Dire Wraiths

The Dire Wraiths are a fictional extraterrestrial species appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and IDW Publishing. The Dire Wraiths are the main opponents of Rom the Space Knight.

Rom: The Space Knight

Marvel Comics

The Dire Wraiths first appeared in Rom issue 1 (1979) and were created by Bill Mantlo and Al Milgrom. Parker Brothers created the term Dire Wraiths to promote the original ROM toy, but Marvel developed all of the prehistory and art behind them.[2] Hasbro has since taken over ownership and trademarked the name. IDW Publishing developed a new appearance and a history distinct from what had been previously created by Marvel, who still owns those aspects.

=Fictional biography

The Dire Wraiths are an evolutionary offshoot of the Skrulls from the Andromeda Galaxy. Like the Skrulls, the Wraiths are shapeshifters, able to take the forms of other creatures. The Wraiths were originally depicted as amorphous, cloudy, vaguely human-shaped beings, but was eventually revealed that it was a transitional form used for shape-shifting and that their true form is entirely different. The Dire Wraiths are Skrullian Deviants engineered by the star-faring Celestials. The Wraiths have both reptilian and mammalian traits. The females lay eggs and lactate.

Most characters consider Wraiths to be sexually dimorphic. It is stated within the comics that all Wraiths have the same form, but the males are so ashamed of their true form that they use their shape-shifting abilities to constantly appear in their transitory forms. The basic transitory form is stocky and troll-like in appearance, with red or brown skin, but otherwise roughly human-like in size and shape. The true form has an large, reddish body with large, pupil-less eyes, small beaks, 'hands' that resemble small pincers and tentacles; clawed feet, and thick tails. They also have long, drill-like tongues, that they use to suck out the brains of their victims, allowing them to gain their memories. All Wraiths can copy the appearance of other beings without consuming their brains or killing them.

Wraiths turned into dust when killed (or banished to Limbo).