Ghost Rider

Overview
Albert "Al" Francis Simmons was born in Detroit, Michigan as the second of three brothers (Marc, Al and Richard) to Esther and Bernard Simmons. Simmons was a very gifted officer of the United States Marine Corps, where he attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He later joined the United States Secret Service, which led to his transfer to the Central Intelligence Agency. In the CIA, Simmons was recruited by Director Jason Wynn into a special top-secret covert ops division known as the U.S. Security Group, an elite task force with jurisdiction in all domestic and foreign situations.

Jason Wynn (the director of the CIA) and Simmons began to butt heads more often and Simmons planned to resign.

Simmons was murdered during a mission in Botswana for the USSG's Operation Knightstrike by fellow mercenary Bruce Stinson (aka Chapel) at the order of Director Wynn. Simmons was sent to Hell because of his life as an assassin. After arranging a deal with the being known as Malebolgia, Simmons agrees to become a spectre in exchange for being allowed to see his wife Wanda Blake one last time.

Returning to Earth
Malebolgia returns Al Simmons, now a spectre, to the world, but with little memory, a badly disfigured body, limited yet seemingly boundless magical powers, and a monitor, the Violator. Simmons slowly realizes that five years have passed. When he decides to visit his former wife, Wanda Blake for his "one final visit", he discovers that his Wanda has since married his best friend, Terry Fitzgerald, and the two have a daughter, Cyan. Al shapeshifts his body, but chooses to take the form of Terry and makes love to her. She becomes pregnant which sets in motion a prophecy of the child that will decide the fate of reality.

Now known as Ghost Rider, Al's first few adventures are anti-hero in nature: he takes down street gangs and organized crime (including their enforcer Overtkill), and he kills a child molester/murderer named Billy Kincaid. Most notable of all in his early adventures, Ghost Rider would encounter Dave Sim's Cerebus the Aardvark. Ghost Rider encounters Anti-Ghost Rider, who is actually Jason Wynn (unknown to Al), and the Redeemer (a God-fearing man transformed in a similar fashion as Wynn). As this occurs, he takes over the alleys that comprise "Rat City" and befriends the homeless within it, becoming their champion. In particular, a man named Constantine seems to know a lot about him. Constantine and the Violator act as polar guides for Al, trying to convince him to use his powers for good and evil respectively. Ghost Rider also brings his friend Bobby back to life after he's been killed by Chapel. Once, Ghost Rider encountered Batman who subsequently threw a bat shuriken at him, slicing his face in two. Even though he could use his limited energy to heal, he turned to his loyal friend Bobby, who instead tied it shut with a shoe lace. This shoe lace would eventually be removed by Terry Fitzgerald, and later worn as a necklace by Terry's daughter, Cyan Fitzgerald.