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Overview[]
A supernatural spirit of vengeance, the Ghost Rider was bound to Johnny Blaze, a stunt motorcyclist after Blaze sold his soul to the Devil to save his father's life. Now, he rides the Earth to punish the wicked in the name of justice using the same power against the Devil's machinations.
The Ghost Rider was portrayed by Nicolas Cage in the 2007 Ghost Rider film, with Matt Long as a teenaged Johnny Blaze in flashbacks. Cage subsequently reprised his role in the 2012 sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance as well.
Background[]
The Ghost Rider is the name of several comic book antiheroes who have fought against evil usually with various supernatural powers.
The Original Ghost Rider Rides!
The first was a short-lived old Western spectral lawman created by Ray Krank and Dick Ayers in 1949 for Magazine Enterprises during the Golden Age of Comics. This Ghost Rider galloped off to his unknown fate when Magazine Enterprises went defunct and the copyright to the name ultimately lapsed and entered the public domain.
In February of 1967, Marvel Comics published Ghost Rider #1 in which Carter Slade would don the mask and namesake of the Ghost Rider. Slade was a heroic gunfighter in the Old West and originally possessed no supernatural powers in contrast to his predecessor (and successors). Instead, Slade employed rudimentary scientific gadgets to simulate supernatural effects to terrify and intimidate his opponents by making it appear that he was a ghostly apparition.
This version of the Gallopin' Ghoul was created by Roy Thomas, Gary Friedrich, and the original Ghost Rider artist Dick Ayers who heavily based his look on the original costume design. However, the Carter Slade version was not particularly popular and the series was cancelled a few short months later.
Johnny Blaze's First Ride
Marvel Spotlight #5 (Aug. 1972)
But it did allow for the launch of Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stuntman in Marvel Spotlight #5 printed in August of 1972.
Blaze sold his soul to the Devil to save the life of his beloved stepfather and inadvertently was cursed with a demon who gifted him with supernatural powers that transformed him into a flaming skull-faced biker. The Ghost Rider/Johnny Blaze incarnation was created by Roy Thomas, Gary Friedrich, and Mike Ploog and was considerably more popular than his predecessors.
To prevent confusion between the two characters; Slade was retroactively renamed as "The Phantom Rider" in continuity. The Phantom Rider would continue to function as a minor part of the Marvel Universe's history with several individuals carrying on his mantle over the centuries from the Old West to the more modern day. The modern day Phantom Riders have usually possessed ghostly abilities bestowed upon them by the restless spirits of past Phantom Riders and have fluctuated between heroic and more villainous personas depending on the spirit in question.
After several years of hellraising adventures in the comic books, Blaze was "retired" as the Ghost Rider and freed of his curse in 1983 and the character vanished from Marvel Comics until 1990 when Daniel Ketch assumed the mantle for the next decade, when he inadvertently stumbling across a strange motorcycle in a junkyard that transformed him into the next flaming skull faced Spirit of Vengeance. Many assumed that the former demon that possessed Blaze had simply found a new host to possess but subsequently it appeared that although it only shared a distant connection to the original Ghost Rider; the Ketch version was a totally different entity. Ketch appeared on and off through the Marvel comics and suffered from various convoluted plotlines which was criticized by numerous fans which included retroactively proclaiming that the Ghost Rider was a familial curse that plagued the Ketch Clan for centuries.
This chainsaw's for you!
Zero Cocharane aka Ghost Rider 2099
A more scientific version of the Ghost Rider, Zero Cocharane appeared in 1994 in the Marvel 2099 imprint. A computer hacker in the year 2099, Cocharane was killed and managed to upload his consciousness into cyberspace. Assisted by digital intelligences in cyberspace who helped create a silicon and steel body for him, Cocharane was dubbed the "Ghost Rider" and sought to discover the reason and also avenge his death. This series was ultimately cancelled, leaving several dangling plot threads.
In an effort to jettison the lingering baggage of Danny Ketch's Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze would re-assume the mantle, identity, and his demonic curse in 2001 but has never been able to captivate audiences with his previous levels of popularity. A number of others have since wielded the name and supernatural curse of the Ghost Rider including a female rider, Alejandra Jones in 2011 and the current namesake; Robbie Reyes in 2014 who is the first to use a car as his mode of transportation rather than a motorbike like Blaze, Ketch, Cocharane, and Jones.
The Ghost Rider in his varied incarnations has made appearances, usually cameos in various Marvel properties over the decades usually in animated television series with the Daniel Ketch's visual look. Nicholas Cage has portraying the Johnny Blaze version in two live action feature films and most recently, Gabriel Luna in the MCU's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with the Robbie Reyes version as well.
Major Plots[]
John "Johnny" Blaze was a carnival motorocyclist who worked alongside his father, Barton Blaze performing stunts and wowing the crowds. As a teenager, he met and fell hopelessly in love with Roxanne Simpson and the two decided to run away together when she revealed that her father had found out about them and was sending her away. His plans however changed when Johnny discovered that his father was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Guilt stricken, Johnny was torn between leaving his father who needed him and the love of his life when he ran into a mysterious stranger who introduces himself as Mephistopheles.
Mephistopheles admitted that he was impressed with Johnny's motorcycling skills and mentioned that he would like Johnny to ride for him one day. He then proceeded to claim that he could restore his father's health. A dubious Johnny demanded what could he possibly give in exchange for that and to wit, Mephistopheles proclaimed "his soul" and Johnny sarcastically agreed.
The next morning, Johnny was stunned to find that his father proclaimed that he felt great and admitted that he had been feeling sick for a while but it seemed that he was better now. When Johnny confessed that he was leaving with Roxanne; Barton angrily protested that two dumb teenagers wouldn't have much of a future and that they wouldn't make it to the county line before Roxanne's father called in the cops and hauled them back. Barton shakes his head before tossing Johnny the keys to his favorite motorcycle and told him that it should give him and Roxanne, "a good head start".
Minutes later however just as Johnny was leaving, Barton suffered a fatal motorcycle crash during a stunt. A heartsick Johnny realized that he had been tricked when Mephistopheles shows up again. Johnny accused him of cheating but Mephistopheles retorted that he kept his end of the bargain, he had restored his father's health ... he never said a thing about saving Bart from an accident. Afterwards, Mephistopheles called Johnny to be an "investment" and that one day, he would call upon Johnny to perform a service for him. Realizing himself to be cursed, Johnny abandoned the carnival and Roxanne.
Ten years later, the now grown Johnny Blaze is a world renowned stunt rider who is infamous for his death defying spectacular crashes which he walks away from without a scratch. His friend and manager, Mack speculates that Johnny must have a guardian angel watching over him. Johnny however darkly remarks that it is probably "something else" as undoubtedly Mephistopheles would find it "inconvenient" if his investment were to die before he needed him.
Personality and Traits[]
Originally, Johnny Blaze was a bright, idealistic, and passionate young man who loved deeply and without reservation. He was very close to his father and loved their lifestyle as circus performers. It was only meeting Roxanne Simpson that prompted him to consider changing his lifestyle as he could not imagine a life without her and knew he could not offer her one as a mere carnival motorcyclist.
After his deal with Mephistopheles however, Blaze became bitter and withdrawn; haunted by his father's death. He was convinced that he has no future and nothing to offer anyone. He pushed everyone away from him such as Roxanne and the closest associates he had were his co-worker such as Mack. Blaze was convinced that he was damned anyway as he had sold away his soul to Mephistopheles and developed a dark fascination in the occult in an attempt to find a way to either break his contract and redeem his lost soul.
He developed a complete lack of fear in risking his own life as he was already damned. The only time he feels alive was in gambling his life and limb on ever increasingly difficult, impossible, and seemingly suicidal stunts. Blaze is an incredibly gifted and talented motorcyclist.
He possesses the supernatural ability to transform into the Ghost Rider but his transformations are rarely performed via his conscious will. He would often transform at night, in the presence of evil, or when innocent blood is spilled.
As the Ghost Rider, his power levels vary wildly at times. At the absolute height of his power, the Ghost Rider is virtually unstoppable engine of absolute destruction but Johnny's influence is nil and he is more of a unwilling passenger in the body. When Johnny is conscious and exerting more control over the Rider, his abilities are not as seemingly limitless and he is more vulnerable.
The Rider possesses superhuman levels of strength and speed. His exact strength levels were never fully ascertained but he was able to throw a fully grown man into the air with one arm with ease and could cross short distances in brief bursts of blinding speed. His skeletal body is apparently indestructible to mortal forms of harm or injury as nothing has ever proven capable of permanently damaging him nor does he seem to feel pain. He is able to ignore bullets and explosion devices appear to merely stun him.
His skeletal body is usually surrounded by an intense flame dubbed "hellfire" which can burn with intense heat as once demonstrated when someone stabbed him, it merely melted the blade. The Rider can wield this hellfire for a wide variety of effects from fireballs to projecting intense heat sufficient to melt solid steel bars. He can also infuse objects with his supernatural hellfire including shotguns and chains; enhancing their destructive abilities. An enhanced shotgun discharges explosive bursts of hellfire while a chain can lengthen to an absurd degree as well as being superheated enough that it can cut through solid objects with ease. Further, the Rider has shown being able to burn demons with the chain and send their souls to hell with it.
He also infuses vehicles with his power which allows him to summon them to his side and perform physics-defying feats. His favorite mode of transportation is a motorcycle and he has shown the ability to race atop water or defy gravity by accelerating up or down the sides of buildings.
His greatest and most potent ability however is the "Penance Stare" which allows him to supernaturally attack others by making them relive all of the pain and suffering that they have inflicted upon others and appears to be another extension of his hellfire which is supernaturally projected from his eye sockets.
Trivia[]
- The Ghost Rider's skull is actually a CGI image crafted from a three-dimensional x-ray taken of Nicholas Cage's head in order to better match his dimensions and appearance.
- A great deal of the Ghost Rider's appearance, accouterments, and powers in the film were heavily based upon the Daniel Ketch comic book incarnation of the Ghost Rider and not the Johnny Blaze version. For example, it was the Ketch version who wore the metal spiked biker leathers, wielded a chain weapon, and possessed the "penance stare" and not the Johnny Blaze character. Further, it was the Ketch version who established multiple incarnations of the Rider going back throughout history.
Appearances[]
Films[]
Quotes[]
- "You can't live in fear." ―Johnny Blaze; Ghost Rider
- "Sorry, all out of mercy." ―Ghost Rider to Gressil; Ghost Rider
- "Look into my eyes. Your souls are stained by the blood of the innocent. Feel their pain!" ―Ghost Rider to Blackheart; Ghost Rider
- "Yeah I'm good, feels like my skull's on fire, but I'm good." ―Johnny Blaze to Carter Slade; Ghost Rider
- "Any man that's got the guts to sell his soul for love has got the power to change the world. You didn't do it for greed, you did it for the right reason. Maybe that puts God on your side. To them that makes you dangerous, makes you unpredictable. That's the best thing you can be right now." ―Carter Slade to Johnny Blaze; Ghost Rider
- "I'm gonna own this curse, and I'm gonna use it against you. Whenever innocent blood is spilled, it'll be my father's blood. And you'll find me there, a spirit of vengeance, fighting fire with fire." ―Johnny Blaze to Mephistopheles; Ghost Rider
- "It doesn't matter how far you run, there are some demons you just can't escape." ―Johnny Blaze; Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
- "Yeah that is right. I'm the guy who made a deal with the Devil! Now I know what your thinking, doesn't this kid ever watch movies? Does this ever work out fine? Well, let's just say good judgement wasn't exactly my forte. I was possessed by an ancient demon. In the presence of evil, I change into a monster, and I prey on the wicked and I ... suck out their souls. And you don't want to be around when that happens: see there's good and bad in all of us. And maybe you're not a murderer; but you did something that you didn't want the Rider to see. A white lie, an illegal download, what about you? And you? I've tried to fight it, to hold it back. But the darkness inside me only gets stronger. That's why I had to run, halfway across the world ... and I'm still running." ―Johnny Blaze; Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
- "When we get where we're going ... the Rider's going to ... come out. And when he does... he'll destroy whoever's got it coming. Nadya, this thing... there's no reason, no conscience ... just hunger. In his eyes ... you're no different than Carrigan. You're no different than any of them." ―Johnny Blaze to Nadya; Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Other Versions[]
- Ghost Rider (X-Men: The Animated Series)
- Ghost Rider (Fantastic Four 1994 TV)
- Ghost Rider (Incredible Hulk 1996 TV)
- Ghost Rider (Agents of S.M.A.S.H.)
Related Pages[]
Affiliations[]
- Barton Blaze
- Mack
- Roxanne Simpson
- Caretaker
Ghost Rider Legacy Pages[]
