Dired Wolf

Three Days GraceGrateful Dead - Dire Wolf

### Other sources

Native American Folklore, Doc Q [One Piece], Ludwig the Accursed [Bloodborne], Faust [Guilty Gear]

## Appearances

### Debut

Round 0: Dire Consequences

**Dired Wolf** [Name: Unknown] is a Skinwalker and one of the 32 combatants chosen by Baron McThrill for the infamous High Midnight Tournament. A sickened and malnourished husk of a former man of shamanic pratice, worn by the bloodlust of a malevolent force that inhabits the pelt he dons, he participates in the tournament willingly in a vain struggle to find peace in death.

## **Appearance**

Whilst often depicted as hunched and keeled over, when stood upright, Dired, a lanky Native American stands an imposing 8'9 feet [2.7 meters] in height, towering over most combatants if not for his disposition. In terms of overall wardrobe, Dired is rather minimalist, lacking any form of upper attire save from a necklace laced in animal teeth and is typically adorned in bleached cross-stitch pants, complete with rusted belt buckle. Vibrantly coated across Dired's body are bodily paints of Native heritage, seemingly worn and deteriorated from decades of isolation.

Most commonly associated with Dired is his massive wolf pelt he carries around, most often presented as scruffy and unkempt, complimented in its stained teeth and large bushy tail yet with a constant state of remaining to its form. Additionally, these aspects the hide has accessorised seems to have assimilated with Dired's physical character as well, granting him long sharp nails, glistening yellow eyes and an unwavering grimace that never seems to falter, combined with long draping hair which ends in an overgrown ponytail.

Whilst under the influence of the wolf spirit, Dired's appearance changes drastically, with the cloak fusing to his body. In his cowled form, Dired undergoes a more wolf-like physicality overall, donning an imposing silhouette with a grotesquely elongated lower jaw to account for his newly donned wolf face with human hair jutting out of the sides and the prior unyielding grimace. In addition, he gains more vertical height due to seemingly grafted digitigrade legs formed from snapped bone, as well as protruding vertebrae and bones exiting from his form in a twisted display. Furthermore, due to the fusion of both hide and human, where the fur of the wolf overlaps, Dired gains double rowed claws from paws to feet, allowing for extra slashing.

In his third transformation, Dired attains the form of a more conventional, if not mangy, almost malnourished looking wolf with overlapping teeth and long drapes of matted fur. Once more the smile seems to be a consistent across every form, adding an uncanny aspect to his image.

## **Personality**

Dired always seemed accustomed to wearing a constant yet forced grimace always strewn on his face, rarely does it ever change past a grin, this is due in part due to Dired being unable to feel any emotion, nor pain for his condition and possession of the wolf spirit have numbed him of any feeling of life in his body. In his rare glimpses of humanity, Dired speaks in an often renounced and polite etiquette, always regarding in a formal dialect, often apologising for being in one's way or for seemingly nothing at all; stating to have 'cried all his lifetimes tears due to his beast within'. In addition to this, he seems to have an involuntary reflex in laughing at random intervals, be it on reaction or impulse, usually after making self deprecating remarks or loathing to how weak and useless his body is. However, as a pawn for the wolf spirit to control, Dired finds himself in an uphill struggle when the intent to kill is at an all-time high, for when bloodshed calls, the wolf spirit takes over.

Whilst possessed, Dired is a savage, keen on bloodshed and holding no bars back in the thrill of toil and massacre. More often than not, his thought process is more based on animalistic instinct and impulse, using any means necessary that he gains the upper hand and dispatches a foe. This disregard for pure bloodlust manifests itself so sporadically, that Dired often teeters on suicidal, willing to take any blow that comes to him whilst in this state whilst also dishing out his own in retaliation.

## **History**

### **Past:**

*Tales whisper of a man born with a mysterious disease which weakens and pains his body every waking second of his life, this cackling doctor of the dark arts is a far cry from the humble, selfless tribal shaman who was said to have cured and sickness, no matter how fatal the symptom, yet no matter what, he could never cure the curse of death nor his own ailment. Said to be responsible for the extinction of his tribe 20 years ago in a spiteful fit in the madness of his mortality, he wanders: a lone wolf yowling off into the lone night.*

*Corrupted by the influence of the dark arts, he dons the cursed pelt of the malicious wolf of wrath that possesses him and controls his aching body like a flesh puppet, said to have slain over a hundred bears and tenfold as many men out of sport, allowing him to transform into the dreaded beast of the night.*

### **Dire Consequences:**

Found taking refuge in the Arizona Desert after an innumerable slaughter of hunters who sought to take down the elusive bounty of a Skinwalker, Dired was tracked down by fellow Night Riders, Cameo and Lycan as part of a selective recruitment to partake in the bloodsport arena known as the High Midnight Tournament. Although initially placid and speaking in cryptic riddle upon first contact, the wolf spirit inhabiting Dired sensing killing intent from both recruiters manifested in a spark of violence. Now donning the cursed pelt, Dired would prove quite the match against both combatants, managing to keep even footing with Lycan and enduring multiple bullet wounds with no sign of fatigue, even managing to incapacitate Lycan the use of her arms due to the cursed aspect his pelt beheld.

Eventually however, Dired would find himself outsmarted by a quick-thinking Cameo and sneak attack from Lycan, managing to incapacitate him long enough until backup arrived in the form of Abdulla Wukong whom restrained and subdued the pelted madman in chained bonds and a high voltage of electricity. Soon taken into custody by the Riders, a more negotiable Dired would stir from a shocked slumber [Surprising even Abdulla herself from how many volts were imbued in him] agreeing to his captors' terms that he may join this tournament if only he wishes for a death to bring him at death with the beast within.

### **Just a Burning Memory:**

Recalling memories not his own of events that transpired nearly 50 years ago, Dired awakens from his silent stasis to a rainy haze befalling the stadium of the High Midnight Tournament. Alone in his own thoughts, he monologues about his lack of feeling anything much to his self deprecative characteristics as he's soon pitted against his opponent for the round, the Yōkai Warrior Monk, **Yumi Ohashi**. Upon exchanging cryptic remarks, the wolf spirits' bloodlust soon kicked in and a flash of lightning sought to ambush Yumi with a devastating swipe of his halberd to which Yumi swiftly countered in retaliation.

Throughout the rainfall, the two Crypts would do battle, as memories mixed with the present day. Initially, Yumi seemed to gain the upper hand in the rain due to her Umi-Bozu physiology, warrior monk finesse and nimble reflexes to Dired's continuous onslaught of animalistic swipes and swings. However, as the fight progressed, Yumi's abilities would soon prove fruitless due in part due to the attrition in Dired's tolerance to pain shrugging off blows that would be deemed lethal and seemingly unending stamina to boot.

Eventually, Dired manages to gain enough of an opportunity to bite down on Yumi's shoulder and inflict a curse upon her, causing her to lose all five senses in her body. Upon a decisive blow after a long and gory battle, Dired and Yumi would lash at one another for the final encounter [Yumi using the rain as a sixth sense], however, it would prove in vain as Dired would prove himself the victor, impaling Yumi with his halberd. With the bloodlust satiated, a wounded and bloodied Dired would cry out in a hoarse laughter with the crowd cheering on in their own bloodlust fulfilled; meanwhile, a young tribal lady watches among the podium in a sense of unease...

## **Abilities**

### **Cursed Wolf Pelt:**

Dired dons the cursed pelt of a giant wolf, whom has attached itself to him as its host. Linked to him parasitically in mind and soul, the wolf spirit inhabiting seems to control him like a ragdoll and allows him to transform into various forms akin to that of his Skinwalker biology. Whilst cloaked, Dired can transform into both a hybridisation of both man and beast, donning sharp claws and jagged teeth and a much more typical wolf form which allows him to traverse the environment undetected or for prowling undercover for his next victim. Both Dired and the Wolf Spirit seem to be linked together, but due to it's corruption it has slowly began to eat away at Dired's mental control and memories, causing his mind to fragment and his name left forgotten purposefully.

#### **The Thirteen Curses:**

Alongside Dired's cursed biology, the pelt also comes granted with thirteen individual curses, each with their own unique effect and property. To inflict these curses, physical contact needs to be endowed by Dired onto the target in question, usually through slashing, grabbing, impaling or biting said opponent.

* **Curse of Spite:** Grants the user a pseudo regeneration which holds them together until all blood is drained and every bone broken. Though it doesn’t heal him, all damage will still be sustained on his body, granting him enhanced durability that just holds him together.
* **Curse of Hunger:** Upon contact, the user can drain an opponent of their vigour to add towards their own strength as a boon. This curse was used both against Cameo and Yumi.
* **Curse of Oppression:** Upon contacting a foe, the opponent's body is almost binded by an invisible force which restricts their body movement as if chained or tied up. Can be bypassed if a user has a strong enough will. This was used primarily on Lycan upon first contact.
* **Curse of Rupture:** Inexplicably, upon contact, the opponent will start bleeding profusely as if a hundred piercing blows have struck at once. Blood will keep pouring out from their body until they’re completely empty or the user has been knocked out.
* **Curse of Fear:** The opponent is struck with an almost primal fear and will start to hallucinate serious mind tricks, such as being hunted by a fearsome beast in the dead of night, or being caught in a giant spider’s web.
* **Curse of Expulsion:** Due to Dired’s inhuman resistance to poisons and venoms, his body can willingly remove the accumulated toxins in his body and spew them out of his wounds or jaws. The same can be said for any other foreign objects like bullets or swords, though, likewise he’ll still take damage from them.
* **Curse of Null:** Unleashes a strike which can render a foe stripped of their senses, such as pain, taste, sight, smell and touch. This curse was used in his battle with Yumi after infliction via bite.
* **Curse of Fatigue:** The Opponent will have their movements drastically lagged and unresponsive from a sudden slumber overcoming them, expending energy being taxing. Can be brute forced if one’s adrenaline is pumping hard enough.
* **Curse of Revenge:** If enough damage is taken throughout the battle, can strike back with all of their penance for a retribution strike. Sort of works on a buildup on how much damage is inflicted and can be retributed right back at a foe.
* **Curse of Malady:** Inflicts a major illness in the form and may cause them intense temperature rise, fever and vomiting inexplicably or longtime curse like diseases on the body.
* **Curse of Agony:** The user can share the pain inflicted throughout a battle upon a foe as a voodoo link, may be excruciating if someone with a low pain tolerance and highly susceptible to guilt is sharing said pain.
* **Curse of Burden:** If the user of the pelt is to expire, a strong urge to wear the pelt and become the next agent of evil for the Skinwalker curse shall commence, corrupting their mind and being a puppet for the beast. Temptation can be resisted with high resolve.
* **Curse of Death:** Once contact is made through a stab or slash, the opponent becomes an omen for death and it is a race against the clock for life to defeat the user who inflicted it and the afterlife. If your time is up, a wolf shall appear in an illusion and rip you apart, or rather destroy your insides from within.

### **Temikise:**

A large tribal Halberd, etched in markings and an obsidian, acting both as a reaping axe or a impactful spear. Dwarfing even Dired in sheer length alone, the Temikise plays the role as both an extension allowing Dired to slice or grapple foes with, or as a crutch to stabilise his sick and frail body. Dired can even imbue the Temikise with his cursed magic allowing him for further range in inflicting his curses upon his victims. Furthermore, it can be used as a pole vault or extra platform for manoeuvrability.

### **High Pain Tolerance:**

Due to his inhuman physiology and as a result of the pelts' influence, Dired portrays a high level of both durability and tolerance to pain, seemingly having unyielding stamina to back it up for having such a frail and sickened disposition. Through this, he has consistently managed to shrug off damage which would be deemed otherwise lethal such as gunshots point-blank to the head, impaling, disfigurement and extreme blunt force trauma and can still keep on going. Because it's a manifestation of hatred and the pelt's influence, Dired can keep on fighting until all bones have been shattered and every drop of blood drained from his body.

### **Poison Resistance:**

Because of the Skinwalker curse, Dired's body is able to resist and defend against harsh toxins and venoms in his body due to his longtime exposure to the dark forces. What would usually be incredibly poisonous and fatal for a person, he's able to eject from his bloodstream via regurgitation or excess of wounds on his body like a filter; he is also able to use said toxins as a counter to retaliate against foes.

### **Animal Senses/Reflexes:**

Imbued with animalistic senses, Dired has been gifted with keen hearing and smell akin to that of a wolf. Able to hear long distances and pick up on scent trails left behind by opponents. In addition to this, Dired has the imbued reflexes and agility of a wolf, capable of leaping and running long distances in his cloaked forms without any semblance of slowing, allowing him to continuously stalk and hunt down his next target.

## **Gallery**

Skinwalker FormWolf FormEyecatch (c) DeputyRust

## **Trivia**

* Despite being yellow, Dired's eyes aren't his natural eye colour and are instead a result of the possession of the Skinwalker spirit inhabiting his body and altering it to a more bestial appearance. In addition to this, his eyes actually shine in the dark due to this animalistic influence. In truth, his actual eye colour used to be green.
* Translated from the Nez Perce dialect, Dired's Halberd, Temikise means "To Bury" or "To Embed"
* Dired's song inspirations stem mainly from many modern bands such as Linkin Park and Three Days Grace, most prominently their songs such as "Animal I've Become", "Waiting for the End" and "Final Masquerade" to name a few.
* Dired's foremost name is an amalgamation of the extinct Pleistocene canid of the same name and a few musical artists relating to the name in question. These being: Dire Straits and the Grateful Dead song, "Dire Wolf".
* Dired's tribal paints are commonly associated in Native American culture to represent mourning or grieving the loss of a fallen one. A testament to the fact that due to him being unable to feel any emotion or feeling and rather having to paint it across his face to signify his woe.
* Throughout all his depictions, Dired never stops smiling, or rather cannot stop smiling, whether out of obligation to substitute not feeling anything at all or as a ploy via the pelt is left uncertain.
* Despite being in his near 50's, the Wolf Pelt itself is, in fact, much older due to having worn previous hosts in the past. In addition to this, Dired Wolf isn't the name of the man possessed and rather the name of the spirit inhabiting him, however, for ease of designation the character as a whole is referred to as Dired Wolf.