Solar Flare

* Civilian
* Solar Flare

*"Essentials forever, bro, even if it's just in our hearts."
"That's where it matters most."*
—Jake Woods and Peter Blake
**Solar Flare**, known to the public as **Peter James Blake**, is a superhero and strategic mission specialist of the original roster of the Essentials. Peter went on numerous missions with his friends, and forging an especially strong friendship with their leader, the Hoodie.

Peter learned the lesson of a lifetime: *"With great power must also come great responsibility."* Peter's earned both hateful enemies and honorable allies, often labeled as a menace by the people he's sworn to protect, he's grown into a valuable team-player and an experienced mentor for a new generation of young heroes, and took up the cause of justice. With eyes wide open to the particular dangers of the world around him, he's fighting against all odds to be the best he can be.

Hoodie soon disappeared, however, and left to find him, leaving his mantle to the vigilante **Nismo Cipher**, who took on the mantle of Flare, and he later passed the mantle onto Peter's own son, Logan, also known as Sun Storm. When Peter found Jake, the two began to round up the remaining Essentials for even greater adventures.

## Biography

### Early Life

Peter was born in **Alvestone**, a borough of Smog City. Sadly, his parents gave him up to an orphanage, where he was raised until his teenage years. During his time there, though, he honed skills in deduction and deception.

When he was sixteen, he ran away to live on the streets of Smog. Eventually, he was recruited to be a member of a gang, where he learned to fight. He participated in regular matches, until one night he was ordered by his gang leader to "finish off" his opponent. Peter refused, as he developed a strong sense of justice. Feeling betrayed, his leader told the rest of the gang to finish off Peter instead.

Peter left the streets of Smog, and was adopted by a family.

### Adventures with the Essentials

Peter would go on to take part in may adventures alongside the Essentials, growing particularly close with Hoodie, Tech Commander and Blue Ninja. He and Hoodie, AKA Jake Woods, would develop a close bond in which Peter learned more about his free will, and Jake would learn more about humanity from a lower-class perspective. He and Jake would spar more than the other heroes, which resulted in a stalemate almost each time. Peter's exceptional martial arts skills versus Jake's programmed fight patterns were nearly matched. When they weren't fighting, they would explore Emerald City and all it had to offer, often searching for crime to fight or seeking a thrill. On one occasion, the two fought off a giant, green ogre which randomly appeared in a forest close to the urban jungle.

### Search for Hoodie

Following a disastrous duel between his best friend and King Cog which ended in the former being blasted into outer space. Hearing of this, Peter left to conduct a search to find him.

#### Return

Peter, having eventually found his friend stranded in space, brought him to a McLaren Industries space probe in order to "heal" (recharge) him. After Jake's awakening, Peter brought him up to speed on events.

He still harbored guilt for not being there to protect Earth, and decided that he could do his penance: by defeating one last villain...

## Personality

*"Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words-- "with great power comes great responsibility." This is my gift-- my curse. Who am I? I'm Solar Flare."*
—Peter Blake
Peter, as a hero who flies around, saving people, is a courageous and self-sacrificing person who sets an example for everybody. People line up for him, cheer him, scream his name and years later tell how they stood in the rain for hours, just to get a glimpse of him, who told them to hold on a second longer. Peter believes there's a hero in all of us who keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble, and finally allows us to die with pride, even though sometimes we have to be steady and give up the thing we want the most, even our dreams.

Peter is loyal, caring, and intelligent. He has demonstrated these qualities in various situations, especially when his friends and family are involved. He shows his loyalty to his teammates by staying with them despite the possibility he could be hurt. His intelligence and problem-solving skills have come to play in several instances, using his knowledge of science and street smarts.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

*"Power in firebending come from the breath, not the muscles. The breath becomes energy in the body. The energy extends past your limbs and becomes fire!"*
—Solar Flare
* **Fire Manipulation:** Peter is a powerful pyrokinetic with masterful control over the element of fire. While fire is destructive, Peter can wield fire in a defensive manner, not just offensive. For instance, he can create a shield of flames intense enough to melt bullets. When it comes to offense, Peter is in direct control of how much power he puts into each attack. He can charge blasts of fire, unleash a volley of fireballs, or conjure whips of flame.
	+ **Fire Immunity:** Peter's blood platelets are fire-resistant.
	+ **Fire Infusion:** Peter can imbue objects and weapons with fire.
	+ **Fire Breath:** Peter can breathe fire like a dragon.
	+ **Flight:** Peter can simulate flight by forcefully propelling fire from his hands.
	+ **Heat Manipulation:** Peter can also absorb the heat from an object into his body and redirect it into the air, or simply radiate heat from his hands to cut through materials.
* **Superhuman Strength:** Peter's muscles are stronger and more efficient than a human. His strength alone is sufficient enough to catch cars, and he is shown to be able to easily overpower normal humans as well as those with superhuman strength. His strength also allows him to jump higher and farther than a normal human, easily capable of jumping from one building over a street to the next. He can casually lift over 13 tons, though it visibly strains him to do so after a prolonged period of time. He can also trade blows with Hoodie and Blue Ninja.
* **Superhuman Durability:** Peter's bones, muscles and skin are tougher than a normal human. His body is physically resistant towards impact force, as he has taken punches from people with superhuman strength without any serious injuries, and has shaken off direct energy blasts from Hoodie.
* **Superhuman Speed:** Peter can run faster than an Olympic sprinter and he can keep up with Hoodie. Alternatively, he can shoot large amounts of flame from his hands and feet to propel himself forward at high speeds or even run on walls. However, he is nowhere nearly as fast as his teammate, Rapid.
* **Superhuman Agility:** Peter is superhumanly agile, which makes him a formidable acrobat and gymnast. He can leap great heights and distances and change direction without losing speed.
* **Superhuman Stamina:** Peter can push himself for long periods of time without fighting. In an alternate universe, he and Hoodie fought to their deaths.
* **Superhuman Reflexes:** Peter has great reflexes. He can quickly react to attacks from Hoodie, Tech Commander and Blue Ninja while training.
* **Regenerative Healing Factor:** Peter can heal much faster than a normal human due to his enhanced metabolism. He can heal from gunshot wounds without any medical attention whatsoever.

### Abilities

*"Clever beats strong any day."*
—Peter Blake
* **Gifted Intelligence:** Peter is quite intelligent, and his mechanically inclined intelligence grants him knowledge in technology and experience with robotics. As a scientist, he can solve any problem with his mind, and is familiar with the scientific method (observation, hypothesis, prediction, experimentation, conclusion).
	+ **Expert Tactician:** Peter, as the strategic mission specialist of the team, is a highly experienced tactician trained to make game-time decisions.
	+ **Expert Hacker:** Peter is an extremely skilled computer science user and a very capable hacker.
* **Master Martial Artist:** Peter is a master martial artist who has progressed from street fighting to numerous coordinated combat fighting styles, including Northern Shaolin Kung Fu, Gymnastics, Boxing, Wing Chun, Karate, Taekwondo, Capoeira, Judo, Krav Maga, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Professional Wrestling, and he has studied one of the most time-honored traditions in Japanese culture: the great martial art of Aikido, the key principle of which is to deflect his aggressor's attack by using their own speed and strength/momentum and force against them. Essentially, with Aikido, a weak opponent can defeat a much stronger one. He is shown to be very precise and methodical, quickly adjusting his tactics to better suit the situation and type of opponent. He is especially on par with his best friends Jake Woods and Cole Grant; in an alternate reality, Peter and Jake were so evenly matched that they fought to their apparent deaths. Peter later trained Nismo Cipher in martial arts to take his place.
* **Master Acrobat:** Peter can perform acrobatic and gymnastic feats with ease, due to his superhuman agility.
* **Expert Marksman:** Peter has developed extremely accurate aim from utilizing his fire-based and solar energy-based attacks, thus allowing him to fire at his opponents from long distances.

## Techniques

* **Northern Shaolin Kung Fu:** Peter uses a strong, dynamic style of Kung Fu with powerful hand and leg movements, emphasizing long-range techniques, wide stances, quick advances and retreats, kicking and leaping techniques, whirling circular blocks, quickness, agility, and aggressive attacks. The style is ultimately conducive to his firebending.
* **Fire Stream:** A beam of fire released from either of his palms.
* **Fire Grenade:** Peter can shoot fireballs from his mouth.

## Equipment

* **Solar Flare Suit:** Peter wears this red and purple protective combat armor to disguise his identity when fighting evil.
* **Solar Signal:** A red light emitted from Peter's gauntlets.
* **Solar System:** His tablet features a built-in computer system with holographic interface. Although capable of scanning and wireless connectivity where appropriate, USB and TRS connector cables and a USB port are included.

## Relationships

* Logan Blake/Sun Storm - Alternate Reality Future Son

Allies* EPF - Employers
* Essentials - Teammates
	+ Jake Woods/Hoodie - Best Friend
	+ Cole Grant/Tech Commander - Good Friend
	+ Alex Garrington/Blue Ninja - Friend, Rival
	+ Dash Forman/Rapid - Friend
* Blaze - Dragon

## Trivia

* Peter's alias originates from a *Club Penguin* item, as well as the *Dragon Ball* technique.