Who Are the Pillars From Fire Force? + The Strongest One

Download Article

Plus, learn who guards the Pillars & why they’re so important

Co-authored by Dianté Richard and Devin McSween

Last Updated: August 4, 2026 Fact Checked

Download Article

Who are the Pillars?

|

Strongest Pillars, Ranked

|

The Pillars’ Purpose

|

Who is the Woman in Black?

|

Guardians of the Pillars

|

Video

Fire Force is a fantasy-action anime that follows a group of pyrokinetic “firefighters” who fight against fire monsters called Infernals. However, there’s a deeper, world-ending plot to this series that involves special pyrokinetics called Pillars. But who are the Pillars? That’s why we’re here to help! In this article, we’ll explain who the Pillars are, rank the 8 Pillars from strongest to weakest, and explain their importance to the story. Keep reading to learn more! Warning: Spoilers are ahead!

The Pillars in Fire Force, Explained

The Pillars refer to 8 pyrokinetics who possess an Adolla Burst, a flame from the hell-like Adolla dimension that grants them extraordinary powers. Each Pillar also embodies a negative emotion, which links them to the Great Cataclysm. The Pillars are Amaterasu, Haumea, Sho, Shinra, Inca, Nataku, Sumire, and Iris.

Section 1 of 5:

Who are the 8 Pillars in Fire Force?

Download Article

The Pillars are pyrokinetics with an Adolla Burst who embody negative emotions. All 8 Pillars possess an Adolla Burst, an extremely powerful and “pure” flame that comes from Adolla, the Hell dimension in Fire Force. According to anime expert Dianté Richard, Adolla is also the plane of existence responsible for spontaneous human combustion.^{[1]
X
Expert Source

Dianté Richard
Anime Expert and Cosplayer

Expert Interview} This gives them incredible strength and abilities that other pyrokinetics don’t have, such as controlling time and traveling at the speed of light.^{[2]
X
Research source} Each of the 8 Pillars also embodies a negative emotion that connects them to the Great Cataclysm (and we’ll explain why they’re important to the story in a later section!). The 8 Pillars are:^{[3]
X
Research source}
- Amaterasu, the First Pillar, who embodies Madness.
- Haumea, the Second Pillar, who embodies Passivity.
- Sho Kusakabe, the Third Pillar, who embodies Apathy.
- Shinra Kusakabe, the Fourth Pillar, who embodies Rage.
- Inca Kasugatani, the Fifth Pillar, who embodies Destruction.
- Nataku Son, the Sixth Pillar, who embodies Anxiety.
- Sumire, the Seventh Pillar, who embodies Disgust.
- Iris, the Eighth Pillar, who embodies Despair.

Section 2 of 5:

The 8 Pillars Ranked from Strongest to Weakest

Download Article

1
Shinra Kusakabe Shinra is the protagonist of Fire Force and largely considered the strongest Pillar in the series. Despite his tragic backstory, where a fire killed his mother and supposedly his brother Sho, Shinra wants to become a hero and joins Company 8 of the Fire Force. As a Third Generation pyrokinetic, he is able to ignite fire from his feet, which gives him the ability to fly and super speed. When Shinra is empowered by his Adolla Burst, he’s able to travel faster than the speed of light and travel back in time.^{[4]
X
Research source}
- Shinra’s spot at #1 is largely due to his role later in the series, where he transforms into the god Shinrabanshō-man. In this form, Shinra has the ability to create life, shape reality, and manipulate time.
- Pillar: Fourth
- Emotion: Rage
- Powers: Fire creation from his feet, flight, super speed
2
Amaterasu Amaterasu is a tragic character who wants to cause chaos and get revenge on humanity, which makes her a very strong (and scary) Pillar. She was a survivor of the Great Cataclysm who was captured for her possession of the Adolla Burst and put into a container, where she’s been used to fuel the Amaterasu generator that powers all of the Tokyo Empire for the past 250 years. As such, she’s become insane and violent. While she’s still contained inside the generator, she’s able to mentally connect with the other Pillars to manipulate their emotions and memories and control their bodies.^{[5]
X
Research source}
- Pillar: First
- Emotion: Madness
- Powers: Unknown, but they’re enormous, as she’s able to power the entire Empire
3
Haumea Haumea is an antagonist in Fire Force and a prominent member of the White-Clad who is led by the mysterious Evangelist. She’s a sadistic and arrogant character, though it’s revealed that her immense powers drove her to be the way she is. Her pyrokinetic powers allow her to control electricity, which she uses to physically control people, manipulate their behaviors, and hear their thoughts (which she can’t turn off and is the reason for her violent personality). Haumea’s electrical powers also enable her to shock people, communicate over long distances, and fry electrical systems.^{[6]
X
Research source}
- Haumea also gets a huge power-up towards the end of the series that transforms her into a god-like being who’s virtually untouchable.
- Pillar: Second
- Emotion: Passivity
- Powers: Controlling people, manipulating people’s nervous systems, reading minds, generating electricity and electrical shocks
4
Sho Kusakabe Sho is Shinra’s brother who was thought to have died in the fire that killed their mother, but was actually taken by the White-Clad and brainwashed by the Evangelist. (Luckily, he reconnects with Shinra and later joins the Fire Force.) Sho has the powerful ability to take heat from the universe’s expansion and slow down time while he remains at normal speed. His Adolla Burst technique gives him an immense boost that allows him to completely stop time altogether. The only downside is that his body temperature gets so low that he begins to freeze.^{[7]
X
Research source}
- Pillar: Third
- Emotion: Apathy
- Powers: Slowing down time
5
Sumire Sumire is another antagonist who’s been serving the Evangelist for 250 years. She’s calculating and manipulative, and largely responsible for bringing all of the Pillars together. Her powers allow her to generate vibrations by shivering, which she then heats and turns into kinetic energy, creating larger vibrations. With these vibrations, she can touch people to incapacitate them or produce powerful shockwaves and earthquakes that affect all of Tokyo.^{[8]
X
Research source}
- Pillar: Seventhy
- Emotion: Disgust
- Powers: Creating vibrations, shockwaves, and earthquakes
6
Nataku Son Nataku is a tragic figure who’s been a test subject for Haijima Industries (the company that supplies the Fire Force), which has left him traumatized and prone to acting out violently. While he’s still a child, his pyrokinetic abilities are extremely powerful. Nataku is able to create rings of fire shaped like radiation symbols that shoot beams of radiation and create explosions. At the same time, Nataku emits radiation, too. While his full powers haven’t been tested, he can likely level cities.^{[9]
X
Research source}
- Pillar: Sixth
- Emotion: Anxiety
- Powers: Radioactive fire beams, explosions
7
Inca Kasugatani Inca is a sociopathic and reckless member of White-Clad, who puts others aside (and into danger) to satisfy her thrill-seeking needs. Her pyrokinetic abilities enable her to detect heat pathways and predict where fires will form and how they’ll spread and explode. This allows her to easily evade others' attacks. Her full powers give her the ability to ignite the heat pathways she senses, control their course, and trigger explosions.^{[10]
X
Research source}
- Pillar: Fifth
- Emotion: Destruction
- Powers: Sensing and igniting heat pathways, predicting other pyrokinetics’ attacks
8
Iris Iris is a member of Fire Force Company 8 alongside Shinra, who is a Sister of the Holy Sol Temple who prays for Infernals (people transformed into fire-monsters) after they’re defeated. She initially believed she had no pyrokinetic powers, but her abilities were awakened during the fight with Dragon. Iris is able to imbue others with an immunity to fire and generate a protective field around them that neutralizes extremely strong attacks. While she’s certainly powerful, because her abilities (so far) are defensive, she’s considered the weakest Pillar.^{[11]
X
Research source}
- Pillar: Eighth
- Emotion: Despair
- Powers: Generating a protective aura/shield

Section 3 of 5:

Why are the Pillars important?

Download Article

The 8 Pillars are central to the Evangelist’s plot to destroy the world. The Evangelist is the main antagonist of Fire Force and the leader of the White-Clad. She’s an ancient entity from Adolla who wants to destroy humanity. She’s responsible for causing the Great Cataclysm, but because humanity wasn’t entirely wiped out, she’s trying to cause a second Great Cataclysm. To do so, she needs the Pillars all together, as the negative emotions they embody will fuel the flames that will burn the world to ashes. Plus, they’re needed as sacrifices to complete the world-ending ritual.^{[12]
X
Research source}
- Why is the Evangelist’s goal with the Great Cataclysms? The Evangelist wants to bring the Earth and Adolla together and, by destroying Earth, make it a second sun. This achieves her ultimate goal of destroying humanity.

Section 4 of 5:

Who is the Woman in Black?

Download Article

The Woman in Black is one of the original Pillars used for the Great Cataclysm. However, she survived the fires of the failed Cataclysm. Taking in the burnt-up land of the new, apocalyptic world, she decided to repair what she could. She sealed herself inside the Tabernacle, a thermal power plant, to restore life in a forest that became known as Oasis, where she still resided by the time Fire Force starts.^{[13]
X
Research source}
- While she was once a human, the Woman in Black is considered an otherworldly figure from Adolla. This allows her to empower pyrokinetics who are connected to Adolla with Adolla Grace. This increases their powers and enables them to perform physics-defying abilities.^{[14]
  X
  Research source}
- For example, the Woman in Black empowers Shinra with Adolla Grace, which allows him to move faster than the speed of light.

Section 5 of 5:

Who are the Guardians of the 8 Pillars?

Download Article

A Guardian is responsible for protecting and supporting their Pillar. Guardians are mostly associated with the White-Clad, though Pillars outside of the organization (namely Shinra) have a Guardian, too. These pyrokinetic users are chosen based on their abilities, which are meant to complement the Pillar’s strengths and weaknesses. They also understand that their priority is to protect the Pillar, even over their own lives. The Guardians for the Pillars are:^{[15]
X
Research source}
- Charon is the Guardian for Haumea. He has the power to absorb attacks and turn the stored energy into flames and explosions.
- Arrow is the Guardian for Sho. She has the power to create a flaming bow and arrow and can control the trajectory of her arrow.
- Arthur Boyle is the Guardian for Shinra (and one of the other main protagonists of Fire Force). He has the power to generate flames and turn them into plasma.
- Joker is the self-appointed Guardian for Shinra. He has the power to shape his flames into different projectile objects, with playing cards being his most-used projectile.
- Ritsu is the Guardian for Inca. She has the power to control ashes from burned people and Infernals, which allows her to reanimate and manipulate them. She can also make Infernals stronger by fusing them with reanimated Infernals.
- Yuichiro Kurono is the Guardian for Nataku. He has the power to generate black smoke, which he can shape into weapons or inject into others, burning them from the inside out. He can also use the smoke to hide himself, detect others’ presences, and propel himself.
- Note: Amaterasu, Sumire, and Iris do not have Guardians.