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GHOST RIDER I - Not to be confused with the Ghost Rider of the "Old-West" era. Real Name: John "Johnny" Blaze Occupation: Former stunt motorcyclist Legal Status: American with no criminal record Identity: Johnny Blaze's former identity as the Demonic Ghost Rider is unknown to the general public. Other Aliases: The Ghost Rider Place of Birth: Waukegan, Illinois Marital Status: Single Known Relatives: Barton (father, deceased), Clara (mother, deceased), Craig "Crash" Simpson (stepfather, deceased), Mona Simpson (stepmother, deceased), Roxanne Simpson (wife) Group Affiliation: Former member of the Champions of Los Angeles First Appearance: MARVEL SPOTLIGHT #5 History: Johnny Blaze was the son of stunt motorcyclist Barton Blaze, the top attraction at Crash Simpson's Daredevil Cycle Show. The Elder Blaze was killed performing a dangerous stunt, and Johnny, now an orphan (his mother Clara having died shortly after

Blaze also began to take interest in the occult. Just when then the Simpson Cycle Show was about to get a chance at fame with a booking at New York City's Madison Square Garden, Crash Simpson learned that he was dying of a rare blood disease. Desperate to save his stepfather, Blaze performed a ritual to summon up the "devil," whom Blaze believed to be the Biblical Satan but was actually the demon lord Mephisto. Mephisto agreed to save Simpson from his fatal disease in return for Blaze's soul. At Madison Square Garden, Crash Simpson performed the greatest stunt of his career, a cycle jump over 22 cars widths, and crashed to his death. Blaze was shocked, since he believed the "devil" would protect his stepfather. When Mephisto appeared to collect Blaze's soul, the demon explained that only promised to save Simpson from the diseased, and nothing more. However, before

Zarathos was a demon who attacked human souls. In order to capture Zarathos, many centuries ago Mephisto stole the soul of an American Indian now known as Centurious. When Zarathos' attacked on Centurious therefore proved ineffective, the demon's followers lost faith in him. Mephisto then stole the living flames that was Zarathos' soul. Over the centuries Mephisto amused himself by placing the essence of Zarathos within various human hosts. Johnny Blaze was the latest of these. Blaze was unaware of the separate consciousness of the being that dwelled within him, and believed that the demonic personality was a sinister side of his own personality. At first the demon manifested itself every nightfall, mystically burning Blaze's flesh to become a fiery skeletal being. Using his demonic hellfire to create a fiery motorcycle to ride, the composite Zarathos. Blaze entity became publicly known as the Ghost Rider. Whenever the Ghost Rider returned to human form, Blaze's flesh would immediately restore.

At first Johnny Blaze dominated the Ghost Rider's personality. After a few months, Blaze's automatic transformations at nightfall ended. He then became the Ghost Rider whenever he mystically sensed "evil" in his vicinity. Later, Blaze was able to control his transformations as well as the actions of the demon when it manifested itself. It was during this period that the Ghost Rider became a member of the Champions of Los Angeles, a short-lived group of superhuman adventurers. But the more Blaze became the Ghost

Centurious still lived and sought vengeance on Zarathos for being the reason why he lost his soul. Centurious entrapped Blaze's soul within his "crystal of souls" and then defeated Zarathos. Zarathos cracked open the crystal, releasing Blaze's soul and many others, and entrapping Centurious within the crystal when it mystically resealed. An associate of Centurious offered to send Zarathos into the crystal to take vengeance, and the demon agreed. Zarathos' essence was sucked out of Blaze's body into the crystal, where Zarathos grapples eternally with Centurious, neither able to defeat the other.

Johnny Blaze thus been permanently freed his bond to Zarathos. Blaze and Roxanne Simpson have been traveled through America together by motorcycle. Ghost Rider roared to life once again when teenager Dan Ketch and his sister, Barbara, chanced upon the illegal activities of the crime lord Deathwatch. The siblings attempted to escape, but Barbara Ketch was mortally wounded. Soaked in blood after dragging his sister's body into a trash heap, Dan Ketch came across a mysterious, mystical motorcycle. Touching its glowing gas cap, he stood transformed into the Spirit of Vengeance. Ghost Rider's return attracted the attention of Blaze, who believed him to be Zarathos. Blaze set out to exorcise the demon, thereby liberating its hapless host. But when Ghost Rider convinced his predecessor he was not Zarathos, the two became allies. Later, Blaze and Ketch learned they were long-lost brothers.

Having lost his wife and children, Blaze again found himself possessed by the demon Zarathos. And so Ghost Rider - blood-born Spirit of Vengeance, High Lord of Hell on Earth - haunted America's highways, visiting his righteous wrath upon the souls of the wicked and the damned.

Height: 5 ft. 10 in.
Weight: 180 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Reddish blond

Strength Level: Johnny Blaze possesses the normal human  strength of a man of his age, height, and build, who engages in moderate regular exercise.

Johnny Blaze The original Ghost Rider

Known Superhuman Powers: As the Ghost Rider, Blaze possessed superhuman strength, enabling him to lift (press) about 5 tons, and immunity to must forms of conventional injury. He could create "hellfire" that could harm or traumatize a human soul, and with which he created a fiery motorcycle he rode. Blaze possessed none of these powers in human form. Other Abilities: Johnny Blaze is one of the greatest living stunt motorcyclists. He has some knowledge of the occult, but has forsworn using it.

Ghost Rider II - Not to be confused with Ghost Rider I Real Name: Noble Kale (once co-opted the identity of Dan Ketch) Class: Demon/mystically altered human  Affiliations: Ancestor of the current Ghost Rider and Jennifer Kale ; member of the Midnight Sons Scale of Operations: Nationwide ; pan-dimensional Powers: Noble Kale was transformed into a demon, giving him superhuman strength, agility, and resistance to injury. He could summon a motorcycle and travel with it at fantastic speeds as well as defy gravity by racing along walls. He could also summon mystic flames, called Soulfire, and weild it for a variety of effects such as creating walls of flame and throwing fireballs or producing blasts of Soulfire. Ghost Rider also used a length of chain as a weapon.

History: Noble Kale was the son of a pastor during the 18th century in a northeastern American colony. Noble fell in love with a black woman known as Magdelena, but the pastor discovered this secret and burned Magdelena at the stake. As she burned, Magdelena pronounced a curse on Pastor Kale and the entire town, releasing the demonic Furies upon them. Fearing the curse, Kale was approached by the demon Mephisto who made a deal with the pastor: Mephisto would claim the soul of his son Noble and transform him into a demon in return from protection from the curse. Noble Kale was transformed into a being known as Ghost Rider, who promptly destroyed the Furies. Pastor Kale, believing it the only way to cure his son from being the Ghost Rider, offered him some food: Noble Kale's own son. Unwilling to devour his own flesh and blood, Ghost Rider killed himself. Upon his death, Mephisto appeared to claim Noble soul. However, the angel Uriel also appeared, contesting Mephisto's claim to the soul. Instead, a compromise was reached: Noble would not be claimed by either realm, but instead be placed in a void, only to appear when one of his descendants summoned him.

Thus began the legend of the Ghost Rider, for when the demon would be summoned, it would forever appear whenever innocent life was harmed or threatened and would seek to mete vengeance upon those who would harm the innocent, regardless of the wishes of the summoner. Over the course of history, Ghost Rider was called upon

by many of his descendants, who would physically transform into the demon when it appeared. One such ancestor, during World War I, called upon Ghost Rider to fight his arch rival Verminous Rex.

Years later, the woman Naomi Kale inherited the powers of the Ghost Rider, under circumstances not fully revealed. Naomi felt that she could not subject her children to such a life and, hoping that such actions would free them from the curse, abandoned her children, John (later known as Johnny Blaze)and Dan and Barbara (later known as Dan and Barbara Ketch).

Note: John, through unrelated circumstances, became known as Ghost Rider due to his association with the demon Zarathos, but he later retired such identity after the demon left his body. Some time after Blaze retired his Ghost Rider identity, Dan Ketch would become known as the second Ghost Rider.

Daniel Ketch had grown up with his sister, Barbara, in Brooklyn, New York. One day, they were visiting Cypress Hills Cemetery on Halloween Eve. They accidentally stumbled upon a confrontation between two warring mobs, one led by the Kingpin and the others led by the mysterious Deathwatch. Barbara and Daniel were discovered and Barbara was mortally injured by a crossbow bolt fired by one of Deathwatch's men. Meanwhile, the members of a teenage gang, known as the Cypress Pool Jokers, grabbed a mysterious case that the two gangs were figthing

over. The frightened Daniel hid himself and his sister in a nearby junkyard. They hid next to a motorcycle that was too new to be in the junkyard. His hand covered by his sister's blood, Daniel vowed that he would do anything to save her. In so doing, Daniel summoned the demon Ghost Rider, physically transforming into it.

Ghost Rider attacked, but Deathwatch got away. Ghost Rider then took the injured Barbara to the hospital and disappeared. The scared Daniel Ketch soon discovered that when night fell, and whenever the blood of an innocent was spilt nearby, he would be transformed into Ghost Rider and compelled to mete out vengeance. Unfortunately, Ghost Rider could never remember his true origin and life as Noble Kale.

During the following weeks, Deathwatch's organization and Ghost Rider clashed many times. Ghost Rider soon discovered that the mysterious attaché case from the cemetery contained canisters of a virulent mutated biotoxin that could be spread through the air. Ghost Rider was able to stop Deathwatch and his lackey Blackout from releasing the plague. Blackout escaped

the encounter and later figured out that Daniel Ketch was Ghost Rider. The maddened Blackout sneaked into a hospital and killed Daniel's unconscious sister.

Ghost Rider continued his reign of vengeance. Over time, Ghost Rider encountered a number of villains, such as Mr. Hyde and the Scarecrow. He also met and teamed up with other vigilantes and heroes, notably the Punisher, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Moon Knight, and Doctor Strange.

During one adventure, Ketch was captured by Johnny Blaze who felt a mystical link with Ghost Rider. Blaze planned to hold Ketch until he turned into Ghost Rider, and then kill the demon. However, after a brief battle between the two, Ghost Rider mystically endowed Blaze with power. The two teamed up to defeat Blackout and Deathwatch, who had killed a number of people nearby in hopes to draw Ghost Rider out. After the battle, Ketch and Blaze formed an uneasy alliance, unaware of their true origin as long-lost brothers.

Blaze was eventually convinced that Ghost Rider was not the demon Zarathos. Ghost Rider joined other mystically-enhanced vigiliantes in forming the team Midnight Sons, in hopes that he might learn more of his true origins. Eventually, it was as a Midnight Son that Ghost Rider encountered and fought Zarathos. Zarathos, however, defeated and killed Ghost Rider and thus Dan Ketch.

Dan Ketch/Ghost Rider was nevertheless resurrected by the crime lord Anton Hellgate, in hopes that Ghost Rider would join his organization. Ghost Rider refused and tried to stop Hellgate's criminal reign.

Ketch, newly determined to discover the true origin of Ghost Rider, continued life under Ghost Rider's continual search for vengeance. Later, after an encounter with the demon Vengeance, Ghost Rider and Blaze sought the help of the young sorceress Jennifer Kale. Thus, Ghost Rider was able to discover fragments of his past, as well as reveal the truth of Ketch and Blaze's relationship, plus the fact they are distant cousins of Jennifer Kale. Ghost Rider became determined to stay in our world on a more permanent basis by escaping the void he was trapped in while not on Earth.

Soon, Ghost Rider encounter other spirits of vengeance, each with powers equal to his own. Pao Fu, Verminous Rex, Doghead, and Wallow sought either Ghost Rider's leadership or his death. Refusing to lead such hellish creatures, Pao Fu killed Ghost Rider instantly, and took him to her master Blackheart, the son of the demon Mephisto. Blackheart had Ghost Rider revived by the kiss of his demoness Black Rose, and offered Ghost Rider a deal. The deal was that Ghost Rider would lead Blackheart's new spirits of vengeance, marry Pao Fu and Black Rose, and Ghost Rider could return to his original body. Ghost Rider immediately accepted, and became human once again. Dan Ketch, in a similar manner, was resurrected, severed from Ghost Rider and given the opportunity to lead a normal life.

After the wedding, Ghost Rider gave Black Rose and Pao Fu their freedom from Blackheart. However, Blackheart interjected and began a battle among the spirits of vengeance in which only one would survive. When all seemed at a loss, Dan Ketch appeared, having completed a quest to learn that which Ghost Rider needed to survive: his lost memories. Giving Ghost Rider the memories at the expense of his own life, Ketch died. With his memories restored, however, Ghost Rider finally accepted his destiny as an angel of death. Putting this knowledge to use, Ghost Rider immediately destroyed Blackheart and becoming the new ruler of Blackheart's dimension. He even set up Roxanne, the deceased wife of John Blaze, as one of his brides of Hell. However, months later, the spirit of Ghost Rider sought out Dan Ketch once more, who somehow remained alive and living in New York. This spirit told Ketch that the details of

Noble Kale's life was all lies, convincing Ketch to merge with him, recreating Ketch into Ghost Rider. (Since Mephisto has since been seen having returned to rule Hell, it is possible that his return outsed Kale's spirit.) The recreated vigilante ran up against Spider-Man, but the two parted company.

More recently, John Blaze has reassumed his original identity of Ghost Rider. The full implications of this and what it reveals about Blaze, Ketch, and Noble Kale remains unrevealed.