Dire Wraith
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The Dire Wraiths are a fictional extraterrestrial race that is part of the Marvel Comics Universe. They were the main opponents of Rom and his fellow Spaceknights, although they have also appeared in a few other Marvel comic books.
The Wraiths are an offshoot of the Skrulls from the Andromeda Galaxy. Like the Skrulls, the Wraiths are shape-shifters, able to take the forms of other creatures. Their basic appearance, however, is entirely different. The Wraiths were originally depicted as amorphous, cloudy, vaguely humanoid-shaped beings. However, it was eventually revealed that was a transitional form used for shape-shifting. Their true solid form had obese, reddish bodies with large, pupil-less eyes, small beaks, 'hands' that resemble small pincers and tentacles; clawed feet, and thick tails. They also have long, drill-pointed tongues like that of the Alphabet Cone Shell mollusc, that they use to suck out the brains of their victims, which allows them to gain their memories.(See Vampire.) (It also causes the victim's body to dissolve into a kind of goo; this may have been a way for the wraiths to eliminate the persons whom they replaced.) Wraiths turned into dust when killed (or banished to Limbo; see below.) Among the wraiths, the majority of the males preferred to practice science, and the majority of the females preferred to practice evil magic. However, when a Wraith practiced the skills favored by the other gender they were generally quite accomplished at it. Thus, there was a female wraith scientist in charge of their efforts for a time, and a male wraith "high priest" who was able to summon a deathwing to fight Rom on Earth.
At some point in their history, the Wraiths began to study evil magic. This caused a rift with their parent race, and they were driven away from the 'Skrull' galaxy long ago (hatred still persists between the two races to this day.) Using starships powered by a combination of magic and technology, The Wraiths entered a region of space called the "Dark Nebula" where they found a planet that orbited a black sun. Finding that this planet allowed them to tap that sun's energies to use in their magical spells, the Wraiths settled there and named it "Wraithworld". They soon found creatures that they could domesticate to their service: the "darkwings", birdlike creatures of black energy that spawned from the black sun itself, as well as wolflike animals that they eventually mutated into blind, telepathic 'bloodhounds' that could track their victims via telepathy, as well as transform into humanoid, ghost-like forms to attack them.
Two hundred years ago, an emissary fleet from the planet Galador entered the Dark Nebula, only to be attacked by the Wraiths. The Galadorians were extremely accomplished in science and culture and were attempting to spread benevolent enlightenment throughout their galaxy. In particular, Galadorian science had allowed them to access energy sources such as the Living Light, an energy force similar to, but the opposite polarity of, the darkforce. After this military success aginst the expedition, the Dire Wraiths launched an offensive on the Golden Galaxy which contained Galador. Their motivation seemed to be elimination of a culture they felt to be their antithesis. A huge fleet of Wraith starships attacked the inhabited planets in that galaxy, and were heading towards the Galadorian home world, which was inhabited by human-like beings. However, upon arriving at Galador they found out that dozens of young Galadorians had been transformed into cyborg warriors called Spaceknights. Although few in number, the Spaceknights proved powerful enough to repel the attack. The Wraiths returned to Wraithworld, only to have Rom, the greatest of the Spaceknights, follow them there, intent on wiping their evil from the universe, mainly by means of his weapon, the Neutralizer, which could banish Wraiths into Limbo. (Note: Those wraiths that Rom banished eventually became minions for that dimension's ruler, Immortus.) Realizing that other Spaceknights would soon follow, the Wraiths decided to abandon Wraithworld, and scattered across the universe.
Several decades ago, a large group of Wraiths landed on Earth, near a small town called Clairton, in West Virginia, USA. The Wraiths infiltrated the town in human form, and later, began to infiltrate governments and other important organizations across the World. Because Dire Wraith magic was fueled by the black sun of their homeworld, their ability to perform magic on Earth was severely crippled. Consequently, the male-dominated technology faction of the Wraiths was in control. Possibly because they were aware that Skrulls had contacted Earth, they as a rule used their transitional form instead of their true appearance when they were not in human form.
A few years ago, Rom landed near Clairton, and, with the help of some of the locals, eventually succeeded in banishing all the Wraiths still in there. Then he proceeded to travel around the world, looking for the rest.
Eventually, the female-dominated faction of magically-oriented Wraiths got tired of hiding, or possibly found a way to revitalize their magical abilities. (Concurrent events in the Marvel Universe were heavily magical at the time.) Blaming the technology faction for failing to defeat Rom, a coup ensued and they then proceeded to attack the Earth openly. Their first act was to kill the entire population of Clairton while Rom was away.
Soon afterwards, the Wraiths launched a plan to help them conquer Earth once and for all; they cast a spell on Earth's sun, allowing them to use its energies to draw Wraithworld into Earth's solar system. This greatly increased their magical powers. Emboldened, the Wraiths made a mass attack on New York City, where they clashed with dozens of the city's superheroes. However, thanks to Rom, who used a special satellite to boost the power of his Neutralizer, the entire Wraithworld planet was banished into Limbo, causing all Wraiths in the universe to lose their powers, including, apparently, their shape-shifting abilities. Subsequently, Rom banished all the defeated Wraiths into Limbo. (Note: It is not apparent why, if Wraithworld made the Wraiths so powerful, they didn't stand off the Spaceknights there in the first place 200 years ago. Nor is it clear why their powers had become so dependent on it. In a later Doctor Strange story, a Wraith from another planet was shown, using magic derived from some alternate source.)
The Wraith Queen, Volx, later made appearances in issues of New Warriors Volume One, and Nova Volume Two.
