Ghost Rider is the name of multiple antiheroes and superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider.

The story of the Ghost Rider began over twenty thousand years ago, when the immortals known as the Blood allied themselves with the original Spirits of Vengeance in a war against a soul-stealing demon named Zarathos. To win this war, the Blood created the mystical Medallion of Power, which housed the assembled power of the Spirits of Vengeance. A portion of Zarathos became trapped in this Medallion, too, leading the Blood to decide that the artifact was too powerful to be kept intact. The Medallion was broken into shards and placed into the spiritual bloodlines of two families, both of which would be overseen and protected by a Blood named Caretaker.

This arrangement lasted until the 1700s, when young Noble Kale of the spiritual bloodline fell in love with a woman named Magdalena. Fearing the reaction from his fire-and-brimstone pastor father, Noble hid his romance. When Magdalena bore him a child, however, Pastor Kale had Magdalena branded a witch and burned at the stake. As she died, she cursed Pastor Kale, invoking the legendary Furies to seek vengeance in her name, and these ancient spirits went on a destructive rampage. Pastor Kale sought aid from the demon Mephisto, offering Noble’s soul as payment. Mephisto recognized the Medallion shard within Noble Kale and activated it, transforming the young man into a living Spirit of Vengeance, a Ghost Rider. Noble defeated the Furies and then turned on his own father, who slew Noble’s son as a sacrificial offering to Ghost Rider. A horrified Noble tried to commit suicide, but Mephisto appeared, seeking to claim his soul. An angelic being named Uriel intervened, stating Noble’s soul belonged in Heaven. It was decided that Noble’s soul belonged to neither Heaven nor Hell, but would instead be consigned to the void, to be summoned forth by his descendants. He inhabited the first-born child of each generation, with documented occurrences during World War I and the lifetime of Naomi Kale, the birth mother of Dan Ketch and his siblings. Fearing for her children, Naomi left Dan and his sister Barbara with Francis Ketch in Cypress Hills, New York. Her oldest son was left with his father while she unsuccessfully attempted to end the curse.