I have a feeling that Pyro isn’t just out of his mind, but might also be deeply traumatized? These kinds of "abnormalities" usually stem from genetics, physical trauma (like a head injury), or psychological trauma. If we consider that Pyroland mostly replaces CRUELTY (plus the fire), maybe he really is deeply traumatized? Judging by what we saw in "Meet the Pyro" and the comics, his pyromania might be more intuitive, triggered because it also manifests Pyroland. Alternatively, it could have developed long before the "trauma" and remained on a subconscious level...
Like, if you look at HOW Pyroland replaces the cruelty around Pyro, it feels like there could have been such a severe event in his life that his brain completely cut itself off from reality. Plus, this could easily be combined with a brain injury ? Mental struggles like this often arise from trauma, since psychosis and dissociative symptoms frequently go hand in hand with trauma spectrum disorders and similar conditions. . . . Also, since we know NOTHING about his past, it leaves plenty of room for speculation. Moreover, his pyromania is likely more intuitive, something along the lines of "when I do this, it brings me joy and the world becomes brighter", while to the other mercenaries, it looks like he can’t survive a single second without burning things. Plus, Pyroland itself seems to have a cumulative effect, because in the comic, Pyro could see Pyroland even without fire or any extreme violence around (until he beat the bear, of course), so... yeah. Plus, we don’t know how Pyro perceives himself.
As someone diagnosed with PTSD (2 years ago) who now strongly suspects having C-PTSD due to certain reasons, along with MADD, dissociation issues, and other struggles, I constantly see bits of myself in the Pyro's behavior in the comics. So maybe this is just a projection and a self-insert, but theoretically, it could provide at least a minimal justification for this theory!!!
P.S. I use he/him pronouns for Pyro here because it's a habit 'cuz I mainly in the ru/ua TF2 community, but I completely positively view any other pronouns ^_^ I'm not a nonby-phobic or smthng worse . . . Sorry, I'm very nervous before publishing !
P.P.S.: I know that Pyro has very sturdy gloves made of high-quality materials, I just like to think about it this way. Why not? I don't think it would happen after literally every single round, just once in a blue moon. + I'm just used to drawing Pyro with bandaged hands by now !
Pyro still likes doing everything the same out of pyrovison. The goggles were given to them in attempts to make them less violent but it backfired spectacularly.
Hey here’s some Pyro headcanons that nobody asked for!!
Under a cut because 1. It’s long and 2. It contains triggering topics (CA/CSA/Medical abuse/etc) Anyway PYRO HEADCANONS FUCK YEAH:
-His real name is Javier
-He was born to Mexican parents somewhere in the Southwest United States, maybe Arizona
-His folks were very neglectful of him and horribly abusive to eachother and he regularly saw them beat the shite out of eachother/throw things/scream at eachother, and the only attention he ever got was of the same like
-He was 3-4 when his folks died, his dad shot his mum right in front of Javi and then shot himself and left Javi there in the aftermath of it
-He was alone in the house with his dead parents for days before anyone found him, then finally got stuck in an orphanage
-The orphanage was worse than home, it was run by a guy named Mr. Oskar who was physically and sexually abusive to Javi and the other children
-He first started showing pyromaniacal tendencies around this time
-He set the orphanage on fire when he was 6 years old as a means of escaping the abuse; Mr. Oskar “didn’t make it out” (with Javi’s help, but nobody knew/suspected this), and Javi got sent to another orphanage where he was also treated cruelly but at least he escaped Mr. Oskar
-Lived at the orphanage until about age 11 when he was taken into foster care; never had been adopted or fostered before that due to “behavioural problems”
-The foster family was the first people who had ever been nice to him and he totally didn’t know how to react; he nearly got sent back for coming on to the dad (he didn’t know anything else, and being raised by Mr. Oskar he thought this was expected of him); the dad was more understanding than the mum and let him stay, BUT
-Their bio kid was super jealous and mean to Javi, so Javi stole his chemistry set one day while the family were out (they didn’t take him on outings because they thought he was “too unstable” and their kid always whined about how “embarrassing” Javi was) and he accidentally set the house on fire with it
-This time really was an accident, and gave Javi his first bad scars, mostly on his hands but also on his face, and partially blinded him in his left eye
-He was in hospital for a while, then the family sent him back to the orphanage without even saying goodbye and it totally shattered his trust
- He ran away from the orphanage as soon as he got out of hospital, and he was big enough and looked older enough to pass as an adult (and his scars freaked people out enough) so people didn’t bother him’
-He lived on the streets for months before falling in with a group of hobos who lived in an abandoned subway tunnel, where he met a girl named Tandy
-Tandy was only a little older than him but a lot more mature, and the first person who genuinely showed him kindness and accepted him. He adored her
-He lost his “girl virginity” to her at age 15; this was also the first sexual experience he’d had where the other person didn’t hurt him.
-He stayed in the tunnels until age 18, where he got rounded up by chance by the cops and stuck in a state institution. (He also never got to say goodbye to Tandy or his other friends, and that fact haunts him to this day)
-These were very bad years; the place was filthy, and, like the orphanage, they could do whatever they wanted to the patients, and did. Javi was subjected to ECT here which left huge gaps in his memory and exacerbated his behavioural problems
-They particular enjoyed blasting him with a fire hose or holding him down in ice water, and of course just beating him senseless
-This went on for literal years before he found a way to escape, again by fire: he managed to get as hold of a Zippo (one of the orderlies dropped it while beating on him) and he set the curtains in the day room on fire
-Unfortunately he didn’t think his escape route through and got caught in the fire, which spread extremely quickly, and left him and many other people trapped due to the barred windows
-He got badly burned this time, particularly on his right shoulder where a burning beam fell on him; he barely escaped that, and only did because he’d put on bulk by then (and sheer determination)
-He managed to get outside and climbed the fence (sustaining lots of cuts from the wire on the way), and escaped into the woods before finally collapsing from his wounds
-Medic found him by chance on the side of the road, naked and badly burned and sick from smoke inhalation
-Medic took him in and nursed him back to health, which took many long months and required a lot of Heavy’s help because Pyro was either unconscious and very difficult to move, or conscious and terrified and thus reacted violently whenever approached or touched
-Over time he grew to trust Medic and Heavy though, and Medic reaallly had a soft spot for him and treated him very gently (Medic voice: “That doesn’t leave this room!”); they were the first adults that were ever kind to him, and Pyro grew to idolize them
-He was still very childlike in his thinking and mannerisms (then even moreso than now) and he basically adopted Heavy and Medic as his dads; and they treated him like their kid
-He needed a LOT of rehabilitation, he basically knew no boundaries about sex/anger/anything but they were very patient with him
-He tried to run away a couple of times when he got in trouble with them because he thought they’d send him back to the institution, but Heavy always found him and brought him back (carrying him under his arm like a flour sack)
-He eventually grew to trust them and believe them when they promised they would never send him back there, that this was his home, and he absolutely adored them and started calling them “Papa” and “Vati”
-They were this weird little family for several years before any of them joined on with Mann Co
-In fact Heavy and Medic were the ones that convinced Mann Co to hire Pyro, since they thought he was too unstable (yes, even Saxton Hale) but finally conceded he did have a unique skill set and they liked that he obviously had no qualms about setting people on fire, lol
-Heavy and Medic also liked that it gave him an outlet for his pyromania (since they were forever having to snatch matches out of his hand in the house, even though they tried to give him an outlet like burning leaves or building the fire in the fireplace)
-He quickly became friends with Scout, much to Medic’s chagrin (he calls Scout “That detestable boy”)
-He sees Scout as his “cool older brother” (even though Scout is younger than him, lol) and his attitude towards pretty much anything Scout suggests is “You son of a bitch, I’m in”
-He also became very close to Engineer, and they’re basically husbands now
-Engie is the only person besides Heavy and Medic (and Tandy) that he ever told about the sexual abuse; when he told him Engineer called him “darlin’” for the first time and Javi burst into tears and Engie held him while he cried
-Engie still calls him “Javi”, which drives Medic crazy (but Pyro loves); Medic calls him “Javier”, and Heavy calls him “Little Pyro”
-They’ve all seen him plenty of times without the mask and even without clothes (in the shower obviously, but he’s also very free with nudity because a lot of boundaries he still doesn’t understand) and they’re used to his scars and his voice, which is weirdly-pitched and hoarse and scratchy due to scarring from inhalation burns
-He’s the closest with Engineer, Medic, Heavy, and Scout, but he’s friends with all of them and pretty much everybody there fucks everyone else, lol
I realized I’ve been writing assuming that my dumb little headcanon is true (I don’t think it is lmao) but I’ve seen it in other works, so maybe it’s not that odd? Anyway, I’m gonna explain it just in case, as well as go into it in a bit of depth. I’m excluding dendro, as we don’t know much about it right now. I’ll add it in when we learn more.
Visions hold a lot of elemental energy. As such, the people who wield them are often affected in subtle ways by it, newer users moreso as they don’t know quite yet how to control it. The ways the user is affected is different for each element.
Pyro: The most commonly noticed. A pyro-user is warm to the touch. For longer-time users, this is more subtle, being just comfortable and slightly above average. Meanwhile, for newer or more tempered users, this can fluctuate to near scorching. This temperature difference changed with the user’s emotions- the more extreme an emotion, especially a negative one, the hotter they will be. It’s similar to a blush, in some ways, only much, much hotter. The temperature change doesn’t harm the user, nor does it necessarily harm any witnesses, so long the user is careful.
Cryo: A direct contrast to pyro users: a cryo-wielder is colder to the touch. Unlike with pyro users, this temperature difference is a near constant, with very little fluctuation, and is a lot more controlled so it cannot directly harm those around them. A particularly emotional cryo user, though, can have this temperature change escalate to the point of having ice crystals resting on their skin. This phenomenon isn’t commonly observed, though, as cryo visions are often given to more level-headed people.
Electro: Similar to the previous two, electro-users have a subtle charge within their body. As such, they are much more prone to being a conduit for static shocks, which can sometimes be uncomfortable for those around them. With time and experience, this charge can become nearly invisible, manifesting as only a slight tingle when touching them. The user cannot detect this charge.
Hydro: A more subtle difference: a hydro-user’s skin is unusually soft. A seemingly silly reaction, but noticeable nonetheless. This may have lead to the perception of hydro-wielders being more gentle or caring, or perhaps it’s just Barbara’s influence. Either way, a hydro-user’s romantic partner usually doesn’t complain. ;)
Geo: A direct contrast to hydro: a geo-wielder’s skin is unusually rough. This is often most noticeable in nobles, or those who don’t often do tough labor. No matter how much work they’ve done in their lives, their hands are slightly calloused and rough to the touch. Again, a geo-user’s sexual partner usually doesn’t complain ;)
Anemo: An anemo-user’s clothes and hair seemingly always has a flair for the dramatic. Let me clarify: you know the pictures where someone’s hair is perfectly blowing in the breeze? Or the photos of a coat or dress after a few spins? That’s just a constant for an anemo-wielder. Some flaunt it. Some find it infuriating. Either way, it’s an aesthetic TM.
My HC pyro has burn scars on her left side (those are supposed to be burns, but normally she has the scars), she got them when she was a teenager and played with too much fire - Mod Mira
They said don’t play with fire...
Day 7 - Burns
