History ComicBook / WonderWoman2023

* TheDragon: Tom King's run sees Sarge Steel take on this role to the Sovereign for Tom King's run. He serves as Sovereign's primary enforcer in this storyline, is depicted as TheFace for A.X.E., and is the field commander of the anti-Wonder Woman team Sovereign assembles.

** In Issue #2, both Steve Trevor and Sgt. Steel are under the delusion that they can defeat ''Wonder Woman'' with normal artillery, tanks, and infantry. You know, the same Wonder Woman who happens to be a millennia-old FlyingBrick demigoddess with powers comparable to '''Superman'''? Not to mention Diana has fought literal {{Physical God}}s like Ares and Darkseid, both of whom could (no, ''would'') effortlessly annihilate whatever the US military could possibly throw at them. And no, this wasn't part of some distraction or greater strategy, Sgt. Steel seriously thought that Diana would instantly fold at the mere sight of military grunts armed with conventional guns and vehicles. This is especially egregious coming from Steve, given how long he's known Diana and seen what she can already do. Just to emphasize just how horribly outmatched the US Army was here, there is a FlashbackBPlot showing a younger, more inexperienced Diana who struggles far more to defeat a single Amazon in a tournament duel than the present-day Diana does against any of the US military forces.

After a mysterious Amazon is accused of mass murder, The Amazon Safety Act is passed, barring all Amazons from American soil. In her search for the truth, ComicBook/WonderWoman finds herself an outlaw. Meanwhile, at some point in the future, Lizzie Prince, the daughter of Diana, is regaled tales of her mother's exploits.

* DepletedPhlebotinumShells: A.X.E. agents are armed with guns that fire "froufrou bullets" which are shown easily penetrating Amazon steel like a hot knife through butter, which enables them to kill a ton of unprepared Amazons who were residing on American soil. However, it's still not enough against Diana's Bracelets of Submission.

* DepletedPhlebotinumShells: A.X.E. agents are armed with guns that fire "froufrou bullets" which are shown easily penetrating Amazon steel like a hot knife through butter, which enables them to capture/kill a ton of unprepared Amazons who were residing on American soil. However, it's still not enough against Diana's Bracelets of Submission.

** In Issue #1, Sarge Steel and his A.X.E. death squad think that just because they managed to capture/kill a ton of regular Amazons by ambushing them with DepletedPhlebotinumShells, this means that they can assassinate Wonder Woman herself with no problem. Diana quickly disabuses them of that notion and non-lethally dispatches every A.X.E. agent sent after her with zero effort.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: In Issue #2, both Steve Trevor and Sarge Steel are under the delusion that they can defeat ''Wonder Woman'' with normal artillery, tanks, and infantry. You know, the same Wonder Woman who happens to be a millennia-old FlyingBrick demigoddess with powers comparable to '''Superman'''? Not to mention Diana has fought literal {{Physical God}}s like Ares and Darkseid, both of whom could (no, ''would'') effortlessly annihilate whatever the US military could possibly throw at them. And no, this wasn't part of some distraction or greater strategy, Sgt. Steel seriously thought that Diana would instantly fold at the mere sight of military grunts armed with conventional guns and vehicles. This is especially egregious coming from Steve, given how long he's known Diana and seen what she can already do. Just to emphasize just how horribly outmatched the US Army was here, there is a FlashbackBPlot showing a younger, more inexperienced Diana who struggles far more to defeat a single Amazon in a tournament duel than the present-day Diana does against any of the US military forces.

* TheDragon: Tom King's run sees Sarge Steel take on this role to the Sovereign. Sgt. Steel seems to serve as Sovereign's primary enforcer in this storyline, is depicted as the one acting as TheFace for A.X.E., and is the field commander of the anti-Wonder Woman team Sovereign assembles.

* BullyingADragon: In Issue #1, Sarge Steel (an unpowered human with a simple prosthetic hand) gets the bright idea in his head to throw a punch at Diana's face while calling her a [[CountryMatters c-word]]. This is after he just witnessed Diana effortlessly take out his entire squad of state-sanctioned death troopers. No surprise Diana easily [[PunchCatch catches his prosthetic fist]] in her bare hand and crushes it after talking down to him like a child.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: In Issue #2, both Steve Trevor and Sarge Steel are under the delusion that they can defeat ''Wonder Woman'' with normal artillery, tanks, and infantry. You know, the same Wonder Woman who happens to be a millennia-old FlyingBrick demigoddess with powers comparable to '''Superman'''? Not to mention Diana has fought literal {{Physical God}}s like Ares and Darkseid, both of whom could (no, ''would'') effortlessly annihilate whatever the US military could possibly throw at them. And no, this wasn't part of some distraction or greater strategy, Sgt. Steel seriously thought that Diana would instantly fold at the mere sight of military grunts armed with conventional guns and vehicles. This is especially egregious coming from Steve, given how long he's known Diana and seen what she can already do.

* TheDreaded: As the daughter of Darkseid, not to mention a Justice League-level threat in her own right, Grail shown to be feared by heroes and villains alike. She's the only one out of Diana's rogues gallery that Sovereign personally recruits for his anti-Wonder Woman team rather than have Sarge Steel act as an intermediary. Sovereign also carefully chose to approach her as an inferior begging for her assistance rather than as an equal or superior like he did with his other supervillain recruits. [[spoiler:When Sovereign sends his LegionOfDoom to attack Diana in Issue #6, he deliberately withholds Grail as a GodzillaThreshold contingency and only sends her in when all other options are seemingly exhausted. Grail is the only supervillain out of the entire anti-Wonder Woman team whose appearance elicits a genuine OhCrap from Diana.]]

* PostVictoryCollapse: In Issue #6, Wonder Woman has to RunTheGauntlet against [[spoiler:the LegionOfDoom team assembled by Sarge Steel in Washington D.C., culminating in a physically exhausted Diana punching out Grail before succumbing to her injuries and collapsing to the ground, allowing the US government to move in and capture her.]]

* TheDreaded: As the daughter of Darkseid, not to mention a Justice League-level threat in her own right, Grail shown to be feared by hero and villain alike. She's the only one out of Diana's rogues gallery that Sovereign personally recruits for his anti-Wonder Woman team rather than have Sarge Steel act as an intermediary. Sovereign also carefully chose to approach her as an inferior begging for her assistance rather than as an equal or superior like he did with his other supervillain recruits. [[spoiler:When Sovereign sends his LegionOfDoom to attack Diana in Issue #6, he deliberately withholds Grail as a GodzillaThreshold contingency and only sends her in when all other options are seemingly exhausted. Grail is the only supervillain out of the entire anti-Wonder Woman team whose appearance elicits a genuine OhCrap from Diana.]]

** Grail also shows a little bit of this to Diana. When Diana states she abandoned her sword, Grail tosses her scythe aside and decides to battle her fist to fist. Though when it seems Diana is beaten, Grail doesn't hesitate to use the scythe for the finishing blow.

* ButtMonkey: Sarge Steel finds himself on the receiving end of this a lot. When he goes to recruit Wonder Woman villains, it's made clear none of them respect him. Circe makes him spend an unspecified amount of time as a pig, Psycho breaks into his office and invites himself to joining Sovereign's LegionOfDoom, and Silver Swan drops him repeatedly from high up in the sky.

* EvilCounterpart: How Grail is juxtaposed to Diana by both the narration and art, both being daughters of divine heritage (though Diana's clay heritage is alluded to several times). Grail however coming from Apokolips while Diana was raised on literal Paradise.

* VillainRespect: Grail is the only Wonder Woman rogue who Sovereign meets and recruits personally for his anti-Wonder Woman team, as Grail's status as an actual god makes her worthy of his respect.

* ButtMonkey: Sarge Steel finds himself on the receiving end of this a lot. When he goes to recruit Wonder Woman villains, it's made clear none of them respect him Circe makes him spend an unspecified amount of time as a pig, Psycho breaks into his office and invites himself to joining Sovereign's LegionOfDoom, and Silver Swan drops him repeatedly from high up in the sky.

* ButtMonkey: Steel finds himself on the receiving end of this a lot. When he goes to recruit Wonder Woman villains, it's made clear none of them respect him Circe makes him spend an unspecified amount of time as a pig, Psycho breaks into his office and invites himself to joining Sovereign's LegionOfDoom, and Silver Swan drops him repeatedly from high up in the sky.

* CountryMatters: Heavily implied to be what Sgt. Steel calls Diana during their confrontation in a snowy graveyard. She sternly warms him not to call her that again, while breaking his steel fist.

* FlashbackBPlot: Issue #2 is constantly switching between the present where Wonder Woman is facing off against the massive US military unit under Sgt. Steel's command, and the past where a disguised Diana is dueling Emilie as part of the tournament held by Hippolyta to determine which Amazon would leave Themyscira with Steve Trevor and act as the Amazons' ambassador to Man's World.
* ForcedTransformation: When Sgt Steel goes to recruit Circe against Wonder Woman in issue five, he spends an unspecified amount of time transformed into a pig by her, complete with bionic hoof.

* GodzillaThreshold: Sovereign and Sgt. Steel consider Grail to be one since she's the literal daughter of Darkseid. Unlike the rest of Diana's rogues gallery who were commanded through a combination of bribery, blackmail, and threats, Grail is acknowledged to be the only supervillain that A.X.E. has ''zero'' control over because she's just ''that'' dangerously powerful. [[spoiler:When Sovereign deploys his LegionOfDoom to ambush Wonder Woman in Washington D.C., he explicitly holds Grail back as part of "Plan G", only sending her in ''after'' Diana has already beaten everyone else. And even then, Sgt. Steel suggested giving up and trying again another day instead of relying on Grail, only changing his mind at Sovereign's insistence. Notably, Grail is the only supervillain in the anti-Wonder Woman team whose appearance garners a true OhCrap reaction from Diana.]]

* JustOneMan: From issue #2 when Sgt. Steel sends his men at Diana. Of course, this being [[OneWomanArmy Diana]], they soon find themselves greatly outclassed.

* OneWomanArmy: Issue #2 has Steel sending a heavily-armed unit of 20,000 soldier with tanks, helicopters and jets against Diana. This being Diana, she smashes past them with almost contemptible ease.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Sgt. Steel has no problem being openly sexist to Wonder Woman.
* PostVictoryCollapse: In Issue #6, Wonder Woman has to RunTheGauntlet against [[spoiler:the LegionOfDoom team assembled by Sgt. Steel in Washington D.C., culminating in a physically exhausted Diana punching out Grail before succumbing to her injuries and collapsing to the ground, allowing the US government to move in and capture her.]]

* RunTheGauntlet: Issue #6 pits Wonder Woman against Sgt. Steel's newly-formed anti-Amazon team consisting of several of Diana's rogues gallery. [[spoiler:First she fights Giganta and Silver Swan, who were able to ambush Diana thanks to Circe's magic. At the same time, Diana is experiencing a psychic assault from Dr. Psycho who is having Angle Man use his triangle to amplify his powers. When Diana prevails over all that, Grail is then sent in to fight a worn down Diana in single combat. While Diana ultimately triumphs over Grail, the battle leaves her so wounded and exhausted that she has a PostVictoryCollapse on the spot.]]

* GodzillaThreshold: Sovereign and Sgt. Steel consider Grail to be one since she's the literal daughter of Darkseid. Unlike the rest of Diana's rogues gallery who were commanded through a combination of bribery, blackmail, and threats, Grail is acknowledged to be the only supervillain that A.X.E. has ''zero'' control over because she's just ''that'' dangerously powerful. [[spoiler:When A.X.E. sends their LegionOfDoom to ambush Wonder Woman in Washington D.C., they explicitly hold Grail back and only send her in after Diana has beaten everyone else. And even then, Sgt. Steel suggested giving up and trying again another day rather than use "Plan G", only changing his mind at Sovereign's insistence. Notably, Grail is the only supervillain in the anti-Wonder Woman team whose appearance garners an OhCrap reaction from Diana.]]

* GodzillaThreshold: Sovereign and Sgt. Steel consider Grail to be one since she's the literal daughter of Darkseid. Unlike the rest of Diana's rogues gallery who were commanded through a combination of bribery, blackmail, and threats, Grail is acknowledged to be the only supervillain that A.X.E. has ''zero'' control over because she's just ''that'' dangerously powerful. [[spoiler:When A.X.E. sends their LegionOfDoom to ambush Wonder Woman in Washington D.C., they explicitly hold Grail back and only send her in after Diana has beaten everyone else. And even then, Sgt. Steel was initially going to just give up and try again another day rather than send Grail in, only changing his mind at Sovereign's insistence. Notably, Grail is the only supervillain in the anti-Wonder Woman team whose appearance garners an OhCrap reaction from Diana.]]

* WhamEpisode: Issue #3 changes everything the audience assumed about Trinity: [[spoiler:she is ''not'' Diana's daughter, but the daughter of Emilie]].

* GodzillaThreshold: Sovereign and Sgt. Steel consider Grail to be one since she's the literal daughter of Darkseid. Unlike the rest of Diana's rogues gallery who were commanded through a combination of bribery, blackmail, and threats, Grail is acknowledged to be the only supervillain that A.X.E. has ''zero'' control over because she's just ''that'' dangerously powerful. [[spoiler:When A.X.E. sends their LegionOfDoom to ambush Wonder Woman in Washington D.C., they explicitly hold Grail back and only send her in after Diana has beaten everyone else. And even then, Sgt. Steel was initially going to just give up and try again another day rather than send Grail in, only changing his mind at Sovereign's insistence. Notably, Grail is the only supervillain in the LegionOfDoom whose appearance garners an OhCrap reaction from Diana.]]

* EnlightenmentSuperpower: Issue five retcons the Angle Man into deriving his powers from having discovered a singular geometric element of the Anti-Life Equation, [[MagicFeather deluding himself into believing he needs a powerless triangle to access his power]]. [[GoMadFromTheRevelation The knowledge has damaged his sanity and made him obsessed with triangles]].

* GodzillaThreshold: [[spoiler:Sovereign and Sgt. Steel consider Grail to be one since she's the literal daughter of Darkseid. Unlike the rest of Diana's rogues gallery who were commanded through a combination of bribery, blackmail, and threats, Grail is acknowledged to be the only supervillain that A.X.E. has ''zero'' control over because she's just ''that'' dangerously powerful. When A.X.E. sends their LegionOfDoom to ambush Wonder Woman in Washington D.C., they explicitly hold Grail back and only send her in after Diana has beaten everyone else. And even then, Sgt. Steel was initially going to just give up and try again another day rather than send Grail in, only changing his mind at Sovereign's insistence. Notably, Grail is the only supervillain in the LegionOfDoom whose appearance garners an OhCrap reaction from Diana.]]

* GodzillaThreshold: [[spoiler:Sovereign and Sgt. Steel consider Grail to be one since she's the literal daughter of Darkseid. Unlike the rest of Diana's rogues gallery who were commanded through a combination of bribery, blackmail, and threats, Grail is acknowledged to be the only supervillain that A.X.E. has ''zero'' control over due to how dangerously powerful she is. When A.X.E. sends their LegionOfDoom to ambush Wonder Woman in Washington D.C., they explicitly hold Grail back and only send her in after Diana has beaten everyone else. And even then, Sgt. Steel was initially going to just give up and try again another day rather than send Grail in, only changing his mind at Sovereign's insistence. Notably, Grail is the only supervillain in the LegionOfDoom whose appearance garners an OhCrap reaction from Diana.]]