Ghost Rider

Ghost Rider
Real Name	Johnny Blaze
First Appearance	Marvel Spotlight #5 (August 1972)
Creators	Roy Thomas, Gary Friedrich, Mike Ploog
Team Affliations	The Champions
Aliases	Frank Ryder, The Brimestone Biker, The Spirit of Vengeance
Location	Nomadic (USA)
Powers	Super-Strength, Demonic Powers, Penance Stare, Imbues Demonic Powers to his Bike
Skills and Abilities	Skilled in Motorcycle Riding and Tricks
Tools and Weapons	Hellcycle, Magic Chain

Ghost Rider (Jonathan "Johnny" Blaze) is a demonic superhero in the Marvel Comics Universe. He is the second Marvel character to use the name Ghost Rider, following the Western hero later known as the Phantom Rider, and preceding Daniel Ketch.

Origin

After making a deal with the literal devil in order to save the life of his mentor, Johnny Blaze ends up being possessed by the Zarathos, a spirit of vengeance that turns him into a demon whenever he senses the spilling of innocent blood.

Biography

The Birth of the Spirit of Vengeance

Long ago, the Medallion of Power was created by the cult known as "The Blood" to house the entities known as the Spirits of Vengeance. Due to the power it held, the Medallion and its Spirits were coveted by the ancient demon known as Mephisto. The Medallion was eventually broken and the shards were given to different families to protect.

What Mephisto did no suspect was that his search would also relate to his war with the demon Zarathos, who began strengthening his influence in Hell, where he found himself moving into conflict with other evil forces such as the demon Mephisto and cult known as The Blood. Deciding that he was too great a threat, Mephisto trapped Zarathos, stole his memories and placed him in various human forms over the course of human history. The two of Mephisto's plans dovetailed when, in the 18th century, when a man named Noble Kale, who's bloodline protected one Medallion shard for millennia, was transformed into a Spirit of Vengeance by his shard. Mephisto attempted to corrupt Kale, but he resisted and the spirit he turned into began to manifest in the first born of every generation of Kale. Mephisto kept close tabs on the Kale bloodline from then on, looking for an opportunity to gain more power.

Birth and Childhood of Johnny Blaze

Johnny Blaze was born in Waukegan, Illinois to Naomi Kale (of the Kale Clan) and Barton Blaze. Johnny grew up with his sister Barbara, brother Danny and his parents performing as stunt riders for the Quentin Carnival, working for show owner Craig "Crash" Simpson. But one day, Naomi abandoned Johnny and Barton, fearing the consequences of her family curse, and she took Daniel and Barbra with her, leaving them in the care of a woman named Francis Ketch. Afterwards, Johnny repressed his memories of his mother and siblings. When Barton died in a motorcycle stunt gone wrong, Johnny was adopted by Crash Simpson and his wife Mona and grew close with their daughter Roxanne. Johnny's birth mother would eventually secretly check up on him, convinced that the family curse would not continue with Johnny.

Johnny Blaze was portrayed both in the 2007 film Ghost Rider and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance by actor Nicolas Cage.

Powers & Abilities

• Ghost Rider Transformation: Johnny Blaze possesses the supernatural ability to transform into the Ghost Rider at will. Originally, he would automatically transform at night or in the presence of evil. Recently, however, he has gained control over his transformations and can transform through an act of will or when innocent blood is spilled. It has recently been stated that Johnny Blaze and the Spirit that was supposedly the Ghost Rider are in fact agents of Heaven. The power of the Ghost Rider depends on who is in control of the Ghost Rider (effectively Johnny's body). Johnny and the Spirit inhabit the same body, and while transformed Johnny is in control for the majority of the time, but if he loses focus or control of the power of the Ghost Rider, the Spirit regaining control is likely to occur. While the Ghost Rider is in control, Johnny Blaze only influences its decisions to an extent as he takes the "back seat" to the Spirit. As stated by Doctor Strange, Johnny Blaze is simply a mortal and acts as a built in safety, that severely limits the power of the Ghost Rider. Doctor Strange also stated, that when Zarathos takes possession of the Ghost Rider, the Ghost Rider's powers are, for most intents and purposes, boundless and "God Like." Johnny Blaze is one of the strongest and most powerful beings on the planet, while the Ghost Rider, is for all intents and purposes described as boundless in power to the extent where the Ghost Rider was able to defeat Doctor Strange in battle.
  • Superhuman Strength: The Ghost Rider possesses superhuman strength sufficient to lift up to 25 tons under normal circumstances, nevertheless if desired he could, given the divine nature of his powers increase them to incalculable levels.
  • Superhuman Stamina: The mystical energy that empowers Ghost Rider prevents his muscles from producing fatigue toxins during physical activities, granting him limitless superhuman stamina.
  • Superhuman Durability: Johnny Blaze is highly resistant to the point of being basically immune to all types of earthly physical damage, as he has taken blows from beings such as the Hulk, had his entire skull destroyed and regenerated instantly without any discomfort, and while the Ghost Rider is in control only divine weapons (forged in Heaven) can harm the Ghost Rider. The Ghost Rider is capable of withstanding great impact forces, temperature and pressure extremes, powerful energy blasts, and falls from great heights without sustaining injury. As his bodily tissues have been transformed, leaving only a skeleton, most projectiles such as bullets simply pass through him or bounce off his bones. Ghost Rider's body is for all intents immune to physical injury, as he is evidently not able to feel pain and is able to survive with no apparent discomfort no matter how severe the injury (unless a weapon forged from Heaven itself is used against him).
  • Superhuman Agility: His mystically augmented being grants him enhance reflexes, coordination, dexterity and accuracy. This provides heightened movements allowing him to dodge projectiles such as Thor's hammer.
  • Regenerative Healing Factor: Despite his invulnerability to conventional forms of injury, objects such as weapons forged in heaven by the archangel Zadkiel, can actually harm the Ghost Rider to a certain extent. However, if his being is damaged, the magical energies imbuing him allows the Ghost Rider or Johnny Blaze to instantly regenerate any and all damage done, even to the point of fully regenerating lost limbs in moments, and regenerating his skull after it was destroyed in seconds without any discomfort or any evident pain.
  • Supernatural Awareness: Ghost Rider possesses an extrasensory ability that allows him to detect any supernatural occurrences around him.
  • Hellfire Manipulation: Ghost Rider possesses the ability to generate, control, and project mystical fire, or "hellfire" at will. Hellfire is an ethereal and supernatural flame that burns the soul of a person and can also be used to burn their physical body. He can utilize this fire in various ways:
    • Hellfire Infusion: His ability to channel hellfire allows him to imbue objects and vehicles by choice with his mystical element. He can also control hellfire infused objects through his mind.
    • Hellfire Projection: He can spew the fire from his eyes, mouth, hands and chest, including channeling the fire from his body into his weapons such as his shotgun. In addition to projecting and infusing hellfire, he can perform a number of attacks. He can create hellfire balls, spew out a massive wave and unleash omnidirectional explosions that are incredibly powerful, capable of bringing great pain to the Hulk.
    • Hellfire Constructs: He is able to construct various things such as walls, weapons, and his motorcycle.
    • Hell Firestorm: He is able to rain down a firestorm of hellfire directly towards the surrounding enemies resulting to devastating destruction.
  • Sin Manipulation: Ghost Rider can manipulate the immoral act known as sin. He can purify any soul, whether righteous or degenerate, from sin. However, this effect may cause the victim to be emotionless. He will only backfire the wrongs of the victim causing either an emotional breakdown or repentance. He can do a number of things with it:
    • Sin Perception: In addition to read the heart and souls of his victims, he also read, feel and sense the sorts of sins the individual has committed in the rest of their life.
    • Sin Eating: Also known as Sin Removal. Ghost Rider can remove/absorb any sort of sin from the individual if so desires.
  • Ride Symbiosis: Blaze has an in-depth affinity for connecting with and commandeering his Hellcycle without need for direct control of it. Easily able to order it to drive around by its lonesome at his discretion or recall it to himself at will. Blaze as the King of Hell could even commandeer the decimated parts of his motorbike in order to fashion a makeshift gavel for himself while battling the Avengers.
  • Soul Manipulation: Ghost Rider has the ability to manipulate souls, the incorporeal essence of a living thing. This more evident when he performs the Penance Stare, however he is able to manipulate souls in various other ways.
    • Soul Reading: Ghost Rider is able to feel the transgression of an individual he encounters by looking into their heart and soul. He can also decide whether or not a person is innocent or evil and in need of punishment. He is capable of doing this ability without the process of transformation. He can also determine the identity of the individual by simply looking into their soul. He can even use this ability on certain beings who do not possess a soul, such as a symbiote or demons.
    • Soul Consumption: He can consume souls if the individual is degenerate and heartless to an extent where the victim becomes lifeless.
  • Dimensional Travel: Ghost Rider is able to traverse different dimensions. Though it may have some complications due to hosts' unfocused behavior, he can open vortexes to escape other realms.
  • Demon Magic Manipulation: Ghost Rider utilizes demonic forces and satanic spells to his advantage. His knowledge of hellish energies and essence provides him supernatural awareness when he encounters otherworldly figures.
  • Mystical Chain Projection: Ghost Rider wields a mystical chain that is capable of growing in length, cutting through almost anything, and transforming into other weapons. He can also spew and project chains from his mouth or chest at will, and control the movements with his mind.
  • Penance Stare: Ghost Rider possesses the supernatural ability to cause any individual who stares into his eyes to see and feel every bit of pain they have ever inflicted on anyone in their entire lifetime for all eternity. Recently, he is able to incapacitate the inhabitants of Mojoworld without locking into their eyes and still inflicting great suffering. This, however, does not work on certain beings that are mentally unstable or enjoy violence.
    • Damnation Stare: As the king of Hell sitting on the infernal throne in place of Mephisto, Ghost Rider has the power to bypass typical methodology of burning sinners from the inside out using their past crimes and general maleficence in order to punish the wicked for a much more expedient means of deporting the unjust straight to Hell. The damnation stare works (primarily best upon demons) by judging whether or not the individual deserves to be caste back unto inferno for their prior judgement both in life and in death. Eviscerating the target while sending their souls screaming through the purgatory gates in a visceral fireball of gore and agony once upon being found guilty.
  • Self-Size Alteration: In the past, Ghost Rider demonstrated his ability to increase his size. After being shrunk, he was able to grow back to his original height through a sheer act of will. Recently, he once again perform this action but only by enlarging himself against beings such as Thor and Satana Hellstrom.
  • Exorcism: As the king of Hell, Johnny gained control over other Spirits of Vengeance, allowing him to strip Danny Ketch of his power by forcibly removing the spirit from within him.
• Expert Stunt Rider: Blaze is an expert motorcycle stunt rider.
• Skilled Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Although he's had no proper training, Blaze is a formidable hand to hand combatant and has become quite adept at using his powers in combat situations.
• Occult Knowledge: Ghost Rider possesses knowledge of the occult and supernatural.

Equipment

• Hell Cycle: Ghost Rider's main method of transportation, which is made up of hellfire. It leaves behind trails of hellfire wherever it goes (which incinerates anything), and can be used to run over enemies. He uses it to cross dimensions and can outrun the speed of the thrown Mjolnir from Thor. It can rocket up to vertical walls and cross bodies of water. It is almost as durable as Ghost Rider.
• Mystical Chains: Ghost Rider's signature weapons, which he can conjure at any time. He can infuse them with hellfire, split them into their component links and fire them like shuriken, stiffen them into staffs, or spin them so fast that it acts like a buzz saw. Ghost Rider can also spew these chains from his mouth and chest. It can follow the opponent if needed to and can grow in length. It is also used to support him in mid-air, dig underground like a drill and many more.
• Hellfire Shotgun: A sawed off Winchester 1887 lever action shotgun Johnny used in his battle with Blackheart at the desert. While initially doing little more than slowing Blackheart as he regenerated quickly, when transformed with the power of the Ghost Rider, it hit with enough force to liquidize the demon, though at that point he could still regenerate thanks to the power he had consumed.
• Convertable Pickup Truck: The Rider infused hellfire into a pickup truck while chasing the devil and fighting his foot soldiers. The Rider rams the hellfire infused truck into the back of a regular truck where it explodes at the point of impact.
• Excavator: A massive mining vehicle used to excavate dirt and rock, Johnny transformed it into a titanic hellish machine, unsurpassed in offensive power compared to any other vehicle utilized by the Ghost Rider.

Alternate Forms

Zarathos

When Johnny relinquishes control of Ghost Rider to Zarathos, the limits on the demon's power become released, granting his boundless power. Zarathos is strong enough to incinerate the entire planet if he wants to, can use telekinesis to move objects with his mind, can manipulate the elements, and conjure hellish storms that rain down fire.

Feats

Strength

• Can yank a helicopter using his mystical chains.
• Is able to lift up to 25 tons.
• Flipped a car with one hand.
• Flipped a freight train.
• Blew up a mountaintop.
• Knocked out Thor with one blow.
• Easily ripped out Mephisto's heart.
• Traded blows with World War Hulk.
• Can throw a crane into the air.
• Can create craters by punching the ground.
• Punched holes in giant demons.
• As Zarathos, could easily take down a group of other Ghost Riders.
• Punched Lucifer a good distance away and through a window.
• Punched through the side of a truck, then hurls a car to hit a flying opponent.
• Tossed a dude through a window across the street.
• Easily tore through a huge steel door.
• Tossed several tons of machinery.
• Punched a zombie’s head off.
• Stopped a speeding car.
• Can pull down a skyscraper, which weighs over 200,000 tons.

Speed

• Deflected bullets.
• Tagged Spider-Man.
• Reacted and dodges Strikes from Thor's hammer.
• Outsped Mjolnir.
  • Thor can reach up to Mach 32 when throwing Mjolnir.
• Dodged an enchanted sniper bullet.
• Overwhelmed Gladiator's speed, who is fast enough to enter hyper-space.
• Caught a bullet in his teeth.
• Reacted to a demon charging at him at the speed of his bike.
• Destroyed zombie Jack O' Lantern's bombs in midair.
• Tore through a group of mercenaries in seconds armed with ammunition able to hurt him.
• Swung a Motorcycle at 2931.

Durability

• Is immune to all physical earthly attacks, gun wounds, slashes, cuts, and stabs.
• Can tank hits from World War Hulk.
  • World War Hulk smashes 'around a thousand times harder' than She-Hulk.
• Bullets can bounce or go through him.
• Once regenerated his destroyed skull in seconds without any discomforts especially his broken ribs.
• Tanked a burst of hellfire powerful enough to whip a country off the map.
• Tanked Zadkiel's holy magic blast, who is as the time still has his power over all creation.
• Is unfazed by lightning strikes.
• Tanked Doctor Strange's magic.
• Unharmed by the Greek God, Pluto's magic blast.
• Is able to withstand great force impacts, high temperatures, pressure extremes and powerful energy blasts and falls from great height with no sustained injuries.
• No-sold an explosion of nitroglycerin.
• Merely knocked out for a moment by a spell from Doctor Voodoo.
• Survived a series of attacks from the Avengers.
• Obviously immune to fire.
• No-sold a kick from Spider-Man.
• Resists the reality warping powers of someone who can kill with a stare.
• Unhurt by holy weaponry (Sometimes).

Skill

• Stopped hell's invasions of heaven many times.
• Defeated Hulk.
  • Hulk dispersed the One Below All, who is "far stronger than" Mephisto.
• Defeated Thor.
  • Thor harmed the Chaos King who had destroyed 98.76% of the multiverse.
  • Thor was capable of Killing Galactus.
• Defeated Mephisto, Satan and Black Heart.
• Can cast Hellfire Nova.
• Used Penance Stare on a whole city at once.
• Has implied that he could incinerate the Earth if he wanted to.
• Once defeated Satan 666 times in a row.
• Has incredible aim able to hit small targets from over long distances.
• Defeated the Avengers, as well as the X-men.
• Became the King of Hell
• Mentored Danny Ketch, Alejandra and Robbie Reyes Ghost Riders
• Joined the Thunderbolts
• Doctor Strange had an extremely difficult time entering Johnny’s mind
• Defeated Doctor Strange, one of the strongest Marvel heroes, in combat
• Briefly matched World War Hulk before being forced to unleash Zarathos who judged Hulk innocent
• Zarathos defeated Mephisto who stalemated Galactus and is a confirmed universe buster
• Banished the renegade Archangel Zadkiel down to Hell with the help of an army of Ghost Riders and was thanked by God himself (what a swell guy)
• Destroyed one of Lucifer’s bodies
• Defeated a demon of Hell and former angel, Kazann aka Micah
• Defeated Steel Wind
• Holy weapons have no real advantage over him
• Fought the Avengers, including Doctor Strange, Thor and Man-Thing
• Defeated Null, the living embodiment of darkness
• Matched Danny Ketch, his half brother and Ghost Rider successor

External links

• Ghost Rider from Wikia
• Ghost Rider from Gods & Demons Wikia
• Ghost Rider from Demonic Paradise Wikia
• Ghost Rider from Mythos and Legends Wiki
• Ghost Rider from Teen Wolf Wikia
• Ghost Rider (Marvel), Ghost Rider (GR Film Series), & Ghost Rider (MCU) from Heroes Wikia
• Ghost Rider & Spirits of Vengeance from Marvel Wikia
• Ghost Rider from Ghost Rider Movies Wikia
• Ghost Rider from Marvel Cinematic Universe Wikia
• Ghost Rider from Ghost Rider Wikia
• Ghost Rider from Marvel Cinematic Database Wikia
• Ghost Rider from Marvel Movies Wikia
• Ghost Rider (Marvel), Ghost Rider (GR Film Series), & Ghost Rider (MCU) from Heroes Wikia
• Ghost Rider from Unnatural World Wikia
• Ghost Rider from Beast Wars Transformers Wikia