Dragonborn vs Ghost Rider is a collaboration What-If? Death Battle by Brown Eevee & Vrokorta. It pits the Dragonborn from Skyrim against Johnny Blaze from Marvel Comics.
Description[]
Comics vs Video games! God-like entities that do as they see fit!
Interlude[]
Vrokorta: Often times, we see gods with specific goals or allegiance.
Brown Eevee: Not these two. They do what they want, when they want, how they want.
Vrokorta: Like Ghost Rider, the Spirit of Vengeance.
Brown Eevee: And Dovahkiin, the Last Dragonborn.
Vrokorta: How many times do you plan on using the Dragonborn?
Brown Eevee: As many as I see fit.
Vrokorta: ... fair enough. I'm Vrokorta, they're Brown Eevee. It's our job to analyze these combatants' weapons, armor & skills to find out who would win, a Death Battle.
Ghost Rider (Vrokorta)[]
Vrokorta: Johnny Blaze was an average man who lived a normal life with his family.
Brown Eevee: And by average we of course mean tragic. This is Marvel after all.
Vrokorta: Yeah Blaze's mother abandoned him in hopes that he wouldn't be cursed, his father died from... well he was a daredevil so I think you can figure it out, & his new adopted father was dying of cancer. Boy am I glad I didn't grow up in the Marvel universe.
Brown Eevee: For those few of you who aren't familiar with Marvel, you might be wondering "What curse was John's mom trying to protect him from?". Well, many years ago, a demon known as Zarathos got into some trouble with another demon known as Mephisto, which led him to be enslaved & trapped within mortal humans that limited his power. Those possessing Zarathos were cursed with his power, & under the right circumstances, they could become a Spirit of Vengeance, which is essentially Ghost Rider's species.
Vrokorta: This curse ran through those mortals' spiritual bloodlines, & one of those bloodlines was Johnny Blaze's. However, he wouldn't realize this until he unknowingly summoned Mephisto himself to revive his father. Mephisto did heal his father's cancer, but he died immediately afterwards in a failed stunt, & John was left with the curse of the Ghost Rider.
Brown Eevee: I don't see how this is a curse. Ghost Rider's crazy strong, & has some bad*** abilities.
Vrokorta: Oh sure it seems cool, until the demon within you starts acting of its own accord & decides to make a complete 180 in your plans. We didn't tag this fight "do as they see fit" for no reason.
Brown Eevee: Fair point, but you can't deny the awesome power of the Ghost Rider.
Vrokorta: That I cannot. His signature ability is hellfire manipulation. This is no ordinary fire, as it burns both body & soul. He can shoot it from pretty much any part of his body, project it through weapons & vehicles, create hellfire constructs, perform hellfire explosions, create inter-dimensional portals of fire, & make the sky rain with hellfire!
Brown Eevee: But that's not where his powers end. Since he's essentially an undead GOD, he's both highly resilient, & has high level regeneration. Being a flaming skeleton means he has no vital organs that can be taken out for a quick kill, nor can he die of old age. He's regenerated from his head being removed, having his skull destroyed, heck, he's come back from having his ENTIRE BODY blown to bits. Not only that, but weaker characters have regenerated from singular molecules, & Ghost Rider potentially scales to it.
Vrokorta: He can also get stronger when his opponents desire vengeance, grow in size to overwhelm enemies, alter your sins, possess the enemy, & utilize mystical chains to bind enemies, or brutally kill them.
Brown Eevee: Let's not forget Ghost Rider's most iconic ability, the Penace Stare.
Vrokorta: Ah yes...
Brown Eevee: ...
Vrokorta: ... y'know I was expecting you to-
Brown Eevee: The Penance Stare has Ghost Rider lock eyes with the enemy, pulling their sins from the deepest parts of their soul & putting it on them in full force, incinerating their soul in the process. This can also be used to see a person's true intent, & what all sins they've committed. However, it won't work on beings who don't regret their sins.
Vrokorta: -cut me off...
Brown Eevee: Yeah 
Vrokorta: Besides, you forgot his resistances. Since he's, y'know, on fire, Ghost Rider is nearly immune to fire & heat. He's resisted Dr. Strange's attempt to snuff his flames & return him to Hell, as well as a magic spear capable of paralyzing other superhumans. He was completely unaffected by an instant death attack, & was able to fight Dr. Strange when he tried to enter his mind. Altogether, that's one of the most impressive sets of abilities I've ever researched in a Death Battle, & it doesn't end there, cause we still have feats.
Brown Eevee: With his power, Ghost Rider blew up a mountain, & created a storm, the latter of which should require 134 Megatons. With his motorcycle, he drove several miles in the time it took a kid to fall 6m, which requires speeds of Mach 13. He was also strong enough to rip off the front of a plane, which requires at least 25 tonnes of lifting strength.
Vrokorta: But in the end, none of that matters, for Ghost Rider's power is FAR greater. Y'see, Zarathos isn't your average "source of power for a superhero", no this guy is a borderline GOD with Dr. strange saying he's virtually boundless, & capable of beating the Hulk.
Brown Eevee: Why doesn't he use this power all the time?
Vrokorta: Two things. 1) Zarathos' full power is limited by Johnny's mortal body & influence. Achieving full power would require the absence of Johnny Blaze, or for Zarathos to have complete control. 2) Zarathos often has different motives from Johnny, so he usually won't let Zarathos have full control. However, this doesn't stop Zarathos from showing his face every once in a while, especially when Johnny gets knocked unconscious, leaving the body in Zarathos' control.
Brown Eevee: Well, when he DOES achieve this power, he's capable of threatening all known realms, & challenging Mephisto, who was strong enough to destroy 3 universes in his fight with Satannish. At full power, Mephisto could match Galactus, who was capable of beating enemies that can protect & destroy 9 universes. Galactus has also kept up with Odin, who could send Thor to Earth at a speed of 837 Quintillion times the speed of light.
Vrokorta: Ghost Rider,or Zarathos I guess, is very impressive, but even he has his weaknesses. While he is highly resistant & practically immune to pain, notable harm is dealt to him when using divine weapons to attack. He'll also be drastically weakened if you can somehow remove Zarathos from his body. This'll leave Johnny a nearly defenseless human, & Zarathos a nearly helpless spirit. Neither one is completely defenseless, but they're nowhere near as powerful as they normally are.
Brown Eevee: But outside of that, I think you're gonna have a lot of trouble killing someone who's already a burning skeleton.
Ghost Rider: You sought to challenge my hellspawned power—but instead, you found death!
Dragonborn (Vrokorta)[]
(Scatman)
Vrokorta: Looks like we're analyzing the Dragonborn again, so let's jump right into it.
BE: Wha- why'd you choose this music?
Vrokorta: Cause I'm not in the mood to take this seriously. I've done this too many times to take it seriously.
BE: B-but how will people know how epic the Dragonborn is if you're playing silly music?
Vrokorta: 1) It's not silly, it's AWESOME. 2) They'll know by READING THE PREVIOUS FIGHTS.
BE: Okay okay, jeez.
Vrokorta: Anyways, you know the Dragonborn's backstory. He was captured & about to be executed, when the mighty Alduin caused so much ruckus that he escaped with no problem. Then he started his grand quest to become a CHAMPION!
BE: That's not what the game is about. Also I was kind of expecting you to say, "become the very best like no one ever was".
Vrokorta: I'm a Digimon fan, I make Digimon references.
BE: M'kay. So the Dragonborn specializes in weapon & magic based combat. He wields swords, shields, &-
Vrokorta: No, you're wasting the viewer's time! Lemme sum it up. *rubs hands* Dragonborn wields just about every conventional handheld medieval weapon, as well as magical ones. His magic & Thu'um lets him shoot fire, ice, & electricity, as well as raise the dead, induce fear, change weather, manipulate souls, increase his stats, paralyze, corrode, create, summon, heal, defend, & absorb among other things. Also worth noting is the Wabbajack, a staff that induces random effects upon anything it hits, varying from a mere fireball, to straight up transmutation into a sweet roll.
BE: ... bro, you just rushed past all the fun stuff.
Vrokorta: Yeah, the stuff we've covered several times before. With that out of the way, we can get into the cool new information I've gathered.
BE: Whoa wut? I wasn't expecting this.
Vrokorta: Y'see, the Dragonborn isn't your average protag. He's what the Elder Scrolls lore calls a "Prisoner". A Prisoner is a being that has looked beyond the boundaries of their universe, seeing through causality itself & exiting it. Imagine it like this, the average person is shackled in a closed off room, the shackles representing causality. To exit causality, one must perceive that which binds them, & find the exit. Those who can't are left within fate & causality. Those who do, like the Dragonborn, free themselves from the laws of the world, leaving their fate in their hands & their hands alone, no traditional fate or causality can affect them.
BE: And people think Goku is OP. Anyways, moving on to feats, you all know about the Dragonborn beating Alduin, the world-eating dragon.
Vrokorta: What you might not know is how powerful he TRULY is. Not only could Alduin eat the world, but could reset the entire kalpa, a span of time that decides the origin of Mundus, a solar system consisting of 11 planets, with the smallest one being as large as a TIMELINE (All planets in Mundus are said to infinite, except for Nirn. However, sailing the seas of Nirn will take you to different times in Nirn, meaning that this one planet contains an entire timeline of its existence. The other planets are even larger). That's around enough strength to destroy & recreate 11 universes.
BE: More powerful than anything we've researched prior.
Vrokorta: And the few weaknesses he has are pretty insignificant, so that's where I'm ending this analysis.
Dragonborn: Yol Tor Shuul!
Intermission[]
Vrok: Okay, fightime.
BE: Whu- that's it?
*death doors close*
Death Battle[]
A large red demon is seen stomping through the city of Morthal, crushing buildings underfoot, smashing humans with his bare hands, & burning the land with hellfire. Suddenly, a loud noise was heard from the horizon as a streak of flame launched off a mountain & crashed into the monster, knocking him to the ground.
The flaming streak stopped on top of the demon, looking down at its face, revealing the streak to be Ghost Rider on his motorcycle.
Ghost Rider: So Lucifer, what did you think you'd get coming to another world to cause destruction?
The demon spoke.
Lucifer: Let's just say, my goals haven't changed.
The demon laughed maniacally as Ghost Rider stabbed his chains through his head, igniting his body & burning it to nothing. The spirit of vengeance turned around, but noticed something on the horizon. A tall dark figure dual wielding swords. The Dragonborn, who was eyeing a demonic being surrounded by a city of flames.
Johnny Blaze didn't know what to make of him, but Zarathos already had a hundreds ways to proceed with the situation, ways to punish the sinner. The spirit of vengeance drew a chain in his left hand.
Ghost Rider: You shall be punished.
FIGHT!
Ghost Rider accelerated directly towards the Dragonborn, swinging his chain like a flail. About 10 meters away, the spirit of vengeance tossed his chain directly at the Dragonborn. The dragon man dove to the side, avoiding the chain before thrusting out his own weapon, hitting the bike's front tire as it came towards him, sending bike & rider spiraling through the air.
Ghost Rider stuck the landing, but his bike exploded upon impact with the ground. The spirit equipped both hands with a chain & began swinging them around in wide arcs as the Dragonborn came rushing after him. The dragon man dodged one chain, then another before taking a glancing blow to the shoulder, causing him to falter for a millisecond. That was all Ghost Rider needed, as he swung a pair of new chains down at his opponent. The Dragonborn noticed at the last instant, & shouted as quickly as he could.
Dragonborn: Wuld Nah Kest!
The dragon man rushed towards Ghost Rider long before the chains reached him, hitting the spirit with both swords, sending him & his chains flying. Ghost Rider recomposed himself in mid-air before swinging his chains at the ground, causing it to split open & unleash huge geysers of lava.
The Dragonborn stepped away from the lava as Ghost Rider approached him, walking right through the 2000 degree liquid. As he approached, the spirit of vengeance unleashed a mouthful of flames, burning the ground that was already surrounded in lava with hellish flames. Dragonborn knew he couldn't last in the heat, so he shouted again.
Dragonborn: Strun Bah Qo!
A dark storm quickly rolled in, pouring rain & lightning on the battlefield. To Ghost Rider's surprise, the lava was solidified, & the fire extinguished.
Ghost Rider: You extinguished hellfire... with rain... Just who are you?
The Dragonborn replied.
Dragonborn: Fus Ro Dah!
Ghost Rider was blasted backwards, smashing through the hardened lava. Before he hit the ground, he summoned a new bike & landed on it.
Ghost Rider: I suppose we ought to take this one a bit more seriously.
In the blink of an eye, Ghost Rider had started circling the Dragonborn on his bike. Before the Dovahkiin could react, he found himself being wrapped in searing hot chains. He didn't even get the chance to scream in pain before being pulled off his feet & dragged on the ground at high speeds. Ghost Rider was now towing the Dragonborn with his bike.
Ghost Rider rode across the land at terrifying speed, slamming the Dragonborn through trees & rocks, even grinding him against a cliff face as he rode up the steep incline. The bike launched off of the cliff, & Ghost Rider spun his bike & released the chain, sending the Dragonborn careening towards the ground at high speed. Not long after the Dovahkiin hit the ground, Ghost Rider's bike came crashing into him, created a sizable explosion with him in it. The spirit of vengeance landed a few meters away from the explosion, thinking his opponent was finished. However, the spirit still sensed the Dragonborn's sins, meaning he was still alive.
Ghost Rider: I suppose your punishment wasn't enough.
Sure enough, as the smoke cleared, the Dragonborn was seen standing with much less wounds, having healed himself with magic. Immediately afterwards, the Dragonborn fired a blast of chain lightning at Ghost Rider, but the spirit of vengeance dodged with ease. Ghost Rider fired a chain at the Dovahkiin, but he dodged as well before charging at the spirit, now wielding dual battle axes.
The Dragonborn slashed once, & Ghost Rider dodged. He slashed again, but found his strike countered by Ghost Rider grabbing his axe with chains. The spirit pulled the axe from the Dovahkiin's hands & swung it at his head. The Dragonborn ducked under the swing before leaping out of range. Ghost Rider continued to swing the axe like a flail, using his power to enlarge it & send hellfire coursing through it.
The spirit swung the giant axe down at the Dragonborn, who dove to the side to avoid it. The axe connected with the ground, splitting it open for miles & sending lava gushing into the sky. Ghost Rider swung the axe horizontally at the Dragonborn, who equipped a shield just in time to block it, the axe shaving a significant portion off of the metal shield. As the Dovahkiin tried to think up a strategy, a glob of lava fell from the sky & burned his shoulder. He looked up to see the sky had become red & black, & was raining magma.
Dragonborn: Strun Bah Qo!
The Dragonborn shouted again, created a storm of his own to counter Ghost Rider's. The Dovahkiin was growing fed up, & started to unleash more of his power.
Dragonborn: Raan Mir Tah! Ven Gar Nos! Gaan Lah Haas! Su Grah Dun! Zun Haal Vik! Krii Lun Aus!
Suddenly, birds & moles appeared from the sky & earth, aiming straight for Ghost Rider. He raised his axe to strike them down, but found it torn from his grasp. A bird decked him in the head, doing absolutely nothing as Ghost Rider pulled out his chains to kill his attackers. However, before he could finish, he was swept up in a cyclone & launched into the air. He tried to recompose himself, but found his body greatly weakened by the Dragonborn's shouts. Before he hit the ground, the Dragonborn struck him with a war hammer several times in just a few seconds, sending him flying into the cliff face from earlier.
Johnny lay unconscious on the ground, & the Dragonborn believed he'd won. However, his body stood up heedless, a new energy welling up inside him. Johnny was out cold, leaving Zarathos in control.
The spirit struck the ground, cracking it open & sending them both plummeting to the underworld. The Dragonborn hit the ground, but pulled himself to his feet, only to see his now building sized opponent staring him down.
Dragonborn: Od Ah Viing! Hun Kal Zoor! Mul Qah Diiv! Dur Neh Viir!
The Dragonborn was suddenly sided by two dragons & a human warrior, who immediately headed for Zarathos. The massive spirit thrust a chain into the distance, grabbing a mountain & swinging it down at his adversaries. The group scattered from the attack, except for one dragon.
Odahviing: Fus Ro Dah!
With a mighty blast of force, the mountain was shattered before Ghost Rider's eyes. Immediately after this, he was engulfed in flames from the other dragon. He shrugged this off & smacked him out of the air with a chain. He then lost his balance & fell to the ground, the warrior having cut off his foot. The warrior was soon punished when the ground around him cracked open & spewed hellfire at him, burning his very soul.
The spirit regenerated his foot & turned to the Dragonborn, only to be blasted by his opponent with frigid air that started to weaken his flames. Zarathos retaliated by using hellfire to weaken the Dragonborn's shout, reducing the blizzard like winds into a mere chilling breath. The spirit moved in to crush his opponent underfoot, only to be knocked aside by Odahviing.
Odahviing: You will not harm my ally!
As Odahviing prepared another shout, Ghost Rider stared directly into his eyes. Suddenly, Odahviing screamed in immense pain, & began to writhe on the ground. The weight of his sins, all the wrongs he'd done while serving Alduin, tore apart his mind & soul. He finally stopped writhing, laying limp on the ground with his mouth hanging agape. His body dematerialized, leaving only his skeleton behind.
Seeing this, the other dragon chose to retreat. The warrior followed suit, disappearing from sight. Zarathos returned his gaze to the Dragonborn, who drank a potion to restore his magic. The spirit of vengeance raised his chains again & swung them at his opponent. However, the Dragonborn raised a shining sword that sliced through the chains.
Zarathos was shocked once again. What kind of being could extinguish hellfire & break his chains? However, he realized something. The Dragonborn was wielding no ordinary sword. This was the Dawnbreaker, a Daedric Artifact. In other words, a divine weapon.
Zarathos: You surprise me once again, but nothing will halt the judgement of your sins!
The Dragonborn leapt at the spirit of vengeance, but was blasted away by an explosion of hellfire. The Dovahkiin recomposed himself, switching the Dawnbreaker for the Skull of Corruption, & firing a series of magical blasts at the spirit of vengeance. Zarathos recoiled at the attack before blasting the Dragonborn with hellfire, knocking him out of the sky.
Zarathos sent out his chains, stabbing the Dragonborn & pulling him in close. However, once he was close enough, Dragonborn threw a dagger at the spirit's head, causing him to cry out. Dovahkiin then equipped the Mace of Molag Bal, smashing Zarathos in the head & knocking him to the ground. The Dragonborn finished by equipping the Ebony Blade & stabbing Zarathos through the chest.
(Stop Music)
The Dragonborn stood panting over Ghost Rider's body, clutching his blade with both hands. Zarathos seemed to lay unmoving.
Suddenly Zarathos flung his head back up, locking his gaze with the Dragonborn's. All his murder, all his thievery, all his heroic deeds, all his... deaths?
Zarathos: What is this?
The spirit looked deeper into the Dragonborn's mind. He found him doing two completely different tasks at the exact same time. He saw him do good things & bad things. He saw a life of villainy & crime, but also a life of heroism & justice.
Zarathos: This doesn't make sense!
He continued to probe his mind, but he only grew more confused. It was like the Dragonborn had a lived 100 different lives at once! Maybe more? Zarathos couldn't put a finger on it. He then had a horrible realization.
(Stop Music)
Even though none of this made sense, one thing was clear. The Dragonborn had no regrets, and even if he did, it was almost like he was exempt from punishment.
Zarathos: But why?
Just then, the Dragonborn raised the Wabbajack & prepared to strike at his adversary. However, the spirit of vengeance knocked him down with a chain, & stood back to his feet.
Zarathos: So what if the Penance Star doesn't work? I'll punish you with my own two hands!
The spirit raised a hand to the air, & the ground next to him rose with it, creating a giant earthen hand. Zarathos swung his arm down, & the hand came to crush the Dragonborn. However, with the Wabbajack still equipped, he fired a projectile that disintegrated the hand. He proceeded to fire three shots at Zarathos. The spirit of vengeance raised his chains to block the oncoming attack.
The first projectile was hit, halting Zarathos' chain in mid-air. The second projectile was hit, & the chain turned invisible. The third projectile hit Zarathos. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, he felt his body changing, shrinking, weakening. By the time it was done, Ghost Rider was a mere rabbit. The Dragonborn rushed at his opponent, too fast for him to react, & stamped him underfoot...
K.O.
Dragonborn shook off his boot, & looked to the sky... How was he gonna get out of here?
Results[]
Vrokorta: Well that was definitely Dragonborn's most fair fight, but it seemed the spirit of vengeance finally met his match.
Brown Eevee: At their peaks, both had universe busting power. However, to see who was stronger, we have to directly compare their best feats.
Vrokorta: Ghost Rider can fight Mephisto. Mephisto can fight Galactus. Galactus is stronger than Odin. Odin defeated Surtur. Surtur was going to destroy Yggdrasil, which contains so many universes that some would say it's infinite. At best, that'd put Ghost Rider at 2-A, with infinite 4-Dimensional power.
Brown Eevee: Dragonborn beat Alduin. Alduin was strong enough to reset the kalpa. A kalpa is a span of time containing the creating of Mundus. Mundus is a solar system containing planets with infinite size. The smallest planet, Nirn, contains an entire timeline, and every other planet is considered infinitely larger than it. To reset all of them would require at least infinite 4-D power, at 2-A, possibly 5-D power at Low 1-C.
Vrokorta: Not only did the Dragonborn beat Alduin, he also beat Miraak, who curbstomped Dragonborn soon after he beat Alduin. After reading the Black Books, he was able to match & defeat Miraak, & take his souls, granting Dragonborn with Miraak's power. Overall, there's a lot supporting Dragonborn having the strength advantage.
Brown Eevee: Ghost Rider was ludicrously fast, easily exceeding 837 Quintillion times the speed of light at his peak. However, Dragonborn kept up with a dragon that transcends time & space & can cross infinite distances, which is immeasurable speed, easily exceeding any quantifiable speed value, including Ghost Rider's MFTL+ speed.
Vrokorta: Arsenal was interesting to consider, as both had soul & mind manipulation, but even here Dragonborn has a way to edge out. Ghost Rider had the power to weaken magic, which was huge against an opponent that relies so much on it. However, Dragonborn could absorb energy like magic & stamina, had weapons to deal with undead (which I'm pretty sure Ghost Rider falls under), & he could transmute enemies, something Ghost Rider hasn't quite dealt with.
Brown Eevee: Of course, resistances came into play as well. Since they've both dealt with soul manipulation, neither would have much trouble dealing with it here. Of course, Ghost Rider resisted fire, so any fire attacks Dragonborn threw at him would be ineffective. On the other hand, the Penance Stare likely wouldn't work on Dragonborn since most sinful actions he commits are optional and chosen by the player. This actually plays into Dragonborn's state as a Prisoner. Regular cause & effect doesn't work on him, so I doubt someone like Zarathos could judge him for any murders cause, in a way, he never did them. Think about it like this, killing someone is the cause, punishment by Ghost Rider is the effect. Without cause & effect, murder wouldn't amount to anything, making the Dragonborn exempt from punishment.
Vrokorta: Last but not least, weaknesses. You could argue that Dragonborn has limited magic, or shout cooldown, but those could just as easily be chalked up to game mechanics. Ghost Rider on the other hand was vulnerable to divine weapons. Why's this important? Because Dragonborn had the Daedric Artifacts, equipment attributed to the Daedric Princes. The Daedric Princes are the strongest of the Daedra, a species viewed as gods. In short, the Daedric Artifacts are divine weapons.
Brown Eevee: Overall, Ghost Rider wasn't completely outmatched, but Dragonborn still managed to edge out over him. Won't be much vengeance coming from him anymore.
Vrokrta: The winner is the Dragonborn
