The Lasso of Truth is Wonder Woman's primary tool and weapon, a magical golden lariat that forces anyone captured within it to obey the wielder's commands and tell the truth.
History
Pre-Crisis
Earth-Two
One origin of the lasso states it was created from Aphrodite's Magic Girdle by the Amazon craftswoman Metala at the behest of Queen Hippolyte, with magical properties granted by Aphrodite and Athena.[1] However, a slightly different origin story states that the lasso was designed by the goddess Aphrodite herself from the Magic Girdle along with Wonder Woman's uniform.[2][3] The lasso carried Aphrodite's power to make men and women submit to the user's will and forced whover was bound within it to obey the commands of the wielder.[2]
Earth-One
Diana has demonstrated a remarkable level of unique skills with the lasso, performing feats such as twirling it to create air currents (upon which she could float)[4] and spinning it to emit certain frequencies that disrupted Felix Faust's spells.[5] Paradise Island's scientists also coated Diana's clothes and uniform in special chemicals that reacted to the vibrations in her lasso, allowing her to use the lasso to transform between her civilian clothes and Wonder Woman.[6] In addition to being physically unbreakable, the lasso was also infinitely elastic.[5]
Post-Crisis
The Lasso was forged at Hestia's request by Hephaestus from the Golden Girdle of Gaea originally worn by Queen Hippolyta's sister Antiope. It was then blessed by Hestia and given to Wonder Woman.[7] The lasso is completely unbreakable, immutable, and indestructible, and neither god nor mortal can escape it.[7][8][9] It has no limits on its length or strength[10] and was once temporarily enchanted to be long enough to encompass and move the entirety of the planet Earth.[11]
Empowered by the Fires of Hestia,[7] the lasso forces anyone held by it to tell and understand the pure and absolute truth—including the gods.[12][13] It can even burn away insanity to reveal the truth without otherwise harming the subject.[14] This power in particular can be very dangerous, as not everyone is capable of facing the truth of their actions stripped bare of excuses. The lasso has reduced both Ares, God of War, and Captain Nazi to tearful surrender by revealing to them the truth of their violent actions,[12][15] and the Amazon Artemis, inexperienced with how to use the lasso, inadvertently drove a man to suicide while he was tied in it.[16] The lasso has also been shown to transport the user's soul into the soul of whoever is tied within it.[12][17][15] Among the lasso's other powers are the ability to dispel illusions,[18][19][20] restore lost memories (as well as erase magically or telepathically implanted false memories),[21][22] free victims of forced telepathic contact, magical corruption, and mind control,[17][23][24][25] revert shapeshifters to their true forms,[26] and protect those within its circumference from magical attacks. It also allows Diana to communicate with animals.[27]
While the lasso is primarily a defensive weapon, it can also be used as an offensive weapon with enough strength, speed, or intent. When the villain Genocide gained control of the lasso and had it implanted into her body, she used its powers to directly attack her victim's souls and was able to take out even powerful and strong-willed opponents like Green Lantern with ease, demonstrating the lasso's potential as a weapon in the wrong hands.[28][29] In the hands of Diana, who was blessed by Hestia,[30] it also acts as a focus for those powers and can burn people and release destructive flames powerful enough to fend off beasts and vaporize corpses.[31][32][33]
Post-Flashpoint
The Lasso of Truth (also called the Golden Perfect) is a long-cherished divine relic of the Amazons, forged by Hephaestus[34] at the behest of their Patron Gods and given to the Amazons as a symbol of trust and their sacred duty. Queen Hippolyta gave it to Princess Diana after she won the Amazons' Championship Contest and earned the duty of returning Steve Trevor and his fallen brethren to Man's World.[35] The Lasso requires a pure heart in order to wield it, and between two users the Golden Perfect chooses the wielder it judges to be most worthy.[36]
The Lasso is unbreakable[37] and has many unique powers and properties beyond compelling individuals who hold onto it to tell the truth. It connects the hearts and minds of users to foster better understanding, such as enabling telepathy, language translation, and memory/emotion-sharing between people holding onto it.[38][39] That property also allows Diana to channel her gods-given gifts to more easily communicate with animals.[40] Neither god nor mortal can escape the lasso, and it has powerful binding and magical sealing abilities.[41] The lasso also enables users to resist telepathic mental manipulation,[42] restore lost memories (as well as erase magically or telepathically implanted false memories),[43][44] shatter both divine and magical falsehoods and constructs,[44][45] and revert shapeshifters and other individuals who have been altered in a metaphysical manner back to their base selves through a forced biophysical reset.[46][47] This reset process can also relieve individuals from the effects of toxins, poisons, and mind control.[48] In certain circumstances, the lasso can also help find people who are lost to the user, though that requires a deep emotional connection in order to work.[49]
Notes
- Psychologist William Moulton Marston, who created the character of Wonder Woman, was also involved in the creation of the polygraph, which may have inspired the Lasso of Truth.
Trivia
- Wonder Woman's proteges, Donna Troy and Cassie Sandsmark, also use lassos. Donna first used Donna Troy's Lasso and later the Lasso of Persuasion; Cassie was given the Lasso of Lightning by Ares.
- The Lasso is so durable that it was once used to completely envelope two nuclear bombs at once and fully contain their explosions.[52]
- Diana's evil alternate universe counterpart, Superwoman, uses the Lasso of Submission.
- In The Brave and the Bold: Batman and Wonder Woman, Diana refers to the lasso in the feminine, using the pronoun "she."[53]
- Because demons are "made of lies," when lesser ones are bound by the Lasso of Truth their bodies reject the truth and explode.[54] In the DCAU, this aspect is toned down to the lasso causing the bound demon great pain.[55]
See Also
External Links
Footnotes
- ↑ Sensation Comics #6
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wonder Woman #1
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wonder Woman #45
- ↑ Wonder Woman #98
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Wonder Woman #214
- ↑ Wonder Woman #212
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #2
- ↑ DC Comics Encyclopedia
- ↑ Wonder Woman: The Ultimate Guide to the Amazon Princess
- ↑ The Flash (Volume 2) #219
- ↑ JLA #75
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #6
- ↑ JLA #62
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #20
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Wonder Woman (Volume 3) #15
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #97
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #55
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #51
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #141
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #205
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #136
- ↑ Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #6
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #207
- ↑ Justice League of America (Volume 2) #20
- ↑ The Brave and the Bold (Volume 3) #7
- ↑ JLA: A League of One
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 3) #20
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 3) #27
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 3) #32
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #1
- ↑ Wonder Woman Secret Files and Origins #3
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #18
- ↑ Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #1
- ↑ Supergirl (Volume 6) #17
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #4
- ↑ Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S. #5
- ↑ Knight Terrors: Wonder Woman #1
- ↑ 38.0 38.1 Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #10
- ↑ Wonder Woman Annual (Volume 5) #1
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #12
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #7-Wonder Woman Vol 5 23
- ↑ Wonder Woman Annual (Volume 5) #3
- ↑ Wonder Woman: Rebirth #1
- ↑ 44.0 44.1 Wonder Woman: The Lies
- ↑ Zatanna (Volume 3) #6
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #27
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #30
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 5) #14
- ↑ Forever Evil #7
- ↑ Comic Cavalcade #26
- ↑ 51.0 51.1 DC's Very Merry Multiverse #1
- ↑ Wonder Woman #214
- ↑ The Brave and the Bold: Batman and Wonder Woman #2
- ↑ JLA: Black Baptism #1
- ↑ Justice League Unlimited (TV Series) Episode: The Balance