Ghost RidersSpirits of Vengeance

Known as God’s Enforcers, the Spirits of Vengeance are bonded to human hosts, becoming supernatural Ghost Riders. They act as Heaven’s Black Ops, using their hellish powers as a force for good to punish evildoers for their crimes.

Hell or Heaven Born?

As is often the case when mortals find themselves thrust into the world of angels and devils, the exact origin of the Spirits of Vengeance remains something of a mystery. Though Hell-Lord Mephisto gets involved, going back to the very first Ghost Rider billions of years ago. It is also said that God created the Spirits of Vengeance to keep humanity in check as He could not remove their capacity for depravity during the great flood. As such, the Spirits are bonded to human hosts and become empowered by God. Those who witness the wrath of the Spirits of Vengeance dub them Ghost Riders. 

Later, Johnny Blaze, AKA Ghost Rider, makes a deal with a demon, though it is eventually revealed that he shares his body with a devil by the name of Zarathos. When Danny Ketch, AKA Ghost Rider, takes over, he meets a being known as Caretaker, who tells him tales of battles between good and evil connected to Zarathos that lead to the splitting of the Medallion of Power and intertwined bloodlines.

More recently, the archangel called Zadkiel makes a point of revealing to Blaze and Ketch that Heaven had actually tied them to their Spirits of Vengeance, confirming God’s role in their creation. It is Zadkiel who was originally in charge of the Spirits’ human hosts, manipulating them from the shadows as well as ensuring their true origins and God’s involvement remained a mystery.

The Ghost Riders often act as the C.I.A. of the afterlife, ostensibly Heaven’s Black Ops. Their job is to avenge the innocent and punish evildoers. This war rages for thousands of years, ever since humanity first crawled out of caves. 

Forged In Hellfire

Allegedly, the Spirits of Vengeance are a vestige of God's own power and the resulting beings tend to share similar powers and abilities. In addition to superhuman physical strength and becoming invulnerable to everything shy of mystical weapons, the Ghost Riders also exhibit a flaming skull visage. 

A Ghost Rider's appearance generally reflects the time, culture and place they lived their mortal lives in. Given their often-brutal responsibilities, they tend to dress imposingly. Many of the modern Riders don spikes and chains, which can be manipulated by the wearer to become weapons and tethers as need be. 

By its very nature, a Rider also creates a Hell Mount, imbuing the conveyance—whether it be mammoth, horse, motorcycle or muscle car—with Hellfire. This transformation negates most laws of physics, allowing for the vehicle to become nearly invulnerable, travel at incredible speeds and traverse most known terrains (i.e., across water or straight up buildings). Even when the Ride appears to have been destroyed, it can often be reconstituted by its owner. The mount can also be made to look normal when needed. 

Every Spirit of Vengeance also possesses an ability known as the Penance Stare. By making eye contact, the Ghost Rider can reveal all of the pain that the target has inflicted and force it directly into their minds, causing mental anguish and sometimes death. Riders can also wield and form Hellfire in a variety of ways whether it be blasts of energy or more complex constructs. 

A Confluence of Angels and Demons

The life of a Spirit of Vengeance is often a solitary and lonely one. The Ghost Rider is often mired in the absolute worst that humanity has to offer, though the host will sometimes attempt to live a normal life, still interacting with family, friends and loved ones. Ghost Riders often have a mentor-type being known as Caretaker, who guides them on their journey as the Spirit of Vengeance.  

Ghost Riders often have a tendency to team up with other super-powered beings going all the way back to One Billion B.C. when The Rider worked with the Ancient Avengers lead by Odin Borson, AKA Odin, and Lady Phoenix. More modern versions join brief team-ups, but also join groups like the Champions, Legion of Monsters, Midnight Sons and the modern-day Avengers team. 

Along their way, the Spirits of Vengeance face the worst of the worst, amassing their own rogues galleries. However, across the board, they all run afoul of supernatural beings like Mephisto, Zarathos and Zadkiel.

A Vicious Cycle

The first known Spirit of Vengeance of Earth was a young unnamed cave boy from 1,000,000 B.C. whose tribe was wiped out by the Wendigo. Left as the sole survivor, the boy almost froze to death trying to seek vengeance. He was then approached by Mephisto in the form of a white snake, who offered him the ability to defeat his enemy. Near death, the boy agreed and was turned into The Rider. He made a wooly mammoth his mount and set out to fulfill his mission.  

Five years later, The Rider managed to track Wendigo down and defeated him. Moments later, he was approached by Odin and Lady Phoenix to join a group of Ancient Avengers’ heroes along with the Iron Fist, Agamotto, Starbrand and Black Panther. Together these heroes defeated Zgreb the Sorrower, a mad Celestial and fought The First Host of Celestials.

A History of Violence

Many Spirits of Vengeance have followed that first Rider over the centuries. More than one can exist at a time and they tend to reflect the part of the world they come from both in look and dress. Since their spirits cannot rest, some more recent Riders have been able to commune with their predecessors at various times. 

One well-chronicled Rider, Noble Kale, lived in the United States Christian town of Patience in the 17th century. Noble's father Destin ruled the town with an iron fist forged in the rules of The Bible. One winter day while riding through the forest, Noble and his father came upon circus performer Magdelena, who had been stranded in the terrible weather. The two fell in love and had a child against the wishes of Noble's fanatical preacher father. 

The preacher first whipped his son for breeding with what he thought was a lesser being and then made them marry. When the child was born, the preacher immediately took him away from his parents to be raised by others. Shortly after, Kale the elder burned Magdelena at the stake because she discovered that he was actually communing with the devil Mephisto, not the Christian God. Noble was not present because his father had tied him up in a cabin surrounded by candles and a pentagram. 

As she died, Magdelena called for the Furies to avenge her. They began killing everyone in the town of Patience. Fearful for his people, Destin called on Mephisto and exchanged his son's pure soul for a warrior to defend their town. Thus, Noble Kale was transformed into a Spirit of Vengeance. He fought the Furies for three days and finally felled them. He then approached his father who presented the Ghost Rider with his own son to feed upon as a way to replenish himself. 

Instead, Kale killed himself, but when Mephisto came to collect his soul the angel Uriel appeared. The beings almost declared war over the soul, but instead agreed to share it as the vengeance-seeking Ghost Rider. Unable to live on Earth, Heaven or Hell, he was sent to a void dimension. However, to do his duty on the Earthly plane, Kale needed a host body from his own bloodline. Mephisto cursed the Kale bloodline stating that the first of each generation would become Noble's physical body. There was also a spell cast on him that blocked all memories of his human life.

In the era known as the American Wild West, a man by the name of Carter Slade became a costumed vigilante known initially as Ghost Rider, but also Night Rider and Phantom Rider. However, he has no connection to the Spirits of Vengeance, though the two did meet when future Ghost Rider Johnny Blaze time traveled back to Slade's time. 

Blazing a New Path

Namoi Kale, a descendant of Noble, had three children: Johnny, Danny and Barbara. In an attempt to avoid the family curse that found Noble's Spirit of Vengeance possessing his descendants, she left Johnny with his father Barton and eventually passed the other two to a widow named Francis Ketch.

Kale attempted to protect her children further by doing whatever she could to find and cast helpful spells, but Mephisto caught up to her when her children were still young. She agreed to become the Ghost Rider to keep the Ketch family safe and Noble bonded with her. However, Naomi had lived a hard life and her body was not long for this world and she died, severing the connection with Noble, sending him back to the void until another in their bloodline was ready for the curse. 

In the modern age, stunt motorcycle rider Johnny Blaze made a deal with a devil to keep his adoptive father Crash Simpson safe from the disease ravaging him internally. Blaze was enraged when Simpson died because of an accident during a show, but the demon technically kept his word, which led to Johnny becoming the Ghost Rider! It was eventually revealed that Mephisto had enslaved fellow demon Zarathos and implanted him inside of Johnny's soul. 

Blaze rode across the planet, bringing his unique brand of justice to many evil doers. Along the way, he also became a prominent part of the Super Hero and monster communities, joining the Champions and the Legion of Monsters. After Zarathos was ensnared in a mystical artifact called the Crystal of Souls, Blaze was able to leave Ghost Rider behind and settle down...but not for long. 

Ketch-ing Hell

Though Blaze may have gotten out from under the curse of the Rider, he was replaced not long after by his brother Danny Ketch, though the two did not know about one another at the time. After his sister Barbara got caught in a mob crossfire, Ketch saw a mysterious motorcycle. When he touched it, he transformed into the new Ghost Rider! 

When word of this new Spirit of Vengeance got to Blaze, he attempted to kill Ketch several times, but was soon convinced of his good intentions. Eventually, they learned that they were brothers and that Zarathos had nothing to do with Danny's transformation. Together, they joined forces as the Midnight Sons along with Michael Morbius, AKA Morbius the Living Vampire, Daywalker and vampire hunter Eric Brooks, AKA Blade, Sorcerer Supreme Dr. Stephen Strange, AKA Doctor Strange, the Darkhold Redeemers and the Nightstalkers. Ketch also met a mysterious man calling himself Caretaker, who explained much of the history of the Ghost Rider, though many of these stories have been called into question since then. 

Vengeance Be Thy Name

During Blaze's first run as Ghost Rider, Mephisto tricked him into raining Hellfire down on a man named Badilino which drove the mortal to kill most of his own family. One survivor, his son went on to join the Marines and then the New York police force. Michael Badilino, who unknowingly had a connection to the Medallion of Power, wound up in Brooklyn when the new Rider, Ketch, appeared. Craving revenge, he headed up the official police investigation into the Spirit of Vengeance. That path failed him, so he made a deal with Mephisto that unlocked the power of the Medallion, turning him into Vengeance. 

Though he sought to destroy the man he held responsible for his family's destruction, Michael eventually came to fight alongside them, even becoming a member of the Midnight Sons. He even took over as Ghost Rider when it seemed as though Ketch had been killed. His career as a hero ended after Anton Hellgate managed to push him over the edge by having scores of innocents murdered. He then went on a Hellfire-fueled rampage that Blaze and Ketch helped stop. Realizing what he had done, Badilino killed himself, which sent him to Hell. 

Of Noble Birth

Eventually, Ketch learned that he was transforming into a previous Spirit of Vengeance and ancestor Noble Kale. When the Furies—Dark Lady, Lady Ash and Ember—returned, seeking to wipe the Kale bloodline out, Noble boosted his powers and took on a new form. Around this time, the spell keeping his memories from him fell away and he began to remember Magdelena and how her death led to the Furies attack. When the dead woman's spirit appeared, she called the Furies off to save the Kale line. These events also gave Noble Kale more sentience when Danny transformed into Ghost Rider.

Around this same time, the son of Mephisto, Blackheart, made his own Spirits of Vengeance group consisting of Wallow, Pao Fu, Verminus Rex and Doghead. During a confrontation with Blackheart—then King of Hell—the devil offered Noble his body back in exchange for leading this new group. Noble agreed and took control of his original corpus once more. During this time, Danny was in the void and shown how Noble Kale became the Rider by the spirit of his mother Naomi. To fulfill his deal with Blackheart, Noble was to marry Pao Fu, but Kale asked to also wed Black Rose, who was Johnny Blaze's wife Roxanne reincarnated. After the ceremony Kale gave both women their freedom.

While Vengeance fought Blackheart, Danny Ketch returned Noble Kale's memories to him, turning him into the Angel of Death in the process. He used this power to kill Blackheart, thus becoming the new King of Hell himself. He then granted the denizens their freedom, put Vengeance in charge and returned Roxanne to Johnny Blaze before riding off as Ghost Rider. He was eventually ousted as the King of Hell and joined his fellow deceased Ghost Riders in that same realm. 

The Spirits Rekindled

Blaze managed to live a relatively normal life for a few years until he began waking up in strange places. He soon learned that he'd been turning back into Ghost Rider and seeking vengeance. He eventually embraced that side and found himself in and out of Hell before riding free and re-establishing himself on the mortal plane. It was during this time that he learned that a rogue angel named Zadkiel had been manipulating him and the other Riders from Heaven all along. 

Johnny intended to thank his feathered benefactor with Hellfire and brimstone. In his search for a way to get to Heaven, he learned that Zadkiel not only had an army of minions on Earth, but also had a plan to take over Heaven by collecting the power of the Spirits of Vengeance. To that end, Zadkiel made a deal with Danny Ketch to serve him, taking advantage of the former Ghost Rider's addiction to his old life. Ketch became the Rider once more and was convinced that he was helping the Spirits of Vengeance by removing the power from them, a gift that even death would not grant. Ketch even took a team consisting of Blackout, The Orb, Doghead and Death Ninja to kill Caretaker, though he passed the title on to his granddaughter Sara. 

Blaze and Sara caught up to Ketch in Tibet after he murdered that area's Ghost Rider. The two brothers fought and even traded Penance Stares at one another. Johnny pleaded for Danny to take the Spirit of Vengeance from him, but Sara rode in and saved him before the exorcism could commence. 

Soon after Blaze and Caretaker began working with two more Ghost Riders—Molek and Bai Gu Jing—but they sought two more surviving  Spirits of Vengeance: Marinette Bwa Chech and Baron Skullfire in the Congo's Skull City. Zadkiel sent Ketch killer angels called the Black Host to assist in the ensuing war.

Meanwhile, a former police officer named Kowalski, who had a mad-on for Blaze bought the original Caretaker's hellfire shotgun off of former Vengeance Michael Badilino. Following Zadkiel's instructions he sat in the Arabian desert and waited. He was there when, during the final battle between Zadkiel's minions and the remaining Ghost Riders, the two brothers took off in a hellish race. Kowalski was in the right place to blast Blaze off his bike, which gave Johnny the opportunity to steal his brother's Spirit of Vengeance power. 

With Danny all powered-up, Zadkiel used him as a living weapon to destroy the gates of Heaven. Once used up, the angel sent the man back to Earth where he reunited with Johnny and Sara who then needed to figure out their next move. Meanwhile, as a reward for his loyalty, Kowalski became the new Vengeance. Danny managed to bring back a small fraction of the Ghost Rider power with him as he crashed to Earth. He then sold his soul to Satan for help taking Zadkiel down, they just had to keep the new kid antichrist, Kid Blackheart, alive with some help from Hellstorm and Jaine Cutter.

Though Zadkiel took Heaven, Sara learned from time-traveling Spirits of Vengeance that he had not become all-powerful, though he would the longer he held the throne. When Johnny and Danny finally got to Heaven and faced Zadkiel, the angel beat them swiftly, but the brothers realized that even he could not fully control the power of the Spirits of Vengeance. He was also not able to destroy the previous Ghost Riders, who all worked with Blaze and Ketch to attack and defeat Zadkiel. 

Jonesing for Vengeance 

Eventually, Blaze met a man named Adam, who said he could help get rid of the Ghost Rider curse but noted that it would pass to someone else. Adam had been secretly training a group of orphans to abhor sin and become the new Ghost Rider. When he succeeded in separating Blaze from Zarathos, he brought the demon back to his temple and it bound with a young woman named Alejandra Jones, making her the new Ghost Rider. Adam altered the Spirit's powers though, allowing her to remove free will from individuals by way of the Penance Stare. Early on she used the Stare on an entire village in Nicaragua. However, she eventually turned on Adam when he claimed to be the Biblical version and then struck out on her own. 

Alejandra's path of vengeance eventually led her to train under Blaze, face Adam once again, and ride right into Hell where she confronted Mephisto. While there, she nearly defeated her foe, but Blaze stopped her. He took Zarathos back unto himself, but the power boost Jones had previously acquired helped save her from death by Hellfire, leaving her as a flaming figure with a bit of the Spirit of Vengeance still in her. She used the remnants of her power to keep the restored Nicaraguan villagers safe. 

An All-New Hell-Venger 

After being killed by Calvin Zabo, AKA Mister Hyde, East L.A. teenager Roberto "Robbie" Reyes was enchanted by the evil spirit of his serial killer uncle, Eli Morrow, and became an all-new Ghost Rider. Instead of driving a motorcycle, though, he drives a demonic car, a Hell Charger, in his crusade for vengeance. Even as Reyes became more familiar with his powers, he struggled for control of them with Morrow. Eventually, they made a deal to stop killing and only go after the worst souls they came across.  

Reyes found himself on a totally new level when an unexpected meeting with Jennifer Walters, AKA She-Hulk led to a team-up with a group of heroes who would become the new Avengers. Ghost Rider turned out to be an integral part of the team's plan to stop The Final Host of Celestials from destroying the entire planet. He impressed Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America, Thor Odinson, AKA Thor, Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, Carol Danvers, AKA Captain Marvel, T’Challa, AKA Black Panther, and the others enough to earn himself a spot on the world's greatest super team! 

Better To Rule in Hell?

Robbie Reyes was not the only Ghost Rider in action, though. When Doctor Strange attempted to bring back the people of Las Vegas who had been killed during Hydra's Secret Empire takeover of the United States, he accidentally brought Mephisto and a section of Hell back with them. The powerful mystic Wong gathered heroes who could help the Master of the Mystic Arts, including Johnny Blaze. The Ghost Rider's part of the plan to stop Mephisto involved a great sacrifice on his part as he drove his Hell Cycle right up the devil's tower and faced him head-on. Mephisto simply ended Blaze's curse and pushed him out the window, tumbling to his death. 

But that was all part of the plan. Once in Hell, Blaze teamed up with his Spirit of Vengeance. They rode separately at first, but eventually merged back together before taking over the very throne of Hell. This allowed the heroes back on Earth to trap Mephisto in his tower in Las Vegas. Since then, Blaze has struggled to hold on to his sanity while keeping Hell from tearing itself apart. 

Sins of the Symbiote

Alejandra was still keeping watch over the Nicaraguan village when the murdering menace Cletus Kasady, AKA Carnage, came for her. Back when she was still Ghost Rider, she teamed with Flash Thompson, AKA Agent Venom, Thaddues Ross, AKA Red Hulk, and Laura Kinney, AKA X-23, to take on Blackheart. To stop Mephisto's son, Red Hulk took on both the Venom symbiote and the Spirit of Vengeance. That brief combination left a piece of Knull's Codex in the Spirit, which transferred to Jones without her knowing. That piece was still in her when Carnage began collecting every Codex to bring Knull., the God of Symbiotes, to Earth. 

The symbiote-powered madman killed Alejandra and consumed her spine to get the Codex, but also absorbed her portion of the Spirit of Vengeance! He used that extra power to fight Danny Ketch who had become Ghost Rider once more. After the battle, the demonic power left Carnage and he was ultimately defeated by Eddie Brock, AKA Venom, and Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man. Meanwhile, down in Hell, Johnny Blaze introduced Alejandra to her fellow deceased Ghost Riders. 

Challenge of the Ghost Riders 

During Johnny Blaze's tenure as the King of Hell, he realized he needed more power and wanted to take it from Robbie Reyes by challenging him to a race through Hell. Initially, Reyes denied his offer, not wanting anything to do with the Spirit of Vengeance anymore, but agreed after Johnny threatened his brother Gabe. During a moment of doubt during the competition, Reyes met a group of previous Ghost Riders, including The Rider from 1,000,000 B.C. They convinced him he needed to pour every ounce of himself into his Hell Charger to beat Blaze and even helped take on Blaze's demon horde so Robbie could get back to the race. 

Meanwhile, back on Earth in the Avengers headquarters, the time-displaced Frank Castle, AKA Cosmic Ghost Rider, had been tricked by Blaze into attacking the formidable team. Castle realized he was being played and took the Avengers to Hell to help Robbie Reyes beat Blaze, which proved successful. In the process, Robbie also excised Eli Morrow's spirit from him but retained his Ghost Rider abilities.  

Vengeance Never Dies 

At this point, Robbie Reyes continues as Ghost Rider fighting alongside the Avengers. Danny Ketch wanted nothing to do with being Ghost Rider any longer and was actually stripped of the power when he tried stopping Johnny Blaze from returning escaped demons to Hell. However, knowing that his brother needed help, Ketch became the Spirit of Corruption thanks to Limbo's Belasco. Along with the current Caretaker, James Howlett/Logan, AKA Wolverine, and Frank Castle, AKA Punisher, managed to burn out the evil that Blaze had been inadvertently absorbing as the King of Hell.

Meanwhile, in another part of Hell, the demon R'Ack was trying to torture Michael Badilino's soul. He first made him relive his memories as Vengeance on Earth and then forced him to fight Lilith's son Skinner. During the dust-up, Skinner offered to help Badilino return to his Vengeance form and escape Hell. The pair used Hellgate as an actual gateway that helped get them to Earth. However, after sharing memories with Skinner and realizing he had killed his wife and child, Vengeance sent him right back to Hell. Now he rides his bone Hell Cycle looking for wrongs to right along with the other Spirits of Vengeance on Earth!