Torch Runner

Age: 18 (24 mentally)

Height: 5'9"

Powers: -Fire manipulation 

-Can summon fire so long as there is oxygen around him

-The heat and power of his flames are dependent on his emotional state. (The angrier he gets, the stronger he becomes.) Temperatures can reach upwards of 3,000° F. Enraged, it is comparable to the temperatures of the Sun's photosphere. However, the full potential of his enraged form has yet to be seen.

-Can achieve flight via boosting himself from his hands and feet like natural rocket thrusters.

-Is weak to any area that is a vacuum and extreme cold. Is susceptible to drowning.

-Enraged Form (AKA The Scorched King) is a monstrous form of pure flaming energy, that when activated throws Torch Runner into an uncontrollable rage. It cannot be stopped easily, as it is resistant to many methods of flame extinguishing. If left to his own devices, the Scorched King is a catastrophic threat to any cities that lie in his wake.

Born in the coastal city of Busan, Jeong Min-Joon came from a well off family that had strong connections to the Korean music industry. He lived a life of luxury as a result, getting the best education that could be offered and opportunities constantly came his way. As a result, he excelled at a faster rate than the students around him. He gained a cocky attitude and knew he was protected no matter what.

He was also a very talented singer for his age, as many of his female classmates gushed over him constantly. His family, seeing an opportunity, decided the best thing he could do is to join an idol group.

So, at the age of 16, Min-Joon auditioned to become part of an upcoming group named "STARSHINE".

Amazed by his singing and natural charisma, he was chosen out of all the other auditioners who came that day. Min-Joon was no more and became "Juni", the final member of the 5 man group.

It seemed like nothing would ever go wrong for Min-Joon, as he started his new career in the hit K-pop group. That was...until one year later, just after his birthday...

A week after he turned 17 and returned to the tour, he began feeling strange. He felt his body feel hotter than usual, as a slight headache began to afflict him.

Immediately after a concert, it became so bad he could barely perform their set. And the fans definitely noticed.

But no matter what happened, doctors couldn't find anything wrong with his health. He insisted on performing regardless for their last location, even as the heat grew worse. No one even noticed that he left the metal bed he sat on glowing red where he touched it.

The rumors about him began to fly, as very quickly his reputation began to crumble to the fans. He knew they would be at risk for their first black ocean reaction, so he persevered on with their final performance.

This was when his world went completely up him flames...

At the beginning of their set, they were met with the dreaded black ocean, as Min-Joon finally came face to face with something he was never accustomed to in life: Failure.

The headache returned with a vengeance, as he keeled over in anguish. His emotions flooded over him, as his band mates went over to check if he was okay.

That's when he exploded in a great display of burning fire, his body becoming completely made of flames. His band mates were incinerated in the blast, as the concertgoers screamed in terror and scrambled for the exits.

Min-Joon was disoriented, angry, and worst of all, thirsty for blood. In this form, he torched any living thing around him as he broke through the arena to the streets outside. There, his rampage truly began.

He was a monster of pure rage, overtaken by the flaming desire to destroy everything around him. And he would have, had it not been for the quick response of the superhuman defense forces sent by the Korean government.

Lured over to the shores of the beach, he had fought relentlessly until he was taken out by a flame-suffocating substance that encased him completely.

Since he was flying away at the time, he fell several hundred feet into the ocean and was never recovered again...

When he woke up, Min-Joon found himself laying on a small island that had a tropical forest surrounding a great volcano.

Just in front of him was an ancient looking village with a strange symbol on their gates...as two women came forward to greet him. They had on ancient looking clothes, yet spoke to him in his language.

Frightened, he tried to back away from them but was quickly reassured he was in a safe space. When he asked where he was, he was only told the name of the island: Tamna.

The name felt familiar to him...like something he could've swore he remembered learning of in his history books. The two women took him into the village, as he quickly realized that there were others around him training with fire abilities. Soon he was taken to see the village leader, a goddess who went by the name of "The Hearthkeeper". That was where he was given the truth about his newfound powers.

His family had come from an ancient lineage of firebending guardians of the island, serving the Hearthkeeper dutifully for generations. Until one day, one of the young men of the family had fallen for a stranger who had lost her way onto the island. Despite the warnings from the Hearthkeeper, the young man eventually ran off with this stranger, never to return again. In a fit of rage, she punished the family by stripping them of their powers completely and exiling them out of the island forever. A curse was placed on the runaway son, that one day a child from his lineage will regain their power as a force of destruction. A threat to all life around them.

But after centuries upon centuries of reflection and regret, the Hearthkeeper had realized that in anger she had doomed the lives of innocent mortals. So when Min-Joon manifested his curse, she knew at that moment she needed to rectify her mistake and train him to control his power and his emotions.

Min-Joon was understandably enraged and would've lashed out at this goddess, had she not quelled his fire with her divine power. She knew that alongside his anger, he felt terrified and lost. He could never return back home after what he had done, as well as him slowly coming to terms with the carnage he had caused.

The Hearthkeeper felt great pity for Min-Joon, as she reassured him that with training he will be able to control his fire and never have to experience that form ever again.

For what felt like years, Min-Joon had trained and faced adversity for the first time in his life. Testing his resolve and breaking his pampered conditioning.

Through techniques, he had learned to harness his powers and use it for offensive and defensive maneuvers. Through special meditations, he learned to quell his growing inner rage. He knew if his anger was ever allowed to grow, he would risk becoming that monster yet again.

Years of hard training finally turned him into a master of pyromancy, as he became a man who was ready to face the internal war against his cursed form.

The Hearthkeeper knew he was finally ready, but he couldn't stay on the island. And she had already grown older throughout the centuries on the island. Her power could only grant Min-Joon safe passage through the vast ocean to a new world.

With a heavy heart, Min-Joon said his goodbyes as he had become accustomed to life on the island and had found close companions throughout his training. He was even courting a woman at the time and was planning to marry her. He gave her a promise that he will return one day, and nothing will ever erase the memory of her. He left her the last remnant of his past life he had left...a STARSHINE pin.

In return, she gave him a mask she used for ceremonial dances in her youth. The two embraced one last time, and soon he was off in a small wooden boat.

The Hearthkeeper, using all her power she had, placed a spell on his boat as he sailed away from the island at blinding speeds. He quickly lost consciousness during the trip, and reawakened as a young adult once more.

What felt like years of training on the island only passed as one year in our time! His boat stuck out from the Californian sands as he was getting up from the beach he crash landed into.

Not wasting any time, Min-Joon quickly began to make his way to the closest fire station using his powers to fly over the city ahead of him.

Using his training, he had snuck into the station to steal a specialized flame retardant suit and a pair of flame resistant boots. He knew that he had a duty now to use his powers for good, and to not let it control him for bad. From that day, he had become a drifting vigilante. A warrior of Tamna, and the Hearthkeeper's champion:

THE TORCH RUNNER