Pyro

Characteristics

• Height- 5'10"
• Weight- 150 lbs
• Eyes- Blue
• Hair- Blonde
• Irish
• Welder

Biography

Origin

St John Allerdyce was born in Sydney, Australia. Although named St John (pronounced Sinjin), he preferred the name John. As he got older he learned he could manipulate & control fire, but was unable to create it. Little is known about his past life other then he was a writer and spent most of his time in South East Asia working as a Journalist and later attempted a career as an author of Gothic novels.

Brotherhood & Freedom Force

At some point, Allerdyce was found by Mystique and was recruited to join her version of the Brotherhood of Mutants. Within the group he made firm friendships with fellow Brotherhood team-mates, Blob & Avalanche. He was a part of Mystique's plans to assassinate Senator Kelly, but was thwarted by the efforts of Kate Pryde travelling through time and occupying the body of Kitty Pryde. As a member of the Brotherhood, Pyro never worked under the team's original mentor, Magneto. However, he has been loyal to Mystique and much later to Toad. A few years later, while the Brotherhood were incarcerated, they were offered a chance to redeem themselves. Part of the Mutant Registration Act allowed a group of mutants to register and become the public face of law abiding mutant citizens who would fight to stop ilegaly non-registered mutants. As such, Mystique's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants was remodelled into Freedom Force. Pyro's affiliation with both the Brotherhood & Freedom Force

has brought him into conflict with various X-Men teams, and other American based teams such as the Avengers.

Rusty Collins

Early after their formation, Freedom Force, were tasked with arresting a naval cadet by the name of Rusty Collins. Rusty's pyrokinetic powers were triggered by accident causing a lot of property damange, and severely scarring a young prostitute for life. Pyro found Rusty in the sewers and captured him, but Freedom Force were intervened by X-Factor. Iceman's powers countered the flames under Pyro's control, and Cyclops blasted the flamethrower on Pyro's back. Freedom Force came across Rusty and his girlfriend Skids on many occasions. Everytime Rusty tried to use his fire-powers, Pyro's own ability to control and increase that fire power proved useful and turned Rusty's powers against his team-mates in the X-Terminators & New Mutants. When Dani Moonstar had been possessed with a demonic spirit by Hela, she used her own mutant power to create an ice-generating machine to trap herself. However, when Pyro turned Rusty's powers against the ice machine, Rusty saw no other option than to turn himself over to the authorities. This lead to a confrontation between Freedom Force and the enigmatic man known as Cable. Cable was trying to liberate Rusty & Skids from both Freedom Force and the Mutant Liberation Front. While Freedom Force were pursuing Cable through the streets of New York, passing members of the New Mutants tried to help and battled with Pyro & Blob. However, with Cable's superior tactical guidance, Freedom Force were defeated. While with Freedom Force, Pyro found himself working with the Avengers to stop Venom and numerous other prisoners in the Vault. His time with Freedom Force ended after disasterous a mission in the Middle East. While in Kuwait, Freedom Force came under attack from Iraqi operatives known as Desert Sword. Both teams suffered injuries and fatalities. Super Sabre was beheaded when he ran at high speed into a cheese-wire line that was strung across the street, while Pyro used his fires to burn Desert Storm's female member, Veil. Pyro was unwilling to leave Blob alone in Kuwait, and therefore for the two of them were abandoned by Crimson Commando. Left in Kuwait, they were forced to act as bodyguards for various military commanders, until Toad purchased their freedom.

Return to the Brotherhood & the Legacy Virus

Back in the United States, Pyro and Blob joined Toad's version of the Brotherhood of Mutants. At this time they had a small alliance with the survivng Morlocks and their main goal was to take out X-Force. However, their plans were foiled by Cable, and they soon disbanded again. Unfortunately Pyro later discovered that he had contracted the mutant-targetting Legacy Virus. Unable to find a cure, his powers began raging out of control. He was rushed in to hospital as he begn to burn up from the fires that raged around him. The doctors in the hospital refused to treat him, and forced Dr. Cecilia Reyes to attend to him. Although she managed to operate successfully on him, Pyro was still kept strapped down to his stretcher. He asked that she loosen one of the restraints for comfort reasons, and therefore tricked her into helping him escape. This incident lead Pyro into a fight with Daredevil. In an ironic twist, Pyro ended up risking his life by saving Robert Kelly, the man whom he had once tried to assassinate from the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. However, the last stages of the Legacy Virus took over and killed Pyro. He spoke his last words to Kelly; that he wanted the hate and fighting between humans and mutants to stop. This had a great impact on Senator Kelly who changed his opinion on mutants and began to work towards Charles Xavier's goal of peaceful co-existence between humans & mutants.

Resurrection

Pyro was one of the mutants resurrected as part of Selene's Necrosha plans. He appeared on the shore of Utopia alongside Berzerker & Scaleface, when Archangel & Warpath returned from Angel's house with Hrimhari & Wolfsbane. He was aware that he was dead and forced to act by Eli Bard. However, despite acknowledging how he had died a hero, he quickly reverted to enjoying the life of a villain. Just as Pyro was announcing that he would gladly return to killing X-Men, Warpath comically hit him across the head with the hilt from one of his Vibranium Knives. The fight raged on, and Archangel believed he had defeated the resurrected mutants. His metallic wings slices through them all repeatedly, decapitating them. However, they could not be killed since they were already dead. Pyro taunted Archangel as the transmode virus rebuilt his body, restoring him back to one-piece to continue the fight.

Powers and abilities

Powers

Fire Manipulation: Pyro was a mutant with the psionic ability to cause any fire, however small, to grow in size and intensity and to take any form that he desired, even that of a living creature. He could then psionically cause that creature of "living flame" to do anything he wished. For example, if he caused fire to take the form of of a gigantic bird of prey, he could mentally direct the "bird," to fly and attack a victim. Pyro's fiery creations could have greater "solidity" than an ordinary fire of the same size. A gigantic fire-bird, for example could grasp a large, heavy object with its talons and carry it off into the air, although, of course, the heat of the fire would affect the object just as a normal fire would. The size, power, and intensity of the fire-beings Pyro created were limited only by the extent of his imagination and the degree of his concentration. The degree of concentration required was directly proportional to the size, power, and heat intensity of the flame-being. Pyro had to be able to see a flame in order to take control of it; In practical terms, the flame had to be within 100-yard radius of him. (Pyro couldn't affect flames that were not within his vicinity but which he saw via television.) Once having established control over a fire, he could continue to control it after it had left his range of sight, but only with a degree of difficulty that increased as the distance between himself and the flame-being increased. Pyro could, for example, create a fiery "bird" and command it to fly beyond the range of his sight, but if it then collided with a wall or if his concentration was in the least diminished, the "bird" would revert to being ordinary fire. Any of Pyro's fiery creations would immediately turn to ordinary, amorphous fire if he turned his interest from them.

Pyro couldn't create fire himself, although he could cause an already existing fire to grow tremendously. For this reason he wore a flame-thrower on his costume so that he could use it to start a fire which he could then manipulate.

Fire Invulnerability: Pyro was invulnerable to any fire that he had placed under his psionic control. However, he could be harmed (just as any ordinary human would be) by any fire that he did not mentally control. Pyro was invulnerable to any fire that he had placed under his mental control and has the psionic ability to cause any fire to grow in size and intensity and to take any form he wished, even that of a living creature. (Such fire creatures, however, had no intelligence or life.) He could psionically manipulate the flame to do whatever he desired. Pyro's fiery creations had greater solidity than normal flame; hence a giant "bird" he created from fire could grasp and carry a solid object with its claws. The degree of Pyro's concentration necessary to manipulate a flame being was directly proportional to the being's size, power, and flame.

Abilities

Pyro was an accomplished journalist and novelist.

Weaknesses

Pyro, although able to control any fire within his vicinity, was unable to generate and project fire himself, without the means of flamethrowers. Pyro had to be able to see a flame in order to take control of it; in practical terms the flame had to be within a 100-yard radius of him. Pyro couldn't affect flames that he saw on television but which were not within this radius. Any of Pyro's fiery creations would immediately revert to ordinary flame if he turned his interest from it.Pyro's powers are fire based therefore they could be weakend by ice, water, or wind.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Pyro also wore a specially insulated costume that afforded him a certain degree of protection against fires he did not control.

Weapons

Pyro wore a kerosene-based flame-thrower on his back that could generate a stream of flame of up to 25 feet away.

In Other Universe

Age of Apocalypse

Pyro was an alpha mutant prisoners of the pens.

Television

Pyro appeared in four episodes of the 1990s X-Men animated series as part of Mystique's Brotherhood of Mutants, and was incorrectly characterised as British, using British slang terms such as "old bean" and "old girl" in conversation. He also appeared in the original X-Men animated pilot episode, "Pryde of the X-Men", and was correctly identified as Australian. Pyro also appeared in the X-Men: Evolution series as part of Magneto's elite team also known as the Acolytes where he is voiced by Trevor Devall in a broken Australian accent. Interestingly, this Pyro seems to need a constant stream of flame to sustain his power, as evidenced when Wolverine severed his flamethrower pack and the flaming dragon he had created faded out- however, he has also been showing controlling fire creations without a constant stream.

Film

Aaron Stanford as Pyro in X-Men: The Last Stand

Pyro had a brief cameo in X-Men, played by Alexander Burton, where he forms a fireball behind his back before Iceman freezes it with his powers.

In the sequel, X2: X-Men United, Pyro was played by Aaron Stanford and his role was greatly expanded. Pyro is named John Allerdyce and is a teenager at Professor X's school and a friend of Iceman and Rogue. Midway through X2 when the three of them, with Wolverine, escape an attack on the school and retreat to Drake's home in suburban Boston, Pyro is shown examining a series of Drake family photos with an expression of envy; the commentary hints that this is because he comes from a dysfunctional home. Ultimately, Pyro is tempted away from Xavier's influence by Magneto, who observes the young man's ambition and the strength of his powers. Pyro follows and joins Magneto and the shapeshifting mutant Mystique as they escape; the remaining X-Men note Pyro's defection but are too occupied with their own escape to act on it. Pyro subsequently appears in X-Men: The Last Stand as a member of Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants. In the final battle, he fights Iceman and briefly gains the upper hand; however, Iceman turns himself into solid ice and freezes Pyro's hands, extinguishing his fire. Iceman then headbutts Pyro, knocking him out. Pyro's fate is unknown, although the novelization describes Drake carrying him to safety as the facility around them collapses.

Video games

Pyro is a boss enemy as a member of Freedom Force in the Fall of the Mutants PC game. Pyro is also the boss of the first stage in the X-Men arcade game; and after that, is cloned in various duplicates -from 4 to 12 ones, depending of the amount of players playing the game - in the middle of stage 6. He has appeared as a boss in X-Men: The Official Game during Iceman's level.

Pyro appears as a boss enemy in X-Men Legends voiced by Robin Atkin Downes. He is shown as a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants. He also appears as a non-playable character in the sequel X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse voiced by John Kassir. He is a playable character in the PC version.

He appeared in the videogame X-Men Destiny.