Dire

"I, Dire, will sink you into the depths of Hell! (このダイアーがおまえを地獄の淵に沈めてやる！)"

- Dire to Dio Brando Dire (ダイアー) is a secondary ally featured in the first part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Phantom Blood.

Dire is a Ripple user studying under the Ripple master Tonpetty, alongside Straizo. As a close friend of Will Anthonio Zeppeli, he aids Jonathan in his fight against Dio Brando and his army of zombies.

Appearance
Dire is a very muscular mature man who has chiseled facial features and has light hair and an oversized flattop with a widow's peak.

He wears ample cotton clothes with padded tissue shoulder pads, with fringes of cloth sticking out from his shoulders and ankles. He also wears a leather vest and dark wristbands. He rolls up his sleeves to let his arm in the open.

His design changes significantly in the anime where he loses the leather armor for a simple vest that covers the arm, and instead wears a gorget and metallic shoulder pads. Moreover, the fringes are reduced to a pair of spikes coming out of the shoulder pads.

Personality
Dire is portrayed as a fierce but honorable Ripple User and fighter. Upon meeting Jonathan, he tests Jonathan's fighting ability at countering an imperfect Thunder Split Attack, and later asks Jonathan that he lets him fight Dio one on one to avenge his friend Will A. Zeppeli. Even in death, Dire is determined, taunting Dio one last time by sending a Ripple-infused rose into the vampire's eye.

Abilities
Dire has shown incredible mastery of the Ripple. He has complete control of his body and its speed, to the point of making afterimages when moving. He manipulates his speed to look slower than he actually is, a technique to make enemies over-confident and eventually lower their guard. He is also able to infuse objects with the Ripple and manages to use it just after being decapitated (on a rose), with the remaining oxygen in his brain.

Background
Dire was a good friend of Will Anthonio Zeppeli, who trained with him and Straizo to be Ripple masters under Tonpetty. When Tonpetty received a letter from Zeppeli revealing the location of the Stone Mask, Dire travelled to Windknight's Lot with his master and Straizo.

Phantom Blood
Dire first introduced himself after suddenly attacking Jonathan, where Dire used his Thunder Split Attack against him. However, Jonathan countered the move by headbutting him. The Ripple user then revealed that he only attacked Jonathan to test his strength and see if he really was Zeppeli's friend. To prove he came to help, Dire gave Jonathan the letter Zeppeli wrote.

Before Dio Brando and Jonathan had their last fight, Dire fought Dio to avenge Zeppeli. However, even Dire's best attack, the Thunder Cross Split Attack, didn't stand a chance against Dio's Freezing Attack, which completely turned his body into ice and then shattered it. Dire, now only a head, was able to use his last ounce of Ripple energy to shoot a rose into Dio's eye. For that, Dire's head was turned into ice as well and destroyed.

All-Star Battle (PS3)
Dire appears as a support character in the game's Campaign Mode, where he uses his Thunder Split Attack on the player's opponent, which will reduce their health by 40% if successful. If the player pays an extra energy point, he will instead use Thunder Cross Split Attack, dealing 30% more damage. He is also available as an avatar image and quote for the player's profile in Campaign and Online modes.

Trivia

 * Dire's English voice actor also plays Jack the Ripper and Wamuu.