Diana's Powers as a Demi-Goddess in the DCEU

[WonderScott]

Definitely the godwave bracers clash, as seen in Justice League.

I'm less clear on her Zeus-y thunderbolts from Wonder Woman. I mean, why wouldn't she use them on Steppenwolf? That confused me, understanding of course that (unfortunately) they're always going to make her less powerful than Superman. (In my canon they can go toe to toe with one another.)

[richalex]

Definitely the godwave bracers clash, as seen in Justice League.

I'm less clear on her Zeus-y thunderbolts from Wonder Woman. I mean, why wouldn't she use them on Steppenwolf? That confused me, understanding of course that (unfortunately) they're always going to make her less powerful than Superman. (In my canon they can go toe to toe with one another.)

The second time she uses her bracelets, and hits her shield against Steppenwolf, it looked more like thunderbolts, than the blast earlier in the film.

[Phoenixx9]

Definitely the godwave bracers clash, as seen in Justice League.

I'm less clear on her Zeus-y thunderbolts from Wonder Woman. I mean, why wouldn't she use them on Steppenwolf? That confused me, understanding of course that (unfortunately) they're always going to make her less powerful than Superman. (In my canon they can go toe to toe with one another.)

In my canon as well, WonderScott!

[Agent 86]

After discussing in the spoiler Justice League Thread, it got me thinking. What exactly can Diana do as a Goddess (Demi or otherwise)?

What do you all think the purpose of the bracelets are for? Is it like the NU52, where it contains her power? Her Goddwave attack, is it strictly for the defensive, for example knocking back or pushing back her opponents, or can it do more? Does her bracelets have the power of the Aegis, Post Crisis, where once something hits it, she can deflect the blast/punch/whatever back at a magnified rate, and absorb it so it boosts her considerable durability?

Is she the same as the other Amazons except she has the "God Wave" attack? Meaning her Strength, speed, durability is the same as the other Amazons?

Is that all she gains as a Demi-Godess, heir to Olympus and Daughter of the "Greatest Warrior Queen" on earth? If she reaches full godhood, does that mean she will be able to fly and outright control lightening/thunderbolts, or only when she bangs her Bracelets together (I'm confused if it is lightening or a blast of energy that appears when she does this.)

Just curious as to what you see her being able to do?

I don't think the bracelets "do" anything. All of the Amazons (from memory) wear bracelets. However, Diana is a goddess (or demi-goddess) and she's untrained in her godly powers. So, Diana doesn't quite know how to activate her godly powers. But, from experience, she knows that she can "channel" them through her bracelets, so that appears to be her "go to" move for now. Maybe as Diana uses her powers more, she will learn how to use them in other ways. I don't think her bracelets restrain or conceal her godly powers in any way - otherwise why isn't she wearing them ALL the time, especially in civilian situations.

I have no idea about the powers exhibited during her final battle with Ares in her solo film. During that battle, Diana's powers appeared to include: generation of telekinetic / psychic force fields, generation (or possibly just absorption and redirection) of godly lightning bolts and flight. Of those, we haven't seen the force field again (unless it is some kind of "variant" of her "boosh" god wave power which she can only activate in limited circumstances). We've only had a hint of "lightning" powers in the battle with Steppenwolf in the tunnel (and that could perhaps be explained as a magical ability of the shield, as opposed to coming from Diana herself) and they continue to avoid clearly showing that Diana has the power of flight (although, how on Earth did she otherwise get to the island with Doomsday so quickly in DoJ and how did she get to the top of the statue of the Lady of Justice or for that matter, how did she get from Paris to London so quickly (unless she was already in London for the weekend)).

If Diana only has the ability to "leap", then she can apparently cover HUGE distances (and heights) with an incredible amount of skill and precision (i.e. landing exactly where she wants to, even after leaping to that position from kilometres away).

It's possible that Diana's powers were "amplified" in her final battle with Ares because she was "feeding" from Ares' godly energy (i.e. she was absorbing the godly energy of his attacks and then redirecting that energy in the form of force fields, lightning based attacks and flight). I think whether or not Ares influenced Diana's powers in the final battle is a contentious issue and I'm not sure there is a definitive answer either way. However, it is pretty clear that Diana used powers in the final battle which she hasn't used in DoJ or JL.

I don't think her strength, speed or durability is the same as the other Amazons. The Amazons are mighty, but they've never demonstrated the kind of powers that Diana has. And Hippolyta and Antiope both seemed to believe that Diana's abilities far exceeded those of an ordinary Amazon.

Diana obviously has super-strength (e.g. lifting a tank with ease), super-speed (e.g. faster than a speeding bullet) and super-durability (e.g. never getting bruised or bleeding when taking hits from Doomsday, Ares, Steppenwolf or Superman). Whether or not Diana is potentially vulnerable to some attacks (e.g. bladed weapons as opposed to blunt projectiles like bullets) isn't yet clear, but she seems to be able to withstand pretty much anything at this point in time. Maybe Cheetah's claws will be able to cut her skin, but to date, nothing else has (after her full powers emerged that is).

EDIT: I also remember - Diana is apparently immune to poisons / toxins since the poison gas in her solo film had no impact on her whatsoever, yet it caused trouble for Steve even on the edges (and obviously killed every living person in the village). Unless Diana was holding her breath for an extremely long period of time, but I'm pretty sure she was breathing in the village.

Diana also has 800 (or more) years of combat training with some of the most formidable warriors in history. Diana was also the Amazon Princess and "God Killer", so she presumably received training appropriate for someone destined for a leadership role and a future battle with a god (even if she wasn't told what she was training for). So, she should have superior combat skills, fight training, battle strategies, etc. Unfortunately, we haven't seen a lot of that on-screen as yet as Diana usually fights with her sword and shield and sometimes (nowhere near enough) with her lasso.

I don't know if they're working up to exploring story elements similar to those in Thor: Ragnarok (e.g. Diana currently seems to mainly direct / use her powers through her bracelets, but she isn't accessing her full powers and is only using them in limited ways like Thor was relying upon his hammer). It would be a shame, due to the similarities between the characters and even their powers with this version of Diana (i.e. lightning powers), but maybe that is the long term plan.

Unfortunately, at the end of the day, Diana's powers will be what the script requires them to be. I don't think we're going to get a definitive "list" of abilities in any future film. And I assume that her powers will continue to be portrayed inconsistently. For example, in JL, Diana far outclasses Aquaman. But, if alternate reality / evil Diana fights Aquaman in "Flashpoint", then I presume that they'll be presented as having equivalent powers to add drama to the battle. Similarly, if Diana is the daughter of Zeus, but Shazam has the "power of Zeus", then they should exhibit similar powers. But, I imagine that they will be shown to have different powers and Shazam will presumably have even more due to the powers / gifts from the other letters of his name (e.g. flight due to Mercury).

[DochaDocha]

I don't think her strength, speed or durability is the same as the other Amazons. The Amazons are mighty, but they've never demonstrated the kind of powers that Diana has. And Hippolyta and Antiope both seemed to believe that Diana's abilities far exceeded those of an ordinary Amazon.

Diana obviously has super-strength (e.g. lifting a tank with ease), super-speed (e.g. faster than a speeding bullet) and super-durability (e.g. never getting bruised or bleeding when taking hits from Doomsday, Ares, Steppenwolf or Superman). Whether or not Diana is potentially vulnerable to some attacks (e.g. bladed weapons as opposed to blunt projectiles like bullets) isn't yet clear, but she seems to be able to withstand pretty much anything at this point in time. Maybe Cheetah's claws will be able to cut her skin, but to date, nothing else has (after her full powers emerged that is).

I got the impression that at least early in her own movie, she was as vulnerable as they were. She was bleeding on the beach scene with the Germans, and I figured Antiope took a bullet for her because she could die. Maybe now that she's aware of her godliness, she's less vulnerable?

A lot of writers fell into that trap that bullets and knives will hurt her, but getting punched by a Superman-class character is only a minor inconvenience because their knuckles aren't sharp.

[Agent 86]

I got the impression that at least early in her own movie, she was as vulnerable as they were. She was bleeding on the beach scene with the Germans, and I figured Antiope took a bullet for her because she could die. Maybe now that she's aware of her godliness, she's less vulnerable?

I'm pretty sure they deliberately showed Diana's powers ... unlocking / expanding as the movie progresses and as she uses them. At least, that's how I interpreted it. Each time Diana tested herself, she discovered new abilities starting with her "boosh" god wave, deep sea diving, leap to the weapons / armoury tower, battle across no man's land, immunity to the poison gas, etc.

I agree that the whole "no damage when punched by Doomsday, Steppenwolf or Superman", but hurt by a bullet doesn't make a lot of sense. But, at this stage, I'm not sure Diana would be hurt by a bullet. It's one of those (many) inconsistencies.