Ghost Rider (Ghost Rider Film Series)

"I'm gonna own this curse... and I'm gonna use it against you. Whenever innocent blood is spilt, it'll be my father's blood... and you'll find me there. A spirit of vengeance... fighting fire with fire."

- Johnny Blaze decides to keep this power instead of getting rid of it

Ghost Rider is a superhero from Marvel Universe and an anti-hero from the Marvel comics who appeared as the titular main protagonist of the two live-action films Ghost Rider and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengance from 2007 and 2012.

In the movies, Ghost Rider is portrayed by the famous legendary actor Nicolas Cage who played Big Daddy, Ben Gates and Balthazar Blake.

Ghost Rider
As a teenager, Johnny Blaze works with his father as a stunt motorcycle rider and he has a crush on Roxanne Simpson, who he wants to flee away with. When he discovers his father's lung cancer, Johnny feels ashamed for his plans of leaving, but the very night a stranger proposes him to sell his very soul, in exchange of Barton's health. Skeptical, Johnny accepts, and the next morning Barton is healed from cancer and gives him his favourite motorcycle and blessing and lets him go away with his beloved Roxanne. Just a moment before he actually flees, Johnny assists to Barton's death in an incident during the show. Being tricked by Mephistopheles, he realizes he'll never be free of his curse and leaves everything behind, Roxanne included.

Years later, Johnny (Nicholas Cage) has become a stunt rider known for his dynamic stunts and for his uncanny ability to walk away from life-threatening crashes. His manager and best friend Mack (Donal Logue) speculates that Johnny must have a guardian angel protecting him. Johnny, however, speculates that it could be "something else". Later, on his next By that time, Johnny is driven straight to the station on his "first ride" where he transforms fully into the Ghost Rider and a fight ensues. In the process, Johnny acquires a heavy chain, which he uses to kill Gressil while the others escape. While searching for the quarry, Ghost Rider hears a woman (Rebel Wilson) being mugged. He stops the mugger and uses his most powerful weapon on him, the Penance Stare; a power by which a person is subjected to all the pain they have ever caused others. As the mugger ends up in a catatonic state, worse than death, which is implied to be the "burning" of his soul.

The next day, Johnny wakes up in a cemetery chapel, where he meets a man called the Caretaker (Sam Elliott), who seems to know all the history of the Ghost Rider. When he arrives home, Johnny finds Roxanne and reveals himself as the Devil's bounty hunter. She leaves in anger and disbelief at his tale. As Roxanne leaves, the police arrive and take Johnny into custody for his connection to the damage done to the city and the deaths caused by Blackheart.

He is put in a holding cell with some other prisoners, who mock Johnny and beat him before he assumes his Ghost Rider form, knocking the prisoners down before taking one of their jackets and leaving, after recognizing the only one who made no attempt to harm him as "innocent", to hunt down Blackheart. That night, Roxanne recognizes Johnny, while he (as the Ghost Rider) is fighting Abigor, in full view of the city and a large police force. Johnny destroys Abigor, faces the police, and then leaves. Observing the scene after obtaining the location of the contract, Blackheart realizes that Roxanne is Johnny's weakness.

Johnny goes for advice to the Caretaker, who tells him of Johnny's predecessor, Carter Slade, a Texas Ranger who was a man of honor before his greed placed him before the gallows for his misdeeds. Slade then made a deal with Mephistopheles to break free; in return, Slade became the Ghost Rider who hid the contract of San Venganza. The Caretaker then warns Johnny to stay away from those whom Blackheart and the fallen angels can use against him. Unfortunately, Blackheart already plans to use Roxanne and is in search of her. He finds her at Johnny's apartment, reading some books pertaining to demonic lore in the effort to understand Johnny's actions. Blackheart kills Mack and stuns Roxanne, before Johnny arrives and is assaulted by Blackheart. Transforming into the Ghost Rider, Johnny attempts to use the Penance Stare on his enemy, but Blackheart is impervious to it because he has no (human) soul to burn. Blackheart then threatens to kill Roxanne, using her life as the means of exchange for the Contract of San Venganza. Johnny thence goes to the caretaker, asking to have this contract.

The Caretaker tells Johnny that San Venganza will be "Hell on Earth" if Blackheart claims the contract, and admonishes Johnny to think before he acts. Johnny, however, convinces the Caretaker that he has a plan by which to overcome their enemy. The Caretaker then reveals that he is Carter Slade, still alive because of his own power as a Ghost Rider, and offers to show Johnny the way to San Venganza. They ride together into the desert – Carter Slade on a skeletal, flaming phantom horse, Johnny Blaze on his skeletally decorated, flaming motorcycle – leaving a destructive trail of fire in their wake. Some distance from the town, they stop. Slade gives Johnny his shotgun (a sawn-off Winchester Model 1887/1901) and tells him to "use the shadows" before riding away and dying of his own depletion of strength.

Having killed Wallow, the last of Blackheart's three demons, Johnny gives the contract to Blackheart but becomes the Ghost Rider as he does, hoping to pummel his foe into submission. Blackheart shrugs off the attack and manages to subdue Ghost Rider as the sun rises. With Johnny rendered powerless, Blackheart uses the contract to absorb the 1,000 souls into his body, taking the name "Legion". Johnny attempts in vain to lure his enemy into the shadowed area of the church until Roxanne grabs his discarded shotgun, shooting Legion several times before tossing the gun to Johnny. Holding the weapon in the shadows, Johnny transforms the shotgun into a Ghost Rider weapon and blasts Legion apart with hellfire. The souls of San Venganza restore the demon quickly, whereupon Johnny uses the Penance Stare to destroy him. Legion's thousand corrupt souls are seared and he falls, comatose and blind. Ghost Rider then tosses Blackheart's comatose body aside, and reverts to his normal form. He is at first ashamed of his monstrous appearance before Roxanne, until she shows him that she is not afraid of what Johnny has become.

Mephistopheles appears and gives Johnny his soul, offering to take back the curse of the Ghost Rider. Johnny refuses, saying that he will use his power against Mephistopheles, and against all harm that comes to the innocent. Infuriated of being robbed of the power, Mephistopheles vows to make Johnny pay, to which Johnny in response recites his favorite saying: "You can't live in fear". Mephistopheles then disappears, taking Blackheart's body with him. Johnny and Roxanne share some parting words at the tree on which Johnny carved "J&R FOREVER" at the beginning of the film. Roxanne then tells Johnny that he got his second chance before sharing a final kiss with him. Johnny then rides away on his motorcycle, now a legend in his own right.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Johnny Blaze has been hiding for five years in eastern Europe and is confronted by Moreau. Moreau makes Johnny a deal, if Johnny uses the Rider to rescue the boy, Moreau and his group of monks, led by Methodius, will remove the demon from Johnny's body. Johnny changes into the Ghost Rider and resuces the boy from Carrigan.

Danny and Johnny bond over their demonic natures. Johnny, Nadya, and Moreau take Danny to Methodius and the monks fulfil their promise. They remove the Ghost Rider from Johnny after telling him the demon's background. The demon's name is Zarathos and he was an angel, a Spirit of Justice sent to protect man. But he was taken to hell, corrupted and his mission of protecting the innocent, turned into punishing the guilty and he turned into the devil's Spirit of Vengeance. But the monks rid Johnny of the Rider, then they decided that Danny is dangerous and because he was born with his power they can not remove it, so they decide to kill the boy. But Blackout shows up, kills the monks and captures Danny. Johnny, Moreau, and Nadya go to stop Roarke, Blackout kills Moreua, Johnny is about to be killed as well, but Danny realizing that he has all of Roarke's powers, puts the power of Zarathos back into Johnny.

Once again as the Rider, Johnny kills Blackout and a road chase occurs with the Rider chasing Roarke and the boy. Ghost Rider crashes Roarke's car and sends him back to hell and Danny is killed in the crash. But Johnny can feel the angelic part of Zarathos' presence and his hands glows with blue fire as the angel resurrects the boy. With Roarke beaten, Johnny rides into the night not as the demonic Spirit of Vengeance, but as the angelic Spirit of Justice.

Character Traits
Johnny Blaze is a good person cursed with a sense of guilt for the death of his father and is angry for having been tricked by Mephistopheles. He tries the most dangerous stunts, wanting to prove to himself that he's actually doing all the stunts himself, and not Mephisto or the Rider preventing him from dying before he fulfills his contract.

Johnny is a skillful stunt driver, the best on field, and he acts as a daredevil in everything in his life. He has a sort of addiction to candies, which he consumes in enormous quantities.

Equipment
Formerly a shotgun given to him by Carter Slade before his final battle with Blackheart.
 * Hellcycle: Motorcycle which can be transformed by hellfire whenever he becomes Ghost Rider.


 * Ghost Rider's Hellfire Chain: Utilizing an length piece of chain he found upon his first time as Ghost Rider. Ghost Rider's chain has become a mystic weapon capable of transforming into a wide variety of different weapons.
 * Mental Commands: The chain obeys the mental commands of Ghost Rider. When inactive it will link to itself in a loop so that it can be worn as an accoutrement to Ghost Rider's clothing. When Ghost Rider wills it to do so it separates to form a multipurpose weapon.
 * Variable Length: The chain is capable of mystically extending to greater lengths, it's upper limits are unknown.
 * Lasso: With the chain gripped at one end, the other can be used to ensnare a target in a manner similar to a lasso.
 * Hellfire: In addition, he can apply hellfire to it to use it to disintergrating his enemies.

Powers and Abilities
Ghost Rider is the supernatural combination between human host and experienced motorcyclist Johnny Blaze and the demonic Zarathos. As Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze possesses a variety of supernatural powers.

Powers
Demonic Transformation: Johnny Blaze possesses the supernatural ability to transform into Ghost Rider at will. Originally, he would automatically transform at night or in the presence of evil. However, he has begun to gain control over his transformations and can transform through an act of will or when innocent blood is spilled. The power of Ghost Rider depends on who is in control over Ghost Rider (Johnny and the spirit inhabit the same body, but while transformed Ghost Rider is in control, Johnny Blaze only influences it's decisions to an extent as he takes the "back seat" except when he sees Roxanne, he effectively calm down. So in a way, it may be the type of psychological condition like with the Hulk whenever he sees Betty). Carter Slade has stated Ghost Rider is powerful, however, it is unknown how powerful. Nonetheless, Johnny Blaze, as Ghost Rider, is one of the strongest and most powerful beings on the planet, while Ghost Rider, is for all intents and purposes described as boundless in power to the extent where Ghost Rider was able to defeat Blackheart as Legion in battle; Ghost Rider is one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe.
 * Superhuman Strength: Ghost Rider possesses formidable superhuman strength sufficient to lift up to 25 tons or maybe more. He can lift a grown man off the ground and hurl him into the air all with one hand. His strength is matched only by the greatest of demons; in this form, Ghost Rider was able to beat all of Blackheart's minions and Blackheart as Legion.
 * Superhuman Stamina: The mystical energy that empowers Ghost Rider prevents his muscles from producing fatigue toxins during physical activities, granting him limitless stamina.
 * Superhuman Dexterity: In Ghost Rider form, Johnny's mastery over his chain is in beyond human capability.
 * Superhuman Speed: Ghost Rider can move at erratic speeds that no mortal can achieve; allowing him to cover short distances either instantaneously or in mere seconds.
 * Superhuman Durability: In human form, Johnny is the same like any human being and is subject to the same vulnerabilities, as shown when Slade had to stitch him up. However, Johnny Blaze, while as Ghost Rider, is highly resistant to the point of being basically immune to all types of bodily damage as he has taken blows from beings such as Blackheart with no sign of pain or discomfort. Ghost Rider is capable of withstanding great impact forces, temperature and pressure extremes, powerful energy blasts, explosions, and falls from great heights without sustaining injury. As his bodily tissues have been transformed, leaving only a skeleton, most projectiles such as bullets simply pass through him, bounce off his bones or burn away due to the level of hellfire emitted from him. Ghost Rider's body is for all intents immune to physical injury, as he is evidently not able to feel pain and is able to survive with no apparent discomfort no matter how severe the injury.
 * Regenerative Healing Factor: Despite his invulnerability to conventional forms of injury, if his being is ever damaged, the magical energies imbuing him allows Ghost Rider to instantly regenerate any and all damage done without any discomfort or any evident pain. However, this is not extended to Johnny in his human form but with time, it could.
 * Hellfire Manipulation: Ghost Rider possesses the ability to generate, control, and project mystical fire, or "hellfire" at will. Hellfire is an emphyreal and supernatural flame that burns the soul of a person and can be used to burn their physical body. He can utilize this fire in various ways, including projecting it from his eyes, hands, mouth, or even channel it from his body into his weapons like his shotgun, form walls of hellfire, and even transform a regular motorcycle into an tricked out one completely out of hellfire. He can also unleash the hellfire in omni-directional attacks that are incredibly powerful. From what was seen in the trailer for the sequel, after being unloaded on by an attacker with an automatic weapon, he spit back out every round like a machine gun completely in hellfire. Also near the end of the trailer, the boy ask what happens if he has to pee in that form and Johnny stated that "it's awesome" and then it cuts to the scene where he is pissing hellfire, not urine, out but it comes out like a flamethrower.
 * Mystical Chain Projection: Ghost Rider wields a chain that is capable of growing in length, cutting through almost anything, and encasing it in hellfire or use it like a fan.
 * Penance Stare: Ghost Rider's most powerful weapon stated by Slade, Ghost Rider possesses the supernatural ability to cause any individual who stares into his eyes to see and feel every bit of pain they have ever inflicted on anyone in their entire lifetime. After exposure to the Penance State, in the first movie the individual eyes are replaced with burn-out pupils, while in the second he has his body completely incinerated.

Abilities

 * Expert Stunt Rider: Johnny is an expert stunt rider.
 * Skilled Combatant: Although he's had no proper training, he is also a formidable hand-to-hand combatant and has become quite adept at using his powers in combat situations.

Angelic Powers
After defeating Mephistopheles and sending him back to Hell, Johnny was freed from his influence. This allowed him to feel the presence of the angel Zarathos within him. His angelic abilities are characterized by holy blue flame instead of regular fire. His angelic flames are much brighter than his demonic flames. Johnny possesses the same strength and power while in his angelic form as he did in his demonic form. It is possible that his abilities have grown stronger now that Zarathos' grace and union with Heaven and God have been restored.
 * Resurrection: With this ability, Johnny was able to put Danny's soul back into his body and revived him just by touching his cheek.

Relationships

 * Barton Blaze - Father.
 * Roxanne Simpson - Love interest.
 * Zarathos - Demon possessor, reluctant ally.
 * Carter Slade - Ally.
 * Mephistopheles - Archenemy.
 * Blackheart - Enemy.
 * Randall Mackenzie - Friend.
 * Moreau - Ally
 * Blackout - Enemy.
 * Danny Ketch - Ally, son figure
 * Nadya Ketch - Ally, possible love interest
 * Methodius - Enemy.