Spirits of Vengeance (Marvel)
The Spirits of Vengeance is a team that features in Marvel Comics Ghost Rider.
Contents |
History
The Spirits of Vengeance were a powerful group of spirits that were given vestiges of God's divine power and were bonded to human host. This was done so in order to limit their power in their quest for divine retribution as these Spirits were tasked with avenging the innocent and eliminating the wicked amongst mankind. Thus, they traced their origins from Biblical times with a long line of those that held the position of Ghost Rider and they served as Heaven's black ops group designed with secret missions in mind. In order to administer and oversee their operations, the Angel Zadkiel was placed in charge of them and manipulate them from the shadows. Thus, this actions led to their true origins being masked in shadow and shrouded in mystery with their involvement with God being almost unknown. (Ghost rider v6 #33)
Around the world, there were multiple Spirits of Vengeance that operated in mortal hosts with different ones on different parts of the globe. Each was tailored to the customs and the religions of the area. (Ghost Rider v6 #28)
The archangel Zadkiel was placed in charge of monitoring the Spirits of Vengeance and keeping the truth of their origins a secret throughout the millennia. (Ghost Rider v6 #33)
During the Hyborian Age, a Ghost Rider was noted to had operated where the undead warrior rode a giant spider. In that time, he sought vengeance against a mad king who had been pillaging the land and his barbarism was perpetrated by the forces under his command. The Spirit of Vengeance then attacked his armies and laid waste to them with Conan the Barbarian having witnessed this event. (Savage Avengers v1 #21)
In 1654 C.E., a Spirit of Vengeance was targeted by the demon Necrosis who killed him on behalf of his master Belasco. This was done so due to Mephisto's incursions into Belasco. (Ghost Rider v9 #3) During the 17th century, the Puritan Avenger Noble Kale rode the backwoods of the Colonies chasing down witches and overzealous witch hunters leading to him being called the Ghost Rider. (Ghost rider v6 #33)
As a servant of Zadkiel, Danny Ketch was used to hunt down the other Spirits of Vengeance around the world where he leeched their powers to his Angelic master. (Ghost Rider v6 #28)
During their long history, the Angel Zadkiel began to grow corrupt and desired more power thus he began a ploy in order to usurp Heaven through the use of the Ghost Riders. His actions led to only two such members of the Spirits of Vengeance remaining by the modern age namely Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch who were the two most powerful Ghost Riders in history. In order to achieve his goal, Zadkiel had Daniel Ketch absorb the power of every Ghost Rider in the mistaken belief that this would prevent them from corrupting him. However, once the task was accomplished, Zadkiel simply stole the collected energy from Ketch and used it to break down the Gates of Heaven and bring about a bloody coup in Heaven itself.
After Johnny Blaze became the King of Hell, he recalled the Spirits of Vengeance possessing his allies and summoned every Ghost Rider that the Hell-Lord had ever created to take revenge. (Doctor Strange: Damnation v1 #4)
Overview
Among the Tibetans, a Ghost Rider was known as the Khrag 'Thung or He Who Seeks Vengeance in Our Name. (Ghost Rider v6 #28)
In reality, these entities were angels and entities from Heaven with them being the Wrath of God. (Ghost Rider v6 #18) They were a vestige of God's own power that was bonded to a human host. (Ghost rider v6 #33)
The Ghost Rider was considered a wonder of mystic design with god-like power available to them. Each human acted as a built-in safety that limited the Ghost Rider's power simply due to the host's mortal nature. However, if the limit was loose, then for most intents and purposes its power was boundless. They were capable of doing incredible feats and competence as explained by Doctor Strange making them one of the strongest and most powerful supernatural entities to exist but are only limited due to the human host lack of imagination. The host itself acts as a "built-in safety lock" to prevent the Spirit from exacting its full potential. If the Spirit is controlling the Ghost Rider, the results would be biblically catastrophic and the human host can only influence the Spirit's decisions. If the host is in control, it would not be as powerful as the Spirit. Nevertheless, the Ghost Rider is still very powerful even in its weakest state. (Ghost Rider v6 #13)
They were able to imbue any object and materials with hellfire. (Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire v1 #1) The Spirit was able to control any object that was infused with their hellfire and control it through their mind alone. (Ghost Rider v6 #7) In some cases, The Rider can bring forth paranormal weather conditions whenever they travel. They can even rain down from the sky a destructive fire storm. (Ghost Rider v6 #35)
A sub-power to constructing various objects, they have the ability to craft duplicates of themselves. They will act similarly to their creator. When killed, they will burst into a puff of hellfire. (Ghost Rider v6 #32)
By simply touching another individual possessing the Spirit, they can absorb its essence leaving the host paralyzed or killed by the effect. (Ghost Rider v6 #30)
In practice, the Spirits of Vengeance were to fight and avenge the innocent whilst pruning mankind of undesirables. Under their angel handlers guidance, they served as the C.I.A. of the afterlife and acted as Heaven's black-ops. (Ghost rider v6 #33)
Members
- The Rider : a male primitive man born 1,000,000 B.C. years ago who had the capacity of intelligent thought and speech whose tribe was killed by a Wendigo who left the boy alive. The child called Ghost went out into the wilderness where he was left near death where he was approached by Mephisto disguised as a snake who made a deal with the boy who was transformed into a Spirit of Vengeance where he attempted to use this power to kill the Wendigo but failed. Afterwards, he was approached by the Phoenix and Odin to join the ranks of the world's first heroes. (Avengers v8 #7)
- Noble Kale :
- Kushala : a female Native American born to her tribe when the settlers first arrived with her people being killed by the U.S. Army leaving her in a rage where she demanded vengeance with her call being answered as she became possessed by the Spirit of Vengeance. Thus, she became the Demon Rider where she massacred the people responsible but became haunted by the spirits that followed her everywhere with Kushala studying magic for a means to free herself from the curse as she became a Sorcerer Supreme for a time. (Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme v1 #3)
- Caleb :
- Molek :
- Musashi Miyamoto : the Ghost Ronin
- Spring-Heeled Jack :
- Ghost Flyer :
- Sal :
- Knuckles O'Shaugnessy :
- Yoshio Kannabe : the Yokai-Raida
- Johnny Blaze :
- Danny Ketch :
- Alejandra Jones :
- Robbie Reyes :
- Parker Robbins :
- Vox Ignis :
Notes
- The Spirits of Vengeance were created by Howard Mackie and Ron Garney where they made their first appearance in Ghost Rider v3 #42 (October, 1993).
Alternate Versions
In other media
Films
- In Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, the Spirits of Vengeance were referred to in the setting of the live-action film. It was said that the Ghost Rider was originally an angel who was a spirit of justice sent to protect the world of humans. However, instead he imprisoned the guilty and banished them to Hell where the mission to protect the innocent became one fixated on punishment thus leading to the Spirit of Vengeance.
Appearances
- Ghost Rider v3: (1993)
- Ghost Rider v6:
- Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire v1:
- Avengers v8: (2019)
- Ghost Rider v9: (2019)
External Link
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