Skullfire

Skullfire
Cover to X-Men 2099 # 29 showing Skullfire powered up Art by Ron Lim
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	X-Men 2099 #1 (October, 1993)
Created by	John Francis Moore Ron Lim
In-story information
Alter ego	Timothy Fitzgerald
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	X-Men 2099 Halo City Protectorate Undead
Abilities	Made of pure energy Ability to absorb and rechannel energy around him Levitation

Skullfire (Timothy Fitzgerald) is a fictional character in Marvel Comics's 2099 universe, a look at superheroes in the year 2099. He was one of the founding members of a future incarnation of the X-Men called X-Men 2099.

Timothy "Fitz" Fitzgerald was a wealthy, young urban professional until his mutant powers manifested. An uncontrollable burst of energy destroyed his apartment and killed his girlfriend, Reiko. After this, Timothy went into hiding, living on the streets. He was approached by Cerebra, who gave him a card and told him to go to the Nuevo Sol Arcology, in the Nevada desert.

Upon his arrival, Fitz was surprised to see other mutants and other genetic outcasts socializing and enjoying themselves. He is introduced to X-Man Serpentina and then their leader Xi'an. However, Fitz notices a sniper attempting to assassinate Xi'an. He foils the attempt, but Xi'an is still injured. Tim helps the other X-Men save Xi'an and clear him of charges that he killed a Las Vegas casino mogul, Noah Synge. In the process Serpentina is killed and Tim joins the X-Men, to help create a future where mutants can live free.

Still somewhat shy and unable to fully control his powers, Tim accompanied Krystalin and Meanstreak to New York to find Meanstreak's friend, Jordan Boone, who had disappeared. Along the way, they are captured by La Lunatica and Controller Thirteen of the Theatre of Pain. Luna's powers force him to relive the memory of when his powers manifested and his girlfriend was killed. This trauma triggers his powers, shorting out the equipment around him and helping them all escape, including Luna who had been a slave of the Theatre for 10 years. This exchange also changed Timothy himself, allowing him full control over his powers and bringing him to terms with his past, making him more assertive, more daring and eventually shaping him into the leader of the X-Men. After finally arriving in New York, Tim and the others find Boone, engineered into the 2099 version of the trickster god Loki, and help to take down the Alchemax created Aesir.

After returning to Xi'an Fitz helped find Mama Hurricane, a member of the underground railroad during the Great Purge of mutants, and then Master Zhao, the leader of the last known team of X-Men. Tim accompanied Xi'an after the latter abandoned the X-Men, a result of Zhao's psychic assault returning Xi'an to his base, amoral persona. While searching for The Driver, on information from Mama Hurricane, they encounter La Lunatica again and she and Tim begin a relationship that would last for the remainder of the comic's run. Tim agrees to help her escape the pursuit of the Theatre of Pain, though he is mostly ineffective against their leader, Brimstone Love, when Love attacks them at the Driver's garage. They are granted reprieve however, when Brimstone leaves instead with Xi'an, who joins the Theatre. Disillusioned by his mentor's defection, Tim returns to the other X-Men, with Luna, to reform the team and lead them against the Theatre of Pain. Together they storm the Theatre's Floodgate facility in California, fighting to a stalemate and forcing Brimstone Love to retreat. As Floodgate empties, Doom, self-imposed U.S. President, arrives and hires the X-Men as the protectorate of Halo City, a new city-state in the southwest, built to be a safe-haven for mutants, degens and other victims of genetic oppression.