MARINETTE BWA CHECH
MARINETTE BWA CHECH
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Human possessed by a Spirit of Vengeance, presumably citizen of an unspecified African nation
Occupation: Ruler of the City of Skulls
Group Membership: Spirits of Vengeance / Ghost Riders, possibly formerly Order of the Midnight Sons (see comments)
Affiliations: Bai Gu Jing, Baron Skullfire, Caretaker (Sara), Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze), Molek, City of Skull's Phantom Riders (including the Baron's successor), her rhino
Enemies: Zadkiel, demons, Kid Blackheart, formerly Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch)
Known Relatives: Baron Skullfire (husband)
Aliases: Ghost Rider, Lady of the Congo, Queen of Skull City, Marinette of the Dry Arms (see comments)
Base of Operations: City of Skulls, somewhere near the Congo River, Africa
First Appearance: Ghost Rider VI#31 (March, 2009)
Powers/Abilities: Marinette Bwa Chech possessed superhuman strength and durability, and was immune to conventional small arms. She could project streams of hellfire from her hands, and could breath fire. Her chosen steed was a hellfire-enhanced rhino.
History:
(Ghost Rider VI#31 (fb) - BTS) - Marinette Bwa Chech was an African Ghost Rider
who worshipped
Papa Legba
and whose appearance was based on the memeform of the loa Marinette Bwa Chech
(Marinette of the Dry Arms). She was partner and lover to Baron Skullfire,
and the pair operated from the hidden City of Skulls deep within the Congo,
whose inhabitants they protected and were served by in return. As the
acolyte-like Phantom Riders, the City's inhabitants guarded the City against
intruders. The two Ghost Riders became close friends with the Muslim Ghost
Rider Molek, and the Baron and Molek (and perhaps Marinette) fought together
alongside legions of other Spirits of Vengeance as the Order of the Midnight
Sons. In modern times the couple learned that their fellow Spirits of Vengeance
were being hunted down and destroyed by rogue Ghost Rider Dan Ketch, who
had been duped into this action by the even-more rogue angel Zadkiel, who
wanted the Spirits' power to conquer Heaven.
(Ghost Rider VI#31) - The last handful of remaining Ghost Riders - Molek, the Chinese Bai Gu Jing, and Ketch's brother, Johnny Blaze - plus their ally Caretaker (Sara) came to the City of Skulls intending to make a last stand alongside the Baron and Marinette. The skeletal couple warmly greeted the new arrivals, welcoming them to the last stand of the Spirits of Vengeance, and Marinette told her old friend Molek that it was good to see him again, after too long apart. The Baron then led the visitors into the city, inviting them to eat and drink like this was their last night on Earth. Some time later, after the visitors had gone to their quarters, the Baron and Marinette made love while still in their transformed, skeletal states.
The next day the forces of the City of Skulls assembled, ready for the coming fight - Molek, Bai Gu Jing, Baron Skullfire and Marinette Bwa Chech, Sara, and the City's human population, the Phantom Riders of the Congo. The Baron made a rallying speech to the Phantom Riders, and, at the last moment, Blaze joined them in his Ghost Rider form. Seconds later the similarly transformed Dan Ketch raced out from the treeline, leading an army of Zadkiel's Black Host angels.
(Ghost
Rider VI#32) - Battle commenced, with the City's defenders fighting bravely
and initially seeming to make headway. The Baron and Marinette fought back
to back, blasting their opponents with hellfire, but eventually one of the
Black Host maneuvered behind the Baron and ran him through with an angelic
blade, fatally wounding him. Screaming in anguish at this, Marinette unleashed
a whirlwind of hellfire breath, destroying all the nearby attackers, and
ran to her husband's side, begging him to hold on. Unable to do so, the Baron
reverted to human form and told her with his dying breath that he loved her.
As he perished, his Spirit of Vengeance visibly exited his corpse and took
a new host from amongst the Phantom Riders. Seeing this, Ketch ordered the
angels to stop killing people, both because he believed they were trying
to help the City's people, and because he realized that slaying a Spirit's
host would only cause it to take a new one. Ketch manifested hellfire avatars
of himself who tore through the Phantom Riders to get to the Ghost Riders.
The real Ketch raced off on his motorbike, and Blaze pursued, but in their
absence the avatars overcame the remaining Ghost Riders one by one, draining
them of their Spirits and leaving them for dead.
The battle ended, Ketch dissipated his avatars, absorbing the power they had taken. Stealing Blaze's power too, he flew up towards Heaven to deliver the combined might of the Spirits of Vengeance to Zadkiel. Blaze, weakened but alive, returned to the City of Skulls to find only Sara still standing. Moments later, having learned too late of Zadkiel's villainous intentions, Ketch crashed back down to Earth, having managed to hang on to just enough of the power to restore Blaze's Spirit of Vengeance to him. Lying amidst the carnage, with Marinette's unmoving form mere feet away, Ketch dejectedly announced that Zadkiel had won.
(Ghost Rider: Heaven's on Fire#6) - Like all past Ghost Riders, Marinette was revived to take part in defending Heaven from first Zadkiel and then Kid Blackheart's demon army. After the battle, Heaven lit up as God returned, and the resurrected Ghost Riders returned to their eternal rest.
Comments: Created by Jason Aaron and Tan Eng Huat.
Marinette Bwa Chech is named for a particularly vicious loa also known as Marinette-Bwa-Chech (Marinette of the Dry Arms, which implies a skeletal form). The loa's general name is Marinette - the Bwa Chech is attached to her Petro form, with Petro apparently being one of the loa "nations," and the one considered hot and aggressive - appropriate for a Ghost Rider.
It is uncertain whether Marinette was slain when she was depowered, or merely rendered unconscious. The presence of her Spirit of Vengeance in the battle for Heaven doesn't confirm her demise, as Yokai-Raida was also present, and he definitely survived his depowering. It may simply be that the Spirit took on her appearance and manner, or it may be that the revival of the Ghost Riders not only resurrected the dead hosts, but also brought Marinette to Heaven, where he was reunited with her Spirit of Vengeance, and her late spouse. If this last is what happened, then unlike the resurrected Ghost Riders, Marinette would presumably not have stayed in Heaven, but might have returned to Earth and be back in action. She wasn't explicitly shown to be departing into the light like the other, nondescript, Ghost Riders.
Profile by Loki.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Marinette Bwa Chech is definitely connected to, but should not be confused
with
but has no known connections to
Marinette's chosen steed was a rhino, presumably hellfire-enhanced like other Ghost Rider steeds. She didn't stay on it long during the battle to defend the City of Skulls, so it may have been slain early in the fight.
--Ghost Rider VI#31
images: (without ads)
Ghost Rider VI#31, p9, pan1 (main image)
Ghost Rider VI#32, p14, pan3 (human appearance)
Ghost Rider VI#32, p4, pan1 (blasting hellfire from her hands)
Ghost Rider VI#32, p4, pan3 (hellfire breath)
Ghost Rider VI#32, p11, pan2 (being depowered)
Ghost Rider VI#31, p21, pan2 (Marinette's rhino)
Other Appearances:
Ghost Rider VI#32 (April, 2009) - Jason Aaron (writer), Tan Eng Huat (art), Sebastian
Girner (editor)
Ghost Rider: Heaven's On Fire#6 (February, 2010) - Jason Aaron (writer),
Roland Boschi (art), Sebastian Girner (editor)
First Posted: 03/24/2014
Last updated: 03/24/2014
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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