How special should Diana be among the Amazons?

[Outside_85]

It's a mystical barrier created by the gods... It doesn't need to block everyone all the time.

I was under the impression that the barrier only hid the island from sight and that there was something preventing ships and the like from simply sailing into it. Plus that the barrier often being depicted simply as freak weather conditions, rather than a kind of wall.

[Marik Swift]

It really depends on how important you feel The Contest is to the Wonderverse franchise.

If it is important and must be used in Diana's origin, then she cannot have any gods-given unfair advantages over her fellow Amazon competitors, else the whole affair be come a giant farce.

Diana should win the Contest because of her earned skill and will and cunning, not because she can cleanly bench press a loaded Aircraft Carrier while none of the other Amazons can even bench press a loaded SUV. That's beyond unfair, to the point of being criminal on Diana's part.

If The Contest remains and Diana participates in it, then her gods-given abilities should be granted only AFTER she cleanly wins it as a reward.

So, no non-Amazon powers for Diana if the Contest still happens (full powers granted upon winning). IMHO, of course.

The contest is as iconic to her origin as her being born of clay.

[WonderScott]

I kind of like how Perez did it (if I'm remembering correctly) that all of the Amazons were superhuman compared to regular humans (when they finally came to Patriarch's World), but they were all roughly all at the same power level at the time of the contest, despite the blessings Diana received from the goddesses and Hermes. (I seem to recall a Sisyphean event in the contest were they're all anonymous in armor pushing gigantic boulders up a hill - some better than others.) The strongest of the Amazons (at least those that participated in the contest) were superpowered enough to do that, but no where near Kryptonian levels of strength.

IIRC in the Perez run, Diana kept growing into her powers with greater feats of strength and power over time. It's an imperfect way to look at it given some of the reboots, but that's how I always interpreted the contest as being fair-ish considering the other Amazons. (And I like keeping the contest as an aspect of her origin.)

Zeusypoo kinda throws that out the window too, but I liked in Rucka's Year One that the patrons bestow her greater powers after she leaves the island - unfortunately Rucka's Year One didn't include the contest in her origin.

[Awonder]

- unfortunately Rucka's Year One didn't include the contest in her origin.

Um, the contest is part of Year One; Scott did a beautiful two page spread. And poor Io got shot.

[GodofBoredom]

I think Rucka handled it best, in that Diana is a normal Amazon until she gets to man's world and gets Shazam'd.

So while blessed by the gods she is an 8 in strength and speed compared to Superman's 10, she didn't have that unfair advantage when she participated in the contest, and it was purely skill.

[Phoenixx9]

I think Rucka handled it best, in that Diana is a normal Amazon until she gets to man's world and gets Shazam'd.

So while blessed by the gods she is an 8 in strength and speed compared to Superman's 10, she didn't have that unfair advantage when she participated in the contest, and it was purely skill.

Wait...they ranked her strength? And as an 8 after being blessed? What was her strength before the blessing?

[GodofBoredom]

Wait...they ranked her strength? And as an 8 after being blessed? What was her strength before the blessing?

It's an estimate based on how they look in comics.

Wonder Woman, being an 8 out of 10 (Superman), would make her far stronger than all of the other amazons combined, making the contest unfair.

[WonderScott]

Um, the contest is part of Year One; Scott did a beautiful two page spread. And poor Io got shot.

Thanks - I didn't have the issue in front of me to check.

[marhawkman]

It's an estimate based on how they look in comics.

Wonder Woman, being an 8 out of 10 (Superman), would make her far stronger than all of the other amazons combined, making the contest unfair.

Well... it's a contest to see who is the best... in general, not specifically who is the most skilled at hand to hand.

[AmiMizuno]

Diana should have no special training.

[AmiMizuno]

Diana should come up with amazons who are at her level and could have easily won the contest it's jut that she was abut faster.