Joseph
“If it burns, I can work with it. If it doesn’t, give me a minute.”
Overview
Joseph, known as The Crimson Arsonist, is a member of The Crimson Order known for his obsession with fire, explosives, destructive weaponry, and an almost enthusiastic approach to combat.
Unlike many members of the Order, Joseph does not carry himself with the same distant or cosmic presence.
He is loud, irreverent, destructive, and considerably more interested in practical firepower than ancient philosophy.
Despite this, Joseph is far more dangerous than his behaviour initially suggests.
His abilities grant him complete immunity to conventional flame, strong resistance to toxic environments, direct control over fire, and access to an unusual form of green flame capable of accelerating healing rather than causing injury.
Joseph was also known to be particularly close with Stanislav, forming one of the more unusual friendships within the Crimson Order.
Quick Facts
- Name: Joseph
- Known As: The Crimson Arsonist
- Species: Unknown / Presumed Human
- Gender: Male
- Age: Unknown
- Faction: The Crimson Order
- Role: Combat Specialist / Demolitions
- Primary Weapons: Flamethrower, Grenade Launcher
- Status: Active
Personality
Joseph is energetic, reckless, humorous, and extremely comfortable around danger.
He possesses an obvious fascination with fire and appears to genuinely enjoy situations where controlled destruction becomes necessary.
The definition of controlled occasionally becomes flexible around Joseph.
He has a particular love of:
- Flamethrowers
- Explosives
- Incendiary weapons
- Molotov cocktails
- Vodka
- Setting things on fire that probably did not need to be set on fire
Despite his reputation, Joseph is not unintelligent.
He understands combustion, explosives, fuel behaviour, pressure, and battlefield demolition extremely well.
Much of his apparent recklessness comes from the fact that environments dangerous to ordinary people are significantly less dangerous to him.
Standing inside a burning building may look suicidal to everyone else.
To Joseph, it is simply warm.
His humour tends to remain intact even during extremely dangerous situations.
This occasionally irritates more serious members of the Crimson Order.
Joseph does not seem particularly bothered by this.
The Crimson Arsonist
Joseph’s title is unusually literal compared to many other titles within the Crimson Order.
He likes fire.
A lot.
The name initially appears almost comedic beside titles such as Aethros, Ava, and Helios.
However, Joseph’s control over combustion makes the title considerably more appropriate in practice.
He can transform existing fires into devastating weapons, create flames directly, intensify combustion, and survive environments that would kill most biological life almost instantly.
When Joseph is deployed, collateral fire damage is considered a serious operational concern.
Abilities
Fire Immunity
Joseph is completely immune to conventional fire and extreme heat produced through ordinary combustion.
Flames do not burn his skin or damage his body.
This allows him to move directly through burning environments without protective equipment.
He can also handle objects heated to temperatures that would cause catastrophic injury to most species.
This immunity does not necessarily extend to every form of anomalous or cosmic heat.
Extremely powerful energy sources may still injure him.
Fire Manipulation
Joseph can generate and manipulate flame directly.
Known applications include:
- Throwing concentrated fireballs
- Producing sustained streams of flame
- Igniting combustible materials
- Redirecting existing fires
- Expanding active flames
- Increasing combustion intensity
- Manipulating the direction of fire
- Creating temporary walls of flame
His control becomes easier when fire is already present.
Large existing fires can therefore dramatically increase his combat effectiveness.
Flame Intensification
Joseph can increase the temperature and intensity of existing flames.
Small fires can become major infernos within seconds.
This ability makes ordinary incendiary weapons substantially more dangerous when used by him.
A single Molotov cocktail in Joseph’s hands can become far more destructive than its conventional equivalent.
This is one of the reasons he continues using primitive incendiary weapons despite having access to far more advanced technology.
He finds them useful.
He also finds them entertaining.
Green Flame
Joseph can generate an unusual form of green fire.
Unlike his normal flames, green fire does not burn living tissue.
Instead, exposure appears to accelerate biological repair.
Known effects include:
- Closing minor wounds
- Slowing blood loss
- Accelerating tissue regeneration
- Reducing recovery time from burns and physical trauma
- Stabilizing wounded individuals
The sensation has been described as warm rather than painful.
Green flame is not capable of reversing death or restoring catastrophic injuries instantly.
Severe wounds require prolonged exposure, and excessive use physically exhausts Joseph.
The exact mechanism behind the healing effect remains unknown.
Toxin Immunity
Joseph possesses exceptionally strong resistance to toxic substances.
Known examples include:
- Smoke inhalation
- Industrial toxins
- Poisonous gases
- Combustion by-products
- Many chemical agents
This allows him to operate safely inside heavily contaminated or burning environments.
However, anomalous toxins and unknown biological agents may still affect him.
Weapons
Flamethrower
Joseph’s signature weapon.
Although he can create flames without equipment, Joseph continues to carry a flamethrower because it allows him to produce large quantities of combustible material before manipulating it further.
This effectively provides him with additional fuel for his abilities.
Joseph has modified the weapon repeatedly.
Very few people are allowed to inspect those modifications.
This is probably sensible.
Grenade Launcher
Joseph frequently carries a heavy grenade launcher loaded with a variety of ammunition.
Known types include:
- High-explosive rounds
- Incendiary rounds
- Fragmentation rounds
- Smoke rounds
- Specialized demolition ammunition
Joseph strongly prefers incendiary ammunition.
Nobody is surprised.
Molotov Cocktails
Despite the availability of advanced military incendiary technology, Joseph maintains an inexplicable fondness for Molotov cocktails.
He frequently carries several during combat operations.
When questioned about why someone with literal fire manipulation still uses improvised incendiary weapons, Joseph reportedly responded:
“Because they work.”
Combat Style
Joseph fights aggressively.
He excels in close-to-medium range combat where flames, explosives, and environmental destruction can be used effectively.
He frequently transforms the battlefield itself into a weapon.
Corridors become fire traps.
Fuel lines become explosives.
Vehicles become bombs.
Buildings become extremely questionable tactical decisions.
His immunity to heat allows him to operate inside the fires he creates, making conventional attempts to force him away with combustion almost completely useless.
Joseph also frequently uses explosions to control enemy movement rather than simply kill targets directly.
Despite his chaotic appearance, there is usually more planning behind his destruction than observers initially assume.
Usually.
Green Flame in Combat
Joseph’s healing flame gives him an unusual secondary role within the Crimson Order.
He can stabilize injured allies during combat without requiring conventional medical equipment.
This creates an unusual contrast with his destructive reputation.
The same individual capable of burning an entire battlefield can immediately turn around and use fire to save somebody’s life.
Joseph finds this amusing.
He has occasionally referred to green flame as:
“The nice fire.”
Relationship with Stanislav
Joseph was particularly close with Stanislav.
The two were considered good friends despite possessing dramatically different personalities.
Stanislav is quiet, disciplined, patient, and focused.
Joseph is Joseph.
Their friendship appears to have developed through repeated operations together.
Stanislav’s ability to locate targets combined effectively with Joseph’s ability to remove whatever structure the target was hiding inside.
This occasionally produced tactical disagreements.
Stanislav preferred entering buildings.
Joseph preferred removing the building.
Despite this difference, the two trusted one another considerably.
Joseph is one of the few individuals known to regularly joke with Stanislav without receiving obvious irritation in response.
Relationship with Aethros
Joseph respects Aethros as leader of the Crimson Order.
However, he appears considerably less intimidated by Aethros than most outsiders would expect.
Whether this is bravery, familiarity, or poor judgment remains debatable.
Aethros has tolerated Joseph’s behaviour for an exceptionally long period of time.
This suggests that Joseph’s abilities and loyalty outweigh the occasional destruction he causes.
Relationship with Ava
Ava and Joseph possess an unusual thematic similarity.
Both can prevent death through unconventional means.
Ava preserves life through manipulation of time.
Joseph heals through green flame.
Their methods could not look more different.
Ava generally prefers controlled intervention.
Joseph sometimes arrives carrying enough explosive material to concern everyone nearby.
Relationship with Helios
Joseph and Helios have occasionally trained together.
Helios’s adaptive abilities make prolonged combat between the two increasingly difficult for Joseph.
Joseph’s response has generally been to use progressively larger explosions.
Helios does not consider this a sophisticated tactical solution.
Joseph does.
Reputation
Joseph is one of the more recognizable personalities within the Crimson Order.
While other members are surrounded by ancient mythology and cosmic speculation, stories about Joseph tend to involve much simpler subjects:
Fire.
Explosions.
Alcohol.
And extremely expensive property damage.
This occasionally causes outsiders to underestimate him.
That mistake usually ends quickly.
Behind the humour and obsession with destruction is an experienced combatant with direct control over one of the most fundamental destructive forces used by civilization.
Joseph simply happens to enjoy his work.
Known Quotes
“Everything burns eventually.”
“That’s not too much explosive.”
“That’s exactly enough explosive.”
“Green one heals you. Red one doesn’t. Please remember that.”
“Stanislav, they’re inside the building.”
“I know.”
“Do we need the building?”
Unknowns
Major unanswered questions surrounding Joseph include:
- What is his full name?
- What is his true age?
- Is he originally human?
- How did he join the Crimson Order?
- Where did his fire manipulation originate?
- Why is his green flame capable of healing?
- What are the upper limits of his fire immunity?
- Can green flame heal anomalous beings?
- Why does he continue using conventional incendiary weapons?
- How long has he known Stanislav?