Fire Master

"These pyromancers are wreathed in a steady blaze that makes head-on attacks dangerous. Douse them with a water barrel, then go in for the beatdown."

- Description of the Fire Master in Sonic Unleashed (PS3/Xbox 360).

The Fire Master (ファイアマスター) is one of Dark Gaia's Minions that appears in Sonic Unleashed. These wizard-like beings are recognized for their pyrokinetic attacks and defenses, which make them some of the most dangerous members of the Master variant. They only appear during the game's nighttime stages.

Overview
The creation of the Fire Masters and the rest of Dark Gaia's Minions occurred when Dark Gaia broke apart in the beginning of Sonic Unleashed due to its premature awakening by Dr. Eggman. These fragments were then spread across the Earth and became Dark Gaia's Minions, with the Fire Masters some amongst them. They first appear in Arid Sands Night Act II: Scorched Rock in the PS2/Wii version and Arid Sands Night Act 1 in the PS3/Xbox 360 version.

The Fire Masters almost always appear in the company of other enemies, but mostly with other types of enemies, and rarely appear in pair of Fire Masters.

Upon the reconstruction of Dark Gaia by Dr. Eggman, all of the Fire Masters along with the other Dark Gaia minions were returned to the beast, who was later defeated and sealed within the planet's core.

Physical Appearance
The Power Masters' basic appearance is that of a humanoid phantom-like wizard. They are dressed in full-body clothes which have a pointy hat and cape, and are decorated with magenta symbols. The only parts on their body that are shown are their yellow eyes and some of their back faces. They are also always carrying a red, hook-shaped staff with a flame-shaped head and a glowing center.

The color of the Fire Masters' clothing differs between the versions of Sonic Unleashed. In the PS3/Xbox 360 version, their clothes are dark blue with orange glowing markings and in the PS2/Wii version, their clothes are red with cyan glowing markings.

Powers and Abilities
The Fire Masters are able to move around by teleporting into an area in a puff of purple smoke or by emerging from black puddles on the ground. As a Dark Gaia minion, the Fire Masters can possess people by latching onto the deepest, darkest part of the heart, and generate despair, negative emotions or even erratic behavior that are completely opposite to the person's personality.

The Fire Masters have the innate ability to levitate above ground and can move through mid-air rather quickly.

The Fire Masters are born with exceptionally high intelligence, allowing them to take on a near-perfect humanoid appearance and utilize Dark Gaia's power in a more refined way, similar to that of magical spells. The Fire Masters' spell casting focuses on manipulation of fire, giving the Fire Masters pyrokinetic abilities. This magic allows the Fire Masters to create and manipulate the fire they produce, enabling them to form fiery attacks, such as firing large balls of fire or augmenting their own physical strikes with flames to make them more destructive. Their trademark use of their pyrokinetic abilities, however, is a fiery defense, where they envelope their entire body in fire, causing anyone who makes contact with them to be burned.

Because their powers revolves around fire, the Fire Masters are very vulnerable to water. When doused in water, it will extinguish the Fire Masters' flames, leaving them weakened and vulnerable. However, should their flames go out, the Fire Master can reignite their flames and restore their strength, though it takes some time.

Besides fire manipulation magic, the Fire Masters can also use spells to instantly teleport themselves over short distances.

The Fire Masters possess as well some skills in stick fighting, being able to use their staffs in close combat to hit their opponents using quick and swift movements. As a supplementary ability to their stick fighting, the Fire Masters can enlarge their staffs, giving them greater range and attack power.

Attack Patterns
In battle, the Fire Masters make very little effort to avoid being attacked by the player, as their fire-enveloped bodies protect them from harm or will damage the player upon contact. This fire defense can be negated, however, by dousing the Fire Master with a nearby water barrel or if Sonic is in Unleashed Mode.

PS3/Xbox 360
In the PS3/Xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed, the Fire Masters have more versatile fighting moves, but are much slower and cannot teleport. In gameplay, if a player makes contact with a Fire Master while it is enveloped in flames, Sonic the Werehog whole body will catch fire and his health will steadily drop until the fire is put out after a while or he makes contact with water.

When attacking the player, the Fire Masters will attack the player by hitting him/her with their staff, either by swinging the staff or by hammering it down on the player when enlarged, or by shoot large fireballs that will not only damage the player from afar, but also set him/her on fire. Should the Fire Masters be enveloped in fire when landing physical strikes themselves, the player will catch on fire as well. When the player attempts to attack the Fire Masters, they can move around in the air to avoid damage, making it somewhat difficult for the player to attack them.

PS2/Wii
In the PS2/Wii version of Sonic Unleashed, the Fire Masters have only one way of attacking, but they have fast movements. When enveloped in fire, the Fire Masters are invincible, but when dousing them with water, it will not only extinguish their flames, but also leave them dazed for a few moments.

When attacking the player, the Fire Masters will dash into the player at high speed, leaving him/her briefly burned upon contact, while constantly remaining on the offensive. When their flames are extinguished, however, the Fire Masters will switch to defensive tactics by either floating out of the player's attack range or by teleporting long distances until they are able to reignite themselves. These movements make it rather difficult for the player to target them properly.