Hydra

"HAIL HYDRA! Cut off a limb and two more shall take its place!"

High-tech global criminal organization in Marvel Comics that frequently opposes Captain America, S.H.I.E.L.D., and the Avengers.

HYDRA was formed during World War II by Baron Von Strucker as a means of extending the Red Skull's organization into the far East. After Germany's defeat HYDRA continued to work toward global domination and the triumph of fascism until Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. destroyed their island headquarters, whereupon the organization broke apart into several splinter groups.

HYDRA eventually re-formed with an emphasis on terrorism and crime. Silvermane and Viper (as "Madame Hydra", stunning in dark green tights, green-tinted hair, and carrying a whip) have both held the position of Supreme Hydra; Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman) began her career as a HYDRA assassin. Eventually Baron Von Strucker came back and imposed his Nazi ideology on the group once more.

Unlike real terrorists, HYDRA agents are easily spotted in their green uniforms and red-tinted goggles, and are armed with extraterrestrial technology obtained by the group near the end of the war. Occasionally they will kidnap someone and replace him or her with a robotic duplicate known as a Life Model Decoy*. AIM acted as their scientific branch until its leadership was seized by MODOK, who severed AIM's ties with HYDRA.

*My knowledge of this bit of trivia helped settle a debate between Howard Chaykin and Frank Miller once when they were signing at my local comics store. HAIL NAME-DROPPING!

Hydra (sometimes called Pluto III) is one of three known moons of Pluto, and was discovered in June 2005 by the Hubble Space Telescope along with its fellow moon Nix. It is named for the nine-headed serpent charged with guarding a watery entrance to the Underworld in Greek and Roman mythology. Before a name was decided on, Hydra was provisionally dubbed S/2005 P 1.  It is the outermost of Pluto's three moons, and an animation of its place in relation to the other satellites of Pluto can be found here. A glamour shot of the whole family can be viewed here.

Hydra was probably formed as a result of the same large impact astronomers speculate resulted in Charon.

References
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/051031_pluto_moons.html
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060621_nix_hydra.html
http://www.boulder.swri.edu/plutonews/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto_III
http://www.jhuapl.edu/newscenter/pressreleases/2006/060622.asp

I want to fuck her
let her be my slender headed serpent
a hydra
biting my arms off
and splatter blood all over the walls
and keep the thoughts private
away from a calcified eye
that's turning yellow in a sallow socket
peeks around to see
another waif like shadow
standing in the doorway
another victim
who isn't going to be laying
in her bed

Hy"dra (?), n.; pl. E. Hydras (#), L. Hydrae (#). [L. hydra, Gr. "y`dra; akin to "y`dwr water. See Otter the animal, Water.]

1. Class. Myth.

A serpent or monster in the lake or marsh of Lerna, in the Peloponnesus, represented as having many heads, one of which, when cut off, was immediately succeeded by two others, unless the wound was cauterized. It was slain by Hercules. Hence, a terrible monster.

Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimeras dire. Milton.

2.

Hence: A multifarious evil, or an evil having many sources; not to be overcome by a single effort.

3. Zool.

Any small fresh-water hydroid of the genus Hydra, usually found attached to sticks, stones, etc., by a basal sucker.

⇒ The body is a simple tube, having a mouth at one extremity, surrounded by a circle of tentacles with which it captures its prey. Young hydras bud out from the sides of the older ones, but soon become detached and are then like their parent. Hydras are remarkable for their power of repairing injuries; for if the body be divided in pieces, each piece will grow into a complete hydra, to which fact the name alludes. The zooids or hydranths of marine hydroids are sometimes called hydras.

4. Astron.

A southern constellation of great length lying southerly from Cancer, Leo, and Virgo.

© Webster 1913.