Human Torch II
Category : Comic Books
Subcategory : Marvel universe
Type : Hero
Game System : DC Heroes (Blood of Heroes S.E.)
The Human Torch II (classic era) v1.4
By Dr. Peter S Piispanen
Source of Character: FF Comics, Marvel
Helper(s): Jay Myers (author of the MC2 part of the writeup), Michael Davis, Jackson,
Roy Cowan, John Colagioia, Gareth Lewis, Paul 'Z' Ewande, Sbastien Andrivet (master
of the destructo-droids), [Link], Marvel Saga Fantastic Four Roster Book.
Reasons: The main statistics for Johnny in this writeup cover the "classic" period from
the mid 70s to Heroes Reborn). Comprehensive notes for the current (2003) and MC2
Torch are included, however.
Game Stuff
The Human Torch
"Flame on!"
The Human Torch
Dex: 06 Str: 03 Bod: 05 Motivation: Thrill of Adventure
Int: 05 Wil: 05 Min: 05 Occupation: Adventurer
Inf: 06 Aur: 05 Spi: 07 Resources {or Wealth}: 005
Init: 019 HP: 110
Powers: Air Control: 05, Bomb: 08, Energy Absorption: 07, Flame Animation: 07, Flame
Being: 07, Flame Control: 13, Flame Immunity: 10, Flame Project: 15, Flame project
(nova flame, see below): 20, Flash: 08, Flight: 07, Fog: 06, Force Field: 07, Force
Manipulation: 10, Split: 08, Temperature Control: 06
Bonuses and Limitations: See below
Skills: Accuracy (Flame Powers): 08, Acrobatics (Aerial, Dodging): 07, Martial Arts: 05,
Gadgetry: 05, Vehicles: 06
Advantages: Area Knowledge (New York), Headquarters (Expansive), Insta-change,
Popularity, Rich Friend (Reed Richards)
Connections: Ant-Man II (High), Fantastic Four (High), Inhumans (Low), Spider-Man
(Low), Wyatt Wingfoot (High), Matthew Murdock (Low), Hero Community (High,
Powerful), Uatu the Watcher (Low, Powerful)
Drawbacks: Public Identity, Loss Vulnerability (see below)
Equipment: ATMO-WEB [BODY 04, Sealed Systems: 04, Bonus: This suit effectively
negates Johnny's Loss Vulnerability and even enables him to use his powers in water or
in vacuum, Duration 12 APs.]
The Torch's flame powers and tactics
The Human Torch is a powerful energy wielder capable of projecting fire (Flame
Project), cover himself in a sheath of flame (Flame Being), with a maximum duration of
17 hours, as well as control the fire in many different ways (Fire Control and derived
effects). While aflame, he's lighter than air and thus capable of free flight (Flight), but
only as long as he's still aflame (-1).
A common trick is to control air currents (Air Control), although the Torch has to be
flying fast in circles or other shapes to do so (-1) - often to buffet opponents with heated
air for various purposes.
All of the Torch's Powers are dependent (i.e. contingent) on his Flame Project (-1) power
and all projected flames have to be guided by hand (No built-in AV for Flame Project). A
very common tactic is to project balls of fire against an opponent (aiming with
Accuracy). He can only empty all of his energy at once in an overwhelming attack (see
Going Nova!, below). His fine-control over his flaming sheath is complete, allowing even
for Partial Flame Being (+1), which is most useful if he's going to catch someone in the
air.
The Torch's energy sheath also has useful protective properties (Force Field), but only as
long as he's aflame (-1). It enables him, but him only (-2), to become more resistant to all
physical attacks.
Johnny has supreme control over all flames (Fire Control) and can even create simple
objects (-2) such as cages out of flame (Force Manipulation, with the Limitation that half
the active APs of Force Manipulation must be used to give the object Flame Being (-2)).
His constructs are not solid, but rather attack anyone touching them with the APs of
Flame Being. APs of Flame Being also serves as the difficulty to extinguish said flames
through appropriate means.
Furthermore, the Human Torch can absorb flames into his own body with no ill effects
(Energy Absorption (Fire/flame only; -2)) and even control temperature levels in his
surroundings (Temperature Control). If Johnny absorbs energy past his normal limit, as in
Pushing, he might have to Go Nova (-0; see Below; GM's call).
Many Torches
The Human Torch II occasionally uses a peculiar combat stunt based on his superior
control over flame. This elaborate trick is to create flame doppelgangers of himself
(Flame Animation). These beings can fool an opponent by presenting several targets at
once and he can let each one of them attack the opponent. These creations are flying,
unintelligent forms of pure flame ; as such, creatures created by Flame Animation possess
neither the STR attribute nor Mystical Stats (-2). also, the Flame Animation's elementals'
APs of Flame Being are equal to their APs of BODY, instead of the normal AURA, and
the elementals have Flight equal to their APs of given DEX).
The Torch can make several independent flame copies at once (Split is Usable on Others
(+5) and doesn't decrease APs of stats for each split created (+5), Split may only be used
on creatures created by, and in conjunction with, Flame Animation (-3)).
The tactic to create many Human Torches requires great concentration and is sparingly
used only (Flame Animation is a Minor Marginal Power (-1)).
Going Nova !
At desperate times Johnny will release all of his energy at once in a powerful nova blast
in order to defeat a superior opponent. The carrier power for this Combination is the
Bomb Power (+1) ; the Torch's second Flame project power is active thorough the Bomb
(+1), and is Diminishing (-1). Both Bomb and the Second Energy blast must be used
together and can only be used together (-1), and must be used at maximum APs (Non-
variable Limitation, -1).
Going nova is very taxing for Johnny and is used as a last resort, with the following
consequences :
Bomb is Catastrophically Fatiguing; -3)
Bomb has Catastrophic Power Burnout ; if Bomb burns out Johnny's Flame
project also burns out, thus triggering a general Burn Out of the Torch's powers
due to the Contingent Limitation.
Bomb is Catastrophically Marginal; -3)
Putting out the Torch :
The second Human Torch is surprisingly easy to extinguish. In the past, he has proven
vulnerable to vacuum, water, strong winds, cold and ice attacks, being smothered in sand,
asbestos blankets and nets, fire-extinguishing foam, rare gases, etc. The Power Loss is
automatic in conditions which do not physically allow for fire (cast in vacuum, in a room
flooded with rare gases, completely submersed) ; in other cases the fire-fighting method
is matched against Johnny's MIND/Flame Being as the OV/RV. Partial RAPs reduce all
of Johnny's Powers by the number of RAPs, while full RAPs trigger a full Power Loss of
all Powers.
During his early career in the FF, a slightly lower Flame Being power and a MIND as low
as 03 made it difficult for Johnny to fight off even relatively light fire fighting measures ;
an increased MIND has since made him harder to put out.
Modern Torch :
After the Heroes Reborn arc, Storm gains the Thermal vision: 08 Power and acquires a
Connection with Namorita (High).
Post-modern Torch
As a bonus, this writeup include a writeup of an older Johnny Storm in the MC2
continuity - at the end of the writeup.
Background
Other aliases: Hothead, Matchstick
Real name: Jonathan 'Johnny' Lowell Storm
Marital Status: Married
Known Relatives: Lyja Lazerfist (wife via illegal marriage as Alicia Masters, presumed
deceased), Alicia Masters (ex-wife), Franklin Storm (father, deceased), Mary Storm
(mother, deceased), Susan Storm-Richards (sister), Reed Richards (brother-in-law),
Franklin Richards (nephew), Valeria 'Val' Richards (niece)
Group affiliation: The Fantastic Four
Base Of Operations: New York City
Height: 5'10'' Weight: 170 lbs
Eyes: Blue Hair: Blond
Powers and Abilities
The Human Torch, who possesses the mental ability to control ambient heat energy, can
transform his body into living flame upon command. His mental control is extremely
good with years of experience behind him; common stunts include blinding flashes or
smoke production, the formation of flame objects, such as fire walls or flame cages, or
even flame duplicates of himself. In this state, he can fly and expel bolts of fire in varying
degrees of intensity, up to a super-charged nova-blast. His uniform and clothing consist of
unstable molecules, enabling him to "flame on" without damaging them in any way.
The years have given Johnny well-honed combat instincts, and he's capable of taking
down larger hoodlums without even using his powers. Always having had an attraction to
fast cars, his hobby is car driving, which he excels at, and his knowledge extends well
from basic mechanics to advanced electronics. In fact, he's good enough to once having
built an anti-aging ray at the verbal instructions of Reed.
History:
Jonathan Storm, the second of two children born to a physician and his wife, grew up
comfortably on Long Island. In high school, he developed an attraction to fast cars and
beautiful girls. But a trip to California to visit his sister -- Susan, an aspiring actress --
forever shattered Johnny's small-town status quo... and offered him the opportunity to
experience the ultimate thrill ride. Sue's fiance and longtime sweetheart, aeronautical
engineer Reed Richards, had designed and fabricated an experimental starship capable of
interstellar travel. When the government threatened to cut off its partial funding of the
project, he chose to make an immediate test flight with best friend Ben Grimm as his
pilot. Rounding out the four-person crew were Sue and Johnny.
In space, the starship unexpectedly encountered intense radiation, causing Johnny and
company to abort the flight. After surviving a crash-landing, all four discovered that the
cosmic rays had mutagenically altered their bodies.. Sue could turn invisible at will,
while Johnny gained the ability to envelop his body is fiery plasma. Ben's transformation
was perhaps the most shocking: He had become an orange-colored, thick-skinned,
heavily muscled, superhumanly strong "thing." Newly elasticized, Reed convinced his
friends that they should use their unique powers for humanity's benefit. Under Mr.
Fantastic's leadership, the Human Torch, Invisible Woman and the Thing continue to
challenge the unknown as the greatest team of adventurers ever assembled: the Fantastic
Four.
Following the freak accident that granted him his powers, Johnny and his sister attempted
to return to their quiet life on Long Island. Johnny tried to finish high school, hoping no
one in the community would realize he was the Human Torch -- a fact that soon proved
impossible to conceal from the townspeople. Upon graduation, he moved to the Fantastic
Four's Baxter Building headquarters in New York City.
Like any family, the members of the FF have endured their share of squabbles. However,
they always manage to right the ship. Never was this fact more evident than when Johnny
began a romantic relationship with Ben's former girlfriend, the blind sculptress Alicia
Masters; the two even married. Though this act strained his relationship with Ben, the
teammates were able to salvage their friendship. Later, "Alicia" was revealed to be Lyja,
one of the alien race of shapeshifting Skrulls. Pregnant with Johnny's child, she claimed
to have fallen in love with him. But Johnny felt betrayed, and he was unable to face her.
During a mission to rescue the true Alicia from the Skrull homeworld, Lyja apparently
was killed. Johnny and the Fantastic Four returned to Earth, where he has continued his
adventures as one of the most eligible bachelors of the superhuman set.
Description:
Johnny Storm is a slenderly built, blond, young male often seen in a suit or in the blue
FF-uniform, which, by the way, is made of unstable molecules like many of his ordinary
clothes, and thus won't burn up from the use of his powers.
As the Human Torch he resembles a fully burning humanoid in reddish flames with his
features only slightly visible. When much less experienced with his powers his flame
form was much less focused and changed between yellow, orange and red fire colors. See
Illo for more details.
Personality
Usually the first to dive into battle or try to right wrongs, Johnny Storm is the
adventuresome spirit of the Fantastic Four. His brash and impulsive nature has earned
him the nickname "Hothead". Always seeking to be the center of attention, he is known
for flashy maneuvers in combat and his well-known battle cry, "Flame on!". Johnny
normally has good control over his powers, but if someone he loves is threatened or
killed, he may lose his temper and lash out. Anyone who dares to harm one of the other
FF members, especially his sister Sue, is likely to get the Torch flaming mad (pun
intended).
His hobbies includes flying around the city, dating women & chasing skirt, attending
various public events, jesting around and tormenting the Thing and driving really fast
hotrods. Despite his many romantic setbacks over the years, Johnny believes in true love,
and he pursues this goal with considerable zeal.
DC Universe History:
Marvel's "First Family" works best as an original group, of course, and if added to the
DCU, should be kept as close to their "native" history and prominence as possible-- see
the "FF & Superman timelines" articles in WORG for examples.
If, however, only Johnny is desired, then young Johnny Storm stowed away on astronaut
Hank Henshaw's fateful mission that turned him into the Cyborg. Johnny survived the
crash, though only barely, but quickly recovered and discovered that he had developed
powerful flame-based abilities.
His power and courage easily won him an early spot with the Teen Titans, but he broke
with them a few short years later over an argument with visiting Russian hero Starfire
(later known as Red Star). Johnny spent several years in solo adventures, only to return to
the Titans at the request of former teammate Roy Harper, once known as Speedy, and
now known as Arsenal. Harper needed to keep the team together in the transition to
government operation, and felt that Johnny was well- suited to the environment (the
Human Torch replaces Green Lantern's appearances during this time).
Since the disbanding of that group of Titans, Johnny has once again gone solo. The loss
of his wife (a white Martian spy, who accidentally died, the first time he activated his
powers in her presence) has made him more serious, recently, and there is some
speculation that he may have actually become Earth's latest Fire Elemental.
The Human Torch II in the MC2 alternate future
Change to Motivation: Upholding the good
Additional Skills: Charisma (Persuasion): 07
Additional Advantages: Leadership
Changes to Connections: Fantastic Five (High), Peter Parker / Spider-Man I (High),
Cassie Lang Ph.D. / Stinger III (High)
Additional drawbacks: Dependant (Torus Storm)
Changes to Alias : Hothead, Matchstick, John, Johnny
Changes to Known relatives: Lyja Storm (wife, aka Ms. Fantastic), Torus Storm (son, aka
Super Storm), Franklin Richards (nephew, aka Psi-Lord)
Changes to Group affiliation: The Fantastic Five
Changes to History -
John Storm is the younger brother of Susan Storm-Richards and the only son of Dr.
Franklin and Mary Storm. His mother Mary died in a car crash when John was very
young and his father was imprisoned for murder although John was told that he had died
and wouldn't learn otherwise until shortly before Dr. Storm's actual death many years
later. Despite how his mother had died John developed a love of automobiles and racing.
Spending most of his free time with garage mechanics, he quickly learned how to repair
cars and modify them to improve their performance.
At sixteen, John went out to Central City, California, to visit his sister. When he learned
of the unauthorized maiden flight of Reed Richard's starship, John insisted on coming
along. After the creation of the FF, John and Sue returned to Long Island. There he
managed to graduate from high school while simultaneously learning to be a super hero.
After graduation, John attended Metro College for a year before dropping out and moving
into the Baxter Building with the others.
John had a series of romantic flings with various women through the years in his youth.
Former girlfriends include Dorrie Evans, Crystal, Lorrie Melton, Frankie Raye, Julie
Angel, and Sharon Selleck. He met his wife Lyja when she replaced Alicia Masters, then
the Thing's girlfriend, in order to spy on the Fantastic Four for the Skrull military. They
soon fell in love with each other and married but separated after her true identity was
discovered. At some murky point in the past they reconciled and the team expanded to
become the Fantastic Five. They now a young son named Torus.
Approximately ten years ago, shortly before Torus' birth, the Fantastic Five had their final
battle with Hyperstorm who was opening a rift between the Negative Zone and Earth.
Reed, Sue, Ben, John, and Franklin traveled into the Negative Zone only to be stymied by
Hyperstorm's rocky constructs. Franklin launched a massive psionic assault against his
son from an alternate future and was himself attacked on every conceivable plane of
existence. After a lengthy battle with the rest of the FF standing by watching Franklin
was able to destroy Hyperstorm's mind although at the cost of most of his Gawd-like
abilities. At this point Mr. Fantastic noticed that Hyperstorm's machine had begun
opening the fatal rift. Unable to shut it down in time Richards instead set it to over load.
His wife Sue rushed next to him to use her invisible force field to protect them both but to
no avail. Guessing that the radiation would pass through the force field just as light does
Reed wrapped his malleable body around Sue and saved her from harm by taking the
brunt of it himself and was crippled. While the rift had stopped growing it hadn't shut and
still threatened all life on Earth so Sue once again used her force field to plug the rift.
Unable to drop her force field for even an instant Sue was forced to remain in the
Negative Zone. Reed remained with her and built a suspended animation tank for her that
would automatically maintain her force field while she remained in stasis. Eventually an
entire space station was build around Sue to protect her and allow Reed to work on
closing the rift inch by tortuous inch. The public was told nothing of what happened to
Reed and Sue. With Reed and Sue incapacitated John was forced to finally grow up. He
assumed the leadership of the Fantastic Five has since shown himself to be mature and
capable in both that role and as a father.
After several months, Reed modified the designs for HERBIE to create a robotic
surrogate that he could use to interact with the world and participate in the FF's
adventures. Named Big Brain, the public was allowed to believe that this shell contained
Reed's actual brain and that Sue was dead. The purpose of this deception was to prevent
anyone from looking for Reed and Sue because if they found the Fantastistation and
disrupted the equipment of Sue's chamber it would be the Earth's doom. Even so, this has
almost happened on at least one occasion. The Wingless Wizard penetrated the deception
surrounding Big Brain and managed to get himself and a lackey inside the Fantastistation
but was stopped by the security system and placed in suspended animation. Recently
Reed has adopted a humaniform design for Big Brain V2.0.
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