Ghosts are the spirits of the dead who still have something tying them to Mundus, whether a grudge, a promise or simply an unfinished task. In Skyrim they show up as both enemies and allies, and because a ghost fights much like the person it used to be, no two encounters feel quite the same. One spectral warrior swings a greatsword, the next hurls spells.
Unlike in earlier games, Skyrim’s ghosts are no longer resistant to normal weapons. You do not need silver or enchanted gear: steel, arrows and spells all work. A ghost killed with fire, or one that is decapitated, briefly loses its pale blue glow.
Where to find them
Hostile ghosts
- Subjugated Ghosts inside Rannveig’s Fast
- Spirits of the Dark Brotherhood in the Dawnstar Sanctuary during The Cure for Madness
- Ghosts of the Companions in Ysgramor’s Tomb during Glory of the Dead
- Nightingale Sentinels in the Twilight Sepulcher during Darkness Returns
- Spectral draugr and spectral warhounds in Labyrinthian during The Staff of Magnus
- Imperial prisoners in the Abandoned Prison
- Dragon cultists in Forelhost
- Yngvild Ghosts in Yngvild
- Ghost Adventurers near the bottom of Eldersblood Peak
- Bandit spirits in Halldir’s Cairn
Friendly ghosts
- Azzadal at Bard’s Leap Summit, after jumping from the board into the pool below the waterfall
- Fenrig in the valley south of Greenspring Hollow and Ruki at Gjukar’s Monument, both during The Book of Love
- Fjori and Holgeir in Ansilvund‘s burial chambers during A Love Beyond Death, once they have been defeated as draugr
- The ghost of Old Hroldan at the Old Hroldan Inn, if you rent and sleep in Tiber Septim’s room (The Ghost of Old Hroldan)
- The Headless Horseman, who rides at night and leads the way to Hamvir’s Rest
- Helgi, the ghost of a child, during Laid to Rest, last seen at the exit of Movarth’s Lair
- Kodlak Whitemane in Ysgramor’s Tomb
- Lucien Lachance, the Spectral Assassin, summoned with a power earned after Bound Until Death
- Svaknir in Dead Men’s Respite during Tending the Flames
- Valdar on his throne in Valthume, who starts Evil in Waiting
- An ancient Nord spirit at Kjenstag Ruins that leads to a small tomb
- Dawnguard: Katria in Arkngthamz, Saint Jiub in the Soul Cairn and the Snow Elf prelates tending wayshrines in the Forgotten Vale
Random ghosts can also turn up in the northern parts of Skyrim.
Notes
- You can take on a ghostly look yourself with a Philter of the Phantom or the Become Ethereal shout.
- Oddly enough, a ghost you have wronged can still send hired thugs after you.
