellcasters using the Dedeathify spell.

Special NPC Ghosts:

Elementals:^[TS4:IL] Elementals are ghosts that can be summoned by Sims with the child of the islands trait. When summoned, they can provide buffs or debuffs depending on how the Sims treat the island and its culture. Elementals all have the Sulani mana trait which can be inherited by adding them to the household (which makes them mortal) and having them try for a baby with a member of the household. Elementals will eventually disappear after being summoned.
Island Spirits:^[TS4:IL] Island Spirits are ghosts akin to the ones from The Sims 3: Ambitions ghost hunting career where they are more ethereal than previous ghosts. Island Spirits can only be seen on lots with the "Island Spirits" lot trait, and will appear at random times. When they appear, Sims can commune with them or banish them. Communing with them will grant buffs and debuffs in a similar fashion to elementals.
Forest Spirits:^[TS4:SE] Forest Spirits are non-humanoid ghosts that are found in specific areas of Mt. Komorebi. A successful interaction with a Forest Spirit will give you a doll version of that spirit that can be hung up at the Sim's home.
Claude René Duplantier Guidry:^[TS4:PS] Guidry is a special ghost NPC that appears in haunted houses or can be summoned by skilled mediums. Guidry is mainly there to help Sims know more about living in haunted houses and also answer many questions for Sims about specters and the paranormal.
Temperance:^[TS4:PS] Temperance is a special ghost NPC who is eternally angry, she appears after a while when a Sim is living in a haunted house, she has a feud with Guidry and will appear to disrupt any interactions to be friendly with ghosts or seances. Sims can stop her if they summon Bonehilda or ask Guidry for a bizarre idol which will hold off Temperance from doing actions.

Specters[edit | edit source]

Specters are a special ghost type appearing in haunted houses introduced in The Sims 4: Paranormal Stuff. Specters can either be friendly, sad, or angry, and there are multiple benefits and disadvantages to having them in the house. Normals Sims can interact with them fine but Sims who have the medium skill will have a better time influencing their relationship and specters will have different behavior depending on their moods:

Happy specters will be kind and often gift out spooky candy for Sims on the lot, they mostly will float around and Sims can have successful chats with them.
Sad specters have mixed results in interactions with Sims. They can be friendly or mischievous as they stay up during the night, and possibly drop cursed objects.
Angry specters are very mischievous ghosts that are mostly playful but have a chance when really angry to attack Sims by setting fires on the lot. Almost all interactions with them will fail.

When specters appear, they will cause lights to flicker all about the house. Cursed Objects and not being friendly with the specters for a while will bring down the spiritual volatility of the house as well as make specters angrier.

Sims in the Freelance Paranormal Investigator career will often meet specters and will possibly need to exorcise them from the lot. Sims can get rid of specters in multiple ways:

Ask to Leave: Friendly specters most likely will accept this interaction and will leave peacefully.
Present Offering: Sims can present offerings of food, drinks, craftables, etc. and possibly the specter will leave afterwards.
Offer Soul: Sims can offer a piece of their own soul to a specter, this will cause a Sim's lifespan to fill up a considerable amount. However Sims can eat soul scraps specters leave behind to counteract this.
Perform Ceremony: Mediums can perform a ceremony to exorcise all the ghosts, however, if this fails, the specters will become angrier.