FIRESTAR

 

FIRESTAR

Real Name: Angelica Jones

First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #193, May 1985

Powers: Firestar is a mutant whose power continuously absorbs electromagnetic energy from her environment (as well as from the sun and other stars) into her body and converts them into microwaves, comparatively short waves of electromagnetic energy. She can then manipulate these microwaves for various effects.

When she is actively manipulating microwaves, a glowing fiery aura of energy surrounds her body and emits heat. Unless she consciously controls it, the active microwaves radiate outward from her body in all directions, usually as heat beams or downward as thermal updrafts for flight. She most often uses her power to generate heat. There is no known upper limit to the temperatures her heat beams can reach, though she has enough control of her power to produce low-intensity heat for smaller, less destructive purposes (such as reheating food or warming coffee in a cup). Her power can melt most metals within seconds, she has reduced multiple steel girders to slag almost instantly and melted bullets in mid-air before they could even strike her. To date, Adamantium is the sole metal that is sufficiently durable to withstand Firestar’s power. She can use her power to release heat, light, and radiation into her environment at various intensities. She can project microwave blasts which have a thermo-concussive effect, heating objects so that they melt, while the super-heated and pressurized air created by the microwaves' passing may knock the target back or down. She can reduce solid rock to a molten state, burn through brick or concrete barriers, and sear through thick stone walls fast enough to fly through them without pausing. By firing visible microwave bursts into the sky, she can create intensely bright flares.

By generating short, tightly-focused microwave bursts, she can scramble electronic systems without visibly damaging the hardware in question. Similarly, she can generate low-level microwave fields which disrupt communication wavelengths or impede surveillance equipment. Her large-scale microwave pulse once scrambled or melted all the electronics in and around a city square. Her microwave frequencies sometimes disrupted certain forms of telepathy by screening out neural control signals, making her resistant to some forms of mind control and allowing to free others’ minds from similar influence if they’re within her range.

Her microwaves can also disrupt other-dimensional energies, such as the Darkforce. Her flight capacity operates by channeling microwaves and super-heated air into a downward and/or backward thrust, enabling her to fly at high speeds with great maneuverability. Her power generates enough propulsive thrust to carry her body weight and an additional 500 pounds. She requires a spacesuit or similar protective gear to function in outer space, but is far more powerful in that environment as space grants her more direct access to greater amounts of electromagnetic energy; also, while in space, she can wield larger amounts of microwave energy without damaging her surrounding environment. She has proven capable of hurting cosmic beings such as Supernova or opening space warps through which travelers can cover vast distances instantly.

Firestar's mutation was apparently incompletely formed, resulting in her still being vulnerable to microwave radiation and its potential side effects like cancer or sterility. Hank Pym designed a full body sheathe of micro-circuitry to be worn under her costume. It absorbed the excess microwave energy that was affecting her cells and diverted it in a way that would catalyze her natural immunity to her own powers. She is now functionally immune to microwave radiation.

Angelica Jones has had combat training under Emma Frost, the Night Thrasher, Andrew Chord, Tai, and Captain America, with a particular emphasis on aerial combat given her flight powers. She has taken ballet classes and has some equestrian training.