All characters statistics were based on the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, published in 1990. Statistics for characters not included in that volume are estimated based on comparisons to characters who are.

Got a favorite hero you'd like to see Fire Pro'd? (Scramblized?) Drop me a line. For best results, include information on the hero/villain, and/or a websight that has photos/info of that character.

Origin: Oh, come on. Everyone knows this. Well, if you've never read the comics, or seen the god-awful TV show, or seen the excellent movie or it's three crappy sequels, here's the deal: As a boy, Bruce Wayne witnessed the murder of his millionaire parents. He dedicated his life to fighting crime, honing his body, mind, and spirit for that task. He adopted the image of the bat so criminals would fear him. Batman has gone on to fight the coolest villains in comics history, including the Joker, the Penguin, Catwoman, the Riddler, Killer Croc, and countless others. Rest assured that some of these will someday be on this page.

Physical Appearance: Well... my Batman is based on the costume in the first movie, and is accurate with a few minor details: His face is covered, there is no cape, and there is no chest insignia. Through the years, Batman's colors have varied between black, blue, and grey, but I like this one. This is also the only head with the most distinguishing Bat-feature: the ears on his cowl. I think it worked out well.

Moves/Stats: Batman has studied every martial art known to man. Thus, Batman the wrestler would lots of punches, kicks, and submission holds, but very few "rasslin'" moves. At least, that's my theory. Also, approaching this from the most fanboy-realist approach, Batman would rarely take a risk during a fight. Thus, no top rope moves, and no attacks to the outside of the ring.

For more on Batman's appearance, powers, and history, see The Dark Knight.

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Origin: To help fight the Nazi menace during World War II, American soldier Steve Rogers volunteered to be injected with a "supersoldier" serum. The serum was a complete success, robbing Rogers of his puny body and giving him peak human strength and agility. Rogers donned a red, white, and blue costume and dubbed himself Captain America. For more than fifty years, the Captain has stood as a symbol of liberty, freedom, and justice. (A single tear rolls down my cheek...)

Physical Appearance: I did pretty good on this one, except for the head, which looks a little wonky. His costume has a band of vertical red and white stripes between the waist and chest. I was actually surprised at how well that turned out. His head should have a huge white "A" on the forehead, and little white wings on the sides. And the spacing of his arm colors is a little off, but there's nothing I could do about that. All in all, I think it worked out well.

Moves/Stats: Cap has a lot of punches and kicks, and a few amateur wrestling moves. I figured that's what he would do after decades of combat. For a finisher, I gave him a sleeperhold and called it, with apologies to Dusty Rhodes, the American Dream. I figure it's the perfect hold for Cap, because it would allow him to subdue opponents without hurting them. And Cap doesn't like to hurt guys if he doesn't have to.

For more on Captain America's appearance, powers, and history, see Steve Rogers: The Red, White, and Blue Avenger.

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Origin: While serving multiple life sentences, convicted killer Cletus Kasady was cellmates with Eddie Brock, a.k.a. Venom. When Brock's symbiote broke him out of jail, it left behind a seed -- a second symbiote which bonded with Kasady, creating the lethal killer Carnage.

Physical Appearance: Carnage is my finest work. I didn't know if I'd be able to recreate the swirling "black-and-blood" color scheme correctly, but I think I was very succesful. A few minor regrets stop it from being an A+. There is no way to get rid of those annoying white strings on the back of his head, and I was unable to create the killer's trademark pink smile. Still, all in all, a fine piece of work.

Stats/Moves: Carnage, quite frankly, fights dirty. His favorite tactic in the comic books is to create weapons with his symbiote and then launch them at people. He also uses "claws" as weapons. So, I've given him several "illegal" moves, as well as several hand attacks. I've also jacked up his offense, but left his defense intentionally low. Carnage was once defeated in a physical encounter by Batman, a hero lacking any superhuman abilities.

For more on Carnage's appearance, powers, and history, see Eric's Spider-Man Homepage.

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Origin: After gangsters murder his sister, Dan Ketch escapes into Cypress Hills Cemetary, where he finds a strange motorcycle. When he touches the bike's gascap, he is transformed into Ghost Rider, the Living Spirit of Vengeance.

Physical Appearance: I'm mostly satisfied with GR's appearance. The leather jacket looks good, the jeans and motorcycle boots look good, and the wrist spikes and shoulder spikes look okay. (Although making him with bare shoulders works just as well.) Unfortunately, Ghost Rider's head is a flaming skull, and there's no good way to recreate that in a wrestling video game. There just aren't any wrestlers who are willing to set their heads on fire, with the possible exception of Mick Foley. I've tried to make a flaming skull here, but if you think you can do better, by all means let me know.

Moves/Stats: Ghost Rider uses very basic punching and stomping tactics. I also gave him a few suplexes and piledrivers. (This is, after all, a wrestling game.) His stats reflect his powers: limited offensively (compared to other super heroes) but with great defense. (Ghost Rider is just about invulnerable to non-magical attacks.)

For more on Ghost Rider's appearance, powers, and history, see Ghost Rider's Homepage.

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Origin: During an experimental weapons test, brillian scientist Bruce Banner was accidentally exposed to a massive dose of gamma radiation. Now, when Banner loses his temper, he transforms into the Hulk, who is, well, big and strong. Or as he would say, "Hulk is strongest one there is! Hulk smash!" (Just for the record, it's fun to say those out loud.)

Physical Appearance: Bullseye. A perfect 10. Four Aces. Granted, it was a piece of cake, but I still defy you to show me a better Hulk. The Hulk has gone through several incarnations over the years. Obviously, I've gone with the classic "Rampaging Hulk" look, complete with ripped purple jeans. Maybe someday I'll try the "Mr. Fixit" Hulk with grey skin and a suit.

Moves/Stats: What part of "Hulk smash" don't you understand? If I could find a move that involved lifting someone up and slamming them to the ground, rest assured that the Hulk has that move.

For more on the Hulk's appearance, powers, and history, see The Incredible Hulk -- Earth's Mightiest Mortal.

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Origin: When his wife and children are killed in a gang shootout, Viet Nam vet and all-around bad-ass Frank Castle begins a one-man war on organized crime. And that's that.

Physical Appearance: Well, I tried. The Punisher's costume is your basic black, with white gloves and boots. He also has a huge skull logo on his chest, and the teeth of the skull are incorporated into a white belt around his waist. FirePro, of course, does not have a "giant skull" torso setting (If you ask me, it would be way more useful than "body paint.") so I was left to my own devices. If you tilt your head a certain way, you can kind of make out skull eyes and teeth. But it ain't perfect.

Moves/Stats: Frank Castle has been trained in many forms of hand-to-hand combat. Figuring that he would be used to fighting several foes at once, I gave him mostly punches, kick, and combos. I also threw in a couple of nasty-looking submission moves.

For more on the Punisher's appearance, powers, and history, see The Punisher War Page.

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Origin: I still can't believe I made a friggin' Transformer.

Four million years ago, two robotic races, the Autobots and Decepticons, waged war on each other. Optimus Prime led a band of Autobots on a scouting mission, searching for fuel. They were ambushed by a Decepticon ship, and in the ensuing battle, both ships crashed on Earth. They lay there until they were awakened in the mid-80's, and have continued there war on Earth.

Physical Appearance: Well, this worked out well. I got his eyes right. I got his chest kinda right. (For those to young or old to remember Transformers, they were robots who could change into vehicles, animals, etc. Optimus' chest is supposed to be a semi cab; those stars on his chest are supposed to be the windows.) I even got his legs pretty much right. Unfortunately, the tallest body in the game is about 7 feet tall, robbing Optimus of his 30+ foot height. What an unfair world.

Moves/Stats: I figured that the realism factor for this character was already shot to hell, so I just had some fun. Figuring that the Autobots were mostly cars, and the Decepticons were mostly planes, I gave Optimus the "Ground" offensive attribute, and worked from there. So there's a lot of roll-ups and stuff here. Although, if you're interested in Optimus, you probably don't care about that much anyway.

For more on Optimus Prime's appearance, powers, and history, see The Optimus Prime Archive.

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Origin: Professor Miles Warren, a.k.a. The Jackal, cloned Spider-Man in 1963. Don't ask me why. I guess it's just one of those things that mad scientists do. Anywho, both Jackal and Spider-Clone were supposedly killed in the '60s. A mid-'90s storyline revealed that both were still alive, and for a short time the clone (Ben Reilly) actually took Peter Parker's place as Spider-Man. This pissed off the vast majority of comic fans, and Marvel was forced to kill off Reilly to appease the angry mob. Personally, I found the idea of a second Spider-Man intriguing. So I revived him, to some degree, in Fire Pro.

Physical Appearance: I pretty much got this dead-on, but it wasn't terribly difficult. Scarlet's costume is a simple head-to-toe red bodysuit, with eyes like Spider-Man. He then wears a blue sweatshirt (sleeves torn off) over it, and web-shooters on his wrists. The only parts I couldn't get right were those damned back-of-the-head strings and the spider emblem on the chest. Incidentally, this costume was the genesis for a lot of the anti-clone sentiment among comic fans. I thought it could have been cooler, but I didn't hate it that much.

Moves/Stats: Being a clone, Scarlet wrestles almost identically to Spider-Man: a lot of flashy kicks, with a couple of strength and agility displays thrown in for good measure. I did change a few of the moves, just so they wouldn't be exactly the same.

For more on Scarlet Spider's appearance, powers, and history, see The Spider-Man Homepage.

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Origin: While attending a science exhibition, high school student Peter Parker was bitten by a spider that had been exposed to radiation. Parker found himself gifted with the proportionate strength and agility of a spider. When Parker didn't lift a finger to catch a thief, the man went on to murder Parker's Uncle, Ben. Parker devoted his life to a mantra we should all strive to live by: with great power comes great responsibility.

Physical Appearance: I knew right off the bat I wouldn't be able to duplicate Spidey's web-pattern, so that was strike one. I had to choose between a "V" torso design and a belt, so that was strike two. Finally, I couldn't make his back look different from his chest, so one will be wrong no matter what I do. Maybe I'm being finicky. I don't think I could do better than this, but it's not as accurate as Carnage, or Scarlet Spider. Oh well.

Moves/Stats: Spider-Man has no formal training, only strength, agility, and experience. So I gave him a lot of flashy kicks, a lot of punches, and a lot of flying moves. I also threw in a few power displays because, well, Spider-Man can lift a bus.

For more on Spider-Man's appearance, powers, and history, see Eric's Spider-Man Homepage.

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Origin: Warning: this is long and campy.

Our story begins in Japan, where Hamato Yoshi studied the art of ninjitsu with the "Foot" clan. Yoshi and another student, Oroku Nagi, both fell in love with a young lady named Tang Shen. When Shen chose Yoshi, Nagi attacked her. Yoshi was forced to kill Nagi to protect Shen. Having killed another member of the clan, Yoshi was exiled to New York City in shame. (This bit could be summed up by saying, "The good guy killed the bad guy to save the girl.")

In New York, Yoshi opened a martial arts school. But in Japan, Oroku Nagi's younger brother, Saki, had dedicated his life to avenging his brother's death. He trained and advanced through the "Foot" clan, donning some truly bad-ass armor and dubbing himself "The Shredder." The Shredder was sent by the "Foot" to establish a branch of the clan in the U.S. Under Shredder's leadership, the "Foot" soon became the most powerful criminal element in New York. Finally, Shredder avenged Oroku Nagi's death by murdering Yoshi and Tang Shen. (This part could be summed up by saying, "the bad guy's little brother killed the good guy and the girl.")

In the final battle between Shredder and Hamato Yoshi, Yoshi's pet rat, Splinter, was set free. Splinter had studied his master's techniques, and over time, had mastered ninjitsu. (Editor's Note: It's worth mentioning here that at this point, Splinter was your standard, run-of-the-mill, back-alley rodent. I've never owned a rat, or studied ninjitsu, but if I had, I'm fairly certain that the rat would not imitate me. I bet that it would just sit there, sniff constantly, eat cheese and poop. Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, God bless them, made a bazillion dollars, and one of them married a sexy Penthouse model, off of a story who's key character is a ninja rat. This country rules.) Splinter took to the streets, surviving off garbage scraps. (Almost like... a rat!) One day, Splinter witnessed a strange canister bounce out of a delivery truck and strike a glass bowl of turtles. The canister and the turtles fell into the sewer. Splinter investigated and found that the canister had broken, covering the turtles with a strange ooze. Splinter took the turtles in and cleaned the ooze off of them. Shortly thereafter, Splinter and the turtles began to mutate. They grew, became more intelligent, and generally became more human-like. Splinter named the turtles after his favorite artists, and taught them the art of ninjitsu. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (T.M.N.T.) were born! Led by Splinter, the foursome fought the "Foot" clan and other baddies in a never-ending battle of good, evil, and nunchaku. (This part could be summed up by saying, "the ninja rat found some turtles, they all got bigger, and the rat made the turtles ninjas.")

Thus began the saga of the T.M.N.T. These reptiles went on to spawn at least three comic series (although the first was by far the best) at least three movies (although the first was by far the best) and a gajillionzillion dollars worth of toys. And dammit, I think they're cool.

Physical Appearance: I chose to make Raph, 'cause he's my favorite. You could change this to any other Turtle by changing the color of his "mask." (Of course, in the original series, the turtles all wore red masks. I wouldn't do that for 6 Man Scramble, unless you wanted to mimic the Killer Bees' "mask confusion" tactics.) Now, that's clearly Vader's head I'm using; it's the closest thing to a turtle head I could find. I think it looks okay; a friend told me it looked awful. If you've got any better ideas, let me know. Also, I had to make him fat to capture the "shell" look, but as a result, his physical stamina is inaccurately poor. (Ninjas are always in shape.) Other than that, I think I did okay.

Moves/Stats: Um...they're ninjas. Lots of punch and kick combos. Duh.

For more on the T.M.N.T.'s appearance, powers, and history, see the Official Ninja Turtle Website or Image's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Homepage.

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Origin: Thor is, in truth, the Norse god of thunder. He was adapted (bastardized?) into a comic book character by Marvel Comics in the 1960's. Ancient Norsemen believed that thunder and lightning came from Thor and his hammer, Mjolnir. Norse mythology said that Thor, a great warrior, was destined to die at the hands of the Midgard Serpent (this is Norse for "big-ass snake.") For more information on Thor -- the real Thor -- see The Encyclopedia Mythica.

According to Marvel mythology, Doctor Donald Blake found a cane while hiking in the mountains of Europe. When he struck the cane to the ground, he was transformed into Thor. Turns out that Thor was transfered into the body of a human by his father, Odin. (Gods are strange people.) In any event, Thor spent the next several decades traipsing around the globe, fighting bad guys and waiting for Ragnarok to start. Marvel has recently restarted the Thor series, and I think he has a new origin. For more info on Thor -- the Marvel Thor -- see Marvel Comics' Thor Special.

Physical Appearance: My creation looks a lot like the Marvel Thor, which looks NOTHING like the traditional Thor. (Someday, I'll make that and post it on here too.) Obviously, I've had to remove his cape, helmet, and Mjolnir. And his wristbands and shoulders aren't quite the right color. Also, he's lacking those little silver circles on his chest. But all in all, I think I did a fine job, especially with the wrappings on his lower legs.

Moves/Stats: Thor got shafted here. There was just no way to avoid it. If Joe Average Superhero is a 200-point character, Thor should be a 400-pointer, at least. He's invulnerable, super-strong, battle-tested, and can control the weather. Wizard Magazine recently picked Thor as the second most powerful hero in comics, behind the Silver Surfer but ahead of Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Hulk. So I did what I could, giving him high points on punching, kicking, and power, sacrificing aerial moves. Top rope planchas aren't his style anyway.

For more on Thor's appearance, powers, and history, see the Encyclopedia Mythica, Thor of Asgard, or Marvel Comics' Thor Special.

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Origin: During the original Secret Wars, Spider-Man obtained a new, black costume. Back on Earth, Spider-Man discovered that the costume was alive, and that it wanted to permanently bond with him. Spider-Man rejected the symbiotic creature. Wandering, the symbiote stumbled across Eddie Brock, a newspaper reporter who blamed Spider-Man for ruining his career. Drawn together by their hatred for Spider-Man, the two bonded together to form Venom, hero of manic-depressive schizophrenics everywhere!

Physical Appearance: Pretty close, but then, pretty easy. The design on his back and chest looks kind of like a spider, sometimes. A true venom would have an extended tongue, or at least a very toothy grin, but what are you gonna do?

Moves/Stats: Venom is similar to Spider-Man, only bigger and stronger. So, he has lots of power moves, and a few agility moves thrown in. Now, I need help. I've given Venom a Lyger Bomb for a finisher. (Called "Kaiser Bomb" in the game, a Lyger Bomb is a standard powerbomb that ends in a sunset flip position.) I feel that this move is the perfect finisher for Venom, as it displays a rare combination of power and agility. Unfortunately, I can't think of a better name for this move than "Venom Bomb." (shudder) That name blows. So I'm hoping someone can send me a new name for this move. I've tried take-offs of Venom, symbiote, his nickname "Lethal Protector," and brain-eating. (Best Venom quote ever: "Carnage brains! Yum!") But I'm still stuck. So if you've got a better name, I'd appreciate the info.

For more on Venom's appearance, powers, and history, see Eric's Spider-Man Homepage.

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