Wonder Woman is one of DC Comics' oldest and most celebrated characters. Diana was the first female superhero to star in a comic solo, though, fun fact, Hawkgirl and Catwoman (the latter originally an antagonist) beat Wonder Woman to the page by about a year or two. Regardless, Diana is among the most recognizable and beloved superheroes in the world and has existed as a feminist icon for almost 80 years.
She also has a confusing and often-shifting backstory. DC's propensity for reboots and the many multimedia appearances of Wonder Woman has muddled her story for the wider audience. Hopefully, that confusion can be cleared up here with an explanation of the ten most confusing things about Wonder Woman.
10 So What Is The Lasso Of Truth?
The Lasso of Truth, also known as the Perfect or the Golden Perfect, is the primary weapon of Wonder Woman. It was forged by Hephaestus using the Golden Girdle of Gaea and was a prized heirloom on the island home of the Amazons, Themyscira aka Paradise Island. The Perfect is indestructible, can change in length for the wielder, and can force its victim to succumb to the truth. That last part initially meant that they just had to answer any question honestly, but that has since been broadened to mean that anyone ensnared by the Perfect must face their falsehood and return to their true selves. If multiple people are tied up by the Lasso, they can also enter a sort of shared mind reality.
9 And The Invisible Jet?
Wonder Woman's Invisible Plane is an especially quirky part of her mythos. In its original incarnation, there actually was no explanation as to where it came from. In its subsequent appearances, it's been Pegasus transformed by Athena, a Lanisarian Morphing Disk made into an Invisible Plane (there is shockingly little about this on the internet), and an experimental U.S. Air Force plane made invisible through Amazon technology. In short, it's an invisible plane with weapons and is almost as old as Wonder Woman herself.
8 Can She Actually Fly?
Yes, though this hasn't always been the case. Originally she couldn't fly and used her Invisible Plane as her sole means of aerial transportation. In the Silver Age, she could glide on air currents, and, after Crisis on Infinite Earths, it was rebooted that she could always fly thanks to a blessing from the god Hermes. Since then, flight has been a constant for Wonder Woman, even though she hasn't shown the ability in the DCEU films yet and never could in the classic Lynda Carter television series.
7 She's Made Of Clay?
Yes and no. Though in the original incarnation of the character and the post-Crisis continuity Diana was sculpted from clay by Hippolyta who prayed to the gods to bring her to life, that's not the case anymore.
In the post-Flashpoint New 52/Rebirth continuity, Wonder Woman was born to Hippolyta in a more human manner. Much was made over the identity of the father, but that topic will be returned to later in this list. There also has been an instance in which Anti-Monitor killed Wonder Woman by reverting her to clay.
6 How Old Is Diana?
Like many things in DC, this fluctuates as well. In the Silver Age and post-Crisis continuity, Diana was crafted by Hippolyta sometime during the mid-to-late 20th Century. Other versions of the continuity, like the current New 52/Rebirth canon, put Diana at about 2,000 years old, having been crafted in the late B.C.'s. Director Patty Jenkins cleared up the age debate for the movies by stating that Diana is about 800 years old when Steve Trevor lands on Themyscira, making her about 900 by the time Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League take place.
5 And When Did She Become Wonder Woman?
Again, this fluctuates. In the Wonder Woman film, she comes to the outside world to fight in World War I. DC Comics continuity have her coming to the outside world shortly before the continuity starts--so Golden Age has her fighting in World War II, Silver Age/post-Crisis have her becoming Wonder Woman in the mid-to-late 20th Century, and New 52/Rebirth has her becoming Wonder Woman sometime in the mid-2000's decade. It's also worth mentioning that New Frontier had Wonder Woman intervening in the Korean War, and Wonder Woman #750 showed the current incarnation of Wonder Woman actually first appearing to help the Justice Society in the 1940's.
4 Have She And Superman/Batman Ever...?
Actually yes and with both, but timelines get weird again. Starting with Batman, we know that she's gotten a little flirty with Bruce in the DCEU, and Paul Dini and Bruce Timm frequently hinted at a relationship between Bruce and Diana in the early-2000's Justice League cartoon. In the comics, they shared a kiss during Joe Kelly's Justice League series, and Tom King had Batman and Wonder Woman being tempted during a lengthy stint in an alternate dimension in his Batman comic.
Her relationships with Superman have been a bit more lengthy and substantive. Mark Waid and Alex Ross' legendary Kingdom Come story has Clark and Diana actually marrying and having a child. In the New 52 continuity, Wonder Woman and Superman enter a public relationship that left Batman and the U.S. government very worried about the potential consequences. This even led to a Superman/Wonder Woman ongoing series but was cut short when New 52 Superman died and was replaced by Rebirth Superman, who is also actually the post-Crisis, pre-Flashpoint Superman, and yeah this stuff gets super convoluted.
3 Wait, Other People Have Been Wonder Woman?
Also yes, and also it's a tad complicated. Hippolyta is the most prominent "other Wonder Woman." She has been retconned to be the Wonder Woman that fought with the Justice Society in World War II in the past, and she also replaced Diana after she was killed by Neron. Artemis is another Wonder Woman successor who tried to take over after Diana's death at the hands of Neron, but she was killed as well. Nubia, another Amazon and Diana's "twin," also held the mantle of Wonder Woman at one point. Former Wonder Girl Donna Troy became Wonder Woman during "One Year Later" when Diana stepped down, and current Wonder Girl Cassie Sandsmark very briefly held the title of Wonder Woman and is rumored to be the next Wonder Woman when 5G kicks off.
2 Was She Originally A Fetish Character?
Sorta, but not really. Tim Haney firmly takes the affirmative stance with his book, Wonder Woman Unbound: The Curious History of the World's Most Famous Heroine, arguing Diana is inseparable from the bondage fetishism. Wonder Woman co-creator William Moulton Marston is known to have been in a polyamorous relationship with two women in which he often played out bondage fantasies where he was tied up by his lovers. It's easy to use the Lasso of Truth as exhibit A, and Dr. Marston and the Wonder Women certainly supports the idea. However, authorial intent isn't everything. Wonder Woman, like many Golden Age heroes, was a patriotic symbol and used for pro-World War II propaganda. Even if Marston tried to bake the fetishism into his hero, it didn't stick with the subsequent creators.
1 Who Are Her Parents?
Diana has had many parents over the years, but Hippolyta has always been the constant. She has been Diana's sculptor and her birth mother, and, as previously stated, she's even stepped into the role of Wonder Woman on more than one occasion. That said, Diana has had other parents. Originally, the broad pantheon of Olympus were the ones to give life to Hippolyta's sculpted creation. In the post-Crisis canon, Hippolyta sculpted Diana, and the gods Demeter, Athena, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hestia, and Hermes gave Diana life. In the modern New 52/Rebirth continuity, Hippolyta had Diana with Zeus himself, and this causes a great bit of strife. In Dini and Timm's Justice League cartoon, it is revealed that Hades sculpted Diana alongside his lover, Hippolyta.