Spirits of Vengeance (Blackheart)

Recruited to obtain the power of the Ghost Rider, Blackheart’s Spirits of Vengeance stop at nothing to accomplish their goal.

An Infernal Plot

The demon Blackheart developed a plan to bond Noble Kale, the ghostly entity who possessed Kale’s descendant Dan Ketch as Ghost Rider, to his infernal realm, giving Blackheart access to Ghost Rider’s power source. To this end, he empowered several beings, mortal and otherwise, to become Spirits of Vengeance in his service, such as Max Pressman, AKA Wallow, Lian Goh, AKA Pao Fu, Verminus Rex, and Francisco Fuentes, AKA Doghead.

Despite Blackheart’s use of the name, his Spirits of Vengeance had no obvious or direct connection to the Spirits of Vengeance, alleged creations of the angel Zadkiel, who roamed the Earth many thousands of years ago, battled Zarathos alongside the Blood and others, and eventually empowered Mark Todd, AKA Blazing Skull, Ghost Rider, Michael Badilino, AKA Vengeance, and others.

Dynamic

Blackheart directs his Spirits of Vengeance to attack mortals on Earth, whether they were guilty of real or imagined crimes. He also instructs them to capture Dan Ketch so that he may use his bond to the Ghost Rider as a power source for his realm.

Tenuous Connections

Ghost Rider’s Ketch incarnation proves to be both a foe and friend at times to the various members of the Spirits of Vengeance under Blackheart. When they ask him to join the team, he refuses and the group brings him in front of Blackheart.

Blackheart’s Bidding

In building out his Spirits of Vengeance team, Blackheart’s first recruit was Max Pressman who, nearly fifteen years before, murdered his wife Maria and attempted to kill himself and his two small children, Michael and Melinda. A police officer shot him before he could do so, but Pressman eventually returned as a ghost-like entity, with only the face of Melinda’s doll as his own. He was called Wallow, able to induce and feed upon human misery. Approaching the now-adult Melinda, he stirred despair within her until she stepped from a ten-story building; however, she survived the fall, and Ghost Rider hurried her to a hospital. Wallow next pushed Michael off another rooftop, but he too survived, and Ghost Rider drove Wallow away. Learning of Wallow’s crimes and intent, Ghost Rider rushed to Melinda’s bedside and prevented Wallow from murdering her. Ghost Rider’s penance stare somehow reduced Wallow’s ghostly form to ashes, but his essence was drawn to Blackheart’s realm.

Shortly afterward, Ghost Rider helped Lian Goh, an illegal Chinese immigrant, escape from forced prostitution. Tragically, her former enslavers found her and murdered her, and she too was pulled down by Blackheart, who remade her in the form of the Chinese goddess of vengeance, Pao Fu, augmenting her physically and giving her a flaming sword. However, her gratitude to Ghost Rider remained with her even after her demonic transformation, and she eventually fell in love with him. 

Blackheart’s next prospect, the rodent-like Verminus Rex, suffered no such potential handicap, for he had been Ghost Rider’s bitter enemy during World War I. One-time prince and apparent last survivor of the ratlike Berev'ha Dentii, “Short Teeth” warrior race, Verminus stalked the battlefields of Europe, scavenging the dead and dying with his sharp fangs and claws, Ghost Rider, then using the host body of a soldier, opposed his depredations. Killed by a landmine in 1917, Verminus revived as a form of undead—precisely when is unclear—and Ghost Rider’s Ketch incarnation discovered him in a campaign of abducting and consuming people. Incinerated to a second “death” by his enemy, Verminus Rex joined Blackheart’s ranks.

Finally, Blackheart turned to Bronx fruit vendor Francisco "Chio" Fuentes, an illegal immigrant from Ecuador and casual acquaintance of Dan Ketch. While walking his beloved dog Chupi, Francisco chanced upon a drug addict who had struck down her boyfriend in a rage. Panicking, she screamed for the police, claiming Chupi had attacked them. Francisco fled with Chupi into the path of a bus, which struck both of them. In his dying moments, Francisco was merged with Chupi by Blackheart into the demonic Doghead, gifted with superhuman strength and fighting prowess. He lashed out at the bus driver but, retaining portions of his human nature, stopped short of murder before accompanying Blackheart to his realm.

Blackheart set his foursome loose on Earth, where they attacked mortals guilty of real or imagined crimes; Pao Fu in particular attracted attention, since she was later designated a vigilante of potential interest to the 50 States Initiative. Confronted by Ghost Rider, they offered him a place in Blackheart’s service and quickly overpowered him when he refused. Brought before Blackheart, he was offered the chance to regain his original form of Noble Kale, breaking the curse that had plagued his descendants for centuries, in exchange for accepting leadership of the new Spirits and marrying Pao Fu to bond him further to Blackheart’s realm. Ghost Rider accepted on the condition that he also marry Blackheart’s consort Black Rose, the demon form of Roxanne Simpson, ex-wife of an earlier Ghost Rider, John Blaze. Blackheart thus transformed him back into the seemingly mortal Noble Kale, while Dan Ketch’s soul wandered Blackheart’s realm. Following the wedding ceremony which bound Ghost Rider to the two demonic women, Black Rose prepared to slay him and grant Blackheart his power, but Ghost Rider, expecting this, granted her and Pao Fu their freedom from Blackheart. 

Strengthened when Ketch discovered and restored Noble Kale’s full memories, Ghost Rider slew Blackheart and declared himself ruler of his enemy’s realm, resurrecting Ketch and returning him to Earth, where they were reunited months later. Following Blackheart’s revival, Ghost Rider returned to Earth and, as Dan Ketch, clashed again with Verminus Rex, who had reunited with Berev’ha Dentii who had survived or been resurrected. Eventually, Ketch entered Zadkiel’s service, as did Doghead. Pao Fu and Wallow have yet to resurface.