Leonard Burns's History
Leonard Burns is a Third Generation pyrokinetic, as well as the former captain of Special Fire Force Company 1. As a citizen and a priest, it was a sense of duty that had Leonard work for the church, but ever since encountering the Evangelist, his faith in The Holy Sol Temple started to waver.
As a child Leonard showed an uncanny devotion and focus on his prayers compared to the other boys at the Holy Sol Temple, remaining in deep prayer wherever he went. As reward for his devotion, he was eventually given his name and the title 'The Lion That Banishes All Evil' by Raffles III, swearing to protect the Tokyo Empire from danger. As a young adult he acted as the liaison between the Holy Sol Temple's public and secret organizations. In that time he would always look after Five-Two in the Netherworld and even tolerated the boy's questions about the world and his faith. After an Infernal outbreak inside the Amaterasu, he and Five-Two worked with others to destroy them. Upon encountering the last Infernal it established an Adolla Link with the pair. The Link caused Burn's right eye to set ablaze and damaged Five-Two's left eye in the same way. Witnessing the Evangelist and falling to his knees, the pair are returned to their world where Burns quickly killed the Infernal. Leonard assumed it was an illusion, only for an ignited stone in Five-Two's possession to prove they where taken to another plane of existence. Burns took this stone and stored it in a bottle where it burnt without oxygen.
Seeing Adolla destroyed Leonard's faith in the Holy Sol, leading to him investigating the church to discover a history incompatible with its teachings. Despite this and the harsh words of Five-Two, the man continued to pray from the bottom of his heart. He claims he will continue to have faith regardless of Sun God's existence or benevolence, something Five-Two sees as a painful life. Using his eventual position of the Captain of Company 1 for all kinds of research, Leonard found no evidence of deliberate falsehood in the Sol Temple. While researching the long forgotten Netherworld, Leonard discovered the diary of Raffles I's wife and learnt something strange happened to Raffles before he founded the Church.
In Year 186, when Mari Kusakabe's house caught fire in Shibuya, a 38 year old Leonard and Onyango attended the scene fifteen minutes after it started . As he entered and searched for the house's occupants, Burns encountered a Demon Infernal holding Shō and felt the fire in his left eye burn out of control due to the Evangelist's involvement. When the Infernal left the house, it began to collapse, forcing the brigade to evacuating outside. Afterwards, Leonard lied to Shinra about his family perishing in the fire, in an attempt to make the boy fear the flames to ultimately avoid him using his Ignition Ability and joining the Special Fire Force.
Leonard attended the Rookie Fire Soldier Games to support his brigade's new officer, where Shinra stumbled upon him. When the boy introduced himself, Leonard realized that he knew who the boy was, and told him that he had no time for idle chit-chat. Shinra attempted to catch up to him, asking if he remembered an incident twelve years prior, but Leonard replied that he doesn't and advised him to go get prepared for the tournament, which leads Shinra to believe that the man was hiding something from him. When the building the tournament was held in, catches fire, Leonard rescued his recruits and later thanked Shinra for helping her out. Afterwards, he asked for an explanation on what happened inside the building, as the tournament was halted.
After the scuffle between Special Fire Force Companies 5 and 8, Karim Flam, Rekka Hoshimiya and Huo Yan Li were approached by Captain Burns and together they discussed the event. When trainees from the 2nd, 5th and 8th Companies arrived at the 1st Special Fire Force Cathedral, Leonard directed their training regiment, dictating the fights. Later, Leonard fought Arthur and made quick work of him, putting out his Excalibur's plasma by bending it back at him. Shinra then jumped in to fight him, attempting to kick him with his Ignition Ability, but Leonard managed to intercept all of the Fire Soldier's kicks with his palms. When Shinra managed to hit Leonard's stomach, the Captain, without flinching, used it as an opportunity to inflict a heavy blow to Shinra without touching him, which ended the fight in his favor and finished the combat training exercise. Leonard and his company later confront and defeated a giant Infernal in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo.
Burns and Karim, alongside the seven Company Commanders and Fire Soldiers of the Special Fire Forces, later attended a meeting with Raffles III, where Adolla Bursts and the issues involving Spontaneous Human Combustion were brought up.
Following the death of Rekka, Company 1 needed a new Lieutenant, forcing Captain Burns to call Onyango out of retirement. Leonard apologized to Onyango for interrupting his retirement, but Onyango dismissed his concerns and instead asked Burns if his right eye was feeling given the frequency of the small earthquakes recently. Burns simply replied he didn't want Shinra to come to Company 1. As Company 8 sought medical treatment for Shinra at the Special Fire Force Clinic 6, Leonard approached him as he recovered from his surgery. Intending to tell Shinra the truth behind the fire incident involving his family, the two moved to the courtyard, where Leonard answered all of Shinra's questions and informed Shinra he knew Shō had been abducted by the White-Clads.
When Shinra grabbed him in anger, Burns knocked him away and stated he would only explain further if Shinra showed he was strong enough. Beginning to fight, he admired Shinra's newfound speed and recognized the concept of 'grace.' After sparring briefly, Burns began to unleash a massive amount of heat powerful enough to blow Shinra away and preventing him from getting within striking distance. Eventually, Shinra's kick finally connected with Burns and he felt the impact. As a reward, as well as acknowledging Shinra's commitment to the truth and power, and recounted what had happened 12 years prior. As Burns turned to leave, Shinra asked him about his knowledge of the Adolla, leading to Leonard admitting to having seen it before and revealing the damage done to his eye.
As Company 8 attempted to take the Fifth Pillar, Inca, into custody, Burns and Onyango discussed Company 8's moves against the Evangelist. The priest asked if their Company would cooperate with them, which Leonard replied with telling him there's not much more Company 1 can do as their superiors were holding them back. So they could only hope that Karim's secret actions and Tamaki's 'punishment' were enough to support Company 8.
Burns later appeared before Joker in the Netherworld after he he had defeated the Shadow of the Holy Sun, asking why his old ally had caused such trouble after being quiet for so long before the pair prepared to fight. Burns changed his mind after realizing that Benimaru was working with Joker and wanted to take part in the fight, much to Joker's irritation and Benimaru's disappointment. Leonard handed them an old diary as a clue for their mission to uncover the secret of the church. When Joker asked about the True Scriptures, Burns claimed they did not exist and that the church wasn't deliberately hiding anything. However, the diary implied that Raffles I underwent an extreme personality shift before founding the Church. The trio discuss the possibility that somebody with the power to change faces had replaced the emperor. Burns planned on covering up Joker and Benimaru's attack and the death of the Shadow Captain. With none of the three seeing any point in investigating the church further, Burns directed Joker towards Haijima Industries to uncover their deep ties to the Empire's history.
Some time later while praying, Li and Flam approached Burns claiming that Captain Hague had been killed for his tie to the Adolla and it would be wise for Burns to consider bodyguards. Burns refused and said that Company 1 would destroy this evil. After the Tokyo empire sends a summon for Burns, he has Li, Flam and Onyango escort him to the The Holy See. Meeting with Raffles III, Burns is told the empire must unite with the White-Clad for the sake of the empire and the Sun God, during which Haumea and other White Clads joined them. Angrily telling them to leave, Haumea talked Burns into joining their cause. While at Fuchū Prison after Akitaru Ōbi was imprisoned, Burns talked to Haumea about his faith and why he decided on following the Evangelist. Deciding on giving Akitaru's life to the Sun God, Burns said to use a Bug on the captain, during which an Adolla Link was established, leading to Shinra learning of Burns's intentions. Burns immediately noticed Joker and Shinra arrival at the area and he told Haumea that he would handle the Fourth Pillar.
Presenting a chained Obi to his enemies caused Shinra to lash out at Burns only to be knocked aside and saved by Joker. Burns battles against the pair, crushing stone underfoot with the sheer heat he was generating. Shinra was able to briefly overpower and hurt Burns using his Superfire blades but Burns blasted him away using Voltage Nova. When pushed about why he had sided with the Evangelist, Burns simply stated that he is a disciple of God and having found 'a conclusion beyond his prayers' knew what to do. If the Evangelist was his god then he must follow her orders. And with that he orders that Obi be stung by a Bug. Like everyone else, Burns was shocked when Obi burst from his chains and his hardened body proves impervious to the bugs, although he tells Shinra Obi will have to relax his body soon. Shinra and Joker attack with renewed desperation, blasting Burns back with explosions and eventually slamming him through the rooftop to the ground floor. Refusing to avoid any attack, Burns' firepower increases again, telling Shinra that if he wants to be a hero and change the world then he'd have to destroy the system Burns had represented his whole life. As the fight continued Shinra focused on constantly raising his speed to overcome Burns' raw power. While clashing, the confused recruit is shocked by the single minded veteran's respect for someone who could choose a different path and provide active encouragement of his opponent. Finally achieving an Adolla Link, Shinra collides with Burns for the final time vowing that heroism and his desire to save the world meant he would fight the whole world and defeat God to save it. He finally knocked Burns off his feet and won their fight, although noticing that Burns had not broken a sweat. Burns commended Shinra for his strength and asks him to defy the world. Something a dogmatic veteran could never achieve.
Burns was then suddenly impaled on his own doppelgänger's horn as it emerged from the shadows. He ordeeds Shinra to stay back and for Five-Two to make an escape while he held the demon back. Grappling with the devil's horns, Burns clasped his hands in prayer as his doppelgänger took him away through a portal, praying to God for support for the first time in his life and asking for their help. Dragged to Adolla, Burns' kept his consciousness as he merged with his doppelgänger. In Tokyo, Burns was declared dead by the Empire with Shinra being declared his murderer. Company 8 was excommunicated and branded as criminals by the church. An empty casket was buried as his body wasn't found. Those who knew Burns believed that the stubborn and indirect old man was incapable of changing his ways trying to put them on the right path. Claiming that his betrayal while hoping for the destruction of the system he spent his life protecting made him the martyr to unite them against the upcoming danger, possibly from within the empire itself.
As a result of the Great Cataclysm Execution Specialist Force sacrificing their lives, the strongest doppelgängers were summoned from Adolla to Tokyo. Masquerading as his doppelgänger, he approached Joker's doppelgänger who had overwhelmed his counterpart. Raising his hand, he impaled Joker's doppelgänger, resulting in it exploding. Revealing his identity and what happened to him after returning to Adolla, Burns informed Joker that Adolla was made of the images of humans and revealed he knew the identity of the Evangelist.
