Spawn Vs. Ghost Rider: Which Hellish Creature Would Win?

Selling your soul to the Devil might have its perks. Just ask Image Comic’s Spawn and Marvel’s Ghost Rider. Both found themselves on tougher sides of life and both sold their souls in exchange for near unlimited power. But who got the better bargain? When it comes to Spawn Vs. Ghost Rider, Who would win?

Ghost Rider would win in a fight against Spawn. It seems like a pretty close fight and it would be due to Ghost Rider and Spawn having similar soul manipulative abilities, similar strength levels, and similar durability potential. But ultimately Hellfire ability is more powerful than Necroplams and it would give Ghost Rider the winning edge he needs to take down Spawn.

Now that we’ve given you the short answer it’s time to analyze the topic further. If you don’t agree with me and want to know the reasons behind my conclusion, keep reading!

Spawn: Origin, powers & abilities

Al Simmons, as these stories usually go, was once an ordinary man, CIA Agent, but still a man. He managed to climb the higher levels of the CIA and there, he started questioning things. He started questioning the bloodshed, and how the government would take care of things. Eventually, his higher-ups caught up to this. When you know as much as Al Simmons knew, you know that your elimination is pending. And that’s exactly what happened.

Al Simmons instead of just being fired was ordered to be assassinated, and his partner and friend Chapel was the one to do the deed.
He might regret the things he did for the CIA, but that still didn’t save his soul from eternal damnation. He was sent to hell where he got the chance to sell his soul to Malebolgia. He sold his soul to see his wife one more time. He did come back, in a form of a Hellspawn, but, as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for. His wife married his friend and had a child with him. After everything that transpired, Spawn realized that he is on his own, destined to fight both forces of heaven and hell.

Spawn: Powers & abilities

Spawn has a plethora of powers and abilities, as well as a few extremely powerful forms. The most notable ability that spawn has is the capacity to manipulate Necro Energy. Since his body, or rather suit, is made out of Necroplasm he can effectively turn himself into a lethal weapon. Spawn has supernatural strength and supernatural healing capacities.

When it comes to his movements he can both fly and move at incredible speeds. Being a creature of hell, Spawn can manipulate souls, read minds, control time and manipulate portals to heaven and hell as well as manipulate black holes. When it comes to Hell King Spawn, a more advanced version of Spawn, add life and death manipulation and energy/life absorption to the mix. In his Divine Spawn form, he is immortal and has powers comparable to God himself.

But no form of his is as strong as when he is merged with Mother of Existence. In this form he can manipulate causality and creation, he can control fates and most life forms. Due to merging with Mother of Existence he shares her powers and is omnipresent and all-powerful, well, powerful enough to kill both God and Satan.

Does Spawn have a weakness?

Spawn does have several weaknesses. Like most denizens of Hell, Spawn can be harmed with holy weapons (depending on his form). He can also be decapitated which won’t technically kill him, it will only return him to Hell where he will regenerate. Another of his weaknesses is related to his Necroplasm expenditure. the more Necroplasm he uses, the faster he returns to Hell.

Ghost Rider: Origin, powers & abilities

Several antiheroes have held the mantle of Ghost Rider, but the most famous of them all has to be the first Ghost Rider and professional badass Johny Blaze. Johnny Blaze was originally a stuntman and he sold his soul to save the life of his sort of step-father that was dying of cancer. You see after he lost both of his biological parents he would give anything to save what he had left. I guess his soul was a small price to pay. He made a deal with Mephisto, his soul in exchange for his father’s well-being.

If one thing can always be certain when it comes to selling your soul to the Devil, it’s that your wishes will be perverted and you will only technically get what you asked for. Just like with Al Simmons, Ghost Rider’s wish backfired, his father was cured of cancer but died while performing a stunt sometime later. Johnny Blaze was left bitter and searching for vengeance.

Ghost Rider: Powers & abilities

Ghost Rider’s most famous abilities are respectively Hellfire manipulation and Penance Stare. Penance Stare can kill a person by inflicting to it all the pain and suffering the person has inflicted on others. This ability has its limitations though, for Penance Stare to work the target has to have a soul and be evil. Other Ghost Rider powers & abilities are pretty much similar to Spawns. He is durable, immortal, has superhuman speed and reflexes, and can manipulate minds & souls. He can open portals to hell with his ever-burning Hellfire-infused bike called Hell Cycle. Why fly when you can ride right? And like Spawn, he managed to escape the black hole. He has access to Zarathos’ powers in the same way that Spawn has access to the powers of Mother of Existence.

When it comes to weapons, Ghost Rider has many weapons at his disposal, but the most famous has to be Hellfire Chain which can be infused with Hellfire and can cut through almost everything. Pretty neat I would say. In his Cosmic Ghost Rider form, he gets powers similar to Spawn. Primarily reality-altering abilities, dimensional travel, and time manipulation.

Does Ghost Rider have a weakness?

Yes, depending on the form Ghost Rider has a few weaknesses. Just like Spawn, he can be killed by holy weapons and he can expend himself to the point of losing his strength for a limited time. His arguably most powerful ability “Penance Stare” does not affect an evil person (or creature) that feels no regrets for its actions whatsoever. Ghost Rider can also be manipulated by entities that have their domain over the dead such as Hela for example.

Spawn Vs. Ghost Rider: Who is stronger & who would win?

Honestly, it’s a tough one. Both are similar characters that have almost identical roles and powers in their respective universes. But ultimately Ghost Rider would win due to Hellfire being more potent than Necroplasm. What about the fact that Spawn managed to kill God and the Devil and mess up the reality? Well, Ghost Rider stood his ground against “gods” and similar entities too. They are not from the same universe and I would say that Ghost Rider beating Thor, Hulk and Galactus can easily be equivalent to beating a God. Spawn cannot in any way defeat Cosmic Ghost Rider.

Is Spawn inspired by Ghost Rider?

Spawn is partially inspired by Ghost Rider. One cannot ignore the fact that Spawn and Ghost Rider share pretty similar origin stories, aesthetics, and powers. According to Todd McFarlane, the creator of Spawn, Ghost Rider’s chains, and spikes were the inspiration for Spawn’s final design, and that’s apparently all. No other similarities or “borrowing” whatsoever.