One question I get asked is what exactly a Dire version of an animal is in Dungeons and Dragons. The answer is that the term was invented by Monte Cook, according to Monte Cook, when the team at Wizards of the Coast was creating the third edition of D&D over the three years prior to it being published in 2000, and I quote.
"When we were developing 3E, we recognized that we needed animals that could serve as appropriate foes and allies for mid- and high-level characters to help druid and ranger abilities continue to be valuable. It was my idea to create "dire" versions of various animals, based on the dire wolf/wolf dichotomy. (I know, it only makes sense in a D&D sort of way.)"
In later uses of the term, it was applied to the animal form of the Weremole, which in all other sources is listed as a giant mole; the dire mole is not described anywhere else other than for lycanthropes.
So, things became a bit messy with what a dire animal is.
There is also the added confusion that the term Dire does show up in earlier editions, so I think what Monte was talking about was a sort of Template, a theme outside of any historical accuracy, but I think it could do with some more investigation.
When in doubt, go back to the source, so let's take a good look at the Dire Wolf and its history.
Dire wolves originated around 250,000 Years ago in California and Nebraska, spreading across the open terrain of America before expanding eastward and displacing an ancestral species, eventually spreading across the entire American and South American continent, they were not the ancestors of wolves, they were as distinct from wolves as Coyotes and Dogs, however, could still cross breed with Grey Wolves, according to specimens examined from the La Brea Tar Pits.
Dire wolves are a great example of a Hypermorph, a species that increases in size thanks to an abundance of food, there were lots of other species of canines around, but the Dire wolves were a bit larger and had the strongest bite force of all existing canines at that time because they preyed on western horses, ground sloths, mastodons, ancient bison, and camels.
Dire wolves were not the largest canines ever, nor did they have the strongest bite force in any canine ever, that would be the Epicyon Haydeni, which lived in the miocene, so about six million years ago, and it was much more like what you would find in the monster manual for a Dire Wolf. Actual dire wolves would be similar enough to Grey wolves that, really, you could use the same stat block in D&D to represent them both, if you are being historically accurate, maybe give them a higher chance to crit on a bite attack or slip them a few extra hit points.
So, departing from Earth and its ancient mammals, we now know a dire animal is not necessarily the prehistoric ancestor of a current species, it's just a larger, more aggressive and for lack of a better word, more monstrous version of another animal.
The artists took some liberties with the monstrous side of it and gave them a more demonic look, with barbs, spikes or horns also sprouting from their skeleton, usually on the head, back and forelimbs, but quite randomly. Dire animals in D&D represent both a larger and more feral form, and also imply that, if a lone creature of this kind happens to dwell in certain places and interact with humanoids, it's likely to slip into the category of a legendary creature, such as the lion that hercules battled and later wore it's super tough pelt.
3rd edition D&D did not invent dire animals, but it did give us an excellent system that allowed us to just apply a template of fixed adjustments to any animal's stat block to turn it into a Dire version of that creature. Templates take all the guesswork out of it and are very easy to use at the table, no need to worry about calculating it all by yourself. However, some creatures are the actual prehistoric animals, or things that may never have existed on Earth, like the Tundra Yeti, for example... as far as we know.
The Mammoth, Megaloceros (also known as the Irish Elk), Ground Sloth, cave bear, and Zeuglodon (a long, sinuous predatory whale species), are all prehistoric creatures that can still thrive on fantasy worlds that saw such species avoid their extinctions. But being Dire in a Dungeons and Dragons sense now diverges away from just prehistoric, and includes the monstrous, so a dire creature is larger, more feral and their protruding bony ridges and spikes, are simply fanciful inventions for our fantasy worlds, so it is acceptable to call a creature Dire, if it is larger, more savage and a bit mutated, it doesn't have to be just a prehistoric version of any animal.
OK, so lets very quickly cover lots of different Dire critters.
A dire wolf in D&D is a version of a grey wolf that is 8 feet long and weighs 700 pounds. They are encountered individually (which is typical for Dire creatures), or in packs of between 5 and 8 creatures.
A Dire Bear is a massive creature up to 20 feet long and massing 6000 pounds, easily able to rend opponents to bloody chunks with its huge claws. Dire bears prefer colder climates and only come together to mate and are often kept as pets of the Stone Giants.
A dire ape looks similar to a Gorilla, but is eight feet tall and weighs around 600 to 1000 pounds; they are very aggressive and can tear a human to pieces if they get both hands clamped onto them.
A dire wolverine is only ever found alone or with a mate, they can grow to 12 feet in length and 2000 pounds of terrifying muscle, fangs and claws, completely without fear, a dire wolverine will attack with jaw and claws, if wounded in combat they go into a frenzy just like the Dire Badger.
Dire Badgers grow to 7 feet in length, weighing 500 pounds, if wounded they can go into a frenzy that will not stop until either it or its opponent, is killed.
Dire Weasels have always been a particular terror of mine, they grow to 6 feet long and 400 pounds, sneaky ambush predators that can latch on and drain the blood out of a victim, they are often kept and trained by Kobold tribes.
Dire Rats can be encountered individually, but you can find packs of up to 20 members, and they like to attack together. While each dire rat is only about three feet long and 60 pounds, they do carry the filth fever disease and are very mobile, being good swimmers and climbers
Dire Lions are up to 20 feet long and weigh 3500 pounds and can sneak up on travellers using long elephant grass fields to conceal themselves. Dire lions are quite cunning and are a prized pet of the Cloud giants, they consider the black dire lion to be the best and some storm lords are known to ride them.
Dire Tigers
Dire Boars look like wild boars that have reached sixteen feet long and weighing a ton. Dire Boars are ferocious in a fight and their tusks can rip a person apart very quickly. Do not underestimate how fast and deadly a boar can be, or how tough, as they can remain standing even with fatal wounds, and keep on fighting until they bleed out and die.
Dire Sharks grow to 50 feet long and weigh 20 thousand pounds, so, think Jaws and increase the size a bit more, they are basically Megalodons and like other sharks they have an extremely good sense of smell, tracking blood in the water from miles away and hunting down their prey.
In the Dragon Magic source book there is a listing for a draconic kind of cat-like predator called the Dire Phynxkin, which is spelled the most annoying way possible.
The Fiend Folio has the Dire Rhinoceros.
Frostburn, Sandstorm and stormwrack, the environmental sourcebooks contain the Dire Barracuda, Dire Eel, Dire Hippopotamus, Dire Jackal, Dire Puma, Dire Tortoise, Dire Vulture, Dire Eagle, Dire Polar bear, Dire Megaloceros (or Irish Elk), Dire Glyptpdon (which is one of those prehistoric armadillos the size of a wagon with a spiked bludgeoning tail club), plus the Sabretoothed Tiger, Wooly Mammoth and those giant predatory whales, the Zeuglodon, I mentioned earlier.
Masters of the Wild and Monster Manual II include the Dire Elephant, Dire Elk, Dire Horse, Dire Hawk, Dire Snake and Dire Toad.
Libris Mortis the book of Undead contains the Dire Maggot, but its more accurately a Monstrous Maggot, since the Dire title is usually reserved for Animals, not insects and vermin.
So there you have it, its quite a large list, no doubt there will be more published over time and I have probably missed one or two, my name is AJ Pickett, thanks for joining me and as always, I will be back with more for you very soon.
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