He was created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne and introduced in The Uncanny X-Men #141 (January 1981) as part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

The assassination is thwarted, and at a later date the Brotherhood become agents of the US government in exchange for a full pardon, and the team becomes known as the Freedom Force.

An Americanized version of Pyro named John Allerdyce appeared in the X-Men film franchise produced by 20th Century Fox.

[3] As part of the Dawn of X initiative, Pyro subsequently starred in the Marauders series in October 2019 alongside Kitty Pryde, Iceman, Emma Frost, Storm and Bishop.

[citation needed] Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, St. John Allerdyce is a mutant who possesses the elemental power to control fire and flame, though not generate it.

Mystique's Brotherhood later offered the team's services to the United States government in exchange for protection and an official pardon for its crimes, and was renamed Freedom Force.

[12] He and Blob under Spiral's orders attempted to capture a young mutant girl named Amanda, but were defeated by Daredevil.

[14] During Freedom Force's final mission, the team confronts a group of Iraqi operatives known as Desert Sword in Kuwait.

[17] He went to great lengths to find a cure (encountering Cecilia Reyes at one point[18]), several times at the expense of others, but was unsuccessful in his search and succumbed to the virus.

[19] During the "Necrosha" storyline, Pyro is resurrected by means of the Transmode Virus to serve as part of Selene's army of deceased mutants.

[20] Pyro was confirmed to have remained alive after the events of "Necrosha" as he battled both the original adult Iceman and the time-displaced teenage version in an attack in New York City, the older Bobby Drake confirming to his younger self that Pyro was indeed the original Australian version back from the dead.

[23] Introduced in X-Men Gold by Marc Guggenheim and Ardian Syaf, Simon Lasker is an American teenage mutant who manifested pyrokinesis by accidentally burning down his high school building and killing everyone inside it.

Suddenly appearing before him in the form of Professor X, a somehow-repowered Mesmero brainwashed him into becoming the new Pyro and to join his Brotherhood of Mutants which was secretly funded by anti-mutant activist Lydia Nance.

When Mesmero stated that the Brotherhood of Mutants are still under Lydia Nance's paycheck, Pyro took his leave since he did not want to work for an anti-mutant activist.

[28] After finding the Xavier Institute for Mutant Education and Outreach, Pyro revealed his history to the X-Men and wanted to join up with them.

[volume & issue needed] St. John Allerdyce is a mutant who has the Elemental power to manipulate flame by shaping it as he desires, increasing or decreasing its heat, intensity and size.

However, as he cannot actually create fire himself, he consequently wears a specially insulated costume with a built-in flamethrower that can throw a stream of flame a maximum distance of 25 feet (7.6 m).

[31] Simon Lasker has the mutant ability to elementally generate, control and manipulate fire; similar to the original Pyro.

Here Pyro retains his background as a writer and a sentimental side; he briefly crafts a tiny pixie out of the flame from a match, commenting to the Vanisher, "I used to write Gothic romances.

[33] In Marvel Adventures Spider-Man, the Human Torch shows up at Midtown High for a demonstration, but loses control of his powers.

[volume & issue needed] Pyro has apparently defected from the Xavier Institute to Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants, as he and Mastermind are shown capturing the superhero Valkyrie in The Ultimates 3 #4.