| Skullfire | |
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Cover to X-Men 2099 # 29 showing Skullfire powered up Art by Ron Lim |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | X-Men 2099 #1 (October, 1993) |
| Created by | John Francis Moore Ron Lim |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Timothy Fitzgerald |
| Species | Human Mutant |
| Team affiliations | X-Men 2099 Halo City Protectorate Undead |
| Abilities |
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Skullfire (Timothy Fitzgerald) is a fictional character in Marvel Comics's 2099 universe, a look at superheroes in the year 2099. He was one of the founding members of a future incarnation of the X-Men called X-Men 2099.
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Timothy Fitzgerald was a wealthy, young urban professional until his mutant powers manifested. An uncontrollable burst of energy destroyed his apartment and killed his girlfriend, Reiko. Timothy went into hiding, living on the streets. He was approached by Cerebra, who gave him a card and told him to go to Las Vegas.
In Las Vegas, Timothy joined the future X-team, X-Men 2099. He had his reservations about joining, but found he had little choice in the matter after using his mutant power of channeling the energy around him and helping to prevent the assassination of X-Men 2099's leader, Xi'an Chi Xan; other members of the team rushed to Fitzgerald's aid and they all sped off in a van to get Xi'an medical help. From that point on, Tim was considered a mainstay in the team. He became close friends with Serpentina, another X-Man. Soon after she was slain by Junkpile.
Tim struggled with controlling his powers, but after pent-up dramatic events were opened in his mind by the psychic vampire, La Lunatica, he became much more adept at refocusing energy at will. Tim also experienced a transformation in his personality, becoming much less shy and more of a daredevil. His altered mental state sometimes caused him to take seemingly suicidal actions, such as impulsively jumping out of an aircraft after Bloodhawk and grabbing his ankle in mid-air for a ride, to Bloodhawk's surprise and extreme displeasure.
Timothy assisted several of his X-Men allies in a trip to New York. Their goal was to find Meanstreak's old friend Jordan Boone. They do, as Boone had become part of a plot by the corpporation Alchemax to create superpowered deities based on the revered warriors of Asgard.
Tim later encountered La Lunatica again and wanted to pay her back for her attack. The two of them fought briefly before Luna subdued him, at which point she kissed him instead of finishing him off. When a bewildered Tim told her that she was insane, she responded by pointing out how much less sane Tim had become, and telling him she liked it. The two ended up as romantic partners, and around this time, she changed his look by painting his face with a skull design. Timothy offered to help her against the Theatre of Pain, but found that his powers were no match for Brimstone Love, the leader of the Theatre. The X-Men's leader Xi'an decided to join the Theatre, though, and Brimstone Love left with him. With Xi'an gone, Timothy took over leadership of the X-Men and Luna became a member. After restoring Xi'an to normal and defeating the Theatre of Pain, Timothy and his X-Men accepted an offer to protect Halo City by President Victor von Doom. The X-Men were now special police officers and under their protection Halo City became a place where humans and mutants could live in peace.
The peace was short-lived, however, as a villain called the Graverobber revived several dead mutants, including Serpentina, as the Undead. Dependent on the Graverobber for their continued existence, the Undead followed his orders and went to Halo City to kill Cerebra's father, Zail Haddad, a ruthless businessman who had been responsible for the Graverobber's transformation from a normal human into a corpse-like being. The Undead used Serpentina to lure Timothy into a trap, then killed him with a poison dart. His body was later stolen from the morgue and revived by the Graverobber. As one of the Undead, Timothy was used to take Halo City hostage: he entered the Halo City powerplant and absorbed all of its energy, causing a city-wide blackout. The Graverobber was defeated and knocked out. With the Graverobber unconscious, all of the Undead die again, except for Timothy, who now was powered by the absorbed energy of the entire city.
Towards the end of the series, Tim died again in an attack by Vulcann and Darkson. Darkson was the altered form of the son of his friend Metalhead. This time his body was completely destroyed by the body-reshaping power of Vulcann, but an energy being in the form of Reiko informed Timothy about the true nature of his powers; Timothy's body had been just a shell for the being of pure energy living inside. She offered him a chance to join a society of other energy beings, but Timothy returned to the X-Men to be with Luna. He disappeared between the end of X-Men: 2099 and the beginning of 2099: World of Tomorrow, and neither he nor his disappearance were ever mentioned, even by his girlfriend.
Originally Skullfire was capable of absorbing all forms of ambient energy particles into his body where he metabolized it to a usable form and then dispersed it in destructive energy blasts. He had no control over this power though and was only capable of using it during moments of great stress. Cerebra's powers allowed her to trigger his powers at will, but she had to make physical contact with him. After La Lunatica made him relive Reiko's death, Timothy could control his powers at will. Absorbing the energy of Halo City's powerplants gave Timothy a permanent source of power, but as a side-effect he was constantly glowing with a green light.
When his body was destroyed, Timothy existed as a small sphere of energy. Timothy managed to take a form that resembled his human form. He now was capable of levitation and could absorb and channel the energy around him with far more ease and control.
Some speculation went around the Skullfire was related to Trevor Fitzroy, X-Men enemy from a dyostopic future,who most notably is a enemy of Bishop. Some things that brought the thought of them being relatives (or counterparts) is the powers they have, and the "Fitz" in their names. So far no other relation has been shown but it doesn't mean they aren't somehow connected.