The Ghost Lore Is Getting Weirder and I Just Want It Straight
Ghost have been dropping music video chapters for eight years and the story keeps expanding in directions that don't really connect cleanly. If you're trying to understand Papa Emeritus IV and where he fits, you're not alone. Most people encounter this band through the songs first and only later realize there's an entire theatrical storyline running underneath everything. The fourth Papa is the one most people have strong opinions about, whether they're fans or people who just found the videos on YouTube and got confused. Papa Emeritus IV is the frontman character introduced during the Prequelle era, which released in 2018. He appeared in the "Rats" music video wearing the distinctive skeletal mask and papal robes that Ghost is known for. Before that, the band had already cycled through three previous Papas across their earlier albums. Tobias Forge, the mastermind behind Ghost, has always played all the characters himself, which is relevant when you're trying to track continuity because none of these are different people in the traditional sense. The Prequelle album marked a deliberate shift toward a plague-themed concept. The "Four Horsemen" narrative ran through tracks like "Dance Macabre," "Masiadha," and "Phantom of the Opera." Papa IV was positioned as the leader of this cycle, and the story centered heavily on his confrontation with Death personified. That's the simple version. The details get messier when you look at the actual video content and lyrics.
I spent probably two weekends last year just watching every Ghost music video in order and taking notes because I couldn't piece together the timeline otherwise. What I found was that the lore operates on multiple levels simultaneously. There's the surface-level Catholic imagery that's intentionally provocative, there's the narrative about each new Papa replacing the previous one, and then there are these deeper layers involving the band's own meta-commentary about fame, religion, and performance. Papa IV's arc is interesting specifically because it's the most complete one — he actually gets deposed.
How the Character Evolves Across Albums
Papa IV's story doesn't end at Prequelle. The Impera era, which came out in 2022, continues and complicates things significantly. Between those two releases, you get the "Faith" and "Christopher" singles, which show Papa IV in a deteriorating position. The "Mary on a Cross" video, which went massively viral at some point, features a more flamboyant, almost camp version of the character that seems deliberately different from the gravitas of the earlier material. In the Impera storyline, Papa IV faces rebellion from within his own ranks. Cardinal Copia, who had been introduced as a supporting character during the Prequelle era, becomes a central figure. The narrative positions Copia as someone challenging Papa IV's authority, and by the end of the Impera cycle, Papa IV is essentially removed from power. This is significant because throughout Ghost's history, each Papa had a definitive replacement cycle — Papa I was succeeded by Papa II, who was succeeded by Papa III, who was succeeded by Papa IV. But Papa IV being deposed instead of simply retiring breaks that established pattern. What I found useful was tracking the mask designs and costume changes across videos. Each Papa has distinct visual markers. Papa I's early design was different from Papa II's more elaborate version. Papa III had that clean, almost porcelain look. Papa IV introduced a new variation on the standard Ghost mask that's been consistent through both Prequelle and Impera. The costuming tells you more about the character's status than the lyrics sometimes do.
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Common Points of Confusion
People often get confused about whether Cardinal Copia is a separate character from Papa IV or if there's some kind of identity reveal happening. The answer is no, they're distinct characters in the narrative. Copia starts as a cardinal in Papa IV's hierarchy and eventually rises to become the new frontman. The promotion happens at the end of the Impera era, with Copia receiving his own Papa mask and becoming what the band essentially positions as Papa V, though they've been deliberately vague about whether that numbering continues or resets. Another thing that trips people up is the real-world versus fictional boundary. Tobias Forge is the actual person behind all of this. The band operates as both a musical project and a performance art piece, and Forge has been openly discussing the theatrical elements in interviews. Some fans want to treat the lore as completely separate from reality, while others see it as intentionally ambiguous on purpose. Both approaches are valid, but understanding that Forge controls the narrative is important context. The live shows add another layer of complexity. The theatrical elements during concerts — the entrances, the costume changes, the staging — sometimes present information that isn't fully explained in the recorded videos. I remember watching a recording of a 2019 concert where the staging seemed to imply something about Papa IV's relationship to Death that wasn't clear from the Prequelle music videos alone. You end up cross-referencing tour footage, social media posts from the band, and interview snippets just to get a coherent picture.
What Actually Matters About Papa IV
The Prequelle era represented a commercial peak for Ghost, and Papa IV was the face of that period. Songs like "Rats," "Fallen State," and "Click Bait" were built around this character's authority and his role as a spiritual leader within the band's mythology. The plague imagery gave the material a urgency that felt different from the satanic themes of the earlier albums. It was more about mortality and inevitability than rebellion or provocation. The Impera era softened some of that edge. The music became more accessible, the imagery less overtly dark. Papa IV's weakening position mirrors this tonal shift. The "Call Me Little Sunshine" video shows a more vulnerable side to the character, and the overall narrative arc suggests that rigid authority doesn't hold forever, even in the world of the Ghost mythology. For anyone trying to get into this, the best entry point depends on what you're looking for. If you want the complete story, start with the EPs and work forward. If you just want to understand Papa IV specifically, focus on the Prequelle and Impera periods. The earlier material establishes context but doesn't feature him directly.
One thing I've noticed that most guides don't mention: the lyrical content from the Prequelle era contains some of the most self-aware commentary about the music industry and fame that Ghost has ever produced. Lines about "fallen state" and manufactured outrage weren't just metaphorical. Reading Papa IV through that lens changes how you interpret his eventual downfall — it's almost like the character is aware of the systems he's embedded in, which makes the whole narrative more interesting than a simple good-versus-evil story. The videos are the primary source material. The webisodes that Ghost released between album cycles contain additional narrative fragments. The band's social media accounts have historically been part of the lore delivery system, though that practice has shifted over the years. Some of the most important details are in the background imagery of music videos rather than in anything explicit. There are fan communities that catalog everything frame by frame, and some of their findings are genuinely useful. Others speculate so far beyond what's actually presented that the conclusions become unhelpful. I've found the sweet spot is usually between the official video content and what Tobias Forge has said in interviews, without going into deep fan theory territory unless you're prepared for a lot of speculation presented as fact.
