How does fire heal you?

spinnytop

It seems like Fire primarily ended up getting healer stuff because they already had Absorb Heat assets from previous devs. I know this because I suggested a power very similar to it, and then when it got put in the game I thought it was cause of my suggestion, but Kaizerin rushed in to completely smash those hopes and told me the power was already in the game but not implemented.

So I dunno, let's have some comic book logic fun. At Kiga, why fire is healing you is obvious... like that's too easy, so Kiga-based explanations are disallowed o3o ( I can't enforce this though so feel free to make me look dumb by giving a Kiga-based reasoning ).

Okay let's see if this works. Because he seems to know a lot of things I am going to attempt to summon @jonsills . Also because he gave a really good answer to my wind question, I am going to attempt to summon @bulgarex .

My best guess is that it has something do with how heat causes biological functions to happen more rapidly. I think. Like I dunno... I think that's a thing I heard one time? Maybe?​​

hollow

Fire cleanses you of sin. Thus, the body is able to devote all its energy into healing instead of fighting to postpone inevitable death.

chaosdrgnz43

"Magic". That's practically the easiest answer to come up with. Like how healing magic works like a light show.
But if you think about it, fire can be used to burn wounds to stop them from bleeding. It's a risky and painful way but there's that.

jonsills

If you're looking for a scientific explanation, it doesn't. However, in order to extend our current understanding of physiology into a comic-book context, it could be argued that application of heat inhibits bacterial growth, stimulating the development of healthy tissue. (That quickly falls apart, of course, when considering that the bacteria that grow in human flesh are evolved to enjoy the conditions of human flesh, and the temperatures needed to destroy them will also destroy us. Protip: don't reach into an operating autoclave, kids!)

So yeah, magic. Nothing wrong with invoking "magic" in this context.

spinnytop

Well yes, a scientific explanation was never the goal. If I blast you with fire... well, burns and a trip to the hospital. But I want comic book logic, and even in comic book logic fire powers is not magic, it's pyrokinetics*. Please give me a comic book logic explanation**.


* - except when it is magic, like magic fireballs, but that's not what we're talking about here.

** - because it has to be comic book logic. This isn't like my wind question which was miraculously answered with actual real world science.

*** - so what, nothing about heat making biological processes work faster? u3u​​

flyingfinn

I'd love to load full maintain of Gatling Gun to heal people.
Or FireAllWeapons for a AoE Heal.....

spinnytop

flyingfinn wrote: »

I'd love to load full maintain of Gatling Gun to heal people.
Or FireAllWeapons for a AoE Heal.....

n_n ........okay... good to know​​

reaperwithnoname

Cauterization was a very common way of sealing wounds for much of human history, and in some parts of the world remained in use long after superior methods were found elsewhere (the main issue with cauterization is that it tends to increase the odds of infection).

That said, some forms of cauterization are still in use (such as electrocauterization on surgical blades to prevent hemorrhaging). One could justify a non-magical (or less magical) type of healing as being something similar.

itsbrou

-Cauterizes your gushing wounds.
-Dramatically boosts your metabolic processes with heat, causing your already superhuman healing factor to temporarily heal much more than you're used to.
-(if you consider health to be a character's fighting spirit and 0 to be a knockout) possesses the character with a fiery rage that makes them press on and ignore their wounds.

spinnytop

I am satisfied o3o​​

jaazaniah1

Fire gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling of well-being.

jonsills

jaazaniah1 wrote: »

Fire gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling of well-being.

In the words of Patrician Havelock Vetinari, "Build a man a fire, and he's warm for the night. Set a man on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life."

nbkxs

It cooks your nuts, and your inner will to survive brings out the chi of the sages that mends your wounds.

aesica

If your body's covered in cuts, scrapes, and bruises, fire burns all those away (as well as healthy flesh, but that's beside the point)

Remember, this is also the game that magically ends bleeding wounds by stabbing someone. So just wave your wizard wand and call it good enough.

spinnytop

You can't bleed more if I already made all your blood shoot out of your body!​​

kjodell

How about pinpoint control allowing you to "burn away" injuries with out damaging the surrounding tissue, still it seems like a painful way to heal

panthrax77

Pretty sure the intent is sort of a phoenix thing, so probably more maaaaagic.

Real talk tho, fire heals but no ice heals? Sad times. :c

markhawkman

My head canon for my character Pyrana is that she's a radioactive mutant kinda like Grond, but that in her case it manifests in the ability to infuse others with radiation to strengthen them. It's why I made her healing abilities that eerie green color.

kallethen

I just assumed fire having some healing given to it (and the resulting Blazing AT) was a nod to the phoenix (a mythological bird that bursts into flames when it dies and is reborn from the ashes).​​

vonqball

Maybe we are all just amnesiac fire elementals trapped inside fleshbag prisons. We have forgotten that our true purpose is to ignite this planet and turn it into a star.

bulgarex

Sorry I missed this the first time around, Spinny.

If we're passing over scientific explanations, then we have to look to metaphysics. In that case I would draw a metaphysical analogy between fire healing flesh, and fire smelting/forging metal to repair or reshape it, burn away or pour off impurities, temper it for strengthening, etc.

fermi

It is worth considering the other side of the issue. Rather than asking what fire is if it's not hot burny stuff, it is probably appropriate to ask what damage is.

After all, we are heroes but we are not all invulnerable. Sure, Superman can bounce bullets off his eye and Neo can perceive and dodge bullets in flight, but many of us more resemble the Shadow, Doc Savage, or Batman. And yet the most frail among us can be seen taking a shotgun blast to the face, jumping to our feet and punching the guy who shot us.

Do not try this at home.

I usually rationalize such occurrences as a kind of 'movie magic'. We see this all the time in all kinds of stories: it LOOKS like someone is shot in the face, but by the time the action slows down and someone examines the actual wound closely we discover that the blow was merely a glancing one. Just a flesh wound! The kind of thing a hero can walk off and nobody needs to even remember by the next scene.

This doesn't mean the shot didn't take SOMETHING out of the hero... many folk who were NEARLY shot would probably still have a panic attack and be defeated right there. And likewise the kind of adrenalin-laden panic movement and shrugging off of minor wounds does consume a kind of resource, but this resources is more akin to willpower than physical damage.

A hero whose hit points have run out probably hasn't been rendered into hamburger... they're probably just too tired to get up and keep bringing it to the bad guys.

This changes our question significantly. It is not a question of how an open flame can knit and replace living tissue, but how it might motivate someone whose energy is failing him to get back into the fight. I'm sure we can think of a variety of ways, from giving someone a 'warm and fuzzy' feeling to the equivalent of a flaming cattle prod where it counts so they know they can't quit.

Under this interpretation it falls into a similar category to heals that involve flexing muscles, giving inspiring half-time speeches, or seeing your sidekick fridged. "Not Flunky Boy! NOOOOOO!"

blumoon8

In technicality, heat is the vibration of atoms. More heat equals more vibration and less heat means less vibration. The reason there is an absolute zero is because that is the point where atoms completely stop vibrating, but there is no maximum heat limit because atoms can vibrate until they tear themselves apart.

When things reach a certain vibration, they catch ON FIRE. The fact that our characters can use fire means we have a dimension of direction and control over flames, and by extension heat. Utilizing fire to heal is not a literally catching things on fire, but a transference of heat as energy, which can be redirected from the vibration of atoms to other functions. Because our characters can already utilize fire for offensive means, some heroes have gotten a unique mastery of fire that they can use it as a means to transfer energy (the vibration in heated atoms) to vital processes that makes it feel as if injuries are burned away. It is like digesting food for energy but having a say exactly where that energy is directed, such as to the cells that repair injuries.

In easier terms, healing by fire means transference of energy which can be used to boost metabolic functions and healing factors.

And that's as far as I can stretch it. LOL. A lot of this is just what I remember so I could be wrong about some technical points.

spinnytop

You did a big science o3o