Note: This analysis of Cinder covers his appearances from both the original Killer Instinct timeline and the reboot, including the comics and novels. His backstory is based on his reboot counterpart.
Background
At age 31, Ben Ferris left the army after a very successful military career to instead join a paramilitary organization. Hoping to earn more money for his skills, each mission became more and more difficult, but the pay also increased. This included missions for crooked organizations and CEOs that would put Ben on Interpol’s most wanted list. However, one of these missions would change his life forever, as he was requested to steal data from Ultratech about Project Cinder. Ultratech was a global megacorporation known for their popular fighting tournament called Killer Instinct.
Very little information on Ultratech’s secrets were known, and this mystery, along with the danger, made Ben want to partake in the mission even more. He began working undercover at Ultratech, befriending the higher-ups, bugging their gear, anything really to learn more about Project Cinder. Ben had only learned one thing, but this only made him want to complete his mission even more. However, after two months, he was caught and made a prisoner by Ultratech’s artificial superintelligence CEO ARIA.
ARIA knew all about Ben’s plans. She listened to every phone call and viewed all of his military records, but still wanted to hear his version of one of his missions in Afghanistan. While he may have been known as a hero in the army, his missions also ended the lives of innocent civilians, and he didn’t feel any guilt at all over them. This was when ARIA informed Ben that his contacts were a front for Ultratech, and that this was all a test to see how well he could do before getting caught. He actually did a lot better than ARIA expected. This, along with figuring out Ben’s desire was to just grow more powerful, led ARIA to give Ben an offer that would be worth more than any amount of money. Using alien DNA from the telekinetic Glacius, she turned Ben’s body into fiery plasma. Once a man who wanted to show he was the best, now the newly born Cinder just wanted to have fun as one of Ultratech’s most powerful warriors.
More Info
Real Name: Ben Ferris
Age: 31
Height: 6’02” | 188.0 cm
Weight: 195.0 lbs. | 88.5 kg
Experimented on by Ultratech with Glacius’s DNA
Originally going to be named Heatshade or Pyrotech
Died in the original timeline to Glacius
Appreciates a good fire pun
Equipment
Suit
A suit invented by ARIA that allows Cinder to control his power and unleash it at will, which can be put on and removed at will in an instant. It also most likely helps protect his body from attacks.
Powers & Abilities
Human-Alien Hybrid Physiology
Glacius and his race are telekinetic beings who can manipulate molecular structures to change their bodies based on the environment. With his stolen DNA, this was how ARIA changed Ben’s body to become plasma. This also enhanced Cinder’s strength, speed, and durability, along with making him never hunger and immune to fire and intense heat.
Pyrokinesis
As a result of Ultratech’s experiments, Cinder’s plasma body also grants him the ability to control fire in various ways. As a general note, his fire attacks can set opponents aflame and cause them to take passive damage. The flames linger for only a bit, but if they continue to use the part of their body that’s on fire or Cinder hits them with more fire, they last longer. With fire, Cinder can launch blasts of fire, emit flames from his fingers like a blowtorch, expand flames all around himself, create a fiery explosion around himself, superheat things while melting and setting them on fire through physical contact, or turn the floor into lava that melts opponents in seconds.
Lastly, Cinder has multiple special moves that utlize fire, many of which can be given additional properties through a Fired Up state that is used up after the special move is performed. He becomes Fired Up after eight seconds. The following is a list of all the special moves Cinder can perform with fire:
Mini Torch: Cinder creates a short-ranged plume of fire.
Trailblazer: Cinder transforms his body into a fireball and charges into opponents. While a fireball, he can phase through people to get behind them. He can also use it in the air to briefly fly around in any direction while attacking, as well as fly into the air while grounded and descend when going forward while airborne, and perform a second one right after the first called Afterburner. If he lands on the ground when used in the air, he creates a fiery explosion around himself. When Fired Up, Cinder can perform a third one right after the second.
Inferno: Cinder releases a long-ranged stream of fire from his hands. It has enough power to burn opponents into nothing but ash in seconds, and it can be angled up or down. When Fired Up, Cinder has a longer ranged stream of fire.
Fireflash: Cinder jumps and performs a fiery somersault kick that launches opponents up into the air. It can knock opponents out of the air, and he can also flip kick multiple times while rising more to strike more than once and launch them higher. When Fired Up, Cinder erupts a column of flames from the ground that engulfs opponents after the kick.
Cross Fire: Cinder slams his feet down in a fiery reverse flip kick while in the air.
Pyrobomb: Cinder creates and throws a plasma bomb at various angles that sticks to surfaces or opponents. He’s able to create up to three at a time and stick them on through physical contact instead of throwing them. Afterwards, at any moment, he can manually detonate all of them at once to engulf opponents in their fiery explosions. If hit, or after seven seconds, the bombs fizzle out and disappear. When Fired Up, Cinder creates and throws a slightly larger bomb, which makes a bigger explosion when detonated.
Fission: Cinder claps his hands to generate a fiery explosion that also deletes projectiles. He can also fake opponents out by not clapping his hands. When Fired Up, Cinder generates a bigger explosion.
Flight
Cinder can fly through the air by releasing a constant stream of fire beneath him that propels him.
Invisibility
Cinder can alter his fire’s light and body’s composition to turn himself invisible. When not using the full extent of this, he still leaves traces of his fire, though he can turn fully invisible while in that state. Being turned invisible also grants him intangibility to projectile attacks. If hit by any other type of attack though, Cinder will become visible once again.
Shadow Energy
Cinder, like many other characters, is able to manipulate Shadow Energy to enhance certain special attacks. He can use it to rush forward with a blazing shoulder tackle that hits five times and makes him immune to projectile attacks throughout it with Trailblazer, spray his Inferno attack up and down in a wave to cover many angles at once, hit opponents five times with one kick instead of once with Fireflash, create and throw a gigantic Pyrobomb that makes a super massive explosion when detonated, or generate an even bigger explosion that is more continous with 10 hits with Fission. Using these shadow special moves also does not make him lose his Fired Up state if he’s in it. Lastly, Cinder can perform a Shadow Counter with Shadow Energy, a defensive technique where he protects himself from an opponent who’s attacking him before countering back with a shadow special move.
Pyromania
A special state called an Instinct Mode that Cinder can activate, though it goes away after 15 seconds before needing to recharge. When in it, he stays Fired Up at all times, meaning he can use the additional properties of his special moves in that state more frequently and back-to-back.
Feats
Strength & Attack Potency
Can launch opponents as heavy as the 560.0 lb. Fulgore several stories into the air
Can cause a giant bell to fall as an aftereffect of his strikes like other characters (calced here)
Speed
Durability
Scaling
Quickly lowered the temperature of a room by 50 degrees Celsius in 0.026 seconds
Sneak attacked ARIA in less than a millisecond, who can also process information a million times faster than any primitive supercomputer and run through many scenarios and their millions of potential pathways in a nanosecond in her cloud-mind
Training & Experience
Weaknesses
One of Cinder’s biggest downfalls is that he’s incredibly cocky and can be caught off guard when he thinks he’s already won. He also has a short temper, which has caused him to fail in the past by making mistakes. Also, if his suit is damaged or destroyed, he becomes unable to control his power at will. Lastly, as a fire-based being, he is susceptible to water and the cold.
Summary
Advantages
Is immune to fire and intense heat
Can use fire for various purposes, such as causing passive damage to opponents, superheating things through physical contact, or turning the floor into lava
His Fired Up state, Shadow Energy manipulation, and Pyromania power up his special moves
Can counter attacks from opponents with Shadow Counter
Can briefly fly around while intangible with Trailblazer
Can set Pyrobombs that he can detonate on surfaces as traps or opponents themselves
Can fly around for better mobility
Can turn invisible for surprise attacks and to become intangible to projectile attacks
Disadvantages
Incredibly cocky to the point that he can be caught off guard if he thinks he’s already won
Has a short temper
Becomes unable to control his power if his suit is damaged or destroyed
Is susceptible to water and the cold
