Origin

The Human Torch was an android invented by professor Phineas T. Horton. He would burst into flame whenever in contact with oxygen, and escaped before being destroyed. He wreaked havok across Manhattan, burning everything he touched.

Eventually he managed to control his flame, and would battle small time criminals. One day he met Toro, a boy with powers similar (yet inferior) to his.

Then came the war. He would fight with Toro, Sub-mariner (Namor) and the All Winners Squad. Towards the end of the war he met and killed Adolf Hitler.

After the war, he was placed in stasis in the Mojave desert until a nuclear bomb testing awoke him. After learning that Toro had been taken captive and brainwashed by the soviets, he went to rescue him. After rescuing his friend he learned that the radiation from the bomb had vastly increased his powers and he once again had trouble controlling them and he feared that would cause damage to the people of Earth. He then went back to the desert and used up all of his energy reserves to effectively burn himself out with his powers. This act deactivated and destroyed himself.

He was later found and rebuilt by the Mad Thinker, who gave him a new memory so he would not be a hero anymore, and sent him to kill the Fantastic Four. After being defeated he returned to the Mad Thinker's lab refusing to be involved in murder. The Mad Thinker then disabled the Human Torch's ability to control his powers and he burned himself out. Immortus later created a duplicate of the Human Torch which was taken by Ultron. Using this body and the brain patterns of Wonder Man, Ultron created the Vision. The original Human Torch was resurrected by the Scarlet Witch and Toro's widow. He lost his powers and eventually became the leader of Heroes for Hire.

He later joined the New Invaders, and regained his powers. He sacrificed himself for the others.

The superhuman training camp used by the Initiative is named Camp Hammond after Jim Hammond.