Pyro (Team Fortress 2)

"One shudders to imagine what inhumane thoughts lie behind that mask... what dreams of chronic and sustained cruelty..."

- The Spy's thoughts about his psychopathic "ally"

The Pyro is a mumbling pyromaniac of indeterminate origin who has a fervent fondness for all things fire related. The Pyro specializes in fighting enemies at close range using a homemade Flamethrower. Enemies set on fire suffer from afterburn and take additional damage-over-time, allowing the Pyro to excel at hit-and-run tactics. Due to the Flamethrower’s short range, the Pyro is weaker at longer ranges and relies heavily on ambushing, taking alternate routes to catch opponents off-guard. The Pyro wears an asbestos-lined suit that provides protection from the afterburn from enemy Pyros.

According to "Meet the Pyro", the Pyro imagines that he's in marvelous and happy world known as "Pyroland" where his 'enemies' are cheerful, chubby cherubs. The Pyro sees his own weapons as innocent items such as lollipops, bubble blowers and rainbow throwers when, in reality, they are deadly axes, flare guns and flamethrowers.

Although categorized as an offensive class, the Pyro brings a few sources of utility to the battlefield. The Pyro’s compression blast, for example, can reflect enemy projectiles, extinguish burning teammates, and forcibly reposition any enemy, even one under the effects of an ÜberCharge. With high health and average movement speed, the Pyro is devastating against any class in close combat.

Because enemies hit by fire are visibly ignited, the Pyro is the best class for Spy-checking, as even a small puff of flame can nullify the Spy’s Cloak and disguise. Additionally, the Pyro can use the Homewrecker/Neon Annhilator to protect an Engineer’s buildings from enemy Spies or use the Detonator to jump to normally unreachable places.

Trivia

 * The Pyro is "voiced" by Dennis Bateman, who also voices the Spy (ironically the class that Pyro enters combat with most often).
 * There's an ongoing debate about the Pyro's gender, since his/her face is always concealed and voice always muffled, as well as his/her suit being shapeless.Valve has acknowledged this debate with things such as the woman's purse in the locker room, toilets dedicated to the class of Pyro, and a lack of reference to gender in dialogue. The Pyro is also 5' 9", which is tall for a real-life adult woman, but makes him/her the second-shortest mercenary.
 * The miscellaneous item "Voodoo Cursed-Pyro Soul" or the "Zombie Pyro" confirms that the Pyro is at least human, because of the exposed human skeleton.
 * In the comic "Ring of Fired" Pyro has become a CEO of a successful company after Mann Co (then taken over by Gray Mann) fired him/her and the rest of the mercenaries.
 * Pyro seems to suffer from pyromania as he has a morbid love for playing with fire and burning things.
 * He could also be suffering from Schizophrenia, a mental illness that distorts reality, due to his hallucinations of an imaginary Childish Utopia dubbed "Pyroland".
 * Pyro's primary weapon is his homemade flamethrower. His secondary weapon is a shotgun in case the flamethrower runs out of propellant, and his melee weapon is a fire axe.