Power Level complains

[Alpha]

The point of asking why she blocks bullets with her bracelets is about why she would need the bracelets. After all, when you shoot bullets at Superman they don't ricochet off him, so why would they ricochet off Diana? In fact, the bullets usually are shown to ricochet off the bracelets, which is the opposite of what you are describing.

And thank you for reminding me of the Holy Grail scene. I needed that laugh. But the better comparison is Metal Bat from One Punch Man.

Honestly, I understand why you enjoy the Eyes of the Gorgon moment you mentioned, it's a good and effective trope.

But I think this idea of neverending stamina makes Diana quite unique in pop culture and is quite thematic. What I think is so amazing about Diana is that there is something utterly resilient about her mentality. The idea that her friends and family can tremble and shake and she can be empathetic, while she herself never loses a step, makes for quite an energetic and vibrant character to me. There are very few characters with such an infectuous resilience.

[Alpha]

Yeah, I’m clay origin all the way but this is a thing writers played around with, when it was her origin, that I never cared for. Just writers and fans overthinking it.

That's not what I'm proposing.

[Alpha]

I mean to me its like your making something more complicated then it needs to be. Diana is a character that powers through pain yes but, it shouldn't energize her or its just an adrenaline boost. You loose out of moments like Diana while down and tired, blinding herself with snake venom to avoid medusa's stare. If she just keeps getting an energy boost every time she gets hurt then you start loosing some tension in fights.

To be clear, I was overstating the part about her getting more energized, I just meant that she gets more motivated and doesn't lose stamina.

But the idea of her having infinite stamina and the idea her skin being like rock are two separate things that could work together or work without the other.

I totally disagree with the idea that it would take away tension from the fight. If the attacker is able to hurt Diana then the tensions stays focused on her. Diana not getting tired doesn't mean she wouldn't be more and more damaged.

And you could have even more brutal fights where Cheetah actually destroys Diana and she survives by an inch and has to go back to Paradise Island in order to get healed. In fact, I think this should be the rule for how we use Paradise Island. It's where Diana goes after getting really hurt to put herself back together. This way we can keep the idea that it's a Paradise and that Diana is sacrificing her safety every time she leaves the island.

[Alpha]

In fact, imagine that Superman was always running around with metal bracelets and blocking bullets with it.

[Perseus]

The point of asking why she blocks bullets with her bracelets is about why she would need the bracelets. After all, when you shoot bullets at Superman they don't ricochet off him, so why would they ricochet off Diana? In fact, the bullets usually are shown to ricochet off the bracelets, which is the opposite of what you are describing.

And thank you for reminding me of the Holy Grail scene. I needed that laugh. But the better comparison is Metal Bat from One Punch Man.

Honestly, I understand why you enjoy the Eyes of the Gorgon moment you mentioned, it's a good and effective trope.

But I think this idea of neverending stamina makes Diana quite unique in pop culture and is quite thematic. What I think is so amazing about Diana is that there is something utterly resilient about her mentality. The idea that her friends and family can tremble and shake and she can be empathetic, while she herself never loses a step, makes for quite an energetic and vibrant character to me. There are very few characters with such an infectuous resilience.

I mean there are a lot of reasons why she would use the bracelets.... Its part of her culture, she uses them against more powerful attacks or opponents, "if you can't dodge, why take a hit and risk getting hurt when you can just block it?", etc...

I'm not saying she can't block bullets no more but that no man made weapon can really harm her. She's an Amazon Demigoddess she should be above human weaponry and technology. So that we don't get moments like in JL were a bullet hits Diana via ricochets off Superman or writers playing with the idea that "a really fast character" like Mayfly can pull a gun on her and so on.

I can see Diana being able to fight for very long periods of time due to having godlike stamina, like for weeks or months, but not forever. I would say like all things in combat, Diana's endurance mainly comes from her training and skill. Part of fighting IS breathing control and being one of the best means she's very good at it.

[marhawkman]

I mean there are a lot of reasons why she would use the bracelets.... Its part of her culture, she uses them against more powerful attacks or opponents, "if you can't dodge, why take a hit and risk getting hurt when you can just block it?", etc...

I'm not saying she can't block bullets no more but that no man made weapon can really harm her. She's an Amazon Demigoddess she should be above human weaponry and technology. So that we don't get moments like in JL were a bullet hits Diana via ricochets off Superman or writers playing with the idea that "a really fast character" like Mayfly can pull a gun on her and so on.

I can see Diana being able to fight for very long periods of time due to having godlike stamina, like for weeks or months, but not forever. I would say like all things in combat, Diana's endurance mainly comes from her training and skill. Part of fighting IS breathing control and being one of the best means she's very good at it.

I like the idea that the blocking method she uses is because, while ordinary bullets don't hurt, not everyone uses ordinary bullets. Yeah, we don't see that a lot. But it's NOT a new idea.

[John Venus]

In the Golden Age she blocked them for fun. Marston's Amazons had guns and blocking bullets was something they did as a sport and Diana was the best at it. Maybe build on that.

[Mysterious]

In the Golden Age she blocked them for fun. Marston's Amazons had guns and blocking bullets was something they did as a sport and Diana was the best at it. Maybe build on that.

Exactly it should be for fun as part of her culture she was raised in

[Gitagon]

I honestly don't get the bullet weakness for a top tier character. Even weaker mid level and even some street level characters are already bulletproof.

I know people used to joke that Wonder Woman didn't have a weakness like Superman but bullets are a pretty massive weakness compared to something rare like Kryptonite. Even Batman can wear bulletproof suits (like in BvS and other comics) while Wonder Woman's armor isn't even bulletproof. A bullet went clean right through her "armor" so I don't think it's even armor.

[Perseus]

I honestly don't get the bullet weakness for a top tier character. Even weaker mid level and even some street level characters are already bulletproof.

I know people used to joke that Wonder Woman didn't have a weakness like Superman but bullets are a pretty massive weakness compared to something rare like Kryptonite. Even Batman can wear bulletproof suits (like in BvS and other comics) while Wonder Woman's armor isn't even bulletproof. A bullet went clean right through her "armor" so I don't think it's even armor.

I just think its something people have felt its been there for a really long time and that taking it away or changing it means your negatively effecting the character in some way. No matter how many alternatives you provide that do the same thing but on a more believable level or try to to explain that the character isn't going to suddenly stop doing what she's been doing for decades.

[WonderLight789]

I just think its something people have felt its been there for a really long time and that taking it away or changing it means your negatively effecting the character in some way. No matter how many alternatives you provide that do the same thing but on a more believable level or try to to explain that the character isn't going to suddenly stop doing what she's been doing for decades.

Which is ironic, considering all the countless changes that they allowed, changes that did affect the character negatively.

[marhawkman]

I just think its something people have felt its been there for a really long time and that taking it away or changing it means your negatively effecting the character in some way. No matter how many alternatives you provide that do the same thing but on a more believable level or try to to explain that the character isn't going to suddenly stop doing what she's been doing for decades.

To counter this point... I have to question if it's part of the original character concept or a retcon.

True Kryptonite wasn't actually part of the original character concept either, but it's from the original run IIRC.

[AmiMizuno]

Yea she does it for fun and training. That and she never knows for sure what a person could be doing. At times it's shown Superman has be shot but it not with a bullet because it somewhat underestimated his enemy. Diana even if she thinks it's a regular bullet still will always protected herself and others just in case it's not

[Perseus]

To counter this point... I have to question if it's part of the original character concept or a retcon.

True Kryptonite wasn't actually part of the original character concept either, but it's from the original run IIRC.

I think I remember reading somewhere or being told by someone that Marston wanted to show that Diana was capable of doing what Superman could do but in her own unique way. So, she's never been stated to have a weakness to regular old bullets and knives, just that she never gotten hit before so people kind of put it on her. Her golden age weaknesses usually where tied to Marston's ideology i.e. being bound by a man or being compelled to obey the orders of someone that is in the Dom role in BDSM.

This whole thing may have spawned from Marston caring more about his ideology in his stories vs actually having a legit weakness for an amazon blessed by Aphrodite and Athena with a Goku training complex. At least when it comes to weaknesses, I do like some of his villains.

[Robanker]

To join with the power level complaints a brief moment, I have not and will never accept a Diana who is supposed to be in Superman's weight class but also harmed by bullets.

The justification is always some weak D&D bullshit about "blunt vs piercing damage" without understanding anything about physics other than surface area.

The sheer force of a Superman-level punch is stronger across a fist-shaped area than any bullet on Earth over a bullet-sized one. He can level a mountain with his fist. Even our strongest anti-material rifles and railguns cannot do that. Diana takes those punches to the face. She can take a bullet. Seriously. Let's pass high school physics for once.

There's no version of Diana being in that weight class where she can also get shot, and having it be some enchantment where man's weapons can harm her effectively means she's a street level character who can throw a planet. It's dumb and makes her less interesting for people who want street level heroes (because of her power) and those who want god level heroes (because Superman-level characters can't hurt her with a fist, but if they grab a rivet and throw it at her she's done).

Just make her invulnerable to bullets. Come on. This just reeks of that "gliding on aircurrents" shit used to keep her just under Superman because how dare a woman be up there.

I'm fine with him being physically stronger (it's like the one thing he even has anymore, especially over Diana who can trounce him in a fight even before magical artifacts based on skill alone) but she absolutely shouldn't be getting stopped by mundane shit. Come on.