Dire Wraiths

Latest revision as of 08:33, 26 October 2024

Dire Wraith in Darkstar and the Winter Guard v1 #3.

Dire Wraiths are an alien race that feature in Marvel Comics.

History

Origin

The Dire Wraiths were a predatory race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters that existed in the universe. Their origins were actually traced to that of the Skrull race where as the Deviant branch developed a further strain formed into what became the Dire Wraiths. (Silver Surfer v3 #5) This deviant branch of Skrullkind were said to had practiced dire and dark magics along with arcane arts to the point that they became a threat to the rest of the species. As a result, the rest of the Skrulls engaged a war to exterminate the Dire Wraiths in their entirety and had a complete hatred of these offspring of their race. Despite their efforts, the Dire Wraiths managed to survive by using their sorcery to depart their homeworld and settle in the Dark Nebula. (Rom v1 #50) This saw them settling on a planet that came to be known as Wraithworld. (Rom v1 #27) At some point, the Kree were known to had found some Dire Wraiths and conducted genetic experiments on them to create an Inhuman branch of the race. These later departed their comrades and came to join the ranks of the Universal Inhumans that consisted of similarly genetically manipulated species which included Centaurians, Badoon and Kymellians. (Fantastic Four v1 #577)

Around two centuries ago, the Galadorian Armada during its exploration arrived near the Dark Nebula as part of their peaceful trade mission. The Dire Wraiths struck and destroyed the armada but not before the sent word of their destruction back to their homeworld. This led to Galador deciding to defend themselves as they believed they faced the dangerous threat from the Dire Wraiths. This necessitated the creation of cybernetic warriors from Galadorian volunteers that were transformed into the Spaceknights. These warriors were dispatched to battle the Dire Wraiths at the Dark Nebula where they defeated their foe but led to their enemy scattering across space. Thus, the war was not over and Spaceknights went throughout space to seek out and destroy their Dire Wraith enemies. (Rom v1 #1)

After the failed Dire Wraith attack on Galadorm a Command Cruiser of the Wraith Battlefleet the command made a desperate bid to escape the wrath of Rom. The Spaceknight came to overtake them and in battle, a number of hatchling Deathwings were summoned to fight Rom who promptly destroyed them. A Wraith Witch suggested leading Rom to Wraithworld to let their home planet deal with him. Rom then faced with a choice to pursue the receding fleet in all its diverse directions or pursue the command cruiser toward the Dark Nebula. Rom chose to follow the lead ship to Wraithworld where he was horrified by the planet yet continued his pursuit of the cruiser to the world's surface where he was accosted by the acid rains. Rom banished the Wraith Witches on the cruiser before it can reach the safety of the fortress causing the ship to crash into the edifice. Rom was then assaulted on all sides by horrors beyond imagination begins the systematic banishment of all he comes across. In desperation, the Wraiths created a sorcerous illusion of Wraiths everywhere that Rom looked to buy themselves time to escape. Sometime later on Galador, a council was called by the Prime Director with the Spaceknight Squadron to send them on a search mission to find the missing Rom. The Squadron finds a trail of wrecked Wraith battlecruisers leading to The Black Sun at the center of the Wraith home system. They descend upon Wraithworld to find no signs of the villainous Dire Wraiths. However, the very planet itself begins to assault the Squadron. After beating back the assault, Scanner detects the energy of Rom’s Neutralizer being fired continuously. The Squadron are soon confronted by Wraith Elementals left to defend their fortress. Once they defeat this threat they proceed toward the glow from Rom’s Neutralizer and are stunned to find him with ashes at his feet and firing at nothing. Perplexed, the group is informed by Unam that Rom DOES see Wraiths. Rom soon notices the Squadron but perceives them to be Wraiths due to the spell he is under. As the Squadron attempts to dodge Rom’s attacks, Scanner attunes her perceptions to see what Rom sees and was almost overwhelmed by the imagery. Unam turns himself invisible as Raak attacks Rom. Unam shoves Raak aside and steps before Rom defenseless and is able to talk Rom out of the trance. His senses restored Rom makes the fateful decision that it is up to the Spaceknights to scour the Universe to end the Wraith threat. (Rom Annual v1 #2)

Thousands of years before the Wraith War, a Wraith of great power landed on Earth. A Wraith-child, who took the form of a human female child and the name Kaaris'a. Using her powerful sorcery, within a year of her being brought into the pharaoh's court he was dead. A change came over the children of Memphis and all of Egypt, and a shroud of misery descended on the land. Until the people rose up against Kaaris'a, bound her and buried her alive. (Rom v1 #39)

Earth

After the Wraith War, one of the worlds that the Wraiths infiltrated was Earth. It was there almost 200 years after the defense of Galador that Rom arrived near Clairton, West Virginia seeking out his enemies. The Wraiths were led by the "Most High One" that had the machinations in motion for the rebuilding of Wraith power and the conquest of Earth and then Galador. Rom upset many of the Wraith plans despite the interference of a number of Earth's super-powered heroes who were unable to detect the wraiths and thought Rom a "killer robot". Eventually, Rom was able to make the situation known to Power Man and Iron Fist who actually witnessed a wraith disintegrate upon its accidental death. Soon after the Fantastic Four were convinced of the Wraith threat, as was Doctor Strange.[15] Rom departed for Galador for a brief period.

In the interim a powershift occurred among the Dire Wraiths. In a showdown at the United Nations building hidden from human perception, the witchwraiths slew their male counterparts and destroyed their scientific creations vowing to return Wraithkind to their innate sorcery and eschewing science altogether.

These now ascendant witch Wraiths then began re-infiltrate the town of Clairton, West Virginia. The female wraiths were not ashamed of their true forms as the science wraiths had been and their manner of assuming an individual's shape was far more insidious. These Wraiths used their razor sharp barbed tongues to pierce the skull of their victim and begin to assimilate that persons knowledge and personality into themselves. The victim began to shrivel and die immediately as the wraith assumed its identity. The greater part of the town was savagely murdered by the wraith witches in this manner.

Afterwards, a group of Dire Wraiths colonized an unknown planetoid though were unaware that it was actually Ego the Living Planet. The living world had been depleted after a battle with Galactus and in order to heal himself decided to absorb anyone that landed on his surface which included these Wraiths. (Rom v1 #69)

Return from Limbo

By this point, the Dire Wraiths consisted largely of a defeated aged populace and defenseless children that were regularly used by Immortus in his various conflicts. Their kind largely desired peace except for the actions of the warmongering Volx who had hatched a plan with the Skrull Klobok. With his aid, Wraithworld was rescued by the Annihilators who used the planetoid to stabilize the Galadorian star system after the Black Sun was removed from the Dark Nebula by Klobok. The act would have consumed the native sun had Wraithworld not been merged with Galador thus bringing the Dire Wraiths back to the normal universe after their many years of banishment. However, Klobok did not desire to free the Dire Wraiths but to use them for his own ends as he sought to transform them into a new race of Skrulls by twisting their deviant genetics with which he would form his own empire to conquer space. Both Klobok and Volx were defeated as well as killed in battle with the Annihilators which left the Dire Wraiths starting a new era of peace with their former enemies of Galador. (Annihilators v1 #4)

Overview

Wraithkind were a two eyed humanoid species with a red skin and a hunched appearance normally associated with female members of the race. Their two arms contained three spatulate digits a mouth in each hand with three toes on their legs.

Dire Wraiths had the ability to disguise themselves as any living creature allowing them to hide on worlds populated by other species. (Rom v1 #1)

One noted ability amongst the race was the capacity to adopt the form and abilities of any living beings by mentally altering their body structure. Female Wraiths had a radically different body structure compared to the males and killed their victims in the process of adopting their forms.

Those of the Inhuman branch of their race were referred to as the Direst Wraiths. (Royals v1 #6)

The species were highly advanced with warp capable and were skilled in the art of bio-engineering whilst the females relied on sorcery.

Members

• Avoe : queen and goddess of the Wraith Inhumans, evolved from their natural state through Exogenesis. Her people made up one-fourth of the Universal Inhumans, who responded to Earth's moon in search of the Midnight King of prophecy, Black Bolt. (Fantastic Four v1 #577)
• Fantasma :
• Hooud : one of the Universal Inhumans and a member of the Light Brigade who went by the name of Creeping Death and as the Great Beast of Apocalypse. (Fantastic Four v1 #600)
• Volx :
• Voorr : one of the Universal Inhumans and a member of the Light Brigade. The team was captured by Arthrosians in the Negative Zone, and Annihilus made ​​them fight to the death in the arena against the Arthrosians' champions. When Human Torch was captured, he teamed up with the Light Brigade and they escaped. They attacked Annihilus and Johnny took away his Cosmic Control Rod. After that Johnny opened a portal to the Baxter Building and they all returned to Earth.
• Doctor Daedalus : a Dire Wraith scientist who worked with fellow Wraith Rachel Sweet at Project Safeguard. The two were able to graft an Earthling to the Galadorian Spaceknights Firefall armor to confront Rom. When the Most High One ordered the execution of both captured Spaceknights, Daedalus got too close to the Firefall armor grafted to Archie Stryker who, realizing the Dire Wraith deception, used the Living Flame of Galador to slay Daedalus.
• Rachel Sweet : a Dire Wraith scientist that had infiltrated a secret U.S. military installation known as Project Safeguard. With her fellow Dire Wraith scientist Doctor Daedalus, the two worked at attempting to use the captured armor of the Spaceknight Firefall. Unable to merge their physicality to the Galadorian armor, they proceeded to dupe an Earthling named Archie Stryker into donning the armor and confronting Rom. (Rom v1 #11)
• Marag-Tu : escaping from the Spaceknights with his wife and their little son after the Wraiths failed in their attempt of invade Galador, Marag-Tu crashed on the Earth where he lost his life along with his wife while the little Kattan-Tu was the only one to survive and was found and adopted by the Sarkan spouses. (Incredible Hulk v1 #262)
• Wenden : escaping from the Spaceknights with her husband and their little son after the Wraiths failed in their attempt of invade Galador, Wenden crashed on the Earth where she lost her life along with her husband while the little Kattan-Tu was the only one to survive and was found and adopted by the Sarkan spouses. (Incredible Hulk v1 #262)
• Woodrow Cather : cover identity which a certain male Dire Wraith used when he infiltrated the Kennedy Space Center as a research scientist. The details of his professional career have not be revealed but it is known that he eventually became the highest-ranking civilian scientist on the base, and that he was the head of the project to develop an Ion-Drive Rocket. (Avengers v1 #244)

Notes

Dire Wraiths of Earth-98226.

• The Dire Wraiths were created by Bill Mantlo and Al Milgrom where they made their first appearance in Rom v1 #1 (December, 1979).

Alternate Versions

• In Timeslip Collection v1 #1 (1998), an alternate version of the Dire Wraiths appeared in the reality designated as Earth-98226 in the Multiverse. This version of the species are multi-eyed insectile beings with a black carapace and multiple legs along with a long tail. These Dire Wraiths burrow into the skull of a victim and take control of them with this parasitic control not being detectable by most means. The only trace of possession was a small scar under the hairline of a victim and it was not possible to separate the creature from the body without killing the host. In this reality, the Spaceknights hunt down these creatures but these Dire Wraiths are more effective in escaping detection.

Appearances

• Rom v1 #1: (1979)
• Fantastic Four v1:
• Annihilators v1:
• Royals v1:

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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