Classification: Extradimensional (offspring of Olympian gods)

Location/Base of Operations: Entrance to Gothenvald Castle

Known Members: Five members, none of whom were identified

Affiliations: Baron Gothenvald

Enemies: Thunderbolts (Luke Cage, Ghost (name unrevealed), Juggernaut/Cain Marko), Man-Thing/Ted Sallis), Moonstone/Karla Sofen), Satana/Satana Hellstrom)

Known Relatives: Erinyes/Furies (Dark Lady/Matriarch/Tisiphone, Ember/Maiden/Alecto, Lady Ash/Crone/Megaera; parents, see comments);
    Gaea (maternal grandmother), Ouranos (maternal grandfather);
    Argus, Briareus, Brontes, Cottus, Cronus, Crius, Coeus, Gyges, Hyperion, Japet, Nereus, Oceanus, Ophion, Steropes, Typhon (brothers);
    Ceto, Dione, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Rhea, Theia, Themis, Tethys (sisters);
    extensive family through Gaea, including the Olympian gods
   

Aliases: "Skyhags" (taunt from Juggernaut)

First Appearance: Thunderbolts#156 (June, 2011)

Powers/Abilities: The Dirae emit a supernatural scream causing unbearable pain to anyone hearing it; conventional means does not stop the scream from penetrating, as the Ghost's audio filtering technology failed to block its effects.

    The Dirae can fly, and they possess razor sharp talons capable of cutting into even the Juggernaut's exposed flesh. They were superhumanly resistant to harm as they survived a direct hit from Moonstone's energy blasts.

Traits: The Dirae are monstrous in appearance, resembling dessicated corpses with extremely long arms, ending in three fingers each tipped with a talon. They were vaguely feminine with long dark hair and wearing tattered white dresses.

History:

(Thunderbolts#156 (fb) - BTS) - The Dirae are the offspring of the Furies (aka the Erinyes).

     At some point, they became affiliated with Baron Gothenvald, apparently serving as guardians/defenders of his castle.

(Thunderbolts#156) - As the Thunderbolts traversed the bridge leading to Gothenvald Castle, they found themselves assaulted by the screams of the Dirae, who swooped in for the attack.

    Satana identified them as the offspring of the Furies, and warned of the damage their screams could do.

    The Thunderbolts were completely unable to counter the screams, so Satana urged them to get inside the castle as the Dirae were unable to go indoors.

    Moonstone's futile attempt to blast one of the Dirae only led them to scream louder, and Juggernaut suspected blood might be running out of his ears by that point.

    Once the team got inside the castle, the screams faded.

Comments: Created by Jeff Parker and Kev Walker. 

    Historically, the Dirae (aka Furies) are the Roman counterpart of the Greek Erinyes, who are the offspring of Ouranos and Gaea.
    Per the Ouranos OHotMU profile:

The youngest Titan, Cronus, led the others to ambush Ouranos in his sleep and delivered the killing wound with a Gaea-granted flint sickle.As Ouranos' blood flowed and fell upon Mother Earth, she gave birth to Alecto, Megaera & Tisiphone, known collectively as the Furies ("Erinyes" in Greek), feminine deities of vengeance & punishment. Ouranos' blood also impregnated Gaea with the Olympian gigantes, who she would later incite to revolt against Zeus and his gods. The love goddess Aphrodite developed from Ouranos' severed testicles.

    The Dirae were not seen after Gothenvald Castle vanishes again. Based on the timing of their appearance, it may be presumed they are bound to the castle as its guardians, so they may also have returned to whatever hellish dimension Gothenvald escaped to and could reappear with him if he keeps his promise to return with reinforcements.
    Whether those reinforcements consist of more Dirae, and how they came to be in Gothenvald's service in the first place, remains to be seen.

    Additionally, as they are the offspring of the Furies, it is unclear whether the Furies created them magically/parthogenitically and/or whether they have fathers. There are three Furies and 5 Dirae...did each of the Furies have 1-2 children? Are they all the children of one of the Furies? Or, again, they the Furies just magically/collectively spawn them?
--Snood

This profile was completed 04/19/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25^th anniversary 's celebratory event.