Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch) - Powers and Abilities

Powers and Abilities

The Ghost Rider is empowered as a result of the magical properties of a mysterious emblem affixed to a large and powerful motorcycle possessed by Daniel Ketch. This gives him the ability to transform into a mystic being which appears as a flaming skeleton dressed as a motorcyclist, and provides him with superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and durability. As the Ghost Rider, Ketch can use his Penance Stare — the ability to cause others to experience a level of emotional pain equivalent to that which they have caused others as a result of illegal or immoral activities. When in close combat, he locks eyes with his victim and makes them feel all the pain that person has ever inflicted on anyone in their lifetime. This, of course, has several weaknesses. If high on drugs like cocaine, or if the person is blind, or if he cannot make eye contact due to the victim having more than two eyes, Ghost Rider's Penance Stare cannot function. An attempt to use the Penance Stare on the symbiotic being, Venom, resulted in Ghost Rider being knocked unconscious. It also cannot work on soulless beings such as Centurious. He can control the degree to which the Stare punishes its targets, once using the stare to free Wolverine from telepathic control by making him relive the pain he caused to others during a single day in the First World War.

As the Ghost Rider, Ketch uses a length of heavy chain approximately 3 feet (0.91 m) long which possesses magical properties. For instance, when it is thrown it is able to separate into individual links which behave like shuriken, later reintegrating and returning to the Ghost Rider's hand. The chain can grow in length, is supernaturally strong, and can transform into other weapons such as a spear. He can also spin it fast to be used as a drill.

The common theme of the Ghost Rider is a human host who transforms into a flaming-headed motorcyclist with supernatural powers. When riding their bikes, the vehicles can travel faster than conventional motorcycles and can maneuver impossible feats such as riding straight up a vertical surface or across water. In a one-shot comic featuring Doctor Strange and the Daniel Ketch/Noble Kale version of Ghost Rider, it was shown to be capable of riding on nothing but air. This was repeated shortly after Kale started to regain his memories, causing him to alter his suit by sheer force of will, and created an entirely new bike.

When empowered, Ketch's motorcycle undergoes a more radical transformation. It changes from a conventional looking motorcycle to one that appears both powerful and high-tech. Along with flaming wheels, the bike includes a shield-like battering ram on the front. Like the Blaze/Zarathos version, this Ghost Rider's bike was capable of incredible stunts, such as driving up sheer walls, across water, and in at least two known instances, through the very air itself. Ghost Rider also created two other bikes that he could utilize in the same manner as the one he normally rode, one out of necessity when Blackheart stole the original in a crossover graphic novel that brought together Ghost Rider, Wolverine, and the Punisher, and again in the regular series as a spare in case something made him unable to get to his regular cycle. The latter would wind up in the hands of Johnny Blaze.

He has displayed some other powers briefly, like the ability to summon a wall of flame. In the beginning, Ketch could only transform "when innocent blood was spilled" and had to touch the gas cap of his motorcycle. Later it was revealed that this was only a psychological limitation he himself caused, and which Daniel later overcame.

Unlike Blaze, the Ketch Ghost Rider possessed a Penance Stare which made the target experience all the pain and suffering they've caused others. He possessed Hellfire powers similar to the Zarathos/Blaze version, but he also had the ability to destroy the undead, and was supposedly Marvel's incarnation of the Angel of Death/Judgment, which detailed the supposed origins of the Noble Kale version of the Ghost Rider.

In addition, Ketch and Noble Kale actually worked together to an extent, unlike Blaze and Zarathos, who battled for dominance and control over their shared body. Kale had a compassionate side and while there were times that he seemed tempted to simply take over completely, he refused to do so, though he felt anger at condemning Daniel to only being able to live his life out half the time, while he dominated the other half. Kale and Ketch, like Blaze and Zarathos, could sometimes communicate through dreams, and in at least one issue communicated via messages written on a mirror in lipstick.