The Birth: St. John Allerdyce used to be a news journalist who covered Asian hot spots. Later became a best selling author of sleazy romance novels and action adventures. Why he actually went into crime is a question that no-one yet knows. Allerdyce was a mutant from birth and apparently became Pryo at the request of Mystique.

The Legend: After adopting the name Pyro, he followed Mystique; becoming a member of the of Evil Mutants and later into the government team Freedom Force.
He never bothered to conceal his identity to the public, and also continued to enjoy top space as one of the best selling authors.
While his main enemies have always been the X-Men and the New Mutants, he has also wrestled with the Avengers as well as with Daredevil.
He is also infected with the Legacy Virus that affects only mutants. His fatal condition has made him somewhat retrospective, leading to a near-reconciliation with the X-Men that was spoiled when Avalanche snatched him away from the meeting.
When Mystique tried to prevent an assassination attempt on Graydon Creed, he was her back-up. Pyro has a close friendship with fellow mutant and Brotherhood alumni the Blob; relations with another close friend, Avalanche, are somewhat strained since Avalanche left Allerdyce and the Blob behind during a Gulf War raid in Iraq.

Pyro has the mutant ability to control fire. Since he can't generate fire himself, he wears an insulated costume with flame-shooters in his wrists in order to produce flames on demand, and also to protect himself from the occasional fire that gets too hot to handle. Pyro can be very whimsical with his fiery creations, often forming the flames into representations of birds or giant fists, or even portraits of people. As his disease progresses, Allerdyce has experienced concentration lapses that lessen his influence over fire.