Origin
Steel Wind used to be a gentle woman from Japan that loved to capture beauty’s essence in her paintings. An accidental explosion on board a cruise ship left her near death but she managed to wash ashore a nearby Caribbean isle. Her arms and body horrifically damaged, a mysterious benefactor named Freakmaster, with a team of advanced surgeons replaced her arms with cybernetic parts. She vowed to stay loyal to the man responsible for reconstructing her body.
Creation
Steel Wind first appeared in Ghost Rider #75 in December 1982 and was created by JM DeMatteis and Bob Budiansky.
Major Story Arcs
Contest
Steel Wind arrives on a motorcycle at a circus owned by a man named Quentin. Quentin tells Johnny Blaze, who is employed there as a motorcycle stunt driver, that he is going to be replaced by Steel Wind. Members of the circus oppose the idea and Quentin decides that a contest will take place between Steel Wind and Johnny Blaze. Steel Wind ends up winning the race and Johnny leaves the circus. Steel Wind is cold and distant towards everyone at the circus. A circus performer named Vincenzo wants to know more about Steel Wind and enters her tent. He is in shock when he sees Steel Wind without her gloves. Her arms are metallic meshed with pieces of flesh. Steel Wind walks towards Vincenzo and kills him. Members of the circus begin to hate Steel Wind and confront Quentin about her. Steel Wind arrives on her bike and confronts the crowd. She tells Quentin that he is weak and that she is going to take charge. She warned if anyone plans to cross her, they will suffer and pay a great price. She drives off and suddenly sees Johnny Blaze. He tells Steel Wind that these people stood up for him and now he is returning the favor.
Steel Wind attacks Johnny Blaze and shoots laser beams from her cycle towards him. A chase ensues and Steel Wind emits a burst of flame from her cycle where it consumes Johnny Blaze. Blaze then transforms into Ghost Rider and continues the fight. Steel Wind manages to knock Ghost Rider onto the ground and then two wires from her hands connect to the cycle’s handlebars. She fires two wire-guided grenades towards Ghost Rider and he takes the shattering blast. Ghost Rider then grabs Steel Wind’s cycle with his chain and tosses it towards a tree while she is still attached to the handle bars. Steel Wind disentangles herself from the circuitry revealing her cybernetic side. Ghost Rider grabs Steel Wind and lets the hellfire take her body as it burns deeply into her soul. Later, Steel Wind’s sister enlisted the help of Centurious and Reverend Styge to revive her from her comatose state. However, in repayment for doing so they transformed her sister into a cyborg as well, naming her Steel Vengeance. Steel Wind was also seen as a member of Superia‘s Femizons when they tried to capture Captain America and Paladin to stop them messing up Superia’s plan to sterilize the rest of the world’s females. After Superia is defeated, Steel Wind and Battleaxe track down ex-Femizons Asp and Black Mamba at The Bar in New York for a bounty but are defeated.
Spirits of Vengeance
Returning to the scene of her original crimes, Steel Wind and Steel Vengeance show up at Quentin’s Carnival again, where they battle Ghost Rider and Johnny Blaze. When Blaze and Ghost Rider are teleported away by Mephisto, Centurious kills Steel Vengeance for failing to capture them. Steel Wind is sent back to the Carnival again, this time with a horde of summoned demons. During the battle, Vengeance (sent by Mephisto) and Johnny Blaze blow off both her arms before a carnival employee Miranda Woods releases an energy blast that incinerates the demons and appears to kill Steel Wind.
Somehow Steel Wind returns again alongside Centurious and with the Lilin she attacks Ghost Rider and Johnny Blaze at the Carnival in a plan to gain the Medallion of Power for Centurious. Defeated again, Lilin and Steel Wind escape through a rift in space. Johnny Blaze later happens upon Steel Wind, missing both her arms, being held at a military base in the Adirondacks. Believing that she can still be redeemed, he refuses her pleas to kill her and takes her back to the Carnival with him where they rebuild her cyborg body. Now allied with Johnny Blaze, Steel Wind helps him defeat Centurious. Johnny stops her from killing Centurious and she rides away, although when she’s gone he does the deed himself.
Powers and Abilities
Steel Wind has a degree of superhuman strength because of her cybernetic parts. She is also a talented motorcycle rider. Her motorcycle is equipped with a flame thrower, laser beams, wire-guided grenades and the exhaust pipes can emit a powerful wind vortex.
Physical Characteristics
Height: 5′ 9″
Weight: 130 lbs
Hair: Magenta with a white steak
Eyes: Red