History YMMV / Ghost

* HarsherInHindsight: ''Prequelle'' was based around the Black Death, a plague that killed between 75 to 200 ''million'' people during the Middle Ages, the carriers of the disease being rats. Fast forward two years to 2020, and the world is again suffering from a plague, this time the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, with the virus originating from ''bats''. It could also be viewed as HilariousInHindsight.
** For added [[HilariousInHindsight Hilarity]], 2020 just happens to be the Year of the ''Rat'' based on the Chinese Zodiac. The virus itself originated from Wuhan, China, and 2020 is the year the disease became a global pandemic.

** Fans tend to portray Papas II and III as having a somewhat unpleasant sibling relationship at best, outright hating each other at worst. This also bleeds over to the relationship between Papa III/II and Cardinal Copia; their relationships can bounce from being sickeningly sweet lovers to sworn enemies who loathe each other's existence. In canon, none of them have ever interacted with each other.

* {{Anvilicious}}: "Rats" really is NOT subtle at all with its [[ReligionRantSong Religion Is Evil]] message.

** The instrumental track "Miasma", arguably the catchiest metal instrumental since "Orion" by Metallica. It even ends with, of all things, [[https://youtu.be/HWD_XvWuGsY?t=260 a saxophone solo]] by Papa Nihil himself!

* WTHCostumingDepartment: While most of the outfits in "Kiss the Go-Goat" fit the late 60s setting fairly well, young Sister Imperator is given a strange, costume-y looking dress that's far too short for the period, with very modern styled hair and makeup. [[https://www.instagram.com/p/B51LNseJcY4/ full photos]] show the shoes, at least, are accurate, but also that it came with a very anachronistic feather boa.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The fact that all the past Papas were brothers was never explored in the band's supplementary material. With their deaths, it's unlikely their relationship ever will be depicted onscreen. Justified in the fact that they're all played by Tobias, so it would be hard trying to do any real interactions between them onscreen without it being obvious.

* BizarroEpisode: The ''Popestar'' EP counts as this, both compared to their entire output, and compared specifically to the previous covers EP ''If You Have Ghost''. It has one Ghost-esque song ("Square Hammer"), and one Ghost-esque cover ("Nocturnal Me" by Echo and the Bunnymen)... and then you get "Missionary Man" by Music/TheEurythmics, "I Believe" by Simian Mobile Disco (and here we were thinking they didn't listen to any music past 1989), and "Bible" by Imperiet ([[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments a Satanic band doing a gospel song]]). Yeah, your guess is as good as ours.

*** Doubles as heartwarming, as the band returned to the venue on Halloween 2018 for a special show in his memory. His family was given VIP seating and Tobias (in character as Cardinal Copia) said that even though tragedy brought them together that night life is still worth celebrating. A special limited edition shirt was sold at the show with all proceeds going to the fan's family, and after the show, the band took pictures with the family and a framed photo of their fallen fan.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7YZhvhuAtY The final performance of Papa III.]] During the performance of "Monstrance Clock", Papa III was grabbed by two men in black suits and dragged off the stage, much to the shock of the audience ''and even the Nameless Ghouls''. And then, an older, decrepit satanic Papa walks on stage (and with two other black suited men carrying an oxygen mask and breathing mask) who identifies himself as '''''Papa Zero''''' and declares an ominous message in Latin: [[OhCrap "The party is over. The Middle Ages has begun."]] And this will foreshadow [[DarkerAndEdgier Era IV...]]

** The final performance of Papa III. During the performance of "Monstrance Clock", Papa III was grabbed by two men in black suits and dragged off the stage, much to the shock of the audience ''and even the Nameless Ghouls''. And then, an older, decrepit older satanic Papa walks on stage (and with two other black suited man carrying an oxygen mask and breathing mask) who identifies himself as '''''Papa Zero''''' and declares an ominous message in Latin: [[OhCrap "The party is over. The Middle Ages has begun."]] And this will foreshadow [[DarkerAndEdgier Era IV...]]

** On June 1st, 2018, Ghost was performing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was the night of the official release of their latest album Prequelle. What should've been a celebratory and fun night wound up tragic, as a fan collapsed during the show's intermission. He was given CPR and taken to the nearest hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The band, having heard what happened, decided to end the show early out of respect for the fallen fan. For all their talk of death, it's obvious that the band was shaken and heartbroken about what transpired.

** The instrumental track "Miasma", arguably the catchiest metal instrumental since "Orion" by Metallica. It even ends with, of all things, [[https://youtu.be/HWD_XvWuGsY?t=260 a saxophone solo by Papa Nihil himself!]]
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Cardinal Copia. From the first announcement of his character, some weren't fans of the idea of Ghost breaking away from the Papal lead singers that had become so iconic for the band. When he was finally [[https://youtu.be/e_74Ijj6EpY officially unveiled]], he was the subject of many complaints, particularly regarding his simple makeup design and goofy personality (which some felt was too similar to Papa III's). Considering there were already concerns that the band was becoming too "silly" and moving away from its horror movie feel, this was the exact opposite of what some fans wanted. Many warmed up to him after the release of the "Rats" music video, which featured him in a new outfit and showed off his character more, but others felt his Broadway style dance choreography was too over-the-top, even for this band. At least part of the backlash is due to the notion held by fans that Papa Nihil, a more traditionally sinister character, would be replacing Papa III, with the Cardinal feeling disappointing as a result. Still, Copia has many who will defend his flamboyance and humor as having been an important part of the band from the beginning, and who find him to be a refreshing twist on a formula that risked growing stale after several years.
* BizarroEpisode: The ''Popestar'' EP counts as this, both compared to their entire output, and compared specifically to the previous covers EP ''If You Have Ghost''. It has one Ghost-esque song ("Square Hammer"), and one Ghost-esque cover ("Nocturnal Me" by Echo and the Bunnymen)... and then you get "Missionary Man" by The Eurythmics... "I Believe" by Simian Mobile Disco (and here we were thinking they didn't listen to any music past 1989)... and "Bible" by Imperiet ([[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments a Satanic band doing a gospel song]]). Yeah, your guess is as good as ours.
* BrokenBase: Fan can't seem to agree on the new, [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Ghostbc/comments/8bwr5i/picture_posted_on_ghost_official_fb_page/ feminine mask design]] seen on one of the Ghouls in new promo material. Some like the new look and see it as the band highlighting its female member. Others find it ridiculous and prefer the uniform, gender neutral look of the previous era.

** ''From the Pinnacle to the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Tdlg2JXuaQ Pit]]''.
** ''Square Hammer'' has one in its solo.
** ''Rats'', ''Dance Macabre'', ''Faith'', and ''See the Light'' all have some pretty sick riffs.

** '''Many''' fans constantly poke humor at the fact that Papa Emeritus is [[http://www.metal-archives.com/artists/Mary_Goore/389169 Tobias Forge]] of death metal band Repugnant. The fact Forge has been credited to writing all the songs for the three albums and even some have pointed his clean vocals on his indie project Subvision are ''very'' similar to that of Papa Emeritus (''all three of them'') should cause a fan to quirk an eyebrow. Went UpToEleven when [[Music/{{Behemoth}} Nergal]] posted on Instagram a picture of him and Forge with the phrase "If you have ghosts, you have everything :)", causing more speculation. It didn't help Nergal later on [[StreisandEffect deleted the photo from his instagram afterwards]]. Even if one does talk about the similarities between the two, it doesn't ruin the illusion of Ghost, reaching jokable MemeticMutation levels. [[IKnewIt Some people weren't surprised when the infamous lawsuit drama confirmed Forge as Papa]].

* FanDisservice: A definite case of YMMV on this, but the reveal of the Nameless Ghouls being women in the Year Zero music video is preceded by the women stripping down to put on their ghoul garb. The uncensored version shows them topless, though since some of them are older, it's not exactly "sexy."

* {{Fanon}}: It's commonly assumed among fans that Sister Imperator is a witch of some sort, despite there being little to no canon evidence to support this.

** Fans tend to portray Papas II and III as having a somewhat unpleasant sibling relationship at best, outright hating each other at worst.
*** This also bleeds over to the relationship between Papa III/II and Cardinal Copia; their relationships can bounce from being sickeningly sweet lovers to sworn enemies who loathe each other's existence. In canon, none of them have ever interacted with each other.
** Fan theories regarding Papa Nihil and Sister Imperator's relationship happened after Chapter 1 and skyrocketed after the Dance Macabre music video. Ranging from Copia being Imperator and Nihil's child to the Papas being their children, the speculation seems never ending.

* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: The band likes to have a lot of fun, and this has led to a lot of laughs. For example, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOjZYNirDS8 Papa III discussing the birds and the bees before performing Monstrance Clock.]]

* HilariousInHindsight: The "Year Zero" video had the twist of the Nameless Ghouls [[GenderReveal being female.]] Three years later and the band [[http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/ghost-rumored-to-have-enlisted-ex-white-zombie-bassist-sean-yseult/ debuted a new, female bassist]] during their Popestar Tour.

** During performances of ''If You Have Ghosts'', Papa/Cardi delivers a speech about how people are never alone because they have the memories of those who have passed on, their "ghosts". He also talks about how life can be pretty crappy, and that the pain of today will eventually go away.

** Giving the members ridiculous pseudonyms based on their names to avoid spoiling their identities when discussing them on public forums, i.e., a member with the initials E.P. would become "Electro Pants."

** The official Cardinal Copia plushie was quickly memed as soon as it came out in the official merchandize store due to its perceived UglyCute quality.
* MisaimedFandom: Thanks to some douchebag alt-right internet personalities not worth naming, a vocal minority on the Website/YouTube comments section for "Rats" started spouting that the titular rats were Jewish people, somehow completely missing the fact the band's gimmick has always been blatantly anti Christianity.
* {{Mondegreen}}: In ''Dance Macabre'', there are harmonies which can be heard briefly in the second verse. It's often heard as "Like this, yeah" and "I'm lovin' it", but it's actually "Cataclysm" and "Armageddon."
** The same song's chorus is also regularly misheard, with the repeated word "bewitch" often being mistaken for "be with".
* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: Papa Emeritus's vocals in spades, especially with songs "He Is".

* UncannyValley: Cardinal Copia could fall into this. His prosthetics are convincing from a distance, but when closer up, you can tell that his face looks too big on his body (He somewhat resembles the exaggerated faces in Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun video). It also doesn't help that he has a limited range of motion in regards to his mouth, due to aforementioned prosthetics, which means he has only one expression. This ''could'' be intentional, considering Copia looks [[{{Adorkable}} confused and is going along with all the weirdness]] of following the work of Satan.
** Another one is Papa III's unpainted "face." It too looks too big for his body, which makes it stand out more when you consider that his usual look was pretty normal.
** The same can be said for Papa II's unpainted face - especially when he doesn't wear his sunglasses. The eyes especially looks comically small for the rest of his face.
* UglyCute: The general consensus when it came to the official [[https://shop.ghost-official.com/products/cardinal-copia-plushie Cardinal Copia plushie.]]
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The fact that all the past Papas were brothers was never explored in the band's supplementary material. With their deaths, it's unlikely their relationship ever will be depicted onscreen.
** Justified in the fact that they're all played by Tobias, so it would be hard trying to do any real interactions between them onscreen without it being obvious.

* EarWorm: They're surprisingly good at this.
** "''Can you see that you're lost...can't you see that you're lost'' '''''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOrXKiSy8ZY WITHOUT ME!]]'''''"
** "I just wanna be, wanna bewitch you in the moonlight! I just wanna be, I wanna bewitch you all night! [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9pFB0DS-bQ All night!]]"
** "Them rats! Ahhhhhh whoooooooa! [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_ijc7A5oAc Rats! Ahhhhhhhhh whooooooaaaaaaaa!]]"
** Can you hear me longing for you, forever? Forever? Forever? Forever?
** "I am all eyes! I am all ears! I am the wall! And I'm watching you fall! Because Faith. Is. Mine."
** "Are you on the square? Are you on the level? Are you ready to swear, right here right now, before the Devil?"
** "Hey baby! [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db86lpidcz4&t Kiss the goat!"]]

* "Hey baby! [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db86lpidcz4&t Kiss the goat!"]]

*** This also bleeds over to the relationship between Papa III/II and Cardinal Copia; their relationships can bounce from being sickeningly sweet lovers to sworn enemies who loathe each other's existence. In canon, none of them have ever interact with each other.

** The official Cardinal Copia plushie was quickly memed as soon as it came out in the official merchandize store due to the UncannyValley effect.

*** This also bleeds over to the relationship between Papa III and Cardinal Copia. Ranging from being lovers to deadly hostilities. The same is applied with Papa II and Copia.

** The instrumental track "Miasma", arguably the catchiest metal instrumental since "Orion" by Metallica. It even ends with, of all things, [[https://youtu.be/HWD_XvWuGsY?t=260 a saxophone solo by Cardinal Copia himself!]]

* InternetBackdraft: Around April of 2017, four past members of the band revealed their identities due to a lawsuit regarding a pay dispute with Ghost. This didn't seem like much of a big deal until they ''ousted'' Papa Emeritus's identity [[note]]Tobias Forge.[[/note]]. The result enraged fans and some of the internet, but some did side with the four members due to their account how they were treated and the result of their pay.

** When the lawsuit drama first entered the public eye, ''many'' fans were quick to theorize that it was all a hoax to set up the replacement of Papa III and the start of Era IV. [[CaptainObvious This turned out not to be the case.]]

* ReplacementScrappy: The new keyboardist. While the fandom gradually grew to appreciate the rest of the replacement Ghouls brought on for the European leg of the Popestar tour as talented musicians in their own right, New!Air has earned the fans' ire for miming along to a backing track during the "Mummy Dust" keyboard solo, falsely claiming that the previous Air did the same thing in an attempt to defend himself, bragging about his status as a Nameless Ghoul on social media, and [[ArsonMurderandJaywalking sitting during concerts.]]