Pyrokinesis

Bonnie wakes up with fire she created

Pyrokinesis is an ability of witches to conjure, manipulate and extinguish fire through their mind. Witches commonly use this basic power to light candles and can also use liquids (e.g. alcohol, water, etc.) as an accelerant; as such can be used in destructive offensive magic. This power can also be activated through a spell though commonly performed non-verbally, is evoked through the Latin-based term "Incendia". Controlling or extinguishing flames, which requires more focus, typically require a verbal spell. Witches have also used this power to affect temperature and cause heat to rise on or within an object or individual.

While every witch can utilize pyrokinesis or fire spells, Pyromancers are a unique and rare class of "fire-breathing" witch. Little is known about these witches, though they are few in number with only a few dozen remaining in East Asia.

Pyrokinesis is a subsection of Elemental Control.

Throughout The Vampire Diaries

Bonnie Bennett

Bonnie using pyrokinesis for the second time.

This is probably the power Bonnie uses most frequently. She first learned how to control this power in Family Ties, and has used it many a time since. She has used this power to light candles often, as fire and the other elements are used by witches to help fuel their magic. She has also unknowingly used pyrokinesis in You're Undead to Me; Tiki was rude to a customer at the car wash they were hosting for the cheerleading squad, which made her so angry she went into a trance. In her trance, she caught the water on the ground on fire, which spread to a car, which was destroyed. Like at the car wash she often uses water as an accelerant; in Fool Me Once, she threw a glass of water on Ben McKittrick to ignite him. She also used it in Brave New World to attempt to set Damon Salvatore on fire. She used her mind to turn on a nearby hose, incapacitated him by giving him one aneurysm after another, and lit the stream of water on fire to ignite him. Bonnie activates this power similarly to her passive Pain Infliction by giving a strong stern gaze at the object that she intends to ignite.

In The Dinner Party, Bonnie and Jeremy grow closer, the latter suggesting that they "hang out, eat some food, work on some spells." Bonnie demonstrates Jemery's request by channeling an element, specifically fire from the surrounding candles she's laid out and from within the fireplace. As she gathers her focus, she causes the the candle flames and fire within the fireplace to cease and, opening the palms of her hands, she creates fire. Closing her palms extinguished the flames and caused the fire place and candle to burst back to life. Having just learned how to channel, she demonstrated a great control over this ability in a short amount of time.

Bonnie also showed a strong use of this ability during her time in the Prison World. In Yellow Ledbetter, Bonnie attempts the variant spell, though she is unsuccessful as she has still not been able to regain her magic. In Welcome to Paradise, Bonnie finally regained her magic; by concentrating she lit a single candle and then preceded to turn her attention towards Kai. Using the variant incantation, she was able to create two large barriers of fire, by igniting alcohol, to stop Kai from hurting and killing Damon. In Let Her Go, after crossing into the 1903 prison world dimension, she trekked through the snow to the Salvatore house and used the original incantation to set candles and the fireplace ablaze to warm herself. In The Downward Spiral, used the passive form of this power to burn a guy at the rave she was at while looking for Caroline. She reacts violently with her magic due to her time in the prison world with Kai, as the rave dancer was persistent and forceful towards her to dance with him and he attempted to kiss her after she refused him. Later, after seeing Kai for the first time since she escaped the prison world of her own accord, she was furious that Damon had even brought him to see her. This was most evident that she ignited her dorm fireplace with a burst of fire with a mere thought and outstretched hand gesture; her rage fueling her magic.

In Kill 'Em All, Bonnie uniquely used the Motus spell to extinguish a small fire, using it as a reflex. Though the spell is used to enact the verbal form of telekinesis, she adapted it to snuff out a piece of paper that caught fire as Rayna was drawing the locations of the released phoenix stone vampires.

Bonnie manipulates hellfire

In We're Planning a June Wedding, Bonnie adapted her ancestor's spell to manipulate hellfire, as well as taught it to Lizzie and Josie, in order to control and manipulate the fire of an explosion during Stefan and Caroline's wedding to protect themselves. The spell protected them from the smoke and heat of the fire as the magic wrapped around them. Bonnie then, using her magic, directed the residual fires, that spanned the building, into a focal point and out through the fireplace chimney. In I Was Feeling Epic, Bonnie performed the variant incantation to manipulate and control hellfire in order to contain and draw the hellfire from Mystic Falls down into the underground tunnels to the Armory in order to destroy Katherine and back to hell, destroying everything along with it. As the fires reached her, she was able to hold it off though her power waned. She claimed that it wasn't her time and Enzo appeared, telling her to keep fighting and that she was never alone. The spirits of other Bennett witches aided her in her spell and saved the town.

Emily Bennett

In History Repeating, while Bonnie was attempting a séance to speak with her ancestor, Emily took the opportunity to possess her. In order to prevent Damon from releasing the tomb vampires, she made her way to Fell's Church with her talisman with the intent of destroying it. Damon found her first, however, she quickly dispatched of him with her telekinesis, throwing and impaling him into a tree. As she prepared to destroy the talisman, she drew a pentagram into the ground and set it on fire with a fire spell. With the spell complete, she threw the talisman into the air and exploded. With her task complete, her spirit moved on from Bonnie, who was unaware of what transpired.

Jonas Martin

Jonas used this ability once, throughout the bar at the Mystic Grill, in The House Guest. While looking for Elena, he caused mass chaos by exploding light bulbs and glass bottles, causing alcohol to spread along the counter tops. He then proceed to use the alcohol as an accelerant, setting the countertops on fire. He activated this power by giving a strong, stern gaze at the bar which then immediately set on fire. Unable to get an answer from Bonnie, while threatening the patrons, he caused the fires to spread before magically rendering Bonnie unconscious. After he found Elena and Stefan, he continued to cause the fire to spread, though they eventually escaped after he was attacked by Caroline.

Greta Martin

During her short time on the show, Greta used this power the most out of all of her witchcraft abilities. She notably used it to light fires so that she and Elena could see the site of the sacrifice at the end of The Last Day. She also used this power to create three large rings of fire to contain Elena, Jules and Jenna. The circles were spelled to rise in intensity if the person inside it attempted to escape. Greta activated this power by raising her hand and splaying her fingers.

Gloria

In The End of the Affair, Gloria uses this basic power to stop Klaus' attack upon Damon, who was nearly killed within her bar. While a loyal witch to Klaus, she tells him "not in my bar, you take it outside" as she didn't want her bar destroyed for their petty squabbles. Not long later, she is seen interrogating Stefan, containing him with her magical concoction of herbs to subdue him, she channels multiple candles laid out is a circular design all across the floor and table tops around her and Stefan.

Qetsiyah

Qetsiyah producing blue flames

The ancient witch Qetsiyah, also known as Tessa, used this power in Original Sin. After she revealed her past to Stefan, she goes about describing herself to him; while doing so, she drug her finger across the wall, producing blue fire trailing immediately behind her. This is the first time that fire produced from a witch has been a different color and is most likely due, in part, that the emotions she felt while describing herself to Stefan, considering that "many things fuel a witch's power"; this could include emotions or because she was "one of the most powerful witches of all time". Later, while performing her Mind-linking spell, she caused the circle of herbs to catch fire, aiding her with her spell. Once the spell was complete and Silas's mental powers had been rendered useless, the flames were extinguished.

Silas

Silas creating flames from his fingers

Recently cured of immortality, Silas, the second most ancient witch, only used this power once, after regaining the use of his magic. He is one of the few witches to have produced fire from his hands, like Bonnie and Qetsiyah, though he specifically produced them upon his fingertips. In Handle with Care, a couple days after ingesting the cure from Katherine Pierce's blood, he demonstrated this power to Damon and Elena, which seemed to be relatively effortless, as he "flexed" his magic from centuries of non-practice.

Malachai Parker

Kai showed proficiency in pyrokinesis despite being born without magic. He first showed using it in Black Hole Sun, where he non-verbally ignited a portion of a kitchen counter and chair near Damon by siphoning Bonnie's magic to prove a point. In I Alone, he used it once again to completely destroy the ascendant where he was able to sustain the fire and manipulated it to continually spread on Elena's arm. It only ceased when he was thrown into the anti-magic barrier. In Christmas Through Your Eyes, he joked with his newly reunited sister, Jo, about how it would be funny or sad to kill his other sister, Liv with her own magic. He then posed the question to her what the spell was for fire, asking if it was Incendia. As he was about to cast the spell, Jo gave into his demands and reclaimed her magic.

• Incantation: Phasmatos Incendia

The Heretics

In Day One of Twenty-Two Thousand, Give or Take, during the award ceremony to promote cadets into deputies, Valerie performed the Incendia spell, ignited the water from a sprinkler system that she, Nora and Mary Louise caused to malfunction. In doing so, she set the whole area on fire in retaliation for the attack on them earlier that day. In Live Through This, Valerie attempted to use the basic Incendia spell to destroy Julian's body before his spirit could be reunited with it. However, Valerie's attempts were thwarted as Nora and Mary Louise, who were cloaked, used a Fire Extinguishing Spell to save him.

Lizzie and Josie Saltzman

In Coming Home Was a Mistake, Lizzie and Josie were taught to use Incendia by Seline. After absorbing some magic from her, they were able to start a small ember on a plank of wood which quickly grew. In It's Been a Hell of a Ride, Lizzie and Josie began developing their magic though in accidental and random ways. When Caroline found the girls practicing for the wedding, she told them that they weren't play clothes and that the wedding may not happen. The news upset the girls and Lizzie set one of the dress boxes on fire. Caroline snaps at the girls and Josie retorts that Lizzie's in trouble, just like at school. Caroline then learns that the preschool ask for them to leave. In We're Planning a June Wedding, seemingly, they instinctively protected themselves from the smoke and heat of the explosion during Stefan and Caroline's wedding by siphoning from Bonnie. However, this could have also resulted from Valerie's protection spell on the girls. It remains unknown how it was performed. Bonnie then taught them the spell to save themselves, and together, they directed the residual fires away from them as they moved throughout the Founder's Hall.

Bennett Coven

In What Are You?, Beatrice Bennett and her coven performed one of the most powerful fire-manipulation spells shown thus far; a spell to contain and manipulate hellfire. Their combined magic of a hundred witches was powerful enough to prevent the destruction of the, yet to be founded, community of Mystic Falls. Unfortunately, all of the witches, except for Beatrice, gave their lives during the process. In I Was Feeling Epic, during Bonnie's greatest need, Sheila, Beatrice, Lucy, Ayana, the Witch of the Five and other ancestral Bennett witches came to her aid. Together, they performed the variant hellfire manipulation spell and sent hellfire back to hell, destroying Katherine and hell along with it.

Throughout The Originals

Davina Claire

Davina first used this power when she lit a candle and then extinguished the flame. In Après Moi, Le Déluge, Davina begins to manifest flames behind her path from not completing the Harvest ritual and apparently could have consumed the city in flames had she not completed the reaping. During the Fête des Bénédictions, she used this power to set off the fireworks as the Harvest Witch of fire.

The French Quarter Elders

In Crescent City, the French Quarter elders, Céleste Dubois, Bastianna Natale and Genevieve, cast a powerful representational fire spell using the power of the harvest girls to set the entire Mikaelson Mansion on fire and sealed all the exits, trapping Hayley and Jackson. In Le Grand Guignol, Genevieve non-verbally set flames directly on Marcel's body.

Monique Deveraux

In From a Cradle to a Grave, Monique used a non-verbal spell to ignite flames in front of the Ancestral altar to stop Klaus and Elijah from preventing Hope's sacrifice.

Finn Mikaelson

In They All Asked For You, while possessing the witch Vincent Griffith, he attempted to burn Klaus alive in the Lafayette Cemetery. Finn's use of non-verbal pyrokinesis to date has been the most powerful seen as he was able cast a large spreading stream of flames toward Klaus with little external accelerant though, it was apparently with aid from the Ancestors. When the flames and smoke clear, however, Klaus had already vanished, using his speed to overcome his magic. In Chasing the Devil’s Tail, Finn used a non-verbal spell again to light numerous candles within the Church by simply raising his arms.

Dahlia

In Save My Soul, after Dahlia linked herself to Freya using connective magic, she was able to destroy a village by igniting it with flames with a wave of her hand. Also in Night Has A Thousand Eyes, Dahlia effortlessly produced fire in order to destroy the enchanted dagger meant to kill her, after that she immediately extinguished the flames by waving her hand on top of them. In Ashes to Ashes, Dahlia managed to use this power to melt the Gold Dagger while she was incapacitated.

Freya Mikaelson

In City Beneath The Sea, Dahlia invoked Klaus into her mind and showed her Freya's past. Within this memory, Freya was threw a yellow flower into a fire and effortlessly accelerated the intensity of the flames. After her brief argue with Dahlia, she lost control of her magic, cause the flames to rise even higher, as well as the deaths of many crows, until Dahlia calmed her back down.

Kara Nguyen

In For the Next Millennium, the Ninth Ward Coven Elder, Kara seemingly used this power against Davina after she attempted to curse her hands. A ring of fire ignited around Davina entrapping her, until she over powered the spell.

Moroccan Witch

In Beautiful Mistake, she was seen easily setting the resurrection spell, that Rebekah sought for Kol, on fire with a snap of her fingers. This gesture has rarely been seen and perhaps a unique form to non-verbally activate this power as most other witches use different methods to accomplish this.

Vincent Griffith

In Haunter of Ruins, Vincent used a verbal spell in an attempt to destroy the Hollow's Sacrificial Magic Instruction Manual, a dark tome related to Sacrificial Magic. However once the incantation was complete, the book remained intact, protected from destruction from anyone other than the Hollow herself.

• Vincent's First Incantation: Irascitur detruire

In One Wrong Turn On Bourbon, Vincent performed a second verbal fire spell while Ivy performed a Tarot Card reading. The fire spell, in conjunction with Ivy's abilities as a seer was to determine the cards that would show them what the future would hold. Initially, it was the Sun, Temperance, and Chariot cards, all signs of good things to come; however, those cards soon ignited as well, revealing more sinister cards, the Hangman, Devil, and Tower cards. However the cards ignited a second time, or a delayed response to Ivy's question remains to be seen. In What, Will, I, Have, Left, Vincent sets the kitchen of Rousseau's ablaze with a wave of his hand to distract Declan. Freya attempted to tell him about the supernatural world within New Orleans, the cause of Hayley's disappearance, however Vincent believed he'd be safer if he did not know.

In We Have Not Long To Love, Vincent, Marcel, Josh, and the werewolves face of against Emmett and his 'army' of Nightwalkers. With Vincent finally having chosen a side, against Emmett and his belief in the purity of species, he attacks the Nightwalkers with a wall of fire, a display of power for non-verbal pyrokinesis which would have set the vampires on fire. However, they quickly discovered that it was a ruse, that the vampires were just an astral projection and were unharmed.

• Vincent's Second Incantation: Crée le feu

The Hollow

In Voodoo Child, the Hollow, possessing Hope Mikaelson, used this basic power to set the grimoire, the Sacrificial Instruction Manual, ablaze, ensuring that it couldn't be used by Vincent to entrap her spirit.

Hope Mikaelson

In Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, Hope argued with Freya about how she should leave and deal with her issues with Keelin. Freya prompted that she should not shut down about what happened to her mother, Hope's actions having resulted in Hayley being kidnapped a second time, and that it would eat at her. Hope proceeds to lose control of her magic when she yells at Freya to leave her alone, setting an abandon house ablaze. Freya snaps her out of it and the flames go out. In God's Gonna Trouble the Water, during Hayley's funeral, Emmett and two vampires crashed the funeral procession. Freya attempts to get Hope to leave, though overwhelmed with grief and anger, she pushes Freya aside with her telekinesis and attacked one of the vans of vampires. She used the Combustion Spell to completely torch the van and the vampires within. With one van down, she turned her sites on Emmett's van. Likewise, Emmett raised his weapons against Hope and fired as Hope cast the spell a second time. Josh, at Freya's cry, intervened and takes Hope away before she's killed or before she can finish the spell.

• Incantation: Bruciare supe terram, faciendo ignis ga praemium

Throughout Legacies

Josie Saltzman

In This is the Part Where You Run, Josie attacked her ex and fellow student, Penelope Park, with a Fire Spell. Josie was overcome with rage and revenge due to Penelope breaking her heart and set her right arm on fire. The fire began to spread, but other students around her helped to smother the flames. However, as a result of the fire, Penelope had to cut her hair and "rock a lob". In Hope is Not the Goal, Josie performed the second spell to attack the arachne, who had taken 'possession' of Connor's body. Unlike most other forms of fire spells, this spell was in the form of a projectile; specifically a fireball. The spell worked, in the sense that it burned the flesh off of the arachne, though the monster was not harmed by the fire itself.

In We're Gonna Need A Spotlight, while under the control on a mind controlling slug-like creature, Josie was swayed to take the urn and return it to Malivore. With Penelope by her side, she siphoned Hope's boundary spell that protected the urn. When Hope arrived and blocked her path to leave, Josie began to form a fireball to fend her off; however, Lizzie accompanied Hope and siphoned Josie's magic and the fireball dissipated. In There's a Mummy on Main Street, Josie, Lizzie, Alaric, and Hope confronted a mummy in the small town named Maple Hollows. When confronted, the mummy 'cursed' Hope and Lizzie to vomit up beetles, effectively incapacitating the two. As he directed his attack at Josie, she protected herself with magic and cast a fire spell. The spell formed a fireball in the palms of her hands , which she then 'blew' it towards the monster, creating a steady stream of projectile fire, incinerating it to ash, minus his Egyptian scarab and the anubian urn.

• First Incantation: Ignis absumet
• Second Incantation: Ignarious
• Third Incantation: Ignalusa

Hope Mikaelson

In Some People Just Want To Watch The World Burn, Hope performed this verbal spell to extinguish and prevent the spread of fire from a young, fire-breathing girl. Both she and Alaric believe the girl was a unique witch, a pyromancer, however, it revealed that she was a dragon. Hope also mentions that the spell she used was a "quick fix" and would not last long, especially if Dragon continued the attack. In There's Always a Loophole, Hope attempted to take down the Headless Horseman with the Incendia spell, though the spell had no effect on him. She continued to cast several more spells that also had no effect on him, until Landon figured out that destroying the head would stop him. Hope them impaled the Headless Horsemen's head with a pipe that defeated it.

• Incantation: Adiuuatur
• Second Incantation: Incendia

In This Year Will Be Different, Hope performed the Incendia spell while fighting against the "troll". Hope directed the spell against the troll and it ignited the creatures hair. Once he fire was extinguished, it was revealed that the creature was not a troll, but a cyclops. Taking a chance on how to kill it, Hope directed an arrow at the cyclops' eye. With the creature dead, it turned to ash and scattered in the wind. In You Remind Me of Someone I Used to Know, Hope and Landon found the creature, a shunka, that was hunting Rafael Waithe in wolf form. Wanting to protect Landon, Hope threw herself between him and the creature and performed the Incendia spell. Unlike other instances when the spell has been performed, Hope channeled the spell to her hand and expanded it towards the shunka in an outward radius. The spell engulfed the shunka, evening pushing the creature back several feet, though it remained unharmed.

• Incantation: Incendia

Brave Warlock

In We're Being Punked, Pedro, 14th century France, two unnamed warlocks search for a supernatural knife. Upon an alter in the woods, they find the knife guarded by the gargoyle guardian, Petrotho. One of the warlock turns to run, afraid to disturb the site but when he turns, Petrotho slays him. The other warlock attempts to fight off the Guardian with a fire spell, but does nothing to deter him. He attempts to beg for mercy, but Petrotho gives him none and kills him. Unlike other forms of fire spells, the warlock produced a projectile stream of fire from his hands.

• Incantation: Ignarious. Ignarious!

Salvatore Boarding School Witches

In There's Always a Loophole, Triad Industries forced their way into the Salvatore Boarding School for the Young & Gifted using a secret tunnel and a dark object, a blood fountain created by the Travelers, that nullifies magic. Hope, having escaped thanks to MG, attempted to shut the dark object down, but couldn't figure it out. Alaric arrived and easily and quickly shut it down by marking over the symbols on the skulls with the blood that poured from the fountain. With magic available to the students again, MG commands them to strike. Five witch students cast fire balls at Triad agents, causing an explosion that sent them flying threw the air but otherwise unharmed.

Lizzie Saltzman

In That's Nothing I Had to Remember, Lizzie and MG tracked down and captured the reanimated "zombie" jogger. They brought it back to the Salvatore School, with MG throwing the jogger into the common area. Lizzie set the jogger on fire with the Incendia spell to destroy it; however, MG persuaded her they needed to trap it so that Malivore can't send another monster through the portal. Incinerating it defeats that purpose. Lizzie agrees and, using a freezing spell, quenches the flames that engulfed the corpse.

The Necromancer

In I'll Never Give Up Hope, the yet to be identified Necromancer consecrates the Mystic Falls Cemetery, a site of almost unlimited magical power. By murdering a hapless soul with pure, unbridled cruelty, he's able to seal his bond to the cemetery so he'd be able to draw upon the mystical energies beneath. As a result of the consecration, flames grew around him in the shape of the Triad.

Alyssa Chang

In This is Why We Don't Entrust Plans to Muppet Babies, the qareen, the newly released monster from Malivore, unleashes discord and strife among the covens of the Salvatore Boarding school. While Emma tries to calm the various witches the qareen whispers insecurities between Alyssa and Lizzie. Overcome with rage, as Lizzie called her an orphan, Alyssa attacks Lizzie with the Incendia spell - shooting a relatively small fire ball at her. Hope, however, causes the fire spell to dissipate and Lizzie siphons from Hope to prepare for her own attack. However, the other witches stand and they all being to argue indiscriminately until Emma interjects and sends them all back to their rooms.

Wendy

In Kai Parker Screwed Us, Wendy, in 2018, was in detention with Jade and Diego — all three of them were stuck behind a barrier spell. Wanting to leave, Jade convinced a young Josie to come talk to them. Josie recognized Wendy. She's the witch who does fire. Wendy demonstrated her skills over pyrokinesis to Josie, forming a small fireball, hovering over her hand. Between Jade and herself, they convince Josie to siphon the barrier spell, freeing them. Despite seeming confident in her abilities, when Diego killed another guy and someone started to call the cops, she panicked and set a girl on fire — killing her in the process. After doing so, she looked at her hands, shocked at what she'd done. Due to her actions, in conjunction with Jade and Diego, all three of them were banished to the 2018 prison world. When confronting Alaric ten years later, wanting to torture him for her banishment, Wendy demonstrated her abilities once more. This time, however, her pyrokinesis covered the entirety of her hand. She is one of the few witches to demonstrate such great control over this ability without causing harm to herself in the process. In You Can't Save Them All, Wendy and Diego hunt for Alaric at the Salvatore Boarding House. After Alaric dispatches Diego, Wendy prepares to attack, but Alaric states he doesn't want to hurt her. Wendy makes the decision to not fight, but instead she opts to set the floor on fire and raises a wall of fire in an attempt to impede his pursuit. Wendy runs through the house, warning Jade that Alaric's in the house, but doesn't make it any further before Alaric throws a bolas. Tripping, Wendy falls to the floor, knocking her unconscious.

Trivia

• In the Novels, Elena Gilbert was shown used Pyrokinesis with her White Power in Destiny Rising when fighting against Klaus.
• Ironically, in Death and the Maiden, Qetsiyah is the first witch to ever mention shooting "fireballs" at another person, specifically Silas; however, upon their physical encounter, this never happened. Ultimately, the first instance of projectile pyrokinesis did not occur until Template:Legacies' We're Being Punked, Pedro, by an unnamed male witch and then again in Hope is Not the Goal by Josie.

Gallery

Bonnie loses control over her powers.

Greta using the power

Jonas Martin starts a fire at the Grill

Bonnie lighting a candle

Bonnie after lighting a candle

Bonnie lighting birthday candles