Pyromaniac: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

In [[Real Life]], [[wikipedia:Pyromania|Pyromania]] is a mental disorder that compels a person to set fires, and causes the sufferer to feel enjoyment and stress release (and in some cases even sexual release) from firestarting and watching fires. In addition to being a very rare disorder it also has the standard mental disorder caveat of not two cases being identical and usually coming bundled with other issues and a difficult childhood.

While real-life pyromaniacs [[Captain Obvious|tend to be somewhat mentally unstable]], fictional characters with this disorder [[Hollywood Psych|tend to exhibit it]] to the level of [[Evil Is Burning Hot|evil murderous]] [[Ax Crazy]] who really only get their kicks from death and murder with fire. Pyromaniac characters enjoy lighting fires, watching fires, [[Playing with Fire|playing with fires]], [[Kill It with Fire|killing with fires]], and generally [[This Index Is On Fire|make and use fire whenever they're able to]]; whether they [[Playing with Fire|have inherent fire powers]], or merely use [[Fire-Breathing Weapon|flamethrowers]] or other incendiary weapons, you really don't want to get in their sights.

 

 

Compare [[Psycho Electro]] for [[Shock and Awe|electricity-based powers]], and [[Mad Bomber]] for a common, terrifying overlap. For a more light-hearted take on mental illness-induced criminality, see [[The Kleptomaniac]].

 

{{examples}}

* Claude "Torch" Weaver in ''[[Black Lagoon]]'' was a pyromaniac wielding a flamethrower. Unusually he was also a [[Family Values Villain]] and was unusually nice and collected [[Dissonant Serenity|even while he was indiscriminately setting things on fire]]. {{spoiler|He was eventually defeated when Revy managed to shoot his fuel tank. [[Stuff Blowing Up|KABOOOOOM!]]}}

* Kimbley in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' is a variant. He seems to delight in blowing buildings (and people) up.

* In ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'', Gokudera Hayato threatens to blow someone up every time he gets pissed.

* [[Anti-Hero]] Ogami from ''[[Code Breaker]]''. Though it makes sense, considering that his designated powers are burning people by touching them. Not to mention that he's an [[The Stoic|emotionless]], [[Insane Equals Violent|automatically violent]] person who ''loves'' dealing out swift punishment. His catchphrase is even telling people to "Burn."

** Not only does she have the eyepatch, but she {{spoiler|hides small explosives in the empty socket!}}

** Randy and Pecho, apparent Mooks and career arsonists, inadvertently kick off the plot of one arc with their enthusiastic blazes. They use fire to [[Kill It with Fire|end the arc]], as well.

* During most of her formative years, Farnese from ''[[Berserk]]'' was one. She even ''[[A Date with Rosie Palms|masturbated]] to [[Burn the Witch|people being burned at the stake]]''. Eventually, she manages to get over it.

* Natsu from ''[[Fairy Tail]]'' routinely lights objects of his interest on fire, including food (though of course he ''does'' eat fire). However, he's a pillar of sanity compared to his [[Evil Counterpart]] Zancrow of Grimoire Heart.

* Sooto Henmi in [[Suehiro Maruo]]'s ''[[The Laughing Vampire]]''. [[Enfant Terrible|An A-student in elementary school]], he likes to set fire to the neighborhood and watch the reactions of the crowd. Like all self-respecting criminal, he keeps a diary and news clippings of the crimes he has committed.

* From ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' you have Quartum, {{spoiler|the Averruncus of Fire}}.

 

* Firefly, one of the more minor members of the ''[[Batman]]'' [[Rogues Gallery]] is this.

** As well as Firebug, another minor Batman villain.

* ''[[Mega Man (comics)|Mega Man]]'' Issue #3, in response to that issue's [[Drunk on the Dark Side]] plotline, Roll wonders how she would react to having all that power. Rock then goes into an [[Imagine Spot]] where Roll sees a dirty room, then pulls out Fire Man's weapon, declaring ''Fire is the ultimate cleanser!''.

 

* {{spoiler|Ronald Bartel (Donald Sutherland)}} from ''[[Backdraft]]''.

* Paul Newman's character in ''[[The Long Hot Summer]]'', Ben Quick, is accused of being a "barn burner." A Southern term and phenomenon, it means someone who will exact revenge for a real or perceived injustice or slight by setting fire to his antagonist's barn, or other outbuilding if the barn isn't accessible.

* ''Point of Origin'', another Biopic, this one about prolific arsonist and mass murderer John Leonard Orr.

 

* Trashcan Man in ''[[The Stand]]'', who got his name due to lighting trashcans on fire at his school.

** Surprisingly Charlie the pyrokinetic in ''[[Firestarter]]'' avoids the trope. Possibly due to her father willfully traumatizing her at a very young age precisely to avoid it.

* Jesse in ''[[My Sister's Keeper]]''. The ironic part is that his father is a fire fighter.

* [[Ripliad|Tom Ripley]] is an unusually calm example of this. Because his parents died of drowning, he has something of a phobia of water and a corresponding comfort with fire. Thus, he feels really good in one book when he torches some mobsters' car with the occupants still inside.

* Blister from ''[[Friday the 13th|Jason X: To The Third Power]]''.

* Aerys Targaryen, "The Mad King", from ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' eventually became a full-fledged pyromaniac. Jamie reveals in book four that the king, late on in the marriage, was generally 'uninterested' in the queen except for on days when he'd seen someone burned to death in front on him.

* The 1986 young adult novel ''The Fire Raiser'', by [[New Zealand]] author Maurice Gee, is about a group of kids tracking down the title character during [[World War I]]. Later made into a [[Miniseries]].

 

* ''[[CSI]]'' actually had a somewhat sympathetic and restrained pyromaniac. When the team's investigating an arson case that killed a teenager, one of the suspects is a woman with a history of pyromania. She reveals to Nick (in a scene tinged with [[Fetish Fuel]]) that she controls her urges by burning her junk mail in the fireplace. {{spoiler|She's not the culprit.}}

* ''[[The Closer]]'' has a very creepy pyromaniac as a recurring character; it's mentioned that he's [[Nightmare Fuel|sexually aroused by the smell of burning flesh]], and he repeatedly comments on the ways to make people go up in flames. {{spoiler|He's not the culprit in either of his appearances (though it's heavily implied that he did set a girlfriend on fire years ago, but due to witness death the verdict at trial was Not Guilty), and even helps Priority Homicide find the culprit both times with his knowledge of fires.}}

* A number of unsubs on ''[[Criminal Minds]]'' have been pyromaniacs, notably the unsub in "Ashes and Dust". It was subverted in "Compulsion", where the unsub was revealed not to be an arsonist, but to {{spoiler|suffer from scrupulosity, an extreme form of OCD}}.

 

* Till Lindemann of [[Rammstein]] loves fire and is a certified pyrotechnics expert. You haven't noticed?

** He even had the entire band be trained in pyrotechnics so they can put even more fire and flamethrowers on the stage as they perform.

** The song ''Feuer Frei'' means "fire at will", ''Benzin'' is "gasoline". There's also ''Mein Herz brennt'' (my heart is burning), ''Sonne'' (sun), ''Wollt ihr das Bett in Flammen sehen'' (do you want to see the bed on fire), ''Feuer und Wasser'' (fire and water). ''Asche zu Asche'' (ash to ash) is about being burnt at the stake. Even the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp9z-9RdwwM&feature=related bands name] is a reference to an air show disaster which is famous for the video footage of a huge fireball of a plane crashing into a crowd of spectators.

* Whiplash's "Burning of Atlanta", which is about some pyromaniac setting Atlanta on fire.

* The song "Raze" by Exodus starts with this lovely bit:

* In "Lament for a Toy Factory", [[Doctor Steel]] sings about burning down the toy factory that fired him with "gasoline-filled Super Soakers."

* The narrator of "Psalms 40:2" by [[The Mountain Goats]] is a pyromaniac seeking a meaningful connection with God through setting fires.

 

* In ''[[GURPS]]'' having Pyromania forces you to make a self control roll every time the opportunity to light something on fire pops up.

* Quite a lot of Jammers from ''[[Feng Shui]]'' are pyromaniacs as well. They're usually the ones with the cyber-mounted flamethrowers.

* A large number of mages and planeswalkers in ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'', including Jaya Ballard and Chandra Nalaar.

* ''[[Champions]]'' has a few villains like this, including Blowtorch and Firebug.

* Pyromania (called "Firebug") is a mental disorder in ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]]'', which forces the character to roll willpower whenever given a chance to start a fire (which is surprisingly often) and gives Fellowship penalties from depression whenever the character isn't setting fire to stuff. Most characters who acquire it tend to live short, interesting lives before being put down by law enforcement or their fellow party members after setting fire to something they really shouldn't. And if the party [[Playing with Fire|Red Wizard]] ever gets it, run. Run like your pants are on fire, which they will be shortly if you do not.

 

* The ''[[Bionicle]]'' fandom likes to joke about [[Playing with Fire|Tahu]] possibly being one of these. ("BURN STUFF!" became a popular [[Memetic Mutation|meme]] at one point.) Occasionally referenced in the canon:

{{quote|'''Tahu''': What do you have in mind, and does it include explosions?}}

 

* The French Mercenary in the first ''[[Syphon Filter]]'' uses a flamethrower. You use it to your advantage - he's slow to turn, and his flamethrower isn't very fireproof.

* [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|The Pyro]] ''[[Team Fortress 2]]''. Apart from the fact that most of [[Ambiguous Gender|his/her/its]] weaponry causes people to be set on fire, the game makes it very clear that the Pyro takes delight in starting said fires: About [[The Unintelligible|the only intelligible thing]] the Pyro can utter is a maniacal laughter made when using the flamethrower.

** Let's not forget the: "PURGE THEM WITH FIRE, PURIFY THEM!!" and "UNLEASH THE GLORY OF THE FLAME" when they are told to attack an enemy.

*** Not to mention the Black Hand infantry in aforementioned game.

{{quote|'''Firebat:''' "''Let's burn.''"}}

** The sequel adds a helpful description text to the firebat in the campaign, claiming that the rate of pyromania in firebat recruits is 'only' around 70% per cent and that recruits tend to be drawn from prisoners with arson sentences. That's a lot of fire-starting crazies...

* A trait in ''[[The Sims]] 3'', which ironically is only found in natural children of NPC firefighters. They can set things on fire, turn fruits into flame fruit, and survive longer while on fire.

 

* ''[[Another Gaming Comic]]'' features the fire-obsessed Nuclear Dan, who dissects every gaming system he comes across to master its use of fire and explosives. His standard reaction to any provocation is to cast Fireball, usually centered on himself.

* Elly from ''[[Nami Warriors]]'' is only happy when she gets to set someone or something on fire.

* In ''[[Kid Radd]]'', the protagonists come across a colony of NPCs who, being invincible, have odd party games one of which is called Blatant Pyromania. It's played by setting yourself on fire. Sheena and Radd get in on it too. Sheena, an NPC, finds it surprisingly fun; Radd has an understandably less enthusiastic opinion.

* In ''[[Nectar of the Gods]]'', Enrique is a Flairtender who spends a lot of his work hours lighting drinks on fire and using it to spit fire. So it's become a sort of reflex of his to light things on fire at random.

* In ''[[Men in Hats]]'', Aram likes setting things on fire, such as [http://www.meninhats.com/d/20020927.html Gamal's] [http://www.meninhats.com/d/20021103.html face] and [http://www.meninhats.com/d/20020923.html "anything with 'do not set on fire' written on it somewhere."]

* Flick from ''[[Sam and Fuzzy]]'' is a possible pyromaniac. [[Played for Laughs]] in that he only sets his own head on fire.

* ''[[Irregular Webcomic]]'' has Kyros, of the Fantasy theme. It rapidly gets to the point where every other member of the party dives for cover when he begins casting a spell. He considers it an aiming problem when he ''only'' hits the things he's pointing the fireball at. Given that the Fantasy theme uses a houserule where XP can only be spent on things the players have practiced using, and all Kyros ever uses is his fireball, this trend is one that never reverses.

 

* In ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'', the Freelancers at one point encounter a flamethrower-wielding [[Elite Mook]] who gives two of their best a serious run for their money in combat. He's only stopped by a Gravity Hammer to the face. Fans have taken to calling him "Sharkface", after his helmet's paintjob.

 

* Beavis from ''[[Beavis and Butthead]]''. "[[Catch Phrase|FIRE! FIRE!]]"

*** in the [[Uncancelled|revival]], Beavis [[And the Fandom Rejoiced|is allowed to say "FIRE! FIRE!" again]].

* In ''[[The Lion King]] 2'', it's pretty obvious that Nuka has some issues even before his "WHOO, FIRE!!!" outburst.

* ''[[Beast Wars]]'': Burn! BURN FOR THE ROYALTY! BUUURRRRRNNNNN! [[Evil Laugh|AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!]]

** Reverend Lovejoy is also implied to have these tendencies, such as his being overenthusiastic towards a burning as well as buying a van whose sole purpose is to burn books.

* Izzy from ''[[Total Drama Island]]'' was the first member of the team to successfully start a fire with a massive explosion while laughing like a lunatic and we later found out she burned down the mess hall at her military camp.

 

* Let's just say that [[Real Life]] Pyromania is very much a case of [[Truth in Television]] and leave it at that. The main difference is that real life pyromania comes in varying degrees of severity (like all mental illnesses); some people merely like fires too much, but can control their compulsions most of the time, while others are the killers you hear about on the news and in mental hospitals.

 

{{reflist}}