Zarathos is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics series Ghost Rider. He is a demonic being who tortures and devours souls. Marvel Comics is an American comic book line published by Marvel Entertainment, Inc. ... In comic books, first appearance refers to the date or issue of a characters first appearance. ... Mephisto is a fictional character that appears in the Marvel Comics Universe. ... Ghost Rider is the name of several comic book series published by Marvel Comics, and of several fictional characters in the Marvel Universe. ... A fictional character is any person who appears in a work of fiction. ... Marvel Comics is an American comic book line published by Marvel Entertainment, Inc. ... Ghost Rider is the name of several comic book series published by Marvel Comics, and of several fictional characters in the Marvel Universe. ... A demon is a fictional entity in the Marvel Comics universe, based on the demons from world myth. ...

Fictional character biography

As explained in Ghost Rider #77 (1973 series), he had slumbered beneath the earth for eons until summoned by a sorcerer. Zarathos was offered a steady supply of souls to consume in exchange for his aid in vanquishing enemies of the sorcerer's tribe. The alliance flourished and a strong cult built up around Zarathos - this got the attention of Mephisto, who soon decided that Zarathos had too much of a following and was depriving him of souls. Mephisto eventually confronted Zarathos and defeated him (by the use of his soulless agent, Centurious). This article does not discuss cult in its original sense of religious practice; for that usage see Cult (religious practice). ... Mephisto is a fictional character that appears in the Marvel Comics Universe. ...

Zarathos was forced to serve Mephisto in the Netherworld, though still powerful enough to avoid total confinement. Mephisto would send his unruly vassal back to Earth on occasion, binding him to human hosts and allowing him to ravage souls - in smaller fashion, of course. In time, one of these human hosts would be Johnny Blaze, and the combined Blaze/Zarathos entity would manifest as a leather-clad flaming skeleton known as the Ghost Rider. As time progressed, Zarathos eventually asserted himself over the Ghost Rider's personality. However, John Blaze himself started growing stronger as well, which caused what was to be an inevitable clash over Blaze's physical body. It never reached that point, due to the return of Centurious (Mephisto's champion who defeated Zarathos thousands of years before) Centurious had his Sin-Eater use his Soul Crystal to suck Blaze's soul from his body. This greatly weakened Zarathos, who without Blaze's soul, found himself dying. Using the last of his strength, Zarathos split the crystal in half, freeing not only Blaze's soul, but numerous souls that had been consumed at that point. Before the crystal merged back into one piece, it sucked Centurious inside as well. Zarathos felt cheated out of his revenge against Centurious, but with the help of the now-dying Sin-Eater, the demon managed to transfer his essence into the crystal. John Blaze was now free from the curse that Mephisto placed on him many years before and the first existence of the Ghost Rider came to an end. For other meanings of the word underworld see Underworld (disambiguation) In the study of mythology and religion, the underworld is a generic term approximately equivalent to the lay term afterlife, referring to any place to which newly-dead souls go. ... Promotional art for Ghost Rider (vol. ...

This wasn't the end of Zarathos. Near the climax of the events known as Secret Wars II, The Beyonder, angered at humanity and the entire plane of existence, travelled to Hell and informed Mephisto of his plan to erase all existence contained in this universe. Mephisto pleaded with the Beyonder not to commit such an act, going so far as to make a bet with him. The Beyonder agreed, under these terms: He chose both a champion to represent him and and a separate champion to represent Mephisto, that if Mephisto won, the universe would be given a twenty-four hour reprieve from destruction, and that if the Beyonder won, not only would he erase the universe from existence, he would give his champion ample time to exact revenge on Mephisto himself. The Beyonder chose Spider-Man as Mephisto's champion and decided that Zarathos would be his own champion. Zarathos' goal was 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 overcame Zarathos' nightmarish attempts at corrupting him and saved the Kingpin's life. Thus the Beyonder (after reimprisoning Zarathos inside the Soul Crystal) allowed the universe one more day to exist (and with that additional day came the Beyonder's defeat and seeming death). These events were shown in The Amazing Spider-Man (vol.1) #274. Secret Wars II was a nine-issue comic book limited series and crossover published by Marvel Comics from 1985 to 1986. ... In the Marvel Comics universe, the Beyonder is a nigh-omnipotent being created by writer/editor Jim Shooter for the first Secret Wars limited series. ... Spider-Man swinging around his hometown, New York City. ... The Kingpin and Daredevil. ... Cover to The Amazing Spider-Man #530. ...

Much later, he would be a threat once again when the Midnight Sons were formed. He briefly joined forces with the demon mother Lilith (not to be confused with Dracula's daughter, who has the same name), but soon left her forces and became the leader of the Fallen, the evil Blood (his acolytes) once again. Having lost his memory before, he had not quite reached his full power until he had met the Fallen once again. After that he had gained enough power to finally defeat Ghost Rider and absorbed his presence. But he had suffered horrible agony since Ghost Rider was still residing within him. This gave the Midnight Sons a chance to defeat Zarathos. It was Blade who had taken Foundry's sword, killed her with it so he could use her blood-stained sword to defeat Zarathos. Blade defeated Zarathos by turning him into stone, and he has remained that way ever since. He claimed that he coupled with Lilith and had his offspring in her. Lilith plans to unleash her children, but this is yet to be seen. The Midnight Sons was a short-lived team of supernatural heroes in the Marvel Comics universe. ... Lilith is the daughter of Dracula in the Marvel Comics series Tomb of Dracula. ... Blade (Eric Brooks) is a fictional superhero. ...

Alternate versions

MC2

In the MC2 alternate future, Kaine 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 backfired, however when Zarathos attempted to claim Reilly’s body as his own. At the same time, Kaine was also trying to bring Daredevil (who had been killed by the Kingpin while saving Kaine's life) back to life. The soul of Daredevil also took up residence in Reilly's body. The forces of the two spirits residing within him tend to keep each other in check—Reilly gained Zarathos’ physical appearance, demonic and regenerative powers which keep him alive and the influence of Murdock keeps him from becoming corrupted. Under the influence of these two entities residing within him, Reilly decides to become the hero Darkdevil. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this comics-related article or section may require cleanup. ... Kaine is a Marvel Comics supervillain. ... Darkdevil (Reilly Tyne) is a fictional character, a superhero in the MC2 future of the Marvel Comics universe. ... Ben Reilly, also known as the Scarlet Spider and the second Spider-Man, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe. ... This article is about the Marvel Comics superhero. ... Darkdevil (Reilly Tyne) is a fictional character, a superhero in the MC2 future of the Marvel Comics universe. ...