Characters / MCU: Robbie Reyes

Main Character Index > Heroic Individuals and Organizations > Other Superheroes (Jane Foster | Robbie Reyes | Xu Shang-Chi | Kate Bishop | Moon Knight | Kamala Khan | Wade Wilson | James "Logan" Howlett)

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Roberto "Robbie" Reyes / Ghost Rider II

"It's time to pay for your sins."

^{Click here to see him as Ghost Rider}"The thing inside me. It craves vengeance."

Species: Human (Demon possessed)

Citizenship: American

Affiliation(s): Garfield High School (formerly), Canelo's Auto and Body (formerly), S.H.I.E.L.D. (formerly)

Portrayed By: Gabriel Luna

Appearances: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"I didn't ask for this, this curse. But vengeance calls."

A young mechanic and LA street racer who ended up the victim of a botched drive-by hit. After dying, and being subsequently revived by a "good Samaritan", the mysterious biker passed the Spirit of Vengeance - and his bloody purpose - onto Robbie. As the new Ghost Rider, Robbie doles out extreme punishment with maximum brutality to all villains and evildoers with ill-intent and wickedness in their hearts. However, not all is as it seems in Robbie's world, as his new role as South Central's hellish protector begins to unveil secrets and conspiracies tying back to his own family, his latest reluctant allies in S.H.I.E.L.D., and his connection to the infamous Darkhold.

As the Rider, Robbie's control over Hellfire, and utterly absurd strength - even by Cosmic standards - are matched only by a ruthlessness and savagery that would make even The Punisher wince. He strikes absolute terror into anyone and everyone he comes across, especially in his own allies.

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• 11th-Hour Ranger: Robbie is the last person to help Coulson's team in their war against Aida.
• 11th-Hour Superpower: In the Season 4 finale, he can use his flaming chain to conjure portals that allow him to travel to other dimensions.
• The Ace: Due to being insanely powerful, the moment he takes the field he pretty much ends any confrontation in a matter of minutes.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Unlike in the comics, the MCU Robbie is partly responsible for his brother Gabe's leg paralysis as he insisted that he drive with him the night they were shot, which is something he'll never forgive himself for.
• Adaptational Backstory Change: In the comics, Robbie gets his power due to being possessed by his Satanist Uncle Eli. Here, it's an actual Spirit of Vengeance.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: He is the very first Ghost Rider to appear in the MCU, while in the comics Robbie made his first appearance long after Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch were already well-established characters.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Much more proactive than his comic book counterpart (who chiefly used his powers to cheat at street racing for cash and to protect himself and Gabe from whatever threatened them directly) when it comes to fighting crime.
• Adaptational Personality Change: A minor example, but when Johnny Blaze questioned Robbie Reyes about the origins of his powers in the comics and asked if he made a deal with the Devil, Robbie scoffed at the idea and said he would never be stupid enough to do something like that. In the MCU, Robbie readily agreed to make a deal with a being he believed to be the Devil when he was about to die, and even makes another deal with the Spirit of Vengeance later on.
• Age Lift: From late teens in the comics to mid-late twenties or early thirties in the MCU.
• Alliterative Name: Robbie Reyes.
• Always Someone Better: To the Inhuman J.T. James. While James' fire powers are pretty powerful, they're nothing compared to the Hellfire powers of Ghost Rider, as demonstrated during their fight.
• Anti-Hero: Reyes is absolutely brutal in his methods, even torturing and executing his victims after they've already been subdued. However, he only kills those who truly deserve it. The innocent are spared even if they attack him, as shown when Ghost Rider spares Quake even though she doesn't think of herself as a good guy.
  Neo-Nazi I don't deserve to die!
  Robbie: [eyes glowing] Everyone says that.
• Back for the Finale: Robbie initially appears as a major character in the first eight episodes of Season 4, but he ends up being Dragged Off to Hell and is thus absent for the rest of the season. However, he eventually returns in the last scene of the penultimate episode and then plays a huge role in the season finale.
• Back from the Dead: He landed head first on the highway, being killed instantly from a car crash caused by gangbangers. Then he heard a voice offering him a deal.
• Bash Siblings: With Daisy Johnson as the series progress, notably during the finale of Season 4 where they fight LMDs together. Coulson is even disappointed not to have been able to see this.
  Coulson: I missed it, didn't I? You two together, and we missed it. Damn!
• Berserk Button: Any mention of his brother. Robbie is fuming with anger as Daisy spends much of the day needling him but keeps his anger under control until she mentions Gabe.
  • The Fifth Street Locos also, being the gang that caused the accident and put Gabe in a wheelchair. When Robbie encounters the last remaining member while infiltrating a prison to save his uncle, he abandons his mission to take care of him, despite him not actually being involved in it.
• Big Brother Instinct: Robbie is incredibly protective of his younger brother Gabe, especially after the incident that almost killed both of them.
• Big Damn Hero:
  • Robbie shows up just in time to save Fitz and Mack from the ghost Frederick in the episode "Meet the New Boss".
  • In the following episode "Uprising", Robbie and Daisy arrive in the Hell Charger to rescue Gabe from a gang of street punks.
  • And again in "Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire". This time, Robbie saves Daisy and Simmons by grabbing the fiery chain of J.T. James before he can kill them with it.
• Birds of a Feather: He first encounters Daisy while she's on the run, acting as a rogue vigilante. They form a bond over their remarkable similarities, something they both comment on, and ultimately she remains the one person on the team he works closest to. Later he shows signs of this with Mack after he experiences what it's like to be the Rider.
• Boxed Crook: When Director Mace learns that Coulson's been enlisting his services, Coulson convinces him that Reyes would be more useful to him in this capacity under the circumstances. Given he punched his way out of a containment module specifically designed to hold Inhumans and gave Mace (who has super-strength) a beatdown, he reluctantly agrees.
• Breakout Character: This is literally the only on-screen version of Ghost Rider to not only have a positive reception but one that is near-universal. The character was popular enough to be brought back for the season finale, and for a short while, was even set to receive his own spin-off series on Hulu. Those plans have since been canceled since the shut-down of Marvel Television Group, but given Marvel Studios' penchant for bringing back popular characters in surprising ways...
• Bring It: When Daisy comes to confront him at his workshop in "Meet the New Boss", Robbie dares her to try to arrest him.
  Robbie: You want to turn me in? Try!
• But Now I Must Go: After Aida is defeated, Robbie leaves once again, this time to make sure the Darkhold is placed somewhere where no one can misuse it.
• Byronic Hero: Formerly reckless and uncaring, he sold his soul to the Devil to save his brother's life from a gang attack. He blames himself for the experience and remains torn between his desire to atone for his mistakes and the Rider's thirst for vengeance.
• Chain Pain: As Season 4 progresses, Robbie starts to use chains that have been imbued with fire as his signature weapons, and it is clear that he gained the inspiration from J.T. James.
• Character Tics: His very deliberate way of flipping his keys in his hand, both as himself and the Rider. This is what tips off Daisy that he is the Rider.
• Civvie Spandex: Lacks the stylish jumpsuit from the comics, instead of having a slick leather jacket that bears the same white lines. It's also a Call-Back to the '70s Ghost Rider outfit.
• Composite Character: Word of God is that the writers infused Robbie with certain aspects of Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch, two of the other Ghost Riders from the comics. Notably, his flaming skull looks more like those of the Blaze and Ketch Riders, as opposed to the comics, where his skull had a more metallic and mechanical appearance. He also has a proper Spirit of Vengeance, unlike his comic counterpart.
• Connected All Along: He's the deuteragonist for the first third of the fourth season, largely, because he's in some way connected to all of the major players involved:
  • He's the nephew of Eli Morrow, the story's Arc Villain, who also worked together with the Bauers and attempted steal the Darkhold from.
  • The Bauers hired the Fifth Street Locos to gun down Morrow in a drive-by. Instead, they ended up killing Robbie. Johnny Blaze then revived Robbie and passed on the the Spirit of Vengeance, making him the new Ghost Rider.
  • The entire mess started when the Bauers discovered the Darkhold in Johnny's possession, and stole it from him.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: When Robbie fights, this is what it inevitably boils down to.
  • Daisy is able to hold her own against Robbie, but once he turns into the Rider, one punch to the stomach is all it takes to stop her. Understandable, as Daisy had fought only gifted and Inhumans up until then, not supernatural beings who defy all natural laws.
  • Hands an even more vicious one to Jeffrey Mace, an Inhuman with Super-Strength and Super-Toughness himself, moments after Mace reassures everyone that he's "got this". Mace isn't injured after the short beatdown, but it's clear Ghost Rider would have killed him eventually had Gabe not called him off.
  • He No Sells literally everything James — an extremely powerful Inhuman himself — throws at him like he was a joke. Predictably, the fight doesn't last long at all.
  • Ivanov's LMDs don't stand a chance against him in human form, much less as the Rider.
  • Aida learns to run away on sight as soon as her first encounter with the Rider goes badly.
• Cursed with Awesome: Being a vessel for the Spirit of Vengeance has its price: The Spirit thirsts for vengeance, and if there is an evil soul nearby it's almost impossible for Robbie to control or resist it — this thirst is so strong that it outright overrides the pacifistic Mack's own will during his short stint as the Rider. The benefit on the other hand is pretty straightforward: It makes Robbie one of the most powerful characters in the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
• Dark Is Not Evil: As the Rider, Robbie's appearance is downright demonic, but, while he is exceptionally brutal, he's far from evil.
• Darker and Edgier:
  • His original incarnation refrained from using violence outside of his transformed state unless it was for self-defence. This Robbie is willing to assault and torture people even as his normal self.
  • He's also darker compared to the last film incarnation of Ghost Rider. Not only is Robbie more brutal than Nicholas Cage's Johnny Blaze, but his version of the Ghost Rider is much more visceral, willing to rip victims apart with his bare hands instead of merely burning them. In many ways, this Reyes actually has more in common with the comic book Blaze than anyone else, as the Johnny Blaze Rider is notoriously known for his ruthless and unforgiving methods whenever he's really ticked off — such as chaining a cannibal to his bike, then dragging him off to be devoured by a horde of roadkill zombies.
• Deadpan Snarker: Robbie has his moments here and there, especially when he makes a comment on the Australian accent that J.T. James has.
• Deal with the Devil:
  • Robbie attributes his possession to a deal with the devil, which he took to make sure that his brother survived the crash and bullets he took.
  • In "Deals With Our Devils", Robbie makes a second deal with the Rider, who had abandoned him in favor of Mack after Robbie was stuck in another dimension. In exchange for settling Robbie's remaining score, Robbie will help the Rider settle his.
• Death Glare: Take a look at the picture! Hell hath no fury like a Spirit of Vengeance.
• Dem Bones: Like all the other Ghost Riders, full use of his powers burns away his flesh, leaving only flaming bones.
• Demonic Possession: His powers come from having made a deal with a "devil", another Ghost Rider (who looks like Johnny Blaze), in exchange for saving his and his brother's life. "Deals With Our Devils" makes it clear that the Rider is a supernatural, independent entity that possesses a human host. It even possessed other people when necessary.
• Detect Evil: Robbie chooses who to go after and who to spare by using the supernatural senses granted to him as Ghost Rider.
• Doing in the Scientist: Certain characters in the series think there is some sort of scientific explanation for his powers, either "enhanced" like Steve Rogers or Inhuman like Daisy. However, Robbie later claims that he literally sold his soul to the Devil and the show's creators have confirmed that he's explicitly supernatural.
  Jeffrey: Is he Inhuman?
  Coulson: Claims he made a deal with the Devil.
  Fitz: Which is nonsense.
  Coulson: You know, the rationalist in me wants to agree, but the skull on fire presents a pretty compelling argument for "Hail Satan".
• Don't Touch It, You Idiot!: Robbie doesn't like it when people touch his car without his permission.
  • When a street punk starts stroking it during the Los Angeles Blackout, Robbie threateningly warns him to take his hands off. Since the guy doesn't listen, Robbie heats up the car to burn his hands.
    Robbie: Hands off!
  • He says the same thing to Mack when he sees him caressing the hood of his car after he has been captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. in "Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire".
    Robbie: Hands off my ride, man!
• Dragged Off to Hell: Robbie gets dragged into Hell by the dimensional gateway at the end of the episode "The Laws of Inferno Dynamics", and takes his uncle Eli Morrow with him. After several weeks, he eventually manages to escape and come back to Earth in "The Return".
• The Dreaded: Everyone is deathly afraid of him, and for several good reasons: he's powerful as all hell (literally); he's a cold-blooded and merciless killer; and virtually nothing is known about him. In particular, no one knows what his limits are - if he even has any - or how to stop him. Coulson's team puts on a brave and commanding front, but even they know he's a time bomb best not set off. Coulson sells his continued participation to Director Mace as, more or less, "we can't stop him, so we may as well work with him".
  • This includes the Big Bad of the season Aida who, even after winning a Superpower Lottery that gave her pretty much all the abilities of every Inhuman S.H.I.E.L.D. has ever faced, simply cannot stand up to him, and learned after their first altercation to teleport and run away whenever he shows up.
• Expressive Skull: The Rider's skeletal face shows visible remorse when Robbie loses control in front of Gabe. It's downplayed, though, as the rest of the time it has the perpetual Death Glare you'd expect a flaming skull to have.
• Face, Nod, Action: During the fight at the prison in "Lockup", Robbie spots a ghost behind Mack. The two silently nod to each other, then Mack bends down so Robbie can throw his fiery chain at the ghost and kill him.
• Flaming Skulls: The Rider's skull is wreathed in flame. It's this more than any other aspect of his powers that convinces people there just might be something to his claims of Demonic Possession.
• Former Teen Rebel: Robbie used to be a careless and immature teenager who frequently stole his uncle's car to participate in street races and make easy money. Ever since the shoot-out that caused his death and resurrection as Ghost Rider and his brother Gabe's paraplegia, Robbie has become much more serious and responsible.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: A non-villainous example, but Robbie Reyes used to be a young man from a poor neighborhood who quit school early to work as a humble car mechanic. After getting shot to death and then being imbued with the Spirit of Vengeance, Robbie has become the Ghost Rider, a very dangerous and brutal vigilante with Hellfire powers who makes all the criminals of the city tremble with fear.
• Gollum Made Me Do It: Insists that the spirit inside him chooses who should die and makes him kill them, though his ability to hold back suggests he retains more control than he's comfortable admitting.
• Good Cop/Bad Cop: Robbie, despite his brutality, is the good cop. As he warns the mook he's interrogating, if he doesn't get the answers he wants, the Rider will.
• Good Thing You Can Heal: Robbie's powers include a healing factor, which is good, because he mentions that he's received multiple injuries since becoming the Rider.
• Gotta Kill Them All:
  • Following his death and Gabe's crippling at the hands of the Fifth Street Locos, Robbie went after every member of their gang and killed every last one of them. He was hoping that the Spirit of Vengeance would leave him once he was done, but it didn't happen, so he continued to do the same with all the criminals in the city.
  • When he discovers that the members of Momentum Labs have been brought back as murderous ghosts, Robbie goes on a hunt to kill them all.
• Gratuitous Spanish: He occasionally peppers his dialogue with Spanish words or phrases, such as calling Daisy "chica" during their first meeting.
• He Knows Too Much: At first Robbie wants to kill Daisy because she figured out his identity, but this is complicated by the fact that he can't because she's not guilty of anything. He resorts to going through her stuff looking for an excuse, which helps lead him to his next target instead.
• Healing Factor: He gets a decent cut on his cheek during his fight with Quake, but after a brief stint as the Rider he's perfectly healed by the next day. Robbie explains that multiple fatal injuries have failed to kill him.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: His distinctive leather jacket stands out. This theme even continues with other characters possessed by the Spirit, even those who don't normally dress this way like Coulson.
• Hellfire: Ghost Rider's weapon of choice. Any object he touches can be imbued with Hellfire, from simple weapons to his Cool Car. This is not a normal fire; it burns everything right down to the soul. Even being insubstantial won't save you, as Lucy and her ghosts learn.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Since Robbie supernaturally knows who deserves to die, he never bothers producing any proof that any of them have done anything wrong. While this is fine for common criminals, Daisy mentions a cop and a teacher—a Dirty Cop and pedophile, respectively—who did nothing wrong as far as the public knows. Even when told why they were killed, Daisy still takes issue with just outright murdering them.
• Heroic Mime: As the Ghost Rider, who neither speaks nor shrieks like his live-action predecessors or his comic book equivalent.
  • Except when he meets Aida in "World's End". Once Aida gets away, the Rider roars in pure rage.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Well, firstly, there's the whole 'sold his soul to save his brother' thing. Later though, he willingly renews his deal with the Spirit of Vengeance in spite of his desire to be rid of it to save Mack, and eventually allows himself to be dragged down to hell to stop his uncle.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: It takes a lot of poking and prodding from Daisy - A LOT - to eventually uncover that underneath all that sheer ruthlessness and savagery is the heart of a kind older brother who is simply trying to make his neighborhood a little bit safer. When push comes to shove, Robbie will ultimately do the right thing alongside the right people. He's just way, way more violent and brutal about it.
• Hope Spot: Coming back to life was a pretty big one for him. It was also rather brief considering the first thing he saw upon waking was the Ghost Rider who turned him into another Spirit of Vengeance shortly after.
• Horrifying the Horror: By the end of Season 4, Aida, who by this point has become a Humanoid Abomination made of Darkhold matter and a One-Woman Army with the combined powers of several Inhumans, runs away in terror each time he shows up. He also quickly proves the ghostly Lucy Bauer wrong when she mockingly asks if she's supposed to be afraid of him.
• Hulking Out: Invoked when Robbie is driving at full speed to reach Gabe. Daisy cautions him against accidentally showing off the flaming skull, but he insists that anger isn't the trigger.
• Human Pincushion: During the episode "The Laws of Inferno Dynamics", Robbie's body gets pierced by several carbon spikes materialized by his uncle Eli Morrow. Of course, this is not enough to put him down for good.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Robbie says that everything he did as the Ghost Rider was to protect his little brother and to honor the deal that he made with the demon who is possessing him.
• Immune to Bullets: In "The Good Samaritan", Ghost Rider is shot several times with Icers. He doesn't even seem to notice, much less suffer their effects.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Twice by Eli during their confrontation. The pain is enough to stop him from transforming until he gets really, really angry.
• Improvised Weapon: He tends to grab anything nearby he can use for a club then empowers it with Hellfire.
• Incendiary Exponent: Even without transforming, Reyes is able to imbue objects with Hellfire. He can even incinerate "ghosts" with it.
• Invincible Hero: Ghost Rider is by far one of the most powerful characters in the series, so much so that none of the other superpowered characters, villains or heroes, can do much against him. At best, Eli Morrow manages to immobilize him for a while, but even he ends up getting caught and burned alive by the Rider. During the season finale, despite having absorbed the powers of many powerful Inhumans, Aida can do nothing against Ghost Rider except run away.
• It's All My Fault: According to Gabe, Robbie never stopped blaming himself for bringing him along the night they were shot by the Fifth Street Locos and Gabe lost the use of his legs, even though Gabe had told him several times that he doesn't hold it against him.
• Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Robbie's method of interrogation is lots of beatings. The Rider is even worse.
• Judge, Jury, and Executioner: While he doesn't do the "You... GUILTY!" routine from the movies, the Rider still has a habit of judging the souls of everyone he sees, and brutally executing those he finds wanting.
• The Juggernaut: The Ghost Rider is virtually unstoppable: Daisy's powers only slowed him down; he punched his way out of a containment module that no other powered being has ever breached through force; Mace barely stood his ground in a straight fight with the Rider; and the ghosts posed no threat to him whatsoever. He also walked through a corridor of fire that was hot enough to melt his comms device. The only time he ever seemed seriously threatened was when he was bombarded with lethal amounts of radiation, subjected to impossible quantum fluctuations, and impaled twice through the chest with giant spikes (any one of which will kill a man several times over). Even then, he was still alive and fully capable of holding a conversation despite the intense pain.
• Knight of Cerebus: While Agents had its fair share of dark moments here and there, Ghost Rider's inclusion pits it much closer to the Netflix shows in terms of atmosphere. That's nothing to say of the violence; even Hive wasn't as punishingly brutal. The show's new 10 PM time-slot probably has something to do with it.
• Knight Templar: He sticks to killing those who he believes deserve to die. Unlike most examples, this is somewhat justified by the fact he's possessed by a demon that knows people's sins; ultimately he knows if people are guilty.
• Knight Templar Big Brother: Robbie's dedication to keeping Gabe safe and far away from the violence of his double life is admirable. The drive to do anything he deems necessary to see those who would hurt his little brother pay is not.
• Kryptonite Factor: Anything that brings him and the Rider in closer proximity to Hell causes them both extreme discomfort.

L-Y

• Legacy Character: He's not the first Ghost Rider.
• Leitmotif: He has his own theme, which appropriately sounds like some sort of monster roaring in rage while on fire.
• Lightning Bruiser: He is fast, strong, and is hardly fazed by anything that is thrown at him.
• Magic Versus Science: The entity inside of Robbie is explicitly supernatural. So far no scientific methods or natural abilities have seemed to be able to contain Ghost Rider or harm him (barring pure physical damage but the Rider is either too tough or just recovers from it fast). In this instance, magic has a big edge over science.
• Match in a Bomb Shack: During his fight against J.T. James, another fire-powered super, both of them end up falling into a fireworks warehouse, with Ghost Rider in full Flaming Skull mode. Both Agents Mack and Coulson have a This Is Gonna Suck moment as they know just what is about to happen.
  Mack: ...did two fire dudes just drop into a warehouse full of fireworks?
  Coulson: You had to see that coming.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: virtually all other apparently supernatural events in Agents of Shield turn out to be aliens or mad science technology. However Robbie SOLD HIS SOUL TO THE DEVIL and we never get any more explanation than that;
  Director (upon seeing Robbie Reyes transform into Ghostrider) This Reyes guy, what is he? An Inhuman?
  Coulson Claims he sold his soul to the devil
  Fitz (scoffing) Which is NONSENSE!
  Coulson (as Ghostrider begins to break out of the supposedly impregnable containment cell) The rationalist in me agrees with you but the flaming skull makes a pretty good argument for All Hail Satan!
• Meaningful Name: Played with; while his name isn't particularly meaningful, the fact that he doesn't have his brother's name is an oblique reference.
  Lucy: You're [Eli's] nephew. I've seen your picture. You're Gabriel. Like the angel.
  Robbie: No. [eyes glow] I'm the other one.^note Hilariously, Robbie's actor is named Gabriel.
• Misplaced Retribution: He killed a prisoner who was not only reformed, but also had absolutely nothing to do with the hit on him and his brother, solely for having belonged to the same gang as the aforementioned culprits.
• Mistaken for Murderer: Inverted Trope. When Gabe is first brought on to the Zephyr One in "The Good Samaritan", he doesn't immediately put together that Robbie is the Ghost Rider. Instead, he has a completely different, much happier reaction.
  Gabe: I can do the math. The nights you're away, the blood on your clothes, now this?
  Robbie: I wanted to tell you. For a long time. Just how do you tell your brother that you're a...
  Gabe: A secret agent!
• Mistaken Identity:
  • A tragic example. Years ago, the Fifth Street Locos hired to kill Eli Morrow gunned Robbie down because he had borrowed his uncle's car for a race so they thought he was Eli.
  • When Lucy Bauer comes face to face with Robbie Reyes, she recognizes that he is one of Eli Morrow's nephews but she thinks he must be Gabriel.
• Morality Chain: It's obvious that Robbie's crippled brother is his. As Daisy notes while they brotherly bicker, "everyone's attached to something".
• Multiple Gunshot Death: Before his resurrection as Ghost Rider, Robbie was strafed with several bullets by the Fifth Street Locos before he crashed his car and was thrown onto the road, which caused his death.
• Mythology Gag: Ghost Rider's introduction is almost shot for shot his intro from the comics, including the mook with the rocket launcher.
• Nephewism: He and his brother Gabe were raised by their uncle Eli Morrow after the death of their parents.
• Never Hurt an Innocent: Robbie is a little different than the Spirit of Vengeance. The Spirit ignores the innocent even if they attack and prevents Robbie from murdering innocents even when they are a problem for him, such as Daisy, but he has free reign against someone he has a more personal grievance against, like the Fifth Street Loco who was peacefully serving his sentence in prison.
• Never My Fault: He tries to put all the blame for his killings on the Rider, but it's heavily implied that he's more in control of that form than he'd like to admit. He does kill a man who's already serving a life sentence, mostly because he was part of the gang responsible for his brother's injuries, which seems to be far more personal. However, he does appear to be trying at least to restrain the Rider, so exactly who made the final decision is ambiguous.
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: At the end of "World's End", Robbie shows that he now has the new power of opening portals between dimensions, which he was not able to do at the beginning of the season, and even in the previous episode he had to use Aida's Inter-Dimensional Gate to leave Hell and return to Earth.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • His actions in "Lockup", seeking revenge against a gangbanger who was part of the crew that tried to kill him (the man himself was locked up and reformed even before then) and his brother, have not only led to S.H.I.E.L.D. being associated with his former murder spree and blackmailed, but allowed his uncle to be kidnapped when he was the only one capable of protecting him from the ghosts. The expression he makes at the end showcases that he knows it.
  • In "World's End", Robbie disintegrates the Daisy LMD, leaving Team Coulson no evidence that Daisy is innocent of the attack on Talbot.
• Nigh-Invulnerable: He is pretty much invincible as the Ghost Rider. A lightning blast doesn't even slow him down.
• No More Lies: In "The Good Samaritan", Robbie gets tired of hiding things from his little brother Gabe and decides to reveal everything to him.
  Robbie: [To Daisy] I can't lie to him anymore. [To Gabe] You deserve the truth. All of it.
• No-Sell:
  • In his Ghost Rider form, nothing seems to hurt him. No weapon has been able to slow him down and he's been able to overpower every other superhuman he's encountered so far.
  • In his human form, he's more vulnerable than the Rider but still way tougher than any human. He can't be burned by fire, allowing him to through a flaming hallway or out of an exploding warehouse without a scratch. Massive amounts of radiation combined with the energies of a quantum power cell barely affect him, even though on their own either would have killed one human several times over. It takes getting impaled twice on top of that for Robbie to actually be in danger of dying, and he still powers through that for much longer than he should be able to.
• Non-Protagonist Resolver: While Robbie isn't part of the main cast of the show, he is the one who ultimately kills the main villains of Season 4's first story arc, Lucy Bauer and Eli Morrow, and also plays a crucial role in the death of the season's Big Bad Aida during the finale.
• The Not-Love Interest: He forms a strong bond with Daisy Johnson over the course of Season 4, but they never become romantically involved.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Is noted to be a lot like his uncle due to his red hot temper, by a character who was rendered a ghost by said uncle.
  • After going through Daisy's belongings and finding a picture of her dead lover Lincoln Campbell, Robbie understands what motivates her to be a vigilante and tells her that the two of them are not so different.
    Robbie: You know, we're not so different, you and me.
• The Nothing After Death: Robbie says he saw only darkness after he died.
• One-Man Army: He is more than capable of taking on large groups of gangsters, ghosts or LMDs, with or without turning into Ghost Rider.
• The Only One: Ghost Rider is the only person capable of vanquishing the Darkhold ghosts, which is why S.H.I.E.L.D. has no other choice but to team up with him despite all the murders he has committed.
• "Open!" Says Me: So far, Ghost Rider is the only individual who managed to break through the doors of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s containment module when he tried to get out, much to Fitz's disbelief.
• Outside-Context Problem: His introduction in Season 4 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. marks the first supernatural entity the team has ever had to deal with (the Hand being the first in the overall MCU), and is the first explicitly supernatural entity. Even Daisy, who has seen a lot of strange things as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, is shocked and horrified to see a man's flesh slowly burn off his skull.
• Painful Transformation: Robbie's transformation into the Rider consists of his head being consumed by Hellfire until all that remains is his skull and judging by the expression he gives just before the transformation, it's not a pleasant experience.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: The demon locates evil people, and then Robbie has to take them out with extreme prejudice. Mack grimaces at a report of all the nasty things he's done.
• Playing with Fire: The fire that Ghost Rider generates can burn through anything it touches. He can even imbue the weapons he wields with fire.
• Put on a Bus: Robbie chooses to take Eli with him to Hell in order to prevent him from doing harm to anyone else. This takes him out of the cast and storyline for a while. He comes back for the season finale.
• Promotion to Parent: Forced to care for his younger brother Gabe when their parents are killed and their uncle is in jail. S.H.I.E.L.D. eventually took over after he went to Hell.
• The Quiet One: Robbie isn't really the most talkative guy. When Daisy pretends to be an old schoolmate of his, his boss Mr. Canelo even asks if he has always been so taciturn.
  Mr. Canelo: He wasn't always the, uh, strong silent type?
  Daisy: Well, I've known him since Crandall Elementary. He was always quiet, like he was hiding something.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: It's more of fiery orange, but if you see his eyes light up, you're in trouble. Just hope you can talk him down.
• Relative Button: Robbie has always had a short temper, but mentioning his brother is a surefire way to earn a beating.
• Repeat What You Just Said: At first, Robbie isn't very interested when Daisy tries to convince him that all the city's criminal gangs are up to something serious in "Meet the New Boss", but he starts to react after hearing her mention the lab where his uncle Eli used to work, and asks her to repeat.
  Daisy: And who knows what kind of weapon they stole from the energy lab in Pasadena. Still haven't been able to dig up any infor...
  Robbie: Wait. What did you say?
  Daisy: Momentum Alternative Energy Lab. Printout right there in your hands.
• Revenge Before Reason:
  • He kills all the gangsters who were behind the hit on him and his brother, leading to him not having a lead on who ordered it and his uncle to be kidnapped when he was the only one capable of protecting him from the ghosts.
  • He and the Rider forego getting to safety when confronting Eli in favor of (unnecessarily) making absolutely sure that Eli goes to Hell, burning him with Hellfire for good measure.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After he and his brother Gabe were shot by the Fifth Street Locos, which caused Gabe's crippling, Robbie became the Ghost Rider and tracked down every member of the gang to kill them one by one, even those who weren't involved in the shoot-out.
• Save the Villain: At the end of their fight in "Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire", James makes the two of them fall into a room filled with fireworks to cause explosions and kill them both. However, Robbie chooses to save James and drags his unconscious body out of there because he promised Coulson to bring him back alive.
• Scars Are Forever: His Ghost Rider form has noticeable cracks that flames bleed through, showing the wounds he took from his fatal car crash shattering his skull.
• Shout-Out: his vengful storming of the prison is virtually a shot by shot recreation of the ending of Maniac Cop 2.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Does this to his uncle Eli when he attempts to deny responsibility for his actions.
  Eli: No. It was the Bauers — Joe and Lucy. They started this, they lied!
  Robbie: Do you think I give a rat's ass about any of that? A bunch of scientists fighting over some stupid book?
• Skull for a Head: While using his powers, his head's flesh burns off, leaving him with his skull covered in flames.
• Story-Breaker Power: Even when compared to the likes of the Avengers, or any other powered characters established in the films, Robbie is freakishly powerful, which is why he spends nearly two-thirds of Season 4 trapped in a Hell dimension. When he returns, Robbie can easily dispatch Life Model Decoys and harm Aida, who had used the Darkhold to become a human with numerous Inhuman powers that rendered her virtually unstoppable otherwise. The final conflict is not about him overpowering Aida, but finding a way to let Ghost Rider get close enough without her running away in terror.
• Strong and Skilled: Even when he is not in his Ghost Rider form. Robbie can quite effortlessly hold his own in a fight against Daisy, who as of Season 4, is a trained and a highly capable martial artist.
• Superpowered Evil Side: Evil is pushing it, but Reyes nevertheless draws a distinction between himself and the Rider, the latter being the one capable of wielding the full range of their powers. By himself, Reyes only has the power to use Hellfire and isn't as strong. Robbie also has at best marginal control over the Rider, which seems to be proportionate to his willingness to indulge its desire for vengeance. Best described in the following exchange between him and Quake.
  Quake: You don't get to decide who deserves to die.
  Reyes: I'm not the one who decides.
• Super-Strength: He's strong enough to rip someone's spine from their body, though only in his Ghost Rider form, and overpower Jeffrey Mace, who is super-strong himself. This feat is later eclipsed when he punches his way out of a containment unit, a device explicitly designed to contain any powered individual and was derived from technology that was meant to contain the Hulk. As a human, he can overpower an LMD with ease.
• Super-Toughness: Daisy throws him into a van with her powers and he isn't even winded. When she uses her powers to pin his chest, he powers through it and breaks free, something no ordinary human could have done. She does manage to cut him, but that healed after his transformation. As the Rider, he can trade blows with Director Mace and is the stronger of the two. He's also able to tank through a lightning bolt as if it's literally nothing.
• Sure, Let's Go with That: When Gabe is brought to the Zephyr for his safety in "The Good Samaritan", he assumes that Robbie is actually a S.H.I.E.L.D. secret agent. Robbie and Daisy initially play along, though Robbie ultimately can't stand lying to his brother anymore and decides to reveal the truth.
• Taking You with Me: Robbie holds Eli to drag him into Hell (or whatever the other dimension is).
• That Liar Lies: In his first episode, Robbie thinks the Aryan Brotherhood member he captured for interrogation must be lying when he claims to have been hired by the Chinatown Crew for a job, and punches him in the stomach in retribution.
  Robbie: Lies! Aryan Brotherhood working with the Chinese?
• Thinking Up Portals: In the season finale, he shows off the ability to use his flaming chain to conjure up a portal, the same type that's created by the sling rings. However, whereas the Sling Rings can create portals anywhere on Earth, Robbie's can also take him to different, and hellish, dimensions.
• This Is a Drill: During the fight against Aida's LMDs in the Season 4 finale, Robbie grabs a drill and uses it to pierce the eye of the Sergei Mishkin LMD.
• To Hell and Back: Did this after he took back the spirit of vengeance from Mack. And he does it again after taking Eli to hell.
• Took a Level in Badass: His time in Hell, after killing Eli, gave him knowledge of a conflict greater than Earth and taught him some new tricks. Among them, he can open portals to other dimensions.
• Totally Not a Werewolf: Because he is the first supernatural being to ever show up in the show, people keep mistaking him for an Inhuman.
• Touch the Intangible: Robbie can touch and even incinerate ghosts, whose intangibility renders them invulnerable to other people's weapons.
• Use Their Own Weapon Against Them: When James is about to attack Daisy and Jemma with his flaming chain, Robbie claims the weapon for his own and uses it against its former owner.
• Use Your Head: During his fight with Quake in the Season 4 premiere, she slams him against a wall at one point and accuses him of being a murderer. Robbie retorts that all his victims deserved to die before pushing her away with a headbutt.
• Villain Killer: One of the most prolific ones in the MCU, easily rivaling the likes of The Punisher and Ronin. Due to his deal with the Spirit of Vengeance, Robbie spends most of his time hunting and punishing evil-doers. During Season 4, he kills several members of the Fifth Street Locos, the Aryan Brotherhood and the Chinatown Crew, and is also the one who kills the four Darkhold Ghosts as well as Eli Morrow.
• The Voiceless: Never speaks in his Ghost Rider form. Given that the flaming skull head doesn't appear to have a tongue or larynx, he might not be capable of speaking in that form. He does roar in the season finale, but that's it.
• Would Hit a Girl: In contrast to his comic book counterpart, who never hit one that wasn't another Ghost Rider, Robbie really wanted to make sure that Daisy stood away from him and his brother. In fact, Robbie seemed more eager than his own Spirit of Vengeance in that regard, as the Spirit did not find her guilty. He also incinerated Lucy Bauer and brutally killed Aida in the season finale — or, more specifically, the Ghost Rider did.
• Wound That Will Not Heal: His Hellfire doesn't just burn the body, it burns the soul, which cannot heal. A guy with a chest burn courtesy of the Rider bled out by the next day, despite medical treatment. This comes in handy in the season finale, as it overrides Aida's Healing Factor, and is likely the only thing that can hurt her.
• Wrench Whack: After Daisy gets on his nerves by mentioning his brother in "Meet the New Boss", Robbie grabs a wrench and sets it on fire before threatening her with it.
• You Can See Me?: After being hit by the blast of the Quantum Particle Generator, Robbie quickly realizes that no one can see or hear him. When Coulson and Fitz (who were also hit by the blast) start talking to him, Robbie ask this word-for-word.
  Robbie: You can see me?
  Coulson: Yeah, Robbie. We see you.
• You Have No Idea Who You're Dealing With: He threatens Daisy by saying something similar when she comes to see him in "Meet the New Boss" after surviving their fight in the previous episode.
  Robbie: You may know who I am, but you don't know me or what I'm capable of.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After Robbie gets what he wants out of the Aryan he tortures, he immediately gets into his car, transforms, and smashes him with his car.
  Neo-Nazi I don't deserve to die!
  Robbie: [eyes glowing] Everyone says that.
• You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry!: You really don't want to make Robbie angry.
  • While telling Daisy to leave him alone in "Meet the New Boss", he warns her that making him angry is not a good idea.
    Robbie: Get lost... or I'll get angry. So angry, I may not remember what I do to you.
  • Robbie acts similar to the Trope Namer when he transforms into the Ghost Rider to break out of the containment module in "The Good Samaritan".
• You're Insane!:
  • He says this to Daisy when she comes to see him at his workplace in "Meet the New Boss" after he spared her life the night before.
    Robbie: You're out of your mind coming here.
  • He also says the same thing to Coulson and Mack after they release him from the containment module in which they had locked him in "Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire".
    Robbie: Damn, you two must be straight loco letting me out of my cage like that.

Items

Hell Charger

Hell Charger

Appearances: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

A customized gloss-black 1969 Dodge Charger and Ghost Rider's vehicle of choice, which he imbues with Hellfire.

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• Car Fu: Robbie often uses it to hit his enemies. In fact, in his very first scene, he rams into the truck of some Aryan Brotherhood members, and later he kills one of them by driving his car into him.
• Cool Car: A Hellfire-infused customized gloss-black 1969 Dodge Charger, with through-the-hood supercharger; among other things. The Rider's abilities allow its wheels to literally catch on fire, not to mention it can tank a rocket-propelled grenade and be no worse for wear.
• Hero's Classic Car: It's a classic, specifically a 1969 Dodge Charger.
• Nigh-Invulnerable: It takes a hit from an RPG and suffers no damage other than a cool flip. A full-speed crash into a Quinjet doesn't even leave a scratch, much to Mack's jealousy.
• The Precious, Precious Car: At first, Robbie shows little to no concern as to the safety of it since his powers helps it recover from any damage, but it's revealed that this trope is in full force when the Rider temporarily leaves him and takes said ability with it.
• Rock Beats Laser: It's too old for an EMP to disable it.
• Watch the Paint Job: It may be Nigh-Invulnerable when he's driving it, but Robbie still doesn't like people touching it. When Daisy has to steal it for a chase, Robbie, who at the time is out of phase and unable to act himself, bemoans her scraping a large gash on the side during the chase.

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"I'm not the one who decides."