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Maerok
2007-08-07, 09:59 PM
The Merits of the Ghost Rider Movie in the Context of Nobilis

Say what you will about the quality of comic book movies these days. But when I was watching Ghost Rider (GR) the other day for the second time, I realized that it served as an example of a possible Nobilis plot, at least on a beginner to intermediate level of intricacy. I personally have no experience with the GR comic book, but this article concerns the movie.

It is here you have Johnny Blaze on a collision course with his Commencement as the GR. We could call Mephistopheles his Imperator of Hell. The scene where he first transforms into the skulled hero serves as one example of a human becoming a Noble. While I typically have my characters becoming enNobled as an intervention to death, this showcases an instance where the transformation takes hold unexpectedly; and it is probably an all-too-often occurrence that Nobility is forced on someone. We can call GR the Power of Vengeance or maybe even Justice, which seems to be a better case for his fated turning against Mephisto at the end (but then again, that's vengeance). For Anchors, I would say Roxanne and his manager (forgot his name) would be the most natural choices; maybe even his bike's spirit, unless it is a focus or something. In fact, it seems animated so perhaps that'd be best; he can still use gifts and miracles on his anchor (to improve the bike with a touch).

Now for the bad guys; Blackheart can be taken as a Warmain (a walking oblivion more or less; not too much strategy other than a few obvious plans) while the back-up demons would best be portrayed as rogue Powers of Water, Earth, Fire, and Wind; or even as shards though I would expect an Excrucian shard to be less focused on aspects of reality than they were, but it's doable so lets say they're shards. They'd probably have 30 CP, no focus to speak of, with GR at 35. It is after GR has dispatched the four shards that he finally gets to take down Blackheart (as you must do to try and kill an Excrucian), and even then he probably wasn't destroyed but returned back to the Lands Outside Creation (sinking into the floor); they're tough to wipe out once and for all.

Alright, now let's take a look at GR rendered into the Power of Vengeance:

Johnny Blaze, Ghost Rider; Power of Vengeance

"Your soul is stained with the blood of innocents." - Johnny Blaze, Exemplar of Vengeance

*Built on 30 CP*

Attributes (21 CP; 7 levels total)
Aspect 5 (Can move the truck that crashed into him; tough in general)
Domain 0 (Seems to carry out his tasks through other means than tapping into Vengeance itself; domain serves as an ends, rather than a means)
Realm 0 (No chancel to speak of, really)
Spirit 2 (I'd give him the two previously mentioned Anchors at Spirit 1; but Spirit 2 more closely matches his concentration over his powers that he develops)

Gifts (9 CP):
Hellfire Touch
Whether it's his bike, a chain, a gun, or nearly anything else, Ghost Rider can infuse Hellfire into his tools to improve them. This also includes blasts of fire, such as walls.
Minor Creation of Hellfire (4), -1 Simple, -2 Single, +1 Comprehensive, +1 Uncommon (3 CP)

Penance Stance
By looking into his eyes, all the evil and sins that reside within your soul will condemn you. It requires the victim to be held, requiring a little work and making this cost 1 DMP per use.
Major Destruction of Soul (8), -2 Normal, -2 Single, -3 One Trick, +1 Uncommon (2 CP)
*Should probably require some Penetration, but I left that one for now*

Durant (1 CP)

Eternal (3 CP) (Immutable is included, which shows up in the fight with the Water demon, who I really want to call Levistus; and then the prior GR who's lived for a long time calls for Eternal)

Limits/Restrictions:
Affiliation: Code of the Wild
Restriction: Loses Aspect levels, Penance Stare, and Hellfire Touch in daylight
Restriction: Cannot harm the innocent
Restriction: Blatant miracles

Anchors:
Bike
Roxanne
Mack, his Manager

Damionte
2007-08-07, 10:27 PM
And this belongs in the D20 secotion of the forum for what reason?

Zincorium
2007-08-08, 02:53 AM
And this belongs in the D20 secotion of the forum for what reason?

D20 and General RPG. Nobilis is an RPG, therefore it belongs in this section.

Unfortunately I don't know enough about Nobilis to really comment, and as bad as it sounds I liked the movie until the part where he transformed for the first time, after that it lost all interesting qualities (this is exactly the opposite of what I expected).

Maerok
2007-08-08, 09:39 PM
Oops. I had two different windows open and I ended up putting it in this one. X_X