Diana

Diana Prince: 2800 B.C. - 1999
Diana of Themyscira is the daughter of Queen Hippolyta, ruler of the mythical Themysciran Amazon tribe which lives on Paradise Island, and Zeus, god of thunder and king of the Olympians. Legends say she was made of clay and mud by her mother and given life by Zeus, but Diana herself says she was made through the much more typical (and fun) method of procreation. By the time that Diana was born, the Amazons of her tribe had already settled Themyscira, fading into the realm of myth and legend. For centuries, Diana learned of the mortal world through stories and trained among the ranks of legendary Amazonian warriors. By the time Diana was first given permission to enter the Realm of Mortal Men, the Trojan War had been fought to its conclusion, but Diana found an unexpected pleasure in living among the imperfect mortals and longed to return, escaping centuries later during the reign of the Roman Empire. When Diana was brought back to Paradise Island, she was punished and forbidden from returning to the mortal realm for another thousand years.

When Diana had regained her mother’s trust, she again sought permission to return to the mortal world. Upon being denied, Diana decide (like I often do) that forgiveness is easier gained than permission, so she escaped from Paradise Island and found herself caught up in the Hundred Years’ War of Europe in the late 14th century. Diana stuck around for much of the war, often disguising herself as a man or even fighting openly as a woman (much like Joan of Arc did in the same war).

Toward the end of the long war, in a long lull between skirmishes, Diana fell in love with another fighter, Stephan Lowell. Stephan was the only man that Diana had met that could hold his own against her in combat and their sparring sessions heated up on a number of occasions. Stephan and Diana had a brief affair that turned to marriage when it was discovered that Diana was with child. The couple settled into the French countryside to raise their child together. The Lowells had a daughter, who Diana named Aresia, after the God of War who Diana credited for having brought her and Stephan together. But their daughter was not a normal child as Aresia was born with eerie purple eyes and a streak of blood red hair. Superstitions and fear prevailed at the time, so the couple chose to raise their daughter in seclusion.

When Aresia was ten years old, Diana was discovered by her mother’s agents when she went into town for supplies. Not wanting her mother to know of her family, Diana peacefully returned to Paradise Island once more where she was imprisoned for five centuries for her disobedience. But even five hundred years of living in Paradise Island’s dungeon could do little to affect Diana’s love of the mortal realm. Upon her release, she was caught again trying to sneak into the mortal realm. Infuriated with her daughter but not wishing to punish her further, Queen Hippolyta decided to appoint Princess Diana as the Ambassador of Themyscira to the mortal realm… and so armed with many of Themyscira’s most prized relics, Diana returned to Man’s World.

Wonder Woman: 1999 - Present
Let me tell you about the metaphysical nature of Themyscira, actually no, it’s too complicated to get into right now, but let’s just say that sometimes Themyscira is in the Mediterranean, sometimes in the Bermuda Triangle, and sometimes it’s somewhere else or nowhere altogether. Anyway, Diana’s magical re-entry into the Realm of Men had dropped her off the coast of Florida and also fired the systems of a military jet overhead, causing its pilot to crash into the sea. Diana came to the rescue and swam Captain Steve Trevor back to shore on a crowded public beach. Though Princess Diana did not know it until later, in that moment, Wonder Woman was born. Of course, things were not as they once were; we now had things like computers, indoor plumbing, germ theory, and ice cream. Diana needed someone she could trust to act as her mentor in the ways of this brave new world.

Officially recognized as an ambassador of Themyscira, the Princess of Paradise Island became quite the sensation. Her celebrity status was a monster Diana wasn’t prepared to overcome. In the wake of the events of the September 11th, 2001, the U.S. Government was interested in gaining Themyscira’s assistance in the war on terror. Diana knew her mother had no interest in the wars of men, but Diana agreed to help the military on two conditions: she’ll be given an undercover identity to help her enjoy life as an average mortal might and that she be allowed to work alongside Steve Trevor. In order to allow Diana to operate in a conflict zone, she became Captain Diana Prince, an Air Force Intelligence Officer. After the U.N. began holding hearings on the use of “persons of mass destruction”, Diana and Steve were shipped back to the States. In 2003, the two joined the Extranormal Operations Task-Force (later restructured as the DEO). A year later, Wonder Woman would be part of the Justice League’s founding seven, an integral part of the already impressive roster of heroes.

As Wonder Woman, Diana was an icon for women everywhere. As Diana Prince, she would continue her work as a federal agent, eventually being named DEO liaison to ARGUS.

Powers

 * Divine Empowerment: As the daughter of Zeus, Diana has abilities which exceed even those of the typical Amazon and she has been endowed with even more through the patronage of several Olympian gods.
 * Mythical Strength: Granted by Demeter. Because of her link to the planet granted to her, Diana claims to be "Stronger than Hercules". Wonder Woman has shown she is strong enough to hold her own against or even beat those like Superman in contests of pure strength and able to physically outmatch other beings such as Power Girl. ARGUS ranks Wonder Woman in the Class 7 Enhanced Strength category.
 * Mythical Resilience: Also granted by Demeter, Diana possesses a high resistance to damage and magical attacks. However, her resistance to injury is not quite as great as some metahumans. Due to her vast threshold for pain and her Amazon ability to heal at a superhuman rate, this easily makes up for the difference. She has withstood considerable bludgeoning damage in the form of hand to hand combat with metahuman opponents such as Doomsday and Black Adam. She has considerable resistance to human weaponry, though this is not absolute; Bullets can cause minor to moderate injury, but never life threatening.
 * Mythical Speed and Flight: Granted by Hermes, Wonder Woman is capable of unassisted flight by gliding on air currents at a max speed of around 2,000 MPH. She can also run at inhuman speeds (200 MPH).
 * Mythical Reflexes: Granted by Hermes, Wonder Woman's reflexes are far beyond the limitations of the finest human athletes. She has been able to react to a barrage of gunfire from multiple opponents at once unharmed. Batman noted that her reflexes are superior to that of Superman.
 * Mythical Agility: Granted by Hermes, Wonder Woman's agility is far beyond that of even an Olympic level athlete, as is her balance and coordination.
 * Mythical Insight: Granted by Athena. This ability apparently grants Diana increased perception. For example, Diana can often detect others' emotions and can often distinguish mental illusions from reality.
 * Mythical Wisdom: Granted by Athena. Diana possesses great wisdom and intelligence. She also has an instinctive ability to understand, read, write, and speak many Earthly languages, a few being her native Themysciran, Ancient and Modern Greek, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Mandarin Chinese (she expressed "difficulty" with the tones of Cantonese during an interview with Lois Lane), Russian and Hindi. Plus, through precise muscle control, she can mimic other people's voices for short conversations. It is much more difficult, for her to mimic a man's voice than another woman's voice. Diana is also an accomplished strategist and tactician, trained in the arts of leadership, persuasion, and diplomacy, and possesses an unyielding sense of courage as well. Also, Diana possesses knowledge and understanding of magic. She has used her magical knowledge to use an alchemical spell to create a portal to Olympus.
 * Animal Empathy: Granted by Artemis. Diana has the ability to communicate with all forms of non-sentient animals and her presence alone can bring a raging beast to a calm standstill. She is also able to directly command wild animals when needed.
 * Mythical Senses: Granted by Artemis, all of Diana's mundane senses perform at peak levels.


 * Amazonian Physiology: There are some differences between regular people and Amazons thanks to Greek Gods.
 * Enhanced Stamina: An Innate Amazonian ability, Wonder Woman can last a great deal of time in any fight and with virtually anyone. She has held her own in combat with foes as powerful as Mongul for prolonged periods of time. She doesn't tire out, as her body produces no lactic acids in her muscles. However, Diana still requires sleep or else she will begin to suffer the mental effects of sleep deprivation.
 * Healing Factor: Granted to all Amazons by Demeter. Like the Earth, Diana is constantly renewing herself, allowing her to quickly heal mild to moderate injuries at an amazing rate. Her normal regenerative abilities allow her to recover from injury within seconds to minutes. She possesses an incredible immunity from poisons, toxins, as well as disease. If she is injured to a critical level, she may engage in an Amazonian ritual wherein she can become "one with the Earth" (covering herself in dirt, sand, or rocks) and recover her vitality within an hour.

Abilities

 * Amazonian Warrior Princess: Diana is the finest warrior ever born among the Amazons of Themyscira. She is a master of armed and unarmed combat, proficient with nearly every weapon ever made (especially the bow and the javelin) and the exotic martial arts styles of the Amazons. Batman once remarked that Wonder Woman is the best melee fighter in the world.


 * Indomitable Will: Wonder Woman has shown her will and courage sufficient to use a Green Lantern ring, having used Guy Gardner's ring against Doomsday when the abomination had knocked the Lantern unconscious.


 * Aviation: A novice pilot, Wonder Woman is becoming more and more adept in the operation of her Invisible Javelin.


 * Throwing: Diana is an expert at using her tiara as a boomerang. She has also shown herself to be quite proficient at hitting targets, even ones moving at considerable speed, with either her sword or shield.

Paraphernalia

 * Bracelets of Submission: Modeled after the shackles the Amazons were once enslaved with. The gauntlets were forged from a mythical metal alloy known as Amazonium and were crafted for her use by Hephaestus. Diana's superhuman reflexes enable her to use the gauntlets to easily deflect projectiles (such as bullets) and powerful energy blasts. She is even fast enough to protect herself from multi-vector attacks. At close-range, the gauntlets block blades, weapons, and punches. When crossed, the gauntlets generate a remnant of the Aegis itself, forming an impenetrable barrier just in front of them which allows Diana to protect herself and those behind her from area attacks. They are also capable of channeling Zeus' holy lightning when struck together.


 * Lasso of Truth: The Lasso of Truth is her signature weapon. Most captured in it are forced to answer any questions she asks and are unable to lie. It cannot be broken, snapped or cut. It can also be used to erase memories, exorcize demons, and relieve the effects of mind control. Note: Those with a greater will than Wonder Woman can resist the effects but such will needs to be extraordinary.


 * Invisible Jet: A gift from the United States government for her many years of service, this is a state-of-the-art HTOL-capable Javelin outfitted with a remarkable cloaking device.


 * Magical Sword: A sword forged by Hephaestus, sharp enough to cut the electrons off an atom.


 * Tiara: Diana's golden tiara serves as proof of her royal identity and doubles as a throwing weapon, as it is razor-edged and can cut through most substances. The tiara has also been given an enchanting feature by Zatanna that enables her to only be recognized as Wonder Woman when wearing the tiara, thereby giving her civilian identity as Diana Prince an added layer of protection.

Weaknesses

 * Vulnerability to Piercing Weapons: Diana is extremely resistant to blunt force attacks and has a vast tolerance for pain. However, she is more vulnerable to piercing weapons, such as arrows and bullets.


 * Vulnerability to Adamant: As the daughter of Zeus, Wonder Woman shares his weakness to weapons made of Adamant.

Trivia

 * During the Hundred Years War, Diana married Steppenwolf and birthed Aresia. After Ares revealed her location to Hippolyta, she was taken back to Themyscira without a chance to say goodbye, causing Aresia to hate her.
 * During this time she was incarcerated in Doom's Doorway island.
 * In Earth-27, ARGUS rates Wonder Woman at Enhanced Strength 7. The scale goes from 0 (normal humans without enhanced strength) to 10 (the absolute highest strength they've ever been able to rate, Doomsday). Most Amazons are at a 2-3. Wonder Woman was given extra strength by her parentage (Zeus and Hippolyta) and a blessing from Demeter when she became Wonder Woman. Superman is listed at an 8. It is worth noting that Superman of Earth-27 is much weaker than most other versions of the character. She can fly at Mach 7 in short bursts, and sustained flight at 300 MPH, thanks to a blessing from Hermes. But for any long flight, she uses her "Invisible Jet".
 * Steve Trevor gave Diana her invisible jet in Oracle Files: Etta Candy. Hal Jordan taught her how to fly.
 * Diana has briefly dated Batman.
 * Wonder Woman originally translated her heroic name from Themysciran as 'Suprema' but the US Government decided that 'Wonder Woman' sounded better and went with the quasi-WW markings of her breastplate, and thus she was branded as Wonder Woman. The name has since grown on her.
 * Diana has not eaten pork, bacon, or ham for several years. This leads many to assume she is a vegetarian.
 * Based on something I overheard Steve Trevor say, Diana might have a secret bondage fetish. I really don't want to know more.
 * Diana hates being called "Princess", but that doesn't seem to stop her from using her royal lineage to her own advantage. Hypocrite.
 * Diana is not the only "Wonder Woman". Her sisters Nubia and Andraste have also each worn the mantle before to fill in for Diana when she was called away from the Justice League on important matters for her mother.
 * Diana's guilty pleasures are food from Taco Whiz and ice cream. She loves Taco Whiz so much, she has made an arrangement with the owner of a Taco Whiz in Gateway City to get free food whenever she shows up in costume to take pictures with the kids. She makes sure to do so at least once a month now.
 * Her identity as a Amazon Princess is public, but her identity as an DEO agent is secret.

Links and References

 * Appearances of Diana of Themyscira
 * Character Gallery: Diana of Themyscira