Most Marvel fans are familiar with the names Johnny Blaze, Danny Ketch, or Robbie Reyes when they think of the Ghost Rider. But the very first Ghost Rider came from a lineage connected to the Spirits of Vengeance.
Millennia ago, an artifact known as the Medallion of Power was forged to contain the collective power of the spirits of vengeance, but unintentionally trapped part of the demon, Zarathos, in it as well. Fearing that the medallion was too powerful, its creators broke it in two and directed the spiritual energy into two separate bloodlines to be contained. This power would not see the light of day until the birth of Noble Kale over 20000 years later.
Created by Howard Mackie and Javier Saltares, Noble Kale was introduced in Ghost Rider #1 of May 1990. Born in the 1700s, Noble was the son of a very strict pastor. One day, Noble and his father encountered the caravan of a traveling circus on the road. The caravan had halted due to a collapsed horse and the circus' owner, Caleb, was sick as well. While Pastor Kale tended to Caleb, Noble approached a young woman named Magdelena and brought her with him to safety.
Shortly after Caleb passed away, Noble comforted Magdelena at his funeral. Slowly, but surely, the two fell in love. Noble tried to hide the relationship from his father both due to the pastor's fanatical beliefs and because he knew his father would never approve of him courting a woman of color. Eventually, Magdelena became pregnant with Noble's child. Wishing for the two to be married, Noble came forward to his father with the truth, hoping that Pastor Kale would see the same goodness in Magdelena that Noble did. He was wrong.
While Pastor Kale did allow the child to be raised in his home, he all but separated Noble and Magdelena. Working his son like a slave while Magdelena began using her knowledge of natural remedies to help people. Eventually, Magdelena discovered that Pastor Kale was in actuality, a servant of Mephisto who bartered souls with the demon. Unwilling to let his secret be revealed he condemned Magdelena as a witch and had her burned at the stake. In her dying screams, Magdelena cursed Pastor Kale, calling down the "Furies" upon him.
Fearing for his life, Pastor Kale selfishly traded his son's soul to Mephisto. Sensing that Noble's bloodline carried the spirit of vengeance, Mephisto activated it, turning Noble into the first Ghost Rider. Noble defeated the furies before attempting to kill his father. As a "peace offering" Pastor Kale sacrificed Noble's son to him. Devastated by the loss, Noble attempted to kill himself but was stopped by Mephisto, who sought to claim his soul. Before this could happen, however, Mephisto's brother, Uriel appeared and also tried to claim Noble's soul for Heaven. The two sides could not reach an agreement and decided that Noble would be consigned to the Void, forced to forget his human identity and his power being called upon by the firstborn his descendants.
Noble would not be heard from again until Dan Ketch, his descendant, had the Ghost Rider's memories restored. This lightened the burden of Ghost Rider's existence but left Noble with a longing for his human life. When the villain, Blackheart, created his own spirits of vengeance, he offered Noble a place among them. Refusing, Noble was killed and his soul went to Hell, where Blackheart attempted to corrupt him by offering to restore his mortal form. Agreeing to the deal, Noble and Dan were separated.
Dan managed to talk sense into Noble when he discovered that Noble's true destiny was to become the Angel of Death. Armed with this knowledge, Noble defeated Blackheart and became the ruler of Hell. This lasted for a short time before he was ousted and went on a rampage through New York before merging with Dan again. This time though, Dan excised him, leaving Noble's current status unknown.