Sasappis

Sasappis is a cynical Lenape Native American. He is the second oldest ghost and has witnessed and kept secret many of the circumstances from the other ghosts’ lives and deaths.

Played by: Román Zaragoza
Family members: Naxasis (father)
Abilities: Storytelling, Website Construction Advisor
Ghostly Ability:
Occupation in life: Storyteller
Cause of death: Unrevealed, but was on the way to a storytelling circle.

Personality

Sasappis, as the second oldest ghost residing in the Woodstone Mansion, is the very old and wise soul of a young man who died far too young. A member of the Lenape tribe, Sasappis is first and foremost a storyteller, a position handed down to him from his father Naxasis (‘Ghostwriter’). As such, Sasappis is deeply gifted with the spoken word; not only can he captivate an audience with his wondrous tales, but he is gifted in communicating one-on-one with others in amusing and often powerful ways. He is known for joking with Samantha in terms she thinks is truth when it is only a dry joke served with a heaping side of sarcasm, as well as delivering wisdom in the form of often brutally honest truths to his fellow ghosts (‘Halloween,’ ‘Ghostwriter’).

Despite having died 500 years ago, Sasappis also seems to be one of the few ghosts who seems to most understand the current state of affairs, at least the modern world he occupies at the Woodstone. He is highly observant and sophisticated (‘Pete’s Wife,’ ‘Sam’s Mom’). He enjoys spending time with one of his closest friends in the mansion, Thorfinn, but was hurt when Thorfinn chose to watch a program without Sasappis present (‘Pete’s Wife’). When the opportunity to reconnect with an old flame occurred, Sasappis listened to the hip dating advice of Jay to send word to her (‘Flower’s Article’).

Given Sasappis’ verbal strengths, he is tenacious in ensuring his voice and inputs are heard. He enlisted Trevor’s help to alter Sam’s B&B website in order to showcase the idea of his tree, ‘Woody’ (‘Ghostwriter’).

Despite the fact he and the other ghosts cannot eat, being a ghost of a young man makes Sasappis one who constantly craves the smell of food, with pizza being among his favorite odors (‘D&D).

Sasappis’ final strength is his generous and giving heart for others, both in remembering his tribe long after his passing, his lost love, and for his current Woodstone family.

History

Sasappis, sometimes called ‘Sass,’ is the second oldest ghost to inhabit the Woodstone Mansion, and much of his story is cloaked in mystery. He is a member of the Lenape tribe, which was, and still is, a part of the Hudson Valley region of New York as well as nearby states.

Prior to his death in 1515, Sasappis visited with his father Naxasis and sought his guidance in pursuing his dream of becoming a storyteller, a very important and powerful role within the Lenape tribe. While concerned Sasappis did not have this gift, Naxasis saw the dream within his son but also his fear as well. Naxasis gifted him with an eagle feather, which represented bravery and courage, in order to give him the strength he needed for his new role within the tribe. Sadly, Sasappis died, of unknown causes, before he was able to fulfill his dream (‘Ghostwriter’).

As a ghost, Sasappis has the unique perspective of not only knowing significant history of the area but also in having a powerful insight into the lives and deaths of those individuals who inhabit the mansion as ghosts themselves, of which he does not hesitate to bring up. He was aware of Isaac’s surrender of Fort Ticonderoga and his death two weeks later from dysentery, as well as Elias Woodstone’s love affairs while married to Hetty (‘Hello,’ ‘The Vault’).

In addition to his memories of his Woodstone family, Sasappis likes to share tidbits of his own life as a young man. He knew a woman named Shiki, whom he called the ‘love of his life,’ and for her, he killed a deer and brought to her family (‘Flower’s Article’). He is also one of the few ghosts who has experience with ‘ghost sex,’ as he wished to let Jay know they could have relations but said, ‘We can’t finish. It’s very frustrating’ (‘Flower’s Article’).

Sasappis enjoys spending his days watching television with his friend and fellow ghost Thorfinn, and making observations of life in and around the mansion (‘Pete’s Wife’). He is also prone to mischief, as he was unable to keep Pete’s secret about his crush on Alberta (‘Sam’s Mom’) and he enlisted Trevor’s help to alter Sam’s website for her B&B (‘Ghostwriter’). However, he has tremendous wisdom and extraordinary insight befitting one who has seen a great deal. Like his father before him, he passed his eagle feather on to Sam, albeit symbolically, to help give her the same courage and strength he needed himself from his loving father, so many centuries ago.

In ‘Trevor’s Pants,’ Sasappis makes the startling revelation of the secret he has been carrying for over 20 years. This secret involves not only how his fellow ghost Trevor lost his pants but also how Trevor’s colleagues, to include Ari Cantor, who visits the mansion in order to consider buying Elias Woodstone’s pocket watch, covered up their involvement in Trevor’s death and their disposal of his body. Sasappis reveals that prior to Trevor’s death, Sasappis secretly witnessed Trevor giving bullied Lehman Brothers associate Pinkus his pants, boxer shorts and cash. Shortly thereafter, Trevor collapses and dies, and once again, inquisitive Sasappis was the only one to see and overhear what Trevor’s colleagues were planning. With Trevor being distraught over this revelation, Sasappis comes up with a way to exact revenge on Ari, and to put Trevor at peace over his life and death. With the collective help of Sam, Sasappis and the other ghosts, Trevor finally sees what a valued member of the Woodstone family he really is.

As viewers rolled into Season 2 of ‘Ghosts,’ they were treated to more of Sasappis’ antics, his development as a character and also his insight as one of the oldest ghosts residing in the mansion. In ‘Spies,’ he, along with Hetty, implored Isaac to apologize to a rejected Thorfinn, as well as spied on guests to the newly open bed and breakfast, feeding information to Sam about their guests. (Sasappis also spied on Todd as he sought to learn more about Alberta through reading her diary in ‘Alberta’s Podcast.’ In that episode, Sasappis also described a woman who could be significant to Alberta’s death).

In ‘Jay’s Friends,’ Pete and Sasappis’ relationship as roommates takes a turn when Sass expressed his annoyance with Pete’s constant joyful actions around him, and Pete changed his personality in a negative regard, Sass encourages him to return to his old self.

The Tree’ was one of the most pivotal episodes for Sasappis in Season 2. When it is revealed that a tree considered to be important to Sasappis on the edge of the property will be cut down, he tells Sam that the cuts on the tree are ancient Lenape markings, when in fact they are simply markings Sasappis made on the tree when Shiki, the girl he has had his eye on, said hello to him. The revelation of Sasappis’ real story creates complications for Sam and Jay, but later allows the ghosts, especially Thorfinn, to bond in a greater way with Sasappis as he shares of his culture and history to his Woodstone family.

As season 2 continued, the arrival of new Woodstone B&B manager Freddie also brought a new love to Sasappis’ afterlife (‘The Perfect Assistant’). In assuming his new position at the haunted B&B, Freddie unknowingly brought with him a car-ghost, Jessica.

Sasappis and Jessica immediately hit it off, bonding over smells, but things took a complicated turn between the two when Freddie is let go after interference from Hetty and Trevor (‘The Family Business’), and later, he sells his car (‘Ghost Hunter’). Additionally, Sasappis grows jealous over Jessica meeting other available Ghosts, due to her ability to go where the car goes. Sasappis later begins to realize that Jessica will not be able to be a part of the group of Ghosts in the mansion, making for a lonely afterlife for her. Jay sells back Freddie’s old car to the band Sam bought it from (in order to keep Sasappis and Jessica together), allowing Jessica to experience once again the joys of an afterlife out on the open road with the Pungent Stench band, leaving Sasappis sad and alone.

Moving into season 3, Sasappis’ long awaited Ghost power is discovered, and it is that he has the power to influence livings’ dreams; in this episode, viewers get to see him weld considerable influential power over others that goes along with this specific power as well.

In ‘Man of Your Dreams,’ Sasappis enters Jay’s dream as a basketball referee and convinces him to get a wood-fired pizza oven for the restaurant, as Jay refused to do so before. When Pete discovers that Sasappis has influenced Jay’s decision to purchase the pizza oven, Sasappis confesses that entering dreams of livings is his Ghost power. To keep Pete quiet, he even attempts to seduce the scout master with entering Jay’s dreams to have him bring Pete’s favorite treat, s’mores, to the restaurant (this attempt fails). Sasappis later tries to ‘buy’ Sam’s silence as well (this attempt is successful, since Jay wakes up and decides to mount the new TV in Sam’s preferred spot). Sass’ dream manipulation begins to unravel when Pete tells Trevor what the dream weaver has been up to, who then blackmails Sasappis into entering Jay’s ‘Star Trek’ dream, and request a Kathy Ireland poster for Trevor’s room.

When Pete confronts the pair, their communication enters into Jay’s dream and Jay comes to realize what has been happening — that Sasappis is the Ghost who has been entering his dreams all along and convincing him to make these decisions. Jay wakes up furious and hurt at the Ghosts and with Sam. Sasappis later enters Jay’s basketball dream, once again as a ref, apologizing and asking for Jay’s friendship through his dreams. Jay forgives him, and a new relationship is born.

At the outset of Season 4, Sasappis finds himself directly caught up in the excitement of Isaac’s disappearance when Patience grabs him in the basement and brings him into her subterranean lair. He later began joking with Isaac about her crazed way of talking, which is a dramatic change from when he and Isaac knew her. When Patience later releases them, he sympathizes with her plight and convinces the others to bring her into the Woodstone.

Appearance

Sasappis is a handsome, slightly-built young man, between the ages of 20-25, with dark brown eyes and long black hair. He is dressed in the traditional clothes of the Lenape. His long hair includes braids with shells in the front with feathers in the back (one feather in particular holds special meaning in that Sass sought to pass the gift of courage and strength represented in his eagle feather, to Sam, but was constrained from doing so as a Ghost). He wears a bag on his chest.

Between the pilot and the new episodes, Sasappis’ outfit changed. In an interview, with MetacriticRomán Zaragoza said, ‘I was like, “Let’s bring in a consultant; someone who is Lenape.” So we brought in Joe Baker, who is executive director for The Lenape Center and he is the co-founder of The Lenape Center. To have him on the project; it’s been a dream come true.  He consulted on the costume and said what changes need to be made. And we now have a new costume designer by the name of Carmen Ali who came in. She’s a Canadian costume designer.’

In the episode ‘Man of Your Dreams,’ Sasappis wears the outfit of a basketball referee and a ‘Star Trek’ uniform in Jay’s dreams.

Trivia

  • In a photo essay and interview for the June 2023 issue of EMMY Magazine, Román said, ‘When we started, I had some deep talks with our showrunners about who Sasappis is. We figured out that he is a storyteller; a shy, hopeless romantic; a young soul who died and became this jaded old man. It’s been fun to discover that throughout these seasons.
  • Román’s real-life father Gregory Zaragoza played his father Naxasis in the ‘Ghostwriter’ episode.
  • The marks Sasappis made on his ‘Shiki’ tree represent each time his crush Shiki said hello to him (‘The Tree’).
  • Both Sasappis and Trevor were happy to see Ghost Molly return (‘Halloween 2: The Ghost of Hetty’s Past’).
  • For being such an old ghost, Sasappis has shrewd observations about the world around him, to include modern media.
  • Sasappis, along with Thorfinn and Alberta, witnessed Flower hugging a bear and being killed by it as a result (‘Dumb Deaths’).
  • Sasappis was the one who suggests to Trevor that he possess Eric in order to be with Bela. Additionally, he is the one who first catches on that Thorfinn has possessed Sam (‘The Christmas Spirit,Part One’).

Quotes

  • ”This plan of Trevor’s fills me with discomfort. The line between the living and ourselves is one we should respect. Who are we to — (cries out after being walked through, twice) All right, let’s haunt these bastards out of here!” Season 1, Episode 1)
  • ‘’You know what’s scarier? Eternity. So I find ways to break it up, create some drama.” (Season 1, Episode 2)
  • ‘’I’d like the entire Hudson Valley returned to the Lenape. Barring that, maybe keep the radio on in the afternoons?’’ (Season 1, Episode 2)
  • ‘’Actually, indigenous governments were the model for American federalism, so….we also invented popcorn. You’re welcome.” (Season 1, Episode 3)
  • ‘’If anyone has a water power they’re sitting on, now would be a good time to use it.” (Season 1, Episode 5)
  • “Storyteller. It’s a gift.” (Season 1, Episode 5)
  • ‘’But the fun isn’t just watching the show — it’s watching the show together. At least it was for me.” (Season 1, Episode 6)
  • “I promise I’ll try not to say anything! But this is a tasty morsel!” (Season 1, Episode 11)
  • “Sleep mode, Sam. Sleep mode happened.” (Season 1, Episode 11)
  • “And the important thing is, I’ve now passed this feather onto you, symbolically, which we’ve already established, so go, make it work for you.” (Season 1, Episode 14)
  • ‘So sad for me. I take Pete.’ (Season 1, Episode 15)
  • ‘After I died, the two of us shared a wigwam. It was torture.’ (Season 1, Episode 15)
  • ‘Because there’s something you don’t know about that night. None of you do. Ari betrayed you, Trevor… He’s the one who broke the bro code.’ (Season 1, Episode 16)
  • ‘… I know the story of how you really lost your pants.’ (Season 1, Episode 16)
  • ‘Thank you for everything, Sam. For helping me tell my story. Oh, and also for making all those pepperoni pizzas. Please keep doing that.’ (Season 1, Episode 18)