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I cough up hot flames, but my mouth is dead cold.
I was born from great soldiers, and am of use to the bold.
I have many heads but only one tail,
So if you pull me too hard, I'll make you turn pale.

What am I?

1st Hint:

"I cough up hot flames" and "I was born from great soldiers" refer to my name, but the rest refers to myself.

2nd Hint:

As I disclosed in the comments of the existing answers, I am a war machine. My advice: get a rough idea of what I am from the fourth line, then verify or identify my specific name using the first hint. The third line may not make perfect sense, even with the correct answer, unless you realize what I'm talking about.

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  • $\begingroup$ Could it be something like a Rot13(Ibypnab) ? $\endgroup$
    – Stender
    Commented Sep 5, 2018 at 6:27
  • $\begingroup$ @Stender How does a Rot13(Ibypnab) fit with lines 2, 3, and 4? Particularly line 2? Also, note the second hint. $\endgroup$
    – QuantumFool
    Commented Sep 5, 2018 at 8:29
  • $\begingroup$ one could argue that Rot13(Ibypnab) is a single head, of which there are many around, and the tail is the Rot13(rneguf pber) - The soldiers could be Rot13 (ibypnavp tbqf (Cryr, Ihypna, Yynb naq Fxryy, be Jlrnfg naq Xyvpxvgng ) - be znal bguref) - and finally line 4 : Rot13(vs qvfgheorq vg jvyy ghea lbh gb nfurf) - But It seems like it is not the correct answer :-D $\endgroup$
    – Stender
    Commented Sep 5, 2018 at 11:25

3 Answers 3

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You are a

(Supermarine) Spitfire

I cough up hot flames, but my mouth is dead cold.

Well, it "spits" fire, but it's still made of cold metal

I was born from great soldiers, and am of use to the bold.

Created by the British army, piloting it needs to be quite brave.
And as @Cashbee noted it, its complete name is "Supermarine Spitfire", hence the "great soldier" part.

I have many heads but only one tail,

One tail sure, the heads refer to cylinder heads inside the engine.

So if you pull me too hard, I'll make you turn pale.

Pull to hard, and you'll get some nasty G-forces, thus turning you pale.

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    $\begingroup$ (rot13)"terng fbyqvref" ersref gb gur anzr "fhcreznevar" $\endgroup$
    – kscherrer
    Commented Sep 5, 2018 at 9:47
  • $\begingroup$ You nailed it! The one thing you haven't got is the heads bit. (rot13) urnqf ersref gb plyvaqre urnqf vafvqr gur ratvar. Might want to include that in the answer. $\endgroup$
    – QuantumFool
    Commented Sep 5, 2018 at 18:09
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Might you be a

multi barrel gun (maybe double barrel shotgun)?

I cough up hot flames, but my mouth is dead cold.

When you shoot there's an ignition, but the steel barrel mouth is still cold.

I was born from great soldiers, and am of use to the bold.

Innovation of weapons leads to stronger military.

I have many heads but only one tail,

this is why I think multi barrel gun: multiple barrels (heads) 1 trigger (tail)

So if you pull me too hard, I'll make you turn pale.

If you pull the trigger you might kill someone turning them pale.

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    $\begingroup$ Nice thinking, but unfortunately not. "I cough up hot flames, but my mouth is dead cold" To be honest I don't know much about shotguns, but I'd imagine that if the flame passes through the end of the barrel, then it gets hot for a moment, and if it doesn't pass through the end of the barrel, then it isn't really "coughing it up". Also "if you pull me too hard I'll make you turn pale" -- the person doing the pulling and the person turning pale is the same person. You're on the right track thinking about war machines, though. $\endgroup$
    – QuantumFool
    Commented Sep 4, 2018 at 17:40
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Are you an

Army Truck.

I cough up hot flames, but my mouth is dead cold.

The truck might cough up hot flames out of it's tailpipe from using gasoline. The mouth of it allows air to go into engine areas so it must be cool.

I was born from great soldiers, and am of use to the bold

Soldiers can make army trucks and the bold can use them for attacks or just transportation.

I have many heads but only one tail

An army truck has 2 headlights and 1 tailpipe.

So if you pull me too hard, I'll make you turn pale

These army trucks are heavy so pulling them will make you pale with exhaustion.

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  • $\begingroup$ Like mrdeadsven's answer, nice thinking, but still not what I'm looking for. To the best of my knowledge, military contractors build trucks, not soldiers. I'm not sure headlights count as heads: they sort of do, but not to the extent of what I'm thinking of. Yes, I suppose pulling an army truck would make you exhausted, but you'd expect to pull on what I'm thinking of on a regular basis, while pulling an army truck should be an emergency procedure at best! As I told mrdeadsven, you're right to be thinking about military machines, but take a look at my hint: some lines refer to my name. $\endgroup$
    – QuantumFool
    Commented Sep 5, 2018 at 0:54
  • $\begingroup$ ^ Sorry, I messed up my grammar. "military contractors build trucks, not soldiers" I don't mean that military contractors build soldiers; I mean that soldiers don't build trucks. $\endgroup$
    – QuantumFool
    Commented Sep 5, 2018 at 2:48

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