Ghost Rider (Marvel)
The Ghost Rider is the name used by several characters in the Marvel Universe.
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Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze)
- Main Article: Johnny Blaze
Johnny Blaze was born the son of Barton Blaze and Naomi Kale and spent his formative years growing up among the Quentin Carnival. Both of Blaze's parents starred alongside Craig "Crash" Simpson in a motorcycle show. This life seemed idyllic for a time, until Blaze's mother left him and took his siblings Barbara and Daniel with her and left him behind. Naomi was aware of her family curse and was afraid of the suffering that would come to Johnny as it had to her, she chose to leave him and to place his siblings into the care of Francis Ketch whose name they would take. (Ghost Rider v3 #-1)
Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)
- Main Article: Danny Ketch
Daniel Ketch and his sister Barbara were born to Barton Blaze and Naomi Kale, but were given away to a widowed woman named Francis Ketch when they were very young. The two grew up only knowing Mrs. Ketch as their mother, but their biological mom, Naomi Kale, continued to keep tabs on the kids until her death ten years later. (Ghost Rider v3 #-1)
On Halloween night when they were teenagers, Danny took his sister Barbara to a graveyard to give her the opportunity to take pictures of the grave of Harry Houdini. During this excursion, the siblings stumbled upon a confrontation between two gangs, one led by Deathwatch and the other made up of cronies belonging to the Kingpin. The two gangs began fighting each other, and Barbara cried out, causing Deathwatch to become aware of her presence. Barbara was shot through the chest with an arrow by one of Deathwatch's henchmen, so Danny grabbed his sister's body and ran away to a nearby junkyard. Distressed and covered in his sister's blood, he hid there with his sister's unconscious body from Deathwatch's henchmen until he noticed a pristine motorbike with a glowing gas cap.[2] Inspecting the glowing gas cap, Danny touched it with his blood-stained hand and instantly transformed into Ghost Rider, a Spirit of Vengeance whose mission was to take revenge on those who shed innocent blood. As Ghost Rider, both Daniel's mind and Ghost Rider's mind were in control, resulting in Danny being only somewhat influential in his own actions. Ghost Rider confronted and began to torture the henchmen of Deathwatch, but was interrupted by the arrival of the police. Leaving Barbara's body behind, Ghost Rider escaped the police on his flaming motorbike, which had also been transformed when Danny touched the glowing gas cap. Eventually, Ghost Rider drove into a secluded alleyway where he turned back into Daniel Ketch. (Ghost Rider v3 #1)
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)
Ghost Rider (Alejandra Jones)
- Main Article: Alejandra Jones
Alejandra Jones was a female human born he daughter of an American human trafficker and an unknown Mexican woman. Her father was said to had been many women some of whom he had gotten pregnant with the resultant children being sold. Such a fate was for Alejandra who was said to had been sold though her biological father could not recall the event. She eventually came under the care of a man named Adam who raised her in his temple. (Ghost Rider v7 #5)
Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes)
- Main Article: Robbie Reyes
The high-school student began to work as a mechanic at an auto body shop who lives with his developmentally disabled brother Gabe and seeks to get away from the dangerous, gang-riddled streets of East Los Angeles. To that end, he entered a street race, hoping to use the prize money to move themselves away. He is gunned down by mercenaries trying to retrieve pills that caused the transformation of Calvin Zabo into the supervillain Mr. Hyde, which had been left in the trunk of the 1969 Dodge Charger he 'borrowed' from the auto body shop for the race. He is revived as a demonic being with a flaming, helmet-like head. He drives off in the car, now similarly ablaze. (All-New Ghost Rider v1 #1)
Demon Rider (Kushala)
- Main Article: Kushala
Kushala was a female Apache human who lived in the mid-1800s. While her tribe was being attacked by the U.S. Army, Kushala's parents were killed. In an act of rage, she prayed to her creator, but instead was possessed by a Spirit of Vengeance. With this new power, she burnt everyone until all that remained were their spirits. Now going as the Demon Rider, Kushala traveled the world seeking out and studying different forms of magic in an attempt to understand her curse. (Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme v1 #3) With the help of Auntie Jessa, she gained more control over her demon. (Spirits of Vengeance: Spirit Rider v1 #1) Her skills in the mystic arts eventually led to her becoming the Sorcerer Supreme of her era. (Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme v1 #1)
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)
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. (Ghost Rider v6 #13) It was said that God created them and that only God could destroy them. (Ghost Riders: Heavens On Fire v1 #6)
In reality, these entities were angels and entities from Heaven with them being the Wrath of God. (Ghost Rider v6 #18) 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) As vestiges of God's power bonded to human hosts, they were said to had been created in order to fight, avenge the innocents and slay the wicked. (Ghost Rider v6 #33)
In its default usage all life is considered a sin to the Penance Stare, however the host of the spirit of vengeance tempers and focuses the ability based on their morality. (Uncanny Avengers Annual v1 #1)
As the King of Hell, this power could evolve further into the Damnation Stare with those guilty being sent straight to Hell. (Ghost Rider v9 #2) It was said that use of the stare led to a piece of the demons being absorbed into his body. Their essence and wickedness joined with him thus affecting Blaze and changing him as a result. The end result of this was his corruption by those demons and by their sins with anything left of Johnny being lost in the process. (Ghost Rider v9 #7)
Notes
- Ghost Rider was created by Roy Thomas, Gary Friedrich and Mike Ploog where it made its first appearance in Marvel Spotlight v1 #5 (August, 1972).
Alternate Versions
- In Ghost Rider 2099 v1 #1 (1994), an alternate version of the Ghost Rider appeared in the Marvel 2099 reality that was set on Earth-928 in the Multiverse. Ghost Rider 2099 was not a supernatural entity but rather a cybernetic being where he was the digitized copy of Kenshiro 'Zero' Cochrane's mind.
- In Amazing Spider-Man Annual v1 #38, an alternate version of the Ghost Rider appeared in the reality designated as Earth-11638 in the Multiverse. This version was originally Peter Parker who operated as the Amazing Spider who was rich, powerful, and popular where none of his loved ones has died. Peter ran Parker Technologies and his Uncle Ben spurred him to be the best. Upon inventing a portal technology, he unknowingly brought Earth-616's Spider-Man, Deadpool, and Hulk to Earth-11638. During a scuffle with Spider-Man in the Amazing Spider's lair called the Web, Uncle Ben was about to plug Spider-Man into the machine. The Amazing Spider was caught between the machine and was placed in a comatose state. Later in, Incredible Hulks Annual v1 #1 (2011), the comatose Amazing Spider's soul arrived in Hell where Bruce Banner's Sorcerer Supreme counterpart died fighting the Infernal Hulk. Though Bruce's astral form stayed alive and helped return the Amazing Spider to life with the souls of the repentant damned which gave him a second chance to live. When he awoke, he found himself transformed into a new character called the Ghost Spider. To make amends with Spider-Man, Ghost Spider transported him, Deadpool, and Hulk back to Earth-616.
- In Thanos v2 (2017), an alternate future was shown where Thanos succeeded in wiping out all life in the galaxy with him taking the name Mad King Thanos. This version had wiped out all life on Earth with the Punisher in his dying moments selling his soul for the power to defeat the Mad Titan. Mephisto appeared before him and agreed to offering terms leading to Frank Castle's transformation into a Spirit of Vengeance where bonding with Galactus's Power Cosmic turned him into the Cosmic Ghost Rider.
- In Infinity Wars v1 #3 (2018), a variation of the title appeared in the setting of the Warp World that was created after reality and its various souls were merged into a universe within the Soul Stone. This reality's bearer of the Spirit of Vengeance was its T'Challa who was an arrogant Wakandan prince exiled from the secluded nation by his father T'Chaka. In America, he was taken under the wing of showman Jericho Simpson. Using the stage name Johnny Blaze, T'Challa became a successful stunt rider. Five years later, T'Challa suffered a fatal accident during a stunt. An accomplished mystic, Jericho invoked the demonic entity Zarathos to return T'Challa to life. Zarathos sensed a hunter's soul within T'Challa and offered him great power in exchange that T'Challa hunted the souls of the wicked for her. T'Challa refused, arguing that the price of the bargain was too high. Before T'Challa returned to life, Zarathos told him that his father had died. T'Challa visited Wakanda to pay his respects and see his sister Shuriri crowned, but decided to hunt down T'Chaka's killers after learning that he had been murdered. Additionally, during the attack, the killers destroyed the garden of the Heart-Shaped Herb, putting an end to the legacy of the Black Panther. Zarathos tempted T'Challa, granting him enough power to track down the murders, the time-travelling Freemen. T'Challa was overpowered by M'Bakshulla the White, but agreed to Zarathos' offer before M'Bakshilla could kill him. Becoming the Ghost Panther, T'Challa consumed M'Bakshulla's soul. He immediately snapped out of his thirst for souls and rejected Zarathos' power, and was struck from behind by Erik Killraven.
- In Heroes Reborn v2 #3 (2021), a variation of the Ghost Rider appeared in the second Heroes Reborn reality set on Earth-21798 in the Multiverse. This version was Johnny Blaze who was possessed by the Spirit of Vengeance but instead of using a motorcycle he had supernatural speed where he was known as the Ghost Runner.
- In Devil's Reign v1 #2 (2021), an alternate version of the Ghost Rider appeared in the reality designated as Earth-1666 in the Multiverse. This version was a fusion between Johnny Blaze and Doctor Octopus where he was named Otto Blaze where he operated as his worlds Superior Ghost Rider.
In other media
Television
- In X-Men: The Animated Series, a Ghost Rider that was the Danny Ketch incarnation made a cameo non-speaking appearance in the season one finale "The Final Decision".
- In Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Ghost Rider appeared in the setting of the live-action television series linked to the Marvel Cinematic Universe starting from the fourth season episode "The Ghost". An unknown Spirit of Vengeance implied to be Johnny Blaze and portrayed by stunt actor Tom McComas.
- In Avengers Assemble, Ghost Riders appeared in the setting of the animated television series in the episode "The Wastelands". An army of them acted as servants of the Beyonder and Ares on Battleworld.
Films
- In Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, the Ghost Rider returned in the setting of the live-action sequel where he was once again portrayed by actor Nicholas Cage. The backstory of the Spirit of Vengeance was revealed where it was said that the angel Zarathos was sent initially to protect mankind from evil entities. This was until he was captured and tortured on Mephisto's orders, using torture instruments forged from the sin of all of mankind, leading to him being corrupted and driven insane by his desire for revenge - both against Mephisto, and against mankind for its sins. His desire to protect the mostly innocent among mankind was forgotten, and replaced with a twisted lust for punishing the guilty. From there on, Zarathos would punish, burn, and devour the soul of anyone who had sinned - no matter how small the sin or the age of the sinner.
Video games
- In Marvel's Midnight Suns, Ghost Riders appeared in the setting of the video game. The Robbie Reyes appeared as the playable character where he was voiced by actor Giancarlo Sabogal and Darin De Paul meanwhile Johnny Blaze had a supporting role where he was voiced by actor Graham McTavish.
Appearances
- Marvel Spotlight v1: (1972)
- Ghost Rider v6 :
- Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire v1:
- Thanos v2:
- Ghost Rider v9:
- Ghost Rider v10:
External Links
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