Results 1 to 10 of 10
  1. #1
    Amazing Member
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    76

    Default Wonder Woman's Combat Speed.

    How do we reconcile it?

    Is it her nervous system, training or can she perceive her world in slow motion?

    How does she block lightspeed attacks? Does she have faster than lightspeed perceptions?

    I was watching this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hz7iyLQdVk and the man is explaining combat speed.

    Idc how many years of combat training you have, if you cannot perceive something, you cannot fight it.

  2. #2

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Tee29 View Post
    How do we reconcile it?

    Is it her nervous system, training or can she perceive her world in slow motion?

    How does she block lightspeed attacks? Does she have faster than lightspeed perceptions?

    I was watching this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hz7iyLQdVk and the man is explaining combat speed.

    Idc how many years of combat training you have, if you cannot perceive something, you cannot fight it.
    Lightspeed combat is nonsense and needs magic (i.e. Speedforce) to be workable. So should be limited to the flashes.

    Otherwise you get into problems with relativity.
    Objects traveling at lightspeed would have infinite mass which obviously is a nonstarter.
    Consider meteors burning up and exploding due to friction when entering the atmosphere. Same would happen with bodies moving at similar speeds, and these do not even approach the speed of light.
    And how would you even see something approaching at lightspeed or faster when it's the emitted light that things visible in the first place?

    Of course, Wonder Woman is powered by magic so she might be able to get around these problems. She does still have the Speed of Hermes right?

    The scientifically powered Superman otoh really has no excuses!

    Anyway, I would prefer her to stay in a more sensible speed range. Something close to the Marvel speedsters, which are capable of speed of sound or thereabouts.
    Last edited by myownlittleusername; 05-10-2019 at 05:10 AM.

  3. #3
    Mighty Member Fuzzy Mittens's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2018
    Posts
    1,531

    Default

    TBH trying to lay down ground rules for comic book powers feels like a doomed endevor to me. The thought is nice, but im unsure how someone could event attempt to enforce it.

  4. #4
    Extraordinary Member kjn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Posts
    4,875

    Default

    Pretty much what Fuzzy Mittens said. However, I do think the basic question on the source of Wonder Woman's speed is valid. There my answer is basically: all of them! She has natural superhuman reaction speed and reflexes, ability to view the world around her in slow motion, AND training.

    We know the "basic" Amazons already are capable of parrying bullets with their bracelets, and as seen in "Mission to Planet Eros" (Sensation Comics #11), Wonder Woman could teach this ability to other women.

    As for lightspeed, who cares about the physics. Superhero comics are even more on the fantasy side of Star Wars.
    «Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])

  5. #5
    Mighty Member Fuzzy Mittens's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2018
    Posts
    1,531

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by kjn View Post
    Pretty much what Fuzzy Mittens said. However, I do think the basic question on the source of Wonder Woman's speed is valid. There my answer is basically: all of them! She has natural superhuman reaction speed and reflexes, ability to view the world around her in slow motion, AND training.

    We know the "basic" Amazons already are capable of parrying bullets with their bracelets, and as seen in "Mission to Planet Eros" (Sensation Comics #11), Wonder Woman could teach this ability to other women.

    As for lightspeed, who cares about the physics. Superhero comics are even more on the fantasy side of Star Wars.
    The source is also a little tricky to determine if nothing else, because of the multiple origin thing.
    You have the golden age source of her powers being mental energy, which translated to 'if you believe in yourself you can do anything' which tied her level cap to what she believed herself to be capable of. Which translated to being faster than the gods themselves
    You have the post crisis era where her speed was tied to a god of moving fast blessing her with speed proportionate to said speedy god.
    And you have new 52s dumb origin where she has poorly defined powers which havn't really been explained

  6. #6
    Extraordinary Member AmiMizuno's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    9,228

    Default

    Golden age Diana did have flash abilities. She is swifter than the god of speed himself. So what should this mean? I think she be able to keep up and maybe at times tap into speed force in different ways?

  7. #7
    Amazing Member
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    76

    Default

    What if the threat is faster than the speed of sound which is only 770mph.

  8. #8
    All-New Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Posts
    23

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Tee29 View Post
    Idc how many years of combat training you have, if you cannot perceive something, you cannot fight it.
    superheroes literally do things that literally defy and go against all laws and rules of our world and logic.

    If Wonder Woman can fight something that she can cannot perceive then IDC. Suspension of disbelief.

  9. #9
    Astonishing Member WonderScott's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
    Posts
    4,554

    Default

    This is the most recent ranking published by DC. It was in one of their free DC Nation (IIRC) magazines they printed for a short while in 2018. There's copy below it that gives context, but I couldn't find an image of it where the copy was legible. Regardless, Diana kinda falls where I'd expect her to. It's great to see Cheetah get more speed cred than she usually does, right behind some of the Flashes, Black Racer, and Supes.

    IMG_0486.jpg

  10. #10
    Extraordinary Member AmiMizuno's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    9,228

    Default

    I often still like the idea of that Diana should be able to keep up with Flash and Superman. With Cheetah I do think she should have a ability to where she can be faster than the flash but it's something in short burst

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •