The Demon Research Initiative was a secret agency of the United States government that was created during World War II in order to monitor demon activity and study demon physiology to aid the United States war effort. In 1943, Mr. Fury, an agent of the DRI, forcibly recruited Angel to recapture a T-Class prototype U-boat which housed the results of the Third Reich's own research on vampires. Angel's mission was a partial success, as the submarine reached U.S. waters but the documents containing the research were destroyed by Spike.