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Hippolyta was the Queen of the Amazons of Themyscira, and mother of Wonder Woman and a secret son, Jason.

Early Life

Origins

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. At some point afterwards, their sisters Astarte and Atalanta emerged. 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 pyrrhic 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, the witch Derinoe, former lover of Hippolyta, 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 Donna to believe that she was a orphan rescued by the Amazons and raised among them.[9]

Rebirth

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.[10] 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.[11]

Amazons Attacked

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.[12]

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.[13] 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.[14]

Loveless

However, their happy reunion would soon be interrupted by the death of the goddess Aphrodite, murdered at the hands of the Cheetah. Hippolyta would oversee Aphrodite's funeral on Paradise Island.[15]

The Wild Hunt

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]

Ghosts of the Past

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 Four 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.[16]

Soon afterward, Hippolyta was present as the Amazons launched a new Amazon Embassy, an artificial island afloat in Boston's harbor.[17] 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.

Infinite Frontier

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.[18] 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.

She also briefly took the mantle of Wonder Woman during her time on the Justice League, she and some other heroes went to the Kent Farm after it was attacked by a metahuman called Faultline. After Jon Kent stopped the League from harming Faultline, since she wasn't an actual threat, Hippolyta took Faultline into her care.[1]

After Diana's return from the Sphere of the Gods, Hippolyta embraced her daughter and urged her to take some time off from the Justice League to relax, and to return to Themyscira to clear her mind.[19]

Trial of the Amazons

In order to select a new guardian for Doom's Doorway, the three Amazon tribes came together for a great tournament. However, on the eve of the tourney, Hippolyta was murdered, seemingly poisoned in her quarters.[20] Her killer was later revealed to be Artemis.[21]

Olympus Rebirth

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  • Philippus is called "my love" by Hippolyta in Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #4, and in Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #15 it was suggested that they sleep together and that this is recurrent, confirming that they are lovers.
    • It was revealed that Hippolyta, Philippus and Diana formed a family, with Philippus calling Diana "my daughter".[28]
  • During the New 52 and Rebirth, Amazons had a number of queens, including Otrera[29] and Alcippe[30] before the 10th Queen, Hippolyta. The Adventures of Young Diana back-up feature, Magala instead describes Hippolyta as the first, and only queen.[2]

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Footnotes


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