Brimstone is known as the “dad” of VALORANT, but the charismatic leader of the large cast of agents has his own story that goes far beyond a graying beard.
Currently, Brimstone, real name Liam Byrne, serves as the leader of the Valorant Protocol on Alpha Earth and has a similar role in the corresponding faction on Omega Earth.
Though he appears as a strong older man with a military background, there are still mysteries about him still in need of figuring out in VALORANT’s lore.
Here’s everything we know about Brimstone’s backstory so far.
Early Life
Though we don’t know exactly where Brimstone was born, his childhood pictures serve as a strong hint that he’s from Baltimore or a nearby area. There’s one photograph in particular where he’s pictured playing baseball with a childhood friend, clearly wearing a baseball shirt that reads “Baltimore” across the front.
We also know that the friend in this photo is someone who has followed Brimstone through many stages of life.
Evidence of this friendship is plastered all over Brimstone’s Office, one of the best places in the game to gather lore about the various agents. It’s located in the Range, VALORANT’s free-for-all practice space where players can try out a variety of gunplay tactics and utility mechanics. Brimstone’s Office was added to the Range in Episode Three, and it has slowly been receiving updates with subsequent patches.
The walls of the office are filled with both important documents and Brimstone’s personal photos.
This friend not only played baseball with Brimstone in childhood but also served with him in the military and later as a firefighter. This leads us into the next big chapter of Brimstone’s life, and the experiences that likely bring out the characteristics that most players notice about him.
Firefighting and military experience
Brimstone was formerly a firefighter with the Baltimore Fire Department on Engine Eight, which we know from the pictures in his office and his agent dossier. After working as a firefighter, he joined the United States military in the Special Forces.
Related: What we know about VALORANT’s lore so far: A crash course after the 2022 season
We also know that Brimstone was, at some point, also involved in the Kingdom Corporation’s military division, known as K-SEC. Fellow VALORANT agents Neon and Chamber were also previously employed by the agency.
It’s possible that K-SEC is actually the division of Kingdom where Brimstone’s signature uniform comes from. There’s official VALORANT artwork of Brimstone in a line with other men all wearing the same orange hat.
It’s also clear that Brimstone has a connection to Kingdom: when a player deploys Brimstone’s Sky Smokes or Orbital Strike, the agent opens up his arm bracer, where he can deploy the abilities seemingly out of nowhere. This bracer is actually able to access information from the Kingdom Corporation (or K-SEC) as well.
Many of Brimstone’s abilities have direct ties to parts of his past. His Sky Smokes and Orbital Strike both resemble targeted military airstrike weapons, like blinding gas thrown from a plane or a nuke coming from the sky.
Related: How to play Brimstone in VALORANT
His molly, or Incendiary, is a controlled grenade, showing his ability to work with and control fire to be used for a specific purpose. A firefighter would certainly have the experience and ability to create such a weapon.
The blackmail dossier
In Patch 4.04, Riot added a significant piece of lore into VALORANT. The release of the then-latest agent Fade came with a slew of new lore puzzle pieces, including dossiers with information blackmailing certain VALORANT protocol agents.
Brimstone’s dossier actually seems to unlock a key piece of his past.
Players may have finally learned who Brimstone’s childhood friend was after this update, as his dossier references a man named Tariq Porter, with the blackmail material serving as a reminder that he watched this man die.
Based on Fade’s pattern of blackmail, it’s highly possible that Tariq Porter was Brimstone’s childhood friend who he watched die.
This information also connects to the No One Left Behind player card, where Brimstone is pictured carrying another man’s body across a battlefield.
A further theory has emerged after voice lines between KAY/O and Brimstone seem to hint that they are very close. Even though KAY/O is clearly a robot now, some fans suspect that he’s a rehabilitated version of this Tariq Porter, or Brimstone’s close childhood friend.
It’s clear that despite Brimstone’s fun, dad-like personality as a charismatic leader, he has a troubled past that still haunts him in battle.
