Fireball Trivia Quiz

Answer: Marvel Hero

There have been two Human Torch superheroes in the Marvel Universe. The second, and more familiar one is Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four, who made his first appearance in "The Fantastic Four" #1 in November of 1961. His character was actually based on the original Human Torch, who was actually an android by the name of Jim Hammond. That character first appeared in "Marvel Comics" #1 in October of 1939.

In more recent media (movies), Johnny Storm has been portrayed by Chris Evans (in the 2005 and 2007 "Fantastic Four" films, as well as in 2024's "Deadpool & Wolverine"), by Michael B. Jordan in the 2015 "Fantastic Four" reboot, and by Joseph Quinn in 2025's MCU introduction of the team, "Fantastic Four: First Steps."

The Human Torch's powers include the manipulation of fire, and the ability to envelop himself in flames and to fly. His maximum output of flame and heat is referred to as his 'nova flame,' and he is able to withstand heat and flame (and even absorb it) up to that temperature.

Answer: Marvel Hero

While a number of people have been connected to the powers of the Ghost Rider, the two primary characters are stunt motorcyclist Johnny Blaze, who bore the mantle in the "Ghost Rider" series from 1973 until 1992. Blaze made a deal with Mephisto, selling his soul in order to save his foster father's life, and this resulted in a bonding with the demon Zarathos (under Mephisto's control), which granted Blaze the powers of hellfire, which he uses to torment and destroy evildoers. Oh, and he also turns into a skeleton with a flaming head as the Ghost Rider.

The second main character to become the Ghost Rider was Danny Ketch, who happened to be Johnny Blaze's long-lost little brother. His tenure lasted from 1990 to 2007.

A more recent incarnation of the Ghost Rider, with a car instead of the iconic flaming motorcycle, was Robbie Reyes, who made his first appearance in 2014.

Answer: Marvel Hero

While Lockheed looks like a small, purple dragon of the type normally associated with Europe's dragon mythology, he actually comes from another planet. Lockheed is part of a race called the Flock, and he was encountered by the X-Men when they were kidnapped by a species called the Brood and taken to a Brood-occupied planet. Lockheed and young Kitty Pryde (who can walk through walls) became fast friends, and Lockheed returned to Earth with the team.

Lockheed is able to fly and can breathe fire, and can also resist telepathic influence (like Professor X). He has empathic abilities, and has even spoken English on occasion. His first appearance in was in 1983 with "Uncanny X-Men" #166.

Answer: Marvel Hero

Sunfire, AKA Shiro Yoshida, made his first appearance in "X-Men" #64, which came out in January of 1970. Sunfire's mother had suffered from radiation poisoning due to the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima. When Shiro was born as a mutant, he developed powers akin to solar radiation.

Sunfire began as a villain, having grown up with a hatred of America for the death of his mother. His affiliation changed over time, and he teamed up with both the X-Men and the Avengers while mainly remaining unaffiliated.

Sunfire's powers include the ability to absorb solar radiation and produce superheated plasma which becomes flame that he calls 'solar fire.' He can also protect himself with a psionic force field, and is a very skilled martial artist.

Answer: Marvel Hero

Firestar (AKA Angelica Jones) first appeared on the animated show "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends" in 1981, and eventually followed that up with her debut in the comic "Uncanny X-Men" #193 (May, 1985).

The character was originally included in the animated show as a substitute for the Fantastic Four's Johnny Storm, which couldn't be included for various reasons. She was portrayed as a former member of the X-Men.

In the comics, her character was groomed by Emma Frost as a young mutant. The indoctrination didn't take, however, and Firestar became a founding member of the New Warriors, before later moving on to join the Avengers for a brief time.

Her powers include microwave energy, heat and flame manipulation, and flight.

Answer: Marvel Villain

Dormammu first appeared in "Strange Tales" #126 in November, 1964 as a villain to Doctor Strange. As ruler of the Dark Dimension, he is an ideal adversary for the Sorcerer Supreme, and they first encounter each other when Baron Mordo (apprentice to the Ancient One but secretly in league with Dormammu) tries to weaken his master to allow Dormammu to extend his rule to include Earth. Dr. Strange managed to foil that initial effort, and Dormammu has been a recurring villain ever since.

While only one of his many powers and abilities, Dormammu is able to manipulate the elements, including fire.

Answer: Marvel Villain

St. John Allardyce, AKA Pryo, is a mutant who was introduced as part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in "The Uncanny X-Men" #141 in January of 1981. Eventually, Pyro was recruited to work for the US Government as part of a team called Freedom Force, but as often as not, the team still came up against hero groups like the Avengers, X-Factor, and the New Mutants.

Pyro has the ability to control fire, but not to generate it. For that reason, he uses a flamethrower as a weapon alongside his ability.

Answer: Marvel Villain

Mephisto made his first diabolical appearance in Silver Surfer #3 (December, 1968), and has often been the foe of the Surfer, Doctor Strange, and Spider-Man, along with a number of others, and was instrumental in the creation of the Ghost Rider.

With the appearance of the devil of myth, Mephisto (based off of Faust's Mephistopheles) is from a domain that he has named 'Hell,' and while he looks the role, he is not actually Satan (or Lucifer).

Amongst Mephisto's powers is the ability to generate and manipulate hellfire, and he is also immune to damage from (the more mundane form of) fire.

Answer: Marvel Villain

Selene is an ancient being in the Marvel Universe, born at around the time Atlantis disappeared into the ocean. Known as a powerful sorceress, Selene made her first appearance in "New Mutants" #9 in July of 1983.

Along with powerful psionic abilities and superhuman strength, speed and stamina, Selene is also capable of telekinesis and pyrokinesis.

Answer: Marvel Villain

Surtur, the fire giant from the realm of Muspelheim - one of the nine worlds of Norse mythology - made his first appearance in "Journey into Mystery" #97 (October, 1963). As one might expect, Surtur becomes a regular foe of Thor's and more than once it is due to Loki's efforts that Surtur is unleashed on the world.

As seen in the MCU film "Thor: Ragnarok" (2017), Surtur's comic book history was brought to life as the fire giant effected the destruction of Asgard.

Answer: DC Hero

"Firestorm the Nuclear Man" #1 (March, 1978) marked the first appearance of Firestorm as the combination of the characters Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein, fused together in a nuclear accident. That first comic series only lasted five issues, and the character resurfaced in the ranks of the Justice League of America, and eventually earned a new series in 1982 (until 1990).

A new person took on the mantle of Firestorm - Jason Rusch - from 2004 until 2007, and then again in a new, short-lived title in 2012.

Firestorm has the power to rearrange things at a molecular level, and along with this, is able to absorb and redirect radiation, fire, and energy.

Answer: DC Hero

Beatriz da Costa began as 'Green Fury' and for a brief time, also takes on the name 'Green Flame,' but when she teamed up with 'Icemaiden,' within the ranks of the Justice League International (JLI), the pair of them changed their names simply to 'Fire' and 'Ice.'

Da Costa made her first appearance in "Super Friends" #25 (October, 1979). She is able to breath out a mystical green flame, as well as fly with that controlled flame.

Answer: DC Hero

A couple of versions of the Isis character exist in the DC universe, with Andrea Thomas first taking on the Egyptian goddess's mantle in "Shazam!" #25 in October of 1976. The more recent version of Isis has the very similarly named Adrianna Tomaz, first appearing in "52" #12 in July of 2006, becoming the love interest of the character Black Adam.

Suffice it to say, Isis has many powers as the avatar of a goddess. Amongst them is the ability to manipulate the elements, including fire.

Answer: DC Hero

Firebrand was a character that originated with Quality Comics in the 1940s, and he became part of the DC universe of comics when they purchased the company. Since then, the Firebrand mantle has been claimed by more than one person.

The original was Rod Reilly, but he did not have any fire-based superpowers. His sister Danette (a volcanologist) discovered that Rod had been the Firebrand, and ended up taking over the name after she was hit by a blast of magic from the sorcerer Wotan and thrown into a pit of lava. That incident gave her the ability to control heat and project blast of plasma fire. She first appeared in 1981.

Thre more characters have taken the name: Alex Sanchez (introduced in 1996), who could generate green flames with armor and surgical implants, Andre Twist (introduced in 2006), who could control fire, and Janet Fals (introduced in 2018), who does not have any fire-related powers.

Answer: DC Hero

Firehawk (AKA Lorraine Reilly) was turned into a metahuman after she was abducted because of who her father was (a senator). A rival hired the supervillain Multiplex to kidnap Reilly, and she was used in an experiment to try to replicate the creation of Firestorm. It didn't quite work out as planned, but Reilly still ended up getting powers, including the ability to channel nuclear energy, which she can blast from her hands as heat and flame.

Once she came to terms with her new abilities, she became a superhero and sometimes partnered up with Firestorm.

The first appearance of Firehawk was in "Firestorm" Vol. 2 #1 (June, 1982).

Answer: DC Villain

Heat Wave (AKA Mick Rory) was always fascinated by fire as a child, and became a pyromaniac. As an adult, he became a villain, complete with asbestos costume and flamethrower, and joined the Rogues. Along with friend and partner Captain Cold, Heat Wave is often a foe to the Flash. His first appearance was in "The Flash" #140 (November, 1963).

While he did not have superpowers, this changed with the reboot of the DC universe continuity in 2011. With "The New 52," Mick Rory now had innate pyrokinesis abilities.

Answer: DC Villain

Three people have claimed the name of El Diablo in the DC comics. The first was Lazarus Lane, who first appeared in "All Star Western" #2 (October, 1970). The second iteration was Rafael Sandoval, who debuted in "El Diablo" Vol. 2 #1 (August, 1989).

The third name and the focus of this particular quiz choice is Chato Santana, a criminal (gang leader) who meets Lazarus Lane while hospitalized, and takes on the mantle of the 'Spirit of Vengeance,' in the form of a bond with the demon known as El Diablo. With this comes the ability of pyrokinesis. Santana first appeared in "El Diablo" Vol. 3 #1 (September, 2008).

Answer: DC Villain

Hotstreak (AKA Martin Scaponi, AKA Francis Stone) made his first appearance in "Static" #1 (June, 1993) before joining the DC Animated Universe (DCAU) show "Static Shock" (2000-2004). He developed his powers over fire with the 'Big Bang' event that created many powered characters when they came into contact with Quantum Juice.

Answer: DC Villain

Brimstone has been the name of a few different DC villains.

The first such villain appeared in "The Brave and the Bold" #200 (July, 1983). This Brimstone (AKA Nicholas Lucien) was a Satan-like pyrokinetic criminal in Gotham City on Earth-2.

The second villain to be named Brimstone was a fiery giant created by the supervillain Darkseid (ruler of the planet Apokolips), first appearing in "Legends" #1 (November, 1986).

More recently, Joseph Chamberlain appeared in "The Curse of Brimstone" #1 (June, 2018), becoming Brimstone after making a deal with a demon called the Salesman.

Answer: DC Villain

Firefly (AKA Garfield Lynns) first appeared in "Detective Comics" #184 in June of 1952. At first, he was just a robber who used special lighting effects, but after being reintroduced as a villain in the 1980s, he returned as a pyromaniac and a recurring foe to Batman.

In addition to his joy of playing with fire, Firefly has a fireproof battlesuit, a flamethrower, and many incendiary devices in his toolkit.