Fire is easily one of mankind's most destructive weapons. Its tendency to kill and destroy indiscriminately has always been a subject of fascination among many art forms, including video games. And video games love their fire-wielding characters, so much so, that there's bound to be fire or someone who can control it in every other title that has combat.
By no means is that a guarantee that these characters will become popular, of course. Fire is quite a common power, after all, so the prominent fire users are usually the ones who have personalities and appearances that match the very power they have chosen to control. Thus, these fire users are the ones who are too hot to handle.
8 Mai Shiranui – King Of Fighters Games
Mai Shiranui is a female ninja or kunoichi who loves to play with fire and is also one of the originals of the King of Fighters franchise. She's been in every game and even in the latest, King of Fighters 15, she's still burning bright as ever. Apart from having a versatile playstyle, she also has some hidden pyrokinetic tricks up her sleeves — figurative sleeves.
Even her name references her fire powers. Mai, using her fans and ninjutsu, can create flames to surround herself and these will damage her enemies. She can also channel that fire through her fans, her clothes, and even anything she touches.
7 Pyro – Team Fortress 2
He's more of a meme template now than a venerable Team Fortress 2 mainstay because of the game's age, but the Pyro will always be an important internet culture cornerstone. He's actually just a class from Team Fortress 2 and is less of a character, but over the years, the game's community has made their own lore about him in conjunction with the game's actual mythos.
Regardless, the Pyro is quite the firebrand since he's a literal pyromaniac whose passion lies in bright yellow and orange chemical reactions and the crispy stuff they leave behind. His fire powers mostly come from his flamethrower, of course, but he also has grenades that can deflect projectiles and use his fire tools to jump high and reposition.
6 Scorpion – Mortal Kombat
Scorpion might be burning with a vengeance but everything he does is cool. He's the polar opposite to Mortal Kombat's Sub-Zero as Scorpion constantly bickers with that ice cube maker using his fire-themed abilities. Their fights, just as any fight with Scorpion in it, are certainly explosive.
Scorpion is masterful with his use of Hellfire. He can do anything from covering himself in fire to damaging those around him to creating a burning vortex. Since he also dabbles into some necromancy, Scorpion also sometimes summons floating skulls that breathe Hellfire. Also, he might or might not have a part-time gig where he moonlights as a death metal vocalist with all those angsty pyrokinetics.
5 Hu Tao – Genshin Impact
Hu Tao is one of Genshin Impact's most popular characters not just for her quirky personality and cute appearance but also because she's the most powerful fire or Pyro user in the game (at the moment). The sales figures of Genshin Impact have even confirmed that she's quite the money-maker whenever she's available for acquisition.
In any case, Hu Tao's fire powers are simple. She merely infuses her polearm with fire using the souls of her deceased customers, as she's a mortician. Her job then basically sustains itself as Hu Tao can easily pile up dead bodies and use their souls as fuel for both her funeral services and her fire powers.
4 Charmander – Pokemon Games
Charmander is easily the most adorable among the starter Pokemon in the old games or even in the anime. Underneath that puppy-eyed face and small voice is a lot of heat that can burn the house down. For that matter, Charmander is also an effective Pokemon. Of course, his personality matches his powers as Charmander becomes increasingly difficult to control as he evolves.
Being a fire-type Pokemon, Charmander has the standard fire-breathing technique. Charmander also has a bunch of other moves that usually results in their enemy Pokemon getting cooked. Some of the most devastating among them are Inferno and Fire Spin and he only becomes more powerful as he evolves into Charmeleon or Charizard.
3 Alduin – Skyrim
Speaking of dragons, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim has way too many of them so we just picked the nastiest: Alduin. He's the cause of all the dragon rampage in the land of the Nords and also the main game's final boss. If players get further into the game, they'll easily realize that Alduin is more complex than the big dumb flying lizard he initially appears to be.
He can talk too. It's just that he prefers to spit fire instead of being chatty about Skyrim's weather. As usual, he's a dragon, so he breathes fire. Simple enough, but it's always effective. Other than that, Alduin has access to the full list of Dragon Shouts which have different magical effects, making him somewhat of a god.
2 Diablo – Diablo Games
A big red demon with horns and a bad case of back acne is bound to have anger problems. Anyone who guessed that Diablo from his own titular franchise channels his rage through fire is right. He has the powers of hell at his disposal and then some. Apart from having near-immunity to fire (because he's a demon lord surrounded by lava), Diablo's fire attacks are also second to none among his brothers.
One of the most common ones which he uses in Diablo 2 to start the boss fight is his fire wall ability. Apart from that, he can call down a hail of fire on the players and if that's not enough, Diablo can explode and release a circular fire shockwave that's almost impossible to dodge.
1 The Chosen Undead – Dark Souls
Last but certainly not least, the players themselves. Well, assuming they play Dark Souls because it has one of the best representations of a "self-insert" and allows its players to manipulate fire most extensively compared to other games. Everyone here starts as the Chosen Undead.
As the Chosen Undead, players get access to Pyromancy spells, but even if they choose not to use those abilities, they're still tasked with rekindling "The Flame," which is a McGuffin whose purpose is to burn the old world and start it anew. Fire also serves a larger purpose here than being just a weapon as it also represents rebirth and salvation.