✪ i am full of light i am full of wonder

[mythically]

Player Information:
Name: hallie
Age: 21
Contact: ottomans
Game Cast: n/a

Character Information:
Name: diana of themyscira, wonder woman
Canon: dc comics new earth
Canon Point: wonder woman v3 annual - after regaining her powers, before circe's "curse"
Age: ~35. according to ever-inconsistent canon, diana left themyscira at age 21 (sometimes 18, but i'm going to use the former) and has been a part of the greater universe for anywhere from 10 to 15 years, depending. diana probably has a longer lifespan and slower aging than most, but her age is always relative. she is noticeably younger than clark and bruce, usually, so that's the main comparison i use.
Reference: dcu. wonder woman.

Setting:

New Earth is a dark place riddled with many inconsistencies, as established by dozens of authors over the course of seven decades. The universe as I present it here may leave out some of the greater contradictions, but will hopefully cover everything of note as it relates to Diana, and specifically to the versions of her story I will most refer to in playing her. With that, strap yourselves in, because we’re about to board a ship that’s going to crash into a Kansan cornfield.

The DC universe is comparable to our modern age in basic history and technological developments. The differences are largely additions, and those additions come in the form of heroes, villains, and world-altering crises. DC’s comic trinity (Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman), can be used to divide and organize these additions.

Batman represents the human, technological (perhaps most rational, though that’s debatable) approach to the world. Batman functions at peak human capacity but doesn’t go beyond it. His skills can be explained through science. Other heroes, such as the Flash or the Atom, have achieved superpowers through science, and they can be grouped with Batman. Things like evil multinational corporations (hello LexCorp) and villains whose motivations are avarice or insanity can also be put here—basically, there’s a section of this world that is understandable, perhaps even possible, through stretches of the imagination.

Superman heads off the section on aliens, and more importantly, the universe beyond Earth. Superman hails from Krypton, a now-destroyed alien planet. There are literally thousands of sectors of space, home to innumerable alien races who each have their own abilities and cultures. Space is patrolled and guarded by the Green Lantern Corps, who take members from all difference races and grant them the power of will. There are six other Lantern corps, but they aren’t all as righteous as the Green Lanterns. Space is home to great evils, as well—the technological construct Braniac, the Yellow Lantern Sinestro. Earth is but one planet amongst thousands, and the current DC universe is very aware of this fact.

Finally, Wonder Woman represents the magic of the universe. There are many manifestations of magic in the world and many ways to access these various forms of supernatural energy. Various pantheons of gods inhabit the world—the Greek pantheon will becomes the most important to this story—and various versions of Heaven and Hell exist. Heroes like Zatanna and Doctor Fate can harness magical energy for good; villains such as Klarion and Felix Faust access it for chaos. Magic encompasses the worlds that exist parallel to Earth.

So, quick recap—New Earth is inhabited by heroes, villains, and others who can push the bounds of reality in various ways. They come by their abilities either through science, magic, or through the wonders of the final frontier. Their impact on the world shapes politics, civilian lives, the balance of good and evil and the very fate of the universe—or universes, but we’ll get there later.

First, let’s talk about Wonder Woman. Diana comes from a race of women known as the Amazons. They have strict connections with the Greek pantheon of gods, and for hundreds of years they have existed separately from Man’s World (their term for modern day, real world Earth) on the hidden island of Themyscira. The island and the Amazons are (usually) ruled over by Queen Hippolyta. The Amazons are warriors, but that isn’t their primary function. They value arts, culture, knowledge, and most of all, peace. In fact, in most versions of the story, Themyscira is a haven for women who have either been violently killed or severely wronged by Man’s World. The Amazons are also immortal, but some decades ago Queen Hippolyta began to long for a child.

Diana was conceived of magic. Her mother built her form from clay, and in a very Pygmalion move, the gods decided to give the child life. The various gods and goddesses blessed Diana with different abilities, so while she has the standard Amazon arsenal of enhanced endurance and strength, she can also fly and is the Spirit of Truth.

Themyscira’s culture is important to understand in regards to Diana’s character. She was raised on an isolated island, the only child amongst grown women. She was doted on, expected to excel, and experienced both extreme pressure and unconditional love. And then Steve Trevor happened.

When Trevor crashed his plane on Themyscira’s shores, he breached the boundary between the Amazons’ world and Man’s. Diana was chosen as the champion of her people, and when she guided Trevor back to his own world, she came to the decision to become the ambassador for her people to the outside world.

Once in man’s world, Diana became a symbol of hope and an active hero. She is historically one of the world’s first heroes, and in-story certainly one of the most important. As Wonder Woman, she became a founding member of the Justice League—a collective of heroes committed to working together to defend against the world’s largest threats. Along with Superman and Batman, Diana is often seen as a leader of the League—most members defer to her, and her decisions and opinions carry great weight with them. Through her own actions and her association with the League, Diana is one of the most influential figures of the DC universe.

The Justice League is the premier crimefighting group on New Earth. Aside from the trinity, key members include various Green Lanterns, the Flashes, Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Zatanna. The League and its various members have inspired other groups and other heroes. The Titans and Teen Titans, for instance, are made up of various legacy heroes and sidekicks. (Diana has two legacies of her own—her sister/spiritual clone, Donna Troy, and a daughter of Zeus, Cassandra Sandsmark. Both women have operated under the moniker “Wonder Girl.”) There are many heroes who aren’t associated with the League, who function independently or work with other groups such as the Justice Society of America and the Birds of Prey.

The villains are just as numerous as the heroes. Wonder Woman has her own set of adversaries, which range from the scientist-turned-cat lady Cheetah to the mythic Hercules. Diana also often finds herself coming up against the gods themselves—though she honors them, she often disagrees with them, and never hesitates to stand up to them. Diana’s function has always been as a bridge—between worlds, between the mortal and immortal, and beyond. So she often stands at the center of conflict, trying to tame both sides. That’s her function in this universe.

But that universe is only one amongst many. The multiverse theory is in full effect in the pages of DC comics—the multiverse exists, and the characters that inhabit the unvirse are aware of it. What becomes more complicated is the function of crises—Earth-shattering events that crumple the very fabric of the world and lead to restructurings every so often. They alter history, change the courses of characters’ lives, and erase bad decisions from continuity. Some characters, such as Donna Troy, are sometimes aware of the various versions of the universe as well as the crises. Others can only remember them as they effected them in real time, and don’t remember the changes once they have occurred.

For the sake of clarity, we’ll assume that the universe we’re speaking of is the one established by Crisis on Infinite Earths. Diana’s post-Crisis continuity is vastly different from pre-Crisis, and the former is what I’ll draw on to play her.

Diana’s superhero career has been long and prolific. The most recent events of note are the following—after Maxwell Lord, a former ally, took over Superman’s mind and body, Diana killed Lord as she knew it was the only way to save Superman and the world. She retired from superheroing for a year after that, asking her sister Donna to take up the mantle of Wonder Woman. Diana eventually returned and became Wonder Woman again, in time to face even more threats from the universe. She’ll be arriving after a major fight with the witch-goddess Circe. This puts her before Infinite Crisis (and Batman’s death) as well as the Blackest Night and Flashpoint events.

Personality:

❝ we have a saying, my people.
“don’t kill if you can wound,
don’t wound if you can subdue,
don’t subdue if you can pacify and
don’t raise your hand at all
until you’ve first extended it.” ❞
Because Diana was raised away from the world as we know it, understanding Themyscira is key to understanding her. The basic tenant of the Amazons is peace—they know how to defend themselves and value prowess in battle, but their ultimate philosophy is one of nonviolent solutions. Their isolation is the result of their desire to keep to this philosophy. So Diana’s first instinct and first solution will always be diplomacy. She’s incredibly good at talking people around, at understanding them and getting to the greater root of surface problems. She prides herself on being able to solve problems with argument or persuasion as well as with fist or sword.

That doesn’t mean that Diana is never thoughtlessly violent, however. She is easily frustrated and often self-righteous, and this means that she is quick to go to plan b—forcing solutions. Her anger is legendary, and it is one of her most potent motivations. Because she comes from Themyscira, Diana is often frustrated by what she finds lacking in Man’s World. Disrespect towards women, violence towards innocence, and general pigheadedness can quickly rile her. It is only under extreme circumstances that this anger overrides her better judgment, however. For the most part Diana is a master of letting herself feel without becoming a slave to her emotions.

As the only daughter of Themyscira, Diana grew up with a particular set of expectations. She was given an intensive education in art, philosophy, and battle, and expected to excel at everything she tried. There has always been a lot of pressure on Diana to be excellent, to be beyond reproach in her behavior and attitudes. This means that Diana is constantly trying to be the best—sometimes, this means just being the best version of herself. But often, this breeds a competitiveness in Diana that she applies to most things she does. She often is right, often is the best. But when she isn’t, she has to strive to correct matters.

But Themyscira also offered Diana something else—unconditional love and sisterhood. She never doubted that she was the most important person amongst her Amazon sisters and particularly to her mother. She was cherished always, and this has made Diana a remarkable self-assured woman. She approaches everything with confidence, and this allows her to be gracious and kind. Because she’s so secure in her own position, she’s in a position to be generous. Part of this is a general love of life and people, and part of was bred into her a princess. Either way, Diana has a lot of virtues—she’s kind, loyal, dependable.

Diana, since coming to Man’s World, has become a bridge between worlds. This means, however, that she often caught between two viewpoints. Because she tries to be conciliatory, she often isolates people on both sides. This comes up particularly with her Amazon sisters, who sometimes feel that Diana has abandoned their ways for a world they revile. One of Diana’s greatest challenges is maintaining her identity as the princess of the Amazons while still functioning within the outside world. And that road can be difficult, frustrating, and thankless.

❝ here’s the secret about diana.
we all love her. even batman.
it’s the way she says your name,
like she knows you,
knows everything about you,
the best and the worst.
like she knows,
and she loves you anyways. ❞
It is easy for others to view Diana as perfect, and often annoyingly so. However, this is the furthest thing from the truth. The explanation for this view is simple, as well—Diana does not expect perfection from herself, or others. But she does expect everyone’s best effort. She believes that everyone should act as best they can, be the best they can be. So if she knows someone has the capacity for great good and great evil, she will assure that they will act on the former. She places the same pressure on herself, always trying to act as best she can in any given situation.

Diana is also the embodiment of truth, and with that comes a general belief that the truth should ultimately be good. Diana is good at detecting lies, but she’s a notoriously bad liar, herself. She has the capacity to be cunning, but always prefers the straightforward approach. Even when speaking to her enemies, she strives to be truthful—this is also the basic principle of Diana’s particular brand of diplomacy. She believes that subterfuge and duplicity cause more problems than solutions, and she will only use them in service to a greater good and when there is little other choice. This is also why Diana’s never been one to keep a strict secret identity. She cannot imagine forging one part of her identity by hiding another. Diana, Wonder Woman, Princess – for her all those monikers are the same person.

Because of Diana’s general attitudes, it can actually be hard to get along with her at times. While she likes people and has the capacity to forge strong relationships, Diana tends to aggravate other people’s insecurities. More than one of her enemies has been motivated by bitter jealousy, and said enemies often use jealousy to isolate Diana from her allies. Even people that Diana has excellent relationships with can sometimes fall prey to this—their perceptions of Diana’s life allow them to become frustrated with her, to wish she was more human. But the root of that is that Diana has been taught to be an example for everyone around her—she won’t allow herself to be vulnerable, except in front of a very select group of people.

Diana is generally a selfless person. Given the choice to aggrandize herself or help others, she’ll choose the latter every time. She was willing to give herself up to her enemies to free her sister Donna, and when she was blinded by Medusa she asked Athena to return the monster’s victims to life instead of restore her sight. However, everyone knows this about Diana, and her devotion to others has often been used against her (most often with a classic hostage-switch agreement).

In addition, because Diana believe the best of people, she can often be brutally disappointed by them. There are times when her burdens seem too much, because Diana does everything that she does for the sake of others, and sometimes she feels as though no one appreciates that. Those moments of hopelessness do not usually last long, but they do occur.

❝ perfection…
sometimes it’s our worst enemy.
i tried to be perfect once.
decided to just try to be better.
found a good way to start that…
is by accepting who you are. ❞
Diana’s fatal flaw is pride. In order to not become jaded, in order to maintain her sense of hope, she has to believe that her path is the right one. This means that she can often come off as self-righteous, and it also means that in the (few) occasions when she is wrong, she has a hard time admitting it. She will always trust herself and her own intuitions the most, even when it costs her. After the fact, Diana can be gracious about being wrong, but in the moment she’ll be loath to admit it.

Diana often faces seemingly unsurmountable challenges, but she is resilient and stubborn. She has had more than one crisis of consciousness that has developed around the conflict that comes of straddling two worlds. Sometimes the gods disappoint her—and if they are who she should be believing in, where does she draw her strength from at those points? And, as mentioned, the people she takes her inspiration from can also disillusion her. But Diana has an elastic ability to bounce back from these situations, even if it may take her some time. Her ultimate faith in her dream—to bring peace to Man’s World—cannot be completely destroyed.

Arriving in the game will not be a wholly foreign experience for Diana. She is familiar with different realms, and has experienced waking dreams before. However, the specific circumstances of the place are likely to trouble her—especially after she learns how long others have been trapped. Initially, Diana will be optimistic that this is a challenge she can meet and a problem she can solve. As time goes on, however, she may grow frustrated and disheartened. She’ll never lose her desire to both free the other inhabitants and help the land itself, however.

Appearance:

diana is the epitome of an amazon woman--standing as 6 feet, she's a tall and imposing presence, toned and strong while still feminine. she has thick black hair, blue eyes, and tends to dress in loose clothing reminiscent of the greeks when she isn't in costume. reference: 1 & 2.

Abilities:

most of diana's abilities can be grouped under the heading of divine empowerment. when diana was born, various gods and goddesses gifted her with preternatural abilities.

from demeter she received superhuman strength, stamina and endurance as well as an excelerated healing factor. because demeter is goddess of the earth, diana is said to be as strong as the earth itself, and self-healing in the way that nature can rejuvenate itself. she's strong enough to go toe-to-toe with the heaviest hitters of the dcu, including superman and captain marvel. usually in quantified stats, she is listed as slightly weaker than superman.

from hermes came flight, superhuman speed, reflexes and agility. diana has self-propelled flight, and her speed can equal the flash's cruising speed. her reflexes are perhaps the most notable point of these skills; diana's signature move of deflecting bullets against her gauntlets is born of this ability.

from athena came a muted form of empathy and an increased capacity for wisdom. diana's empathic sense manifest as a great ability to understand people and gauge their emotions. she cannot read them, per say, but she is incredibly intuitive.

artemis gifted diana with enhanced senses and animal empathy. diana's best sense is her eyesight; she is a remarkable shot. diana's connection to animals allows her to calm them with her very presence. she can also directly speak to them.

and from hestia, diana was given oneness with fire, which is the technical term for her powers of truth. usually harnesses through her lasso, diana's powers allow her to detect lies and force the ultimate truth from people--even if a person is mistaken, they will be forced to reveal what is actually true to diana. diana's powers of truth are often described as a bond between souls, which cannot lie. this ability also protects her from most forms of illusion and mind control.

in addition, diana is an expert combatant and strategist. she is fluent in nearly a dozen languages and is a keen diplomat.

Inventory:

diana will arrive in her costume, complete with boots, gauntlets and tiara. she will also have the lasso of truth, which is a mythic weapon which cannot be broken or cut. diana can connect with it somewhat telepathically, and anyone caught in it is forced to speak the truth.

Suite:

a highly adaptable person, diana would likely be able to make herself comfortable in any sector. however, wood and water are the environments closest to themyscira, and therefore the ones she'd most prefer. so let's go with 2 or 3 floors in wood--she is a princess, after all.

In-Character Samples:
Third Person:

It isn’t often that Diana finds herself at the Watchtower, idle. Usually it feels as though she’s en route from one emergency to another, and the only time she sits still is when an official meeting is called. Her life is more storms that quiet, but she’s come to accept that. It’s nice to feel constantly needed, at any rate.

Today she sits at one of the tables in the rec area, nursing a cup of tea. Other members of the League drift in and out—each greeting her, or walking over, but she doesn’t encourage any of them to stay long. Everyone has their own duties, their own schedules. Zatanna’s got a show in Gotham at eight; Dinah’s bound to be hitting the weight room.

Sometimes, she decides, it’s best to have time to oneself. There was never much of that on Themyscira—she’d have to ride out into the woods to truly be alone, and even then the animals were always around, offering company and keeping a watchful eye. But, she has long since learned, there are some decisions, some thoughts, that one can only have when they are truly alone. It’s both a revelation and a sobering thought.

Of course, it’s at that particular moment that the early warning alarm goes off. Diana’s on her feet in an instant, in the air a moment after that—there’s no point running through the halls when flying gets her to the command station twice as fast.

Even as she goes, she feels the adrenaline coursing through her veins and the world swiftly coming into sharper focus. She could never give this up, she realizes. There’s simply too much of herself tied to this life and this mission. So when she hears J’onn explaining the situation, and when she flies out with Kal and Hal to face it, she’s smiling in a grim, fiercely determined way.

She’s ready.

Network:

_{( diana makes her first post about a day after she arrives. she’s had only the barest amount of time to figure things out, yet she looks relaxed and serene as she turns on the video. she’s sitting in one of the cafes, and she lifts one hand in greeting. )}

There’s many of you here that I know. And many more that I do not.

My name is Diana, and while I’m newly arrived I’ve been apprised of the situation. I know it must seem hopeless, to be trapped in a place that acts beyond your control, but I admire all of you that have persevered here for this time. It must have taken an incredible amount of strength, and by surviving I’m sure you’ve helped all of us.

_{( there’s nothing mocking about her words, and her smile is genuine and honest. she pauses, for a moment, as though to give her audience a breather. then, she continues— )}

I’m sure there’s a lot to be done, and I’m willing to offer my assistance to anyone who should need it. But first, I would like to be better acquainted with all of you. If we’ve met before, I’m sure you’ll come and say hello. And if we haven’t, it’s never too soon for introductions.