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Wreathed in Flames

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Of the four, girls find him the hottest.

Dr. McNinja: Oh, alright, the ninja poseurs out there now? They light you on fire? I guess I can spare a sec to get nuts on some punkers.
Dan McNinja: No. I lit myself on fire. Anyway, I got in pretty deep, and now these tootlepuffs are trying to get me all the time.
Dr. McNinja: You. Lit. Yourself. On fire. Why did you light yourself on fire.
Dan McNinja: Huh? Seriously? Because. They can't grab me if I'm on fire.
— The Adventures of Dr. McNinja

A subtrope of Playing with Fire.

A character has the ability to set their whole body ablaze with flames. Different from Man on Fire, as the latter trope involves that person being harmed by said fire. Because fire is awesome, this makes the character automatically awesome. If they can turn it on or off, expect them to enjoy showing off via Finger-Snap Lighter. May be a form of Battle Aura. Flaming Hair is a subtrope of this, where a person can only ignite their hair, as well as Elemental Punch, where the character primarily lights their fists on fire to exploit Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors. By their nature, the character is not harmed by setting themselves on fire — they have the Required Secondary Powers.

If the character becomes fire and is not simply covered in it, then the trope is Elemental Shapeshifter. May count as Elemental Armor. An extreme part of Burning with Anger.

Examples

    open/close all folders 

    Anime & Manga 
  • The Winged Dragon of Ra in Yu-Gi-Oh! does this. They call his ignited form a God Phoenix.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V:
    • When Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend is equipped with Engrave Soul Light and gains the opponent's ATK, Scarlight's body is covered in flames.
    • Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon covers itself and its controller with flames when it attacks.
  • Naruto
  • My Hero Academia: Endeavor the Flame Hero. Outsite home he is always on fire. It’s most dramatically shown during his battle with All For One and some Nomu. He propels himself skyward in a jet of flames and incinerates the Nomu with Plus Ultra Prominence Burn, a hugely powerful explosive release of flame.
  • Fire magic users on Kaze no Stigma do this often.
  • Fairy Tail: Natsu's Flames Of Emotion gives him this effect.
    • During the Grand Magic Games, one the dragons who comes out of the Eclipse Gate, Atlas Flame, has fire literally in place of skin, giving off the overall impression of a burning dragon skeleton.
  • Tsuna of Reborn! (2004) has his hands and forehead covered by Sky Flames when he goes Hyper Dying Will Mode.
  • In Bleach the Head Captain of Soul Society Yamamoto has this ability as his Bankai. A flame 15,000,000 degrees (almost as hot as the core of the sun itself) envelops his body acting as a shield that nothing can penetrate and incinerates everything in its path. Yamamoto claims this flame is so powerful that even he can't control it, if it burns for too long it will consume him and all of Soul Society.
  • Ace and Marco from One Piece get this when fighting with their Devil fruit powers, although both have slight twists; Ace is literally made of flames, being a logia user, and Marco's fire is blue, and heals him over time, since it's the flames of a phoenix. Marco's flames are also only capable of healing, as they aren't hot nor spread like normal fire, and thus incapable of damaging enemies, according to Word of God.
    • Sanji, post-timeskip, is now able to weaponize his emotions: His Hell Memories attack consists of remembering his painful time in Kamabakka Kingdom, start Burning with Anger, and deliver an insanely powerful kick as a result. In addition to that, he even gets a non-canon variation in Film Z, where he instead sets himself ablaze with memories of Nami's sexiness.
  • Starjun from Toriko used this to burn down a tent around him during the Cooking Fest, he called it "Camp Fire".
  • The climax of the Violence Jack: Hell's Wind OVA has Jack burst out of the ground covered in flames to utterly thrash the Hell's Wind biker gang after one of them tries to kill him by shooting a rocket-propelled grenade at him which sends him into a tanker truck that then promptly explodes.
  • Near the very end of Magic Knight Rayearth, Hikaru's body is completely covered in fire (her personal element) as a result of becoming (briefly) the Pillar of Cephiro. It's hard to say where she ends and the fire begins, so she's listed under Elemental Shapeshifter too.
  • The main character of Blue Exorcist, Rin Okumura, is an Anti Anti Christ. He becomes enveloped in blue flames (as well as gaining other demonic features) when he draws his magic sword, which is actually a Power Nullifier.
  • Ilulu's full dragon form is never properly seen in Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, however the deluxe version of Dragon Maid S Volume 5 depicts her as a fire drake coated in pink flames.
  • In Tales of Wedding Rings, the Abyss Knight who attacks the Land of Fire is surrounded by magical flames hot enough to melt any sword swung at him. Satou manages to defeat the Knight by extinguishing his flames with the Ring of Wind, leaving him vulnerable.

    Comic Books 

    Fan Works 

    Film — Animation 

    Film — Live-Action 

    Literature 
  • The Balrog in The Lord of the Rings is described as a shadow in the shape of a Winged Humanoid shrouded in flames and wielding a flaming sword.
  • Hellion from Super Minion. She doesn't tend to completely burst into flames unless she's either in combat or very agitated, but even normally she radiates heat and lets off the occasional ember or tongue of flame.
  • Semirhage from The Wheel of Time uses this as a disguise (though it is probably only an illusion).
  • Katniss of The Hunger Games is called the girl who was on fire for a reason. This is applied literally in Mockingjay when she is caught up in the fireball that kills several medics - including her 13-year-old sister, who becomes "a human torch" according to Katniss.
  • Red of Monster can do this.
  • Firebirds of Russian mythology (not to be confused with The Phoenix, though they have several similarities). Depending on the version, they were either literally on fire or just glow-in-the-dark. Most people assume the former, since it's infinitely more badass.
    • For that matter, the original phoenix was a perfectly normal-looking bird, with fire only getting involved when it died/was reborn. Most modern incarnations ignore this and light it on fire 24/7 because — well, because it's awesome.
  • In The Dresden Files book Ghost Story, Harry learns that things work a bit differently now that he's a ghost. Sort of. When he gets angry, his entire body starts to burn, and it actually blisters him.
  • Happens occasionally in the Tales of the Branion Realm series, where the royal family are also avatars of a fire god. Usually happens in battle or when they're angry, and has the side effect of painting any wood around them a permanent red.
  • Leo from The Heroes of Olympus pulls this off in the climax of The Lost Hero, when fighting Khione, the winter goddess.
  • Senneth Brassenthwaite from the Twelve Houses series does this from time to time, sometimes as a method of combat, sometimes just to make a point.
  • Phoenixes in Daybreak on Hyperion and can grant this abilities to their bonded companions, the Oriflamme Paladins. The Oriflamme Armigers who accompany the paladins have their cloaks enchanted to look like this as well, but that's just a magical illusion while the paladins get the real thing.
  • Tori Rivas, the protagonist of Forging Hephaestus, has this as her power. Unlike some other examples, she can't fly. However, by becoming living flame, her body is virtually invulnerable to most damage. The ability turns on instinctively, if she's in danger, but she can engage it on demand as well. She has also trained herself to throw precise fireballs, such as lighting a cigarette from a room away without singing the fingers of the person holding it. When she joins the Guild of Villainous Reformation, she is told that each Council member represents a certain group of villains. In her case, she's split between the representative of Freak Lab Accident metahumans and the representative of Gadgeteer Geniuses, as she plans to use her science skills to build mechanical suits for herself.
  • In The Divine Comedy, the saints from Mars and onwards are wreathed in holy spirit-flame that makes them resemble shooting stars as they burn with Christ's Love.
  • The Great Divorce: One of two angels that appear in the book's version of Heaven is a giant humanoid covered in flames, flames hot enough to painfully burn a nearby ghost and cause discomfort to the protagonist, even at a distance. But interestingly, when the ghost becomes a solid Person thanks to this fiery angel's help, he thanks the angel by embracing his feet, and doesn't seem harmed by the flames at that point.

    Live-Action TV 
  • A villainous super in No Ordinary Family can do this, as well as throw fireballs. He's defeated by being buried in sand.
  • Mahou Sentai Magiranger: Magired does this during his "Red Fire Phoenix" Finishing Move.
  • Similarly, Kamen Rider OOO in his TaJaDor form's Finishing Move.
  • Certain Makai Knights from GARO are able to wreath their armor in magical flames. This also allows them to throw said fire towards enemies.
  • The serial killer in episode 5 of Hannibal sees each of his victims as having their head consumed in flames.
  • In the Supernatural episode "Home", the thing in the closet is the ghost of a familiar figure who is initially obscured by flames.
  • Grimm: One wesen criminal has the ability to transform into a human torch. He uses it for arson in insurance fraud, then he starts killing everyone associated because he doesn't care about money, just making stuff burn more famously. Nick and company make him explode to death in self-defense.

    Pinball 

    Roleplay 
  • In Dawn of a New Age: Oldport Blues, pyrokinetic Michal is capable of covering his entire body in flames, as he and the rest of the cast find out when he panics and activates it by accident. Everyone then trips over themselves trying to put it out.

    Tabletop Games 
  • Dungeons & Dragons
    • The Crimson Coat of Iphazz allows a character to do this in.
    • Fire Shield spells.
    • In 1st Edition the Type VI demon could immolate (create flames around itself). In 2nd Edition demons were renamed "Tanar'ri", the Type VI demon was renamed the "Balor" and its flaming protection was always on. It was based on Tolkien's Balrog (and was actually named Balrog in early editions of the game).
  • Exalted features the Fire-aspected Dragon-Blooded, who do this whenever their Battle Aura reaches a certain level.
  • Rifts has the Burster class. They are psychics who specialize in pyrokinesis. They get their name for their most impressive psychic power, which is to surround themselves in a flaming aura.
  • Shadowrun: Flame jackals can shroud themselves in an aura of flames, which they use to intimidate and drive off rivals and potential predators.
  • Games Workshop games:
    • Warhammer: The 7th Edition model for Bright Wizards, Imperial mages who use the Lore of Fire, shows them shrouded in blazing flames.
    • Warhammer 40,000:
      • The mysterious and ghostly Legion of the Damned Space Marines are depicted as being wreathed in spectral flames. How this is represented is up to the artist and can range from just their greaves and shoulder-pads to being completely wreathed in flames.
      • The Flame Falcons, a Chapter of the 21st Founding, manifested the mysterious ability to cover themselves in flame that would burn their enemies yet leave themselves and their allies unscathed. The Chapter viewed this mutation as a gift from the Emperor, but the Inquisition did not agree and ordered the Chapter destroyed by the Grey Knights. Although officially declared Excommunicate Traioris and destroyed, there have been some reports of mysterious flame wreathed Astartes in the colours of the Flame Falcons fighting the enemies of the Imperium.
      • The "Flickering Flame" Psychic Power, from the 8th Edition discipline of Tzeentch, allows the caster to cover its minions with flickering pink and blue flame that enhances the unit's ranged attacks.
      • Black Crusade, a licenced RPG, has the Flaming Skull mutation; they gain the "Fear" trait meaning they understandably terrify those around them, including their own comrades,, and lose Fellowship (the local charisma-equivalent statistic) in the process. Considering the characters are insane heretics and worshipers of the Chaos Gods, this is thought of as (and is listed as) a gift.

    Toys 

    Video Games 
  • The Legend of Zelda: Several types of fiery enemies, such as bubbles, fire chuchus, fire keeleons, fire keese and torch slugs, are shrouded in fiery auras that will damage Link on contact and which may burn away wooden gear. In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, fire chuchus and fire keese in particular serve as constant sources of fire, and one of the primary difficulties in dealing with them is that they leave wide trails of burning grass and foliage behind themselves as they move.
  • Paper Mario: The Origami King: The Fire Vellumental's feathers are constantly burning, making it impossible for Mario to harm it with physical attacks unless he douses its flame with the Water Vellumental's tidal wave.
  • Planescape: Torment: Ignus. Originally a Man on Fire, the fire did not really kill him. So he's now this.
  • Pokémon: Some Fire-type Pokémon are covered in flames, like Moltres or Rapidash. Several Fire-types have this to a lesser degree, like Emboar (who has a beard of flame) and Normal Mode Darmanitan (who has flaming eyebrows.) The moves Flare Blitz which deals a lot of damage at the cost of recoil to the user, Flame Charge which boosts speed every time it's used, Heat Crash (aforementioned Emboar's signature move) which deals more damage the heaver the user is than the opponent, and Flame Wheel involve tackling the opponent while in this state. Also, some of the Pokémon that fit this trope have the Flame Body ability, which has a chance of burning an opponent who makes direct contact with it.
  • Twisted Wonderland: Rollo Flamme's unique magic turns him into a being covered in black fire.
  • Halo:
    • Halo 3: In online multiplayer, you know what the quickest and easiest way to identify an employee of Bungie Studios is? They'll be wearing Hayabusa armor....that's on fire. This is a reference to a famous description of Halo 2, given by Bungie while it was still under development, "Halo 2 is a lot like Halo 1, except it's Halo 1 on fire going 120 miles per hour through a hospital zone chased by helicopters and ninjas. And the ninjas are all on fire too."
    • Halo: Reach: Due to the decision to make the flaming helmet a pre-order bonus for the Legendary Edition, Bungie employees are now distinguished by having blue flames instead of red. There was a limited-time offer where people who either accessed Bungie's website and obtained the Bungie nameplate or used the iOS app could obtain the blue flames for themselves. The normal, red flames are called "Legendary" in the Armory, while the blue flames are called "Eternal".
  • Hero of Sparta: In the first game, Hades is depicted as a demon wreathed in blue flames. The sequel has Nemean Lion and Cretan Bull enemies, whose bodies are shrouded in flames (though ordinary).
  • Warcraft:
    • Warcraft III: The ability Immolation, in which the unit covers himself in flame to damage the enemy, manifesting as a circle of flame surrounding the unit. Normally this constantly drains mana while active, while the passive version does less damage but is always on. The item "Cloak of Flames" gives this ability passively.
    • World of Warcraft: Warlocks get such an ability. It is also employed by mooks in Utgarde Keep.
  • StarCraft: The Archons (Blue fire!) and Dark Archons (Orange fire!).
  • Mortal Kombat: Deception (PSP only) and Armageddon (All platforms) have Blaze. What is Blaze? About 20 feet of pure magma on fire.
  • Master of Magic has Immolation unit ability — units engaging an unit with it in a melee attack effectively subjected to a low-powered fireball.
  • Age of Wonders 2: The Wizard's Throne has Ignition ability and Fire Halo enchantment. Anyone who isn't immune to fire is set aflame upon striking such an unit.
  • Flynn's Enhahou Yokushou Mystic Arte from the PS3 version of Tales of Vesperia, seen here.
  • Kirby: With the Burning copy ability, Kirby turns into a fireball and rushes into his foes. It was even called "Fireball" in its debut in Kirby's Adventure. In Kirby Super Star, and then every game post-Kirby: Canvas Curse, Burning on its own has been excluded in favor of it being merged with the plain Fire ability (which originally consisted of Kirby simply being able to breathe fire) as just one move in it's repertoire.
  • Clonk: The Metal and Magic fan-mod includes the hot blood spell, which causes this trope. Walking into your enemies after casting it can lead to another fun trope. Fun for you, that is, not for them.
  • City of Heroes has a Fire Aura powerset. It also has Thermal Radiation, which has fire for multiple different purposes, such as healing wounds... with fire. Protecting your teammates from damage... with fire. Improving your allies resistance to status effect and improving their damage... with fire. And finally, the only logical use of the powerset — causing damage to your enemies' resistances and ability to recover from wounds... well, you see where this is headed. The entire Thermal Radiation set is devoted to making your team into badasses through the precise art of setting them on fire.
  • Guild Wars has a spell that sets you on fire, and makes you faster. When it expires, you set everyone around you on fire.
  • Dota 2 has the Ember Spirit, whose skill Flame Guard surrounds him in a burning shield of fire that damages enemies around him as well as absorbs magic. Rubick and Morphling can replicate this spell to have the same effect. Also, any hero can buy the item Radiance, which wreathes them in golden flame that continuously burns enemies around them.
  • The Borderlands series:
    • Borderlands: Lilith's Phoenix skill manifests as a pair of wings made of fire, as well as a bit of this. It triggers when she gets a kill, igniting nearby enemies and giving her a chance to have free bullets for a few seconds.
    • Borderlands 2: Putting points in Krieg's Hellborn tree gives him a chance to set himself on fire whenever he uses incendiary weapons (and with the Delusional Damage skill, any elemental weapons). The entire skill tree is focused around dealing fire damage and gaining buffs while being set on fire, with the end-tier skill making him emit homing fireballs from his body when attacked while going on extended psychotic rants.
  • Kingdom of Loathing: The monsters Flaming Troll and Flaming Samurai, as well as the Flaming Gravy Fairy familiar, all have this, as is pretty obvious from their names. For the player, there's the ability Salamander Kata, which doesn't hurt your enemies but constantly recharges your MP; a straighter version is the "Burning, Man" effect, which surrounds you in enemy-toasting fire, but also burns you just as badly unless you have a special tattoo.
  • Path of Exile: The Righteous Fire skill creates a flaming aura around your character that constantly degenerates your life and energy shield while burning enemies around you, and it doesn't turn off until your health gets reduced to 1. It takes a lot of fire resistance and regeneration to cancel out the self-damage, but if you are able to it becomes an effective low-maintenance damage dealing spell that also gives bonus spell damage.
  • Prayer of the Faithless: Pyro Bats have an orange-y fiery aura around themselves.
  • Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura: The "Body of Fire" spell allows you to engulf anyboby, including yourself, with flames, resulting in added fire damage and resistance, as well as burning foes and their equipment when they hit the recepient with melee weapon. Howewer, it's the hardest spell to maintain, burning your mana at least twice faster than other prolonged spells, perhaps to prevent it from being a Game-Breaker.
  • Peasant's Quest: One of the requirements to be a peasant (and thus face Trogdor) is to be on fire.
  • Mega Man 2: Heat Man wraps his entire body in flame before using his charge attack against Mega Man. Curiously, he can only use it after getting hit, and it protects him against all forms of attack (including Bubble Lead, his main weakness).
  • Heroine's Quest has a spell that lets you do this. Considering the setting is a very harsh winter, this is very useful.
  • Dragon's Dogma: The Arcane Archer's Immolate ability allows you to set yourself on fire. Follow with the Biting Wind ability when dealing with smaller enemies or simply climbing on larger ones, then sit back and watch 'em burn.
  • Smite: The Norse sun goddess Sol appears as a stark-naked girl made of fire.
  • Nexus Clash: The Infernal Behemoth demon gets an aura of perpetual flame that burns anyone who tries to attack them with martial arts or melee weapons. Made all the more dangerous because they're half-ton armored slabs of Determinator, so an enemy is going to have to hit one a lot to take it down.
  • Total War: Warhammer: One of the Wood Elves' Regiments of Renown (unique variants of general unit types) are the Firebark Elders, Treekin who absorb fires that would otherwise burn the forest and are permanently ablaze as a result. This allows them to deal fire damage to enemies, as well as granting both them and their allies resistance to fire, the main weakness of the the Wood Elves' tree-based troops.
  • Kyle & Lucy: Wonderworld: Both Kyle and Lucy can burst into flames when running at top speed.
  • Digimon: Meramon and any related members of its family are constantly covered in flames.
  • Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain features a malevolent entity known only as the Man on Fire which is actually a reanimated Colonel Volgin.
  • The Maverick bosses of Mega Man X8 put on a fiery aura to inform the player that the kid gloves are coming off when their HP reaches a certain threshold.
  • Pyrogen from Mighty No. 9 cloaks his body from the shoulder down in flames to simulate muscle mass as he prepares for a fiery explosion as body slams his opponents. His flames can be put out by destabilizing him.
  • Diablo IV
    • Barbarians are covered in bright orange flames when using "Wrath of the Berserker". Downplayed by their "Frenzy" attack, which causes their arms to burn with the same fire to represent a stacking defense buff.
    • Sorcerers have the "Flame Shield" spell, which coats their bodies in fire and burns any enemies who touch them.

    Webcomics 

    Web Original 
  • In New Vindicators, the character of Phillip Alston, also called (Professor) Incendiary, can do this, being part of a team of elemental shifters similar to the Fantastic Four (though the others turn into their elements, Alston just covers himself in fire).
  • Sigma from the 10th season of Red vs. Blue looks like he's either on fire or made of fire.
  • In a New York Magician story arc, Michel first sees Melooch (a firefighter) with his 'rider' (ancient fire god who's sharing his body) this way.
  • Phoenixfire of the Whateley Universe. Like you couldn't guess from her codename.
    • Also her mom, making Phoenixfire's codename extra-appropriate.

    Western Animation 
  • The Venture Bros.: One character is a Captain Ersatz of the Human Torch from Fantastic Four, but he feels terrible pain from the fire, lacking the Required Secondary Powers.
  • Father from Codename: Kids Next Door. He's basically a black silhouette of a stereotypical sitcom dad who sounds like Orson Welles and is usually covered in flames. A character called Sir Toasty had the same shtick.
  • The denizens of the Fire Kingdom in Adventure Time.
  • Phoenixes in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic when they are pissed, especially when protecting their young.
    • Twilight Sparkle does this at one point due to sheer rage, though the flames fade away after her temper tantrum is over.
  • Ben 10: Heatblast is made of fire. He is also partially made of rocks that give him a lava-like appearance to boot.
  • In one episode of Men in Black: The Series, after ingesting some alien salsa, Jay temporarily gains fire powers. It eventually goes into full-blown Human Torch territorynote  when he is completely enveloped in flames and finds that he can fly. Unfortunately, he ends up needing to get fitted for a fire-resistant suit.

 
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Video Example(s):

"Awaken…Ifrit!"

Clive's battle with Garuda causes his powers as a Dominant to awaken once again transforming him into the second Eikon of Fire, Ifrit.

Example of:
One-Winged Angel

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"Awaken…Ifrit!"

Clive's battle with Garuda causes his powers as a Dominant to awaken once again transforming him into the second Eikon of Fire, Ifrit.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (3 votes)

Example of:

Main / OneWingedAngel

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