Leonard Burns, a Third Generation pyrokinetic and ex-captain of Special Fire Force Company 1, forged his legacy as “The Lion That Banishes All Evil” through zealous service to the Holy Sol Temple. Raised in devout obedience, he navigated both public and clandestine temple operations, gaining intimate knowledge of its concealed machinations. A catastrophic Infernal outbreak at the Amaterasu reactor fractured his worldview when an Adolla Link with ally Five-Two seared his right eye into an eternally burning orb, masked by an eyepatch. This incident unveiled the Evangelist’s existence and Adolla’s mysteries, corroding his blind faith in temple doctrine. Twelve years before the central narrative, Burns confronted the Kusakabe house inferno, discovering a Demon Infernal clutching Shō Kusakabe. The Evangelist’s interference triggered an uncontrollable blaze in his left eye. After extracting Shinra Kusakabe from the ruins, he falsified the family’s demise to shield the boy from the Fire Force’s darker truths—a deception that festered into bitter resentment when Shinra later demanded accountability. Burns’ combat dominance arises from his Ignition Ability, Voltage Nova, escalating through five devastating stages. Each phase augments his physicality and thermal output, culminating in Stage 5’s near-invulnerable inferno. He prioritizes unyielding defense and concussive heat eruptions, often incapacitating foes through shockwaves alone. His resilience withstands Shinra’s Superfire, Hellfire, and Adolla Burst-enhanced assaults. Upon unearthing the Holy Sol Temple’s falsified history and Raffles I’s manipulated identity, Burns wrestled with a profound ideological rupture. When the White-Clad usurped the temple, he publicly swore allegiance to the Evangelist as divinity’s true avatar. This ostensible betrayal included endorsing Akitaru Ōbi’s Infernal transformation—a calculated gambit to test Shinra’s determination to challenge higher powers. By becoming a vilified obstacle, Burns orchestrated a Zero-Approval Gambit, accepting universal scorn to unite the Fire Force against systemic corruption. In a final confrontation, Burns urged Shinra to dismantle the world’s entrenched hierarchies before a spectral counterpart impaled him. Locked in combat with the entity, he uttered his first prayer for divine intervention before dissolving into Adolla’s depths. His physical fate lingers unresolved, symbolized by an empty coffin—hinting at survival or merging with his doppelgänger. Burns’ alliances reflect fractured loyalties: he mentored Joker in their covert past, endured Five-Two’s dissent, and clashed with Benimaru Shinmon as a peer rival. His dynamic with Shinra oscillated between veiled truths and brutal revelations, climaxing in a duel where he acknowledged the younger generation’s ascendancy over rigid tradition. His arc encapsulates struggles between doctrine and disillusionment, duty and defiance. Though branded a villain, his sacrifices sought to ignite revolution by compelling others to transcend inherited lies and reclaim agency from decaying institutions.