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I’m creating a superhero story, and one of the heroes is a character named Joseph Kroger, AKA The Phoenix. He can create fire with mind, and manipulate it. He also has a high tolerance for heat and therefore cannot be severely burned. He also like black leather, motorcycling and whiskey. Fire manipulation, or pyrokinesis, is often exclusively used for offensive fighting. My question is, what possible ways could pyrokinesis be used defensively?

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    $\begingroup$ That sounds a lot like Nicholas Cage in Ghost Rider. $\endgroup$
    – RonJohn
    Aug 14, 2018 at 3:53
  • $\begingroup$ Some abilities just aren't good on the defense, just like some abilities (for example, the ability to build large reinforced concrete forts) aren't very good in the attack. $\endgroup$
    – RonJohn
    Aug 14, 2018 at 3:55
  • $\begingroup$ @RonJohn Unless you can summon large reinforced concrete forts. 20 feet above your enemies. $\endgroup$
    – Corey
    Jan 19, 2021 at 4:29
  • $\begingroup$ @Corey which is of course why I wrote "build", not "summon". $\endgroup$
    – RonJohn
    Jan 19, 2021 at 4:31

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Wall of fire is usually pretty good. Not as good as they hoped here, but still good.

wall of fire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAoShLmdxDE

A firestorm with high winds and fire tornadoes should give attackers pause. They should pause because the wind is towards the fire, through the fire and up; a rough trip. Besides being hot and super windy, there will not be much oxygen left there.

fire tornado http://donaldsweblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/firestorm.html

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Since Joseph has a high heat tolerance, he would be able to shield himself with a wall of fire. Not a shield in the traditional sense of blocking arrows or something, but nobody would want to get near that wall of fire. Assuming he can also control the temperature of the fire, his fire wall could be hot enough to instantly vaporize bullets, so even ranged attacks would be ineffective against him. Unfortunately, such high heat would probably cook anyone near him alive and things like furniture would combust. To remain as non-destructive as possible, he would have to create an energy spike as the bullet entered the fire shield.

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  • $\begingroup$ If you're interested, I can do some of the math for the "melt a bullet" thing and edit my answer. Let me know. $\endgroup$ Aug 12, 2018 at 23:52
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    $\begingroup$ You can check your math here: worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/87229/… $\endgroup$
    – Willk
    Aug 12, 2018 at 23:54
  • $\begingroup$ I know how to do the math and can edit my answer to include it, if anyone is interested. $\endgroup$ Aug 16, 2018 at 2:51
  • $\begingroup$ I am always interested in reading math as applied to physics and made popularly comprehensible. Please add! $\endgroup$
    – Willk
    Aug 16, 2018 at 13:23
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A. Melting/Vaporizing objects

This is self-explanatory. He could radically raise the temperature of incoming projectiles.

B. Flashes/explosions

He could radically increase air temperature, creating bursts of plasma that result in explosions. These could distract the attacker. Simple heated air could also distort their vision.

C. Defensive heating

He could superheat the weapons of his foes, or the magazines of firearms.

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    $\begingroup$ Heating up incoming projectiles may melt or incinerate incoming projectiles but not stop them. It surely reduces the lethality of the projectile but it is still likely to harm you if fast enough. (Also I guess the superhot projectile would incinerate your clothing). I would use this only as a last resort. $\endgroup$
    – kscherrer
    Aug 13, 2018 at 15:50
  • $\begingroup$ @cashbee I was thinking more like vaporizing them, not just melting them. $\endgroup$
    – user49466
    Aug 13, 2018 at 17:58
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    $\begingroup$ The vapor is still mass, with momentum, and is heading straight towards you. $\endgroup$
    – RonJohn
    Aug 14, 2018 at 3:52
  • $\begingroup$ @ronjohn A bullet's worth of gas will lose momentum almost immediately without a solid form. $\endgroup$
    – user49466
    Aug 14, 2018 at 10:11
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    $\begingroup$ Another issue with vaporizing objects: the amount of heat required to instantly (because bullets are incoming fast) is tremendous. Of course, this is superpower fantasyland, so that's not a consideration unless OP wants the power to be limited. $\endgroup$
    – RonJohn
    Aug 14, 2018 at 12:17
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There are actually a few good options:

  1. Replicating Thunder The sound of thunder is caused by the sudden (and extreme) temperature rise caused by the release of potent energy we call a lightning strike. The sudden rise in heat within the surrounding air causes it to expand, quickly and violently. Thus, your pyromancer can do the same thing: by heating a small area very very quickly, he can create a concussive wave. The forceful thrust created by this explosive "bubble" will likely blast the pyromancer backwards, but you know what? It'd also repel his attackers, and could be a neat way to fly. Very loud, though.....not at all stealthy......though I have the feeling your pyromancer isn't the stealthy type.

  2. Intimidation/Interruption Intimidating enemies so they run away instead of fighting is a defensive tactic; it's flawed and can backfire easily, but it is a defensive tactic. Another is pure, simple interruption. Firing at a pyromancer is one thing; firing at a pyromancer when he's lobbing fireballs is quite another. For that matter, can't your pyromancer set fire to his enemy's hair? I guarantee you most people won't be able to aim and fire if their hair is on fire.

  3. Repulsion Very few people would touch a bonfire, right? Well, if your pyromancer raises the ambient temperature to bonfire levels, no sane person would want to be around him. This wouldn't be very helpful against gunmen, but you know what would be? Smoke-which could perfectly well fit into a pyromancer's domain. Clouds of toxic, obscuring smoke will deter attackers and allow your pyromancer to escape with a reasonable chance of avoiding gunfire. Jets of the same could knock back and blind gunmen.

  4. Strategic Combustion Heating the magazines of foes, as User49466 suggested, seems a waste of time and energy. Why do that when you can just ignite the gun powder inside it? Most modern guns, according to everydaycarryconcealed.com, carry the gun powder in the cartridge. Explode that and your opponent is out an entire cartridge, if not dead from the resulting flames and shrapnel.

That should cover it, hope this helps!

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He could use the fire to make the gunpowder in a firearm explode, rendering it useless and possibly injuring/killing the person unlucky enough to be holding it. Or he could firebend an barrier of fire that will vaporize bullets, or wreath himself in flames so that melee attackers cannot land a hit without risking getting burned. Or use the heat of his fires to make his foes too exhausted to fight, and turn them off when they lose consciousness.

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