Wonder Woman has been one of the bedrocks of the DC Universe since she was created in the '40s. From being a key player in most of DC's universe-shaking comic book events to cartoons such as Justice League Unlimited. With animated movies like the recent Wonder Woman: Bloodlines and live-action films like Wonder Woman 1984, the Amazon hero is in the midst of one of her most popular eras in the larger cultural landscape.
While this era has been especially productive for Wonder Woman, the same could be said for her villains. While her rogues gallery isn't as well-known as Batman or Superman's villainous roster, Wonder Woman still has a long list of fierce foes, many of whom have received major power boosts over the past few years. Now, we're counting down, in no particular order, some of the most powerful foes Wonder Woman has ever faced across every medium.
ARES
Ares, the Olympian God of War has caused Wonder Woman trouble since her earliest years. He's manipulated so many events in her life, often leading to battles where she's beheaded or imprisoned him. As an immortal god, he just keeps coming back, with retcons even gifting him a romantic relationship with Hippolyta in the past, and ties to Wonder Woman on a personal level.
Even putting his immortality aside, Ares is simply Diana's equal in battle, with epic durability, super-speed, flight and skin that can only be broken by enchanted relics like the God Killer. In addition, he's just as strong mentally, using his influence on the hearts of men to literally create wars and plunge the world into turmoil to break Wonder Woman's faith in humanity.
CHEETAH
Barbara Minerva's Cheetah has gone through some major power boosts recently, thanks largely to the Doom War Lex Luthor has brought to the DCU. In the Legion of Doom, she's been upgraded with the God Killer sword and the Tear of Extinction, which has allowed her to slay gods like Poseidon and Aphrodite. She even broke Diana's bracelets and armor down to torture her.
This goes way beyond her past where some serum or magical potion or curse turned Barbara from her human form into a feline fatale. Thankfully, Diana locked her up on Themyscira, but with a dark version of the Fates now recruiting her, we can expect more than just super-speed, claws and a lust for blood since they're looking to turn her actual body into a god-slaying weapon.
MAXWELL LORD
While Maxwell Lord might not be as physically imposing, the one-time Justice League ally used his telepathy and telekinesis like never before in 2016's Justice League vs. Suicide Squad crossover. Coupling that with him getting corrupted by the revamped Eclipso, he's became even more dangerous in recent months, and there are sure to be residual effects when DC does eventually put him back into play.
His cerebral nature is what strikes so much fear into Diana, though, as he's just as vile as Lex Luthor with all his schemes. He truly broke Diana when he mind-controlled Superman, which drove her to snap Max's neck and become vilified by the entire world. While he's made the entire world forget that he exists on occasion, the way he took control of Batman's Brother Eye and the OMACs there proved he's not to be underestimated, and that he truly can exploit Diana's weaknesses, and that of her colleagues, with consummate ease.
FIRST BORN
The First Born is a relatively new addition to the pantheon of Wonder Woman villains. However, as the son of Zeus and Hera, hewas prophesied to be the ultimate destroyer. He struck fear into Hades' underworld, as well as Poseidon's undersea realm, en route to trying to take over Mount Olympus and stake a claim as the evil version of Zeus.
He has Olympian physiology, can manipulate energy and magic and is basically as impervious as his dad. Given that he's immortal and has a host of other divine abilities including teleportation, he truly pushed Wonder Woman to her limits and reminded her what could happen if the Olympians all broke bad along the lines of Ares.
CIRCE
Even though she's always been one of DC's more powerful magic-users, Circe has also gotten a power upgrade as of the recent Justice League Dark adventures. In "The Witching Hour," we learned the ancient sorceress was manipulating events to get all the power from Hecate, the source of magic after creation across the entire DCU. She succeeded and is now the mother of all hexes, spells and magic as the whole.
Wonder Woman tried to stop her on her moon base, but Circe easily overpowered Diana and is now possessing her body, hoping to claim Eclipso and his black diamond to complete her transformation. Circe initially had control over a few spells and transformations but now, she's quickly risen up to become Diana's deadliest enemy in hopes of reshaping the world through her dark magic.