Villains and antagonists from the Ghost Rider series.
Remember, except where stated otherwise, this is only for characters and examples from the main Marvel Universe (referred to in-universe as Earth-616). Please do not list characters or examples from shows, movies or alternate universe versions here. If you've thought of a trope that fits an alternate version of these characters, please take that example to its respective sheet.
WARNING: There are unmarked spoilers on these sheets for all but the most recent comics.
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Rogues Gallery
Asmodeus
Asmodeus
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 2) #53 (February, 1981)
Originally an angel who joined Lucifer's rebellion against God during his war in Heaven, Asmodeus was cast out like Lucifer and others, Asmodeus degenerated into a demon and came to rule a subsection of the nether realm Hell. He also mated with fellow outcast Lilith, parenting many demonic offspring, though most were slain by agents of Heaven.
For Asmodeus's tropes, see his entry on the Marvel Comics: Demons page.
Ba'al Hadad
Ba'al Hadad
Alter Ego: Hadad
Notable Aliases: Ba'al
First Appearance: Wolverine (Vol. 2) #11 (September, 1989)
Storm God of the Mesopotamian religions.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: He's green.
- Beard of Evil/Bald of Evil:The amount of hair he has varies from very little to none at all.
- Composite Character: Of the various Ba'als, Ba'al Hadad is where his powers come from, the blood spilling of his followers comes from Ba'al Hammon, the association with the Gehenna refuse dump is probably from Ba'al Berith or Ba'al Peor and the degeneration into a demon is of course from medieval demonology.
- Demonic Possession:Not often, he only did so out of necessity when most of his body was destroyed.
- Elemental Powers: Worshiped as a storm god, it is to be expected.
- Blow You Away: Which can help him move around, too.
- Making a Splash: Not that it would be much use against Ghost Rider but great for his crop growing followers when he was less of an evil bastard than he is now.
- Shock and Awe: Green electricity sometimes to match the rest of him.
- Eviler than Thou: The tetrarchs of entropy, old foes of the Avengers, briefly show up while he is trapped in the same dimension they are and try to escape at the same time he does but Ba'al shoves them back in. This did not turn out so well for him later when a Windigo sided with John Blaze against him. Ba'al would not have had any trouble defeating Blaze if he was alone, since Blaze could not become a Ghost Rider at the time.
- First Law of Resurrection: God gave mankind the ability to kill him and the deed was done. Then he showed up again because an author still wanted to use him.
- Hell: Just for pun, the actual valley of Gehenna was where the Hand Of God beat him down. Gehenna being a garbage dump site that was metaphorically compared to hell.
- I Have Many Names: Hadad is among the most popular of them.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Yeah, he is bad news.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Originally an enemy of Wolverine.
- Totally Not a Werewolf: The Ba'alim, his followers, are known for drinking blood and are sometimes granted special powers but they are not vampires.
Crimson Mage
Crimson Mage
Alter Ego: Azaziah
Notable Aliases: Azaziah Hornsby
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 2) #43 (April, 1980)
Azaziah discovered a mystic orb long ago. The orb gave him great power and allowed him to live for centuries. However, the orb grew weak over the years and threaten the mage's existence.
- Color Character: Crimson Mage
- Killed Off for Real: During his fight with Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze destroyed his mystic orb. This act caused Azaziah to quickly age and died.
- Wizard Beard: A thick and classical beard.
D'Kay
D'Kay
First Appearance: Marvel Comics Presents #116 (November, 1992)
A demon from the Pit who tried to destroy humanity. D'Kay was lesser than most Hell-Lords, but commanded his own realm of Hell.
For D'Kay's tropes, see his entry on the Marvel Comics: Demons page.
Darkhold Dwarf
Darkhold Dwarf
Notable Aliases: Dwarf, Hand of Chthon
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 3) #28 (August, 1992)
A being that has some sort of connection with the Darkhold. He seals page of the book into black envelopes and distributes them to people for nefarious reasons.
Death Ninja
Death Ninja
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 3) #3 (July, 1990)
An undead ninja who was an enemy of Ghost Rider.
- Back for the Dead: After not being seen since the nineties, he and Doghead were killed by the Ghost Rider finally during Ghost Rider #26 in 2008.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: An undead ninja.
Dormammu
Dormammu
First Appearance: Strange Tales #126 (November, 1964)
Dormammu is the Ruler of the Dark Dimension, a being of immense mystical power. He uses his vast powers to conquer other universes and dimensions, earning himself the enmity of Doctor Strange in the process.
Dread
Dread
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 3) #47 (March, 1994)
Dread was an individual that died and was brought back to life by Anton Hellgate to serve as one of his assassins. Hellgate gave Dread augmented powers, limited psychic abilities and an energy sword. Dread would come into conflict with Vengeance, Spider-Man and Ghost Rider.
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: Dread used a sword which he was able to channel an unknown form of energy through. It also could harm demonic entities and cut through pavement.
- Secondary Color Nemesis: His outfit is purple.
Hag
Hag
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 3) #23 (March, 1992)
Hag is one of Deathwatch's assistants, a member of the Deathspawn.
- Combat Stilettos: Her boots have high heels.
- Ironic Name: She doesn't look very hag-like.
- Secondary Color Nemesis: Dresses in purple and green.
- Shoulders of Doom: Has some pretty noticeable shoulder pads.
- Stripperiffic: Her clothes are pretty revealing.
Highwayman
Highwayman
Alter Ego: Jefferson Hercules Archer
First Appearance: US 1 #1 (May, 1983)
US Archer's arch enemy/brother. He is now a demon known as the Highway Man
- Cain and Abel: The Cain to his brother Ulysses' Abel.
- Eyepatch of Power: Has one over his right eye.
- Kill It with Fire: Seems to be the only way to truly put him down. And even that's only temporary.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: His signature outfit.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Started out as a villain in the obscure U.S. 1 trucker comic from The '70s. Due to the close proximity between trucker and biker culture, his transition to Ghost Rider villain was quite appropriate.
Kazann
Kazann
Alter Ego: Micah
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 5) #2 (December, 2005)
Former angel and now demon of Hell.
For Kazann's tropes, see his entry on the Marvel Comics: Demons page.
Kid Blackheart
Kid Blackheart
Alter Ego: Anton Satan
Notable Aliases: Antichrist, Hell-Child, Junior Blackheart, Lord Blackheart, Prince of Darkness
First Appearance: Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire #1 (August, 2009)
Anton Satan was born as part of Project Blackheart, a breeding program organized by a church of Satanists using the worst human beings; murderers, rapists, cannibals, and CEO's, all for the purpose of creating the Anti-Christ.
- Antichrist: One of Satan's many children, Anton is the only one so far to be directly referred to as the Anti-Christ. This has more to do with the fact that (aside from Hellstrom) he is the only one of those children still alive more than anything. Still, he is the son of Satan, which makes him an all around dick.
- Arc Villain: Only appears in Heaven's on Fire.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Wants to conquer Heaven for his father, but when he is put in actual physical danger, he quickly is shown to be out of his league.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Well, he is the Anti-Christ. Goes so far as to threaten to sell his employees children's organs if they don't stop slacking off.
- Dirty Kid: Openly gropes Sara while riding with her on her bike, and calls her a "feisty Catholic" when she forces him to stop.
- Enemy Mine: Because Zadkiel had taken over Heaven, the Ghost Rider's needed allies in all the places they could get. Seeing as Zadkiel's agents were gunning for him too, he begrudgingly agrees to go along with them. As soon as Zadkiel is defeated, he attempts to invade heaven.
- Killed Offscreen: Is killed by the assembled Ghost Riders right after they defeat Zadkiel, just after reaching Heaven in the first place.
- Young and in Charge: A young boy who is also a Corrupt Corporate Executive in charge of his small Hellish faction.
Madcap
Madcap
Notable Aliases: Deadpool
First Appearance: Captain America Vol. 1, #307 (July, 1985)
The villain known as Madcap is a disturbed man who is trying to make everyone see that the universe does not make sense. He has amazing recuperative and healing powers.
Night Terror
Night Terror
Alter Ego: Carl Blake
First Appearance: Ghost Rider Annual #1 (September, 1993)
Vampire assassin once employed by a top secret US Governmental agency for a period.
- Fashionable Asymmetry: One side of his head is shaved, the other is in dreadlocks.
- Ghost Memory: He can see another person's memories by drinking their blood.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: When Ghost Rider finally catches him. It doesn't kill him but slows him down enough to be caught in an explosion that took out the building they were in. Unfortunately for Ghost Rider, that didn't kill him either. Seems Danny Ketch and Kale weren't too familiar with vampire weaknesses.
- Misanthrope Supreme: He didn't choose to become a vampire, but this is why Steppin Razor decided to turn him.
- Mugging the Monster: How he first meets Ghost Rider.
- Not Quite Flight: As a member of the Varnae/Dracula line of vampires, he can turn into mist but he also has a nonstandard ability to levitate. Not enough to really fly but enough to stand on and jump off things that really shouldn't support his weight.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: He started out as a foe of Ghost Rider but he became more important in Blade's stories, where he was finally finished off.
- Scary Black Man: Though he has to prove it first, as the goofy haircut is kind of disarming.
- Sunglasses at Night: He might need to, since Blade does too. Or maybe he just likes to, as Steppin Razor did not need them.
Null the Living Darkness
Null the Living Darkness
First Appearance: Defenders #103 (January, 1982)
Null is a horrible monster born from the despair of an extinct race.
- Eldritch Abomination: A black mass of tentacles with red eyes on the center.
- Mind Control: Controlled Overmind in order to try and destroy Earth-712, only to be stopped by the Defenders and the Squadron Supreme.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Its eyes are all red.
Pilgrim
Pilgrim
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 3) #28 (August, 1992)
A Lilin with teleporting capabilities.
- Dreadlock Warrior: His hair appears to be made of dreadlocks.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Wears rounded spectacles and is a servant of Lilith.
- Thinking Up Portals: Pilgrim can cut a mystical portal in any substance that can late act as a door to to teleport from one location to another. These portals can teleport as many as possible but it can only stay open for a few minutes.
Rak
Rak
Alter Ego:
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 3) #46 (February, 1994)
Experiment and agent of Anton Hellgate. Rigor Mortis
Rigor Mortis
First Appearance: Ghost Rider Annual #1 (September, 1993)
Ghost Rider villainess who controls gigantic worm-like creatures. She was buried beneath Cypress Hill cemetery.
- Two-Faced: Half her face seems to be a skull.
Ruth
Ruth
Notable Aliases: Wrath of God
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 5) #1 (September, 2005)
An archangel and one of the most powerful warrior of the forces of Heaven (her unseen sister Esther, and Jesus are the only one to exceed her power apparently). She is tasked with bringing back the demon Kazann to Hell and clashes with Ghost Rider and the demon Hoss in the process. Strong and efficient but completely ruthless and indifferent to the loss of human life. So far she has only appeared in Volume Five of Ghost Rider.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Relatively speaking. Compared to Kazann, she's still a violent angel indifferent to human suffering but her goal isn't to flood the Earth with demons. However it's inverted with every other characters: she's more violent and cruel than Ghost Rider (who in the volume is portrayed as a bit of a Nominal Hero) and Hoss, a demon, to the point that the latter is not only wary of her but also disturbed by some of her actions.
- Anti-Villain: A Downlplayed Type III. She opposes Ghost Rider but has the same goal as he does (bringing in a demon) yet she has a very violent way of dealing with the problem.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: She never speaks but is one of Heaven's most powerful and ruthless agent.
- Celestial Paragons and Archangels: She's an archangel and the third or second most powerful heavenly creature in existence, with only her sister Esther rivaling her and Jesus surpassing her.
- The Dreaded: So much so that Malachi, a fellow angel, is so terrified of her that he is willing to bust Johnny Blaze out of Hell under the slim chance that the Ghost Rider might be fast enough to catch Kazaan before she does. When he is notified that Hoss is also on the trail and that he and Johnny have teamed up, he says it doesn't matter so long as they succeed before Ruth does.
- His fears end up being justified, as once the truth comes out about Kazaan, she tears his wings off and leaves him trapped in Hell to suffer for all eternity. It's left ambiguous if she was being merciful or not.
- Establishing Character Moment: We first meet her sitting in a bus stop diner next to a young boy and his mother. The boy, having "the sight" tells his mother that the woman next to them is an angel. The mother tells her son not to make up stories and apologizes to Ruth. Ruth then locks eyes with the boy and, making a sign with her hand, gets up to leave. The boy, with a look of terror on his face, tells his mother that he is a sinner while pointing a pencil at his eyes. The mother's screams of terror can be heard as Ruth exits the diner.
- Expy: Both in terms of characterization and role in the story, she's very similar to the different Terminators:
- She's a superhuman creature from another dimension who serves unseen forces, sent to fulfill a specific task and seeks to single-mindedly complete it without any restraints.
- She communicates very little and is capable of extreme brutality while having no reactions to said violence. Yet at times, she's shown to be sadistic and petty.
- She has an unremarkable human form to conceal her true nature, is magnitude more resilient and stronger than what her appearance lets on and portrayed as unstoppable.
- During her mission she faces beings whose nature is similar to hers, but who are weaker (like the T-1000 and TX against the T-800).
- Despite having superhuman abilities, she also uses conventional weaponry (guns) and means of transportation (riding a biker motorcycle like the T-800 and driving a bus to roll over someone like the T-1000, seen in Judgment Day).
- Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: She's a beautiful angel in human form but also a sociopathic soldier.
- Icy Blue Eyes: She has blue eyes and a stoic personality bordering on sociopathic.
- Implacable Man: No matter what gets thrown at her, she doesn't even slow down.
- Improbable Weapon User: She beats Hoss into submission by slamming him with an henchman of the villain (who is still alive when she does so).
- Invincible Villain: To those who stand in her way.
- Karma Houdini: After all she's done, she still successfully completes her mission (by having Ghost Rider doing it for her), punishes a traitor to her side and will likely earns herself a promotion for the last two and is last seen leaving Hell with Hoss.
- Kick the Dog: The first time she appears, she uses her powers to compel a kid to stab himself in the eye because he could see she was an angel and threatened her cover.
- Light Is Not Good: She is an angel and wears bright colors (light grey pants and jacket with yellow shirt) but is a good guy in title only. Considering who wrote the volume, it's hardly a surprise.
- Meaningful Name: Her name is a reference to the Book of Ruth, like the name of her sister is a reference to the Book of Esther.
- On a lighter note: she's a soldier of Heaven who is completely ruthless.
- Mook Horror Show: Bullets, grenades, rockets; nothing works against this un-killable woman, as the local security forces learn the hard way. It gets even worse when she starts killing them with each other.
- Muscles Are Meaningless: Thanks to being a powerful mystical creature. She has the appearance of a thin regular human woman yet ripped out the brain of a man with her bare hand and threw a bus at Ghost Rider one-handedly among other things.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: She shrugs off bullets and comes out unscathed from a bus crash among other things. It even extends to her clothes as they're never seen damaged.
- Sociopathic Hero: Ruth is an archangel who has the task of bringing back to Hell an escaped demon who plans to unleash his forces on Earth. Doesn't mean she's a good guy or in fact any better than the demon she's chasing. Her methods are extremely violent, sometimes needlessly so (even shocking a demon like Hoss) and although she doesn't go out of her way to do it she hurts and kills innocent bystanders and bad guys with little distinction. That incident about the bus for example: there still were people in it when she threw it at Ghost Rider.
- The Stoic: She has very few emotional reactions to the events surrounding her. Apart from a few smug smiles she doesn't have many facial expressions.
- Troll: Context: the wheelchair-bound minion of the Big Bad is under threat of being pushed off a 50 stores building by his secretary if he does not close the portal to Hell that he opened. Right after he does so and the secretary is about to pull him to safety, Ruth appears behind her and boo the woman to cause the fall of her boss.
Rzh'arr
Rzh'arr
Alter Ego:
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 2) #64 (January, 1982)
Rzh'Arr was sent to Earth by Asmodeus to replace of one of Ghost Rider's friends, Cynthia Randolph in order to capture him.
Sin-Eater
Sin-Eater
Alter Ego: Ethan Domblue
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 2) #80 (May, 1983)
A servant of Centurious.
- One-Steve Limit: He doesn't have anything to do with either Emil Gregg or Stan Carter, who also went by Sin-Eater.
- Sin Eater: Ethan Domblue was a pastor whose obsession with having a sinless congregation drew the attention of the villain Centurious, who granted Domblue the ability to "eat" a person's sins, leaving them in a passive, "sinless" state. What Domblue didn't know was by placing his parishioners' souls in the Crystal of Souls, he was creating an army of zombie-like slaves loyal to Centurious.
Sirens
Sirens
Alter Ego:
Notable Aliases: Sirens of Kronos
First Appearance: Sub-Mariner #29 (September, 1970)
Sirens or naiads are beautiful yet dangerous creatures without souls, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island.
Skin-Bender
Skin-Bender
Notable Aliases: Flesh Demon, Demon Witch
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 6) #35 (July, 2009)
A Japanese demon Johnny Blaze encountered while in Japan. She has the ability to turn whatever she touches into anything.
For Skin-Bender's tropes, see her entry on the Marvel Comics: Demons page.
Slaughter Boy
Slaughter Boy
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 3) #51 (July, 1994)
Psychotic Ex-wrestler for the Unlimited Class Wrestler federation. He went on a rampage through NY until he was stopped by Ghost Rider
- Back for the Dead: After not being seen since his initial defeat at the hands of Ghost Rider in the nineties, he would be used as cannon fodder by the Shadow Initiative against Blastaar's hordes.
- C-List Fodder: He was one of the many D-List villains used as cannon fodder by Norman Osborn to attack the 42 prison that had fallen under Blastaar's control.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name isn't mentioned.
Snowblind
Snowblind
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 3) #13 (May, 1991)
Snowblind was one of Deathwatch's many deadly assistants.
- Disability Superpower: Snowblind has the power to generate a very bright light that nobody can see through except Snowblind.
- Handicapped Badass: He's blind but also a skilled martial artist.
- You Have Failed Me: After losing a fight with Ghost Rider, he was later killed by Deathwatch, Hag and Troll right before Deathwatch's death.
Succubus
Succubus
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 3) #36 (April, 1993)
A succubus sent to track down Dan Ketch for her master Nightmare.
- Succubi and Incubi: One of the trope naming beings herself.
Troll
Troll
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 3) #23 (March, 1992)
Troll is one of Deathwatch's assistants, a member of the Deathspawn.
- Secondary Color Nemesis: Much like Hag, he dresses in green and purple.
- Sinister Shades: Wears a pair.
Verminus Rex
Verminus Rex
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 3) #89 (October, 1997)
Undead humanoid rat creature, one of the spirits of Vengeance.
- Flaming Skulls: After becoming a Spirit of Vengeance, his head is now a flaming horned rat skull.
- Rat Men: He's a humanoid rat.
