Let's Say Only 7 Rogues ...

[CRaymond]

Doctor Cyber, Doctor Psycho, Blue Snowman, Osira, Queen Clea / most of Diana’s rogues should be shared threats. Hell, at least three of the rogues below should be shared. Still, the list below hits Diana in 7 different intimate ways that help tell the Wonder Woman story.

Poison - generational grudge villain
Cheetah - archenemy
Circe - original sin
Ares - conceptual challenge
Silver Swan - problem protege
Giganta - hometown bad
Gundra - bizarro Diana

[marhawkman]

Because he sucks lmao. But I haven’t seen anyone pick Devastation or Genocide either. Big hulking brutes whose only attribute is “hits harder” is lame. Doomsday is also a pretty shallow and boring character for that reason.

Edit: Looks like someone did pick Devestation, so I’ll take the L on this one.

Deva's defining characteristic ISN'T being a hulking brute though. It's being a super-strong villain who likes sucker punching people.

[kjn]

So ... is that a flat, resounding "no" on Zeus over Ares as Diana's go-to overlord rogue?

I like Zeus as Diana's adversary, but he wouldn't really be the Darkseid type. More the boss who gives Doctor Psycho a pass. Much less suitable for punching, that.

[marhawkman]

I like Zeus as Diana's adversary, but he wouldn't really be the Darkseid type. More the boss who gives Doctor Psycho a pass. Much less suitable for punching, that.

I think that when some people say "Darkseid type" they mean: "uber-villain who leads a villain organization and has minions more powerful than WW herself".

IE: WW wouldn't fight him directly, but people like Nyx, Eris, or Phobos instead.

[CRaymond]

IE: WW wouldn't fight him directly, but people like Nyx, Eris, or Phobos instead.

Exactly. Honestly the worst thing about Darkseid is how much he gets in fights. He should be ordering Apokaliptans into battle.

[SteveGus]

Cheetah
Silver Swan
Dr. Poison
Giganta
Paula von Gunther
Dr. Psycho
Dr. Cyber, with whom I would merge Cyborgirl

[Mistah K88]

I'm trying to stay away from Public Domain baddies...

Cheetah: either the Barbara Minerva version or the Priscilla Rich version. I'm a bit more inclined toward the latter, as she is actually insane...and I can't see Diana just beat her up and throw her in whatever her equivalent of Arkham is as it wouldn't help, so there is quite a moral dilemma there with harming the mentally ill. Plus someone as unstable as Priscilla could be quite dangerous if given the right tools.. That said I do think the friend gone bad Minerva version has quite a few perks as well, kind of how Diana could see the good in everyone.

Giganta: Her worldview of brute force to simply take what you want and force things to happen by being a bully definitely could have Diana think that with her powers, she could simply bully the world into peace

Dr Poison: I really liked that the movie version seemed more into her work than anything, so you couldn't really call her EVIL, but she was QUITE indifferent to who her experiments affect and how, she gets the most joy of having success in her work

Dr. Cyber: While technology could be used for good, it can also be used for evil, someone like her could be quite the powerhouse in today's world...plus she definitely gives us that magic vs technology theme.

Duke of Deception: I definitely see this guy working behind the shadows and trying to bring the worst out of everyone via means of manipulation "people are naturally evil" is a great antithesis of Diana's "people are naturally good" world view.

Dr Psycho: Some of the most charismatic people in the world can be quite despicable. The most dangerous people in the world aren't selfish, they are self righteous.

Baroness von Gunther: A villain after world domination...She could easily be modernized akin to Dr Doom...That said, the big thing was that she reformed so i don't know how that ould work long term...

[Koriand'r]

Deva's defining characteristic ISN'T being a hulking brute though. It's being a super-strong villain who likes sucker punching people.

I'd gladly swap out Maxwell Lord for Devastation on my list. His powers don't differ that much from Dr. Psycho's but I feel there's unfinished business with him that needs to be addressed. If I had my way Lord would be an alternate form of Psycho's designed to make him tall, handsome and rich. Then he could be used more frequently without the "evil little person" trope that some find distasteful.

But Devastation is Eric Luke's greatest contribution to the Wonder Woman mythos and she should be utilized and not forgotten. She was just as good as Grail and three times as good as Genocide.

[Mel Dyer]

Veronica Cale
The Cheetah
Doctor Cyber
Poison Alpha
Circe (Rucka's)
First Born
The Adjudicator

[marhawkman]

I'd gladly swap out Maxwell Lord for Devastation on my list. His powers don't differ that much from Dr. Psycho's but I feel there's unfinished business with him that needs to be addressed. If I had my way Lord would be an alternate form of Psycho's designed to make him tall, handsome and rich. Then he could be used more frequently without the "evil little person" trope that some find distasteful.

But Devastation is Eric Luke's greatest contribution to the Wonder Woman mythos and she should be utilized and not forgotten. She was just as good as Grail and three times as good as Genocide.

I left Max Lord off my list because I agree with the people who say he made a more interesting hero than villain.

Thinking again... It be REALLY interesting to see WW have to work with Lord with that backstory hanging over their heads.

[Mel Dyer]

I'd gladly swap out Maxwell Lord for Devastation on my list. His powers don't differ that much from Dr. Psycho's but I feel there's unfinished business with him that needs to be addressed. If I had my way Lord would be an alternate form of Psycho's designed to make him tall, handsome and rich. Then he could be used more frequently without the "evil little person" trope that some find distasteful.

But Devastation is Eric Luke's greatest contribution to the Wonder Woman mythos and she should be utilized and not forgotten. She was just as good as Grail and three times as good as Genocide.

There's something so organic about Grail and Devastation that, with any WW scribe, who's even half-awake, ..they almost write themselves. They are the thematic opposites to an iconic, very symbolic superheroine, and so much that it's almost inconceivable they or similar antagonists weren't invented, much, much earlier in the series, ..like the Fifties or even the Seventies.

In Grail's defense, we haven't seen what a true 'goddess of Anti-life' unleashed against an Amazon, for whom freedom is almost a religion, can really do, because the Anti-life concept has never been well defined, in the pages of any comic, in my opinion. Conceivably, there should be something about Anti-life, a cosmic lobotomy, ending universal free will, that should inflame Diana, at her most fundamental levels, as an Amazon ..and as Wonder Woman. I think there's something equally organic and elemental about the possible enmity between these two, and, considering how long he was on the series, ..it's a shame Robinson couldn't make that happen.

Grail and Devastation, and even Cale, on a smaller scale, should be the supervillains, who keep Diana waking in old sweats, ..even more than Cheetah, whose global ambitions seem non-existent. These are embryonic tyrants, with ambitions, beyond the geo-political villainy of Wonder Woman's Golden Age foils. That should make any of the three of them, Diana's natural enemies.

I guess that's why Deva and Grail didn't make my list. I can't imagine a succession of good WW writers not eventually getting around to creating similar, if not better, stand-ins for them.

[marhawkman]

You know, this talk about Deva and Grail reminds me of how much the two would logically hate each other. It's pretty simple. Grail is a New God and hates the old gods. Deva is a child of Cronus, the forefather of Zeus.

Old gods vs New, almost writes itself.

[WonderScott]

Let's say if I was only going to focus on seven rogues "for the next year."

1. Doctor Cyber
2. The Mask
3. Gentlemen Killer
4. Kung
5. Tigra Tropica
6. Inversion
7. Hypnota

[Shadowcat]

Circe
Cheetah
Medusa
Doctor Psycho
Silver Swan
Ares/Mars
Hades/Pluto

[Mel Dyer]

Let's say if I was only going to focus on seven rogues "for the next year."

1. Doctor Cyber
2. The Mask
3. Gentlemen Killer
4. Kung
5. Tigra Tropica
6. Inversion
7. Hypnota

I guess I've just given up on potentially GREAT villains, like Inversion, Kung and Bushmaster, getting a chance at shining in this comic. Maybe, if the list was top 10...