Origin

Born in Sydney, Australia, Pyro is a mutant who possesses the power to psionically control fire and flame, though not generate it. He wears a flame thrower on his back to provide the flame which he then takes control of. His ability to manipulate flame emerged in his teens, but he was unable to find a practical use for it. After years of working in Southeast Asia as a journalist and novelist, Pyro met the mutant Mystique, who later recruited him to the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Though he never served under the team's original leader, Magneto, Pyro did work with the Brotherhood under the command of several of Magneto's subordinates who alternately supervised the group.

Mystique's Brotherhood later offered its services to the United States government in exchange for protection and an official pardon for its crimes, and was renamed Freedom Force. During Freedom Force's final mission in Iraq, the team confronts group of Iraqi operatives known as Desert Sword. There are fatalities on both sides. Silver Sabre is decapitated and Pyro kills the Sword operative 'Veil'. Ultimately Freedom Force is defeated and Pyro and the Blob are captured and forced to serve as bodyguards to the country's military commanders. Later, the Toad buys their release and added them to his new Brotherhood. Pyro swiftly returns to battling the X-Men.

Some years later, Pyro contracted the Legacy Virus, a fatal disease affecting mainly mutants. He went to great lengths to find a cure (encountering Cecilia Reyes at one point), several times at the expense of others, but was unsuccessful in his search and succumbed to the virus. This was just after saving Senator Robert Kelly from a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. This act of heroism was also instrumental in changing Senator Kelly's opinion on mutants as a whole, and led to his decision to work toward peaceful co-existence between humans and mutants.

Powers

Pyro's mutant power gives him the psionic ability to manipulate flame by shaping it as he desires, increasing or decreasing its heat, intensity, and size. He cannot actually create fire himself, however, and consequently wears a costume with a built-in flamethrower (in X2 the teenage Pyro simply carries a small Zippo lighter with him at all times, though in X-Men: The Last Stand he gains a flame thrower device attached to his arm similar to the one traditionally worn by Pyro in the comics). He can psionically manipulate the flame to do whatever he desires, and sometimes induces it to take semi-solid form as an animate flame being (these creations, though capable of movement and of grasping or carrying solid objects, are not alive and do not think or act on their own). The degree of Pyro's concentration necessary to manipulate a flame being is directly proportional to the being's size, power, and flame.

Though he cannot be burned by a flame which he is manipulating, unlike most other pyrokinetics Pyro isn't immune to heat or fire and can be harmed by any fire that he does not mentally control. Which is why he wears a special insulated suit to protect him briefly from fire he does not control. It is generally accepted that he must be able to see a flame in order to take control of it (hence limiting his mental influence to approximately 100 yards).

Alternate Universes

Age of Apocalypse

Earth-295 Pyro was a mutant held in the Breeding Pens by Apocalypse and Dark Beast. Along with fellow captives Artemis, Avalanche, Newt, and Phantazia, he tried to escape, only to be recaptured and severly injured by Havok, one of the guards. He was then allegedly turned into protoplasmic soup by Dark Beast in order to create more soldiers for Apocalypse.

The Age of Apocalypse version of Pyro was able to generate flames without external assistance, but would burn his own body if he did so. This was apparently a result of genetic modifications by Dark Beast (the evil, AoA version of the X-Men's Beast, who in that reality was a subordinate of Mr. Sinister).

Ultimate Pyro

Earth-1610 Pyro

Ultimate Pyro is a mutant and former Morlocks that has had enough of hiding himself. Not much is known about him, however unlike his Earth-616 counterpart, Ultimate Pyro seems to generate flames from his body. It is yet to be seen whether he has the same degree of control over the flames he creates as Earth-616 Pyro as well. Physically, this Pyro is horribly scarred and disfigured from exposure to fire, indicating that unlike 616 Pyro, Ultimate Pyro is not immune to the effects of the fire that he generates (or controls). When shot and wounded he proclaimed that fire is his friend and generated flame in his hands to cauterize the wounds, partially explaining his rough appearance. He appeared for the first time on a rampage because of the "death" of Charles Xavier. He was recruited by Bishop and Storm as part as their X-Men team.

Earth-58163

In the House of M, Pyro belong to the mutant supremacist government of Australia alongside Exodus, and works with Vanisher in human oppression. Their oppression of humans go so far that they begin harming the aborigines, who were affiliated with the Hulk.

Earth-2149

Pyro is one of the infected by the zombie virus. He is seen with other zombie super-beings trying to eat the Blob and fighting alongside the zombified Freedom Force against the X-Men.

Other Media

TV: Pyro first appeared in the film "Pryde of the X-Men"

In the X-Men animated series, he was still a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants. In this version, the Brotherhood were some what failures, but Mystique saw Pyro as the most experianced member.

X-Men, Evolution, Pyro was a member of Magneto's Acolytes. This version was more menical.