A list of BETTER weakness for Wonder Woman

[Stanlos]

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?

I like the way Perez and Berger expanded on by BYRNE and Ricks did it. Blunt force trauma is nigh useless while she wears her Silver Bracelets but over articulation at the joint can create a moment of vulnerability. Severe damage internally (like Phantom Stranger's magics or the eldritch corrosive venom of Medusa) makes her slower. Should one of the Patrons granting her gifts "die" the gift is reduced a la Hermes gift after he died at the hands of Circe. She didn't get access to her full speed again until after he was returned to Olympus. The endangerment of innocents in the vicinity of combat can also be leveraged.

There are ways to deal with her. They are just not the usual "Oooooooooooooooooooo x character is so badass s/he/it will punch her out" common take does not apply.

[SiegePerilous02]

Bullets and bracelets is too tied to her iconography (especially since it's made it into the movies) to ever realistically expect it to go away. it's here to stay. But I can see the dissatisfaction with bullets being able to hurt her, so there may be a need to come up with another reason for doing it. Other Amazons are not as powerful as her and do it, so it could just be a habit she continued as part of her heritage (plus it's fun). Or the Amazonium steals kinetic energy from the bullets rendering them inert, and they fall harmlessly to the side without ricocheting and hitting someone else.

But on the other hand, if she does it because they can pierce her...at the end of things, she's not letting them hit her. So she is effectively still bullet proof because nobody can manage to ever land a hit. Hypothetically they could, but who wants to be the writer does it? Rucka did it much better than most, but the JL incident was lame and accomplished nothing but pissing us off. Even if they can pierce her, why did her reflexes suddenly take a nosedive?

[Jcogginsa]

Bullets being her primary weakness is the best solution. All you need to do is give the weakness a magical origin to explain why things like Bombs can't hurt her.

For example, you could have Ares cast a curse to try and get past her durability, but because of the strength of Diana's defenses, he can only cast it on one type of weapon. If it tried to cast it on every kind of weapon, his power would become too diluted. So the curse only effects bullets.

By making her weakness magical or high tech weapons, you aren't actually giving her a weakness, you're just making her too weak to withstand those weapons. It's also just vague and ambiguous. They can be literally anything, so you can't build a solid foundation on those things.

For superheroes, the purpose of a weakness is to give the character's enemies a clearly defined method of fighting the hero that gets around their normal abilities. They are plot devices. In wrestling, when a dominant character has to lose a match, their opponent will cheat to win, so that the dominant character still looks strong. Weaknesses serve that purpose in superhero comics, they allow situations where villains can get the upper hand without the hero looking weak.

[Stanlos]

Bullets being her primary weakness is the best solution. All you need to do is give the weakness a magical origin to explain why things like Bombs can't hurt her.

For example, you could have Ares cast a curse to try and get past her durability, but because of the strength of Diana's defenses, he can only cast it on one type of weapon. If it tried to cast it on every kind of weapon, his power would become too diluted. So the curse only effects bullets.

By making her weakness magical or high tech weapons, you aren't actually giving her a weakness, you're just making her too weak to withstand those weapons. It's also just vague and ambiguous. They can be literally anything, so you can't build a solid foundation on those things.

For superheroes, the purpose of a weakness is to give the character's enemies a clearly defined method of fighting the hero that gets around their normal abilities. They are plot devices. In wrestling, when a dominant character has to lose a match, their opponent will cheat to win, so that the dominant character still looks strong. Weaknesses serve that purpose in superhero comics, they allow situations where villains can get the upper hand without the hero looking weak.

But she already has multiple factors for why bombs don't hurt her. I never understood why it has been such a challenge with her but people like Spider-Man, Marvel's Thor and Ares, and especially Wolverine require none. Even without her Silver Bracelets her body is strong enough to support her powers (and take a look at the VASTNESS of her strength and think about that). But she also has the power to be constantly renewed. On top of that she had Sisterhood with Fire which is ripe for mining. And on top of that she had her Amazon training and healing ability.

Any ONE of those handily addressed bombs.

[Jcogginsa]

But she already has multiple factors for why bombs don't hurt her. I never understood why it has been such a challenge with her but people like Spider-Man, Marvel's Thor and Ares, and especially Wolverine require none. Even without her Silver Bracelets her body is strong enough to support her powers (and take a look at the VASTNESS of her strength and think about that). But she also has the power to be constantly renewed. On top of that she had Sisterhood with Fire which is ripe for mining. And on top of that she had her Amazon training and healing ability.

Any ONE of those handily addressed bombs.

Bombs aren't what need to be addressed. The thing that needs to be addressed is "Why can bullets/piercing weapons hurt her when she can shrug off blows from Superman."

[Psy-lock]

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.

Agreed 100%

[WonderLight789]

Agreed 100%

Then we also need to come to terms with the fact that WW will continue to get treated as a street leveler in current times. Since that bullets weakness hasn't gbeen given any explanation, and everytime they want to get her shot, she is unable to react as if she had no super speed at whatsoever, and is left at the edge of death as if she was just a normal human. Literally nothing but bad writing and embarrasing moments have come out from this. It hasn't given her anything positive, while at the same time, it has taken a lot from her in terms of her credibility as a powerhouse.

[Psy-lock]

Since that bullets weakness hasn't gbeen given any explanation

It should be given an explanation.

and everytime they want to get her shot, she is unable to react as if she had no super speed at whatsoever, and is left at the edge of death as if she was just a normal human

Nothing obliges them to portray it like this. The recent couple of writers has proven that they can make her seem like a street leveler even without showing the weakness to bullets. It all depends on the writing

Literally nothing but bad writing and embarrasing moments have come out from this. It hasn't given her anything positive, while at the same time, it has taken a lot from her in terms of her credibility as a powerhouse.

That's objectively wrong. Bullets and bracelets is one of the most iconic elements of the character. And I can't think of any particularly embarrassing moments related to this in her book.

[Koriand'r]

Then we also need to come to terms with the fact that WW will continue to get treated as a street leveler in current times. Since that bullets weakness hasn't gbeen given any explanation, and everytime they want to get her shot, she is unable to react as if she had no super speed at whatsoever, and is left at the edge of death as if she was just a normal human. Literally nothing but bad writing and embarrasing moments have come out from this. It hasn't given her anything positive, while at the same time, it has taken a lot from her in terms of her credibility as a powerhouse.

It really doesn't, what it does is add drama and gives Diana something to overcome. Did you read the first Devastation story? She was blessed with warped versions of all of Diana's abilities. Even with all that power she pulled out a gun and shot Diana simply out of meanness and because she could. Readers were surprised as much as Wonder Woman was. It cemented Devastation's high level of threat and forced Diana to rise to the occasion and defeat her despite the fact she was injured. It actually made the story memorable and better and showcased Wonder Woman's strength and resiliency.

WW SHOT 2.jpg

[WonderLight789]

It really doesn't, what it does is add drama and gives Diana something to overcome. Did you read the first Devastation story? She was blessed with warped versions of all of Diana's abilities. Even with all that power she pulled out a gun and shot Diana simply out of meanness and because she could. Readers were surprised as much as Wonder Woman was. It cemented Devastation's high level of threat and forced Diana to rise to the occasion and defeat her despite the fact she was injured. It actually made the story memorable and better and showcased Wonder Woman's strength and resiliency.

WW SHOT 2.jpg

Since when is that battle memorable? That story wasn't good. Because it didn't explain how somebody of her power caliber can get hurt by a bullet. And the fact it also showed WW struggle because of a bullet injury also put her healing factor under a bad light. As if it was just barely above human level. Not a good look at all.

[Perseus]

It really doesn't, what it does is add drama and gives Diana something to overcome. Did you read the first Devastation story? She was blessed with warped versions of all of Diana's abilities. Even with all that power she pulled out a gun and shot Diana simply out of meanness and because she could. Readers were surprised as much as Wonder Woman was. It cemented Devastation's high level of threat and forced Diana to rise to the occasion and defeat her despite the fact she was injured. It actually made the story memorable and better and showcased Wonder Woman's strength and resiliency.

WW SHOT 2.jpg

LMAO! I can't believe you look at this and said what you just said about Deva and think "wow drama". Devastation a twisted titan made version of WW mixed with Freddy Kruger.... pulls out a gun and shoots Wonder Woman. Literally could have been done with any weapon frankly. There is no excuse why Deva didn't have some god forged weapon at her disposal, something she got from Slaughter or Cronus on her birth, or heck she could have just beaten WW to near death. Shame Deva.... should have gone for the head.

[Perseus]

Bullets and bracelets is too tied to her iconography (especially since it's made it into the movies) to ever realistically expect it to go away. it's here to stay. But I can see the dissatisfaction with bullets being able to hurt her, so there may be a need to come up with another reason for doing it. Other Amazons are not as powerful as her and do it, so it could just be a habit she continued as part of her heritage (plus it's fun). Or the Amazonium steals kinetic energy from the bullets rendering them inert, and they fall harmlessly to the side without ricocheting and hitting someone else.

But on the other hand, if she does it because they can pierce her...at the end of things, she's not letting them hit her. So she is effectively still bullet proof because nobody can manage to ever land a hit. Hypothetically they could, but who wants to be the writer does it? Rucka did it much better than most, but the JL incident was lame and accomplished nothing but pissing us off. Even if they can pierce her, why did her reflexes suddenly take a nosedive?

But that's one of the major problems with this "weakness". Her other powers become questionable at best. If she's faster then Hermes how did she get hit? If she's tougher then Herakles how could she be hurt? If she's so skilled how did she get hit? Even what Rucka did in his Rebirth story was cringe, I don't think it was handled well at all, it just looked nicer. Diana has blocked bullets while blind, heck she defeated Zoom while blind. The fastest bullet on the planet can not tag her, the speed difference is just to much to wrap your head around.

Bullets and Bracelets is too iconic to go away and I'd never want it to. Maybe the amazons do consider it just a game after the contest, since even regular amazons are quick enough to block bullets. I probably want the bracelets to have the ability to redirect attacks, like ricocheting a bullet back into the gunman's chamber.

[Agent Z]

It really doesn't, what it does is add drama and gives Diana something to overcome. Did you read the first Devastation story? She was blessed with warped versions of all of Diana's abilities. Even with all that power she pulled out a gun and shot Diana simply out of meanness and because she could. Readers were surprised as much as Wonder Woman was. It cemented Devastation's high level of threat and forced Diana to rise to the occasion and defeat her despite the fact she was injured. It actually made the story memorable and better and showcased Wonder Woman's strength and resiliency.

WW SHOT 2.jpg

Diana blinding herself in her fight with Medusa provided better written tension and drama. This is just Devastation being an idiot. Why should anyone take her threat level seriously when she couldn't even defeat an injured Diana?

[Titan Theo]

Since the bullets won't go away...

1. WW is only vulnerable to bullets and sharp objects (and even a punch) when wielded by a regular mortal. It's simply a vulnerability that the Gods did not endow her with on purpose as a check on her powers. Having said that, landing one on her is going to be and should be a very very rare thing and only during special circumstances and only when faced with a massive onslaught of humans, or lucky shot/attack that for some reason manages to surprise her.
2. WW is only vulnerable/gets affected to punches that comes to least half her strength, equal her strength, or greater than her strength
3. WW should be invulnerable to magical transformations (Perez version) unless the power of the spell exceeds the power of ther gods that molded and created her, and only vulnerable to the impact of magical blasts