There have been numerous iterations of Wonder Woman over the years. With each version comes a new host of powers, abilities, strengths, and even weaknesses. It's important, actually, as every great character needs to have flaws and foibles in order to balance out their ultimate badassery.
Whether it's the golden age girl-next-door playing tie-up games on the Isle of Amazons or the bulletproof God of War depicted in the New 52 (where hollow points literally bounce off of her eyeballs), each new iteration of the warrior princess comes with its own intricacies and nuances. What are some of Diana’s greatest weaknesses that may be lesser known to pop culture? Let’s find out.
10 The Lasso of Truth
Kicking off the list at number 10 is Wonder Woman's own portable lie detector test also known as the Lasso of Truth. For the uninitiated, the Lasso of Truth is a magical cord that, when tied by it, forces people to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
However, what happens when Diana of Themyscira finds herself on the receiving end of the golden rope? Not even the warrior princess and goddess of war herself can stave off the lasso's mysterious magic. In fact, Wonder Woman #219 proves this point after she is bound with the lasso by a gang of male-supremacists.
9 Poison
Like most superheroes, Diana Prince is a humanoid being making her equally susceptible to poisoning, provided it's the right kind of juice in the proper amounts.
As prescribed by Batman in Justice League: Doom, the Dark Knight, who for certain reasons has decided to destroy all of the founding members of the namesake superhero coalition, opts to poison the Wonder Woman, believing this to be the most effective way to take the demigod out once and for all. Cheetah later obtains the same poison and uses it on Diana in battle.
8 Eye Gouging
This entry seems rather obvious but it's no less effective as, say, a speeding bullet from a gun. With the exception of bulletproof Diana in New 52, Wonder Woman's eyes are extremely sensitive, which leads one to wonder why supervillains have not thought to exploit this vulnerability in the past.
While this point remains hypothetical, the truth is if Diana is forced to dodge bullets from a gun, why not dust from the air? In theory, if the Amazonian warrior were to be blinded by, say, mustard gas, her enemies could use her momentary (or permanent) blindness to execute a stronger attack.
7 Gas
Like her male counterpart, the Man of Steel, also known as Superman, Wonder Woman is susceptible to psychotropic hallucinogens. Despite being crowned the next God of War in the New 52 arc, Wonder Woman can still be drugged or gassed just as easily as any normal human, making her a prime target for supervillains like Dr. Jonathan Crane, also known as Scarecrow.
The video game Injustice 2 proves this point when Wonder Woman is gassed by Scarecrow's fear toxin, inducing a hallucination wherein Superman revokes his love for Diana, and then blasts her in the face with his heat vision rays. Wonder Woman, though a villain in this series, eventually overcomes the illusion, confronting Crane for exposing her deepest fears.
6 Guns
This one has always seemed baffling since Diana Prince can literally take a punch from the likes of a monster like Doomsday, but measly bullets break the Amazonian's skin without effort. This means that Wonder Woman is indeed vulnerable to bullets, forcing her to block the lead projectiles with her gauntlets whenever under fire.
There are numerous examples of this weakness in action, going as far back as the Silver Age. One pertinent example occurs in Wonder Woman #21 where Diana is actually shot, and pierced, by a barrage of bullets. As a result, she kindly asks Steve Trevor to return fire on the soldiers attacking them.
5 Edged Melee Weapons
Piggy-backing off of the previous entry, swords, pikes, spears, arrows, daggers, and other stabbing weapons are more than capable of stopping Wonder Woman in her tracks. It's actually one of the chief reasons why Diana has trained so heavily in the art of armed combat, preparing herself for the inevitable skirmishes with strong melee fighters.
A prime example of this occurs in Wonder Woman Odyssey where the amazonian finds herself lambasted by a galaxy of arrows. Despite her best efforts to block the flying projectiles, the bolts pierce her arms and chest, proving that Themyscirans are not impervious after all.
4 Bondage By Men
It's no secret Wonder Woman began as an allegory for William Moutlon Marston's philosophy on power structures within human relationships. Marston believed the best way to convey his theories was through popular culture mediums prevalent in the lives of young people, namely, comic books.
This is why the early adventures of Diana Prince/Wonder Woman are full of references to domination and bondage, such as the Amazons reforming corrupt CEOs through such means. What does this mean for Wonder Woman's early weaknesses? Well, one such weakness concerned being tied up by a man. Whenever this happened, she would instantly fall under a "spell" and submit to whatever her enemy had in mind.
3 Bracelets
Wonder Woman's bracelets do far more than block bullets (and look cool while doing it); they also serve as power inhibitors, containing the true divine energy sleeping inside the Themysciran's essence. While these gauntlets were originally designed to remind Amazons of their former life as slaves, this was changed with the introduction of the New 52 arc.
Today, the bracelets actually block Wonder Woman's true power from bursting forth, making her significantly weaker in battle. As such, her bracelets actually serve as a foil, especially when coming up against ultra-villains like Doomsday or Darkseid.
2 Aging
Wonder Woman is not immortal and will one day perish like any living creature native to Planet Earth. This means that her own biological clock is indeed her greatest weakness, counting down to the day of demise, albeit slower than your average human due to her demigod status.
Unfortunately, no matter how strong Diana becomes, she can't escape Father Time. Time, as they say, catches up to us all, and this saying extends even to the New 52's God of War. The only question is, when will it happen?
1 Naivety
Depending on the version of Wonder Woman in question, one of the Amazonian's biggest weaknesses is her ignorance of the world around her. More famously, this version of the warrior princess was highlighted in the 2016 DCEU film Wonder Woman directed by Patty Jenkins and produced by Warner Bros.
In the film, Diana grows up in seclusion on the island of Themyscira, making her completely ignorant to the world of men outside. Later, when the Amazonian leaves for London with Steve Trevor to confront World War II, Diana finds herself enamored by all of the sights and sounds she never knew. However, this makes her uniquely vulnerable to Ares, the God of War, who manipulates his half-sister from the shadows disguised as an old man.