- “So maybe Amber's got this power. To make herself be on fire. Like the Human Torch, only it hurts. ”
- ―Xander[src]
Pyrokinesis was the ability to create and/or manipulate fire. Magic practitioners were able to achieve pyrokinesis through spells,[1] while certain demons and other supernatural creatures had this as a natural ability.[2][3]
Variations[]
Fire conjuration[]
Fire conjuration was the general ability to create fire by magic.
- Xander once accidentally set a book on fire by reading out the words "librum incendere."[4]
- Willow once magically lit a barbecue, conjuring "ignis incende." She mentioned that a witch who performed this spell had to be careful to balance the elements.[1] Years later, she used the same spell to escape the grasp of a demon by lighting it on fire.[5]
Tara conjures fire.
- Tara used a fire spell offensively against the Hellions, albeit to little effect.[6]
- During her time as a dark witch, Willow created a fireball from the wreckage of the Magic Box and make it track down Andrew and Jonathan destroy them. Though Buffy managed to save them, the ball caused a rather large impact, breaking a hole into the ground and trapping Buffy and Dawn within it.[7]
- After killing a number of people at the Sky Temple, the Beast used their corpses to form the Eye of Fire, thus conjuring a rain of fire.[8]
- Gunn mentioned that Angel had banished a clan of pyro warlocks into a hell dimension.[9]
- Wesley conjured fireballs in his hand while fighting Cyvus Vail.[10]
Organic[]
Having a body consisting of fire, granting them fire-related powers.
- By 1999, Angel mentioned to have fighting fire demons with Buffy in a cave next to Sunnydale beach.[11]
A creature has fiery fists.
- As part of the Demon Trials, Spike had to fight a creature with fiery fists.[12]
- Beck was granted with pyrokinesis when she bonded with a fire elemental.[13]
- Lorelahn had fiery arms, which he used to fight.[14][3]
- A unidentified female demon working for Mal Fraser had a body constituted by a green and fluorescent flame. Faith eliminated her by throwing her a gas lighter.[2]
Incineration[]
Incineration referred to completely destroying an object's or being's structure by engulfing it with heat or flames.
- The Judge could burn the humanity out of any being. This would cause the victim to literally burn and disintegrate in a matter of seconds. However, beings without any sense of humanity were safe, as with the case of Angel while without a soul.[15]
Willow incinerates Warren's corpse.
- After killing Warren, Willow set his body alight, causing it to burn into nothing.[16] However, Amy kept his body unharmed yet still skinned, making the illusion that his body was destroyed.[17]
- The lower being D'Hoffryn was able to kill one of his own vengeance demons, Halfrek, by having her burst into flames until nothing was left.[18]
Combustion[]
Combustion referred to causing an object or person to spontaneously catch fire.
- Catherine made Amber's hands spontaneously combust during an audition for the Sunnydale High cheerleading squad.[19]
- According to Giles, rage was a common cause to spontaneous combust when the person was terribly angry or upset.[19]
- The demon Sweet could alter reality in an area to make its people burst out song and dance. This living musical would cause some individuals to dance so intensely they would combust in flames and burn to death. This happened to an unidentified tap dancer and almost to Buffy during her performance of "Something to Sing About."[20]
Heat generation[]
Heat generation was the ability to raise temperature and emit heat.
- The females of the Oden Tal species could generate heat due to their ko, allowing them to fry other beings to death with a touch. This was uncontrollable during the stages of maturation and they were required to be kept in cold containment.[21]
- When Willow was after Warren, he managed to trap her in some sort of cage made of water. Channeling magic through her eyes, Willow generated heat, causing the cage to break down.[16]
Fire breathing[]
Fire breathing was the ability to release a stream of fire from one's mouth.
A possessed Dawn breaths fire.
- When Dawn was briefly possessed by the Child of Words, she attacked the other Scoobies by breathing fire at them.[22]
- Dragons, like Cordelia[23] and Shenlong,[24] were able to breath fire.
Others[]
- The Lowell House poltergeist was able to cause the fire of the fireplace be thrown on a student.[25]
- The two-headed demon in the sewers beneath Kenyard School for Girls was described by Cordelia Chase to have the ability to breathe fire. Closer inspection by both Wesley and Gunn proved the demon was producing fire from somewhere else, possibly from its behind.[26]