Sunfire (Shiro Yoshida (吉田 四郎, Yoshida Shirō)) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Sunfire is a mutant and sometime member of the X-Men. A Japanese mutant who can generate superheated plasma and fly, Sunfire was briefly a member of the second team of X-Men but quit after their first mission as he was not suited for teamwork due to his temperament and arrogance. Since then he has kept his distance from the team but at times become an occasional ally.
Concept and creation Roy Thomas recalled that, during his first run on X-Men,I wanted to add a young Japanese or Japanese-American whose mother had been at Hiroshima or Nagasaki as a corresponding character to the X-Men, whose parents were, at that time, assumed to have been at the Manhattan Project. Stan [Lee, X-Men editor/co-creator] didn't give me any good reason [for rejecting the character]—he just didn't want to, I think... I didn't bring it up again, but when I came back to the book, with Neal Adams, I created Sunfire, who is pretty much the character I had wanted to do some years earlier. I didn't make him an X-Man right away. By that time, Stan gave me a little more free reign [sic]. In fact, he was included in Giant Size X-Men #1, along with Banshee, precisely because I had gone around creating some 'international mutants,' with the goal of expanding the team at some time. I thought the X-Men shouldn't all be white Americans. Thomas later commented on the character's costume "I had Don Heck design the character from my verbal suggestion of a costume that was an embodiment of the imperial Japanese Rising Sun flag, as Japanese or Japanese-American. In a future interview Thomas noted the unique mask of the character "Don Heck gave him that mask — kind of a weird dragony kind of mask — it wasn't just a standard mask." Sunfire was the first East Asian superhero in Marvel Comics.
Publication history
Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Don Heck, Sunfire first appeared in X-Men #64 (January 1970). As of 2025, Sunfire has appeared in 87 comic book issues. Sunfire also appeared in the Iron Man comics issues #67-70 & 98 (1974-1977) and the Wolverine issues #55-60 (June-September of 1992). In 1998, Marvel published the miniseries Sunfire and Big Hero Six, presenting Sunfire's brief membership in a new superhero team sanctioned by the Japanese government. Maximum Security issues #1 & 3 featured Sunfire. Sunfire became part of the Exiles in issue #7 (December 5, 2001), manifesting as the woman version of the character from an alternate reality. Writer Rick Remender included Sunfire as a member of the Uncanny Avengers, starting with issue #5 (March 27, 2013). He joined X-Men Unlimited Infinity in issue #106 (September 25, 2023) and had a major supporting role in the 2025 limited series Doom's Division. In June 2026, it was announced that Sunfire would be included in the roster for the miniseries Queen in Black: Defenders of Light and Dark, which is part of the "Queen in Black" crossover event. Writer Tom Waltz included Sunfire as he was a longtime fan of the character and felt that his nuclear powers made him a good fit for Team Light.
Fictional character biography Shiro Yoshida was born in Agarashima, Japan. His mother suffered radiation poisoning due to exposure to the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima; as a result, Shiro was born as a mutant possessing solar radiation powers. Shiro's mother died of radiation poisoning when he was young. Shiro grew to hate the United States, despite the influence of his father, an ambassador to the United Nations who was more tolerant of the US. Shiro's greedy uncle Tomo inspired him to become "Sunfire" and engage in a one-man battle against the U.S. As Sunfire, he attacked the United States Capitol and battled the X-Men, after which he witnessed Tomo murder his father; distraught, he killed Tomo and surrendered to the authorities. Sunfire battled Namor the Sub-Mariner but then fought alongside him against the Dragon Lord. Sunfire also fought Iron Man but was abducted by the Mandarin and used to power one of the Mandarin's machines. Once freed, he and Iron Man fought Ultimo. Professor X recruited Sunfire to a new team of X-Men to rescue the originals from the living island Krakoa. However, after the mission, he rejected X-Men membership. Sunfire becomes involved with the X-Men once again when Apocalypse kidnaps him, as Sunfire is one of the Twelve, a group of mutants Apocalypse required to obtain reality-warping powers. Sunfire then became a member of the Mumbai branch of X-Corporation, a non-government organization devoted to the protection of mutant rights. During the early story arcs of the latest edition of Marvel Team-Up, Sunfire attempts to combat the powerful villain known as Titannus, a reject of the Super-Skrull program who had made his way to Earth after being brainwashed by an alien race to serve as their ultimate weapon. Attempting to contain Titannus, Sunfire summons the Japanese army to confront him, but the powerful foe defeats them army with ease, and is only barely beaten by a new team hastily assembled by Doctor Strange to combat this threat.
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