Ghost Rider

The Ghost Rider mantle has multiple narrative origins across Marvel Comics. Johnny Blaze became Ghost Rider after making a bargain—giving his soul to a being initially called 'Satan' (later identified as Mephisto) to save his foster father; Blaze is later described as bonded with the demon Zarathos. Danny Ketch became Ghost Rider after contact with a mystical motorcycle that housed the Spirit of Vengeance; that spirit was later revealed in that storyline to be an incarnation of the Angel of Death/Judgment. Robbie Reyes becomes a Ghost Rider in 2014 as a Mexican-American in East Los Angeles whose vehicle is a black muscle car. Other origins include Alejandra Jones, who became Ghost Rider through a ritual performed by a man named Adam during the 'Fear Itself' storyline, Kushala who summoned a Spirit of Vengeance after her tribe was massacred in the 1800s, and Sal Romero who was reanimated during World War II to operate as a Ghost Rider.

Appearance varies by host and circumstance. The classic Johnny Blaze depiction is a human who, at night and when near evil, finds his flesh consumed by hellfire so that his head becomes a flaming skull and his body takes on a skeletal, hellfire-wreathed form. Danny Ketch's Ghost Rider is shown in a black leather biker jacket with spiked shoulders, grey leather pants, a mystic chain worn across his chest, and a futuristic motorcycle whose wheels are composed of mystic hellfire. Robbie Reyes appears as a Mexican-American who transforms into a hellfire-associated Rider while driving a black classic muscle car rather than a motorcycle. Other hosts (Alejandra Jones, Kushala, Sal Romero, Parker Robbins) have narrative-specific visual variations.

Common abilities attributed to the Ghost Rider persona include transformation of a human into a skeletal superhuman wreathed in hellfire, projection of hellfire blasts (often from the hands), and use of a mystic vehicle whose wheels or propulsion are composed of mystic hellfire. Danny Ketch's incarnation wields a mystic chain that responds to mental command as a primary melee weapon; vehicles (motorcycles or cars) are frequently weaponized with supernatural properties. The mantle is tied to an otherworldly agency—depending on the storyline a demon (Zarathos), a Spirit of Vengeance, or an Angel of Death/Judgment—which shapes the Rider's role as a being who confronts evil and exacts retribution. The nature of the bond between human host and agency varies between cooperative and possessive across incarnations.