The origin of Wonder Woman and the psychological reasoning behind why William Morton Marston created her in the way he did illustrated Marston's educational, ethical, and moral values.[226] "William Marston intended her to be a feminist character, showing young boys the illimitable possibilities of a woman who could be considered just as strong as the famed Superman." Gladys L. Knight explains the impact and influences that superheroes have on us in society ranging from the 1870s until the present day.
Upon arriving, Diana and Hermes found themselves under attack by Hades' minions. Though they fought them off, they were surprised to find that time for Zola had passed much more quickly than for them. Her pregnancy was nearly at the end of its term. When they attempted to leave with her, Hades appeared, warning that one of them must stay behind - and if Diana was unprepared to make Hera his wife as promised - she would do. However, upon Eros' pistols, he instead agreed to let them all go in exchange for them. When Diana's back was turned, he fired them at her, and she fell under love's spell to him.[21]
She is playable as "Dawn of Justice Wonder Woman" in the first Injustice Mobile game, based on her appearance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. In her Themyscira armor she is playable as "Amazon Wonder Woman", and in normal armor she is playable as "Mythic Wonder Woman" in Injustice 2 Mobile, both based on her appearances in Wonder Woman (film).
In February 1941, Marston submitted a draft of his first script, explaining the “under-meaning” of Wonder Woman’s Amazonian origins in ancient Greece, where men had kept women in chains, until they broke free and escaped. “The NEW WOMEN thus freed and strengthened by supporting themselves (on Paradise Island) developed enormous physical and mental power.” His comic, he said, was meant to chronicle “a great movement now under way—the growth in the power of women.”
In her false memories, the Amazons traditionally procreated by raping and then murdering sailors who happened too close to their island. Hippolyta was barren, and legend told that Diana was born of her mother's strong desire for a child, a lump of clay brought to life in the form of a girl; the perfect Amazon, as she was born of no man.[9] The truth, though, was that Hippolyta had had an affair with Zeus, and Diana's real parentage was hidden in order to protect the Queen and her daughter from the wrath of Zeus' notoriously jealous wife Hera.[10] Unbeknownst to Diana, her mother also gave birth to her twin, a brother named Jason.[11]
Though Diana was able to admit honestly that she did love Hades, she escaped her bonds anyway, explaining that she could still love him and refuse his proposal. Angrily, Hades sent all of the forces of Hell to kill her, but she and her friends were rescued by Strife. Confronted by her fiancé again, Diana explained that she had not lied. Wonder Woman has the capacity to love everyone - a concept that could never be understood by one incapable of love, such as he. The realization that he was loved unconditionally disgusted Hades so much that he sent them all away. Before leaving, Hephaestus gifted Hades with a mirror, and shot him with Eros' pistols, allowing, at least, for Hades to love himself.[23]
Marston was an outspoken feminist, swinger, and firm believer in the superiority of women.[26] He described bondage and submission as a "respectable and noble practice". Marston wrote in a weakness for Wonder Woman, which was attached to a fictional stipulation that he dubbed "Aphrodite's Law", that made the chaining of her "Bracelets of Submission" together by a man take away her Amazonian super strength.[27][28][29]
This section of the history takes place during the New 52, between the events of Flashpoint and DC Rebirth. It was later revealed that much of Wonder Woman's history from this time was an elaborate illusion created by the Gods of Olympus to keep her away from Paradise Island. All or part of this section may have been part of that illusion and no longer valid in Rebirth.
The Lasso of Truth, or Lasso of Hestia, was forged by Hephaestus from the golden girdle of Gaea.[183] The original form of the Lasso in the Golden Age was called the Magic Lasso of Aphrodite. It compels all beings who come into contact with it to tell the absolute truth and is virtually indestructible;[183] in Identity Crisis, Green Arrow mistakenly describes it as "the only lie detector designed by Zeus." The only times it has been broken were when Wonder Woman herself refused to accept the truth revealed by the lasso, such as when she confronted Rama Khan of Jarhanpur,[207] and by Bizarro in Matt Wagner's non-canonical Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity.[208] During the Golden Age, the original form of the Lasso had the power to force anyone caught to obey any command given them, even overriding the mind control of others; this was effective enough to defeat strong-willed beings like Captain Marvel.[209] Diana wields the Lasso with great precision and accuracy and can use it as a whip or noose.
Wonder Woman's advocacy for women rights and gay rights was taken a step further in September 2016, when comic book writer Greg Rucka announced that she is canonically bisexual, according to her rebooted Rebirth origin.[255][256] Rucka stated, "... nobody at DC Comics has ever said, [Wonder Woman] gotta be straight. Nobody. Ever. They've never blinked at this."[253] Rucka stated that in his opinion, she "has to be" queer and has "obviously" had same-sex relationships on an island surrounded by beautiful women.[257][258] This follows the way Wonder Woman was written in the alternate continuity or non-canon Earth One by Grant Morrison,[259] and fellow Wonder Woman writer Gail Simone staunchly supported Rucka's statement.[260] Surprised at the amount of backlash from her fanbase, Rucka responded to "haters" that consensual sex with women is just as important to Wonder Woman as the Truth is to Superman.[261]
The Gods, led by Athena, create the Amazons in Greece to realize their ideals and bring humans into following them. The leader of the Amazons, Hippolyta feels a yearning for a child). She makes a clay form of a child and prays to the Gods. Hearing this the Gods give the clay form, transforming it into a live child blessed with Gaea's gift, life. The Gods grant her various abilities and she grows up as Diana of Themyscira.
“I have the good Sergeant’s letter in which he expresses his enthusiasm over chains for women—so what?” As a practicing clinical psychologist, he said, he was unimpressed. “Some day I’ll make you a list of all the items about women that different people have been known to get passionate over—women’s hair, boots, belts, silk worn by women, gloves, stockings, garters, panties, bare backs,” he promised. “You can’t have a real woman character in any form of fiction without touching off a great many readers’ erotic fancies. Which is swell, I say.”
By the time that Robert Kanigher took over the character, a change away from traditional comics as a whole was accomplished. He eventually veered completely away from superheroism and essentially only told stories involving the Wonder Family, which consisted of Wonder Woman, her teenage version Wonder Girl, her baby version Wonder Tot and her mother. This eventually proved not very popular and Kanigher was forced to rethink the character and cast her in a more traditional superhero context (he actually explained this decision in comics to the reader with his various creations vying to remain in continuity against his wishes). It was at this time for instance that Wonder Woman saw the return of some characters that had been missing for some time such as the Cheetah or Doctor Psycho. It was also at this time that she became a founding member of the original Justice League of America.
Diana's bulletproof bracelets were formed from the remnants of Athena's legendary shield, the Aegis, to be awarded to her champion. The shield was made from the indestructible hide of the great she-goat, Amalthea, who suckled Zeus as an infant. These forearm guards have thus far proven NIGH-indestructible (the Omega Beams of Grail have proven able to shatter them), and are able to absorb the impact of incoming attacks, allowing Wonder Woman to deflect automatic weapon fire and energy blasts.[203] Diana can slam the bracelets together to create a wave of concussive force capable of making strong beings like Superman's ears bleed.[63] Recently, she gained the ability to channel Zeus's lightning through her bracelets as well. Zeus explained to her that this power had been contained within the bracelets since their creation, because they were once part of the Aegis, and that he had only recently unlocked it for her use.[204] After the 2011 relaunch of the character, it was revealed that Diana was the daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta[136] and that the bracelets are able to keep the powers she had inherited from Zeus in check.[189] In addition, Hephaestus has modified the bracelets to allow Wonder Woman the sorcerous ability to manifest a sword of grayish metal from each bracelet. Each sword, marked with a red star, takes shape from a flash of lightning, and when Wonder Woman is done with them, the swords disappear, supposedly, back into her bracelets. As such, she has produced other weapons from the bracelets in this way such as a bow that fires explosive arrows, spears and energy bolts among others.[205]
After preventing a terrorist attack at a refugee camp in Greece, Wonder Woman returned to a government facility in the United States and was examined by a sickly doctor, Dr. Shannon Crawford. That evening, Diana attended the wedding of Etta Candy's brother, where she discovered a bomb seconds away from detonation hidden underneath one of the tables.[84] She was able to contain the blast, but Etta was injured by a piece of shrapnel. She returned Etta to Dr. Crawford who removed the shrapnel, before touching Wonder Woman with an Amazon-strength sedative she had developed, leaving Diana too weak to fight back. Dr. Crawford told Diana that she had a rare genetic illness, and that she intended to use Diana's Amazon blood to develop a cure, saving her life as well as providing life-saving treatment for others afflicted with the same disease. Diana awoke to discover Crawford had developed Amazonian strength as a result of the blood transfusion. She was able to bind Dr. Crawford in the Lasso of Truth, which rejected the lie and restored Crawford to her previous state. Having lost hope for a cure, Crawford injected herself with the sedative, killing her. Wonder Woman was too late to stop her, but she understood Crawford's decision to end her pain and held her as she died.[85]
Superhuman Stamina: Wonder Woman's advanced musculature is considerably more efficient than that of a human and most of the other Amazons. As a result, her muscles virtually do not produce fatigue toxins during physical activity compared to humans and most other members of her race. Her virtually inexhaustible endurance allows her to exercise her maximum capacity for an indefinite period of time without tiring at all, as she never needs to slow down or catch her breath during her fierce battles with Ares, Doomsday, Steppenwolf and the resurrected Superman, despite being pressured considerably by all of them.
