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Grr... (Translation: I'll take you on.)
Pre-Match quote
Firebrand is a type of gargoyle known as a Red Arremer. He will stand up to any threat posed to his home, the Demon Village, without any fear. Firebrand is considered to be an elite warrior among the Red Arremers, gaining him hero status among his peers. He is one of the characters introduced in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
Backstory
A member of the Red Arremer race of demon gargoyles, Firebrand is considered a hero among his people for the deeds he has commited under the command of the demon Astaroth. He is called the "Red Blaze" due to his control over fire magic.
Long ago, a mutant gargoyle with red skin embarked on a journey to stop his home dimension of the Makai from being destroyed by the undead king of destruction, Breager. He collected magical artifacts while trying to reach his enemy, making him more powerful each time, and eventually banished Breager. This gargoyle was Firebrand's ancestor, and when Breager later returned to conquer the Makai once more, Firebrand rose to defend his homeland and destroy Breager forever. Firebrand would later go on a journey through the Makai in search of magical crests to increase his power, putting him into conflict with the demon tyrant Phalanx. Firebrand ultimately uses the crests to destroy Phalanx, but chooses to cast them away out of pride for his own power.
Due to his allegiances, Firebrand can be considered an enemy of Arthur, although it is likely the two have never personally met. However, Arthur has fought many Red Arremers while trying to save his princess.
Appearance
Firebrand is a red, gargoyle-like demon with wings that have spikes portruding from the top. His wings are dark blue with a silver lining. He wears silver bands on his wrists and ankles. His hands and feet have powerful claws, and he has sharp teeth in his mouth. His pointy ears extend upward.
Powers and Abilities
Firebrand has many powers and abilities, including:
- Fire manipulation
- Flight using wings
- Sharp claws and teeth
- Transformation into White Form (also called Stone Form) with stronger and faster attacks
- Loyalty of Red Arremer forces
Personality
Malevolent and cunning, Firebrand is fueled by his patriotism to the Makai and his love for battle. He gladly serves the devil Astaroth without any moral problems and enjoys hunting down and killing would-be heroes like Arthur. However, he takes deep pride in protecting his realm from tyrants like Breager.
Trivia
- Some of Firebrand's color alts reference Capcom's logo and Blackheart. His green color schemes reference the cover of Gargoyle's Quest and the Green Goblin. His DLC costume is the Red Arremer King from Ghouls 'n Ghosts.
- His character theme is a remix of the intro screen music from the first Gargoyle's Quest.
- One of his winquotes references Gargoyle's Quest: "Ki ki ki kiah!" (translates to "I am the Red Blaze of the Red Arremers!")
- Similarly, after a win, Doctor Strange comments: "This gargoyle's quest has failed."
- His intro is a reference to his appearance in Ghouls and Ghosts.
- Firebrand's Dark Fire hyper and wall cling are both abilities he has in the Gargoyle's Quest series. The heavy version of Demon Missile is a reference to the Red Arremer's signature swooping attack in all the Ghosts 'N Goblins games.
- His Luminous Body hyper references a rather obscure ability of the Red Arremers in the first Ghosts 'N Goblins: If the player takes too long to defeat an Arremer, his skin turns grey/white and he becomes faster and more aggressive.
- Firebrand was announced alongside Ghost Rider, Hawkeye, and Strider Hiryu.
- A Red Arremer is visible in the background of the Demon Village stage, watching the battle, and flying after it when it floats too far away. The Red Arremer is still there when Firebrand is in play and Firebrand appears much bigger, leading to the fact that it's just a regular Red Arremer from Arthur's games.
- Firebrand is visible alongside Lord Raptor, Akuma, and Wesker in Dormammu's ending in the original Marvel vs. Capcom 3, where Dormammu takes advantage of the dimensional rift to collect followers of darkness to serve him.
- At the start of, and after fights, Firebrand's quotes only appear in subtitles, as he only cackles and makes demonic noises.
- If character rivalries are still in question, Firebrand would be paired with Ghost Rider. Firebrand is a demon who serves the devil, and Ghost Rider is a spirit of Vengeance who serves the innocent.
- A Red Arremer also appears in the fighting game SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom as a boss and a playable character. His movesets (safe for his Hell Spitfire (formerly dubbed Fireball)) has been drastically changed since his SvC appearances.
- Firebrand is not much different from a regular Red Arremer, except for size and different head in comparison with the Demon Village stage's Red Arremer. In Gargoyle's Quest, he was originally green with a covering robe, but according to Capcom, he was shown green due to the Game Boy showing nothing but green if no color was on any spot. By the time Gargoyle's Quest II was revealed, Firebrand was changed to the color scheme of a regular Red Arremer and lost his clothing.
- Firebrand got a blue alt. color, mainly because "When there's Red, there's usually Blue". Capcom went creative and made Firebrand not only Blue, but a dash of Yellow to be the color of the Capcom Logo.
- Like Amaterasu in the voice gallery, Firebrand's "dialogue" is labeled as Japanese.
- Firebrand's ending has him usurping Astaroth as Ruler of the Demon Village. He proceeds to scheme against Arthur to prevent him from progressing any further while surrounded by many powerful demons from both the Marvel and Capcom universes.