WARNING: There are unmarked spoilers on these sheets for all but the most recent comics.
open/close all folders
Central Rogues Gallery
Aqueduct
Aqueduct
Alter Ego: Peter Van Zante
Notable Aliases: Water Wizard
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 2) #23 (April, 1977)
Formerly known as Water Wizard, Aqueduct is a super-villain with the ability to manipulate water.
- Alliterative Name: His old alias, Water Wizard
- Butt-Monkey: He rarely appears without being manipulated and/or taken out like a chump.
- Dirty Coward: Frequently flees from combat rather than fighting.
- Evil Redhead: Has auburn hair, although he's not that evil when compared to other villains.
- Floating Water: Has the psychokinetic ability to control and shape all forms of liquid (including oil) for virtually any effect, such as rainstorms, floods, tidal waves, water slides, and mobile animated water creatures.
- Making a Splash: Has hydrokinetic powers.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: While he started out as a Ghost Rider villain, he was eventually moved to the New Warriors, and now has no real "set" Rogues Gallery. His lack of an occult or vehicle theme making him a glaring outlier among Ghost Rider villains is probably why he was distanced from GR.
- Secondary Color Nemesis: His outfit as Water Wizard was orange while his Aqueduct costume is mostly green.
- Squishy Wizard: His water constructs are powerful, but he himself is an ordinary human. Which is a big problem when going up against the supernaturally strong and tough Ghost Rider.
- Super Loser: He has great power, but no imagination to use it properly beyond petty crimes.
- The Vietnam Vet: According to his origin story, he was seriously wounded in a rocket attack, and the doctors tried to keep him alive through use of an experimental ray. A lightning strike hit the ray device, blasting him with a full charge. He was mutated and gained super powers, but his near-death experience resulted in his constant fear of dying in combat. As he explained to a fellow villain while fleeing an enraged Iron Man:Water Wizard: Are you crazy? I almost got skragged in 'Nam, buddy, and then I only had an army to fight! The only thing my water-forming powers are going to make — is a surf-scooter to get me the blazes outta here!
Blackheart
Blackheart
First Appearance: Daredevil #270 (September, 1989)
Blackheart is the son of Mephisto, and being so, planned to seize his father's power and succeeded.
For Blackheart's tropes, see his entry on the Marvel Comics: Demons page.
Blackout
Blackout
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 3) #2 (June, 1990)
A human-demon hybrid who creates light-canceling darkness fields and has vampire-like abilities enhanced by metal fangs and claws.
- And Your Little Dog, Too!: Because he can't actually beat Ghost Rider, he targets people associated with him.
- Casting a Shadow: He has the power to suppress light sources, but isn't powerful enough to shut off the Ghost Rider's fire.
- Eats Babies: This is what causes Vengeance to turn on him when he and some other Lilin tried to buy him off.
- First Law of Resurrection: He is burnt to death by the Ghost Rider yet shows up during civil war with no explanation.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Half Lilin.
- Hired Guns: He works as an assassin, muscle or whatever else you pay for.
- One-Steve Limit: Shares name with Marcus Daniels, who also goes by Blackout.
- Scars Are Forever: Averted but he did hold a grudge against Ghost Rider for burning his face (because he was dumb enough to try and bite a flaming skeleton).
- Starter Villain: For Danny Ketch, introduced in issue #2 of his book. Blackout really wasn't a big threat to Ghost Rider then and Ghost Rider only got stronger as his story went on through the midnight sons arc while Blackout's been stagnant.
Centurious
Centurious
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 2) #74 (November, 1982)
Long, long ago, Centurious was a prince in a tribe attacked by Zarathos's followers. He escaped the attack, but the woman he loved didn't. She was chosen as a sacrifice to Zarathos. He made a pact with Mephisto to save her.
- The Ageless: Among the effects of his bargain with Mephisto was the loss of his mortality.
- Arch-Enemy: To Zarathos, who is ultimately responsible for the loss of his soul and the destruction of his life.
- Deal with the Devil: He made a pact with Mephisto in order to save the woman he loved from being sacrificed to Zarathos. He got what he wanted, but the price was his soul.
- Emotionless Boy: In taking his soul, Mephisto also took his ability to feel love, or pretty much any emotion except hatred for Zarathos.
- Evil Sorcerer: An immortal has a lot of time to learn magic, and Centurious has put that time to good use. He isn't the equal of Dr. Strange, but he's extremely powerful and extremely skilled in the magic he does know.
- Life Drain: To keep his lifespan going, though he does not need to do it extensively. Just every now and then.
- Super-Strength: Exactly how strong he is varies from story to story, but he's always shown as much stronger than a normal man.
- The Soulless: His side of the bargain with Mephisto was the loss of his soul. Without it, he can't feel love, or indeed any emotion except hatred for Zarathos. This made him immune to the Rider's strongest weapons, hellfire and the Penance Stare.
- Tragic Villain: He gave up his soul to Mephisto in order to save the woman he loved. The loss meant he became immortal, but could no longer feel love, or much of anything else.
- Walking Wasteland: His presence withers plants.
- Your Soul Is Mine!: His "Crystal of Souls", an artifact he found some time in the distant past, enables him to drain a person's soul as well as their life-energy. The process leaves the person still alive but without any will of their own; they can only follow Centurious's orders.
Deacon
Deacon
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 6) #24 (August, 2008)
A servant of Zadkiel who punishes the sinners in brutal ways thus fulfilling God's will (or, at least, he believes so).
- Arch-Enemy: To Sister Sara, the second Caretaker.
- Badass Preacher: Subverted Trope. He's not really a deacon, just a Holy Hitman.
- Cruel Mercy: Sara refuses to kill him, instead leaving him with total paralysis when he is taken in by the police.
- Holy Hitman: Claims to be following the path of angels (and technically, he isn't wrong), but is a mass murderer.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Very misogynist.
- Tattooed Crook: Has many tattoos on his shirtless body.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Never wears a shirt.
Deathwatch
Deathwatch
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 3) #1 (May, 1990)
The true origins of the man known as Deathwatch still remains a mystery besides the fact that he is from an extradimensional demonic race known as the Translords. Taking a special interest within humans by draining their dying life force thanks to group of worshippers and servants who sacrificed unwilling victims, Deathwatch eventually built enough strength to enter through the dimensional barrier and into the real world.
- And Your Little Dog, Too!: Tries to kill Danny Ketch and his already hospitalized sister because of their connection to the Ghost Rider.
- Cool Mask: More literal than most as, Deathwatch has little reason to hide his identity.
- Corporate Conspiracy: Most people know that Contracts Unlimited is a somewhat shady mercenary company. What very few realize is that it is actually an Apocalypse Cult run by Deathwatch, who wants to kill everything in the world while he watches, then die himself.
- Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Gangster!: Having fun with organized crime is pretty much his entire reason for being on Earth.
- Evil Tastes Good: If anybody ever deserved to die by the penance stare, it was him. He feeds off of other people's pain though so Ghost Rider decides to just kill him in a more simplistic manner. Alejandra later shows the penance stare is capable of hurting him but also ends up settling on a more simplistic finish.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: When the Hood complains about him taking a cellphone into a meeting, Deathwatch responds by whining, "Dude, I got kids."
- First Law of Resurrection: Ghost Rider kills him, yet he shows up again after Civil War. Two of his minions did want to resurrect him but didn't know how and since they haven't showed up since it is doubtless the writers even remember.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Ghost Rider does this with his chain to kill him.
- The Musketeer: In line with his love of ninjas he still uses a sword in the modern era. Of course he really needs guns more.
- Not Even Human: He looks like us but he aint us. This is revealed pretty early however and not needed as justification for killing him. His actions would have eventually caused Ghost Rider to take him out regardless of species.
- Villain Teamup: With The Hood, a fan of super villains despite living in a world where super villains and their crimes are very real. Perfect partner for Deatwatch when you see the other tropes that apply to him though.
Lilith
Lilith
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 3) #28 (August, 1992)
Lilith "Mother of Demons" is originally a goddess, dating back to Pre-Sumeria.
For Lilith's tropes, see her entry on the Marvel Comics: Demons page.
Lucifer
Lucifer
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 6) #1 (September, 2006)
Lucifer was originally an angel but was cast out to Hell after having led a rebellion against God.
- Back from the Dead: Does this for people in mass when he gets out of hell. He does this just to have bodies though, he does not have as much use as one would think for their identities or anything.
- Batman Gambit: He tortures those in his hell even more than just being there already does to give them more incentive to escape, figuring maybe if someone else manages to get out, he can follow them. It finally works when he snares a Ghost Rider.
- Didn't Think This Through: Who later drags him back, kicking and screaming.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: To such an extent that when Lucifer was fragmented into different spirits, at one point one of these spirits helped Johnny Blaze thwart a plan concocted by some of the others so that the fragment talking with Johnny could be the last one standing. Johnny reasoned that while he knew he couldn't trust Lucifer, he could trust him to betray people, and in this case Lucifer was just doing it to himself.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Besides having demons tear apart John Blaze every day, he also forced Greexix to deepen a pit for the rest of eternity. When an accident causes Greexix to go blind though, Lucifer decided to torture him for real. After Zadkiel's attempt to take over heaven gets him sent to hell, Lucifer takes joy in torturing him too.
- Demonic Possession: Most hell lords are not that into it but he is.
- The Devil Is a Loser: Unlike other hell-lords or fallen angels he is stuck in hell unless he can trick someone to release him. In his few appearances, he lacks the cunning or sophistication of Mephisto making him vulgar. He has no grander scheme then mass destruction. Worst of all, he is outsmarted repeatedly by Johnny Blaze.
- Evil Is Petty: A number of his actions were rather juvenile such as threatening to blow up a building to drive insurance rates up after being outsmarted by Blaze (the only reason he didn't do it was that it would be essentially suicide, which would thwart his wider plan).
- Fallen Angel: He was once a champion for good, though it is unclear if he was the one who chased the N'Garai away when Chthon launched them at heaven or if it was Marduk Curios (worked together?). Since Marduk is the villain of a different comic, Lucifer will get all the credit if you're reading a Ghost Rider story.
- And some comics, such as Damnation (2018), say he is Marduk Curios, even though that character has (or at least claims) a completely different origin story and can exit his realm without help.
- Green-Eyed Monster: The real reason he rebelled against heaven is because he was sick of all the love God was giving to the puny, sinful humans.
- Horned Humanoid: Sometimes, he does not need to have them but likes to look it can be assumed
- I Cannot Self-Terminate: When Lucifer escapes Hell and is fractured into over six hundred fragments possessing those who died around the time he escaped, an angelic being informs Ghost Rider that the Lucifers will become stronger as each of them are killed and the power of the remaining fragments becomes greater. However, these fragments cannot simply kill themselves as that would just send Lucifer back to Hell due to suicide being a sin.
- Ironic Hell: After getting kicked out of heaven he wanted to become the lord of hell but unlike everyone else competing for that title he can't escape his own realm without help. Even when he gets out, he's effectively trapped as soon as someone sticks him back in. Even his former subordinate and fellow fallen angel Asmodeus had more freedom than him in this regard, despite being much weaker.
- Kill All Humans: An idea he's been tempted to try but hasn't gone through with yet.
- Legions of Hell: Not nearly enough to usually accomplish his goals though.
- Light Is Not Good: Contractually obligated.
- Manipulative Bastard: Tries to be, but not nearly as good at it as other hell-lords like Mephisto, Dormammu or Zadikel considering Blaze outsmarted him several times in a row.
- Mother of a Thousand Young: Possibly a father, he's supposedly created numerous demons but it can be reasoned he's not the source of all of them, maybe not even the original source of them but who knows.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Tries this on Ghost Rider after they end up in the spot where Blaze made his deal with Mephisto.
- Number of the Beast: Since his re-entry to Earth split him into six hundred and sixty six different fragments, which is just fine with him, as he isn't omnipresent. The Ghost Rider sets about destroying all the fragments (and some of them will get killed by others as they commit various crimes) but each time one is killed, all the others get stronger, Lucifer figuring he will eventually be powerful enough to defeat whoever targets him. If the fragments aren't killed off, he gets to cover more ground. They even joke and scheme amongst themselves.
- Pride: Also pretty much required, although he is not the worst in this area.
- Public Domain Character/Composite Character: He is based both on Christian (though the name Lucifer is the result of a mistranslation) and Islamic (
Sufi specifically) texts. - Satan: He claims to be but many other lords of hell dispute it, some have apparently been at it longer than he has. The fact that many religious scholars (even in real life) argue that Lucifer and Satan are not the same entity doesn't help.
- Stupid Evil: Engages in murder and mayhem to try and get Ghost Rider to kill his splintered selves to form one full-powered Lucifer, but when outmaneuvered prone to engaging in evil acts to try and get back at Ghost Rider even if doing so damns that part or all of him back to Hell.
- Underestimating Badassery: Lucifer respects Johnny's raw power as the Ghost Rider but underestimated his intellect, allowing Johnny to ultimately come up with a plan to banish Lucifer back to Hell by "sparing" one fragment after rendering it brain-dead and paralyzed.
- Voluntary Shape Shifting: Combine this with demonic possession and the ability to have multiple bodies out in the world at once and you have a real source of paranoia.
Mephisto
Mephisto
First Appearance: Silver Surfer #3 (December, 1968)
A sadistic, cruel, and dangerous extra-dimensional demon with unknown origins, Mephisto is incredibly powerful. Based on Mephistopheles, a demon from the Faust legend, Mephisto is known for stealing souls and torturing them in his hell-like dimension. He is one of the many Hell-Lords in the Marvel Universe.
For Mephisto's tropes, see his entry on the Marvel Comics: Demons page.
Nightmare
First Appearance: Strange Tales #110 (April, 1963)
Nightmare is the ruler of the Dream Dimension and a co-creator of the Fear Lords. As well as opposing the Ghost Riders, he's a regular opponent of Doctor Strange and other Marvel heroes.
For Nightmare's tropes, see his entry on the Marvel Comics: Demons page.
Orb
Orb I
Alter Ego: Drake Shannon
Notable Aliases: The Orb
First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up #15 (November, 1973)
After Drake Shannon was horribly disfigured, he soon took his anger out on the world.
- Evil Former Friend: Used to be Crash Thompson's friend before his face was disfigured.
- Eye Beams: Unlike the second Orb, he can fire these.
- Face Concealing Helmet: His giant eye is really just a large helmet to cover his disfigured face.
- I Was Quite the Looker: Used to be quite handsome before an accident horribly mutilated his face, hence why he wears a mask.
Orb II
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 6) #26 (October, 2008)
A successor to the original Orb, this one has an actual giant eyeball for a head.
- Eyes Do Not Belong There: His head is a giant eyeball. He's very self conscious about it. Later on the Watcher's eye embeds itself in his chest.
- Joke Character: Every one of his appearances. Sometimes, however, like during Original Sin he can shift into something else.
- Killed Off for Real: He’s murdered by Doom Supreme of the Multiversal Masters of Evil in The Avengers (Jason Aaron) so the Masters can steal the Watcher’s eye for themselves.
- Motor Mouth: He never shuts up, to the point that the paralyzed Deacon being stuck with the Orb as his roommate in the hospital and later prison is treated as a Fate Worse than Death. It only got worse after he was killed and sent to Hell, since he no longer needs to eat or sleep or breathe and can now just keep "talking and talking and talking forever."Orb: And here in Hell, all is once more as it was meant to be. Wouldn't you say, Lord Mephisto?
Mephisto: No... this... is even worse than before. - Not-So-Harmless Villain: He had potentially the stupidest possible gimmick for a villain to have, to the point where not even his own goons took him seriously. And then he stole the Watcher’s eye in Original Sin and revealed crucial secrets to a bunch of major heroes, temporarily driving the world into chaos. He’s also become much more powerful with the Watcher’s eye in his possession, as well as far more deranged.
- Took a Level in Badass: During the Original Sin crossover, he serves as one of the primary antagonists.
- Walking the Earth: He becomes compelled by the Watcher's eye in his chest to seek out events to witness.
Scarecrow
Scarecrow
Alter Ego: Ebenezer Laughton
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #51 (March, 1964)
A deranged circus contortionist who turned to a life of crime and gained powers over fear through dark magics.
- Alternate Company Equivalent: As you might be able to tell, he’s this for DC's own version of the Scarecrow, Jonathan Crane. Both have similar gimmicks and have mastery over fear, though this version of the Scarecrow gains his powers from magic rather than science.
- Ax-Crazy: He has a poor grasp on reality, is horrifically violent, and doesn't need much of a reason to try and kill anyone who crosses his path.
- Contortionist: Started out as a mere rag doll practitioner who used his skill to appear to be inanimate and thus deflect suspicion from his crimes.
- De-power: He at some point managed to escape from Hell and regain his sanity (for the most part) between the events of Ghost Rider #86 and 2003's The Avengers #64, but seemingly lost all of his powers and enhancements in the process, going back to just being a contortionist with trained birds and Gardening Variety Weapons.
- Emotion Eater: He feeds off people's fear.
- Freudian Excuse:
- His father was a depressive, prone to sobbing hysterically while locked away in his study, while his mother was a violent, alcoholic adulterer; she stabbed her husband in front of their son when he confronted her about her lovers, and she would batter and burn Laughton whenever he was bad—once telling him that she should have drowned him as soon as he was born—and then try to ease her guilt over this by giving Laughton gifts, which warped Laughton's mind and caused him to become a sadomasochist who began acting out even more, convinced that pain and degradation would always be followed by pleasure and treats; despite this, Laughton still loves his mother, frequently rambling about her, transferring all of his bad memories of her to his father for a while, and at one point abducting Stacy Dolan due to thinking that she was his mother, who he tried to "help" by killing her to let all of "the fearful things" out of her while reassuring her, "You don't have to drink anymore to do it."
- While he was already unstable, he was completely driven over the edge when he was operated on and surgically altered while fully conscious and aware after being taken in by the Firm.Scarecrow: There was pain. And fear. And throughout the operation, unknown to all—I was awake. This is how I gained my talents. But I could feel every cut, every probing finger inside my guts... they enjoyed their work. I was reminded uncomfortably of my mother's loving attention, of the gifts she would give me... I would've screamed, then. But one of the doctor's incisions had severed my vocal cords, trapping my fear.
- Hearing Voices: At his worst. In one story, when given the opportunity to get out of Hell and to either take something with him or leave something behind, Scarecrow mentioned to Danny Ketch that he hoped to leave behind all of the voices in his head.
- Improbable Weapon User: A pitch fork.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Started off as a goofy Iron Man villain in the Silver Age, but becomes a serial killer when he becomes a Ghost Rider villain in the 1990s.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: As noted above, he originally started out as an Iron Man villain. Later, he switched to becoming a Captain America villain for a while. When he went on a killing spree to try and attract Cap's attention, he ended up getting Ghost Rider's instead.
- Scary Scarecrows: Not to be confused with Batman's Scarecrow, though some Spider-Man comics had him using "fear pheromones", which suggests some writers and editors at Marvel did.
- Serial Killer: Though one who chooses victims that draw attention to himself. If not for his being a (sort of) super powered being with no regard for victim's suffering, he would probably be a pretty unsuccessful serial killer. In one case, he was deliberately trying to get Captain America's attention to force Cap to fight him again. He attracted Ghost Rider's attention instead, and the ensuing fight ended with him skewered on his own pitchfork.
Zadkiel
Zadkiel
First Appearance: Ghost Rider (Vol. 6) #27 (November, 2008)
A Fallen Angel who was given a chance at redemption by God, Zadkiel was placed in command of the Spirits of Vengeance. These Spirits were originally created to ward off demonic invasions and deliver penance to the most wicked and irredeemable souls amongst humanity. However, Zadkiel soon grew prideful and arrogant once more, and now seeks to claim the throne of Heaven for himself.
- A God Am I: What he ultimately seeks to become, by taking over Heaven.
- Been There, Shaped History: He claims to be responsible for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as several other of God's Biblical feats of wrath.
- Cessation of Existence: He goes about wiping people on Earth out of existence to prove his godhood to other people.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: First, he betrayed God by siding with Lucifer during his revolt against Heaven. Then, near the end of the war, he sold out Lucifer to the angels so he could get back into God's graces, leveraging his knowledge for a position as the keeper of the Spirits of Vengeance. And now, he's trying to usurp God again, this time on his own terms.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Played With: Zadkiel himself is as evil as they come, but the Black Host of angels under his command largely don't share his prideful ambitions, and are mostly Just Following Orders.
- Good Wings, Evil Wings: Has an imposing pair of black angel's wings on his back.
- Hell of a Heaven: Under Zadkiel’s leadership, this is what Heaven becomes - a nightmarish dictatorship where Zadkiel and his allies reign supreme, and all souls that he deems unworthy (i.e., damn near everyone) are sentenced to a fate worse than death.
- Knight Templar: Fallen Angel he may be, but Zadkiel still despises sinners and the forces of Hell with a furious passion. In fact, one of the reasons he wants to take over Heaven for himself is because he thinks God has become too soft towards humanity.
- Manipulative Bastard: By way of retroactive continuity he could be argued to behind Lilith's release and the Midnight Sons story arc, as well as the cause of the depression that allowed him to manipulate Dan in his own story arc.
- Our Angels Are Different: He isn't as odd looking as Zarathos or Uri-El, but not as pretty as the angels introduced between them and him like Ruth.
- Public Domain Character: Mythological Zadkiel is not a villain or even mean at all. Even less so for the Zadkiel who is a figure in religions still being practiced today. He might have just been chosen for being obscure.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: He rebelled against heaven along with Lucifer but then betrayed Lucifer and sided back with heaven. His peers were not impressed and demoted him from the rank of Arch Angel.
Zarathos
Zarathos
Notable Aliases: Ravager of Souls, Living Spirit of Vengeance, Ghost Rider
First Appearance: Marvel Spotlight #5 (May, 1972)
Zarathos fought the ancient Spirits of Vengeance and corrupted a number of their overseers, the Blood, into his "Fallen". He promised them increased power, but actually used their powers to further augment himself. After gaining power and worshippers, he challenged Mephisto, but lost.
After his fall, Mephisto forcibly bound Zarathos to mortals as a mockery of the Spirits of Vengeance. On one such occasion, he bonded Zarathos to Johnny Blaze, transforming him into the Ghost Rider.
For tropes regarding Zarathos, see his entry on the Ghost Rider (Title Character) page.
