Wonder Woman’s Strength and Power Through the Ages

[Phoenixx9]

I like Wonder Woman being the strongest female the way people will say Superman is the strongest male.

Of course, there are always characters that come along and closely match them but in general, I like Diana being the top.

"Super-Heroine Number 1!"

[phonogram12]

For one thing I wish she didn't fly, but whatever

For the most part I agree. That said, my issue has always been that if you want to portray a character as one of the most skilled fighters around, you probably shouldn't give them the power of flight. Super strength + flight = characters 9/10 being portrayed as nothing but a flying brick. The only character that ever proved otherwise is Captain Marvel in the MCU. She showed some mean skills against Thanos in Endgame. If we could somehow translate that sort of energy to the comics I'd be convinced otherwise. But seeing as how they're vastly different mediums (regardless of adaptations), I'm still more than a bit skeptical.

[DABellWrites]

Golden age: basically, a more vulnerable character with all the strength Superman.

Silver/bronze age: Where do I begin? She was strong enough to beat Neptune with a giant swordfish, but in other stories, she was outmatched by a robot version of herself. I think that sums up Diana.

Modern age: They're about the same in my opinion. Depends on the writer. Some write her on par with Superman, others write her weaker than him.

Yeah, I compare all characters to Clark. I mean, why not? He's Superman. That means something in terms of strength.

[SiegePerilous02]

For one thing I wish she didn't fly, but whatever

I want her to go a stretch in her history (like her first few years as an active superhero) without flight, but to get heavy use out of the Invisible Plane during that period. Then gain full flight later and keep the plane in reserve.

IDK why they can never have her in-universe history match her publication history in terms of powers. Because then it leads to some very stupid in-universe lampshade hanging, like Gail Simone having Steve say "the damn plane never made sense anyway." It makes perfect sense without the dumb retcons creating the confusion in the first place.

For the most part I agree. That said, my issue has always been that if you want to portray a character as one of the most skilled fighters around, you probably shouldn't give them the power of flight. Super strength + flight = characters 9/10 being portrayed as nothing but a flying brick. The only character that ever proved otherwise is Captain Marvel in the MCU. She showed some mean skills against Thanos in Endgame. If we could somehow translate that sort of energy to the comics I'd be convinced otherwise. But seeing as how they're vastly different mediums (regardless of adaptations), I'm still more than a bit skeptical.

I think if a writer/artist team has issues portraying Diana as the DC universe's most skilled melee fighter in the comic medium, removing the flight power isn't going to help the situation.

The Kryptonians, the Marvel family and MM don't have the same hype as fighters that Diana has, but they aren't unskilled either (I imagine Black Adam should be very skilled as an ancient warrior, and Clark is a brawler who has probably studied some Kryptonian fighting techniques). But they fall into the unimaginative Flying Brick mold pretty easily too in some cases.

[DochaDocha]

The only character that ever proved otherwise is Captain Marvel in the MCU. She showed some mean skills against Thanos in Endgame.

Did she? I thought she was mostly just using her power advantage over Thanos until Thanos pulled out the Power Stone and punched her into the next scene.

[Agent Z]

I don't see how anyone looked at Carol's fight against Thanos and saw her as a skilled fighter yet thinks Wonder Woman has never been depicted as a trained combatant in her 70+ years just because she can fly.

And this isn't me dissing MCU Carol either.

[Perseus]

I guess Diana's skilled fights against Powergirl, Superman, Genocide, Medusa, Barios, and many others mean nothing because she could fly. LOL.

[Alpha]

Who is Barios? Did you mean Briareos?

[BiteTheBullet]

Who is Barios? Did you mean Briareos?

She was skilled, she was strong, she flew and she was blind. Pretty good against Briareos, don't you think?

[Alpha]

She was skilled, she was strong, she flew and she was blind. Pretty good against Briareos, don't you think?

Yes of course! I wasn't questioning that. But I wasn't sure if he misspelled the name or if he was talking about another character. Is there someone named Barios?

[BiteTheBullet]

Yes of course! I wasn't questioning that. But I wasn't sure if he misspelled the name or if he was talking about another character. Is there someone named Barios?

It was probably just a misspelling. I would rather spell out Paradise Island myself in lieu of Themyscria for fear of misspelling the word.

[Perseus]

It was a misspelling, mea culpa.

[Alpha]

No problem. It's a weird name

[bardkeep]

I'm very much on team flying, to the point where I think it's a major turn-off when she doesn't have it.

It's super limiting to get rid of flight in a shared universe where basically every character over a certain level can fly (including her proteges) and I have no jet nostalgia, but it goes beyond that. When the fallback take is angry Xena/female Hercules, removing the powers that distinguish her from that only exacerbates the problem, and flight in particular lightens her power set. The thematic and aesthetic association with birds speaks to the earth mother vibe that's woefully underused. And on a personal level, I love the character because of Perez and Rucka and both of them lean heavily into the "Diana in flight" iconography so I see it as a central part of the character.

In general, though, I like the standard post-Crisis set - strength/speed/endurance/senses, flight, animal communication, immortality, resistance to fire, bracers doubling as a super-shield. Superman-level, but I don't think Superman should be able to see atoms or push planets either. Can take or leave the special bracer powers like the shockwave and lightning but I do like when writers really amp up the lasso, e.g. Gail Simone making it see into people's souls. But mostly...I just wanna see more stories that put her in Eliza Thornberry mode.

[williamtheday]

In the Silver Age, Diana didn't fly by herself, she used air currents.