Pyron was an industrial saboteur for hire, often attacking the competitors of those who hired him using explosives. One day, he was hired by the Liquigas Company to destroy a chemical complex. He placed thermite explosives onto chemical tanks, unaware that Liquigas had rigged the explosives to explode sooner than Pyron intended in order to cover its tracks. When the explosives exploded, Pyron was seemingly killed. In reality, Pyron somehow survived when the chemicals and the fire transformed him, giving him pyrokinetic powers.