A list of BETTER weakness for Wonder Woman

[Perseus]

I'm really tired of man made weapons being able to harm a character as powerful as Diana. I feel like we have this argument all the time but it usually boils down to the same talking points i.e. "she has no other weaknesses" or "she's always been weak to bullets" or "she needs it for suspense" or "she's nothing without blocking bullets". Well I'm here to give a list of far better and more appropriate weaknesses for a character of Diana's caliber to have that still gives us suspenseful, dramatic, and shocking moments for our hero to be in. Hopefully I will be able to explain these weaknesses enough to show why they are better fits than mere bullets/swords. If you think Diana could use even more weaknesses, please feel free to add and discuss some of your own ideas. I am excluding character weaknesses like "she's too compassionate" or things like that, I'm talking about actual things that can harm/kill her.

1) MAGIC or other wise UNIQUE piercing weapons: First on the list and the most obvious. Diana fights enemies with swords and spears and any other sharp pointy objects on a day to day basis. The problem is not that she can be cut or stabbed, its WHAT could cut or stab her. An amazon divinely sculpted and given gifts from Gods should not be affected by MORTAL weapons. Regular old bullets, that already move too slow for her, should not hurt her. The reason is simple, she is a god or at least godlike and as such only god forged weapons can really pierce her skin. Regular bullets should be like NERF bullets for her y'know, like soft styrofoam. She can still block them, I don't want her to stop blocking them, but this way we don't have to cringe every time she "misses" and gets shot in the stomach or head. Heck we had a moment in DK: METAL where she was shot in the head by an 8TH metal bullet, 8TH metal is a rare (magical) material that should and did pierce her skin, it wasn't a regular old bullet she didn't get shot by some rando, it took the villain (aka the writer) some forethought and planning to pull this off, that's pretty neat if you ask me. I mean it was the Bat that Laughs, so F him, but still neat.

2) MAGIC poisons/venoms: Why have a villain named DR. POISON in your rouges list and not have special poisons as a consistent weakness. And with Diana's connection to mythology... there are plenty of divine or magical toxins that our esteemed Dr could find. Medusa's snake venom, hydra blood, arch-griffin venom, heck make some stuff up. What's cool about this weakness is how versatile it is, different poisons can affect Diana in different ways much like in real life. One poison can make her light headed, another could slow her healing factor, some could cause her paralysis, most could kill her if not treated properly. You can really get creative with it.

3) RADON: If radon can kill New Gods, it can hurt Old Gods. While I'm afraid this weakness will find its way back to some BS story about Batman fighting Zeus or something it would be consistent with the theme of Diana's weaknesses, that pretty much only godly or un/otherworldly things can truly harm her. Orlando already demonstrated this weakness in his run.

4) Super Advanced ALEIN technology: If Apokolips or any alien race can create weapons that can hurt Martian Manhunter, SHAZAM, etc... they can hurt Diana. It may not put her down, but it will effect her.

5) Blunt force trauma: Like EVERY OTHER super hero, even Superman, Diana can be hurt by punches and kicks. The thing is, like Superman, you need to hit her really really really really hard. But there are a number of villains and heroes that can do this. Just from her rouges list: Devastation, First Born, Ares, Zeus, any God actually, Cheetah, Circe if she magically made herself as powerful as WW which she has done, Herc, Medusa, Barios, etc... that's just the top of my head. I'm sure there are villains she has that can physically harm her that I didn't list.

Anyway those are some weaknesses I find better then mere bullets. Agree? Disagree? Have some of your own ideas?

[Agent Z]

I think this is a reasonable list.

[PCN24454]

I hate "weaknesses" as a concept. It's more contrived than "man-made weapons" hurting Diana.

Why wouldn't "man-made weapons" fall under the same category as Blunt force trauma?

[Koriand'r]

Everybody needs to come to terms with the fact bullets harm Wonder Woman. It's not that big a deal anyway because the times she's been hurt most (Genocide, Neron, Hecate, etc.) bullets had nothing to do with. She's shrugged off gunshots with her healing factor and the bracelets keep her from getting hit in the first place.

Instead of new weaknesses they should explain why man made weapons like bullets are an exploitable hole in her power set. It's magical, like Achilles' heel.

[NaVi]

what you describe are not weaknesses. a weakness is kryptonite, fire (MM) etc.

[Agent Z]

Everybody needs to come to terms with the fact bullets harm Wonder Woman. It's not that big a deal anyway because the times she's been hurt most (Genocide, Neron, Hecate, etc.) bullets had nothing to do with.

All the more reason to remove bullets as a vulnerability. They haven't hurt her the most and by your own admission she can just shrug them off because of her healing factor.

[AmiMizuno]

That depends. Has Dc has had Diana nearly die with a bullet stuck in her throat. The bullets thing is difficult because she can survive a lot of things. She is at times shown lasers don’t harm her. She is weak to magic but not the same way has Clark. She has some immunity to. To be Honest her lasso is easily her weakness it’s always be one from the beginning. No one can escape the lasso.

[Koriand'r]

If you remove bullets as a vulnerability you lose the magical element and the reason for Bullets and Bracelets. It's just that simple. You can try to cloud the fact with justifications that ring hollow to me but it ruins the *mythical* nature of Wonder Woman and dumbs down her powers. I get it's confusing to people and a contradiction that some just can't abide, but there's a lot of charm in it.

[WonderLight789]

If you remove bullets as a vulnerability you lose the magical element and the reason for Bullets and Bracelets. It's just that simple. You can try to cloud the fact with justifications that ring hollow to me but it ruins the *mythical* nature of Wonder Woman and dumbs down her powers. I get it's confusing to people and a contradiction that some just can't abide, but there's a lot of charm in it.

Her bracelets can still be used to block a lot of other attacks, and she can still block bullets to make sure people around don't get hurt by a blind bullet. The weakness is not needed to make WW spcecial or good as a character. It takes nothing away from her, other than the possibility for some lazy writers to use it to move a plot faster at the expense of portraying her as hell weak.

[Koriand'r]

Her bracelets can still be used to block a lot of other attacks, and she can still block bullets to make sure people around don't get hurt by a blind bullet. The weakness is not needed to make WW spcecial or good as a character. It takes nothing away from her, other than the possibility for some lazy writers to use it to move a plot faster at the expense of portraying her as hell weak.

I humbly disagree, it strikes at the core of the character. How many things are we going to change or lose?

[WonderLight789]

I humbly disagree, it strikes at the core of the character. How many things are we going to change or lose?

There are far more important things withing the core of the character. The bullet things is not important compaared to other aspects.

[Perseus]

If you remove bullets as a vulnerability you lose the magical element and the reason for Bullets and Bracelets. It's just that simple. You can try to cloud the fact with justifications that ring hollow to me but it ruins the *mythical* nature of Wonder Woman and dumbs down her powers. I get it's confusing to people and a contradiction that some just can't abide, but there's a lot of charm in it.

Can I ask why the magic lady from the magic island filled with other magic ladies suddenly losses her magicalness when magic things can hurt her?

You stated before that bullets barely affect her to begin with.... so why have it a be a weakness. Bullets hurting her dumbs down her powers. She's too fast for it to tag her and too durable for it to leave a lasting impression. Literally every single time Diana has been "shot" has been cringe bad writing, there is not ONE instance that I can say that hasn't been so, that includes Rucka having her get shot in the heart in his second run. I said I don't want her to stop blocking things with her bracelets.

[Agent Z]

If you remove bullets as a vulnerability you lose the magical element and the reason for Bullets and Bracelets.

Maybe it's not that big a loss.

It's just that simple. You can try to cloud the fact with justifications that ring hollow to me but it ruins the *mythical* nature of Wonder Woman and dumbs down her powers.

Dumbing down her powers is what's happening now.

I humbly disagree, it strikes at the core of the character. How many things are we going to change or lose?

This is not remotely the most important thing to Diana that must not be changed. Sometimes things are changed for the better.

[Koriand'r]

The fact it has to be explained so many times is evidence the bullet weakness is not dumbing down her powers, it's still gravely misunderstood. It complicates them.

I could ask why, when bullets have never killed her, it's so important she be invulnerable to them?

They've been able to hurt her as long as you've been a fan, yet that didn't stop you from becoming one.

We all agree the bracelets are an important part of her iconography, there's no reason to further alter their purpose.

The story Rucka wrote with Team Poison was great, it was loaded with tension that would not have been there had Diana been invulnerable.

[WonderLight789]

The fact it has to be explained so many times is evidence the bullet weakness is not dumbing down her powers, it's still gravely misunderstood. It complicates them.

I could ask why, when bullets have never killed her, it's so important she be invulnerable to them?

They've been able to hurt her as long as you've been a fan, yet that didn't stop you from becoming one.

We all agree the bracelets are an important part of her iconography, there's no reason to further alter their purpose.

The story Rucka wrote with Team Poison was great, it was loaded with tension that would not have been there had Diana been invulnerable.

Yes it is. The fact that it still doesn't have any real explanation does indeed dumb her powers. And is one of the reasons why she is lacking big power battle these days. Because i'm sure a lot of writers watch her getting shot moments in rebirth and think. Then we shouldn't have her here or there in this big battle event, since she is not that durable.

Bullets have almost killed her. jl rebirth says hi.

It's not about being a fan. It's about how it is hurting her and the fans. As we have to deal with crappy writing moments everytime she gets shot.

Their purpose of defense won't go away if she is bullet proof. See Orlando run. Where she stopped a bullet with her bare hand, and still used bracelets for other things.

The tension was achieved by dumbing Diana's powers. She used to be able to block bullets even while being blind. And all of a sudden, A Goddess that should be way faster than bullets got tagged by them like it was nothing.