WONDER WOMAN
ORIGINS:
As one of the longest continually published comic book characters, Wonder Woman’s history has undergone some changes over the years, though a few elements remain consistent in all of her depictions. She is the princess of the Amazons, a race of women who live free of men on Paradise Island (later dubbed Themyscira). After growing up on this island, Wonder Woman (whom the Amazons named Diana) journeys to man’s world on a mission of diplomacy and peace. Until DC's New 52 relaunch, there were a few other aspects of the origin story that remained consistent. Her mother, Hippolyta, created her out of clay, and the Greek gods bestowed her with life, making her the only Amazon who was not conceived by a man. She grows up among the Amazons who teach her the skills of a warrior as well as the lessons of peace and love. When Steve Trevor, an American pilot, crash lands on Paradise Island, the Amazons have a contest to determine who should receive the honor of taking him back to man's world and acting as an ambassador of all that the Amazons represent. In the golden age this led to an infatuation with Steve Trevor that persisted throughout the golden and silver age versions of the character. After Crisis on Infinite Earths, the character’s origin was slightly retold by George Perez. In this version the Amazons were in fact reborn from the souls of abused and murdered women from ancient days. In 1200 B.C. a debate occurred in Mount Olympus on how mankind should be made to believe in the Gods. Ares, the God of war wanted to descent upon the world with his army and force mankind into following the Gods. This was opposed by the others Gods present including Artemis, who wished in peace and wanted to make a new race that would lead men on the right path. Zeus turns his back on them and they decide to proceed without his blessing. With the aid of Charon the ferryman, the gods reach the Womb of Gaea, were the souls of women who were abused and murdered at the hands of men were preserved by Gaea herself. Artemis sends the souls to Greece were they form into adult women. Aphrodite observes that one soul still remains in the Womb to which Athena replies the time has not yet come for that one.The new race in Greece are approached by the Gods who bestow them with the skill of hunting and the purpose of leading humanity in the right path. They appoint Hippolyte and Antiope as the rulers while Menalippe is the Oracle. The civilization is named the Amazons. Stories of this civilization, named as Themyscira by the poets spread throughout Greece and reaches the ears of Heracles who is driven into attacking the city behind the scenes by Ares, who seeks to sabotage the gods' plan. Heracles approaches the Amazons but is defeated by Hippolyte upon which he fakes friendship and declares the Amazons as allies. When their guard is down he poisons Hippolyte and his army attacks the women in full force taking Hippolyte, Antiope and the other survivors captive. In his cells, Hippolyte is freed by Athena who reminds her of her purpose and asks her to avoid revenge and pursue peaceful means. Hippolyte escapes and frees the rest of the Amazons. She relies Athena's message to the women but blinded by their thirst for revenge, the Amazons slaughter the men ruthlessly. The Gods appear and tell them they have failed in their purpose and banish them to an Island known as Paradise to guard the terrible evil within as punishment. They are also granted Immortaility as long as they do not stray from their new purpose, which would eventually purify their souls. The Amazons build a nation and live there for Millennia. It is during this time that Hippolyte, leader of the Amazons feel an unexplainable yearning. She conveys this to the Oracle who tells her she was the only one pregnant during her death and thus the yearning she feels is the call of her unborn child. As per her advise, Hippolyte goes to the shore at sunrise and makes a clay form of a baby. She then cries out to Artemis. Seeing this the Gods decide it was time for the remaining soul in the womb of Gaea to depart. The soul is sent to the clay form, which then becomes a real child , blessed with Gaea's gift, life. Demeter grants the baby great strength, Aphrodite grants her great beauty and a loving heart, Athena grants her great wisdom, Artemis grants her the eye of the hunter and unity with beasts, Hestia grants her sisterhood with fire and Hermes gives her great speed and the power of flight. Hippolyte names her after a holy warrior Diana and she grows up knowing the love of a thousand mothers. Thus Diana of Themyscira was born. The most recent version of the character’s origin (since the new 52) has not yet been told in totality, but certain things are known. It has been revealed how the Amazons replenish their numbers (they do so by kidnapping sailors and using them for procreation before killing them) as well as the fact of Wonder Woman’s divine lineage. Despite the fact that Zeus is her father it does not necessarily remove other facts about her origin from canon (for instance the blessings of the gods) though it remains to be seen how or if this will be incorporated into the ongoing stories. In the Zero month of the new 52 in which DC was planning to tell the origins of the character from the new 52, the story for Diana focused on the fact that she had been trained by Ares when she was a teenager though she eventually rebelled against him. It is as of yet unclear how this factors into her new origin. When Diana first came to man's world she encountered a group attacking the Pentagon. because of this she befriended Barbara Minerva who was working there on ancient antiquities and Barbara helped her acclimatize to man's world.
POWERS, ABILITIES, AND FEATS:
The Golden Age Wonder Woman had strength that was comparable to the Golden Age Superman. Wonder Woman was capable of bench pressing 15,000 pounds even before she'd earned her bracelets, and later hoisted a 50,000 pound boulder above her head to inspire amazons facing the test. Another example of her great strength was when she was able to tear a steel door off its hinges. In one of her earliest appearances, she is shown running easily at 60 mph, and later jumps from a building and lands on the balls of her feet. She was able to heal faster than a normal human being due to her birthright consumption of water from Paradise Island's Fountain of Eternal Youth. Her strength would be removed in accordance with "Aphrodite's Law" if she allowed her bracelets to be bound or chained by a male. She also had an array of mental and psychic abilities, as corresponding to Dr. Marston's interest in parapsychology and mysticism. Such an array included ESP, astral projection, telepathy (with or without the Mental Radio), mental control over the electricity in her body, the Amazonian ability to turn brain energy into muscle power, etc. Wonder Woman first became immune to electric shocks after having her spirit stripped from her atoms by Dr. Psycho's Electro Atomizer; it was also discovered that she was unable to send a mental radio message without her body. Wonder Woman (vol. 1) #105 revealed that Diana was formed from clay by the Queen of the Amazons and was imbued with the attributes of the Greek and Roman gods by Athena – "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, swifter than Hermes, and stronger than Hercules." Wonder Woman's Amazon training gave her limited telepathy, profound scientific knowledge, and the ability to speak every language known to man and beyond – even caveman and Martian language. Between 1966 and 1967, new powers were added, such as super breath and telepathy. In the Silver and Bronze ages of comics, Wonder Woman was able to further increase her strength. In times of great need, removing her bracelets would temporarily augment her power tenfold, but cause her to go insane in the process. These powers received changes after the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths.
In the Post-Crisis universe, Wonder Woman receives her powers as a blessing from Olympian deities:
Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and fertility, blessed Diana with strength drawn from the Earth spirit Gaea, making her one of the physically strongest heroes in the DC Universe and the strongest female heroine of all in the DC Universe. Her connection to the earth allows her to heal at an accelerated rate so long as she is in contact with the planet. In rare cases where she has been gravely injured, Diana showed the ability to physically merge with the earth, causing whatever injuries or poisons to be expelled from her body; such an act is considered sacred, and can only be used in extreme cases.
Pallas Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, granted Diana great wisdom, intelligence, and military prowess. Athena's gift has enabled Diana to master over a dozen languages (including those of alien origin), multiple complex crafts, sciences and philosophies, as well as leadership, military strategy, and armed and unarmed combat. More recently, Athena bound her own eyesight to Diana's, granting her increased empathy.
Artemis, goddess of the hunt, animals, and the Moon, graced Diana with the Eyes of the Hunter and unity with beasts. The Eyes of the Hunter ability gives Diana a full range of enhanced senses, including telescopic vision and super hearing.
Hestia, goddess of hearth and home, granted Diana sisterhood with fire. This power has been shown to control the "Fires of Truth", which Diana wields through her lasso, making anyone bound by it unable to lie. This ability also grants her resistance to both normal and supernatural fire.
Hermes, the messenger god of speed, granted Diana superhuman speed and the ability to fly. She is capable of flying at speeds approaching half the speed of light. She can react quickly enough to deflect bullets, lasers, and other projectiles with her virtually impenetrable bracelets. After the 2011 relaunch of the character, Wonder Woman does not naturally possess the power of flight. She gains it once she is hit by a feather thrown by Hermes.
Aphrodite, goddess of love, bestowed Diana with stunning beauty, as well as a kind heart.
While not invulnerable, she is highly resistant to great amounts of concussive force and extreme temperatures. Edged weapons or projectiles applied with sufficient force, though, are able to pierce her skin. Due to her divine origins, Diana can resist many forms of magical manipulation. She is able to astrally project herself into various lands of myth. Her physical body reacts to whatever happens to her on the mythical astral plane, leaving her body cut, bruised, or sometimes strengthened once her mind and body are reunited. She can apparently leave the planet through meditation, and did this once to rescue Artemis while she was in hell. After the 2011 relaunch, Diana has gained new powers. As the natural born daughter of Hippolyta and Zeus, she has inherited some of her father's powers, which are suppressed by wearing her bracelets. She uses these powers in battle against Artemis (the Goddess; not the Amazon) and quickly renders her unconscious with ease with a series of carefully positioned counterattacks. While using her godly strength, her costume and accoutrements lit up and her eyes glowed like her father's. After becoming the God of War in the pages of Wonder Woman, Diana inherits his divine abilities. Diana has not exhibited her full powers as War, but is seen in Superman/Wonder Woman #5 to slip easily into telepathic rapport with a soldier, explaining "I am War. I know all soldiers, and they know me."
Diana is depicted as a masterful athlete, acrobat, fighter and strategist, trained and experienced in many ancient and modern forms of armed and unarmed combat, including exclusively Amazonian martial arts. In some versions, her mother trained her, as Wonder Girl, for a future career as Wonder Woman. From the beginning, she is portrayed as highly skilled in using her Amazon bracelets to stop bullets and in wielding her golden lasso. Batman once called her the "best melee fighter in the world". The modern version of the character is known to use lethal force when she deems it necessary. In The New 52 continuity, her superior combat skills are the product of her training with Ares in her childhood. The Golden Age Wonder Woman also had knowledge in psychology, as did her Amazon sisters.
Diana has an arsenal of powerful god-forged weapons at her disposal, but her signature weapons are her indestructible bracelets and the Lasso of Truth.
Her bulletproof bracelets were formed from the remnants of Athena's legendary shield, the Aegis, to be awarded to her champion. The shield was made from the indestructible hide of the great she-goat, Amalthea, who suckled Zeus as an infant. These forearm guards have thus far proven indestructible and able to absorb the impact of incoming attacks, allowing Wonder Woman to deflect automatic weapon fire and energy blasts. Diana can slam the bracelets together to create a wave of concussive force capable of making strong beings like Superman's ears bleed. Recently, she gained the ability to channel Zeus's lightning through her bracelets as well. Zeus explained to her that this power had been contained within the bracelets since their creation, because they were once part of the Aegis, and that he had only recently unlocked it for her use. After the 2011 relaunch of the character, it was revealed that Diana was the daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta and that the bracelets are able to keep the powers she has inherited from Zeus in check. In addition, Hephaestus has modified the bracelets to allow Wonder Woman the sorcerous ability to manifest a sword of grayish metal from each bracelet. Each sword, marked with a red star, takes shape from a flash of lightning, and when Wonder Woman is done with them, the swords disappear, supposedly, back into her bracelets. As such, she has produced other weapons from the bracelets in this way such as a bow that fires explosive arrows, spears and energy bolts among others.
The Lasso of Truth, or Lariat of Hestia, was forged by Hephaestus from the golden girdle of Gaea. It compels all beings who come into contact with it to tell the absolute truth and is virtually indestructible; in Identity Crisis, Green Arrow mistakenly describes it as "the only lie detector designed by Zeus." The only times it has been broken were when Wonder Woman herself refused to accept the truth revealed by the lasso, such as when she confronted Rama Khan of Jarhanpur, and by Bizarro in Matt Wagner's non-canonical Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity. It also at one time had the power to force anyone caught to obey any command given them, even overriding the mind control of others; this was effective enough to defeat strong-willed beings like Captain Marvel. Diana wields the lasso with great precision and accuracy and can use it as a whip or noose.
Diana occasionally uses additional weaponry in formal battle, such as ceremonial golden armour with golden wings, pteruges, chest-plate, and golden helmet in the shape of an eagle's head. She possesses a magical sword forged by Hephaestus that is sharp enough to cut the electrons off an atom. As early as the 1950s, Wonder Woman's Tiara has also been used as a razor-edged throwing weapon, returning to her like a boomerang. The Tiara allows Wonder Woman to be invulnerable from telepathic attacks. It allows for Diana to telepathically contact people such as the Amazons back on Themyscira using the telepathic power of the red star ruby in the center of her Tiara. The Golden, Silver, and Bronze Age portrayals of Wonder Woman showed her using a silent and Invisible plane that could be controlled by mental command via her Tiara and fly at speeds up to 3000 miles her hour. Its appearance has varied over time; originally it had a propeller, while later it was drawn as a jet aircraft resembling a stealth aircraft. During the golden age Wonder Woman possessed a Purple Ray capable of healing even a fatal gunshot wound to the brain. She also possessed a Mental Radio that could let her receive messages from those in need. As a recent temporary inductee into the Star Sapphires, Wonder Woman gained access to the violet power ring of love. This ring allowed her to alter her costume at will, create solid-light energy constructs, and reveal a person's true love to them. She was able to combine the energy with her lasso to enhance its ability.
WEAKNESSES:
First, if a man managed to tie her bracelets together, she would lose all of her superpowers, exactly like Superman and kryptonite. Second, if her bracelets were ever lost or broken, she'd go into an uncontrollable rage. Modern Age Wonder Woman had no specifically called-out weaknesses.
Vs.
MS. MARVEL (CAROL DANVERS)
MS. MARVEL (CAROL DANVERS)
ORIGINS:
In the 1960's, Carol Danvers made her comic book debut as a beautiful and highly capable young woman who had managed to overcome gender-typing and excel in challenging military occupations normally dominated by men. She was already an ace fighter pilot, a former officer in the U.S. Air Force, and a former CIA agent when she was hired as the head of security of NASA headquarters at Cape Canaveral. One of Carol's co-workers at NASA was a Dr. Phillip Lawson, who was secretly the alien Kree super-agent named Mar-Vell. When a dormant Kree Sentry robot that NASA had been studying activated and went berserk, Mar-Vell defeated the rampaging robot and saved Carol's life in the process, with the press dubbing the mysterious new superhero " Captain Marvel." Carol became drawn to Mar-Vell and a romance developed between the two. A Kree enemy of Mar-Vell's named Yon-Rogg soon learned of the relationship and kidnapped Carol as bait to lure Mar-Vell into a trap. When Mar-Vell came to the rescue, Yon-Rogg deployed forbidden Kree technology called the Psyche-Magnitron in an attempt to destroy his enemy. During the battle the Psyche-Magnitron, which had the power to turn thoughts into reality, exploded and Captain Marvel shielded Carol from its radiation with his own body, causing Carol to absorb much of his own genetic template. Carol's wish to stand with Mar-Vell as an equal rather than a helpless victim completed the process, and her DNA became a perfect synthesis of Kree and human genes. After Carol recovered from the explosion, she had gained superhuman powers much like those of Captain Marvel and her alter-ego even wore a costume patterned after that of the Kree hero. She became known as Ms. Marvel, and soon established herself as a powerful superhero in her own right.
POWERS, ABILITIES, AND FEATS:
When she originally became Ms. Marvel, Carol's strength level was such that she could lift approximately 50 tons under normal conditions. This made her many times stronger than heroes such as Spider-Man, but not as strong as others such as the Thing. Ms. Marvel was shown easily lifting and hurling cars and tanks, tearing through five-inch steel with her bare hands, and shattering reinforced concrete with her fists. It was this strength level that the mutant Rogue acquired after stealing Carol's original Ms. Marvel powers. Being captured and experimented on by the Brood awakened an almost godlike level of power in Carol due to her unique Kree/human genetic configuration, causing her to become Binary. As Binary, Carol could tap into the energy of a white hole, giving her class-100 strength, meaning she could easily lift well over 100 tons under normal conditions. Her strength level became so great that it was never accurately quantified. After losing her Binary powers and reverting back to Ms. Marvel, Carol's strength dropped much closer to its original level, though it was still greater than before. She could now lift 75 tons under normal conditions, making her approximately fifty percent stronger than she was prior to losing her powers to Rogue. Under extreme circumstances Carol has shown the ability to tap into her cosmic Binary powers once again, allowing her to reach class-100 strength levels for brief periods. She has also shown an ability to achieve class-100 strength if she has absorbed a great deal of external energy. Recent tests by Avengers scientist Hank Pym have shown that Ms. Marvel's base strength level is still increasing. Even when not augmented by any additional energy, Carol can now lift 92 tons and strike with a similar level of force, and Pym has theorized that this is likely not her limit.
Ms. Marvel has the ability to move at supersonic speeds, making her literally too fast for the human eye to follow. She can achieve speeds of at least Mach-3 during atmospheric flight and has shown the ability to hit even greater velocities when the need arises. At her Binary power level, she could achieve faster-than-light speed and journey across the galaxy under her own power.
Ms. Marvel possesses great superhuman agility and reflexes to compliment her superhuman speed. She can perform acrobatic feats far beyond that of the finest human athlete and easily evade bullet-speed projectiles. During the period after Rogue took her powers, but before she regained them, she was stated to have been in peak physical condition - again the result of being a Kree/Human hybrid.
Ms. Marvel can exert herself at maximum effort for up to 24 hours before tiring. During the Skrull Empire's assault on New York, Ms. Marvel single-handedly fought off a massive Skrull invasion force for an entire day without rest, successfully keeping the city out of enemy hands until reinforcements arrived.
As previously mentioned, Ms. Marvel can fly at speeds of at least Mach-3 in the atmosphere. She is a highly agile flier and can turn on a dime in midair, even while traveling at great velocity. Since she is also a talented and highly-trained fighter pilot, Carol's advanced knowledge of flight mechanics and aerial combat allows her to easily outmaneuver most opponents in the air.
Ms. Marvel is impervious to most forms of damage and can absorb a tremendous amount of punishment without injury. She can survive unharmed in the cold vacuum of space. She is bullet-proof and such attacks merely bounce off her skin on contact. More powerful attacks such as rockets, mortar shells, and bombs are only slightly more effectual, due to the fact that she can absorb their explosive energy. She is unfazed by blows delivered from opponents weaker than her and can withstand blows even by those who are stronger, though continuous and repeated hits by opponents of such great strength can eventually wear her down. She is also impervious to most forms of energy attack, and in fact such attacks can make her stronger.
Ms. Marvel has the ability to absorb a wide variety of energy and utilize it to further augment her own super-strength, speed, invulnerability, energy projection, and other powers. This ability was not present before Carol became Binary, and could be an after-effect of having once been Binary (as Binary, Carol could absorb and wield energy equivalent to that of a binary star system). Extremely high-energy attacks may eventually overload Carol's absorbing ability, but she has shown that she can absorb and utilize energy up to the magnitude of a nuclear explosion. Carol has also shown an ability to absorb magical energy (though not without consequence), recently demonstrated when she helped Doctor Strange defeat a formidable magic-wielding villain named Warren Traveler.
Ms. Marvel can generate extremely powerful photon blasts, which are roughly equal in force to Iron Man's full-strength repulsor blasts. If she has absorbed a great amount of energy, Carol can generate even stronger energy blasts. Like her energy absorption power, Carol did not originally possess this ability prior to becoming Binary, though it has now become one of her signature powers.
In the event that Ms. Marvel suffers an attack that is actually powerful enough to overload both her invulnerability and her energy absorption power, she possesses a super-healing factor and is able to quickly regenerate from almost any injury. Her healing rate is accelerated even further if she is able to absorb and utilize external energy to aid in the process. She has fully recovered from nuclear explosions and attacks of similar magnitude in a matter of hours.
One of Ms. Marvel's original powers was a precognitive sense, called her "seventh sense," which allowed her to subconsciously recognize danger before it occurred. It was this sense that triggered her early transformations from Carol Danvers to Ms. Marvel. Her seventh sense also allowed her to subconsciously predict an opponent's attacks before they made them, greatly enhancing her fighting and tactical prowess in battle. After Carol's original powers were stolen by Rogue, her seventh sense was lost, and because it was a subconscious power, Carol was uncertain whether it had returned even after regaining her powers. Eventually, certain incidents left no doubt that her seventh sense had since been restored.
Ms. Marvel possesses a limited degree of molecular control, which she can use to transform regular clothing into her Ms. Marvel costume and vice versa. This power works almost instantaneously, and has the effect of changing her from Carol Danvers to Ms. Marvel in much the same way that Clark Kent can become Superman in the blink of an eye.
WEAKNESSES:
None that I'm aware of.
WHO WILL WIN?