Sunpyre

Real Name

Leyu Yashida

Portrayed by	Chiaki Kuriyama
Gender	Female
Place of Birth	Nagisaki, Japan
Date of Birth	June, 1984
Age	28
Aliases	Leyu, Lady of Mystery
Origin	Mutant
Current Location	Xavier's
Occupation	Genetics Researcher, Adventurer
Team	X-Factor
Alignment	Hero
Known Relatives	Hiro Yashida (Sunfire), Mariko Yashida, Shiro Yashida (Silver Samurai)
Significant Other	Ayane (formerly)
Identity	Secret
Known Abilities	Projection of Solar Plasma
First Apperance	Post-Cutoff

Character Details

Half-sister to Shiro Yashida, aka Sunfire
Born after father Saburo remarried following Shiro's mother's death
Manifested similar powers to Sunfire when she reached puberty
Protected and shielded, Leyu was discouraged from heroing like Shiro
Feeling she could not measure up, Leyu instead chose to pursue science
Studied to become a doctor, and a researcher of genetics
Kept her sexuality a secret for fear of family disapproval
Quietly dated fellow researcher Ayane Mitzuki
Tired of forever being ignored in favor of her brother, came out to parents
Rejected, she left home.
Ayane unwilling to face being similarly disowned, Leyu left Japan entirely
Hoping to pursue her research anew, she travels to America to find Xavier
Redesigns her costume to distance herself from her brother, hoping to become a great hero on her own and win back respect of family

Inferiority Complex - Leyu has spent her entire life with it drilled into her that she just can't measure up. Second born, and a daughter at that, she could never compare to her brother, the great hero of the family and of the Japanese people. Nothing she did was ever good enough to earn the sort of praise that seemed to be her brother's birthright for the asking. She has a major chip on her shoulder about this. In the past, this has caused her to emulate her brother in her heroic persona, believing she needs to be harder and haughtier, to demand the respect she never seems to get from the people most important to her. Naturally, that hasn't worked out very well; even people outside the family largely view Sunpyre as an arrogant and redundant follow-on to Sunfire.
Eager to Please - Desperate for acceptance and positive feedback in her life, Leyu has always been eager to please those in authority over her, doing whatever they demanded, no matter how unreasonable. Even when Leyu is rebelling against their authority, part of her is desperately looking for their acceptance and praise. If someone in authority were to actually give her that kind of positive feedback, it could very well change her life.
Struggling Conformist - The only way to avoid her parents' glowering displeasure for most of her life has been to conform to the ideals they demanded of her, as a very traditional Japanese family. She was to be a polite, well-behaved, proper and traditional Japanese girl, obedient to her family, accomplished academically without ever challenging the family's patriarchs. She has always sought to obey this ideal, even hiding her sexuality for over a decade for fear of their rejection and displeasure. And honestly having faced that displeasure and rejection - not only from her family, but from her girlfriend Ayane - Leyu is struggling just to stay mentally afloat. She will likely revert back to conformist, obedient behaviors in hopes of making a new place for herself, even as part of her longs - begs - to rebel and forge her own path, everyone else's rules be damned.
Hidden Temper - Leyu has quite the temper, though she has spent most of her life keeping it under very rigid check, almost never letting it out. Her few forays in her costumed persona as Sunpyre were really her only outlets for her temper, and they were far between. With the rejections she has faced, Leyu's temper is that much stronger, and she is struggling that much harder to keep it bottled up. That temper pushed her to finally confess to her family, and look how that turned out!
Seeking Answers - Leyu has a very curious mind, always looking for answers. She wants to understand why it is that her father could never love her the way he did Shiro. She wants to understand why it is she too was born with the powers Shiro has mastered and embodied to the Japanese people. She wants to understand why it is she was born lesbian, because she is sure she would never have chosen this for herself. All of this fuels her scientific efforts, and her life.
Seeking Acceptance / Validation - What Leyu wants most in this world is to be accepted for who she is, to have her sense of self and her choices validated by others. If she could find that, it would literally change her life.

Solar Plasma - Like her brother, Leyu absorbs solar and similar radiation all around her, storing that energy inside her very blood. She can then express that energy, ionizing the immediate atmosphere to high-energy plasma, like that of which the sun itself is composed. It is the manipulation of this solar plasma that is the core of her abilities.
Solar Energy Absorption - Leyu absorbs solar and similar radiation all around her, storing that energy inside her very blood. She can then express that energy.
Flight - By creating convection currents with the heating of her plasma wake, Leyu can fly, even hover, though she cannot do so effortlessly. She can achieve a maximum speed of about one hundred miles per hour
Solar Plasma Field - Leyu can heat her plasma field anywhere from several hundred degrees Farenheit - the equivalent of a nasty bonfire - all the way up to nearly a million degrees, approaching that of the very sun itself. This field surrounds her body out to perhaps a foot in range, although she can project it further at need. She herself is immune to its heat. She can direct its heat so precisely that she can utterly incinerate her target, and another subject only inches away will only suffer the equivalent of a sunburn. This field protects Leyu from any physical attack, including almost most forms of energy, blunting or burning away most physical objects, and deflecting or absorbing most other energy forms.
Solar Plasma Plasts - Leyu can project 'flares' of her plasma to blast other targets, delivering that incredible heat. She can fire small globs for single targets, continuous waves, or release a single huge 'nova burst' of incredible damage all around herself. A full nova burst is likely to exhaust much of Leyu's energy, and could leave her vulnerable or even helpless depending on the circumstances, because of the sheer amount of energy expended in such an effort.
Heat Signature Sense - Leyu can see into the infrared spectrum and read heat signatures, even to the point of discerning one person from another if she already knows their signatures. She can track the decay of heat signatures along surfaces or materials.
Solar Shielding Psi-Shield - Leyu is virtually immune to solar and most other forms of radiation, heat, and light, as these effects - even bright flashes that would normally blind - are instead absorbed into her power sink.

Visa - Leyu is a Japanese citizen, currently staying in the United States for an extended period as covered by a Visa. Hers is an H1-V work Visa, allowing her to stay in the US to work with Charles Xavier on genetics research.
Registered - Leyu is a registered mutant in her home country of Japan. As such, she is also a registered mutant here in the United States, as such information is shared regarding any Japanese citizen seeking to enter the US legally.
Accounts - Leyu has access to considerable funds, through the trust gifted to her at age twenty-five by her family. Much as the family would currently like to close off her access to those funds, they cannot do so legally. She will do her best not to abuse that access or waste the money. But she has access to over a million dollars, if she needs it.
Family - She may be on the outs with her family - and Leyu is definitely on the outs with them, given what they view as reprehensible and shameful conduct, a virtual betrayal of the family honor - but they are her family. If Leyu were in deep trouble, in danger for her life, she could probably call upon her family for help. They might give it grudgingly, and make her regret ever contacting them with the browbeating they'd give in return. But they wouldn't let someone else kill her. They have to keep her alive so that she will either repent, or kill herself to expiate her sins. It is also possible that some member or members of her family may feel differently in private, though Leyu would have no way of knowing that.
Costume - Leyu herself doesn't have the contacts, but through Sunfire she was given a costume of unstable molecules to wear as Sunpyre. Originally, this costume was patterned very closely after Sunfire's own. But Leyu has customized and changed it, as part of her bid to separate herself from her brother and find a way to shine on her own. The uniform's best advantage is that she can wear it at full power without it being destroyed by her fire, plasma and heat.
X-Factor - Leyu wants to be a hero, and find a way to shine like her brother, out from under his shadow. She has offered her services to X-Factor in the hopes doing so will be her avenue. As such, she has provisional access to X-Factor resources including the Xavier estate and government intel cleared for team use.

Relationships

Name	Relation	Notes
Hiro Yashida	half-brother	Idolizes him, but also jealous
Shiro Yashida	cousin	Despises him and the pain he has put his family through
Mariko Yashida	cousin	Her closest friend in her family, loves her dearly

X-Factor
Name	Position	Notes
Havok	Team Leader	Quirky sense of humor, strong leader
Siryn	Team Mate
Dervish	Team Mate	Muslim secret agent, very polite, stand-offish at times
Nightcrawler	Team Mate	Funny, loves to tease
Mirage	Team Mate	Very brave, lovely sense of humor, quite loyal
Gypsy Moth	Team Mate	Exotic, fun and mysterious, very playful, teases all the time

Name	Relation	Notes
Richenda Gray	Quirky Xaviers' student	First student she met at the school
Ayane Mitzuki	Ex-girlfriend	Miss her a lot, stayed in Japan, dumped Leyu rather than come out
Scott Summers	X-Men team leader, Co-Headmaster	Welcomed her to the school
Hepzibah	Alien visitor	Arrived at the school at the same time, fascinating appearance

Logs

Date	Title	Characters	Rating
2012-05-23	A Boy Scout in Spandex, a Furry, an Asian Schoolgirl, and a Hedonist	Cyclops, Gypsy Moth, Hepzibah, and Sunpyre	Cyclops welcomes the new arrivals to the mansion.
2012-05-24	Hello, Anime Girl	Leyu Yashida, Sybil Dvorak	Leyu and Sybil encounter one another the next morning after their welcome to the Mansion.
2012-05-25	Breakfast Buddies	Leyu Yashida, Kurt Wagner, Logan	Leyu gets to know some of those at the Mansion a little better, and they in return as well.
2012-05-25	Goldilocks and the Bears v3.5	Danielle Moonstar, Kurt Wagner, Leyu Yashida, Hulk	Sunpyre (Goldilocks) stumbles into the house of the bears (Logan, Hulk, Nightcrawler, Mirage) - strange things are afoot.
2012-05-27	Laundry Day	Leyu Yashida, Richenda Gray	Chenda tries to pick the lock to Leyu's room, looking for spare clothes on laundry day.
2012-05-28	Trading Shorts	Leyu Yashida, Sybil Dvorak, Richenda Gray	Leyu is getting organized. Richenda shows up with injuries in need of treatment. Sybil shows up and helps out. Sort of.
2012-05-29	Pink and Gray Teddy Bear	Leyu Yashida, Richenda Gray, Kurt Wagner	Richenda drags Leyu and Kurt off shopping.
2012-05-29	Welcome, Dervish	Dervish, Havok, Nightcrawler, Sunpyre, and Iraqi soldiers and Desert Sword	Dervish is retrieved by X-Factor from Desert Sword.
2012-05-30	Tanning Expedition	Leyu Yashida, Sybil Dvorak	Sybil is tanning outside, Leyu finds her. The two chat.
2012-06-01	Savage Land III: Liberation of the Fallen People	Havok, Nightcrawler, Gypsy Moth, Sunpyre and Mirage	X-Factor liberates the Fallen People and rescues Boom-Boom.
2012-06-01	Campfire Camaraderie	Dervish, Gypsy Moth, Mirage, Nightcrawler, and Sunpyre	The members of X-Factor relax around the campfire and get to know one another.
2012-06-01	The Magic of Musicals	Leyu Yashida, Sybil Dvorak	Leyu and Sybil finish their medical rounds together, and talk a bit about hobbies and musical tastes.
2012-06-04	Savage Land IV: Plan of the Day	Havok, Nightcrawler, Warpath, Sunpyre, Gypsy Moth, Mirage	X-Factor debate the next move.
2012-06-04	Savage Land V: Assault on the Savage Land	Havok, Warpath, Nightcrawler, Gypsy Moth, Sunpyre and Mirage	X-Factor captures Cable and rescues the rest of X-Force.
2012-06-07	Danger Room Pirates and Panache	Sunpyre, Nightcrawler	Leyu joins Kurt in the Danger Room for sword practice, which turns into a battle against pirates on the not-so-high seas.
2012-06-12	Arcade's Deathtrap Island: Crash Landing	Havok, Nightcrawler, Dervish, Gypsy Moth, Sunpyre and Mirage	X-Factor gets word that Polaris is a hostage, rescue ensues!
2012-06-12	Arcade Deathtrap Island: Coconuts!	Havok, Nightcrawler, Dervish, Sunpyre, Gypsy Moth, Mirage	Contining Saga of X-Factor rescuing Polaris.
2012-06-12	Arcade's Deathtrap Island: Running the Guantlet	Nightcrawler, Dervish, Sunpyre, Mirage, and Gypsy Moth	The continuing Saga of X-Factor's dealing with Arcade.