Spitfire

Spitfire (スピット・ファイア, Supitto Faia?) was the Flame King, and one of the last two members of the original Sleeping Forest still holding their titles at the beginning of the story. He is first seen in the series when ikki accidently went to a secret meeting that was going on with AT riders. He claimed that Ikki, being only an 'F' class rider, would only have a 1% chance of defeating Buccha, and was surprised by the result. In the anime, he is introduced in the first episode after watching the leader of the Skullsaders challenge Ikki to a battle. He is in control of three teams with 41, 68, and 86 members, and is a highly sought hair stylist in everyday life. His speed creates the illusion of flames due to the heat caused by the friction of his wheels on the ground. In recent chapters, he engaged Sora in an AT battle. During the fight, Sano joins in and saves Spitfire and the two challenge Nike. It is revealed that Spitfire is also able to stop time, similar to how Sano is able to, claiming that while Nike is the strongest of Genesis, he cannot break the flames of time. The fight drags on, and Spitfire comes to a conclusion that they cannot win. By his request, Sano then gives Spitfire enough time to grab Kazu and flee, forcefully giving Kazu the Flame Regalia. Shortly after returning to the battle, the two - Sano and Spitfire - are killed by Sora and Nike. Before his death, Spifire had foreseen this outcome and left a video explaining the true intentions of Genesis and how, after watching the fight between Kogarasumaru and Behemoth, he had been reminded that what he really wanted to do was fly freely in the sky. Spitfire had also predicted that Ikki would "lose his wings" due to Sora's betrayal and part of the reason for the video was to bring Ikki back to the AT world, at the end of the message Spitfire showed mild concern that his plan might not work. Spitfire (and the Flame Road in general) seems to be characterized by a flaming fox with nine tails, a reference to the Kitsune from Japanese Mythology. In the English dub, he has a cockney accent. Despite his death, Spitfire still helps out Kogarasumaru via the video he left to help train them for the Gram Scale tournament. However the video itself so accurately predicts what the individual members of Kogarasumaru will do that the team questions whether Spitfire is really dead.