Pyro
Real Name: St. John Allerdyce
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men 141
What's His Problem? Apart from the fact he's contracted the always-fatal Legacy Virus, it's hard to say. Originally a news journalist who covered Asian hot spots, he became a best selling author of sleazy romance novels and action adventures. He didn't need the money or the notoriety. No one knew he was a mutant so he wasn't forced into crime. Even after joining the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants he made no attempt to hide his identity from the public, which continued to put his books on worldwide best seller lists. Guess he just liked flaming folks...
Powers: Pyro has the mutant ability to control fire. Since he can't generate fire himself, he wears an insulated costume with flame-shooters in his wrists in order to produce flames on demand, and also to protect himself from the occasional fire that gets too hot to handle. Pyro can be very whimsical with his fiery creations, often forming the flames into representations of birds or giant fists, or even portraits of people. As his disease progresses, Allerdyce has experienced concentration lapses that lessen his influence over fire.
Favorite Quote: "Who snuffed my flame?" (Uncanny X-Men 255. These things happen to guys every once in a while...)
Heroes He Keeps Running Into: Although more likely to fire away at the Uncanny X-Men or the New Mutants, Pyro fought DareDevil in a semi-suicidal attempt to go out in a blaze of glory. His fatal condition has made him somewhat retrospective, leading to a near-reconciliation with the X-Men that was spoiled when Avalanche snatched him away from the meeting.
People Who Think He's Not So Bad: The history between the two of them is unknown, but Allerdyce has demonstrated an absolute loyalty to Mystique. He apparently became Pyro at her request, and followed her first into the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and later into the government team Freedom Force. When Mystique tried to prevent an assassination attempt on Graydon Creed, he was her back-up. Pyro has a close friendship with fellow mutant and Brotherhood alumni the Blob; relations with another close friend, Avalanche, are somewhat strained since Avalanche left Allerdyce and the Blob behind during a Gulf War raid in Iraq.
Most Despicable Act: Pyro let fly the flame during the "Killing Stroke" story that ran through the X-annuals in 1991. Against orders he "sanctioned" the agent Freedom Force had been dispatched to rescue, then killed the Arabic heroine Veil by engulfing her in fire, uttering: "Barbecued babe, coming up!" as he did so. Charming lad.
Pyro Sound Bytes
From the X-Men Animated Series. All sounds in .wav format. - These are not available on the archive.
"Personally, I find this frightfully confusing..."
