History YMMV / Ghostrider

** Ketch or Blaze. Most consider the Blaze era to be absurdly dated and hackneyed while the Ketch run more evergreen. Blaze fans meanwhile hate Ketch's run for being too 90s extreme (along with the taint of Howard Mackie as the creator of Ketch).

* CompleteMonster ([[UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance GBA]] version): ComicBook/{{Mephisto}} is [[BigBad behind all the evil in the game]]. Seeking to expand his hellish kingdom, Mephisto decides to create a HellOnEarth by drawing a glyph that would break the seal between Hell and Earth and trigger the apocalypse. Choosing Johnny Blaze to become the Ghost Rider, he has his dad killed, and orders Vengeance to kill his girlfriend Roxanne when Blaze refuses to serve him. Once the glyph has been drawn into the Earth by Johnny, Mephisto tries to kill Johnny so that nobody can stop him.

* BrokenBase: Ketch or Blaze. Most consider the Blaze era to be absurdly dated and hackneyed while the Ketch run more evergreen. Blaze fans meanwhile hate Ketch's run for being too 90s extreme (along with the taint of Howard Mackie as the creator of Ketch)
** Jason Aaron's take on the character in the 00s. Besides furthering Garth Ennis's transplanting of Danny Ketch's visual onto Johnny Blaze, it jetisoned pretty much all existing lore from Blaze, Ketch, Zarathos, and the franchise in general and replacing it with the Black Ops Angels, conspiracies and counter conspiracies and deep cover Angels pretending to be demons and pretty much made the Ghost Rider mythos overtly complicated and convoluted.

* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: The tie-in game for the [=PS2=] is basically a ''VideoGame/{{God of War|Series}}'' clone with a bit of ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' and ''VideoGame/RoadRash'' thrown in, and it managed to be a lot of fun, mixing all of the elements that made those games good.

** For modern readers, Robbie Reyes vs pretty much ALL of the modern "SJW pandering" heroes. Most consider Reyes to be the only good diversity themed hero Marvel has put out in the last five years and are actively bitter that Reyes was sidelined due to Secret Wars and Marvel pushing America Chavez, Mockingbird, Ms Marvel, and other female heroes. Meawhile the fans of the other female-centric characters hate Robbie Reyes, because he's male and popular with the older fans who the Alonso/Alto Marvel regime wanted to replace.

** Zadkiel, the ArchEnemy in the Jason Aaron series, is a truly monstrous excuse for an angel. The lord of the [[EvilArmy Black Host]], Zadkiel was also the angel in charge of the Spirits of Vengeance and began to desire to use them to overthrow both God and humanity. Zadkiel subtly influenced the lives of Johnny Blaze and Dan Ketch, destroying those close to them to make them vulnerable to the Ghost Rider spirits. Zadkiel, as TheManBehindTheMan, negotiated multiple deals with demons and other monsters on earth, allowing them to prey upon those they wished, while directing his other minions to murder multiple innocents in addition to those who could prove problematic--and everyone close to them as well. Even death brought no respite as Zadkiel showed a penchant for annihilating the souls of his defeated enemies. While manipulating Danny Ketch, Zadkiel showed no remorse slaughtering and torturing his angelic brethren until he finally had the powers of the Riders and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness banished Ketch and Blaze to earth to die in the apocalypse he would create]]. Zadkiel succeeded in TakingOverHeaven and began to achieve omnipotence with his final goal to [[AGodAmI become the new God]] and then commence genocide on all of humanity and all other beings who didn't worship him.

** Zadkiel, the ArchEnemy in the Jason Aaron series, is a truly monstrous excuse for an angel. The lord of the [[EvilArmy Black Host]], Zadkiel was also the angel in charge of the Spirits of Vengeance and began to desire to use them to overthrow both God and humanity. Zadkiel subtly influenced the lives of Johnny Blaze and Dan Ketch, destroying those close to them to make them vulnerable to the Ghost Rider spirits. Zadkiel, as TheManBehindTheMan, negotiated multiple deals with demons and other monsters on earth, allowing them to prey upon those they wished, while directing his other minions to murder multiple innocents in addition to those who could prove problematic--and everyone close to them as well. Even death brought no respite as Zadkiel showed a penchant for annihilating the souls of his defeated enemies. While manipulating Danny Ketch, Zadkiel showed no remorse slaughtering and torturing his angelic brethren until he finally had the powers of the Riders and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness banished Ketch and Blaze to earth to die in the apocalypse he would create]]. Zadkiel succeeded in conquering heaven and began to achieve omnipotence with his final goal to [[AGodAmI become the new God]] and then commence genocide on all of humanity and all other beings who didn't worship him.

** [[RoguesGalleryTransplant Ebenezer Laughton]], known as [[ScaryScarecrows the Scarecrow]], is a longstanding enemy of Ghost Rider. Originally trained as a contortionist, Laughton found a life of crime more exciting. Sinking further into madness and depravity, the Scarecrow began to [[WouldHurtAChild target children as murder targets]], the younger the better. He once gruesomely murdered a mother and her baby with his pitchfork. Afterwards, the Scarecrow attempted a "masterpiece" by creating a [[HumanArchitectureHorror building out of human beings]], stitching his victims together. Some weere lucky enough to be already dead. [[AndIMustScream Others weren't]]. When Ghost Rider confronted him, the Scarecrow attempted to blackmail him into avoiding a fight by stabbing the walls of the building, murdering the still-living victims and threatening to kill more if Ghost Rider didn't surrender and let Scarecrow torture him to death.

** [[SerialKiller Ebenezer Laughton]], known as [[ScaryScarecrows the Scarecrow]], is a longstanding enemy of Ghost Rider. Originally trained as a contortionist, Laughton found a life of crime more exciting. Sinking further into madness and depravity, the Scarecrow began to [[WouldHurtAChild target children as murder targets]], the younger the better. He once gruesomely murdered a mother and her baby with his pitchfork. Afterwards, the Scarecrow attempted a "masterpiece" by creating a [[HumanArchitectureHorror building out of human beings]], stitching his victims together. Some weere lucky enough to be already dead. [[AndIMustScream Others weren't]]. When Ghost Rider confronted him, the Scarecrow attempted to blackmail him into avoiding a fight by stabbing the walls of the building, murdering the still-living victims and threatening to kill more if Ghost Rider didn't surrender and let Scarecrow torture him to death.

** [[AxCrazy Ebenezer Laughton]], known as [[SerialKiller The Scarecrow]], is a longstanding enemy of Ghost Rider. Originally trained as a contortionist, Laughton found a life of crime more exciting. Sinking further into madness and depravity, the Scarecrow began to [[WouldHurtAChild target children as murder targets]], the younger the better. He once gruesomely murdered a mother and her baby with his pitchfork. Afterwards, the Scarecrow attempted a "masterpiece" by creating a building out of human beings, stitching his victims together. Some where lucky enough to be already dead. Others weren't. When Ghost Rider confronted him, the Scarecrow attempted to blackmail him into avoiding a fight by stabbing the walls of the building, murdering the still living victim and threatening to kill more if Ghost Rider didn't surrender and let Scarecrow torture him to death.

** [[BigBad Blackheart]], a [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils prince of Hell]] and the son of the aforementioned Mephisto, is given more characterization in the extended cut. Jealous of his father's power and angered by the fact that he gave the power of Hellfire to a lowly human instead of him, Blackheart plans to obtain the contract of San Venganza, which would grant him the power of a thousand evil souls who made a DealWithTheDevil. Blackheart plans to use the power of the contract to create HellOnEarth and devour as many souls as he can, then using his new power to overthrow his father. Throughout the movie, Blackheart murders almost every human he comes into contact with, only sparing those who can serve his plans later. On his search for the contract, he heads to the Caretaker and starts beating him for information on where the contract is. He then decides to kidnap Johnny Blaze’s girlfriend, Roxanne, and hold her hostage, promising her release for the contract. [[BadBoss Not even his partners are safe from him]], as he only sees/uses them as muscle against Ghost Rider, and quickly abandons one of them when he starts losing to him.

** [[BigBad Blackheart]], a [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils prince of Hell]] and the son of Mephisto(pheles), is given more characterization in the extended cut. Jealous of his father's power and angered by the fact that he gave the power of Hellfire to a lowly human instead of him, Blackheart plans to obtain the contract of San Venganza, which would grant him the power of a thousand evil souls who made a DealWithTheDevil. Blackheart plans to use the power of the contract to create HellOnEarth and devour as many souls as he can, then using his new power to overthrow his father. Throughout the movie, Blackheart murders almost every human he comes into contact with, only sparing those who can serve his plans later. On his search for the contract, he heads to the Caretaker and starts beating him for information on where the contract is. He then decides to kidnap Johnny Blaze’s girlfriend, Roxanne, and hold her hostage, promising her release for the contract. [[BadBoss Not even his partners are safe from him]], as he only sees/uses them as muscle against Ghost Rider, and quickly abandons one of them when he starts losing to him.
** The aforementioned ComicBook/{{Mephisto}} is the ultimate ruler of Hell and seeks to spread his influence on Earth. In the first film, he seeks the contract of San Venganza and collect the thousands of souls he bargained with, and tricked Johnny Blaze into a deal that cursed him with the Ghost Rider to save Johnny's father from cancer, only [[KickTheDog to kill Johnny's father the next day]] to let Johnny know he's his property. Later, Mephisto sends Johnny to kill his rebellious son, the aforementioned Blackheart. In [[Film/GhostRiderSpiritOfVengeance the sequel]], Mephisto, as [[BigBad Roarke]], reveals that in order to walk on Earth he needs a human body; not only does this limit his power but his current body is now dying. Among [[HistoricalRapSheet his previous host bodies]] were UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, UsefulNotes/IdiAmin, and [[SerialKiller John Wayne Gacy]]. To create a permanent and powerful host body, Mephisto conceived a child with Nadya Ketch. It's also revealed that in order to create the Ghost Rider, Mephisto dragged Zarathos, the Angel of Justice, into hell, torturing and twisting him into insanity. When Nadya and her child Danny escape, Mephisto masterminds a demonic conspiracy of murder to get his hands on Danny in preparation to destroy the boy's soul, possess him and bring about the Anti Christ. When Johnny, Nadya and Moreau disrupt this ritual, Mephisto makes a final attempt to flee and abduct Danny before his final confrontation with Ghost Rider.

* WhyWouldAnyoneTakeHimBack: Roxanne appears to be a successful, confident adult woman who runs into the ex-boyfriend who, when they were teenagers, left her with no explanation. He proceeds to badger her into a date by [[ForcefulKiss forcibly kissing]] her only to turn around and stand her up again, yet she's the one who comes after ''him'' to apologize??

* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: The tie-in game for the [=PS2=] is basically a ''VideoGame/{{God of War|Series}}'' clone with a bit of ''Franchise/DevilMayCry'' and ''VideoGame/RoadRash'' thrown in, and it managed to be a lot of fun, mixing all of the elements that made those games good.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The scenes with the actual Ghost Rider in them, as in full flaming skull mode, are usually considered the best and most well remembered parts of the movie, with badassery and cool visual effects.

* FridgeLogic:
** If Blackheart and Mephistopheles aren't able to enter Holy Ground, hence the reason Carter Slade was able to keep the Contract safe for over 150 years... how come both were shown to be perfectly able to enter ''churches''?!
*** I think it's the condition of said churches. The one Blackheart's in at first might not have been properly blessed to truly ward off evil. You know moral decay/ignorance over the centuries. The second time was in the ruins of a town whose entire populace sold their souls to create the Contract. You think God would leave any part of such a place holy?
** Another issue that is never addressed is that Johnny never willingly sold his soul in the first place, nor did he sign the contract? The point of making a deal with the devil is not for him to trick you into giving your soul to him, but to make you ''want'' to give your soul to him! ''That'' is the trick! If accidentally cutting himself to have his blood fall on the contract was all that was needed, Mephistopheles could have stabbed him in the chest and still gotten his soul, by that logic?! And since when did a sarcastic, "Yeah, right?", ever count as an affirmation when making a deal with the devil? There's an long history of ''etiquette'' in how these deals are done and isn't the whole point of the Ghost Riders that Mephistopheles is the sort of person who at least has some ''[[EvenEvilHasStandards standards]]''?!
*** [[EvilIsPetty No, he really doesn't.]] That's why he plays the LiteralGenie and JackassGenie. He really does get off on being that evil.
*** Probably the reason this was retconned in the sequel, with a flashback showing Johnny ''willingly'' giving up his soul.

* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Robbie - people started pairing him with [[ComicBook/MsMarvel2014 Kamala Khan]], [[ComicBook/{{Runaways}} Nico Minoru]] and the ''ComicBook/NewWarriors'' new DarkActionGirl, Water Snake, before the first issue of his series was even published. And once it was, it only strengthened these ideas. Later ships with [[ComicBook/{{Venom}} Agent Venom's]] sidekick Mania, ComicBook/{{X23}} and TheIncredibleHulk's daughter Lyra, showed up.

** ''Midnight Sons'': Clarisee [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Van Ripper]], from the first ''Unlimited'' issue's story "Eyes of the Beholder", is a deeply psychotic SerialKiller who primarily preys on [[WouldHurtAChild children]]. As a young woman, Ripper welcomed a bunch of children to her home to play, but [[ForTheEvulz decided that she needed some entertainment back]], so to this end Ripper decided to go around the house and kill every child she came across. While chasing one child who saw her kill another, she is paralyzed and put in a wheelchair but manages to escape justice anyway. Forty years later, a demon comes and gives her demonic powers, which she instantly abuses to kill a random couple and then kill a bunch of other children. When Ghost Rider investigates, Ripper becomes worried that he might steal her powers, so she sends a demon to kill him. Although the comic has multiple vicious cult leaders and {{serial killer}}s, Ripper stands out by being the only one who's MO is primarily targeting children.

** ComicBook/{{Mephisto}}, Ghost Rider's boss, can be seen at his own page.
** ''ComicBook/AllNewGhostRider'' has Eli Morrow. See that page for more details.

** The aforementioned ComicBook/{{Mephisto}} is the ultimate ruler of Hell and seeks to spread his influence on Earth. In the first film, he seeks the contract of San Venganza and collect the thousands of souls he bargained with, and tricked Johnny Blaze into a deal that cursed him with the Ghost Rider to save Johnny's father from cancer, only [[KickTheDog to kill Johnny's father the next day]] to let Johnny know he's his property. Later, Mephisto sends Johnny to kill his rebellious son, the aforementioned Blackheart. He reappears in [[Film/GhostRiderSpiritOfVengeance the sequel]].

* NoProblemWithLicensedGames: The tie-in game for the [=PS2=] is basically a ''VideoGame/{{God of War|Series}}'' clone with a bit of ''Franchise/DevilMayCry'' and ''VideoGame/RoadRash'' thrown in, and it managed to be a lot of fun, mixing all of the elements that made those games good.

* CompleteMonster: In the extended cut, the BigBad, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Blackheart]], is a [[TheEvilPrince prince of Hell]] and the [[TheAntiChrist son]] of ComicBook/{{Mephisto}}(pheles). [[DrivenByEnvy Jealous]] of his father's power and angered by the fact that he gave the power of Hellfire to a lowly human instead of him, Blackheart plans to obtain the contract of San Venganza, which would grant him the power of a thousand evil souls who made a DealWithTheDevil. Blackheart plans to use the power of the contract to create HellOnEarth and [[YourSoulIsMine devour as many souls]] as he can, then using his new power to overthrow his father. Throughout the movie, Blackheart [[AxCrazy murders almost every human he comes into contact with]], only sparing those who can serve his plans later. On his search for the contract, he heads to [[CoolOldGuy the Caretaker]] and starts [[ColdBloodedTorture beating him for information]] on where the contract is. He then decides to kidnap Johnny Blaze’s girlfriend, Roxanne, and hold her hostage, promising her release for the contract. Not even his [[CoDragons partners]] [[BadBoss are safe from him]], as he only sees/uses them as muscle against Ghost Rider, and [[YouHaveFailedMe quickly abandons one of them when he starts losing to him]]. Despite his [[PsychopathicManchild childish personality]], Blackheart proved to be more evil than Mephistopheles himself.