History

Pyreus Kril was serving as first officer aboard the Xandarian explorer ship Way-Opener when his commander and friend, Gabriel Lan, was unexpectedly abducted by a teleportation beam. Vowing to rescue him, Kril assumed command of the Way-Opener and began to pursue the huge ship that transmitted the beam. Kril would later learn that the ship belonged to Galactus, the world-devourer, who was seeking a new herald (since his first herald, the Silver Surfer, betrayed him) and found a worthy candidate in Gabriel Lan. Using his cosmic power, Galactus transformed Lan into the Air-Walker. For years, Lan served Galactus faithfully, while his ex-crewman Kril followed Galactus's wake of destruction. When Galactus was attacked by a powerful race called the Ovoids, the Air-Walker was slain defending his master. Galactus transferred his herald's dwindling life force into that of a replica, but the replica was not enough like his loyal herald to please Galactus. Thus he dispatched the Air-Walker automaton to Earth to summon the Silver Surfer back to active duty. The Surfer refused, destroying the automaton in the process. Persuaded to leave Earth without the Surfer, Galactus returned to the stars heraldless, not even bothering to claim the remains of the Air-Walker replica.

It was then that Pyreus Kril caught up with him. Boldly teleporting himself aboard Galactus's ship, Kril demanded the release of his former commander Galactus was impressed by the Xandarian spaceman's determination, and offered to tell Kril of his commander's fate if he agreed to become his new herald. Kril agreed and was transformed by the power of Galactus into Firelord. Though Galactus kept his side of the bargain, he suppressed the knowledge he had given Kril so that he might send him on a mission to Earth. Firelord was released from active service when the Earth god Thor offered Galactus the Asgardian construct called the Destroyer in exchange for Firelord's freedom. Unlike the Surfer, who was sentenced to remain on Earth for his treason, Firelord was free to leave. Yet Firelord chose to remain because of his subliminal memory that the Earth was the final resting place of the remains of his friend. Months later, when the Air-Walker automaton reactivated itself, he remembered the reason for his compulsion to remain. Taking custody of the automaton (which was wrecked once more in battle with Thor), Firelord bore him into space, where he buried the remains on an asteroid in their home star system. Free of his only tie to Earth, Firelord has since returned to his native Xandar, only to find the world had been destroyed by the space pirate Nebula. He has since joined forces with Nebula's great uncle Starfox to track her down.

Annihilation

Firelord loses his friend Air-Walker, who is hunted down by Annihilus' Seekers. Firelord is not present for this battle, but later rescues the Silver Surfer from the Seekers alongside fellow Herald Red Shift. The Heralds band toghether to defend a refugee fleet as the Silver Surfer is replaced by the Herald Stardust to the dismay of Firelord. The three heralds band together and eventually join Nova's United Front against the Annihilation Wave. Firelord sacrifices himself to capture one of Annihilus' Queens during a battle and is believed to be half-dead and half alive while in the care of the United Front's medical unit. Firelord recovers long enough to intervene in a battle between Ravenous and Ronan within the infirmary ward. As the building crashes down around them, the Super-Skrull (once thought dead) emerges from the rubble with the unconscious bodies of both Ronan and Firelord. After Annihilus is defeated by Nova and his compatriots, Firelord sets out on a quest for vengeance against the Centurians, the strike force that destroyed his homeworld at the start of the Annihilation Wave.

Powers and Abilities

Cosmic Energy Manipulation: Firelord possesses the ability to manipulate cosmic energy in the form of stellar fire. His entire organic carbon-based body was transformed to accommodate the nuclear energies that course through him. These energies make him the humanoid equivalent of a miniature sun. Projected from any point on his body at mental command, Firelords energies encompass the entire electromagnetic spectrum possessed by a star: heat, light, gravity, radio waves, and charged particles. The maximum amount of energy he can produce at once is determined by his mass. When all the atoms of his body are in fusion, his energy level is equivalent to the outer layers of a small star. By the slightest manifestation of his stellar powers, he can burn through any Earthly substance (with the exception of Adamantium). He can project a stream of fire resembling a solar flare for distances measured in the hundreds of miles. Firelord can control the path of his cosmic fire to such an extent that he can project a sustained ring at a fixed distance around a person or object.

Flight: By utilizing his cosmic power uni-directionally. Firelord can fly at near-light speeds through interstellar space. (Flying at such speeds near planetary bodies, however, could cause devastating gravitational disturbances.) Firelord can even traverse hyperspace without danger to himself. Firelord uses the gravitational fields of stars to help him break his speed.

Superhuman Durability: Although Firelord still possesses a solid physical body, he is virtually impervious to most forms of physical harm. His body automatically incinerates any projectile before it reaches the surface of his "skin." He is immune to disease, aging, and muscle fatigue. He no longer needs to eat since his body takes its nourishment from the carbon-carbon cycle of solar fusion. He no longer needs to breathe air and hence can exist indefinitely in the hard vacuum of space.

Strength level: As a consequence of his cosmic form and metabolism, Firelord is far stronger than a human being. When he channels his cosmiic energy into acts of physical strength, he can augment his musculature to enable him to lift (press) 50 tons.

Weaknesses: Firelord's major limitation is that his brain, still organic in perceptions and function, needs occasional sleep to resuscitate itself. A severe concussion to his body can cause temporary unconsciousness, but it would take radical molecular dispersal to kill him.

Weapons: Firelord carries a near-indestructible staff five feet in length, the ends of which he keeps ablaze with his cosmic flame. He uses this fire-staff as a striking weapon and an astrogational aid. Firelord generally projects his cosmic flame through the stick rather than directly from his body. On one occasion he instead had two batons with spheres that emitted cosmic flame. It is presumed he somehow transmuted his staff into the batons.

Alternate Universes

Earth-2149

Marvel Zombie Universe

In the Marvel Zombie Universe, after Galactus is consumed by the zombies on Earth, more specifically the heroes, they gain Galactus's Power Cosmic. They then travel to different worlds in the universe with their new cosmic powers and consume everything in their path that is edible to them, which is practically almost everything to them. During their conquest in the universe to eat everything to satisfy their hunger, they meet Firelord, former herald of Galactus. They are able to infect Firelord by biting him instead of eating him with their cosmic powers. Firelord is affected by the virus, despite having a flaming body, and becomes a zombie. He joins the cosmic zombies on their quest to consume food and they accept him into the team. After consuming everything they could find, they plan on returning to Earth and they decide to return. They reach Earth to be surprised to find out that there are survivors that they could feast on and start searching for them. They find the facility they were in and Iron Man breaches the facility. Zombies swarm in and they fight humans, mutants, heroes, and zombies Luke Cage and Spiderman. Giant Man then realizes that he had lost his hunger for food and tells all the zombies to stop fighting. They stop and Giant Man tells them that they had lost their hunger and the zombies realize that he was right. They stop fighting, but Hulk, still hungry, appears before the people enraged and attempts to eat the survivors. The zombies try to stop him, but during the process, Firelord is killed by Hulk, along with other zombies trying to stop him.