Marvel Database
Advertisement
Marvel Database

Pyro plays with fire, folks... but he never gets burned!
Pyro[src]

St. John Allerdyce is an Australian novelist[1] who has forged a terrorist career as Pyro, the man who controls the living flame. As a member of Mystique's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Pyro took part in criminal activities that led him to combat the X-Men in more than one occasion.[12][17] Unexpectedly, the Brotherhood was granted official governmental sanction as a law-enforcing operation known as the Freedom Force, and Pyro escalated from delinquent to lawman.[13]

The Freedom Force was ultimately eroded[18] and Pyro returned to his criminal activities.[19] Tragically, he was one of the mutants victims who succumbed to the lethal Legacy Virus.[14] In his deathbed, he ironically assisted Senator Robert Kelly, one of his past targets as a mutant extremist activist.[7]

With the development of mutant resurrection in the nation of Krakoa, Pyro was one of the first revived subjects as a guinea pig.[20] He incidentally joined Kate Pryde's Marauders, a band of mutant pirates sponsored by the Hellfire Trading Corporation whose mission was to rescue mutants around the globe.[10] In his adventures as a brutal seafarer, Pyro has grown on to respect some of his former adversaries.[21] Following the collapse of Krakoa, Pyro has become a member of the government-sponsored team of mutant celebrity super-heroes, X-Factor, a spiritual successor of Freedom Force.[22]

History

St

St. John Allerdyce

Brotherhood of Evil Mutants[]

St. John Allerdyce, an Australian mutant born in Sydney, developed fire-controlling abilities during puberty, but rarely used it, reserving any use for emergencies. Unable to employ his abilities for profit, Allerdyce drifted between jobs before becoming a journalist for an Australian wire service, covering events in Vietnam and Indonesia. These travel experiences inspired him to write novels, especially torrid romances. Despite critical disdain from renowned novelists and critics, Allerdyce’s books gained a wide readership across the English-speaking world. Eventually, under unrevealed circumstances, he met the mutant known as Mystique and joined her rebranded version of the terrorist Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Allerdyce adopted the name Pyro, the man who controls the living flame.[23]

The Brotherhood gained infamy by attempting to assassinate anti-mutant presidential candidate Senator Robert Kelly. Their invasion of the Pentagon was thwarted by the X-Men and the time-traveling Kate Pryde, who aimed to prevent a dystopian future triggered by the terrorist attack. During the battle, Pyro was incapacitated by a monsoon summoned by Storm after she saved him from being killed by Wolverine.[24] Most Brotherhood members were sent to prison on Ryker's Island. After being freed by Mystique and Rogue, the Brotherhood reassembled and took part in battle against the Avengers. Pyro directly clashed with Beast and the Scarlet Witch, ultimately being subdued by Hawkeye.[25] Once again arrested, the Brotherhood was transported to the Windust Maximum Security Prison, where Pyro, Avalanche, and the Blob were prevented from escaping by the spaceknight Rom, although Mystique, Rogue, and Destiny managed to break free.[26]

St

Pyro, mutant terrorist

After Rogue defected to the X-Men, Mystique, fueled by rage due to the loss of her adopted daughter, launched an assault on her former foes. She reassembled the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, presumably facilitating the escape of her incarcerated allies. The Brotherhood devised a cunning plan, staging a fake terrorist fire to lure the X-Man Colossus into a trap, where Pyro’s scorching living flame inflicted significant damage to his steel form.[16] After targeting Nightcrawler, the Brotherhood was intercepted by the X-Men once more, with Pyro again falling to Storm’s elemental prowess. However, this time the Brotherhood evaded capture, as Mystique brokered their freedom in exchange for the safety of Professor Xavier.[27]

Federal Agent[]

Mystique’s infiltration of the Pentagon enable her to maintain the Brotherhood within its hidden chambers for months while she developed a rapport with Val Cooper.[28] Eventually, Mystique revealed her true identity to Cooper and offered the Brotherhood’s services to the Commission on Superhuman Activities in exchange for pardons for their past transgressions. Rebranded as Freedom Force, Mystique’s group’s first mission under Val Cooper’s command was to apprehend Magneto in order to prove their competence. Although Freedom Force faced defeat at the hands of the X-Men – with Pyro being knocked out by Colossus –, Magneto ultimately chose to surrender and face trial.[13] As a sanctioned government agent, Pyro participated in other assignments aimed at capturing illegal superhumans, including the X-Men[29] and the Avengers.[30] When hunting Rusty Collins, Freedom Force was brought into conflict with X-Factor and the New Mutants on multiple occasions.[31][32][33][34] Additionally, when Cooper assigned John Walker to step in as the new Captain America for the Commission, Freedom Force assisted him with his training, when Pyro, Avalanche and the Blob constantly took opportunities to mock him.[35]

St

As an agent of Freedom Force

Destiny foresaw the imminent death of the X-Men,[3] prompting Mystique to use Freedom Force to force them into custody in order to protect their lives. This sparked a brief conflict between the two groups in Dallas.[36] The mutant teams soon realized they faced a common threat, the entity known as the Adversary, and joined forces to defeat him, at the cost of the X-Men's lives.[37] The death of the X-Men had consequences to Freedom Force, as they were approached and attacked by those who searched for explanations, including Magik and the New Mutant[38] and X-Factor.[39]

As an enforcer of the Mutant Registration Act, Pyro intervened in the liberty of several mutants as a member of Freedom Force. The group arrested the Alliance of Evil,[33] staged a fake trial to bait the Resistants,[40] and got the babies who had been kidnapped by Nanny into custody.[41] In a minor assignment, Pyro and his teammate Blob, when trying to arrest a mutant named Amanda Fallows, got into conflict with Daredevil.[42]

St

Abandoned in the Middle East

In one of their most brutal combats, Freedom Force battled the Reavers on the Muir Island, a tragedy that cost them the lives of Destiny and Stonewall, demarking the fall of the group.[11] Failing at capturing and recruiting the Hulk,[43] Cable,[44] and Firestar,[45] Freedom Force was ultimately dissolved after Val Cooper was compromised by the Shadow King and Mystique went missing.[18] Their last and disastrous mission took place in Kuwait to liberate Reinhold Kurtzman, being led by Crimson Commando.[46] After being attacked by the Desert Sword, Pyro decided to burn Kurtzman alive rather than surrendering him.[47] With Kurtzman dead and the Commando severely injured, Pyro and Blob were abandoned in the Middle East, surrendering to the Desert Sword.[48] They survived by offering their services as bodyguards to the ranking officer who captured them.[14]

Legacy Virus[]

Pyro and Blob were freed by Toad and joined his version of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants out of obligation and gratitude.[14] This new Brotherhood formed an alliance with Morlocks and went up against the fledgling mutant team X-Force. Though unsuccessful, most of them, except for Sauron, managed to escape.[19] Sauron returned to their allies as a way to convince the X-Patriots to join the Brotherhood, but their plans were foiled by Val Cooper's new government group, X-Factor.[49] In another failed attempt to recruit a mutant, this time the teleporter known as Portal, the Brotherhood met their defeat at the hands of Spider-Man, Darkhawk and Sleepwalker.[50][51]

The mutant paragon known as Exodus offered asylum in Avalon for the Brotherhood's member Phantazia under Magneto's invitation. In this interaction, he mentioned Pyro was not worthy of joining them since he had been "tainted".[52] Soon after, Pyro discovered that he had contracted the deadly Legacy Virus, a terminal mutant illness. At first, he sought help from Jonathan Chambers, the millionaire called the Empyrean. Upon the revelation that Chambers was using his own powers to drain Pyro's energies, Pyro decided to stay under Chambers' treatment regardless. At the Empyrean's center, Pyro had the opportunity to reencounter his former teammates Avalanche and the Commando, now part of Project: Wideawake, under Henry Gyrich's control.[14]

St

Afflicted by the Legacy Virus

Having a change of mind by wanting to go out in a blaze of glory rather than die a slow death in bed, Pyro committed a spectacular crime scene that brought him into conflict once again with the vigilante Daredevil. Pyro narrowly escaped being killed inside a burning building at the end of this encounter.[53] With his powers immensely out of control, his body intensely harmed by his own flames and his mind damaged by his disease, Pyro accidentally set a church on fire when talking to a priest. With the intervention of the X-Men, he was restrained but rescued by Avalanche before he could be apprehended, presumably under Mystique's orders.[54] Pyro was then charged by Mystique of preventing the assassination of her son, the politician Graydon Creed, but he failed when he was captured by X-Factor, who had believed him to be the potential murderer.[55]

As his condition worsened, Pyro robbed a New York City bank to acquire payment for a scientist who claimed to be able of removing his mutant genes. In the course of the robbery, Pyro was shot several times in his abdomen. He was taken to a nearby hospital where Dr. Cecilia Reyes, a mutant surgeon who had recently joined the X-Men, operated on him. Shortly afterwards, Pyro tricked Dr. Reyes into loosening his bonds, which allowed him to escape.[15]

Robert Kelly (Earth-616) and St

The death of Pyro

Pyro then led a group of mutants to obtain a cure for the Legacy Virus by acquiring the High Evolutionary's Isotope E, under instructions provided by Exodus and the Acolytes. As they failed, Exodus, who never intended to help them at all, abandoned them in the Savage Land.[56] Not long after, Pyro returned to the United States by unknown means as he was chased across Nebraska by the X-Men's rogue sentient Cerebro. Despite the X-Men's attempts to stop him, as they misunderstood the predicament, he managed to destroy the Cerebro unit. He finally collapsed, exhausted, after claiming to be working alongside Charles Xavier. S.H.I.E.L.D. took Pyro into custody.[57]

As his health collapsed, Pyro surreptitiously attended a rally held by presidential candidate Senator Robert Kelly. When his former teammates in the Brotherhood tried to assassinate the politician, Pyro warned the X-Men and even killed Post to save Kelly's life. Severely weakened by the strain, Pyro pleaded with Kelly to stop the hatred between humans and mutants, tragically dying in Kelly's arms as he ultimately succumbed to the Legacy Virus.[7]

Return from Death[]

Briefly resurrected by the dark priestess Selene, Pyro joined her army of undead mutants during the foundation of Necrosha. Alongside Berzerker, he invaded Utopia and fought X-Force.[58][8] Unexplainably, Pyro appeared alive, being confronted by Iceman in two different occasions.[59] Later, he, Sauron and Hairbag were attacked and captured by William Stryker. Pyro, as many other mutants, was brainwashed by Mentallo, but was eventually freed due to the efforts of Weapon X-Force.[60] After the apparent death of the X-Men, he joined Joseph's new Brotherhood, who attacked a military base in Transia. The Brotherhood was confronted by the X-Men, with Pyro being knocked out by Cyclops.[9] Presumably, Pyro met his demise, but the details that led to his death are unknown.[10]

Marauder[]

Mutantkind relocated to the mutant island-nation of Krakoa, where Charles Xavier envisioned a process that allowed for mutant resurrection. Pyro was one of the first mutants to be brought back to life, being part of the early experimentations with the protocols. Upon learning he served as a guinea pig, he planned to steal a boat and cause trouble around the world. He inadvertently infiltrated Kate Pryde's ship and fell asleep, which caused him to be drafted into the formation of the new Marauders by Storm's invitation. Pyro assisted the Marauders in defending a gate to Krakoa from a group of Russian soldiers and teamed up with the fire-breathing dragon Lockheed to defeat the attackers.[10]

St

Getting his tattoo

The Marauders became a marine rescue force that retrieved mutants who could not access Krakoa by themselves, performing several operations all over the globe, usually acting recklessly. After defeating Batroc the Leaper and hijacking one of the Black King's ships, the team found themselves meeting up with Bishop in Taipei, where they were informed about Xavier's murder on Krakoa. Afflicted by the revelation, Kate Pryde took the Marauders to a nearby tattoo shop, where Pyro got a big black skull tattooed all over his face, a reference to the Marauders' pirate flag. In the following day, Emma Frost, the White Queen of Hellfire Trading, presented the Marauders with a gigantic ship, the Marauder, much to Pyro's excitement.[6]

As the Hellfire Trading Company's pirates, the Marauders kept their good work of rescuing mutant refugees in Brazil and in Madripoor, where they were met by the Homines Verendi's agents, Hate-Monger, X-Cutioner and a microscopic Yellowjacket, who secretly infiltrated Pyro's body in order to invade Krakoa.[61] However, before Pyro could arrive at Krakoa, Yellowjacket was caught in a mental trap planned by the White Queen and Bishop, forcing him to leave Pyro's organism. Later, Pyro threatened the Inner Circle of the Verendi with the White Queen's help.[62] The Marauders struck back by ravaging the Verendi's forces in Madripoor.[63] After Kate Pryde's funeral and resurrection,[64] Pyro was seen with the X-Men at the end of the X of Swords tournament.[65]

As the Marauders planned to conquer territory and influence in Madripoor to fend off the Verendi, Pyro, Iceman and Bishop built and bought several facilities in Lowtown, starting with the Princess Bar, which led them to fight the Reavers[66] and Madripoor's navy.[67] When Storm left the Marauders, on the Hellfire Gala's eve, Pyro expressed his admiration for her and the Marauders' crew.[21] During the Gala event, Pyro was saluted by the White Queen alongside other members of the Hellfire Trading Company for their good work for Krakoa's best interests.[68] Pyro kept acting alongside the Marauders, performing missions that also included heists and ruses.[69] Ultimately, following a grand scheme performed against the Homines Verendi, Pyro decided to leave the Marauders and focus on a book tour.[2]

Mutant Celebrity[]

In the event of mutants reintegrating into the ordinary society following the collapse of Krakoa, a new market emerged with the aim of capitalizing upon the extraordinary lives of mutants. As such, X-Factor was rebranded as a government squad formed by marketable individuals. As the first iteration of the team tragically died in action, Pyro was among the mutants recruited by the unscrupulous public relations Rodger Broderick to compose the team based in Malibu.[22] Pyro regarded the opportunity of joining a publicized super-hero team as a way to promote his romance novels.[5]

As a result of an unreasonable decision by Broderick, Pyro was elevated as second-in-command under the field leader Havok. In one of their missions, X-Factor was tasked with attacking the members of the organization that opposed them, the Mutant Underground.[70] Soon, the team realized they merely served as pawns of those wishing to take advantage and profit from them, being treated as discardable.[71] Pyro was forced to remove his face tattoos as demanded by his contractors.[5] X-Factor also suffered abuse by their employers in the government, who enforced authoritarian decisions to control their freedom. Pyro expressed his discontentment with the condition.[72]

Attributes

Power Grid[88]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Some Training:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/Single Type: Short Range:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Normal

Powers

Fire Manipulation: Pyro is a mutant with the power to control fire. He can cause any fire to grow in size and intensity and to take any form he desires. He usually refers to his fire creations as "the living flame", which he had usually shown to shape as gigantic claws, birds or golems.[12][73][74] The size, power, and intensity of the fire-beings Pyro created were limited only by the extent of his imagination, the degree of his concentration and his force of will. He has shown the ability to use his flames to elevate Colossus's steel form's temperature near its melting point.[16] Pyro can also manipulate intense heat blasts derived from microwaves, even though they are not necessarily ignited, such as those generated by Firestar.[75]

St

Pyro's living flame

  • Fire Solidification: Pyro's fiery creations can manifest a high level of "solidity", differently from an ordinary fire, since his creations have been shown to be able to grasp his enemies for instance.[73][16][57]
  • Fire Resistance: Pyro is resistant to any fire he had placed under his control. He has been shown to absorb and redirect flames, commanding them to slide across his skin and even reach his heart.[29] However, he could be harmed, just as any ordinary human would be, by any fire that he did not mentally control.[23]

Abilities

Writer: Pyro is an accomplished journalist and novelist, even though he does not have recognition from his peers.[23]

Weaknesses

  • Although able to control any fire within his vicinity, Pyro is unable to generate and project fire himself without an external source.[74] After joining the Marauders, Pyro often teams up with his teammate Lockheed, who has the ability to breathe fire, fueling Pyro's living flame.[10]
  • Pyro's influence on flames can be counterattacked in different ways. When targeted by Storm's intense monsoons, he lost the capacity to sustain his fire.[73][27] In case the source of his fire is extinguished, he will not be able to maintain the fire either. When the Wasp blocked his flamethrowers, his living flame was destroyed.[76]
  • Pyro could be harmed by any fire that he did not mentally control. Pyro has to be able to see a flame in order to take control of it; in practical terms, the flame has to be within a 100-yard radius of him. Pyro cannot affect flames that he sees on a screen but which are not within this radius for instance. Any of Pyro's fiery creations will immediately revert to ordinary flame if he loses his interest in it.[23]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Since Pyro is unable to create fire himself, he wears a kerosene-based flame-thrower on his costume,[73] which could project a stream of flame up to 25 feet away, so that he could use it to start a fire which he could then manipulate. He also wore a specially insulated costume that afforded him a certain degree of protection against fires he did not control.[23]

Transportation

Notes

  • Pyro's mantle was used by a mutant named Simon Lasker,[77] who was manipulated by Mesmero into joining his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants,[78] but eventually helped the X-Men[77] and was in a brief romantic relationship with Iceman.[79] This second Pyro is presumably not Australian.[10]

Trivia

  • Pyro's participation in X-Factor could have happened decades before the relaunch of X-Factor (Vol. 5). The original series was restructured in issue #71, starring a new roster that acted as a replacement for the role of Val Cooper's Freedom Force. This revamp was originally suggested by creators Erik Larsen and Fabian Niciezaand considered Pyro in the team's formation. Larsen even redesigned the characters, creating a new costume for Pyro with X-shaped elements. For unknown reasons, the project ended up being carried out by Peter David and Larry Stroman, debuting a team Pyro was not a part of.[80]
  • "St. John", as a rare given name, is pronounced either as [ˈsɪnʤɪn] (SIN-jin) or [ˈsɪnʤən] (SIN-jən), having its origins as a tribute to St. John the Baptist or to St. John the Evangelist.[81]
  • "Pyro" ([ˈpaɪɹəʊ] PEYE-roh) is an English prefix from Greek origin which means "fire", being present in words such as "pyromaniac" and "pyrotechnics", and can also be used as shortening for these words.[82]
  • In his first appearances, Pyro was referred to as an Englishman and made use of British slang.[12][25] However, upon his return a few years later to the X-Men pages, he was depicted as Australian, by speaking Australian vernacular[16] and mentioning his grandmother lived in the inner-city of Wooloomooloo, near Sydney.[83] Both characterizations were provided by creator Chris Claremont.
  • When drawing Pyro for his first appearance, John Byrne envisioned him being gay. However, as Byrne left the book few months later, this characterization never came to be.[84]
  • Pyro was a successful writer of Gothic romance novels and was also a journalist prior to turning to crime.[23] When running from the Reavers on Muir Island, he wondered if his new book would be a bestseller, indicating he kept writing even as an agent of Freedom Force.[11] He kept writing on Krakoa being inspired by his adventures as a Marauder, authoring the best-selling romances The Burning Within and Men Overboard. His yet-to-be-published novel The Secret Tides of Salt Wives focused on a love story between a committed lady and an Australian seafarer.[85]
  • Pyro was constantly seen smoking cigarettes in his appearances during the 1980s.[12][3]
  • Pyro can play guitar and is a good singer, as it was shown when he performed Just Dropped In' and Ring of Fire for Nature Girl, Cypher and Egg on Krakoa.[86]
  • Pyro has unregretfully burned many human victims to death, but claims to draw the line at animal cruelty, being emotional about it.[86]

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #9
  2. 2.0 2.1 Marauders #27
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Uncanny X-Men #223
  4. Young Allies (Vol. 2) #2
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 X-Factor (Vol. 5) #4
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Marauders #2
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Cable #87
  8. 8.0 8.1 X-Force (Vol. 3) #21
  9. 9.0 9.1 Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 5) #16
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 Marauders #1
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 Uncanny X-Men #255
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 X-Men #141
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Uncanny X-Men #199
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 X-Men Annual (Vol. 2) #2
  15. 15.0 15.1 Uncanny X-Men #351
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 Uncanny X-Men #177
  17. Uncanny X-Men #177178
  18. 18.0 18.1 Uncanny X-Men #266
  19. 19.0 19.1 X-Force #67
  20. Marauders #3
  21. 21.0 21.1 Marauders #20
  22. 22.0 22.1 X-Factor (Vol. 5) #1
  23. 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 23.5 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #10
  24. Uncanny X-Men #141142
  25. 25.0 25.1 Avengers Annual #10
  26. Rom #31
  27. 27.0 27.1 Uncanny X-Men #178
  28. Uncanny X-Men #185
  29. 29.0 29.1 Uncanny X-Men #206
  30. Avengers Annual #15
  31. X-Factor #8
  32. X-Factor #9
  33. 33.0 33.1 X-Factor #33
  34. New Mutants #7886
  35. Captain America #333334
  36. Uncanny X-Men #225
  37. Uncanny X-Men #226227
  38. New Mutants #65
  39. New Mutants #3031
  40. Captain America #346
  41. X-Factor #40
  42. Daredevil #269
  43. Incredible Hulk #369
  44. New Mutants #8689
  45. Marvel Comics Presents #8287
  46. New Mutants Annual #7
  47. X-Factor Annual #6
  48. X-Men Annual #15
  49. X-Factor #82
  50. Darkhawk #1920
  51. Sleepwalker #17
  52. X-Men Unlimited #2
  53. Daredevil #355
  54. Uncanny X-Men #338
  55. X-Factor #129130
  56. Quicksilver #69
  57. 57.0 57.1 Uncanny X-Men #362
  58. X-Necrosha #1
  59. Iceman (Vol. 3) #78
  60. Weapon X (Vol. 3) #2425
  61. Marauders #45
  62. Marauders #9
  63. Marauders #10
  64. Marauders #12
  65. X of Swords: Destruction #1
  66. Marauders #18
  67. Marauders #19
  68. Marauders #21
  69. Marauders #2425
  70. X-Factor (Vol. 5) #2
  71. X-Factor (Vol. 5) #3
  72. X-Factor (Vol. 5) #5
  73. 73.0 73.1 73.2 73.3 Uncanny X-Men #142
  74. 74.0 74.1 Uncanny X-Men #226
  75. Marvel Comics Presents #85
  76. Avengers #312
  77. 77.0 77.1 X-Men: Gold (Vol. 2) #23
  78. X-Men: Gold (Vol. 2) #1
  79. X-Men: Gold (Vol. 2) #32
  80. Comic Book Legends Revealed #211
  81. wikipedia:St John (name)
  82. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pyro-#English
  83. Uncanny X-Men #233
  84. Cronin, Brian (July 28, 2017) Comic Legends: Which X-Men Villain Was Originally Intended to be Gay? CBR.com. Retrieved on March 30, 2018.
  85. Marauders #23
  86. 86.0 86.1 X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #5
  87. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #10
  88. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Book of the Dead 2004 Vol 1 1
Advertisement