Doesn't work if you're crazy

Honestly I never understood how it was so strong from the way people describe it. I just don't see how feeling all the pain or sins of your victims will do shit if you can just, tolerate the pain or just don't give a flying shit about any of it.
It's really no wonder it jobs all the time. It seems to job more then it has actually worked outside of like, a single cartoon cameo that isn't even canon to the character since it's just a single cartoon appearance.
Although the fact it worked on Galactus at all is bullshit I personally think.

Are you a current Marvel writer?

It's not complicated. It's not about remorse. If you killed several people, you feel yourself dying several times.

But most of the times it failed, it WAS Johnny.

it actually never works, people pretend to be affected to make Ghost Rider feel more confident.
It's actually really cruel to give him heightened confidence in a power that doesn't work so if you see a ghost rider do not encourage him

It's referring to when Carol Danvers shrugged it off on the basis that "life already treats me so bad that this is nothing compared to it", then btfos Rider. Even though this is post-Secret Wars Danvers who has had nothing bad happen to her in her entire life and has been fellated by the entire universe ever since she murdered Tony Stark in cold blood.

So basically, the only thing you need to beat the stare is to pity yourself a lot.

What if you only killed 1 person? Would you go "wow that really smarts" and be fine a week later?

99% is Jason Aaron's fault. He started a lot this bullshit.

Maybe, but you'd remember dying hurts/sucks a lot, and you might figure what hell is like (and the fact it's very real at Marvel). You might also be "fine" after being left for the cops or whatever, and aware there's a flaming spooky skeleton on wheels that might come for you again.

Of course, that's all assuming it's played straight and you weren't just visited by the spirit of present jobbings.

I’m sorry but I’m the one who started this. Ghost Rider caught me after I shot up a school and he picked me up in the air and I pretended like his stare killed me and now he believes that he’s got some sort of penance stare. Please don’t tell him or he’ll kill me with his Hellfire.

I wish people would give that Einstein quote some rest. It's not even a good definition of madness.

probably depends on the method of death I guess, like euthanasia wouldn't be so bad vs mutilation/torture

I’m telling

Do you know what dying feels like?

I would read this comic.

>ever since she murdered Tony Stark in cold blood.
Hey now, it wasn't cold blood, Tony attacked her with his Carolbuster armor. Still bullshit that she no-sold the Penance Stare though.

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Only heavy hitters like Hulk, Thor, and Doctor Strange job to Ghost Rider. Everyone else? Its fair game.

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>>doesn't work if you're religious
When did that happen?

And if you can handle pain I don't see why the fuck that should be enough to just put anyone down.
Would dying even hurt? Isn't it just your brain slowly shutting down? Unless it's the whole process of how they died too but even then that just goes back to it being pure pain.
Some people are just, not going to stop because a sudden shock of pain.

It's supposed to cause spiritual damage harming your soul. Souls/spirituality is very real in Marvel, hell there's a Soul Gem which can affect everything, so it should work on everyone and be a pretty solid oneshot. Only people who have not caused harm to others should be immune.

As to the various failures of it, they're pretty much all BS from writers wanting to wank a character. However, it would be possible to retcon all the failures into an interesting story. The Penance Stare is limited by the user, the same way the Spirit of Vengeance's power is limited but controlled through being bonded to a mortal. Each one has differing ideas of how it should work and thus has limits.
>It's a stare so you need to be able to see it
>It's a stare so it only works on one person
>It makes you feel pain so if you don't care or are too crazy, remorseless, or righteous then it wouldn't work
etc...
These would all be subconscious limitations and when so alleviated of these thought errors you'd have an appropriate finishing move to it.

Still considering Carnage is currently Chthon powered I say he should be able to tank the Penance Stare

I think it works on Galactus because he isn't necessarily evil, he probably does feel guilt over what he does andaybe regrets some of his harsher acts of cruelty, however he has a never ending purpose to fulfill and must do everything in his power to continue on.
Without Galactus and without entropy the Cancerverse exists and that is arguably much more fucked up. Everything growing out of and into everything else.

See that's what I mean. He's just doing what he has to naturally, like a force of nature. Combined that with the whole 'every species sees him differently thing' and it feels weird to have some minor earth demon being able to completely blow him away with just a stare.

He acts on behalf of force of nature but he's not the force of nature. He can be fucked up

I guess. I don't really read the comics but hey, does anyone here?

Galactus was once a mortal in his universe though. Sure he was reborn as Galactus but a part of him still retains that mortal mind and thats what I assume the penance stare is working on, its dragging that subconscious mortal sense of personal morality out of himself and that is probably agonising to Galactus. More than physical pain, its an almost immeasurable level of guilt to his mortal psyche of the billions of life's he has ended. A part of him I'm sure he buries very very very deep within himself.
As Galan he tried to save his universe with good intentions and failing that he essentially sacrificed himself to make sure the next universe would have balance.