Ghost Rider is a 2007 American supernatural superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson, the director of Daredevil. Based on the character of the same name which appeared in Marvel Comics, the film stars Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze, a stunt motorcyclist who sells his soul to the Devil and transforms into the vigilante Ghost Rider. The film was met with negative reviews but was a success at the box office.
Its sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, was released on February 17, 2012.
In the American Old West, the Devil, Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda), sends his bounty hunter of the damned, the Ghost Rider, to retrieve a contract for a thousand corrupt souls from the town of San Venganza. Given that the nature of the contract would give Mephisto the power to bring Hell to Earth, the Rider refuses to give him the contract and goes into hiding.
A century and a half later, Mephisto reaches out to seventeen-year-old stunt motorcycle rider Johnny Blaze (Matt Long), offering to cure his father's lung cancer in exchange for Johnny's soul. Johnny inadvertently 'signs' the contract when, after a paper cut, a drop of his blood lands on the signature space. The next morning Johnny awakes to discover that his father's cancer is cured, but his father is killed that same day in a motorcycle crash. Johnny accuses Mephisto of causing his father's death, but Mephisto considers their contract fulfilled. The Devil tells Johnny that he will return for him in the future when he is "needed".
Years later, Johnny (Nicolas Cage) has become a stunt rider famous for surviving disastrous crashes during his stunts. Before a particularly dangerous new stunt, Johnny meets his childhood sweetheart Roxanne (Eva Mendes), now a journalist, and he makes a dinner date with her that evening. During the same time, Blackheart (Wes Bentley), the demonic son of Mephisto, comes to Earth, along with the hidden Gressil, Abigor, and Wallow, a group of three fallen angels. They are demons who, after being exiled from heaven by Saint Michael, hid themselves in the elements on Earth: earth, wind, and water, respectively. They are tasked by Blackheart to find the lost contract of San Venganza and use its power to usurp his father.
In response, the Devil makes Johnny the new Ghost Rider, and offers Johnny his soul back in return for defeating Blackheart. Johnny is driven straight to the station on his "first ride" where he transforms fully into the Ghost Rider and a fight ensues. In the process, Johnny acquires a heavy chain, which he uses to kill Gressil (the first of the three fallen angels accompanying Blackheart) while the others escape. While searching for the quarry, Ghost Rider hears a woman being mugged. He stops the mugger and uses his most powerful weapon on him, the Penance Stare; a power by which a person's soul is subjected to all the pain they have ever caused others. The mugger ends up in a catatonic state, worse than death, which is implied to be the "burning" of his soul.
Johnny wakes in a cemetery chapel, where he meets a man called the Caretaker (Sam Elliott), who seems to know all the history of the Ghost Rider. When he arrives home, Johnny finds Roxanne and reveals himself as the Devil's bounty hunter. She leaves in anger and disbelief at his tale. As Roxanne leaves, the police arrive and take Johnny into custody for his connection to the damage done to the city and the deaths caused by Blackheart. He is put in a holding cell with some other prisoners, who mock Johnny and beat him before he assumes his Ghost Rider form, knocking the prisoners down before taking one of their jackets and, after recognizing the only one who made no attempt to harm him as "innocent", he leaves to hunt down Blackheart. That night, Roxanne recognizes Johnny Blaze in Ghost Rider form fighting and defeating Abigor (the second of the three fallen angels accompanying Blackheart) in full view of the city and a large police force. Johnny faces the police and then leaves. Observing the scene after obtaining the location of the contract, Blackheart realizes that Roxanne is Johnny's weakness.
Johnny goes to the Caretaker for advice, who tells him of his predecessor, Carter Slade, a Texas Ranger known as a man of honor before his greed became a reason for him to be sentenced to death. Slade made a deal with Mephisto to break free; in return, Slade became the Ghost Rider who hid the contract of San Venganza. The Caretaker then warns Johnny to stay away from those whom Blackheart can use against him. Johnny then returns home to find that Blackheart has killed his friend Mack (Donal Logue) and already has Roxanne. During their resulting fight, Johnny finds that his Penance Stare has no effect on Blackheart, who has no soul to burn. Blackheart threatens to kill Roxanne if Johnny does not deliver the contract to him.
Johnny returns to the Caretaker to obtain the contract. Johnny guesses that the contract is buried in one of the graves. He picks up a shovel and prepares to dig, until the Caretaker snatches the shovel and breaks it, revealing the contract hidden in its hollow handle. The Caretaker then reveals that he is Carter Slade, having held on to his last bit of power in expectation of this moment. He tells Johnny that he (Johnny) is more powerful and unpredictable than his predecessors because Johnny sold his soul for "the right reason," for love rather than greed, and the two leave for San Venganza. They ride together into the desert, both in Ghost Rider form. They stop a short distance from the town, where Slade gives Johnny his lever action shotgun, and the warning to "stick to the shadows" before fading away.
After killing Wallow (the third of the fallen angels accompanying Blackheart), Johnny gives the contract to Blackheart. He quickly transforms into Ghost Rider in an effort to subdue Blackheart, but dawn comes and he is rendered powerless. Blackheart uses the contract to absorb the thousand souls into his body, referencing the Biblical demon Legion. He attempts to kill Johnny, but is distracted when Roxanne uses Johnny's discarded shotgun to separate them. After she fails to destroy Blackheart, Johnny takes the gun and moves into the shadows; the shotgun turns into a supernatural weapon that shoots hellfire and blasts Blackheart apart. Blackheart re-forms, but Johnny moves in and uses his Penance Stare, made effective by the thousand souls inhabiting Legion's body, to render him catatonic. Johnny turns away from Roxanne, ashamed of his monstrous appearance, but she says she is not afraid, causing Johnny to return to his human self.
Mephistopheles appears and gives Johnny his soul, offering to take back the curse of the Ghost Rider. Johnny refuses, saying that he will use his power against Mephistopheles, and against all harm that comes to the innocent. Infuriated of being robbed of the power, Mephistopheles vows to make Johnny pay, to which Johnny in response recites his favorite saying: "You can't live in fear". Mephistopheles then disappears, taking Blackheart's body with him. Johnny and Roxanne share some parting words at the tree on which Johnny carved "J&R FOREVER" at the beginning of the film. Roxanne then tells Johnny that he got his second chance before sharing a final kiss with him. Johnny then rides away on his motorcycle, now a legend in his own right.
Ghost Rider (comics)
Ghost Rider is the name of several fictional supernatural antiheroes appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Night Rider and subsequently to Phantom Rider.The first supernatural Ghost Rider is stunt motorcyclist Johnny Blaze, who, in order to save the life of his mentor, agreed to give his soul to "Satan" (later revealed to be an arch-demon named Mephisto). Instead, his soul bonded with the entity called Zarathos. When utilizing Zarathos' powers, Blaze's flesh is consumed by hellfire, causing his head to become a flaming skull. He rides a fiery motorcycle and wields trademark blasts of hellfire from his skeletal hands. He starred in the series from 1972–1983. Ghost Rider was co-created by Gary Friedrich.
The subsequent Ghost Rider series (1990–1998) featured Danny Ketch as a new Ghost Rider. After his sister was injured by ninja gangsters, Ketch came in contact with a motorcycle which had somehow been mystically enchanted to contain the essence of a "Spirit of Vengeance".
Johnny Blaze reappeared in this 1990s series as a supporting character. In mid-2000s comics, Blaze again became the Ghost Rider, succeeding Ketch.
Nicolas Cage and Matt Long played Johnny Blaze in the 2007 film Ghost Rider. Cage reprised the role in the sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance in 2012.
In May 2011, Ghost Rider placed 90th on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time[1].
Johnny Blaze
Main article: Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze)
After the western comics character who originally used the name, the next known Ghost Rider appears in the Marvel comic book Marvel Spotlight #5 (Aug. 1972), where the story and characters are credited as being created by Gary Friedrich, aided and abetted by writer-editor Roy Thomas, with artist Mike Ploog.Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stunt performer in a traveling circus, sold his soul to one whom he believes to be Satan but actually is the demon Mephisto (a retcon), in order to save his stepfather, "Crash" Simpson, from cancer. Crash later dies in a motorcycle accident and Mephisto attempts to take Blaze's soul, only to be thwarted by Crash's daughter Roxanne, who had learned of the deal and had prepared a counter-spell based on selfless love. Since Roxanne interrupted in the middle of the pact, Mephisto could only bind half the soul of a demon with Blaze, making him transform only at night when around evil.[2]
Blaze then finds himself transforming into a demonic entity at nightfall, during which times he wields strange powers. He is called the Ghost Rider for his strange appearance. As time goes on, he is able to call on his demonic abilities whenever he wishes, not just at night. Eventually, he seems to have a different personality as Ghost Rider and it is finally revealed that Mephisto has forced Blaze to share his body with a demon rival named Zarathos.
Originally, Zarathos was stripped of his memories and so Blaze was in control whenever they transformed into Ghost Rider. But now, Zarathos' true personality has resurfaced and from then on it is a continuing battle for dominance between him and Blaze. Being a demon, Zarathos craves the punishment of sinners and so Blaze at times willingly releases him when criminals or other threats are nearby. However, it is always a struggle to force Zarathos back so that Blaze can resume his control and his human identity. At times, Zarathos tries to find ways to destroy Blaze's soul so that he may be free to enjoy complete physical existence.
The character received his own series in 1973, with Friedrich penning the first several issues, until writing was taken over by penciller Jim Mooney Several different creative teams mixed-and-matched until penciller Don Perlin began a long stint with #26, eventually joined by writer Michael Fleisher through #58. Tony Isabella wrote a Ghost Rider story arc where Johnny Blaze became a Christian and thereby freed himself of the curse. Isabella said that "Johnny Blaze accepts Jesus Christ into his life. This gives him the strength to overcome Satan, though with more pyrotechnics than most of us can muster. He retains the Ghost Rider powers he had been given by Satan, but they are his to use as his new faith directs him." However, the story was apparently rewritten at the last moment.[3]
Towards the end of the run, a villain named Centurious was introduced. Centurious was a man without a soul, making him immune to Ghost Rider's hellfire, and he had a history with Zarathos. Thus Ghost Rider's career ended when Zarathos fled Blaze's body in issue #81 (June 1983), the finale, in order to pursue Centurious. Now free of his curse, Blaze went off to live with Roxanne.
In the next Ghost Rider series, it would be revealed that Roxanne and Johnny eventually got married and had two children.
Daniel Ketch
Main article: Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch)
The next Ghost Rider, was a young man named Daniel Ketch, debuted in Ghost Rider vol. 2 #1 (May 1990). This Ghost Rider was nearly identical to the previous, although his costume was now a black leather biker jacket
with spiked shoulder-pads, grey leather pants, and a mystic chain that
he wore across his chest, which responded to his mental commands and
served as his primary melee weapon. His new motorcycle resembled a
futuristic machine and the front of it could lower to serve as a
battering ram. Like the original Ghost Rider's bike, the wheels were
composed of mystic hellfire. Unlike the relationship between the
previous Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze, and the demonic Zarathos who
possessed him, Ketch and his demon — eventually revealed in #91 (Dec.
1997) to be Marvel's incarnation of the Angel of Death/Judgment — are
cooperative with each other. As with Blaze and Zarathos, they can
sometimes communicate through dreams or will leave messages for each
other, such as writing a note or using lipstick to scribble messages on a
mirror.At the close of the series with vol. 2, #93 (Feb. 1998), Blaze seemed to lose his children to mystical forces and Roxanne was killed, only to be transformed into the demon Black Rose; Daniel Ketch also apparently died and Noble Kale became a ruler in Hell. The following year, Peter Parker: Spider-Man #93 (July 1999) revealed Ketch was still alive. Nearly a decade later, Marvel published the long-completed final issue as Ghost Rider Finale (Jan. 2007), which reprints vol. 2, #93 and the previously unpublished #94. Note: While the trademarked cover logo reads Ghost Rider #94, the comic's postal indicia lists the comic copyrighted as Ghost Rider Finale. The finale revealed that Roxanne's true spirit was restored and that she left her existence as Black Rose behind and returned to Blaze's side, though she suffered from heavy memory loss.
Alejandra
During the Fear Itself storyline, a Nicaraguan woman named Alejandra ends up becoming a Ghost Rider through a ritual performed by a man named Adam at the time when Sin (in the form of Skadi) attacks Dayton, Ohio alongside Deathwatch and the half-demon version of Blackout. This Ghost Rider dispatches Deathwatch and Blackout before engaging Skadi. But when she touches Skadi's hammer, she is incapacitated and reverted to human form because according to Skadi, touching the hammer was akin to touching fear itself. Later she shows how many unknown powers the Ghost Rider has.[4]Powers and abilities
The Ghost Rider is a human who can transform into a skeletal being with a flaming skull and supernatural powers. The motorcycles he rides can travel faster than conventional motorcycles and can perform such seemingly impossible feats such as riding up a vertical surface, across the surface of water and leaping across great distances that normal motorcycles could not match. The Ghost Riders are notoriously hard to injure by any conventional means, as bullets and knives usually pass through them without causing pain (knives are seen to melt while in their body).[5] It is possible that they are genuinely immortal; it is said that God created them and only God can destroy them.[6] The Ghost Riders possess superhuman strength, enough to easily pick up a truck and hurl it across a road. It has been stated that Johnny Blaze as Ghost Rider can press around 25 tons (or more as seen in World War Hulk).[7] But a Ghost Rider's powers are more of a curse until they learn to control it.Each Ghost Rider entity also had abilities specific to him.
- Johnny Blaze – Originally when Blaze transformed into Ghost Rider, his body changed but not the clothes he was wearing. In his new incarnation, this is different and his clothes take on a darker, more sinister appearance with a spiked leather jacket and chains. As Ghost Rider, he can cause his motorcycle to transform and surround itself with hellfire or he can create a new cycle from pure hellfire. He is also capable of projecting hellfire as a weapon. Hellfire "burns the soul" without leaving physical injuries on the victim and its effects have been seen as similar to the "Penance Stare." In his new incarnation, Blaze is now possibly the most powerful hero on Earth. During "World War Hulk" it was stated by Dr. Stephen Strange that Ghost Rider might be equally as powerful as the "Green Scar" persona of Hulk and could possibly defeat him. However, Ghost Rider is defeated and Johnny Blaze knocked out. Zarathos himself then emerges and rides off because (as Dr. Strange stated) Ghost Rider protects only the innocent, which none of the Illuminati are. In recent comics Blaze's Ghost Rider has been given the "Penance Stare" and mystical chain, both of which were specific to the Danny Ketch Ghost Rider. Blaze also uses a shotgun and discovered that he can discharge hellfire from the weapon when he first encountered Ketch. He also now has new abilities including hellfire breath and the ability to produce chains from either his throat or chest. He is also now able to travel between the incorporeal realms.
- Daniel Ketch – When Ketch transformed into Ghost Rider, his clothes changed with him, taking on the appearance of a spiked leather jacket with chains, gray leather pants and spiked gloves and boots. Likewise, his motorcycle underwent a radical transformation, changing from a conventional into a high-tech motorcycle (This transformation was not strictly limited to the motorcycle he found in the cemetery as he was once seen to be able to transform another cycle in "Ghost Rider/Wolverine/Punisher: Hearts of Darkness"). Along with flaming wheels that allows the bike to nearly fly across surfaces, the bike included a shield-like battering ram on the front. As the Ghost Rider, Ketch used a mystical chain which responded to his mental commands. It could grow in length, alter direction while in the air, stiffen into a staff or spear, and separate into several links which can strike like shrapnel and then return to their original form. Daniel's most famous power was the Penance Stare. By locking eyes with a target and mentally focusing, the Danny Ketch Ghost Rider was able to make the target experience all the pain they had ever inflicted on anyone else. This ability was seen to have little effect on some people who were mentally unstable (such as the being known as Madcap. Ghost Rider was also knocked out when attempting to use the Penance Stare on Carnage). Originally, this incarnation of the Ghost Rider could only be summoned if Danny was present when "innocent blood was spilled" (an innocent simply being threatened was not enough), at which time Danny had to touch the gas cap of his motorcycle for the transformation process to occur. Later, he was able to summon the Ghost Rider without touching the gas cap, but still needed to wait for innocent blood to be spilled. Later still, he was able to summon the Ghost Rider by willpower alone.
Origins
Thomas, Marvel's editor-in-chief at the time, described the character's genesis:I had made up a character as a villain in Daredevil — a very lackluster character — called Stunt-Master... a motorcyclist. Anyway, when Gary Friedrich started writing Daredevil, he said, "Instead of Stunt-Master, I'd like to make the villain a really weird motorcycle-riding character called Ghost Rider." He didn't describe him. I said, "Yeah, Gary, there's only one thing wrong with it," and he kind of looked at me weird, because we were old friends from Missouri, and I said, "That's too good an idea to be just a villain in Daredevil. He should start out right away in his own book." When Gary wasn't there the day we were going to design it, Mike Ploog, who was going to be the artist, and I designed the character. I had this idea for the skull-head, something like Elvis' 1968 Special jumpsuit, and so forth, and Ploog put the fire on the head, just because he thought it looked nice. Gary liked it, so they went off and did it.[8]Friedrich on the above, in 2001:
Well, there's some disagreement between Roy, Mike, and I over that. I threatened on more than one occasion that if Marvel gets in a position where they are gonna make a movie or make a lot of money off of it, I'm gonna sue them, and I probably will. ...It was my idea. It was always my idea from the first time we talked about it, it turned out to be a guy with a flaming skull and rode a motorcycle. Ploog seems to think the flaming skull was his idea. But, to tell you the truth, it was my idea.[9]Ploog recalled, in a 2008 interview:
On April 4, 2007, Friedrich sued Marvel Enterprises, Sony Pictures, Columbia TriStar Motion Pictures, Relativity Media, Crystal Sky Pictures, Michael DeLuca Productions, Hasbro, and Take-Two Interactive, alleging his copyrights to the Ghost Rider character have been exploited and used in a "joint venture and conspiracy". The lawsuit states that the film rights and merchandising reverted from Marvel to him in 2001.[11]Now, there's been all kinds of dialog about who was the creator of Ghost Rider. Gary Friedrich was the writer on it. ... The flaming skull: That was the big area of dispute. Who thought of the flaming skull? To be honest with you I can't remember. What else were you going to do with him? You couldn't put a helmet on him, so it had to be a flaming skull. As far as his costume went, it was part of the old [Western] Ghost Rider's costume, with the Western panel front. The stripes down the arms and the legs were there merely so I could make the character['s costume] as black as I possibly could and sill keep track of his body. It was the easiest way to design him.[10]
Other Spirits of Vengeance
Vengeance
Main article: Vengeance (comics)
Michael Badilino, an ex-member of the New York City Police Department,
is one third of an "Organic Medallion of Power"; the other two are
Ketch and Blaze (the Medallion itself was never explained in any true
detail). He possesses powers more in line with those of the Zarathos
version of Ghost Rider, although he also possesses the Penance Stare and
his motorcycle seemed to share characteristics with the Noble Kale
version. His appearance is distinguished by a deep purple skull, large
fangs protruding from his upper jaw, and backswept curved horns on the
top of his skull.In his superhuman form, Badilino was called Vengeance, and originally attempted to kill the Ghost Rider, believing him to be Zarathos. Vengeance later became the ally of Ghost Rider and Johnny Blaze. Vengeance would also take on the role of the Ghost Rider and even semi-seriously referred to himself by that name when confronted by Spider-Man shortly after the apparent death of Ghost Rider in battle with Zarathos and acolytes The Fallen. Vengeance killed himself, along with the villain Hellgate, by triggering a massive explosion through his Hellfire, the source of the mystical flames that encompass the bones of both Vengeance and Ghost Rider.
Vengeance reappears in the last four issues of Ghost Rider vol. 2, involved in Blackheart's plans to kill Noble Kale. Vengeance aids the Ghost Rider in the ensuing battle, destroying Blackheart and ruling Hell during Ketch's absences.
The Last Stand of the Spirits of Vengeance
Seven riders show their flaming heads for the first time in this story arc by writer Jason Aaron and artist Tan Eng Huat. Daniel Ketch returns with a new mission: to collect the powers of all the Ghost Riders for the angel Zadkiel to prevent the corruption of the powers with their human hosts. Zadkiel has other motives he keeps to himself, of which he needs the powers of the riders to tear down the walls of New Jerusalem and wage war on the heavens.The story begins in Tibet with Chinese soldiers harassing a village, questioning them about weapons that killed two of their garrison patrols. During the harassment a monk enters on a donkey. After a few exchange of words and an order to kill given by the general, the monk changes and kills the general's men while his back is turned. When the general turns back, he sees the Ghost Rider and gets a penance stare for his trouble. After the attack the Rider goes back to his sanctuary where he is visited by Danny Ketch. A short while later, Sister Sara and Johnny Blaze arrive at the sanctuary to find out how to get back at Zadkiel. After entering, they find the monk and donkey burnt to husks.
That night the two are visited by Ketch and begin a battle with a show of power. When Blaze does the penance stare to his brother, he sees exactly what has transpired. Ketch has murdered the hosts of numerous riders for their powers. During a show of pity for the fallen, Ketch is able to return the stare on Blaze and sends Blaze into temporary insanity. Before Ketch is able to take the power of Zarathos, he is stopped by the new caretaker, Sister Sara. She rescues Blaze and they go to a safehouse. At the safehouse, during Blaze's self-pity and Sara's trying to pick him back up, they are visited by two more Ghost Riders, the Arabic Molek and the Chinese Bai Gu Jing, with whom they follow to Japan.
When Blaze's team arrives in Japan, they learn Ketch has already taken the power of the rider Yoshio Kannabe. After the conquest, Ketch has another talk with Zadkiel via communications link. During the conversation, Zadkiel massacres the squad of the Asura who guard the gates of heaven. Zadkiel tells Ketch to wait to attack the riders until the last ones are together. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the world, former cop Kowalski follows a contact to get a hellfire shotgun for his revenge on Blaze. After acquiring the item, he is then driven to the middle of a desert to sit and wait for his chance.
After leaving Japan, Blaze's team journeys to the City of the Skulls in the Congo where the last stand would be made. There they meet the Lords of the Congo, the Ghost Riders Baron Skullfire and Marinette Bwachech, and their Phantom Riders. During the day, Sara tells Molek about her new experience becoming a Caretaker and her wonders about religion, with which she is given secret information that Molek knows about both.
As the Ghost Riders and their forces get ready for battle, Blaze has his eyes opened back up by kids going to fight. He quickly snaps out of his depression and joins the others for the final battle. During the course of the battle, Baron Skullfire dies and the spirit is transferred to one of the Phantom Riders, after which Ketch creates hellfire duplicates of himself to take the powers. A wager is then made by Blaze and Ketch on a race between the brothers around the world for the fates of the powers. During the race, Blaze is critically injured by Kowalski's shotgun and Ketch takes the rider from him as his duplicates overpower the others.
Moments later, Ketch returns to Heaven and Zadkiel is then able to take Heaven. The sound of the gates falling is enough to be felt by Spider-Man's senses, and loud enough to be heard by people and everywhere, including Hell and Asgard. When an injured Blaze returns to the City of the Skulls, Ketch falls from the sky and reveals that the battle for Heaven has already been decided. As more energies fall from the heavens, one strikes Kowalski and changes him into a new rider that looks a lot like Vengeance.
Trail of Tears
A version of Ghost Rider appeared in the miniseries Ghost Rider: Trail of Tears #1–6 (April–Sept. 2007) by writer Garth Ennis and artist Clayton Crain. Set during the American Civil War, it finds Confederate officer Travis Parham avenging the murders of his friend, an ex-slave named Caleb and Caleb's family. Parham meets a horse-riding Ghost Rider who seeks the same men. Eventually, Parham learns about the deaths instrumental in helping set forth the Spirit of Vengeance.Enemies
- Aqueduct — A former soldier who gained the power to control water and was hired to kill Ghost Rider. He would become a frequent opponent to the hero afterwards.
- Black Rose — Johnny Blaze's wife revived as a servant for Blackheart and later married Ghost Rider Noble Kale.
- Blackheart — Mephisto's son, Blackheart, created a group of Spirits of Vengeance to battle Ghost Rider in hopes of conquering Hell. Instead, Ghost Rider Noble Kale defeats him and takes over his portion of Hell. He is the main villain in the 2007 Ghost Rider film.
- Blackout — A Lilin that worked under Deathwatch that frequently crossed swords with Ghost Rider. After the hero burned him to disfigurement, Blackout learned his secret identity and began killing his loved ones and acquaintances. Blackout appears as a henchman of Satan in the 2012 film Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
- Centurious — A servant of Mephisto that sought to battle Zarathos, Centurious was the head of the Firm and targeted Ghost Rider for his association with the demon.
- Deacon — An agent of Zadkiel given power in order to destroy Ghost Rider.
- Deathwatch — Daniel Ketch's mortal enemy. A Translord from an unknown demonic dimension posing as a crime boss in New York in an attempt to murder its residents. He would later die at the hands of Ghost Rider but be resurrected as a servant for Centurious.
- Doghead — Francisco Fuentes was an acquaintance of Danny Ketch that was murdered while walking his dog Chupi. He was resurrected by Blackheart, merged with Chupi, and became his servant.
- Death Ninja — An agent of Centurious that infiltrated Deathwatch's ranks that frequently battled Ghost Rider.
- Hag and Troll — Demons under Deathwatch, they were his most loyal servants.
- Hoss — A demon. Occasionally an ally of the Ghost Rider
- Kid Blackheart — The Antichrist that hoped to enter Heaven and destroy it.
- Lilith — An ancient immortal sorceress from Atlantis, Lilith gave birth to the Lilin over the centuries and was imprisoned until recently. Upon her freedom, she discovered many of her kind had been murdered by the Spirits of Vengeance and sought their demise. Her four most loyal children are Pilgrim, Nakota, Meatmarket, and Blackout.
- Lucifer — Lucifer, like the other Hell-lords, sought to remove the human component from the Ghost Rider in hopes it became a mindless killing machine to eliminate humanity. However, Ghost Rider proved too strong and Lucifer was exiled to Perdition. Later, Lucifer would be the demon charged with torturing Zadkiel for all of eternity.
- Madcap — A lunatic cursed with immortality and enhanced healing capabilities, Madcap has fought several of New York's heroes with Ghost Rider one of his most frequent opponents.
- Mephisto — Johnny Blaze's arch-enemy. A demon that posed as the Devil himself to claim Johnny Blaze's soul. Mephisto is the one responsible for bringing Ghost Rider into Johnny's life. Ghost Rider, however, is able to resist the evil that overcame him long ago, and is now able to use his powers for good no matter what. Angered, Mephisto sought revenge against Ghost Rider, and now constantly tries to win his creation back. Mephisto appears under the name Mephistopheles in the 2007 Ghost Rider film.
- Orb — Crash Simpson's (mentor to Johnny Blaze) partner in his traveling motorcycle stunt show, Drake Shannon lost most of his face in a challenge against Crash for the business. Given an eyeball-like helmet by They Who Wield Power able to hypnotize others, he would return to try and reclaim the stunt show but was foiled by Ghost Rider. He would return as one of Ghost Rider's most frequent enemies.
- Scarecrow — A contortionist, Ebenezer Laughton decided to use his gifts as a thief. In time, he would turn to murder and brought into conflict with Ghost Rider and nearly killed from the encounter. The Firm turned him into an undead creature, bearing superhuman abilities and able to induce fear in others (whose fear could heal his wounds), setting him upon the Spirit of Vengeance again (becoming a frequent foe).
- Steel Vengeance — Steel Wind's sister, Sadae Tsumura gave her soul to Centurious to save her sister after an encounter with Ghost Rider left her comatose. Sadae was turned into Steel Vengeance, a cyborg bent on killing Ghost Rider.
- Steel Wind — Following a freak explosion, Ruriko Tsumura was remade as a cyborg by Freakmaster and challenged Johnny Blaze at the Quentin Carnival in cycling, defeating him and earning a place amongst them. However, she ran the business into the ground and battled Ghost Rider, leaving her comatose. She was rehabilitated by Centurious and used as his agent. In time, she would instead become Ghost Rider's ally.
- Vengeance — A Spirit of Vengeance, Lt. Michael Badilino sold his soul to Mephisto to gain the power to destroy Ghost Rider (whom he blamed for the death of his family). When he learned it was instead Zarathos, he became Ghost Rider's ally.
- Zadkiel — An archangel that sought to usurp Heaven due to his hatred for God's admiration of humanity. Using Ghost Rider to kill other Spirits of Vengeance in order to empower himself, Zadkiel took the throne and cast out Ghost Rider. The hero would return with the dead Spirits of Vengeance to defeat Zadkiel and imprison him in Hell.
- Zarathos — A demon bound to Johnny Blaze by Mephisto to become the Ghost Rider. He would, however, come to exert control over the entity, but ultimately would be separated from Blaze in the conflict against Centurious. He would later renew his alliance with Lilith.
Other versions
Ultimate Marvel
In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, Ghost Rider made his debut in Ultimate Comics: Avengers volume 2, #2.[12] Ultimate Ghost Rider's origin is explained in "Ultimate Comics: Avengers" volume 2, #4. Young twenty-something couple Johnny Blaze and Roxanne Simpson decided on a cross-country trip across the United States. One day they came across a bar where they befriended a biker gang, who kept buying them beer. The friendship was a ruse as they killed an intoxicated Blaze as part of a Satanic ritual. During the ritual, they bartered their souls with Satan in exchange for wealth and power. Satan granted their request but kept the upper hand. The deceased Blaze also made a deal that Satan will get his soul in exchange for the assured safety of Roxanne. For twenty years Blaze trained to become the Ghost Rider, burning away his Christian baptism and searing away anything that was soft on the inside, and was sent into the world to get his revenge. He tracked down and killed the members of the motorcycle gang—now rich and in positions of power—individually. Due to these deaths, an executive order comes down from the White House: kill the Ghost Rider. The Avengers are recruited into the mission with no knowledge of the Ghost Rider except that he is 7' tall and has the strength of Thor.[13] When the Avengers were unsuccessful in stopping the Ghost Rider from killing his next target, the truth behind the Ghost Rider is learned, and the leader of the motorcycle gang is now the Vice-President of the United States, Michael Blackthorne. The Vice-President sold his soul to become a Ghost Rider, AKA Vengeance, and the two get into a fight which the Avengers are unable to stop. Johnny drags the Vice-President into a church which turns them both back into human form, allowing the Punisher to finish off the Vice-President. Pleading his case, Johnny is allowed to leave. He is later seen in a park with Satan watching Roxanne, who was brought back to life with no memory of what was done. Satan agrees to let her live her life if Johnny continues to be his Ghost Rider, to which he agrees.[14]Ghost Rider 2099
Main article: Ghost Rider 2099
The Spirit of Vengeance
Main article: Spirit of Vengeance (comics)
This version of Ghost Rider, known as the Spirit of Vengeance, debuted in Guardians of the Galaxy,
set in an alternate future of the Marvel Universe. He has the ability
to traverse space and fire spike projectiles from his forearms. This
Ghost Rider is a religious zealot, embittered toward a church (a version
of the Universal Church of Truth) proclaiming it would produce its god in the flesh. That being, the Protege, is destroyed by the Celestial Scathan the Approver.
This Ghost Rider refers to himself simply as the Spirit of Vengeance,
although his real name is given as Autocylus, from the planet Sarka.
After answering a distress call from Firelord,[15]
the Guardians of the Galaxy help a planet in peril, this Ghost Rider
eventually helps to destroy the threat. The Spirit of Vengeance joins
several other powerful beings including Martinex, Hollywood, Replica, Firelord, Phoenix IX and Mainframe.[16] The heroes, rallied by Martinex, stay together as the new Galactic Guardians.[17][18]Marvel Zombies: Dead Days
Ghost Rider is seen in Marvel Zombies: Dead Days as one of the uninfected; he then appears briefly in "Marvel Zombies" at the point in which the zombie heroes of New York are making their assault on The Silver Surfer. He later appears in Marvel Zombies 3 as an infected while chasing Machine Man and is then easily decapitated.What If (comics)
Main article: What If (comics)
In the second volume of the series in issue number 45, Daniel Ketch's sister, Barbara, becomes the Ghost Rider after Danny is killed in the graveyard. In this version, Barbara is more vicious and ruthless as Ghost Rider. Eventually, Doctor Strange and Spider-Man team up to try to stop her with the help of Johnny Blaze.Bibliography
- Johnny Blaze
- Marvel Spotlight #5-11
- Ghost Rider vol. 2 #1-81
- Marvel Two-in-One #8, 80
- Avengers #214
- Blaze #1-12
- Blaze: Legacy of Blood #1-4
- Deadpool Team-Up #897
- Marvel Team-Up #15, 58, 91
- Daredevil #138
- Defenders #145-146
- Spirits of Vengeance #1-23
- Midnight Sons Unlimited #1-4, 7
- Marvel Comics Presents #143-144
- Ghost Rider vol. 4 #1-6
- Ghost Rider vol. 5 #1-6
- Ghost Rider vol. 6 #1-35, Annual #1-2
- Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire #1-6
- Shadowland: Ghost Rider #1
- Danny Ketch
- Ghost Rider vol. 3 #1-93, Annual #1-2
- Ghost Rider: Finale #1
- Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch #1-5
- Marvel Comics Presents #64-71, 90-146
- Spirits of Vengeance #1-23
- Marvel Fanfare vol. 2 #3
- Deadpool Team-Up #897
- Alejandra
- Ghost Rider vol. 7 #1-9
- X-Men vol. 3 #15.1
- Venom vol. 2 #13-14, 13.1-13.4
- Vengeance
- Marvel Comics Presents #143, 146-152, 155-175
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