Diana of Paradise Island is an Amazon princess who has come to be known as the heroine Wonder Woman in the world of men. As Diana Prince, then a yeoman first class in the United States Navy's Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service, or WAVES, Corps, she was originally active in World War II with the Air Corps Intelligence Division. After the war, she returned to Paradise Island. In the 1970s, She rejoined the world of men and, as now-Commander Diana Prince, now of the regular United States Navy, joined the Inter-Agency Defense Command.
History
Diana was raised on Paradise Island, which was located in the Bermuda Triangle, alongside many women, mainly her mother Queen Hippolyta and her sisters; one of these sisters, named Drusilla, would soon join Diana in her fight against the Germans. On Paradise Island, she grew up with a strong respect for womanhood and little knowledge of man or the world that existed outside of the Bermuda Triangle. She would later move to the United States to help take an injured soldier named Steve Trevor, then a major in the United States Army Air Forces's Intelligence Service, who had crashed his plane in a dogfight over the Triangle, home after she fell in love with him. There, she would adopt the identity of Yeoman First Class Diana Prince of the WAVES.
She soon lived in the United States in her own apartment during World War II, and stayed there, helping Steve fight against the Nazis. As she lived there, she soon grew to know more and more about the real world, to which she had not been accustomed.
After a gap of thirty-five years, which was never explained on the series, she returned to the United States in the 1970s, now calling herself Commander Diana Prince of the regular United States Navy. (The WAVES Corps had long since been merged with the United States Naval Reserve.) As such, she helped Steve Trevor's son, Steve Jr., in fighting off more enemies. By this time, she was much wiser and knew how to handle herself as she got older.
Personality
Wonder Woman started out as naïve, but also very respectful of women and able to defend herself. She was very forgiving of some of her enemies, such as a Nazi named Fausta and the Baroness Von Gunther. She was also very motherly, as was shown when her sister, Drusilla, joined her during the Second World War and wanted to be more outgoing with the locals than Diana was. Diana took on the role of a parent and advised her to be more careful in the new world around them, since she was more aware of this new country.
While not knowing as much about the world of men, she trusted the allies that she met to provide her with more knowledge; for example, Steve Trevor taught her about what cavalry was. When faced with a dangerous choice that would affect her own home, she would consult her mother for advice on how to deal with it. Despite this, as time went on, she showed signs of learning more and becoming wiser, even relying less on her mother for advice on how to survive.
It was obvious that she enjoyed stopping evil, as she would occasionally have a witty comment for the villains when she had them cornered or defeated them.
She would often take on the role of being very peaceful towards offenders, trying to show off the best sides of humanity in them and in their enemies.
As Wonder Woman became older, she soon became very no-nonsense. As many men would flirt with her, she would instantly become very defensive and show disgust at some of the men that decided to go her way. Diana was mostly a victim of this, whereas whenever she was in her true identity as Wonder Woman, she would face this less often. This was used as a running gag in the show, often resulting in Diana triumphing over her potential "suitors." The only love interest that she was ever shown to have had was Steve Trevor in World War II; she apparently shared no real interest in any other men, not even Steve Trevor Jr.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Divine Empowerment
- Immortality: So long as Wonder Woman remained on Paradise Island, she was virtually immortal. Whenever she left the island, Diana's body began to age at the same rate of cellular decay as a normal human being. Upon returning to the island however, her immortality was restored.
- Superhuman Strength: Wonder Woman was several times stronger than the average human being, and could bend steel pipes in her bare hands, or lift heavy machinery with little to no effort. She could also use her powerful leg muscles to propel herself through the air, leaping over high obstacles such as walls or fences.
- Superhuman Reflexes
- Superhuman Stamina
- Transformation: By spinning around in a clockwise motion, Wonder Woman could instantly change from her costumed identity to her Diana Prince disguise and back again.
Abilities
- Animal Empathy: Wonder Woman used this ability on guard dogs or creatures that were involved in the schemes she was up against. She would befriend the animals and calm them down or tell them to do something that would help her.
- Aviation
- Fencing[9]
- Mimicry: Wonder Woman possessed an uncanny ability to perfectly mimic the voices of others. She has often demonstrated her proficiency at this skill by imitating others while speaking on a telephone. The person on the other end of the line believed that they were in fact speaking to another person altogether, often times, people with whom they shared a great familiarity.
- Multilingualism: Diana speaks several languages, such as English and Russian.[10]
- Throwing: Wonder Woman did not carry any weaponry, although she did occasionally use her tiara as a throwing weapon.
- Singing
Weaknesses
Only when Wonder Woman's belt or lasso was removed would she either become weaker, or prove to have less strength, than before.
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Transportation
- Invisible Robot Plane: Wonder Woman possessed a private aircraft that was invisible to the human eye. Although all of the contents of the plane were invisible, Diana herself was not, and could usually be seen seemingly floating in mid-air while piloting the craft.
Notes
- This version of the character is exclusive to the continuity of the television series Wonder Woman and is an adaptation of Diana Prince/Wonder Woman. The original character was created by William Moulton Marston and Harry G. Peter and first appeared in All-Star Comics #8.
- The characters of Wonder Woman and her secret identity, Diana Prince, were both played by Lynda Carter.
Trivia
- Lynda Carter exerted a huge influence over the character, giving the role much more personality, as she felt that the writing, to begin with, was not good enough for her. This led directly to unfounded accusations that she was being difficult; Lynda herself explained, however, in a manner highly suited to that of Wonder Woman herself:[citation needed]
- This is the first version of the character of Wonder Woman to introduce the famous spin and explosion transformation. Lynda Carter herself thought of the idea to save money on the show's budget.
- The romance that this version of Wonder Woman shared with Steve Trevor was cut short after the writers of the show realized that the life of the show would have been very short if the characters ended up getting married. As a result, the romance was only hinted at in Season 1 and never picked up afterwards. In the DC Comics, appropriately, according to Amazon law, Wonder Woman herself could never have actually married Steve Trevor.
- Not counting her US Navy Class A's as Diana Prince, Lynda Carter wore several uniforms as Wonder Woman. All these designs were provided and executed by "Donfeld," real name Donald Lee Feld, who in his day had been one of the leading wardrobe designers in motion pictures and television.
- The first, and most commonly shown, was her classic uniform from the DC Comics, whose design, by Harry G. Peter, actually underwent two executions at Feld's hands.
- The second was her "full-dress" uniform, which added a red, white, and blue star-spangled cloak to both executions.
- The third was her aquatic/motorsports uniform; this consisted of a blue bodysuit with a hood over Carter's head, which was covered with a gold-tone helmet whenever she had to drive a motorcycle or any such land conveyance.
- The fourth, seen strictly in one installment, was her "extreme sports" uniform; this included a red helmet, red gloves, and red knee and elbow pads, all of which were worn with the second execution of her classic uniform.
Related
- 78 Appearances of Diana of Paradise Island (Wonder Woman TV Series)
- 39 Images featuring Diana of Paradise Island (Wonder Woman TV Series)
- 10 Quotations by or about Diana of Paradise Island (Wonder Woman TV Series)
- Character Gallery: Diana of Paradise Island (Wonder Woman TV Series)
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Wonder Woman (TV Series) Episode: The New Original Wonder Woman"
- ↑ "Wonder Woman (TV Series) Episode: Last of the Two Dollar Bills"
- ↑ "Wonder Woman (TV Series) Episode: I Do, I Do"
- ↑ "Wonder Woman (TV Series) Episode: Light-Fingered Lady"
- ↑ "Wonder Woman (TV Series) Episode: Seance of Terror"
- ↑ "Wonder Woman (TV Series) Episode: Going, Going, Gone"
- ↑ "Amazon Hot Wax"
- ↑ "A Date with Doomsday"
- ↑ "The Return of Wonder Woman"
- ↑ Wonder Woman '77 Special #4