Zarathos is the former fallen angel who took possession of Johnny Blaze after the latter made the deal with Mephistopheles. He is the source of Johnny's power as the Ghost Rider. During his early career as Ghost Rider, Johnny christened Zarathos simply as the Rider.
Zarathos is an angel, the Spirit of Justice, created and sent by God to protect the innocent on Earth. However, he was tricked and captured by demons. Brought down to Hell, he was corrupted and tortured with visions of humanity's depravity until he went insane. His mission to protect the innocent was perverted into a lust to punish the guilty. He became the Spirit of Vengeance.
After Johnny defeats Mephistopheles in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Zarathos was freed from Hell's corruption and has returned to his true, angelic form.
Biography
Ghost Rider
After a deal with the demon overlord Mephistopheles, Zarathos is bound to Johnny Blaze's soul and body. The union of the two is known as the Ghost Rider. With the powers of Zarathos, Blaze manages to defeat Blackheart and his minions and to save Roxanne Simpson. Eager to control Zarathos, however, Blaze leaves Roxanne and begins a travel in search of redemption.
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Despite his efforts, Blaze is still unable to control Zarathos, always hungry for sinners' souls. The monk Moreau promises to Blaze to free him of his curse, in exchange of the Rider's help in protecting Nadya and her son Danny, two people pursued by Mephisto himself, now going under the name Roarke.
Immediately before the process of unbonding, Moreau tells Blaze the history of Zarathos: he was an angel, the Spirit of Justice, sent on Earth to protect the innocents. Mephisto, however, managed to deceive him and capture him, torturing him for eons, until Zarathos had gone completely mad. His original mission of protecting the innocents, corrupted by Hell, became a dark obsession of punishing the guilty, and he became fallen angel the Spirit of Vengeance.
Despite finally being freed from his curse, Blaze accepted Zarathos once again in his body in order to save Danny, who was about to become Mephisto's new body host. Defeating the demon lord once and for all eventually cure Zarathos from his madness, restored the fallen mad angel back into Spirit of Justice whom walk on Earth once again.
Character traits
As a Fallen Angel
Despite his great powers, Zarathos was mentally unstable after his fall into Hell, consumed by the hunger of consuming souls and punishing sinners. With the time, he becomes more and more irrational and moved only by his main instinct; feeding.
Zarathos's fractured mental state also what allowed powerful demonic beings such as Mephisto or Daniel Ketch (who was technically the half-demon son of Mephisto) to easily command him. It also allowed his host to resist his influence to some degree.
As an Angel
After Johnny goaded Zarathos to defeat Mephistopheles, the very demon lord that corrupted him in the first place, the defeat of demon lord resulted his angelic grace and sanity gradually returning to him.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Transformation: While possessing a vessel, Zarathos transforms them into a fiery skeletal being with superhuman strength, reflexes, dexterity and invulnerability to virtually all physical harm.
- Superhuman Strength: Zarathos is an angel of awesome power whose strength is matched only by the greatest of demons. This makes him a match for Blackheart or Mephistopheles himself (even if the latter is defeated only in an extremely weakened form).
- Superhuman Reflexes: Zarathos possesses superhuman reflexes.
- Superhuman Dexterity: Zarathos possesses superhuman dexterity.
- Invulnerability: Zarathos is virtually immune to all types of physical harm. Bullets, explosions, fire does not cause Zarathos any real harm, merely cosmetic damage.
- Accelerated Healing Factor: Zarathos is able to heal from cuts and bruises to the face at a superhuman rate. Apparently he can also heal or revive other people.
- Immortality: Zarathos cannot die by natural means or supernatural means.
- Pyrogenesis: Zarathos can generate powerful angelic flames from his own body.
- Heavenfire Manipulation: Zarathos is able to ignite any machines he comes into contact with, thus crafting any weapon or vehicle he wishes, firearms, motorcycles, heavy construction equipment; making it a heavenfire-fueled arm or means of transport.
- Penance Stare: Zarathos' main ability is the Penance Stare, through direct eye contact the soul of the guilty is burned; for whatever pain or suffering they've inflicted on their victims will be re-inflicted upon them.
Relationships
- Johnny Blaze - Human host.
- Carter Slade - Ex-human host.
- Mephistopheles - Enemy and former master.
- Blackheart - Enemy.
- The Hidden - Enemies.
- Ray Carrigan/Blackout - Enemy.
Appearances/Actors
- Canon (2 films)
- Ghost Rider - No actor (Never directly named)
- Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (First appearance) - Nicolas Cage
Behind the scenes
To be added
Trivia
- In the comics, Zarathos is a pure demon, not a mad fallen angel.
- The comic version of Zarathos is much more powerful than the movie one, and deploys a wider array of powers that puts him almost on the same level of Mephistopheles.
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