Vengeance

PROFILE

  • Real Name: Michael Badilino
  • AKA: –
  • Family: Unnamed Father (deceased), Unnamed Mother (deceased), Unnamed Sister (deceased)
  • Base of Operation: –
  • Identity: Secret Identity
  • Citizenship: American, Hell
  • Martial Status: Single
  • Occupation: Formerly Proxy of Hell, Police Detective
  • Education: High school dropout, later extensively self-educated
  • Gender: Male
  • Height: 6′ 4″ (1.93 m) ; (as Vengeance) 7′
  • Weight: 250 lbs (113.4 kg) ; (as Vengeance) 360lbs
  • Eyes: Brown ; (as Vengeance) none
  • Hair: Black ; (as Vengeance) none
  • Unusual Feature: Orange hellfire, demonic looking skull as Vengeance.
  • Origin: Human who sold his soul to Mephisto
  • Universe: Marvel Prime Universe (Earth-616)

He actually had a good reason to take the name Vengeance. Introduced in Ghost Rider (Vol. 3) #21 (1992) by Howard Mackie and Ron Wagner, the former cop was the head of the task force assigned to capture Dan Ketch’s Ghost Rider. When Ketch accidently used his hellfire on Badilino’s father and family, causing the man to go insane and kill his family while Badilino was away on assignet. Badilino blamed Ketch’s Ghost Rider and sold his soul to Mephisto. He would be changed into Vengeance and would battle Ghost Rider and Johnny Blaze (going just by Blaze) before being stopped by the Caretaker.

Caretaker explained that all three were part of a number of lineages connected to Medallion Of Power. Vengeance also learnt that Mephisto had manipulated Ghost Rider into using his Hellfire on Vengeance’s father in order to gain part of the Medallion’s power. The three riders would become a new team called the Spirits of Vengeance before joining the Midnight Sons. Vengeance would take over for Ketch when Ketch went missing. He would be capture and torture by Anton Hellgate in order to make another Spirit Of Vengeance and for a time lose his powers. He would join a task force but during one of the missions, turn back into Vengeance and killed all of his team mates. He then went on a murder spree, killing many criminals. He was confronted by Ghost Rider and Blaze who convinced him he was going too far. He exploded and was sent to hell where he was last seen being mocked by Blackheart.

Vengeance is not someone that many people have heard of. So it came as a surprise when Toybiz announced that they were making him as part of the Legendary Riders series (ironically being the better figure in that ill fated series.)

Classic

Recommend Figure:  Toybiz Marvel Legends Legendary Riders Series – Vengeance

  • Background:
    • When he first appeared, Vengeance was basically a more demonic version of the main Ghost Rider, with a purple head (the Toy image is a prototype.)
  • Why you need it for your collection?:
    • Given that there is very few Ghost Rider characters in the line (given that most of them are demons and angels), this may be a figure you want in your collections. He can be used for either a villain or ally, particularly if you want to build the Spirits of Vengeance team or the Midnight Sons.
  • Does it need a remake?:
    • Yes. This would be perfect for a Riders set.

Needs

Below you will find a gallery of suits that still need to be made. I have included what I think are the possibilities of them being made. Note that these are my personal opinions and not fact. Please let me know if I have missed anything.

None at the moment

Alternates: Ghost Riders

Universe: Prime Universe (Earth-616)