10 Changes That Totally Ruined Comic Book Characters
6. Ghost Rider
In order to save his foster father, Crash Simpson, from cancer, stunt motorcyclist John Blaze summoned the demon Mephisto and offered up his soul in exchange for Crashs health. However, although being cured of cancer, Crash soon after died while performing a stunt jump. When Mephisto came to claim Blazes soul, he told Blaze that he had kept his bargain, as Crashs cancer was cured, but Crashs daughter, Roxanne, managed to save Blaze when she proclaimed her love for him. The purity of her emotion drove Mephisto away and so instead, he bonded Blaze with a demon named Zarathos. This bond transformed the two into the Ghost Rider, a Spirit of Vengeance who would rise whenever in the presence of evil.
Over the years, a lot of backstory was added to the Ghost Rider mythosnot only to John Blaze, but also to Zarathos. An estranged younger brother, Dan Ketch, became the new Ghost Rider in the 90s and added more to the backstory, dating back centuries to their ancestor, Noble Kale. Blaze eventually became the Ghost Rider, once again bonded to Zarathos.
During Daniel Ways run on Ghost Rider, he decided to ignore all that continuity. At the end of his run, presumably just because it would serve as a twist ending, Way revealed that Zarathos was not actually a demon but instead an angel. After years of stories that directly contradicted this, the new revelation made absolutely no sense.
Ways successor, Jason Aaron, made the most of a bad situation and actually managed to make it work surprisingly well. However, the notion of Ghost Rider now being an agent of Heaven instead of Hell still doesnt seem to make a lick of sense and will hopefully be ignored or retconned by future writers.