Flame Shield

The Fire Shield (a.k.a. Pyro Barrier) is a power-up item from Sonic the Hedgehog 3, as well as its locked-on form, Sonic 3 & Knuckles. It is obtained by destroying an item box with a flame symbol (pictured), or by obtaining an orange gumball in the Bonus Stage.

The shield absorbs one hit, as well as preventing any fire-related damage and allowing Sonic to do a forward dash attack when jumping (by double-pressing the jump button). The shield will fizzle out if the player's character

Sonic with the Fire Shield

comes into contact with water, an effect it shares with the electric shield.

The shield is also useful against enemies that use energy projectiles, such as Bloominators, Blastoids, Spikers, and Clamers (but excluding Monkey Dudes, which throw coconuts). Their energy projectiles will bounce right off, regardless of the shield obtained by the player.

The concept of having shields that protect against certain kinds of damage also found its way into Sonic 3D, which used gold, blue and red shields. In this game, the Fire Shield's equivalent is the red shield.

In the Sonic SatAM episode "Doomday Project" two floating robots use fire shields to attack Sonic.

This shield make an appearance in Shadow the Hedgehog (Game). It damages enemies around you but it disappears when you get attacked or get hurt.