Ghost 101: A Beginner's Guide to the Band's Mysterious Lore

With the Skeletour in full swing, Ghost has stepped back into the limelight after a few months of silence. With a new Papa, a new tour and a new album, there is plenty to talk about. But with recent lore revelations by Tobias Forge, creator of Ghost and frontman, I think this is the perfect time to go back and look at the lore and bring everyone up to speed.

Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers of the Webisodes on Youtube and for the movie Rite Here Rite Now. You have been warned.

There are quite a few characters in the lore of Ghost, so we’ll give the most important ones a brief introduction.
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Frontman of Ghost in 1969, Brother of Papa Emeritus I, II and III. Father to Frater Imperator (Copia) and Papa V Perpetua. Died in March 2020 and has appeared as a spirit since.

Fun fact: Nihil is the only Papa not to be played by Tobias Forge!
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Partner of Nihil and previous head of the Ministry of Ghost. Mother of Copia and Papa V Perpetua. Died in 2023 of an undisclosed illness and has since appeared as a spirit alongside Papa Nihil.

Fun fact: We don't know the actual name of Sister Imperator and her actress has changed three times in the webisodes!
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Also known as  “The old one” and brother of Papa Nihil, Papa Emeritus II and III. He was the frontman of Ghost from 2010 to 2012. Known to carry a thurible, which is a metal incense burner that is swung around, on stage, he was killed by poison injection in the neck in the end of chapter 2 of the lore webisodes.

Fun fact: Primo's mask is the only one that was not custom made!
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Also known as “The scary one” and brother to Nihil, Papa Emeritus I and III. He fronted the band from 2013 to 2015, he was known to carry a crozier (staff) with a grucifix on the top. He was killed in the same way as Primo in chapter 2 of the webisodes.

Fun fact: Secondo is the first Papa to appear without facepaint in the Papaganda youtube videos!
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Also known as “The Flamboyant one" and brother to Nihil, and Papa Emeritus I and II. Terzo was the frontman from 2015 to 2017. He was mostly known for being the most “sexual” of the first three, parading around the stage with a lot of sexually-charged moves. During his last performance, he got abruptly dragged off of stage, bringing an end to his era, whereafter he was killed in the same way as his brothers in chapter 2 of the lore webisodes.

Fun fact: Terzo is younger than Secondo by only three months, indicating they most likely have different mothers!
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Son of Papa Nihil and Sister Imperator, fraternal twin of Papa V Perpetua. He was previously known as Cardinal Copia (2018-2020), before being promoted to Papa Emeritus IV live on stage in 2020. He held this title until 2023, when he was promoted to Frater Imperator after the passing of his mother; Sister Imperator.

Fun fact: Copia is currently the first (and only) one to be frontman for more than one studio album, and to have more than one role! 
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A new era has dawned with the reveal of Papa V Perpetua. Already deviating from the other by not using the Emeritus name, V has already taken the world by storm. He is the son of Papa Nihil and Sister Imperator, being the fraternal twin of Copia. He was first revealed at the end of the music video of “Satanized”, the first song from the new album “Skeletà” that was revealed to the public on the 5th of March of 2025.

Fun fact: V is the first Papa to not have a full silicone mask, having only a half-skull over his eyes, making it easier for Tobias Forge to sing! _______________________________________________________________________________________

Now that we've got introductions out of the way we can finally get into the lore. Strap in, we've got a lot to go through.

If we are to believe Nihil, the Ministry of Ghost has been around for nine millenia. With before him his father, his father's father, his father's father's father, and so on. 

But, if we believe the timeline of the music videos, Nihil only came into the papal makeup somewhere in the sixties, when he went to a party with a friend of his in the music video "Dance Macabre". This is where he met Sister Imperator for the first time as well, falling for her almost immediately. At the party, he and Sister Imperator get "married"(?) They get dressed in white at least and in this moment, Sister punches him in the left eye, giving him the signature white eye that each Papa had after him. 

Next up is the music video from "Kiss the Go-Goat",  which places us in 1969 in the bar/club "Whisky a go-go". This is the first time we see Ghost as a band perform on stage. We can conclude that Sister Imperator is pregnant (with twins: Copia and V) at this time as she subtly put a hand on her stomach and attacks a woman that begins smoking right next to her.

The performance ends on a bit of a sour note as Nihil kisses a girl in the audience which makes Sister Imperator run off and out of the club. This leads us directly into the music video of "Mary on a Cross".

We see Sister Imperator leaving the club and walking away with Nihil short on her heels. He chases her, presumably to ask for forgiveness, and follows her on the hood of her car after she hits him, through a lake and even over the Hollywood sign. 
The chase comes to an end in a cemetery, where he finds Sister Imperator in a coffin in the middle of a pentagram on the ground wherein they proceed to kiss and make up. The music video ends in a motel room where Nihil wakes up alone, although he didnt go to sleep alone, as seen with the bra on the floor of the motel room. Sister Imperator has left as seen by her walking away from the motel. This final shot directly correlates to the beginning of the music video for "The Future Is A Foreign Land"  

“The Future Is A Foreign Land” is mostly Nihil fantasising about being together with Sister Imperator and writing her this song. This song is also Nihil’s last song. It ends on a shot of Nihil putting the recording in an envelope and mailing it to Sister Imperator as a testament of his love for her. In the movie Rite Here Rite Now, Nihil mentions this song to Copia, saying that the song is for the "New guy", referring to Copia's successor, Papa V Perpetua. So the song is Nihil's last song and V's first song. 
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The newt few eras are a bit muddled as the webisode's lore only kicks off with the arrival of Copia.