Who Is the 19th Century Ghost Rider? The Frontier Era Explained

Ghost Rider is among the most popular and most powerful characters in history. This is why it doesn’t surprise us that there are numerous versions that have existed over the long history of characters’ existence. We know about Cosmic Ghost Rider or Prehistoric Ghost Rider that rode fiery mammoth in his pursuit of vengeance, but what about Frontier Era Ghost Rider? This version is what we’re going to focus on today, so let’s see who is 19th Century Ghost Rider and how powerful he is.

19th Century Ghost Rider is a version of Ghost Rider that was active during the American Frontier, and he targeted bounty hunters that killed and scalped Native Americans. Frontier Era Ghost Rider had all the same powers and abilities as other Ghost Riders, with the addition of riding a Hellfire Horse and having a Hellfire tipped flaming arrows as a part of his standard equipment.

Now that we’ve given you a basic understanding of who Frontier Era Ghost Rider is, it’s time to analyze him in a bit more detail. If you’re interested in more, stay with us and keep reading!

Frontier Era Ghost Rider is just one of many versions that appeared to Caretaker Sara

The story of Frontier Era Ghost Rider is a short one and doesn’t have much significance in the overall stories of Ghost Riders, but it was important for Caretaker Sara.

This version of Ghost Rider first appeared in ‘Ghost Rider’ #33 during the ‘Heavens on Fire’ Story Arc in which Zadkiel Usurped Heaven in order to claim its throne. Caretaker Sara was down on hope, feeling lost and without purpose, especially since her grandfather, who is also a Caretaker like her, got killed in the ensuing conflict.

‘Caretakers’ is a special term that includes mortals who aligned themselves with the Spirits of Vengeance over the course of history in order to carry out God’s Will of God on Earth. Sara came from a long line of Caretakers and took part in some of the most important missions.

Her grandfather’s death affected her dearly because he was a source of wisdom, as he was the one who singlehandedly guarded two families that possessed pieces of Medallion of Power within them.

Sara, now facing the dead body of her grandfather, starts recounting the history of the Ghost Riders. Ghost Riders were created following the Great Flood because human capacity for evil did not decrease after the lesson was learned. Quite the contrary, it remained unchanged. Spirits of Vengeance were created in order to exact God’s punishment on the wicked while sparing the innocents.

Spirits of Vengeance were supposed to eliminate especially wicked parts of humanity, and this was a highly controversial way to approach things, so God had to make sure that his name pretty much remained unconnected to the whole affair. This is why he placed Archangel Zadkiel to oversee and manipulate the Riders in order to avoid Spirits of Vengeance being traced back to him. But Zadkiel eventually rebelled, and Ghost Riders were almost destroyed.

But, as Sara says, it wasn’t always like this. She started recounting all the various Spirits of Vengeance that existed almost from the start of humanity. We could see the Viking Era unnamed Ghost Rider that protected the shores of America.

In the 17th century, there was Noble Kale, a Ghost Rider that was especially famous for dealing justice to both witches and witch hunters that targeted people unfairly.

Then, during the days of the Civil War, there was an ex-slave Ghost Rider under the name of Caleb who sold his soul to the Spirit of Vengeance in order to avenge his family, and finally, we arrive at the frontier era.

Frontier Era Ghost Rider hunted bounty hunters

Frontier Era was active during the 19th century, immediately post-Civil War. In one scene, we can see a group of 4 bounty hunters who scalped Native Americans and brag about how they are going to earn $600 from the bounties.

Frontier Era Ghost Rider seemingly targeted those types of people among others, as with every war there was a lot of evil to root out across the land until the spirits could rest. Judging by his attire Frontier Era Ghost Rider was most likely Native American as he can be seen wearing a Native American ceremonial headdress or war bonnet.

How strong was Frontier Era Ghost Rider?

We didn’t witness much of his abilities, as he appears in one short scene. However, we can assume that he had the same powerset as all other versions of Ghost Rider. He could most likely utilize Penance Stare and Hellfire manipulation.

Judging by his flaming skull, he was likewise transformed into an immortal burning form that could withstand severe punishment. Like all past versions of Ghost Riders, Frontier Era Ghost Rider also had additional weapons and modes of transportation associated with him common for his era. It would be absurd to expect 19th-century Ghost Rider to appear on a Hellcycle or in a car like Robbie Reyes does nowadays, so this version of Ghost Rider rode a Hellfire Horse. We can only assume its speed and that it was magically fast to provide Ghost Rider with superhuman speed.

Frontier Era Ghost Rider can also be seen with Hellfire-tipped arrows instead of mystic chains. This version of Ghost Rider most likely isn’t among the strongest ones, but he was highly effective in what he did.

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