I've always had issues with Wonder Woman, and one of the biggest? A lack of cohesion to her world and villains. I mean, she's been all over the damn place (Who could forget that whole "kung fu detective" thing with her? I've sure as hell tried to). Especially compared to Batman and Superman. I've always felt that, if you are making her the third part of the Trinity, she needs consistency in her rogues and in her general focus. Something to call her own that lets her stand out, not just because of her gender but because of who she is as a character. So, here is my proposal, a general fix and focus for Diana of Themiscyra.
But to do that, it helps to understand how it would contrast with Batman and Superman.
Superman is the Man of Tomorrow, the Future. The majority of his foes are science fiction and space focused, beyond the realms of possibility with science and science so advanced it seems like magic. It is about the fears and possibilities and hopes of tomorrow: That's Superman.
Batman is very much of the Present: Apathy, corruption, and madness. The darkness of men's souls that we can't fully explain. The fears of today. Fears of madness in the form of a killer clown, fear of death and worse things beyond that in the form of Ra's al Ghul, even the fear of fear itself in the form of Scarecrow. And many others: All of his classic foes can be defined in terms of the fear they represent. And Batman fights against this while dealing with his own inner demons. That's Batman.
So let us make Diana of Themiscyra, the Wonder Woman, the Past. Her foes are from, inspired by, or driven by, ancient powers, relics, and entities from a more mystical, feral past. She represents the past ideals of heroes trying to adjust to the present, and with her entry into the Modern World there is an emergence of magic and sorcery from the past. Mythical beings trying to deal with living in the present. Think the tone of Disney's Gargoyles and other urban fantasy settings. That would be Wonder Woman.
She not only has to navigate between her nation and the world, she must also navigate between the magic and mortal worlds, the past and the present, to build a better future. In this way, we can make not only her story but the stories of her foes fit together into this paradigm. And trust me, there are a LOT of crazy foes that can, with a little thought, work properly in this framework.
Cheetah, Circe, The Queen of Fables, and Ares are all good examples of this that would fit into this paradigm, but we can go further. Here are a few ideas of mine, one original villain idea and a few twists on "classics":
-Anansi: He appears to just be a human crime boss, but in fact is the legendary trickster spider himself who wants more humans in his web to gain more power. He enjoys the trappings of the wealthy mortals. He would represent the worst kind of immortal: One who just sees mortals as toys or prey. The spider in his web. Totally self absorbed, the kind of Immortal Diana would hate. Who can present a street level or upper tier threat. As a bridge between the magic and mortal worlds.
I have a mental image of him being accused by one of his rebelling human lackeys of being like "a goddamned spider in his web." Anansi just laughs, turns around, and reveals his spidery form to terrify the lackey, and says:
"A goddamned spider? I am THE GODDAMNED SPIDER!"
He'd be based on Anansi from American Gods, but far less morally ambiguous. Or maybe he is. You just can't tell with him.
-Blue Snowman: Yes, a goddamned snowman. Who is a woman. This chick. Rather than her being the crossdressing poor man's Iron-Man, have her be an amnesiac Skadi, a Norse Jotun who was associate with winter. Have her seek to bring about another end of the gods, like Ragnarok, but in this case she feels that the modern superheroes are the gods that need to be destroyed by another Fimbulwinter. Or perhaps she has been sealed away and now is the last of the Norse deities, and has no direction in life save for violence and battle.
-Egg Fu
This dude... This is... Wow.
Yeah, wow. Just... Wow... But all is not lost! There is a way to take the... Egg of this idea and hatch it into something worthwhile!
... Sorry. The bad yolks just keep coming.
According to the Taoist creation myth, the universe began as an egg. It was hatched by a primeval giant called Pan Gu, or sometimes spelled P'an-Ku. The egg split into two pieces, the Earth and the Sky, and Pan Gu eventually died and his body became the lands of the Earth. The modern day Pan Gu (mistakenly called "Egg Fu" thanks to a botched translation) was once a Chinese archaeologist who was imprisoned by the Communist state. He managed to get his hands on a jade egg from an ancient Chinese tomb, which he broke. He was then possessed by a spirit claiming to be one of Shen Yu, the first Chinese Emperor's, wizards. This wizard granted the man incredible magical abilities, but required that he feed on the spirits of the living to survive. Ultimately, the man took the title of Pan Gu, and seeks to overthrow China, re-establish the imperial system, and become the Emperor with his powers. He would be based on a lot of wushu films, and Big Trouble in Little China, among other sources. Diana could team up with a Hong Kong detective/demon hunter to take him down. Just to keep the egg off their faces.
... Sorry. Not sorry.
-Paperman: This guy, made of actual paper. How embarrassing. So instead, let's take this further. The Paperman is transformed by the Tablet of Thoth, the Egyptian God of Writing and Scribes, into a paper being. But it's not just that he's paper-He is written words. Eventually he would gain the power to access anything written, typed or inscribed. To flow through information-Such as on the Internet. Into secret archives and files. Now he is a major threat, and a magical one at that.
In addition to all of this, Diana would have her foibles. She's still learning new things about the Mortal World/Man's World. But her focus as a leader and diplomat between mortal and magic would open up a lot more story possibilities and her own unique take on things. And she wouldn't just deal with magic, she could deal with mundane crime too. But still having the past perspective, one perhaps more brutal than today's. She lives by the Aristotelian ideal of balance being the true virtue. For instance, if you are too generous you become poor. But if you're too restrained with your money, you are consumed by greed. She seeks balance as she moves through the world, which sometimes requires her to move, and sometimes requires the world to move. Many of her foes could simply be a virtue taken so far it has become vice, to reflect her own struggles with that balance.
In private, she is still a princess, but she is still the tomboy who enjoys a fight or to play with monsters (with her strength and abilities, many monsters are just like overly affectionate dogs). She used to play fetch with Cerberus. She is friends with Athena and Artemis, and has gifts from all of the Greek Gods.
And she often has a host of mythical beings dropping by her embassy home to crash on her couch. Most often other Greek pantheon entities because hey, they are technically family. But because Diana in public has to be the nicest one of the Trinity, she gets the most couchcrashers.
And finally, while she is a warrior, she fights for peace and justice. And if you turn your enemy into your friend, you have still won the battle. So she would try many methods, including her Lasso of Truth, to force the villains to see the truth of themselves. And to start to seek redemption. She would think that defeating someone allows you the means to become their friend, that they just need to listen to you after you've stopped them. And sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. But she keeps trying because she genuinely wants to redeem her enemies.
These are just my musings on Wonder Woman and how to give her an identity beyond "the feminist icon". She can still be that, but also stand on her own as a true heroine with her own identity. What are your thoughts?
But to do that, it helps to understand how it would contrast with Batman and Superman.
Superman is the Man of Tomorrow, the Future. The majority of his foes are science fiction and space focused, beyond the realms of possibility with science and science so advanced it seems like magic. It is about the fears and possibilities and hopes of tomorrow: That's Superman.
Batman is very much of the Present: Apathy, corruption, and madness. The darkness of men's souls that we can't fully explain. The fears of today. Fears of madness in the form of a killer clown, fear of death and worse things beyond that in the form of Ra's al Ghul, even the fear of fear itself in the form of Scarecrow. And many others: All of his classic foes can be defined in terms of the fear they represent. And Batman fights against this while dealing with his own inner demons. That's Batman.
So let us make Diana of Themiscyra, the Wonder Woman, the Past. Her foes are from, inspired by, or driven by, ancient powers, relics, and entities from a more mystical, feral past. She represents the past ideals of heroes trying to adjust to the present, and with her entry into the Modern World there is an emergence of magic and sorcery from the past. Mythical beings trying to deal with living in the present. Think the tone of Disney's Gargoyles and other urban fantasy settings. That would be Wonder Woman.
She not only has to navigate between her nation and the world, she must also navigate between the magic and mortal worlds, the past and the present, to build a better future. In this way, we can make not only her story but the stories of her foes fit together into this paradigm. And trust me, there are a LOT of crazy foes that can, with a little thought, work properly in this framework.
Cheetah, Circe, The Queen of Fables, and Ares are all good examples of this that would fit into this paradigm, but we can go further. Here are a few ideas of mine, one original villain idea and a few twists on "classics":
-Anansi: He appears to just be a human crime boss, but in fact is the legendary trickster spider himself who wants more humans in his web to gain more power. He enjoys the trappings of the wealthy mortals. He would represent the worst kind of immortal: One who just sees mortals as toys or prey. The spider in his web. Totally self absorbed, the kind of Immortal Diana would hate. Who can present a street level or upper tier threat. As a bridge between the magic and mortal worlds.
I have a mental image of him being accused by one of his rebelling human lackeys of being like "a goddamned spider in his web." Anansi just laughs, turns around, and reveals his spidery form to terrify the lackey, and says:
"A goddamned spider? I am THE GODDAMNED SPIDER!"
He'd be based on Anansi from American Gods, but far less morally ambiguous. Or maybe he is. You just can't tell with him.
-Blue Snowman: Yes, a goddamned snowman. Who is a woman. This chick. Rather than her being the crossdressing poor man's Iron-Man, have her be an amnesiac Skadi, a Norse Jotun who was associate with winter. Have her seek to bring about another end of the gods, like Ragnarok, but in this case she feels that the modern superheroes are the gods that need to be destroyed by another Fimbulwinter. Or perhaps she has been sealed away and now is the last of the Norse deities, and has no direction in life save for violence and battle.
-Egg Fu
This dude... This is... Wow.
Egg Fu - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Yeah, wow. Just... Wow... But all is not lost! There is a way to take the... Egg of this idea and hatch it into something worthwhile!
... Sorry. The bad yolks just keep coming.
According to the Taoist creation myth, the universe began as an egg. It was hatched by a primeval giant called Pan Gu, or sometimes spelled P'an-Ku. The egg split into two pieces, the Earth and the Sky, and Pan Gu eventually died and his body became the lands of the Earth. The modern day Pan Gu (mistakenly called "Egg Fu" thanks to a botched translation) was once a Chinese archaeologist who was imprisoned by the Communist state. He managed to get his hands on a jade egg from an ancient Chinese tomb, which he broke. He was then possessed by a spirit claiming to be one of Shen Yu, the first Chinese Emperor's, wizards. This wizard granted the man incredible magical abilities, but required that he feed on the spirits of the living to survive. Ultimately, the man took the title of Pan Gu, and seeks to overthrow China, re-establish the imperial system, and become the Emperor with his powers. He would be based on a lot of wushu films, and Big Trouble in Little China, among other sources. Diana could team up with a Hong Kong detective/demon hunter to take him down. Just to keep the egg off their faces.
... Sorry. Not sorry.
-Paperman: This guy, made of actual paper. How embarrassing. So instead, let's take this further. The Paperman is transformed by the Tablet of Thoth, the Egyptian God of Writing and Scribes, into a paper being. But it's not just that he's paper-He is written words. Eventually he would gain the power to access anything written, typed or inscribed. To flow through information-Such as on the Internet. Into secret archives and files. Now he is a major threat, and a magical one at that.
In addition to all of this, Diana would have her foibles. She's still learning new things about the Mortal World/Man's World. But her focus as a leader and diplomat between mortal and magic would open up a lot more story possibilities and her own unique take on things. And she wouldn't just deal with magic, she could deal with mundane crime too. But still having the past perspective, one perhaps more brutal than today's. She lives by the Aristotelian ideal of balance being the true virtue. For instance, if you are too generous you become poor. But if you're too restrained with your money, you are consumed by greed. She seeks balance as she moves through the world, which sometimes requires her to move, and sometimes requires the world to move. Many of her foes could simply be a virtue taken so far it has become vice, to reflect her own struggles with that balance.
In private, she is still a princess, but she is still the tomboy who enjoys a fight or to play with monsters (with her strength and abilities, many monsters are just like overly affectionate dogs). She used to play fetch with Cerberus. She is friends with Athena and Artemis, and has gifts from all of the Greek Gods.
And she often has a host of mythical beings dropping by her embassy home to crash on her couch. Most often other Greek pantheon entities because hey, they are technically family. But because Diana in public has to be the nicest one of the Trinity, she gets the most couchcrashers.
And finally, while she is a warrior, she fights for peace and justice. And if you turn your enemy into your friend, you have still won the battle. So she would try many methods, including her Lasso of Truth, to force the villains to see the truth of themselves. And to start to seek redemption. She would think that defeating someone allows you the means to become their friend, that they just need to listen to you after you've stopped them. And sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. But she keeps trying because she genuinely wants to redeem her enemies.
These are just my musings on Wonder Woman and how to give her an identity beyond "the feminist icon". She can still be that, but also stand on her own as a true heroine with her own identity. What are your thoughts?
Last edited: