** UPDATED **
Here you’ll find a brief guide to each of the New 52 Firestorms. These entries will provide you with their name, appearance, country of origin, and perhaps a few other details. I plan to update this guide from time-to-time, so be sure to visit again and look for new content. This guide is intended to be a brief overview, not a complete encyclopedic entry.
It appears that some Firestorms have unique powers, while other Firestorms share similar powers. Some of the more common powers seen across multiple Firestorms include: flight, energy blasts, heat generation, matter transmutation, creation of constructs, and super-strength.
If you’re wondering why there are so many Firestorms, here is the explanation as given by Zithertech Director Candace Zither…
The idea was that every country that had a nuclear program would have a Firestorm, a national defender. A hero with the capabilities of mutually assured destruction. Eliminating the need for defense budgets even the richest of countries could no longer afford. All based on Stein’s Protocols.
OUR HEROES
Code Name: Firestorm
Real Name: Ronald “Ronnie” Raymond
Country: United States of America
First Appearance: The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #1
In The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #10, Ronnie was seen wearing a new costume (see below). It appears this new costume and his energy left hand are new manifestations of his powers.
Code Name: Firestorm
Real Name: Jason Rusch
Country: United States of America
First Appearance: The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #1
Code Name: Fury
Real Name: Unknown/Not applicable
Country: United States of America
First Appearance: The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #1
Notes: Fury is a being created by the merging of Ronnie Raymond and Jason Rusch, yet Fury possesses its own independent personality.
Code Name: Wrath
Real Name: Unknown/Not applicable
Country: Appeared in France
First Appearance: The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #9
Notes: Wrath is a being created by the merging of Jason Rusch and Firehawk, yet Wrath possesses its own independent personality. The merger proved to be too unstable, resulting in Jason and Firehawk being thrown into the Quantum Field.
OFFICIALLY SANCTIONED FIRESTORMS
Code Name: Pozhar
Real Name: Professor Mikhail Arkadin
Country: Russia
First Appearance: The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #1 (cameo); The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #4 (in full)
Notes: Mikhail claims to have invented the original Firestorm Protocols along with Professor Martin Stein. He has refereed to himself as “A Red Shadow”.
Code Name: Helix
Real Name: Roger (husband of Director Candace Zither)
Country: United States of America
First Appearance: The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #3
Notes: Roger was selected to be the defender of the United States. He was the first to experience Professor Stein’s Firestorm Protocols. Unfortunately the experiment went horribly wrong. Helix was killed by Fury and Jason Rusch.
Code Name: Firehawk
Real Name: Therese
Country: France
First Appearance: The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #1 (cameo); The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #8 (in full)
Code Name: Hurricane
Real Name: Unknown
Country: United Kingdom
First Appearance: The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #1 (cameo); The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #8 (in full)
Code Name: Rakshasi
Real Name: Unknown
Country: India
First Appearance: The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #10
Code Name: Unknown
Real Name: Unknown
Country: China
First Appearance: The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #1 (cameo)
Notes: We haven’t seen this character in action yet. He was briefly shown on a Zithertech computer screen.
ROGUE FIRESTORM PROTOCOLS
Code Name: Not applicable
Real Name: Haji Al-Farishtaa
Country: Qurac
First Appearance: The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #4
Notes: Haji Al-Farishtaa was an illegal arms dealer selling Rogue Firestorm Protocols to Qurac terrorist cells. Al-Farishtaa was killed by Pozhar.
Code Name: Not applicable
Real Name: Unknown
Country: Qurac
First Appearance: The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #1 (cameo); The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #5 (in full)
Notes: Several Qurac terrorists have been transformed into Rogue Firestorm Protocols, each look similar to the Firestorm below. They appear to be working for someone named Ashra Khan.
My thanks to Joe Slab for suggesting this guide! Thanks, Joe!
Support Firestorms! Fan the flame!
Cool post, Shag!
With the ending of several of the New 52 titles I was reading (Hawk & Dove, Men Of War, Blackhawks, OMAC), I am tempted to pick up another issue of Firestorm and give it another shot, especially now with Simone no longer handling the writing chores. This post is definitely making me lean more in that direction! (Well that and your enthusiastic reviews on Fire & Water, that is.)
Also, on a wieeerd tangential note, all of these different Firestorms with similar-but-unique looks and powers really reminds me of a show called Kamen Rider Ryuki. In that show, there are 13 Kamen Riders, each with a different code name (Ryuki, Knight, Scissors, Gai, etc.) and uniform, but they all have some aspects in common (they all have a “Contract Monster” they are bonded with, they all use an Advent Deck of cards to battle, etc.). And like it seems to be with Fury of Firestorm, each one has their own agenda and their own modus operandi. In Ryuki, for example, all 13 are fighting because the last one standing will be granted a single wish. In the American series Kamen Rider Dragon Knight (which uses the footage from Ryuki), the Riders are all being manipulated to fight by an outside force. So there’s is a lot of conflict, much like it sounds like between the various Nuclear Men in FoF.
The 13 Riders: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2480/5759958536_92d445efb3.jpg
Just passing it along for what it’s worth!
I’d recommend you try FIRESTORM issues 6-8. Definitely solid issues and worth your time/money! If you’re only going to try one issue, try issue #7.
Thanks for sharing the 13 Riders info! Japanese heroes are very foreign to me (pun intended), but I can appreciate their coolness factor.
Thanks!
Shag
Given that I just posted “The Martian Manhunter Encyclopedia” version 1.0, I clearly love these types of infotainment pieces. That said, lined up in a row like this, I hate the hell out of the design consistency of the Protocols. It’s one thing when you have a rigidly structured corps or seven to outfit in an intergalactic conflict, and another thing when a guy named Hurricane is covered in the same flames and Mighty Morphing armor as everybody else. These guys make the Global Guardians look like the Legion of Super-Heroes in the imaginative costuming department.
Do they have hurricanes in the U.K.?
Hey, thanks for this entry, Shagg!
Anyone who is curious as to why England’s Firestorm is named Hurricane should run a google search on “Atomic Test, England, Hurricane” and you’ll pick up a cool fact!
Thanks!
Ethan V.
Hm. I figured that Hurricane was named for the Battle of Britain era fighter aircraft. Actually, I was more curious why the French Firestorm’s name was Firehawk.
Multiple Firestorms is a great way to define the heroes: with Ronnie having other Firestorms to compare himself to, he’s got to looks good up against at least some of them.
Thanks for the further comments! And a special thanks to Ethan Van Sciver for stopping by the site!
I’ve been thinking about the multiple Firestorms and have been meaning to post something related from pre-Flashpoint continuity. The basic idea is there have always been multiple Firestorms, just not named that way. The following characters all had nuclear powers and were somewhat connected to Firestorm: Firehawk, Multiplex, Typhoon, Tokamak, Parasite, Brimstone, Pozhar, Svarozhich, and Pionic Man. I’m sure there are more, but those come immediately to mind.
For those that are struggling with the concept of multiple Firestorms in the New 52, I say the idea of other nuclear-powered characters connected to Firestorm isn’t completely new. This is just a different and creative way of looking at it.
Just a thought. Thanks again for the comments!
I am the first thermal hero from India.
I was the former leader of my Husbands Doom Patrol.
My powers include thermal core manipulation resulting in projections of
arctic cold and volcanic heat, billowing power blasts of steam, capability to
confuse infra red tracking on my thermal signature. Longevity due to the
immortality serum gifted to me by my husband Dr Niles Caulder which stimulated
my remarkable abilities.
Im on Face book.
Arani Desai Caulder
AKA
Celsius
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