Zarathos
Encyclopedia
Zarathos is a fictional character
in the Marvel Comics
series Ghost Rider
. He is a demonic being
who tortures and devours souls. He first appears in Marvel Spotlight
#5 (August 1972).
named K'Nutu to help his tribe. Zarathos was then offered a steady supply of souls to consume in exchange for his aid in vanquishing enemies of the sorcerer's tribe, and for offering his might in their service. This alliance proves mutually beneficial, flourishes and a strong cult
builds up around Zarathos, which gets the attention of Mephisto
, who decides that Zarathos has too much of a following and is depriving him and the other lords of hell of souls. Mephisto eventually confronts Zarathos and defeats him (by the deceptive use of his soulless pawn, Centurious
).
Zarathos is then forced to serve Mephisto for many centuries in the Netherworld, an extra-dimensional land of the dead sometimes called "Hell", though still powerful enough to avoid total confinement. Mephisto sends his unruly vassal back to Earth on occasion, binding him to human hosts and allowing him to ravage souls (on a smaller scale). In modern times Zarathos is bound to Johnny Blaze; the combined Blaze/Zarathos entity manifests as a leather-clad flaming skeleton known as the Ghost Rider
, ultimately serving the side of "good" while still using hellish means which earns the Ghost Rider a reputation of fear, and Johnny Blaze a never-ending sense of guilt. As time progresses, Zarathos would occasionally from time to time assert his control over Johnny Blaze's body. Zarathos was temporarily separated from John Blaze by the Crimson Mage. Zarathos gained additional control over the Ghost Rider, becoming more violent. As the Ghost Rider, he re-encountered Centurious. John Blaze had grown stronger, causing an eventual clash over Blaze's physical body, as Mephisto temporarily frees Zarathos to compete with John Blaze for his freedom. Before it can reach that point, Centurious (Mephisto's champion who defeated Zarathos thousands of years before) returns and has his pawn Sin-Eater
use his Soul Crystal to suck Blaze's soul from his body. This greatly weakens Zarathos who, without Blaze's soul, finds himself dying, for as a demon, and thus truly not of the earth as mortals are, Zarathos cannot maintain himself upon the earthly plane unless he possesses the physical body of a mortal. Using the last of his strength, Zarathos splits the crystal in half, freeing not only Blaze's soul, but innumerable souls that had been consumed in the past. Before the crystal merges back into one piece, it sucks Centurious inside as well. Zarathos feels cheated out of his revenge against Centurious, but with the help of the now-dying Sin-Eater, the demon manages to transfer his essence into the crystal. Johnny Blaze is now free from the curse that Mephisto placed on him many years before and the first existence of the Ghost Rider comes to an end.
Near the climax of the events known as Secret Wars II
, the Beyonder
, angered at humanity and the entire plane of existence, travels to Hell and informs Mephisto of his plan to erase all existence contained in this universe. Mephisto pleads with the Beyonder not to commit such an act, going so far as to make a bet with him. The Beyonder agrees, under these terms: He chooses both a champion to represent him and a separate champion to represent Mephisto; if Mephisto wins, the universe will be given a twenty-four hour reprieve from destruction, but if the Beyonder wins, not only will he erase the universe from existence, he will give his champion ample time to exact revenge on Mephisto himself. The Beyonder chooses Spider-Man
as Mephisto's champion and decides that Zarathos will be his own champion. Zarathos' goal is not only to corrupt Spider-Man's spirit and morals, but to prevent Spider-Man from stopping an assassination attempt on the Kingpin
. Spider-Man overcomes Zarathos' nightmarish attempts at corrupting him and saves the Kingpin's life. Thus the Beyonder (after re-imprisoning Zarathos inside the Soul Crystal) allows the universe one more day to exist (during that additional day came the Beyonder's defeat and seeming death).
Zarathos becomes a threat once again when the Midnight Sons
are formed. He briefly joins forces with the demon mother Lilith (not to be confused with Dracula's daughter, who has the same name), but soon leaves her after he realized she was just using him to bring her the Medallion of Power. Another reason he left her was because she duped him into joining her forces. (His memory was so bad at the time that Lilith actually convinced him that he was her son). After he left, he went to become the leader of the Fallen, the evil Blood (his acolytes) once again. Having lost his memory, Zarathos has not quite reached his full power until he meets the Fallen. After that he gains enough power to defeat Ghost Rider and absorb his essence. However, he suffers horrible agony since Ghost Rider was still residing within him. This gives the Midnight Sons a chance to defeat Zarathos. It is Blade
who takes Foundry's sword, killing her with it so he can use her blood-stained sword to defeat Zarathos. Blade defeats Zarathos by turning him into stone; he remained that way until the Ghost Rider Hammerlane Mini-Series where he began to reconstitute himself within Johnny Blaze, after which he and Johnny made peace with one another. How he has new abilities as the current Ghost Rider remains to be seen.
Before he was turned to stone, Zarathos had claimed that he had coupled with Lilith, impregnating her. Lilith plans to unleash her children, but this is yet to be seen.
. Zarathos possesses various inherent supernatural powers, and as such he is able to control the elements on the Earth themselves, and can trap his opponents by taking the ground itself and wrapping it around his foe. Zarathos, if he wishes, can form the rocks into spikes, impaling his foes.
In addition, he has superhuman strength, durability and stamina and possesses the trait of immortality. He is able to shoot hellfire
from his hands and is able to transport both himself and others to different locations. Apparently, the more souls he consumes, the more powerful he becomes. Zarathos also has limited knowledge of magical lore, and possesses the ability to manipulate magical energies for a variety of effects.
summons Zarathos in an attempt to save the life of his nephew, Reilly Tyne
(the son of Ben Reilly
and Elizabeth Tyne) who is dying because he has inherited the genetic defects from his father’s cloned physiology. This backfires when Zarathos attempted to claim Tyne’s body as his own. At the same time, Kaine also tries to bring Daredevil
(who had been killed by the Kingpin while saving Kaine's life) back to life. The soul of Daredevil takes up residence in Tyne's body. The forces of the two spirits residing within him tend to keep each other in check; Tyne gains Zarathos' physical appearance, demonic and regenerative powers, while the influence of Murdock keeps him from becoming corrupted. Under the influence of these two entities residing within him, Tyne decides to become the hero Darkdevil
.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
series Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider (comics)
Ghost Rider is the name of several fictional supernatural antiheroes appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Night Rider and subsequently to Phantom Rider.The first supernatural Ghost Rider is...
. He is a demonic being
Demons (Marvel Comics)
The Marvel Comics universe hosts a number of demons, many of whom are at times at conflict with gods and angels. All possess varying degrees of mystical power, feed upon souls for self-sustenance, and are inclined towards dark or “black” magic - evil....
who tortures and devours souls. He first appears in Marvel Spotlight
Marvel Spotlight
Marvel Spotlight is the name of several comic book series published by Marvel Comics as a try-out book for new characters. The first series ran for 33 issues from November 1971 to April 1977...
#5 (August 1972).
Fictional character biography
As explained in Ghost Rider #77 (1973 series), the physical, stone body of the demon Zarathos had laid inert and inanimate beneath the earth for eons until his spirit was summoned by a Native American tribal sorcererShamanism
Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...
named K'Nutu to help his tribe. Zarathos was then offered a steady supply of souls to consume in exchange for his aid in vanquishing enemies of the sorcerer's tribe, and for offering his might in their service. This alliance proves mutually beneficial, flourishes and a strong cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
builds up around Zarathos, which gets the attention of Mephisto
Mephisto (comics)
Mephisto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in Silver Surfer #3 and was created by Stan Lee and John Buscema, loosely modeled on Mephistopheles - a character from the Faust legend.Debuting in the Silver Age of comic books,...
, who decides that Zarathos has too much of a following and is depriving him and the other lords of hell of souls. Mephisto eventually confronts Zarathos and defeats him (by the deceptive use of his soulless pawn, Centurious
Centurious
Centurious is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe.Centurious was a servant of Mephisto and an enemy of Zarathos. In combating Zarathos, he became a regular foe of the first Ghost Rider.-Fictional character biography:...
).
Zarathos is then forced to serve Mephisto for many centuries in the Netherworld, an extra-dimensional land of the dead sometimes called "Hell", though still powerful enough to avoid total confinement. Mephisto sends his unruly vassal back to Earth on occasion, binding him to human hosts and allowing him to ravage souls (on a smaller scale). In modern times Zarathos is bound to Johnny Blaze; the combined Blaze/Zarathos entity manifests as a leather-clad flaming skeleton known as the Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider (comics)
Ghost Rider is the name of several fictional supernatural antiheroes appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Night Rider and subsequently to Phantom Rider.The first supernatural Ghost Rider is...
, ultimately serving the side of "good" while still using hellish means which earns the Ghost Rider a reputation of fear, and Johnny Blaze a never-ending sense of guilt. As time progresses, Zarathos would occasionally from time to time assert his control over Johnny Blaze's body. Zarathos was temporarily separated from John Blaze by the Crimson Mage. Zarathos gained additional control over the Ghost Rider, becoming more violent. As the Ghost Rider, he re-encountered Centurious. John Blaze had grown stronger, causing an eventual clash over Blaze's physical body, as Mephisto temporarily frees Zarathos to compete with John Blaze for his freedom. Before it can reach that point, Centurious (Mephisto's champion who defeated Zarathos thousands of years before) returns and has his pawn Sin-Eater
Sin-Eater (comics)
Sin-Eater is a name given to several fictional characters appearing in books published by Marvel Comics, usually those featuring Spider-Man and Ghost Rider.- Stanley Carter :...
use his Soul Crystal to suck Blaze's soul from his body. This greatly weakens Zarathos who, without Blaze's soul, finds himself dying, for as a demon, and thus truly not of the earth as mortals are, Zarathos cannot maintain himself upon the earthly plane unless he possesses the physical body of a mortal. Using the last of his strength, Zarathos splits the crystal in half, freeing not only Blaze's soul, but innumerable souls that had been consumed in the past. Before the crystal merges back into one piece, it sucks Centurious inside as well. Zarathos feels cheated out of his revenge against Centurious, but with the help of the now-dying Sin-Eater, the demon manages to transfer his essence into the crystal. Johnny Blaze is now free from the curse that Mephisto placed on him many years before and the first existence of the Ghost Rider comes to an end.
Near the climax of the events known as Secret Wars II
Secret Wars II
Secret Wars II is a nine-issue comic book limited series and crossover published from 1985 to 1986 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Marvel's then Editor-in-chief Jim Shooter and primarily pencilled by Al Milgrom....
, the Beyonder
Beyonder
The Beyonder is a fictional character in . Created by Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck, the immensely powerful Beyonder first appeared in Secret Wars vol. 1 #1 as an unseen force. He reappears in Secret Wars II #1 , which was created by Jim Shooter and Al Milgrom.-Publication history:The Beyonder was a...
, angered at humanity and the entire plane of existence, travels to Hell and informs Mephisto of his plan to erase all existence contained in this universe. Mephisto pleads with the Beyonder not to commit such an act, going so far as to make a bet with him. The Beyonder agrees, under these terms: He chooses both a champion to represent him and a separate champion to represent Mephisto; if Mephisto wins, the universe will be given a twenty-four hour reprieve from destruction, but if the Beyonder wins, not only will he erase the universe from existence, he will give his champion ample time to exact revenge on Mephisto himself. The Beyonder chooses Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
as Mephisto's champion and decides that Zarathos will be his own champion. Zarathos' goal is not only to corrupt Spider-Man's spirit and morals, but to prevent Spider-Man from stopping an assassination attempt on the Kingpin
Kingpin (comics)
The Kingpin is a fictional character, a supervillain in the . Kingpin is one of the most feared and powerful crime lords in the Marvel Universe. The character is a major adversary of Daredevil, the Punisher, and Spider-Man...
. Spider-Man overcomes Zarathos' nightmarish attempts at corrupting him and saves the Kingpin's life. Thus the Beyonder (after re-imprisoning Zarathos inside the Soul Crystal) allows the universe one more day to exist (during that additional day came the Beyonder's defeat and seeming death).
Zarathos becomes a threat once again when the Midnight Sons
Midnight Sons
The Midnight Sons is fictional team of supernatural superheroes in the Marvel Comics Universe. The team first appears in Ghost Rider The Midnight Sons is fictional team of supernatural superheroes in the Marvel Comics Universe. The team first appears in Ghost Rider The Midnight Sons is fictional...
are formed. He briefly joins forces with the demon mother Lilith (not to be confused with Dracula's daughter, who has the same name), but soon leaves her after he realized she was just using him to bring her the Medallion of Power. Another reason he left her was because she duped him into joining her forces. (His memory was so bad at the time that Lilith actually convinced him that he was her son). After he left, he went to become the leader of the Fallen, the evil Blood (his acolytes) once again. Having lost his memory, Zarathos has not quite reached his full power until he meets the Fallen. After that he gains enough power to defeat Ghost Rider and absorb his essence. However, he suffers horrible agony since Ghost Rider was still residing within him. This gives the Midnight Sons a chance to defeat Zarathos. It is Blade
Blade (comics)
Blade is a fictional character, a superhero/vampire hunter in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and penciller Gene Colan, his first appearance was in the comic book The Tomb of Dracula #10 as a supporting character.The character went on to alternatively star and co-star...
who takes Foundry's sword, killing her with it so he can use her blood-stained sword to defeat Zarathos. Blade defeats Zarathos by turning him into stone; he remained that way until the Ghost Rider Hammerlane Mini-Series where he began to reconstitute himself within Johnny Blaze, after which he and Johnny made peace with one another. How he has new abilities as the current Ghost Rider remains to be seen.
Before he was turned to stone, Zarathos had claimed that he had coupled with Lilith, impregnating her. Lilith plans to unleash her children, but this is yet to be seen.
Powers and abilities
Zarathos is an extremely powerful demon almost on the same level as MephistoMephisto (comics)
Mephisto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in Silver Surfer #3 and was created by Stan Lee and John Buscema, loosely modeled on Mephistopheles - a character from the Faust legend.Debuting in the Silver Age of comic books,...
. Zarathos possesses various inherent supernatural powers, and as such he is able to control the elements on the Earth themselves, and can trap his opponents by taking the ground itself and wrapping it around his foe. Zarathos, if he wishes, can form the rocks into spikes, impaling his foes.
In addition, he has superhuman strength, durability and stamina and possesses the trait of immortality. He is able to shoot hellfire
Hellfire
Hellfire may refer to:* The fires of Hell or lake of fire, terms used to describe Hell-In music:* "Hell Fire" a heavy metal/speed metal band Formed by Tony Campos in the spring of 2010. Hell Fire taking it back to influences such as Iron Maiden, Helloween, Metallica, Angel Witch, Overkill etc...
from his hands and is able to transport both himself and others to different locations. Apparently, the more souls he consumes, the more powerful he becomes. Zarathos also has limited knowledge of magical lore, and possesses the ability to manipulate magical energies for a variety of effects.
MC2
In the MC2 alternate future, KaineKaine
Kaine is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics supervillain and antihero who serves as both an ally and an enemy of Spider-Man. He first appeared in Web of Spider-Man #119, and is the Jackal's first failed attempt at cloning Peter Parker...
summons Zarathos in an attempt to save the life of his nephew, Reilly Tyne
Darkdevil
Darkdevil is a fictional character, a superhero in the "MC2" future of the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by Tom DeFalco and Pat Olliffe and first appeared in Spider-Girl #2. -Fictional character biography:...
(the son of Ben Reilly
Ben Reilly
Benjamin "Ben" Reilly is a fictional character in the . He is a clone of Peter Parker , and is prominent in the "Clone Saga" story arc...
and Elizabeth Tyne) who is dying because he has inherited the genetic defects from his father’s cloned physiology. This backfires when Zarathos attempted to claim Tyne’s body as his own. At the same time, Kaine also tries to bring Daredevil
Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
(who had been killed by the Kingpin while saving Kaine's life) back to life. The soul of Daredevil takes up residence in Tyne's body. The forces of the two spirits residing within him tend to keep each other in check; Tyne gains Zarathos' physical appearance, demonic and regenerative powers, while the influence of Murdock keeps him from becoming corrupted. Under the influence of these two entities residing within him, Tyne decides to become the hero Darkdevil
Darkdevil
Darkdevil is a fictional character, a superhero in the "MC2" future of the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by Tom DeFalco and Pat Olliffe and first appeared in Spider-Girl #2. -Fictional character biography:...
.