Origin

Roberto da Costa came from a rich family in Brazil. He was also a very skilled soccer player with a promising future until the day his mutant powers manifested. During a game, he was taunted by a player on the opposing team and ended up beating the player down.He was shunned by everyone around him accept his girlfriend Julianna. He also attracted the attention of Donald Pierce, a member of the inner circle of the Hellfire Club. Pierce tried to kidnap da Costa but failed in his attempt and took Julianna instead. Charles Xavier intervened, he sent his team, the New Mutants, to help da Costa stop Pierce. During the fight, Julianna took a bullet to save Bobby's life. Pierce was defeated. Xavier then invited da Costa to join the team and attend his school to learn more about his powers. He took the name Sunspot and experienced several adventures with them.

A short time later, Bobby met his mother Nina, who had been estranged from him for years due to her job as an archeologist. She invited Booby and the New Mutants to join her on an excavation in Brazil, noone knowing that Bobby's father Emmanuel da Costa had dealings with the Hellfire Club and had particular interests in that area. Axe, the Hellfire Club's assassin was sent to kill her, but was stopped by the New Mutants and led to Magma's recruitment. Emmanuel went on to become the White Rook within the Inner Circle, at his son's dismay.

When he accidentally injured teammate, Sam Guthrie, Cannonball, during a soccer game, Sunspot left the New Mutants. Another teammate, Warlock, followed him to Los Angeles and the two met up with the group, the Fallen Angels (which included the mutants Multiple Man and Siryn). The two worked with the group until it was discovered that they had been brought together by Ariel, part of an alien race that studies human mutations. The team was captured and studied until Sunspot rescued them. Afterwards Sunspot and Warlock returned to the New Mutants.

Later he was contacted by mutant businessman, Gideon after his father died. Gideon persuaded Sunspot into joining him claiming to help him manage the family fortune. Gideon was actually a member of a group of mutants known as the Externals who believed themselves to be immortal. Gideon believed that Sunspot was also an External but after several harsh tests and experiments Gideon was proven wrong. The tests overloaded him, giving a side effect that gave Bobby the ability to produce concussive blasts of heat and light. He was saved by his former teammates of the New Mutants that had reformed as X-Force. Sunspot joined the team. When Gideon experimented on Sunspot, he was able to copy his powers and give them to a test subject. The result was Reignfire.

Reignfire became the leader of the Mutant Liberation Front, a mutant terrorist group. Reignfire gave hints that he was really Sunspot during the M.L.F's confrontation with X-Force. At that time, the real Sunspot had went into a transport portal while battling the M.L.F.'s Locus. In there next encounter, X-Force's leader, Cable, telepathically restored Sunspot's memories. It turned out that Reignfire actually switched places with Sunspot through a telepathic link. Sunspot finally regained control.

Sunspot was later blackmailed by Selene, the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club into joining. She told him that Gideon's Damocles Foundation was attempting more experiments similar to the one that created Reignfire. The Selene and X-force went to stop him but  found out that Selene wanted the process for herself, and subdued the team. Selene then offered to resurrect Julianna if Bobby joined the Hellfire Club. Bobby agreed, but Selene only partially kept her word. She resurrected Julianna's spirit and put it in the body of a comatose patient. Sunspot served as the Black Rook keeping it a secret from his friends. Sunspot also became the head of the Los Angeles branch of X-Corporation, a search and rescue organization for mutants.

Sebastian Shaw approached Sunspot as Lord Imperial of the Hellfire Club, offering him the Black Knight position in his Lords of the Cardinal. He convinced Sunspot to accept by telling him that he was trying to change the club for the better. Donald Pierce soon challenged Shaw again, leaving Pierce decapitated and Shaw hospitalised. Sunspot then claimed the Lord Imperial position hoping to use the club for a force for good.

At the beginning of the Young X-Men series, Sunspot was revealed to be the new leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants by Cyclops. He is joined on the team by his former New Mutants comrades Cannonball, Danielle Moonstar, and Magma have joined him. In a battle with the X-Men, Sunspot is injured when Wolf Cub slashed his chest and face. It is revealed that Donald Pierce is pretending to be Cyclops using an image inducer, in order to have Sunspot the new Lord Imperial killed.

Powers

Sunspot's mutant ability allows his cells to absorb solar energy and convert it into superhuman strength. He can also use his power to fire energy blasts of intense heat and light from his hands. If he projects these blasts downward, it allows him to fly. It should be noted that, while Sunspot has superhuman strength, he does not have superhuman durability.

When Sunspot uses his powers, he is surrounded in some sort of aura of glowing black energy, his eyes turn white and he is surrounded by Kirby Dots. He has also been seen with a golden or yellow glow around his body. For a short time sunspot gained the abilities of Cloak in the means of teleportation and darkness manipulation.