Wildfire

The Explosive One…

Drake Burroughs was a wise cracking slacker who went to Metropolis University really because that’s where the party was.  While his professor knew Drake was very bright especially in nuclear studies, Drake has no real patience for studies, only for the ladies.  While showing off in a laboratory, Drake caused an accident that changed his essence from matter to sentient energy.

His professor had worked on a prototype of a suit that could keep Drake alive and siphoned his energy into the suit which gave Drake amazing powers.  While Drake slowly got used to his new likeness, when he found his old girlfriend she recoiled in horror at his appearance. leaving Drake distraught.

Aching for a new purpose, Drake tried out for the Legion under the name ERG-1, which was the original name of the containment suit that Drake wore.  His powers all duplicated other Legionnaires so he was rejected even though he had one power, but he couldn’t duplicate it for the Legion.

He followed a group of Legionnaires on a mission and saved Colossal Boy and Phantom Girl by expelling his energies from the suit and destroyed the machine that threatened to kill them.  Thinking ERG-1 dead, the Legion returned home with his suit and placed it in their Hall of Heroes.

Drake was not dead however, he existed in a strange limbo state,as invisible sentient energy floating slowly towards Earth.  It took a year but Drake was able to enter Legion headquarters and there he discovered a new Legion applicant was a traitor that threatened them all.  However Drake could not get access to his suit and he could not communicate with anyone.  Drake was forced to use the Miracle Machine which makes thoughts reality to get into the suit and then he destroyed the robotic applicant.

Drake was inducted as Wildfire and was elected leader shortly thereafter.  Drake serves as the Legion liaison in charge of new membership recruitment and works very closely with Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel in vetting Legion Academy students.  Wildfire was also responsible for getting Dawnstar admitted to the Legion and the two have had an on again, off again relationship ever since.

First Appearance

Created By:  Cary Bates and Dave Cockrum

Powers

Anti-Energy Blasts - While Wildfire’s original suit provided him a great deal of different abilities his subsequent suits only allowed him to emit his radiation in blasts of powerful radiation.

Flight – Drake is able to blast off with energy blasts through his feet to gain altitude and can continue to fly without the use of a Flight Ring.

Survivor – Drake can survive almost any environment even without his containment suit.  He can survive temperature extremes, does not need to eat or drink, or the vacuum of space and may not need rest in the way that we think of it.

Vulnerabilities

Drake is fairly invulnerable to direct harm unless the damage destroys his containment suit significantly to cause his energy to leak out.

Ineffective – If Drake’s containment suit is breached, then his energy leaks out or explodes outward and then Drake gathers his energy together and moves as quickly as possible towards a Legion cruiser, all of whom are stocked with additional containment suits.

Inhuman – Drake feels like a monster at times since he is no longer human in appearance.

Overprotective – Drake is extremely overprotective of Dawnstar, much to her annoyance.

Skills

Taunt – Drake can be very aggressive and that can cause him to goad an opponent into making mistakes in combat or leaves an opening for one of his teammates to make a crucial move.

Teacher – Wildfire spends his off time teaching classes and running the rookies through their paces at Legion Academy.

Equipment

Containment Suit – Drake has to use a containment suit in order to interact with others and to use his powers.  His suit is vulnerable to damage however from massive damage or sharp implements.

Legion Flight Ring – All Legionnaires wear a ring which enables them to fly, communicate with each other across the distances of space, call for assistance, or locate other Legionnaires.

Legion Transuit – A transparent spacesuit that activates automatically in the event of a vacuum.