"FIRST GHOST RIDER"
Real Name: Unrevealed (see Comments)
Identity/Class: Human possessed by a Spirit of Vengeance (Hyborian or Post-Hyborian era)
Occupation: Unrevealed
Group Membership: Spirits of Vengeance / Ghost Rider
Affiliations: Formerly Zadkiel
Enemies: Unidentified murderer, demons, Kid Blackheart, Zadkiel
Known Relatives: Possible daughter (see comments)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unidentified "Biblical" city
First Appearance: Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch#4 (March, 2009)
Powers/Abilities: Like most of the Ghost Riders who came after him, the first Ghost Rider presumably possessed superhuman strength and durability, could generate fire, and could transform his chosen mode of transport into a burning vehicle capable of great speed.
History: (Ghost Rider VI#33 (fb)) - Some time after the Great Cataclysm, God realized that despite his best efforts humanity's capacity for depravity remained unchanged, and that something needed to be done to keep it in check. Thus he decided to create the Spirits of Vengeance, a vestige of Gods own power bonded to human hosts, "Ghost Riders" who would smite those who committed evil deeds. They were secretly overseen and manipulated from the shadows by the trusted angel Zadkiel, whose choice for the first Ghost Rider was a man who witnessed a murder (see comments) and was transformed into a burning skeleton to punish the wrongdoer.
(Ghost
Rider: Danny Ketch#4 (fb)) - Zadkiel was not only there when the first Spirit
of Vengeance host was taken, but also witnessed when the first Ghost Rider
overdosed on his Spirit of Vengeance's power and burned out, both dying in
the mortal plane and having his soul burned out and destroyed (see
Comments).
(Ghost Rider: Heaven's on Fire#6 - BTS) - Like all past Ghost Riders, the Biblical first Ghost Rider was revived to take part in defending Heaven from both the now-rogue Zadkiel and then Kid Blackheart's demon army.
Comments: Created by Simon Spurrier and Javier Saltares (Ghost Rider: Dan Ketch version) and Jason Aaron and Tony Moore (Ghost Rider VI#33 version).
There's very little detail given about this character in his two appearances, apart from him being from a period following the Biblical Great Flood, which in Marvel term's would be the Great Cataclysm circa 18,000 BC. We don't even see him fully transformed (maybe - see next paragraph). The Ghost Rider VI#33 script reveals a couple of additional details - his appearance is based depictions of the Biblical Abraham, so perhaps Abram, the original name given for Abraham, would be a suitable real name, and we might imply he comes from around 2000 BC, the date the Bible places Abraham's story at. The script also suggests that the murder victim might be his daughter, and specifically identifies this guy to be the "first Ghost Rider," though there is no mention of what he rides. Though I am always wary of identifying anyone as the "first" anything, because retcons can so easily render that "first" descrptor incorrect, for now and for lack of a better name, I've simply called him "the first Ghost Rider." Of course, the next question then arises: if this guy was post-Great Cataclysm, and the Thulean Ghost Rider is pre-Great Cataclysm, then how can this guy be the first Ghost Rider? Perhaps, contrary to past accounts and popular belief, the Biblical Great Flood wasn't the Great Cataclysm, but another, even earlier event? Or did Thulean survivors of the Great Cataclysm set themselves up in a new home and empire in the southern hemisphere, and the Thulean Ghost Rider guy comes from that later incarnation of Thule?
Ghost Rider: Dan Ketch#4 also depicted the first host, though he looked somewhat different (of course, maybe this was his transformed state, though he's not as skeletal as Ghost Rider's tend to be, or because the depiction in GR: DK is more symbolic than literal). The different look is probably because the creators of GR VI#33 were simply unaware that GR: DK#4 depicted the first host, since that issue would not have been published yet when GR VI#33 was being written and drawn. Since both comics independently produced a character said to be the first Ghost Rider, a case might be made that they are not the same character; however, since both were identified as the first host for a Spirit of Vengeance, I have treated them as the same person, regardless of how they look. In GR: DK#4, Mr. Eleven, an agent of Zadkiel, claims that the first host burned out; though in the absence of contrary evidence I have included this in the history, it is worth being aware that Zadkiel and Mr. Eleven lied a lot in order to get Danny Ketch to work for Zadkiel, so it may be completely untrue. The presence of all past Ghost Riders in Heaven doesn't entirely rule out the possibility that the first host's soul was destroyed, since at least one of the Ghost Riders / Spirits of Vengeance taking part in the defence of Heaven, Yokai-Raida, was active despite its host being separated from it but still alive, back on Earth.
Profile by Loki.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The first Ghost Rider is definitely connected to, but should not be confused
with
but has no known connections to
For reasons unrevealed, this man savagely stabbed a young woman to death, but made the mistake of being seen standing over the corpse by an older man who was then transformed into the first Ghost Rider. Presumably the murderer was dealt swift and harsh punishment for his transgressions mere seconds later.
--Ghost Rider VI#33
An unidentified young woman who was brutally stabbed to death for reasons unrevealed. She may have been the daughter of an old man who witnessed the killer standing over her corpse, who then was transformed into the first Ghost Rider and presumably avenged her.
--Ghost Rider VI#33
images: (without ads)
Ghost Rider VI#33, p1, pan4 (main image)
Ghost Rider VI#33, p1, pan3 (first Ghost Rider before transformation)
Ghost Rider: Dan Ketch#4, p14, pan5 (the first Ghost Rider host burns out)
Ghost Rider VI#33, p1, pan3 (murderer)
Ghost Rider VI#33, p1, pan3 (victim)
Other Appearances:
Ghost Rider VI#33 (May, 2009) - Jason Aaron (writer), Tony Moore (art), Axel
Alonso (editor)
Ghost Rider: Heaven's On Fire#6 (February, 2010) - Jason Aaron (writer),
Roland Boschi (art), Sebastian Girner (editor)
Last updated: 03/22/14
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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Unidentified victim