FIREFIST

 

FIREFIST

Real Name: Russell Collins

First Appearance: X-Factor (Vol. 1) #1, February 1986

Powers: Russell "Rusty" Collins is a mutant pyrokinetic, able to mentally create and manipulate heat and flame. Initially, Rusty's power would ignite flames over the surface of his body, and then spurts or tongues of fire would fly off from him. After some practice, Rusty learned how to start fires anywhere within his line-of-sight. He could control the size, shape, and intensity of his fires with great precision, and manipulate their movements.

He could not only cause specific objects to catch fire from a distance, he could even create a bridge of flame through open air, connecting two different objects by fire. He was also able to manipulate flame created from other sources and could magnify their intensity or diminsh them. With concentration, he could generate heat fields without open flames, such as a wall of sufficient heat around himself to melt oncoming projectiles, or focus enough heat through his hands to cook food (often making popcorn this way). He could heat most metals enough to reshape them by hand.

Later on, he also learned to use his power like an energy blast, projecting a concentrated stream of flame that rushed out from his hands. While using his powers, he instinctively generated a super-thin, invisible psionic energy field around him that protected him from heat and flame, both his own and external sources.