King Hamlet

Ghost
The ghost (right) appears to Hamlet (left) in the "closet scene", from Rowe's edition of Shakespeare's works (1709), showing the Prince and Queen in contemporary dress; the former king's portrait is on the wall behind
Play	Hamlet
Other name(s)	King Hamlet (former)
Family	Gertrude (wife) Prince Hamlet (son) King Claudius (brother)

The ghost of Hamlet's late father is a character from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. In the stage directions he is referred to as "Ghost." His name is also Hamlet, and he is referred to as King Hamlet to distinguish him from the Prince.

He is loosely based on a legendary Jutish chieftain, named Horwendill, who appears in Chronicon Lethrense and in Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum. According to oral tradition, the Ghost was originally played by Shakespeare himself.

The Ghost appears three times in the play: in Act I, Scene i; in the continuum of Act I, Scenes iv and v; and Act III, Scene iv. The ghost arrives at 1.00 a.m. in at least two of the scenes, and in the other scene all that is known is that it is night.

The Ghost first appears to a duo of soldiers—Bernardo and Marcellus—and a visitor to Denmark, Horatio. The men draw their swords and stand in fear, requesting that Horatio, as a scholar, address the ghost. Horatio asks the ghost to speak, and reveal its secret. It is about to do so when the cock crows, signaling morning, and the ghost instead disappears. In this scene, the Ghost is clearly recognized by all present as the King, dressed in his full armour. Marcellus notes that the ghost had appeared to the castle guards twice before. Talk of spectral visitations has unsettled the night watch. Francisco, who Bernardo relieves on guard duty says, "For this relief much thanks; 't is bitter cold, And I am sick at heart."

Seeing the Ghost arrayed in a military aspect, and aware of Fortinbras marshalling his forces on the frontier, Horatio recognizes that the appearance of the Ghost must portend something regarding matters of state.

Horatio then persuades Prince Hamlet into staying up with the guards to see if the ghost returns. At midnight, it appears, and beckons Hamlet to follow. Once alone, the ghost describes his wanderings on the earth, and his harrowing life in purgatory, since he died without receiving last rites.

"...but know, thou noble youth,
The serpent that did sting thy Fathers life,
Now wears his crown."

He tells the young Hamlet that he was poisoned and murdered by his brother, Claudius, the new King of Denmark, and asks the prince to avenge his death. He also expresses disgust at his wife, Gertrude, for marrying Claudius, but warns Hamlet not to confront her, but to leave that to Heaven. Later, Prince Hamlet returns to his friends and has them swear on his sword to keep what they have seen a secret. When they resist, the ghost utters the words "Swear" and "Swear on the sword", from below the stage, until his friends agree.