Coeur Du Feu
| Coeur Du Feu | |||||
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| "Heart of Fire" | |||||
| Creator: | David 2/Battlerock X | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Appearance: | Guardians of the Dawn Spotlight #9 | ||||
| Game: | City of Heroes | ||||
| Personal Data | |||||
| Real Name: | Courtney Hart | ||||
| Known Aliases: | ' | ||||
| Species: | Human (mystic enhanced) | ||||
| Age: | ' | ||||
| Height: | ' | ||||
| Weight: | ' | ||||
| Eye Color: | Blue | ||||
| Hair Color: | Red/Orange | ||||
| Biographical Data | |||||
| Nationality: | American | ||||
| Occupation: | registered hero | ||||
| Place of Birth: | ' | ||||
| Base of Operations: | ' | ||||
| Marital Status: | ' | ||||
| Known Relatives: | unnamed parents, Edward Vance (cousin) | ||||
| Appearances | |||||
| Guardians of the Dawn Spotlight, Guardians of the Dawn GRADUATION | |||||
| Known Powers | |||||
| mystical fire | |||||
| Known Abilities | |||||
| spells and spell-casting | |||||
| Equipment | |||||
| ' | |||||
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Coeur Du Feu is a registered hero in Paragon City and a member of the Guardians of the Dawn supergroup. She made her first appearance in the "Guardians of the Dawn Spotlight" Issue #9 (2010).
Character History
Coeur Du Feu means “Heart of Fire”, which could indicate either a burning heart, or a heart already burned.
For Courtney Hart, it meant a heart already burned. She was a shy girl, introverted, romantic, and somewhat chubby. She was the perfect victim for men who played on her willful naïveté. After her most recent heartbreak, she ended up in Paris to visit family. During that time she visited a magic shop where she was given a special spell-book for the lovelorn. It was written by a woman in the 17th century who, like Courtney, was burned one time too many. The spells would only manifest themselves to “one whose heart still smolders”.
The first spell Courtney read transformed her from a homely girl into a ravishing beauty. The second spell gave power to her pains, turning her burning heart into actual fire to burn others with. The third spell gave her fire for protection, but it also placed a curse on her, which she did not know until she got to the end of the book. She would forever be cursed with the magic until she met the one who would love her as she really is. Since the first spell transformed her body, nobody would ever know who she really is. It was the perfect trap for the lovelorn to keep them in perpetual misery.
Courtney first used her new power maliciously, going after those who had already broken her heart in the past. But it did little to ease her pain. In fact it got worse. The curse of the spells magnified her rage, and soon it was going after any signs of love she came across, whether she willed it or not.
This quickly got the attention of Numia of the Freedom Phalanx, who recognized the flames as being mystical in origin. Working with Azuria, she helped Courtney gain control over the curse, and helped her with therapy needed to deal with her troubles. Since she was as much of a victim of the curse as the people she harmed, she was not charged with any crimes. But to atone for what she did, she decided to use her flames for the right causes.
Hero Career
Courtney choose the hero name Coeur Du Feu as a reminder of where her troubles began. At first her outfit consisted of a single sleeveless tunic, a cloth belt, and slip-on shoes. The revealing attire barely covered her waist, which was done delibrately to further distract those who would see her.
As she further developed her mystical abilities, she learned how to use the fire to change her appearance. She then came up with a somewhat more revealing attire for her "hero" look, which then allowed her to have a more conservative appearance when she's not doing hero things.
Eventually she was asked to join the Guardians of the Dawn, partially because of her potential, but also as a favor to the Freedom Phalanx.
Like some other Guardian members, Courtney does not have a private life. She has so far managed to keep her name out of the media by distracting others with her attire as well as a spell of concealment that hides her from cameras.
Post-AFTERMATH
In the "Guardians of the Dawn AFTERMATH" special it was revealed that Coeur Du Feu was one of several heroes considered missing following the destruction of Galaxy City. Although not seen, it was mentioned in "The Guardian Powers" #15 that her Guardian signal reactivated when all of the 2200 citizens were rescued by Galatea Powers and Doc Tor and appeared in The Hollows.
She would later rejoin her fellow Guardians when the group was formally reactivated.
Post-GRADUATION
In the "Guardians of the Dawn GRADUATION" miniseries, it was revealed that Courtney spent some time in England with the Stonehenge Witches to better master her abilities after the missing year. This caused some jealousy with Elite Ice Queen, who considered such an opportunity an extreme honor. Courtney also used the opportunity to improve on the group's new mystic library.
Powers and Abilities
Coeur Du Feu's primary ability is Fiery Melee. She can use her pain to generate fire, either through contructs or for sheer offensive power.
Her secondary ability is Fiery Armor, which allows her to use fire to not only protect herself from harm, but also burn those who try to harm her through the fire.
In addition to her mystical fire, she can also fly and use the magic to conceal herself. She was given a Blackwand by Azuria similar to the one used by her teammate Midnight Arachnia.
Personality
As someone originally shy, reserved, and painfully unattractive, Courtney revelled in being able to flaunt her "new" body as a way to get attention. But there are parts of her that still fears this attention, which is why she still tries to remain reserved and hidden.
She spends a lot of her time reading spells, learning more about the world of magic, hoping to one day be freed of her curse.
She also fended off repeated advances from fellow Guardian Arktic Chill, even though he supposedly "means well". She also deftly fended off the clumsy advances of KDave and has transformed that into a "friends with benefits" relationship with him.
