Johnny Storm

## Background

### 1973 - 1995: Johnny Storm

Johnny Storm & his older sister, Sue, lived uneventfully on Long Island with their parents until their mother died in an automobile accident. Their father, a doctor, was unable to save her. Because of this, he descended into booze and gambling, eventually winding up in a penitentiary for the murder of a loan shark that threatened to kill him & his children. Under their father's orders, Sue led Johnny to believe that their father had died rather than let him know that Franklin was in jail. The children went to live with their aunt Jewel. Growing up in suburban Glenville, Johnny Storm was drawn to automobiles despite his mother's death in a car accident & became quite a mechanic at a young age. Sue spent much of her time looking after Johnny & though was a constant source of grief, Johnny cared for his sister & saw her as a surrogate mother.

Johnny spent his high school years attending Glenville High, where he spent most of his time being tormented by Mike Snow, the schools star wrestler. To try & gain popularity in school, Johnny attempted to use his prowess with mechanics to build a hot rod. However, his attempts to pick up girls was thwarted by Mike Snow. Johnny was frequently in trouble with school administration who feared that he didn't take his education seriously, which he didn't. Nonetheless, he enrolled at Metro College before leave after his sophomore year to become a race car driver.

When he was 22, Sue told her brother that she was going to accompany her boyfriend Reed on their starship. Though he lost his government funding for the *Marvel-1*, he decided to launch the prototype & attract more funding. Because Sue insisted on coming along with Reed, Johnny also insisted on doing so. Reed's pilot Ben Grimm warned that the ship wasn't properly shielded against radiation but Reed pressed along anyway. While the rocket launch was a complete success, they were bombarded with cosmic rays while passing through the Van Allan belt their ship causing the rocket to crash land back on Earth.

Each member of the crew was mutated by the cosmic rays & endowed with fantastic powers. Reed gained the ability to stretch his now mailable body, Sue gained the ability to turn invisible, Ben turned into a monstrous thing & Johnny meanwhile gained the ability to burst into flame. He decided to name himself the Human Torch, after the similarly powered hero from World War II. Reed convinced the group to use their powers for the good of mankind & they became the Fantastic Four.

## Romantic Relationships

* Crystal Amaquelin: On & Off (2000 - 2004)
* Namorita: Dated (2005)
* Kourtney Keaton: Dated (2008)

## Powers & Abilities

* **Mutate Physiology:** The Human Torch possesses the mental ability to control ambient heat energy & the physical ability to transform his entire body or portions of his body into a fiery, plasma-like state of will. The cells of a normal human body convert energy from foodstuffs into a form of energy usable by the body, adenosine triphosphate (ATP). When sufficient quantities of energy are consumed, the Torch unavoidably reverts to his solid state.
	+ ***Plasma Form*:** He possesses the physical ability to envelop his entire body or portions of his body with fiery plasma without harm to himself. Ordinarily, the Human Torch is enveloped by a low-intensity flame of low-level plasma, which ranges from 1 to 5 inches from his body. He can generate much higher levels & flames about himself. The energy used to support his low-level plasma is small but when the Human Torch wills his flame to a higher level, the majority of surplus energy with the AR-HP complex become involved.
	+ ***Pyrokinesis*:** Johnny can generate shapes composed of fire from any point on his body. He can form fire into long streams, spheres or even more complex shapes like letters in skywriting. These flames-objects will only remain their shapes as long as he concentrates upon them. The objects will only burn about 3 minutes before expiring unless the Torch continues to infuse them with energy.
	+ ***Nova Flame*:** The Torch refers to his highest, hottest levels of plasma that he can create as his "nova flame." The exact temperatures that it can attain are not known. At an average rate, the Torch can stay aflame for about 16.8 hours. He cannot maintain his "nova flame" for as long a time as he can maintain his ordinary flame. This violent discharge uses his entire reserve of energy at once, entirely exhausting his flame power. He generally requires at least 12 hours to recover entirely from such a feat.
	+ ***Flight*:** The Human Torch's plasma has a high hydrogen content & is surrounded by an exuded cloud of mono-atomic hydrogen atoms. The hot cloud provides sufficient positive buoyancy for him to float. With mental stimulation of his flame, he can provide enough lift to carry around 180lbs. He can achieve a normal flight speed of 140 miles per hour & accelerate up to supersonic speeds capable of catching up with faster beings.
	+ ***Thermokinesis*:** The Human Torch has the ability to mentally control the ambient heat energy within his immediate environment, even when he himself is not aflame. He can reduce objects' temperatures to about 30 F, raise them to several hundred degrees or extinguish open flames. His radius of influence is about 80 feet. The heat energy he takes from the environment is absorbed into his own body. If he takes in a critical amount while he is not aflame, he will become aflame.
	+ ***Superhuman Durability*:** The Human Torch is surprisingly & extremely durable, as has taken multiple punches from Namor.
	+ ***Immunity to Fire & Heat*:** The Human Torch is unaffected by heat & flames. His flesh cannot be scalded or burned by any heat source whose level is below that of his maximum output.
* **Mechanic:** An expert mechanic since his teens, Johnny was able to totally overhaul a car's transmission by the age of 15.
* **Driving:** Johnny also has experience as a professional race car driver.
* **Fantastic Four Uniform:** The Human Torch's costume & the rest of his wardrobe is constructed of unstable molecules, which are attuned to his powers & allow it to become burst into flame when he does. The Human Torch's costume has a complete data processing & telemetry system woven into its fabric on a molecular level, making it a wearable computer. The costume forms a network with the rest of the Fantastic Four, providing a constant uplink of everyone’s physical condition as well as their location & current situation. The costume has an intricate scanner system which can detect things around the wearer, from how many people are in the next room to what dimension or planet they are on.
* **Universal Translator:** He has a Universal Translator that can decipher & interpret languages, both alien & terrestrial, into the native language of the user.

### Weaknesses

* **Energy Depletion:** At an average rate of expenditure of energy, the Torch can maintain his plasma state for about 16.8 hours before he is forced to revert to his solid state.
* **Physical Condition:** His physical condition (health, injury or exhaustion) also limits his flame's duration.
* **Fire Extinguishing:** The Human Torch's flame is supported by the presence of oxygen & thus is extinguished in low air pressure or a vacuum. The Torch's flame can be extinguished by smothering materials such as water, sand, fire-fighting foam & heat-resistant blankets unless his flame is at such an intensity that it immediately vaporizes such materials on contact.

### Ratings

* **Acumen:** 3 - Average / Basic
* **Might:** 4 - High / Trained to 6 - Expert / Advanced
* **Quickness:** 6 - Expert / Advanced
* **Mysticism:** 1 - Nonexistent
* **Gadgets:** 3 - Average / Basic
* **Projection:** 6 - Expert / Advanced
* **Tactics:** 4 - High / Trained
* **Battle:** 5 - Learned / Exceptional
* **TOTAL:** 108 - Power Level 3 / General Threat (Minimum); 128 - Power Level 3 (maximum)

## Trivia

* His catchphrase is "Flame on!"
* Johnny technically doesn't need to brush his teeth or take a shower as any dirt or germs in his body burns off when he flames on.

## Notes

* The original character of Human Torch belongs to the Marvel Universe.