Dragon's Maw is a Korean assassin guild that has existed for over 2 centuries.

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This guild was originally formed from one of the warrior clans of the 12 tribes  that made up the Gaya Confederacy of territorial polities in the Nakdong River basin of southern Korea, then known as Silla (which in Modern Korean is pronounced "Shilla"). For the next few hundred years, the "Dragon's Maw", as they became known to be, aided the ruling political houses and rulers...but always at a price.  The Dragon's Maw forces were fierce, stealthy and well trained.  For their efforts, a Dragon's maw warrior would, upon completion of his 'mandated service', receive his share of the earnings for the time he'd participated as a member of the Dragon's Maw, but no sooner.

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By 1400, the Dragon's Maw was considered legendary. Any ruling leadership that had the Dragon's Maw at their call was most likely to become powerful if not retain power in Korea.  That all changed in 1864.  Up to that point, Korea was its own empire and dynasty, however, Japanese and Russian influence were growing, as was the westernization of the region.  The Dragon's Maw leader at that time,disliked the move and with the Jinju Uprising, led by Dragon's Maw and its neighbors, fought to bring back the old ways.  Dragon's Maw and its allies were soundly defeated...but not destroyed.

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Over the next few decades, Korea eventually became a protectorate of Japan, with Korea eventually ruled by the occupational forces of Japan.  Japan set off to treating the Koreans as second-class citizens, committing many great atrocities against the Koreans during this time In great anger, Dragon's Maw assassin-warriors countered the Japanese military aggression, however, in time, the Japanese troops decimated the Dragon's Maw's ranks to about 40 by the time World War II officially started in the Pacific theater.

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Within weeks of the United States entering the war, a special operations commander, Captain John Brown, went on a bold mission to contact what was left of the legendary Dragon's Maw warriors he'd been told of, and hoped to get them to become an ally to the United States and its other Allies.  Captain Brown did (nearly at the cost of his life) get them to join the Allies, and as a result, was able to recruit the Dragon's Maw forces as part of a complex spy and assassin network for the Allies against Japan and even at times against the Axis forces in Europe.  As such, Dragon's Maw became a special unit under Captain Brown's forces, then known as the Allied Fighters. The ranks of the Dragon's Maw grew to a grand total of 220 during the war, however, they lost over 180 in missions and combat.  At war's end in 1945, Korea gained its independence and the Dragon's Maw went back to their homes...only for them to now come under a new order of communist rule.

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Between 1950 and 1953, North and South Korea fought a bloody ideological and political war of western powers versus communism. With the Dragon's Maw being exclusively from South Korea, they fought, once again, on the side of the West (the United Nations) and did what they could to win the war - but at great cost once again.  Their numbers, that had increased to over 100 at its peak during the war, had dwindled to only 12 by the end of the Korean War.

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In a fit of anger over their depressing situation, one of the senior warriors, Kho, decided to go back to the old ways of the Dragon's Maw - pay to earn their services.  As such, they quickly became an assassin's guild again and a worldwide 'weapon of influence'.  The Dragon's Maw leader at that time, Ho Pack, was executed by Kho, who took over leadership and cut ties with the United Nations, South Korea and the western civilization overall.

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Over the next few decades, the leadership and practices changed for the Dragon's Maw, making them a fierce and dangerous band of assassins that were considered a terrorist organization now by the United Nations. Dragon's Maw warriors not only went back to using traditional weapons, but also revived their ceruries-old magics, empowering their weapons, tunics and spirit with abilities unseen in centuries. Although they reverted back to older practices, they also learned to integrate into western culture by learning their technology and practices, all to use against the west (or for their paying customers) when the time was right.

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In 1960, Dragon's Maw was introduced to another assassin's guild: Death Legion.  Together, they shared resources to open up the Asian assassin influence of the Legion. They did quite well working together, that is until Death Legion has President John F. Kennedy assassinated.

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The resounding backlash against Death Legion and its newly associated Dragon's Maw assassins by the superheroes and GUARD was devastating, destroying Death Legion completely and decimating Dragon's Maw to only four remaining, if not severely injured, warriors.

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For the next 40 years, the Dragon's Maw once again recouped its numbers, training new recruits and, with the expectation of a 'great uprising' of Dragon's Maw back onto the world stage in 2000, it was ready to do so with over 500 well trained assassin-warriors.  Of course, that's when the Soltan Star Empire invaded Earth at the beginning of that same year.

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Although the Soltan invasion only lasted several months, it was more like an eternity for Korea and Dragon's Maw.  Dragon's Maw assassins fought like true warriors against the Soltans, killing thousands of them for every 100 Dragon's Maw warriors lost.  Eventually, once again, at the end of the invasion, Dragon's Maw number were down to 10...10 very wounded and beaten warriors, however, their legend and fierce reputation of their legendary actions grew exponentially through the people of Korea

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That of course didn't stop Dragon's Maw from training up the next generation of assassin-warriors yet again. Over the last two decades, Dragon's Maw has trained nearly 250 new recruits.  With the return of Death Legion a few years ago, Dragon's Maw has once again teamed-up with them to form a renewed, powerful assassin guild alliance.

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Today, Dragon's Maw, now operating secretly off of a small, privately owned South Korean island (that is believed to simply be a fishing village), continues to perform its assassin-for-hire practices for the world and Death Legion.  These assassins are feared and respected the world over, with some nations believing that the Dragon's Maw is simply a myth or fairy tale rather than a reality. 

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To this day, Captain John Brown, now know as Major Invader, has yet to talk to any of the current leadership of Dragon's Maw...nor is he expecting to be greeted with anything other than death.

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