Who is Wonder Woman's Arch-Nemesis?

[Mel Dyer]

To determine who is her arch-nemesis requires looking over Diana's enemies list. This is the New 52 rogues gallery, so far...

Strife
Cheetah
Doctor Psycho
First Born
Circe (from Men Of War #4)
Cassandra the Mad
Angle Man
Blue Snowman
Queen Clea

[starblast]

IMO it's definitely Circe. It's really the perfect time for her to make her move in the New 52. With Zeus basically a baby, WW now the God of War, Mt. Olympus basically being in disarray, Hippolyta is still clay and Hera can't help her...maybe Circe has the power to help and will strike a deal? She is a witch after all. This would put her in favor in with the amazons and make for great drama as she is out to stop Diana from Hecate's prophecy. Assuming they still go with that angle.

and let's be honest...who would not want to see Circe interact with new 52 Athena, Strife, and Hera. I hope they stick with a costume either similar to what was in the recent Sensation comics or DCU Online. And speaking of that game, for those who don't play video games or have no interest you should at least maybe check out some of Circe's cut scenes, audio clips and story arcs in that game off of youtube. The actress playing her, Michelle Forbes, really brings her to life and it's really interesting to see Circe be involved with some of the comic story arcs the game adapts. She is heavily involved in the Sons of Trigon stuff which I don't believe she had anything to do with in the comics.

[Mel Dyer]

IMO it's definitely Circe. It's really the perfect time for her to make her move in the New 52. With Zeus basically a baby, WW now the God of War, Mt. Olympus basically being in disarray, Hippolyta is still clay and Hera can't help her...maybe Circe has the power to help and will strike a deal? She is a witch after all. This would put her in favor in with the amazons and make for great drama as she is out to stop Diana from Hecate's prophecy. Assuming they still go with that angle.

and let's be honest...who would not want to see Circe interact with new 52 Athena, Strife, and Hera [?]...

Me-eeeEEEEE!!!

The problem I have historically had with Circe is that writers seem compelled to write her as the WW comic's answer to the Joker. I don't think the WW comic needs a Joker, ..and I don't think Circe needs to be that, anyway. Circe is a creepy, undead witch, and I don't understand why she isn't written that way, today.

Has ANY-body read Men Of War #4?!

[neonrideraryeh]

I'm voting for the Cheetah. Cheetah is a dark reflection of Wonder Woman with ideological differences to her. They each took a different path, but WW still wants to "save" her which leads to the kind of drama that a nemesis can cause. Diana believes in humanity, whereas Barbara sees humanity as nothing but cattle and is confused as to why WW as a god would want to help. It's a battle of both immense physical strength and of the mind with intense arguments about the world. Ares (pre-52 at least) and Circe were both contenders (and actually I think this shows that WW's rogues gallery has some good options), but Cheetah takes the cake. She's brutal but still very cunning and has even shown she can take on the whole league if she wants to. A hero's awesomeness can be shown by the power of the villains they defeat; WW fighting the villain who was able to tag the Flash will show how cool WW can be as well.

[Mel Dyer]

I'm voting for the Cheetah. Cheetah is a dark reflection of Wonder Woman with ideological differences to her. They each took a different path, but WW still wants to "save" her which leads to the kind of drama that a nemesis can cause...

That might have been the hook, with Circe, who was possessed by the much more evil soul of Hekate.

[LoneNecromancer]

If you have to debate it, it's pretty indictive that she doesn't have any clear arch-nemesis. You can't really say she has anyone as closely associated with her as Joker or Lex, or hell, even Sinestro.

I suppose we'll know in a few years, when her arch-nemesis in the mainstream pretty much becomes "whoever they pick as her villain in her first movie".

[Pinsir]

> No neck option

[Dr. Poison]

If you have to debate it, it's pretty indictive that she doesn't have any clear arch-nemesis. You can't really say she has anyone as closely associated with her as Joker or Lex, or hell, even Sinestro.

I suppose we'll know in a few years, when her arch-nemesis in the mainstream pretty much becomes "whoever they pick as her villain in her first movie".

I don't think having to debate who a hero's arch-nemesis is makes it clear he or she doesn't have one. The following heroes also have a few different villains that fans think of as their arch-nemesis:


Aquaman
Black Manta
Ocean Master


Batman
Joker
Ras Al Ghul


Flash
Captain Cold
Gorilla Grodd
Reverse Flash


Green Lantern
Black Hand
Sinestro


Hawkman
Byth
Gentleman Ghost
Shadow Thief


Superman
Darkseid
Brainiac
Luthor

[Silvanus]

I decided to vote Fist Born because the question is in the present tense, and the First Born is the archnemesis for Volume IV (at least so far.) Looking at the whole history of the character, I'd say her archenemy has been Mars/Ares. He was her first enemy in Volumes I and II, and he's been a mastermind who directs other, lesser enemies.

[Razor Tiara]

I went with Circe because she can be simultaneously formidable and hilarious depending on the writer and that makes her my favorite. Hopefully when she returns she'll be worldly, contemporary, wise-cracking Circe, as opposed to the standard comic book evil sorceress, or the confused, gibberish speaking (wrongly colored) Circe from Men of War.

Her eyes are red, her hair is purple, nothing else is acceptable as Circe for me.

[Cipher]

No one for Dr. Cyber?

I suppose she's very isolated to a certain time, but for some reason I really get a kick out of her as the de-facto arch-villain of the Emma Peel-inspired days, and I think there's loads of untapped potential in a more modern re-imagining.

Though, to be fair, she's pretty steeped in kitsch, and on any objective level I'd probably have to give this to Ares/Mars (which makes even more sense with Wonder Woman's publishing history throwing her directly into WW II).

[LoneNecromancer]

Batman
Joker
Ras Al Ghul

Green Lantern
Black Hand
Sinestro

Superman
Darkseid
Brainiac
Luthor

I've never seen anyone think these ones are up for debate, like I said most fans seem very settled on Joker, Lex and Sinestro.

Though I do see the point about Flash and Aquaman (even though I personally think their arch-villains are Reverse-Flash and Black Manta since Leonard generally works with the rest of the Rogues and Arthur and Manta just f**king hate each other and want to see the other dead). So I'd probably put WW on their level as whether to having a clear-cut nemesis, or maybe even less clear-cut.

[The_Greatest_Username]

I'd go with Cheetah since she's the most quickly slotted villain for Wonder Woman in most media.

[Mel Dyer]

No one for Dr. Cyber?

I suppose she's very isolated to a certain time, but for some reason I really get a kick out of her as the de-facto arch-villain of the Emma Peel-inspired days, and I think there's loads of untapped potential in a more modern re-imagining.

Though, to be fair, she's pretty steeped in kitsch, and on any objective level I'd probably have to give this to Ares/Mars (which makes even more sense with Wonder Woman's publishing history throwing her directly into WW II).

It's never too late.

For me, Cassandra the Mad recalls Doctor Cyber, more than she does the other supervillains in WW's RG. She's the perfect marriage of myth-inspired elements - AND Wonder Woman's sister - and classic sci-fi elements, which is everything that Diana's arch-nemesis should be. Even if she doesn't go by 'Doctor Cyber' anymore, I would love to see a good writer bring her back and something interesting done with her.

While I would like to see Doctor Cyber given another chance, I voted for the Cheetah, because she's Wonder Woman's most enduring and conceptually unique female villain. I honestly don't find and never have found Ares or Mars even half as interesting.

I went with Circe because she can be simultaneously formidable and hilarious depending on the writer and that makes her my favorite. Hopefully when she returns she'll be worldly, contemporary, wise-cracking Circe, as opposed to the standard comic book evil sorceress, or the confused, gibberish speaking (wrongly colored) Circe from Men of War...nothing else is acceptable as Circe for me.

I would love to see Circe given a truly significant role to play in the Wonderverse. Again, I don't think she needs to be 'Wonder Woman's Joker', ..which is what post-Perez writers tried to make her, ..and don't think the WW comic needs a Joker. I don't even think she needs to be Wonder Woman's enemy, really. She could be equally or more intriguing, than EVER, as Wonder Woman's Q - a sort of sinister cosmic auditor - don't you think?

I just don't think a generic enchantress is the best arch-nemesis for a physical character, like Wonder Woman, ..even if you shoe-horn Circe into the story, by making her Wonder Woman's naughty cousin or a generic, sinister industrialist or something more clichéd ..and awful.

[mathew101281]

To me Cheetah is Wonder Woman's arch enemy. Ares is her big bad (her Darkseid or Ras al Ghul). Circe and Dr. Cyber are both respected members of he rogues gallery. Characters like Cassandra and First Born haven't been around long enough to be ranked just yet.