Recently I was talking to a friend of mine and we brought up Mpodern Warfare 2 ( doesn't everyone ) and he said to me. 
 
"Ghost. He is SUCH a badass!"

I've heard that sentence more then once from many differnent people and I wish to ask the question. Why? 
is it because he sounds like Gaz? Gaz I found was a character that I LOVED. He was humours and voiced by a good voice actor. And when I think of why I liked him I remeber the 
"You're fruit killing skills are remarkable!" line. Or in one level where he opens up a fence, pulls on it too hard and falls over. Comedic relief in a serious war game. 
 
SO when people say that Ghost was a badass. I try and remeber anything in the game that made me  laugh or go "Wow!"..... 
 
But nothing. Is it because I had too high expectations because he is voiced by the same guy as Gaz?  Or is it that he just isn't that awesome and everyone is just blinded by him being voiced by Gaz? 
 
Anyways if you though Ghost was a badass say why and maybe I'll come around to it to. 
 
        Good day all

ghost looked cool, but nothing was really badass about him... in fact, nothing was. 

"ghost looked cool, but nothing was really badass about him... in fact, nothing was.  "

Well Ghost has a sweet skull mask, and gets burned to death. (Such a great campaign).
 
Gaz on the other hand...........I have no clue who the fuck he is and i beat COD4 twice.

Well Gaz was definitely a cooler and better character, but Ghost was still a badass.  I thought he said a few funny things but I can't remember exactly because it's been awhile since I played the campaign. 

I liked Ghost because he was fucking intense. That's more of a credit to the voice actor than anything else.
 
"LEFT SIDE! LEFT SIDE!"

I like Gaz more as a character, but Ghost is a badass simply because of his skull mask.

" I liked Ghost because he was fucking intense. That's more of a credit to the voice actor than anything else.
 
"LEFT SIDE! LEFT SIDE!" "

Apparently a lot of people are under the assumption that Ghost IS Gaz.  Survived being shot in the face somehow and that's why he wears the mask. Plus having the same voice makes sense. Who knows. A comic book series based on Ghost is supposed to come out (maybe it's already out?) which will definitely tell more about his character.

Gaz was better, as was COD4 in general. 
 
The campaign in MW2 was an absolute joke.

It was his demeanor. He was a professional killing machine. That is what made Gaz a badass to me as well. It wasn't anything that he really said or did, but just the fact that he stuck with you for a good long while and killed a lot of people.

I think the reason people love Ghost is two-fold. 
 
1.) He looks like a stone cold killer (i.e. cool) 
 
2.) The player's imagination is more adept at showing off Ghost than the developer. 
 
Now reason number one is pretty damn obvious. No need for an explanation.  
 
Reason Number Two however... 
 
Basically, the reason people love Ghost is because he is implied to do a lot of bad ass and stone cold things in the campaign. You never actually see him do anything vicious or bloodthirsty, but there are moments in the game where it is definitely implied that Ghost is about to fuck someone's shit up. I'm thinking specifically about the car battery torture implication, right before the favella from hell. Things like that go a long way to helping the player craft a personality behind an empty NPC character. You could argue that it's cheap and not indicative of a proper narrative (and I wouldn't disagree), but you cannot argue that it wasn't effective.

BOLLOCKS! The skies are clear, send the chopper now.

ghost has a cool skull mask. 
 
kind of off topic. today me and my friend watched cod: black ops made by trecharts. he thinks that it is going to be something like another modern warfare just with ghost as the character. it did not look like vietnam at all.

" Gaz was better, as was COD4 in general.  The campaign in MW2 was an absolute joke. "

I like the part where he dies.

I honestly didn't remember Gaz from the first one, and when people started harping on about Ghost to me I was like "Who the fuck is Ghost?" that's how memorable I found those characters. 
 
Captain M. Oustache. Price on the other hand, HELLS YEAH!!

Was Gaz badass?

Ghost was mysterious, ruthless (he'll shock your balls), and dies awesomely. That's why. 

I don't remember Gaz at all from Modern Warfare 1. I somehow fused him and Price together as one whole character. For half the game I thought my team simply consisted of me, Price, and random NPC's. The only other character I can recall from the first Modern Warfare is Griggs. I recall everyone from Modern Warfare 2 however. I don't know what it was that caused this but it definitely helped in my appreciation for Ghost and the rest of the crew.