Aquaman’s success at the box office has made the characters around him also see an increase in popularity. Mera’s presence has become significant enough for her to get her own comic book series now, and she’s even become Aquawoman in that chronology.
Now that Mera’s reached a higher level of power (both inherent and based on influence she possesses), there are comparisons with Wonder Woman, over who’s now the DC’s strongest female superhero. In this list, we’ve considered the strength that the women have displayed, how they would fare if they battled one another, and how their current statuses with the comic book fanbase impacts their strength perception.
11 Mera: All Of Atlantis On Her Side
After becoming the Queen of Atlantis, the throne garnered Mera authority over her kingdom. Although she technically did rule Atlantis as Aquaman’s wife; now, Mera had control directly over the armies.
Wonder Woman can boast of having the Amazons on her side, and though they are fierce and almost unbeatable, there’s no way they can withstand the brunt of the ocean forces against her. With this level of humongous backup, Mera can take Wonder Woman down without even having to face her one-on-one. She could also launch an assault whenever she wants, and there’s nothing Wonder Woman could do about it.
10 Wonder Woman: Her Experience
In a head-on battle, Wonder Woman’s experience far outstrips Mera’s. Being over 5,000-years-old means that Wonder Woman has collected near-perfect knowledge of the arts of war, and Mera’s tactics against her might prove fruitless when Wonder Woman already has so much experience fighting bigger and badder enemies.
Even if they’re not up against each other; if they were to fight other opponents, Wonder Woman would be more likely to defeat her enemies due to her expert strategic skills in battle. She’s more aware of the psychological aspect that goes into fighting someone – be it one-on-one or against armies.
9 Mera: DC Wants More Powerful Woman
Now that DC and Marvel are clamoring for much stronger woman to be represented in media, the companies are pushing for newer superheroes to get the spotlight. While Mera isn’t a new character per se, she’s new in the eyes of the mainstream audience.
And in order to establish her as being particularly strong, DC might have her achieve feats that Wonder Woman can’t do – by having someone newer beat an established hero, the audience understands they’re the real deal. In this way, Mera would be the stronger superhero of these two, at least for a little while.
8 Wonder Woman: She's The Most Popular Female Superhero
If DC were to go for the route mentioned above, it still won’t be enough to supplant from our minds that Wonder Woman is really the strongest, since she’s without a doubt the most popular female superhero. In the landscape before the DCEU, Wonder Woman was the third-most famous character from the universe after Batman and Superman, and this isn’t going to go away.
Mera might be used to a stronger degree, but Wonder Woman’s fame won’t allow fans to feel that Mera's the one who’s more powerful. Comic book fans tend to hand-wave away feats they think have just been put in to elevate a character, and if this is the case with Mera, then Wonder Woman’s strong status isn’t going anywhere.
7 Mera: Underwater Power Enhancement
In an episode of Justice League, Wonder Woman did battle with Aquaman, where the former outclassed him in the fight on land, but would be outmatched completely when Aquaman forced her underwater with him. You have to believe the same would happen if Mera battled Wonder Woman.
When stacking up their powers against each other, it’s clear that Mera’s underwater power enhancement makes her a cut above the rest. If you want to argue that people aren’t underwater all the time, then you need to remember that Atlanteans can trigger tsunamis; here, Mera could bring the seas to her and have her strength amplified.
6 Wonder Woman: Lasso Of Truth
Mera could be granted newer and cooler powers, and while these can do the trick for her, she doesn’t have the unique weapon that is the Lasso of Truth. Wonder Woman has used this lasso to fight Doomsday and Darkseid of all beings! There’s no way Mera can contest these two.
With the lasso, Wonder Woman can also influence people to give away any secret they have and even do her bidding, making it almost a one-hit win. Mera’s powers don’t allow her this level of autonomy over another, and there would need to be a similar weapon introduced for her if she wants to bag this point for the win.
5 Mera: Water Manipulation
Wonder Woman has her share of weaponry to choose from, but inherently she doesn’t have the projectile creation that can shoot attacks at her enemies. With Mera, DC can exploit her water-based attacks, which can be controlled in such a way that she has the ability to make water do her bidding.
Mera can achieve the reverse as well, as she can turn water into steam and create havoc for her enemies by dehydrating them completely. Since becoming Aquawoman and having her own comic series, Mera has tapped into additional powers not shown before, something Wonder Woman can’t boast of.
4 Wonder Woman: She's Won Before
If you’ve been wondering which of these two would come out as the winner in a fight, then you can see for yourself in The Flashpoint Paradox, where Wonder Woman took Mera’s life, and beheaded her for good measure. Of course, this was an alternate reality, so all this didn’t remain fixed in the universe.
However, since we do have a canonical scenario where these two fought, and Wonder Woman came out the victor, then we know that in a one-on-one fight Mera won’t have that much of a shot at killing Wonder Woman. Since winners and losers are at the whim of the writer, you can still argue Mera might win, but in this instance, she lost her life.
3 Mera: Majority Ruler Of The World
We’ve already mentioned that Mera became Aquawoman and took over Atlantis, but this also entails something huge in terms of power: she’s now the majority rule of the world. The Earth is comprised mainly of water, and since Mera commands the seas and oceans, she effectively has dominion everywhere.
With levels of power over the regions of the world, Mera can devise whatever plans she has (should she have any) over her opponents, with the only recourse her enemies having to be to go deep in the landlocked territories. Since Atlanteans have no problems walking on land, this wouldn’t keep Mera afar for too long.
2 Wonder Woman: She Has The Justice League
Yes, Aquaman is also part of the Justice League and so has Mera been in those ranks, but Wonder Woman is a founding member of the league, which pretty much makes her one of the bosses. If you watch shows like Justice League Unlimited, you’ll know the league reaches out all across space and even time – this makes Wonder Woman’s influence near-universal.
Mera can’t boast to have this scale of allies, and Wonder Woman has been shown to gain assistance from her Justice League members whenever she’s called for it. With back-up that includes the likes of Superman, Doctor Fate, and a whole lot of others, Wonder Woman’s extended power reach is extremely high.
1 Mera: She Can Be A Figure For Mental Health Empowerment
Mera’s inherent “weakness” has been considered as her limitations in mental prowess – she’s very susceptible to breakdowns due to the stress caused from the tragedies (such as losing her son) that have happened in her life.
Back in the day, this would be used as something that caused her to be weak, but with advancements in the awareness of mental health struggles, Mera can now become a symbol of strength for those suffering. If you’re someone who deals with anxiety or depression, you can have comfort knowing even superheroes and rulers like Mera have these kinds of problems. It’s an empowering thing, and Mera being her own superhero now makes her a leader in mental health representation – that is strength that just can’t be measured.