Thomas Raymond was born in New York City to parents who were laboratory assistants to Phineas Horton, creator of the original Human Torch.

Toro himself was found at the site of the accident by a traveling circus completely unscathed despite the blaze from the wreckage raging around him.

[3] Eventually the circus is visited by the Human Torch, and as he draws closer to Toro the younger man's flame powers fully emerge.

These were originally thought to be caused by his parents' exposure to radiation prior to his conception, making Toro a genetic mutant.

[11] Reed Richards confirmed that these cells interfered with the natural expression of his mutant powers, causing him to mimic the Human Torch.

Where previously he "subconsciously duplicated" the Human Torch's appearance, now Toro's body was composed of pink, gaseous, chemical flame.

[8] Toro's metabolism is enhanced when he activates his flame powers, once recovering from heart surgery within a few minutes,[13] and once healing extensive damage inflicted by the Mad Thinker's experiments to the point that open wounds healed and scarred over in the time it took him to fly from the North Atlantic Ocean to New York City.

He is a member of the Young Allies of Counter-Earth, who can transform into a super-strong Minotaur-like humanoid (toro means "bull" in Italian and in Spanish).