Is Wonder Woman really bulletproof?

@powerwoman: & that's perfectly okay. I can't accept that Superman can't be damaged by radiation unless it just happens to be from his home planet (& he's my fav character! so that's probably extra weird, lol). We all have our own opinions and can read/not-read whatever titles we so choose.

@lightsout: they are different,superman cant be damaged by radiation is because this is his planets radiation,if wonder woman can take h-bomb,a h-bomb million of million more powerful than a bullet,so why a bullet can kill her??why?that just stupid

@powerwoman: Well in a general-logic sense, they both work. This is what I meant before about who's logic do we get to use as the baseline for what a comic has to stick to. You don't know the mechanics of radiation (not an insult!, just saying different people know different things) so that doesn't stand out to you. I do, and it does. (In the "real world" no radiation should hurt superman, based on how we understand his powers to work & how radiation poisoning works with fleshy organic matter). But I won't derail this thread with that.

@lightsout: but this radiation isnt our planet radiation,so i can got it,wonder woman is different,h-bomb is our planet weapon,bullet is our planet weapon too,this not magic'bullet,so if wonder woman can take h-bomb,why a normal bullet can kill her?that make wonder woman looks like so weak

yes,if this is magic bullet,i can got it,but it isnt

@powerwoman: It's not a planet-to-planet thing, it's a physics thing. There's gamma radiation - Superman isn't affected by that (based on earthly radiations that emit that). Then there's alpha & beta & those are just the expulsion of sub-atomic particles off a mass. The reason those hurt humans because the particles physically punch a hole in our cells. Superman's cells are physically protected by his bio-aura (most popular explanation for his invulnerability). Therefore this shouldn't hurt him either. (Based on your same theory. A bullet doesn't have the energy to penetrate them, so an alpha or beta particle shouldn't either).

I totally get it's just a plot-thing created by a writer (with little to no science knowledge) who wanted to give a seemingly invincible character an Achilles's heel - but I also recognize it doesn't play out if you apply strict science towards this.

(I realize this is much more science-specific than your bullet vs bomb example, I wasn't trying to compete with that. I was just using it as an example to say "well if you apply this-much science, (this other thing) becomes illogical -- so who draws the line on how much science we apply? Just basic stuff everyone knows (bomb>bullet) or do we get more advanced? (mechanics of radiation)" & I hope I wasn't coming off like a jerk pressing this point).

@lightsout: Ok..but i'm still think a bullet can kill wonder woman just tooooo crazy,i 'm hate it

@lightsout: oh,this is Krypton radiation,so maybe is not like our physics thing,who know in the krypton radiation how work

but we all know a bullet how work,they are different

@powerwoman: Well physics are universal laws...it'd be quite the stretch for a writer to claim something like that ......but I'll drop it :)

@lightsout: superman can be damaged by radiation it isnt physics body,wonder woman is different,think about,if you can take h-bomb ,how can a bullet kill you?????that just make wonder woman looks like so weak,superman isnt,even superman can be damaged by radiation,that not make him looks like weak,he still can take bullet,h-bomb,a bullet can kill wonder woman,and wonder woman can moved 1/3 of the earth,that just too strange.that not should be she power level

I hope Azzarello has the good senses to make her BP in the nu52. He is a smart man, he must see how stupid that weakness is.

I do not mind Wonder Woman not being completely bulletproof or sword proof. However, no single average bullet should be able to hurt her seriously, nor the average sword. A bullet or sword that is average should only go through her skin, but not go through her seriously dense muscle structure. A bullet to her should be like a bee sting. It hurts, but it is not in anyway life threatening unless you are allergic or receive a huge number of bee stings. Doesn't Wonder Woman have an amazing healing factor? If so, then bullets will only slow her down. If she is harmed by an extremely powerful sharp object, that's fine. At this point, Wonder Woman has less weaknesses than Superman (vulnerable to magic, red sun radiation lessens power, kryptonite arguably most noticible weakness for any hero), so it is fine that Diana has vulnerability to piercing weapons. It should never be easy to hurt Wonder Woman or Superman unless their weaknesses are fully taken advantage of by their opponent(s). As for Wonder Woman using her bracelets, she protects her face, neck, and chest area, but clearly not her legs. This makes sense because it hurts a lots more to get hit in the face and neck than in the legs. As for her chest, she doesn't want to risk extreme injury by letting a bullet hit her there. Additionally, her legs are not a good target as they are often moving while she is fighting. BTW, in the New 52, she is the daughter of Zeus, so she is indeed super powerful. I think that it would be awesome if Wonder Woman eventually meets the Presence (God in the DC universe, easily most powerful being) and becomes like the Spectre. Instead of being an embodiment of God's wrath, she could be the embodiment of God's mercy, justice, or protection. She would not be an essence, however. She would still be herself (still be a physical form), she would just be way more powerful and have an amazingly deep understanding of the universe as a whole. It would also be amazing if the DC trinity (Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman) met the holy trinity (Father, Spirit, and Son) and gained immense knowledge and understanding of how to be a force for good. They don't necessarily need to gain new powers, they would just know about how the universe works and how to win for themselves and for others.

Sorry that those last few sentences were off topic, but Wonder Woman should be powerful enough to stand up to any evil if she uses all of her strength. The same goes for Superman. To make it challenging for the heroes, there should be villians who could win if the villians are more knowledgable than powerful. Good foes for the Justice League are the ones like Loki (Marvel villian) who use their their deception more than raw strength, because physically powerful villians who do not have brains will be at the mercy of the extremely intelligent heroes, unless the villian has absolutely no weaknesses. In that case, the Spectre could simply just will the physically invincible evil being out of existence. Good always eventually wins.

@snascimento: It's comics, it's not suppose to make sense... like giving an alien superpowers rather than cancer from being under a different sun.

I think the same principles might apply in the New 52, because she only discovered that she was a goddess instead of being redefined as a goddess; otherwise, suddenly being Zeus' daughter would have been a dramatic change to her character and she probably could have been considered bulletproof. However, that weakness has really been less clear since the Perez reboot as it was pre-crisis. Has that weakness really been emphasized since the end of Marston's run?

@dshipp17: Yes,wonder woman always not bulletproof

This is late I know, but Wonder Woman bracelets are a symbol of her people and she always say she likes to challenge and better herself, so maybe she choose to deflect bullets as a personal challenge.

@@ I think there WW fanbase can't get over weaknesses so they ape DC and the writers to increase her power levels and create all new abilities just so she can a worthy mate for Superman. By doing that, WW becomes less of a character in her mythos and more of a attachment to Superman.

I would also say that WW appeal is so limited because her character and mythos shift so much that we do not know who she is. Her feats become questionable in almist every comic book where she has the ability to do something in one that makes the exact same feat in another go "WTF?"

Original to 80s WW

Great strength, super speed dexterity, wise, iconic weaponary/tools and diplomatic

Her feats were awesome because she had various weakness to allow her to be cunning and warrior like.

A good blend of Batman and some Superman.

Current Modern WW

Just blah. God of War (took a good villain and got rid of him, great!)

She can fly (no invisible jet...iconic) and she's invulnerable (No need for bracelets) yet they give all those weapons )sword, shield and armor) for no reason. They try to ape Kal-like storylines.

TV show and 2009 Direct to Video Cartoon found the right tone for WW.

Warrior with real conflict.

Her conflict now is if Superman really loves her.

No she is not.

She shouldn't be and as long as she is mired in Kryptonian like affairs she will be less of a character.

Your average non-comic book reader think she is not bulletproof and can't fly due to the 80s TV series but it gave a broad mythos.

Superman has Supergirl and Power girl for female clones and maybe her being first super heroine is why they increase her power levels to make up for something.

Funny I don't remember them doing that to Captain America to make him more relevant.

Convergence WW is i think do to her armor

From my understanding of the her in multiple comics, it seems that she is really only vulnerable to magic or incredibly advanced weapons etc,

1.In season 11 of the smallville comic shes states the she is vulnerable to things that are, magical. So magic bullets creatures etc are capable of hurting her. It has alos been shown in other comics as well that magic is her only clearly defined weakness.

2. The abilities of meta humans are also capable of hurting depending on how strong they are.

3. Majority of the time in the comics she is regarded as bulletproof. So Id say yes simply based off that.

3. The only reason I can think of why she bothers to block thing that cant hurt is simply becuase of her training as a warrior and her refelxes. Or it could be that she doesnt want to get in that habit of just letting things hit her so she chooses to block them anyway.

I think that in New 52 she is bulletproof.I mean she is a demigod.

For the reasons surrounding her origins in the New 52, simply being a demigod would not render her bulletproof, as she was simply always unaware of her demigod status due to a deception about her origins; however, adding the god of war mantle would explain suddenly becoming bulletproof; but, I strongly disagree with either parting from or simply not writing comics to say one way or the other whether this character is still the same character created by Marston (e.g. and that would be the real travesty of the big three: while Superman and Batman keep their originally intended origin, the female character could not; I was drawn to Wonder Woman because of uniqueness that included her origins).

I think she shouldnt be since she became a full god, think a stat boost makes sense

you are right.hm they are changing her drastically,especially if they made her bulletproof.

make sense,but that would be a big change.in the way they are making her she will soon be a female version of Superman.Wonder Woman is an awesome character but they are making her to powerful lately.

Flying since 1986, 44 years after her creation which set the tone for her character.

Bracelets, Invisible jet, Lasso, Tiara all became iconic symbols by then.

That's why most other media do not add flying or invulnerability when writing her stories.

Superman started flying after Captain Marvel/Shazam did it. Kal was being measured to him because Billy's popularity and book sales were soaring. Either way it was a few years after his creation not 40+ years.

The stronger than Hercules and Faster than Hermes were stated in 1959, almost 20 years after her creation/origin story. Hardly "original".

I know die hard WW fans can't stand her to be any less than Superman, whatever he does they want her to do.

Eventually she'll get heat vision I guess. As long as she is being compared to Superman she will not a be a truly strong character. Again Batman is human and he is the most popular superhero. Her best stories is when she is warrior.

I always liked the pre-crisis explanation of Wonder Woman's powers being from psionic training, and I think it clears a lot of things up. With this in mind the difference between her, and Superman is that his powers are pretty much always active where as she has to mentally activate them. With invulnerability she would project a sort of pionic shielding around herself. This work fine for blocking blunt force attacks, and radiation, but with my focused attacks she might have to put more focus towards her shielding in that area. Maybe she finds it easier to just move her wrist in the way.

@julez4001: So giving her bullet proof skin and self-propelled flight makes her too much like Superman, but weakening her doesn't make her seem more like a Batman rip off?

Seriously your ideal WW flies using a jet like Batman, uses a rope like weapon like Batman, can be killed by bullets like Batman, and is more of a street leveller like Batman. Basically you're trying to differentiate her from one hero while making her seem more like another.

Furthermore, the reason no one wants a Batman power up is because he's supposed to be human (at least when the writers remember that). Diana is not.

Hell, Superman getting power upgrades hasn't stopped him from competing with Shazam who struggles to maintain a solo series.

I agree! I've always thought the Amazon psionic training was the best power source for her.

She hasn't been shot with normal bullets in the new 52, so no one knows.

I also like that explanation.

@agent_z:
I never said she was street level fighter. You said that.
I really never said anything about her strenght. Marston always gave limitless amount of strength, the other abilities not so much.
I didn't ask that she get depowered down to Batman so that's a false analogy. Her invisible jet was given to her before Batman had a jet or plane. It was mystical and had the ability to whisk her anywhere she needed to go. Batman doesn't have a sword, shield or magic lasso to compel you to tell the truth either.

"Basically you're trying to differentiate her from one hero while making her seem more like another."

Again you start off your reply with false comparison that you said I made and then create a conclusion, that doesn't work that way.

In the end, WW fans feels like their character doesn't measure up without her needless power upgrades.
The god of War is as bad as Superman sun dipping argument and Flare burst (dues ex machina anyone).
The writers are then forced to write some stupid caveat to compensate for the power upgrade. Making the whole story retarded.

*shrugs shoulder*

@jean_luc_lebeau: I'm a late comer,and this is over. But he wasnt using his full power heat vision when he blasted her in the face. You see his full power in the beginning and you can tell the difference. And still it showed her screaming, and her text says I feel my bones burn. And her face where she got blasted was deformed and badly burned.

@julez4001: There is a lot the average non-comic reader doesn't know about comic characters. that doesn't mean those things should be changed or ignored. Making her bulletproof doesn't make her Supergirl or Power Girl.

Captain America is a different case as Diana has always had high power levels. Writers just forget that when they want to push Superman.

Look, as stated earlier, the character just works better when her power levels and power set is basically this:

Unknown amount of super strength (lift cars, buses, tanks, etc), jump to insane heights

Durability to withstand blunt attacks unaided but it really, really hurts so she does all she can to avoid it.

Super speed (running 100-200 mph), but can ramp up to super dexterity to block lasers, bullets with her bracelets

Communication to animals, nature/ Ability to emit calm

She relies on:

Fighting hand to hand combat, agilty to flip over, dodge, parry and inflict harm

Invisible jet to travel great distant and speed

Indestructable Magic Lasso - to compel folks to tell the truth but not mind control (-drink a glass of water), also use in fight

Magic Bracelets - deflects anything and gives a momentary mini-force field

Sword and Shield combat style

Purple ray gun on Paradise island to heal her battle scars

She owns this.

Where she starts to lose is when she goes Kryptonian:

Ability to fly, hover

Ability to travel and function at high speeds as fast Flash (which I hate when Superman does it, Kal should be projectile speed)

Survive space, travel in space

Survive nuclear blast

Survive lasers, bullet and knives (why are you dodging and parrying if you are invulnerable as Captain Marvel\Kal)

I could go on but like her WW 2009 animated movie and I am sure her 2017 movie she will be as I scope her out above. Even her new 52 book centric (not JL) did a lot to stay that way. When she crosses into Superman line, what's the point. Her powers level dictate your actions. You can argue that "well Shazam\CM" is like Superman. Yes but he was created for direct competition to Superman and even Kal borrowed powers\descriptions from him.

@dragonhunter1414 said:

That's a great scan from the Messner-Loebs' run.

WW was created as direct competition for SM too. Marston's vision was all about looking at what a SM-like hero would be without "blood curdling masculinity" ... most incarnations of Diana have her as his physical equal when the occasion calls for it, if not on an every-issue basis. Don't mistake her having warriors skills as meaning she needs to be weaker than SM to be interesting.