| Penance Stare | |||||||||||||||
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| Real Name | Penance Stare | ||||||||||||||
| Powers and Abilities | Causes victim to feel all pain and guilt they have caused in others | ||||||||||||||
| Allies | Ghost Rider | ||||||||||||||
| Family and Friends | Ghost Fire Chain Whip | ||||||||||||||
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The Penance Stare is a powerful ability belonging only to the supernatural superhero Ghost Rider.
Power[]
The Penance Stare forces its victim to experience all the pain and suffering they have caused to others. The more the person has caused pain the stronger reaction they have. This is incredibly useful in defeating powerful villains.
Ghost Rider needs only look into the person's eyes to initiate the stare. Sometimes it appears as a powerful beam out of Ghost Rider's heads while other times it occurs simply in their head. It seems as though more powerful beings require the beams while normal humans can be punished just in their heads.
Once the victim has atoned for their sins, they are then penanced. Some begin to weep while others collapse.
Presumably, if it is used on a person with little or no sins they feel relatively little guilt if any. Though it is unlikely that Ghost Rider would use it on such a person.
History[]
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The earliest known instance of its use is on the Hulkbusters member Major Glenn Talbot. Talbot had ruthlessly pursued the Hulk and his alter-ego Bruce Banner. He experienced all the pain that he caused then collapsed sobbing.
Its most notable usage was against the planet eater Galactus. After a battle with his Herald Terrax, Galactus was weakened. He fought against the Fantastic Four and Thor but required the planet's energy to sustain him. Ghost Rider made him feel the guilt a "billion billion" lives lost to him. Galactus collapsed and began to shrink. He would have died if Frankie Raye had not convinced Thor to save him.
It may have been used on the mutant Thieves Guild member Gambit, but it is not known.
Background[]
The only confirmed animated usage of the power is in "When Calls Galactus". Its usage in "Innocent Blood" is more subtle and implied.
External Links[]
- Penance Stare (Earth-616) at Marvel Database