Hippolyta (Prime Earth)

Hippolyta and her sister, Antiope were the first Amazons to emerge from the Well of Souls in antiquity/^[2] Together, they built the first Themyscira, which thrived under their rule. Soon, they came into contact with the greek heroes Heracles and Theseus, who befriended them. However, their alliance would not last, and the Amazons were betrayed by Heracles, Theseus, and their men. With their leaders leaving them to their spoils, their forces tormented the Amazons. One spear-wielding soldier in particular tormented Antiope a great deal; feeling her pain, Hippolyta cried out to the patron goddesses of the Amazons, and the Goddess Athena answered, on the condition that the Amazons would show mercy to those who had held them captive.

At first, Hippolyta believed this feasible, but the spear-wielding soldier, so vile that even his own men would not stand by him, threatened Antiope's life if Hippolyta did not intervene. Throwing her spear at him, Hippolyta inadverdantly set off a chain of events that resulted in the deaths of all of Heracles' men. She would later have the tales of this incident buried, seeking to forget the blood she had spilled in the founding of Themiscyra.^[3] In the process, Hippolyta's bracelets would be shattered by Heracles.^[4]

Conflict with the Frost King

During the 10th century AD, Hippolyta left Paradise Island, fighting alongside an Avatar of the Green, the exiled Viking Prince Jon Haraldson, and a temporarily freed Black Adam against the Frost King, a powerful cryokinetic who threatened the world with endless winter.^[5] Following the pyhrric defeat of the Frost King, Hippolyta aided the wizard Mamaragan in restoring Teth-Adam to his prison in Egypt.

At some point, Themyscira was beseiged by the forces of the Valkyrie Queen Gudra. Hippolyta and the Amazons were victorious, and showed mercy to their enemies, granting them a single boat and provisions on the condition that they never attempt to return to Paradise Island.^[6]

Motherhood

Centuries later, when Hippolyta found out she was pregnant with Zeus' children, she knew there was a chance one of them could be a boy, something that would be impossible to hide on Themyscira. Fearing Hera's jealous wrath, she invented the false story that her daughter Diana had been molded from clay and contacted Glaucus to adopt her son Jason if she were to have one in order to protect him.

As a child, Diana discovered that parts of the history of the Amazons had been hidden from her by her mother.^[3] At some point, Hippolyta created Dimension Chi, a dark mirror of her own life, as a method of self-reflection. One day, Hippolyta and Diana became trapped in Dimension Chi. Viewing them as advance scouts for an invasion, Empress Hippolyta imprisoned Diana and engaged in a series of contests with the Queen. Being reflections of one another, the queen and empress remained tied until interrupted by an invasion from the domain of Atomia. They joined forces to defend the Empress' Themyscira. Diana managed to free herself, and in the process saved the Empress' life. Diana and Hippolyta managed to bring peace between the Empress' Themyscira and Atomia, and were allowed to return home.^[7]

Modern Day

When Steve Trevor crash-landed in Themyscira, Hippolyta called together her councilors, wary of the injured soldier. Together, they discussed the situation and analyzed his personal belongings, paying special attention to the emblem on his clothing and the firearm he'd carried. Despite fierce debate between her advisors, Hippolyta recognized that Steve Trevor was not a threat, believing that the gods were speaking to them, and that they should consider carefully how they answered.

Aiming to return Trevor to his homeland and understand why the gods had sent him to Themyscira in the first place, Hippolyta called for a tournament amongst the Amazons for the honor and burden of leaving Paradise Island alongside Trevor. Though she attempted to dissuade her daughter from joining the tournament, knowing that she may never see her again if she won, she eventually relented, allowing Diana to participate. As she feared, Diana won the tournament, and was named Themyscira's ambassador to the outside world. She gave a tearful goodbye to her daughter and saw her off on her journey alongside her subjects. ^[8]

At some point, a witch created Donna Troy, a magical duplicate of her daughter, in an attempt to slay Wonder Woman. Foiling her, the Amazons instead gave her false memories, causing her to believe that she was a orphan rescued by the Amazons and raised among them.^[9]

Later, Hippolyta would temporarily take her daughter's place as Wonder Woman. During this time, she would come into conflict with Saturnette. She offered her a place on Paradise Island, but unfortunately Saturnette refused.^[10]

Years later, the Amazon Castalia would discover an omen, a withered tree, at the gates of Themyscira. Recognizing the portent, Hippolyta called together her soldiers, expecting a breach in the dimensional barrier between Themyscira and Man's World.^[11] At the breach, they fought off Phobos and Deimos, who intended to free their father, Ares from his prison within the Island's interdimensional walls. Unbeknownst to them, Ares had no desire to escape, and so aided Wonder Woman and Veronica Cale in their defeat. Unable to leave, Veronica Cale's daughter Isadore, who had also become trapped in Ares' prison, joined the Amazons. In the process, Hippolyta was able to see her daughter in person for the first time in many years.^[12]

Themyscira would later come under attack from a reborn Darkseid, who invaded seeking to transform the Amazons into soldiers for his army by converting them into Parademons. During the invasion, Hippolyta was able to meet her grown son Jason for the first time. During this brief meeting, she gave him her enchanted spear. As a result of the invasion, half-Amazon Grail was imprisoned alongside Ares beneath Themyscira.^[13]

Not long afterward, Ares forced Grail to kill him, shattering the interdimensional walls of their prison and freeing them both. In the turmoil, Grail overthrew Hippolyta and seized control of the island, with many Amazons siding against her. Hippolyta's general Antiope led a group of holdouts into exile in Dimension Chi.^[14] Wonder Woman managed to lead a counter-attack against Grail's forces, and Hippolyta would be rescued by Nubia who had feigned allegiance to Grail. In the process, open travel between Themyscira and the world of Men was restored, reuniting Diana and her mother.^[15]

However, their happy reunion would soon be interrupted by the death of the goddess Aphrodite, murdered at the hands of Barbara Minerva. Hippolyta would oversee Aphrodite's funeral on Paradise Island.^[16]

After Wonder Woman's bracelets were destroyed, Hippolyta aided her by helping her reforge Hippolyta's own bracelets using Amazonium, repairing the damage done to them centuries ago by Heracles.^[4]

Hippolya was interrupted in the midst of discussions with Themyscira's chief geologist Dotsia about the greater applications of Amazonium when Paula Von Gunther's efforts to assault Themyscira resulted in an audible pounding noise preceding a physical rift into Themyscira. When Paula and her horsewomen attacked, Hippolyta personally fought back Paula, recalling fighting Paula's ancestor, Gudra, centuries ago. As they fought, Paula shattered Hippolyta's sword with her spear, suggesting that Hippolyta should admit her guilt for her actions against Paula's ancestor. Soon, however, Diana intervened. Though Hippolyta sought to execute Paula, her daughter counseled mercy. In the end, Hippolyta accepted, taking Paula prisoner. ^[17]

Soon afterward, Hippolyta was present as the Amazons launched a new embassy, an artificial island afloat in Manhattan's harbor.^[18] It was from this embassy that she later briefed her daughter on the discovery of an outpost of a third tribe of Amazons, and soon hosted a meeting between the current heads of the Bana tribe and her own Amazonians to discuss their findings.

When her daughter ascended following her defeat of the Darkest Knight, Hippolyta abdicated the throne, passing the mantle of Queen of Themyscira to Nubia as she took her daughter's former role as ambassador to the world of men. ^[19] Before she left, however, Brutus appeared through a rift in the multiverse in Themyscira. She fought him off, and followed him through the rift as he retreated through another portal, one that led him to Central City. Hippolyta participated in the excursion with the Justice League that followed, and in the end stepped into her daughter's former spot in the Justice League.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Amazonian Physiology
- Enhanced Intellect
- Superhuman Strength
- Superhuman Durability
- Superhuman Stamina
- Superhuman Agility
- Immortality
- Self-Sustenance
- Flight^[20]
- Reality Construction: Hippolyta created the Dimension Chi, where her every action would be mirrored darkly by her evil double, Empress Hippolyta, as a form of self-knowledge.^[7]

Abilities

Amazonian Training: The Amazons honed their skills in many fields, aided by the gifts from Athena and Artemis.
- Archery
- Equestrianism
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)
- Swordsmanship

Aviation^[7]
Charisma
Diplomacy^[7]
Firearms^[7]
Footrace^[7]
Kanga Chariot Driving^[7]
Lassoing^[7]
Leadership
- Global Strategy^[7]
- Tactical Analysis
Medicine^[7]
Military Protocol
Storytelling^[7]

Notes

This character is an adaptation of Hippolyta, a character in traditional stories. These include, but may not be limited to religious texts, myth, and/or folk lore. More information on the original can be found at Wikipedia.org.

Trivia

Philippus is called "my love" by Hippolyta in Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #2, and in Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #15 it was suggested that they sleep together and that this is recurrent, confirming that they are lovers.
During the New 52 and Rebirth, Amazons had a number of queens, including Otrera^[21] and Alcippe^[22] before the 10th Queen, Hippolyta. The Adventures of Young Diana back-up feature, Magala instead describes Hippolyta as the first, and only queen.^[2]

This character is or was a member of the Justice League of America, or the Justice League in any of its various incarnations, sworn by a duty to act as guardians of America and the world by using their skills and/or superpowers to protect Earth from both interstellar and domestic threats.
This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Justice League of America members" category.

[1] Superman: Son of Kal-El #4

[WW-V1-778-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Wonder Woman #778

[WW-V1-777-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Wonder Woman #777

[WW-V1-750-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Wonder Woman #750

[5] Justice League: Endless Winter #1

[WW-V1-757-6] Wonder Woman #757

[WW-V5-73-7] 7.00 ^7.01 ^7.02 ^7.03 ^7.04 ^7.05 ^7.06 ^7.07 ^7.08 ^7.09 ^7.10 Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #73

[8] Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #4

[9] Titans Annual (Volume 3) #1

[10] Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1

[11] Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #15

[12] Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #23

[13] Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #45

[14] Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #74

[15] Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #75

[16] Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #77

[17] Wonder Woman #758

[18] Wonder Woman #758

[19] Infinite Frontier #0

[JL-V4-63-20] Justice League (Volume 4) #63

[WW-V5-12-21] Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #12

[WW-V4-A1-22] Wonder Woman Annual (Volume 4) #1

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Hippolyta (Prime Earth)

Contents

History

Early Life