Title Character
Princess Diana of Themyscira/Diana Prince
Supporting Cast
Wonder Girl
Villains
A-L (Cheetah) | M-Z | Gods (Ares)
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The Olympians
Olympians in their Greek and Roman guises
The Olympians
The mythical Greek & Roman gods, who created the Amazons and Diana (well, only the female gods—sans Hera—and Hermes, but Zeus liked to pretend it was his idea afterward). Long ago the Greek deities split off avatars of themselves as the Romans to keep from being permanently altered and driven mad by the two civilizations worshiping them as similar but different gods due to the overwhelming power of being worshiped by two major civilizations at once. Over time these avatars developed into their own persons but most ended up rejoining with the originals in the present to defeat the Godwave, as this overwhelming number of worshipers has long since faded into the past. While there are a number of gods that reside on Olympus there are only twelve, the Dodekatheon, that the term "Olympian" usually stands for.
- All Myths Are True: While a limited number of the many Greek Gods have been seen it's no surprise to have any new ones or their stories show up as true as any bit of mythology is available to be pulled into the story-weaving of the DCU.
- Cerebus Retcon: The Wonder Woman Rebirth issue implies the New 52 Greek Gods are impostors when Diana easily crushes Ares' helmet, something which should be impossible. This gets strengthened when she heads to Olympus and discovers it's not only deserted, but falling apart. When it's later confirmed in Wonder Woman #11 that the New 52 Themyscira is not the real deal, this calls into question that everything having to do with the New 52 Gods as they appeared in Brian Azzarello's run was a hoax meant to confuse Diana. The Year One storyline is implicitly contradicting the looks into Diana's past in the New 52 continuity. Wonder Woman #23 revealed these were creations of the real Olympians in an effort to make sure Ares' sons Phobos and Deimos can't find his prison within Themyscira.
- Clap Your Hands If You Believe: The Olympians derive their power from their worshipers to maintain their strength but there are conditions. They can maintain their godhood by drawing strength from worship and feeding on the acts of others, drawing power directly from the Fates, or staying within Olympus to maintain what power they have left. If they lose those three options, they disappear for good. It's for that reason Gods like Ares, Athena, and Aphrodite became the new Big Three, since their respective domains of war and conflict, knowledge and craftsmanship, and love and passion grew over time, while those of the previous three simply degraded.
- Dysfunctional Family/Big, Screwed-Up Family/Royally Screwed Up: Inevitably, but it's actually a plot point in the New 52.
- Gods Need Prayer Badly: Prior to the New 52 some writers felt that this excused or explained why Ares was such a potential danger to the rest of the deities, they are thought of mostly like fairy tales and no longer have a large group of worshipers sacrificing to them and thus losing power while he's adapted to be able to pull strength from any conflict. Aphrodite adapting to draw power from all acts of love has also kept her as a top god when others in the pantheon had their power wane. Part of the reason why the Gods created the Amazons in the first place was to sustain themselves with their worship.
- Immortal Immaturity: Much like their mythological counterparts they're a bunch of squabbling meddlers who are easily offended and tend to interfere with human lives on a whim and produce illegitimate children like Cassandra Sandmark with human women. Some of them are even worse than others, with Eros and his brothers essentially insisting on being teenagers despite their actual age.
- Jerkass Gods: Typical of the Greek Pantheon sadly, and in ways like you wouldn't believe in comics. Really highlighted in the New 52 where the story line is more intertwined with the gods and their actions than normal. Most of their decrees range from disproportionate to downright nonsensical but are handwaved as acceptable due to being gods.
- Physical God: Their titles come with devastatingly immense strength and abilities.
- Shapeshifting: They're all shapeshifters who can choose their forms, with the 12 Olympians, the ruling and top gods, having the most flexible control over their forms. Their forms are still often dictated by how their perceived.
- Super-Empowering: The members of the Dodekatheon can bestow their own power and strength on mortals, and traditionally several of them help empower Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel.
- You Kill It, You Bought It: If an Olympian kills another Olympian they gain their attributes. If a human kills one it doesn't stick as only other gods can kill them. Most of the time it doesn't stick even when killed by a fellow Olympian, partially because they're rarely all in one place since they've got avatars, aspects and champions running about with parts of their power.
Ares
Ares/War/Mars
DC Rebirth Ares 
New 52 Version:
Pre-Flashpoint Version:
- War is many things Diana of Themyscira. It is a crucible by which mortals may discover and abandon their humanity. It is a forge by which they build and destroy their civilizations, but like [fire] war is always hungry. [...] Unfettered war becomes unending, madness...and I was long past the borders of sanity.—Ares, Wonder Woman Vol 5 #23
Arguably Wonder Woman's archnemesis, Ares, the God of War, is a cunning schemer who thrives on conflict and seeks to perpetuate endless war. Despite his bloodthirsty nature, Ares is a genius tactician and master manipulator.
First DCU Appearance: Wonder Woman Vol 1 #1. (1942)
god of: War. Courage. Battlelust. Conflict.
Affiliation: Dodekatheon.
Golden Age Version (Mars)see here.
New 52 Versionsee here
Aphrodite
Aphrodite/Venus
Aphrodite post-Rebirth 
Pre-Flashpoint Version:
" A brighter color, much more suited to you, princess-once-goddess... the color of a love for all creation. Your color."
Goddess of love and beauty and patron goddess of the Amazons. Her adaption with the times has made her more often benevolent than she was in mythology and has provided her with strength those of her fellows who did not so quickly or easily change with the eras lack. She was central to the creation of the Amazons as their own separate and immortal nation and was one of the goddesses to help gift Hippolyta with a daughter, granting a part of her power to the child's construction.
First DCU Appearance: All-Star Comics #8. (1941)
goddess of: Love. Beauty. Procreation. Passion.
Affiliation: Dodekatheon. Themyscira.
For her Golden Age iteration which was tied far more loosely to Classical Mythology see here.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Most DC depictions of Aphrodite were golden-haired blondes but after Rebirth she's become a brunette.
- Adaptation Personality Change: Aphrodite's original characterization was as the founder of the Amazons, a kind, loving mother goddess figure to them who regularly walked among them and gave them help and advice, she was the Big Good of the Wonder Woman mythos. She and Mars were the most powerful of the Olympians. The following iterations of her are mostly apathetic towards the Amazons, less powerful and more interested in romancing random gods than aiding the Amazons.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
- Originally Diana's mothers were Aphrodite and Hippolyte, who together made her as an infant. All subsequent iterations make Aphrodite either just one of a group of goddesses to imbue Diana with life or not at all connected to Diana's origin.
- Marston's Amazons were founded by Aphrodite and Hippolyte, with Aphrodite as their top god who was very close to them. While subsequent iterations worship Aphrodite she's just one of several gods they worship and is not terribly close to them, nor does she live among them.
- Adaptational Skimpiness: Marston's Aphrodite always wore a dress, while her Post-Crisis iteration rarely wore anything at all.
- Big Good: When the gods were included in the Golden Age huge liberties were taken, with them often ruling over the planets named after them, but Aphrodite was the Big Good to the Amazons as the goddess of love.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: She usually wears or is draped in pink, though her aspect as Venus switches out this signature color for purple.
- The Gods Must Be Lazy: Aphrodite is firmly this most of the time, regardless of the fact the Amazons and her champion Diana are constantly being plagued by the evil plans of her lover Ares. Even after becoming one of the most powerful Gods of Olympus, she's content to laze around in the sun on Olympus and offer Ares sex rather than actually help Diana or the world.
- Hot God: As the goddess of beauty, she's almost portrayed as being a Head-Turning Beauty.
- Love Goddess: Like her mythological namesake, but with an expanded repertoire reflecting modern ideas about love as a more all-encompassing and positive thing.
- Mother Goddess: In the Golden Age stories Aphrodite was responsible for the creation of Paradise Island and the formation of the Amazon culture. She was also responsible for creating Wonder Woman herself.
- Pink Means Feminine: Post-Crisis she is pretty much always in pink, and is the most feminine Olympian.
- Sadly Mythcharacterized: Aphrodite of myth saw love as a weapon and purpose, both glorious and deadly and was feared and revered by her worshipers as an avatar of madness, unrivaled beauty and passion that drove men mad. In the comics Eros is able to say, "To her, love is a whimsy thing, all gossamer and moonlights tender sighs!" without lying. This gets explained away as her widening her repertoire of love and becoming a more positive character over the many years of her existence by later writers.
- Sex Goddess: Sexual love is still one of her domains as a goddess, and she's hinted by Ares to truly be a lover beyond compare.
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: Some of her incarnations her being nude, or almost nude all the time, and she's hardly concerned about her own modesty. This usually requires a great deal of Godiva Hair and Scenery Censor angles from the artists. In Rebirth, she often wore just a shirt while around Steve, making him very uncomfortable.
- Stripperiffic: (Pre-DC Rebirth) She's usually not actually wearing anything. Instead she just has a long strip of semi-translucent pink cloth floating curled around her just right to prevent the exposure of any naughty bits.
- Top God: Originally in the Wonder Woman tales she was the top god of the Amazons' more limited version of the Greek Pantheon, and their patron goddess who was able to give their childless queen a daughter.
New 52 Version
See here
Rebirth Version
- Abusive Parents: According to Atlantiades, she wasn't the greatest mother and used him to further her own standing amongst the gods. She's still shown to care deeply about him, and admits she made mistakes.
- Bishie Sparkle: She often has a sparkle effect around her, to indicate how otherwordly beautiful she is.
- Brother–Sister Incest: G. Willow Wilson's decision to make this version of her a daughter of Zeus means that all of her Love Interests are now her brothers.
- Cosmic Keystone: Her death results in the absence of love from the world. That is, until her son takes her place.
- Forced Transformation: During a fight with Ares, she was casually rendering his missiles useless by using her powers to turn them into flowers.
- Healing Hands: She's able to heal Steve by just holding her hand over his wounds for a few seconds.
- Hot Wind: Her hair seems to be constantly blowing in the wind, even in places where there should be no wind, suggesting it's a supernatural effect.
- Killed Off for Real: She gets killed by Cheetah with the God Killer sword.
- Kneel Before Zod: When her, Diana and Maggie get attacked by a horde of hostile cupids, Diana thinks she's in for a fight, but Aphrodite quickly resolves the situation by ordering all the cupids to kneel to her, and they obey since cupids are her servants.
- The Load: She's a Physical God and the Goddess of Love, but despite her power she barely does anything to assist Diana and mostly lazes around Steve Trevor's apartment after Olympus mysteriously disappeared.
- Magical Barefooter: A Greek goddess who never bothers to wear any footwear. Or pants.
- Ms. Fanservice: She spends most of her screentime wearing shirts or some extremely Stripperiffic clothes with a Cleavage Window.
- Naked on Arrival: She was apparently completely naked once she got booted out of Olympus once the Sphere of the Gods collapsed, as she remarks to Diana her first experience with mortals consisted of getting a lot of stares and requests to Please Put Some Clothes On.
- Related in the Adaptation: While there are a very few sources that claim Aphrodite is the daughter of Zeus she has never been such before in DC's continuity. This also causes adaptational incest as she is now the sister of all of her love interests.
- Sadly Mythtaken:
- While there are a few ancient mythological sources that claim Aphrodite as the daughter of Zeus and Dione the father of Dione was the Titan Aether. This claim also only appears in a handful of lists and one of Aphrodite's most famous myths is of her birth/emergence from the sea foam as a daughter of Uranus when his son Cronus cut off his genitals. Uranus is the father of Cronos, who is the father of the Olympians, meaning Aphrodite is fairly older than Zeus according to her more famous myths (technically speaking, she's actually his aunt).
- Atlantiades/Hermaphroditus was in mythology the son of Aphrodite and Hermes who was not born with the attributes of both sexes but gained them later on in life. Here they're presented as a creation of Aphrodite's who has always been intersex.
- Shipper on Deck: Was a major supporter of Steve and Diana as a couple.
- Took A Level In Cynicism: At some point she grew heavily disenchanted with the concept of Love to the point she decided it was inevitably harmful and better off discarded.
- Truly Single Parent: G. Willow Wilson decided to make her Atlantiades' only parent.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting She's able to change some aspects of her appearance at will, such as changing her hair color to whatever suits her fancy. She's also able to take the form of a dove.
Apollo
Phoebus Apollo/Sun
New 52 Version 
Pre-Flashpoint Version:
"I don't know what your plan was with this monster you spawned, father... but I assure you, Olympus belongs to me now."
Greek god of light, prophecy and healing and twin brother of Artemis, who is more integral to Diana's story.
His New 52 version becomes King of the gods after Zeus' disappearance and Hera's banishment, until he dies fighting the First Born.
Not to be confused with the DC hero who has used his name, Apollo of Stormwatch, or the Legion of Super-Heroes villain Apollo (Tal Obrin).
First DCU Appearance: Wonder Woman 3. (1943)
god of: Music. Prophecy. Healing. Light.
Affiliation: Dodekatheon.
- Beneath Notice: No one really forgets he's got the potential to be insanely dangerous but the rest of the Dodekatheon has gotten so used to him being in the background that they'll discuss things he can then pass on to his sister that they would never talk about in front of her.
- Dirty Coward: When the gods of Olympus are about to be forced into oblivion Apollo chooses to knock himself into a dreamless sleep rather than face it. This infuriates Artemis, as it leaves the remaining gods without a reliable easy way to contact the Amazons, essentially abandoning them even though Diana is currently fighting to save the gods.
- Non-Action Guy: He will show support for his sister's plays but he stays out of the action himself, preferring to act as an observer and messenger.
- Satellite Character: He's never seen without it being in conjunction with his sister Artemis and almost all his lines are responses to things she's said.
New 52 Version
See here
Artemis
Artemis/Diana/Moon
Post-Crisis Version 
New 52 Version:
" I'm wary of you, Amazon — you and your loving submission. But I will lead your hunt — because it amuses me to — and in return, you will grant me a wish..."
Goddess of the hunt, wild animals, maidens and the moon, it is from her Roman title that Wonder Woman gets her name. Artemis is one of the twelve Olympians. She was central to the creation of the Amazons as their own separate and immortal nation and was one of the goddesses to participate in granting Hippolyta a daughter with no father.
Not be be confused with the several other DC characters named after her, including the Amazon who replaced Wonder Woman for a time.
First DCU Appearance: Wonder Woman 3. (1943)
goddess of: The Hunt. Wild Animals. Virgins. the Moon.
Affiliation: Dodekatheon. Themyscira.
- Animal Motifs: Deer, carrying over from the original mythology where deer were sacred to her.
- Archer Archetype: Her unsurpassed skill with a bow is carried over from the original mythology, and she can act quite harsh and aloof when her family or humanity gives her cause to be upset, which they do constantly. She does get a bit giddy sometimes when plotting with Athena though.
- Archnemesis Dad: The goddess of virginity and women who helped create a paradise where women would be protected from predation by men does not at all get along with her misogynistic serial rapist father. At times it takes Athena, Demeter and Apollo to keep her from outright attacking Zeus on his throne as he makes arrogant proclamations about his intentions and superiority.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Editorial mandate said she got written out of the books when the Amazon named for her, Artemis, became a member of Diana's supporting cast. Originally a mystery was being built up where her disappearance would be explored and explained but Infinite Crisis happened and this storyline was one of many casualties.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: (Post-Crisis) Her color is red, she most often wears a red chiton with a himation.
- Friendly Sniper: Can reliably hit a target from an entirely separate dimension, and while she can be quite serious she's generally pretty upbeat and personable to those who matter to her.
- Nature Spirit: She is deeply tied to nature, and is most in her element in the forest and away from civilization.
New 52 Version
See here
Athena
Pallas Athena/Minerva
Pre-Flashpoint Version 
Granny Goodness Impersonating her:
" The girl who wondered has seen wonders... has become a woman who has traveled the world, who has traveled worlds! A woman who has touched countless lives, has made them better in ways beyond measure. A woman who has brought hope, and joy, and love. A woman who is the hero of so many. The truth of you has never changed, Diana. Even the gods themselves could not take that from you. Why would we? It's one of the many reasons we love you."
Following the Crisis Diana's patron goddess is Athena, the daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom, skill, defense of towns, just causes and military strategy. She's as wise and warlike as in myth, and even once dethroned her father and took over Olympus. Even when she hasn't usurped the throne Athena remains one of the twelve Olympians. She gifted Hippolyta's fatherless daughter with wisdom and later made Diana into her champion.
First DCU Appearance: All-Star Comics #8. (1941)
goddess of: Wisdom. War (military strategy). Skill. Craftmanship.
Affiliation: Dodekatheon. Themyscira.
- Adaptational Skimpiness: Athena of myth was one of the most consistently well covered goddesses, as she wore her mantle and armor over her dress in pretty much all appearances. When DC's is impersonated by Granny Goodness she has a habit of showing up wearing hilarious chest, midriff and leg exposing pastiches of armor.
- Animal Eye Spy: Can see through the eyes of her unnamed pet owl.
- Batman Gambit: Her plan to usurp the throne of Olympus depends largely on her knowledge of how Wonder Woman will react to certain situations.
- Benevolent Boss: Sort of. Despite crassly manipulating her, Athena does treat her champion well enough. She did grant her the resurrection of a murdered child as a reward for defeating Hades on her behalf. Then she gave Diana her lost eyesight back, just to be nice.
- Big Good: As Diana's main patron.
- Boyish Short Hair: She keeps her hair cropped short, which shows more pragmatism about her appearance than most DCU gods bother with and is in keeping with many depictions of her Roman counterpart Minerva.
- Brainy Brunette: She's one of the cleverest out of the Greek Pantheon and a brunette.
- The Chessmaster: Traditionally known as the more strategically minded of the Greek war gods, and does not disappoint here.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: (Pre-Flashpoint) Her color is blue, and she often wears a light blue turtleneck or a rich blue toga inspired dress.
- Disney Death: Supposedly dies, but keeps appearing by possessing random people.
- Jerkass Gods: One of the more benevolent members of the pantheon. She's still a jerk though.
- The High Queen: She is a far more kindly ruler than her father.
- Lady in a Power Suit: Athena's preferred outfit is a slightly baggy suit with her owl perched on her shoulder. She's also got several toga inspired dress or her aegis and armor should the occasion call for it, but her normal look is businesswoman attire.
- Lady of War: One of the original Ladies Of War. In Greek Myth, Athena represented the positive aspects of warfare, like courage and military strategy.
- Manipulative Bitch: Tends to use Diana and other mortals as pawns in her schemes.
- The Mentor: Athena is one of the five deities who created the Amazons and bestowed upon them part of her wisdom and strategic thinking.
- The Owl-Knowing One: Owls, of course, are the emblem of Athena.
- Prophet Eyes: Frequent attention is called to her grey eyes, which see all.
- Sadly Mythtaken: The Athena of myth did not care for Amazons nor they her:
- Her champion Bellerophon slaughtered Amazons while riding Pegasus, staying out of the reach of their weapons. Hippolyta's mother Otrera is oft considered among the victims.
- In mythology she supported Achilles when he killed Penthesilea, one of Hippolyta's sisters, in the Trojan War. In some versions Thetis got Zeus to bring Achilles back to life after Penthesilea killed him in combat before he killed the Amazon, and in some it was his son Pyrrhus who killed her, but in all versions Athena was on the side of the war opposing the defenders of Troy.
- Took a Level in Dumbass: In Wonder Woman (2006) Athena goes from chessmaster to moron when she decides to leave her responsibilities to Zeus and remove herself from the picture by laying down and dying. This results in millions of deaths and leaves her Amazons fighting for survival and home as Zeus immediately tries to replace them with men who are slaves to his will.
- The Usurper: Takes over Olympus with the (reluctant) aid of Wonder Woman, her champion.
- War God: Just like her little brother, Ares, but with a focus on the strategy and planning aspects.
New 52 Version
See here
Demeter
Demeter/Harvest/Ceres
Post-Crisis Version 
New 52 Version:
The goddess of the harvest and one of the five Amazonian patrons. Her most famous myth relating to her daughter Persephone's marriage to Hades has been addressed several times in the comics.
First DCU Appearance: Adventure Comics #193. (1953)
goddess of: Harvest. Grain. Agriculture.
Affiliation: Dodekatheon. Themyscira.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: (Pre-Flashpoint) Her color is green, tying to her connection to plants.
- Composite Character: As a result of the executive mandate that Artemis, goddess of the hunt had to be jettisoned from the books since they thought readers would be confused with two Artemis' running around Demeter took on her neice's portfolio. This was originally planned to be turned into an arc discovering how Demeter gained Artemis' powers and where Artemis and Apollo disappeared to but then Infinite Crisis barreled through and destroyed all of the arcs that had been set up and Rucka was kicked off the book.
- Green Thumb: Control over plants on a massive scale.
- Team Mom: She plays a motherly role to the Amazon's other matron goddesses (Athena, Artemis, Aphrodite and Hestia) and to the Amazons themselves.
New 52 Version
There's birth and there's death, and in between it's all improvisation.
—Demeter, Wonder Woman Vol 4 #11
Hermes' ally and a motherly figure, whose motivations seem benign at first but are revealed to be just as twisted as any other Olympians' by Ares.
See here
Hera
Hera/Juno
Post-Crisis Version 
" From Prometheus through Heracles through Ares we have let this madness escalate - but no longer! I know now that Gaea's destiny is to be finally fulfilled through the Amazons - and I will not allow you to abuse them!"
Hera is the haughty and jealous Queen of Olympus, and mother of Ares, Hephaestus and sometimes Eris.
Her New 52 counterpart plays a key role after being banished from Olympus and is also the mother of the First Born.
First DCU Appearance: All-Star Comics 8. (1942)
goddess of: Women. Marriage. Queens. Sky.
Affiliation: Dodekatheon.
- Adaptational Heroism: Pre-Crisis she gets along with and aids the Amazons, while in the original myths she's the one that turned Hercules' visit to acquire the Golden Girdle from a diplomatic chat into a murderous bloodbath.
- Alpha Bitch: She's incredibly haughty and petty, and has little respect for mortals beyond their use to her. Jarringly enough, she can be incredibly abusive towards the Amazons and even destroyed the island of Themyscira in fit of jealousy despite being their literal Goddess of Women.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Rucka had her wear blue in all of her appearances under his pen, fitting given she's the queen of the sky. It is also consistent with her appearances in real life ancient mosaics where she's usually wearing blue.
- Disproportionate Retribution: In the post-Crisis continuity, Hera destroyed the island of Themyscira in a fit of jealousy after catching her husband Zeus spying on the Amazon Artemis while she bathed.
- Greater-Scope Villain: In addition to Ares influencing Heracles, her madness spurred him to attack and take brutal revenge on the Amazons.
- Iconic Item: Her gold and emerald diadem with its peacock centerpiece framed by two horn-like points. Some artists simplify the central peacock into a gold spike, especially in interior art, to make is easier to draw.
- Never My Fault: She doesn't see how the Amazon's patrons could possibly think it's her fault she destroyed Themyscira. Obviously the blame lays entirely with Zeus.
- Regal Ringlets: A queen who usually wears her hair in ringlets, though she keeps the ends in a more relaxed wave.
- Sadly Mythcharacterized: (Pre-Crisis) All of her cruel underhanded tricks and characteristic Disproportionate Retribution against her husband's illegitimate children and the women he rapes do not at all fit with the kind goddess of the DCU. It's exceptionally glaring as her jealously was a defining characteristic and helped lead to all out wars in the mythology she originates from.
- Stealing the Credit: She likes to try to act like she was involved in gifting the Amazons with their strength, immortality and island home and pretend she's one of their patrons, but she's really not and did not.
- Yandere: It's noted that she loves Zeus, and is still highly possessive of him, but her affection has very noticeably waned over the centuries of his philandering ways and by the time Diana meets her she has very little left for him.
New 52 Version 
New 52 VersionThe widowed Queen of Olympus who has a long history of visiting horrific punishments on Zeus' bastard children for the audacity of being born.See here
Hermes
Hermes/Mercury
Pre-Flashpoint Version 
I suppose Zeus will be quite angry with me. But I couldn't allow Diana to think that all the gods had abandonded her. I had to intervene. She should have been warned about Circe. We gods owed her that much. Sometimes I don't think we deserve followers like Diana.
—Hermes, Wonder Woman (1987) #19
The messenger of the gods. He is Zeus' son and the fastest of the Greek deities. In his roman guise of Mercury he lends his speed to Captain Marvel. Hermes was the only male god to bestow power on Diana. He bequeathed the Amazonian princess with speed.
First DCU Appearance: Wonder Woman 105. (1959)
god of: Thieves. Trade. Messengers. Athletics.
Affiliation: Dodekatheon. Themyscira.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Ares and Athena certainly think so, though Ares also seems more fond of Hermes than he is of most of his other siblings which helps Hermes keep his lifeAres: And thus my brother returns and, like all younger siblings is promptly annoying.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He usually seems like one of the most pleasant and happy-go-lucky of the Olympians, but he is the god of thieves and is just as capable of jealous overreaction as his siblings, he's just usually more chill, like all of Diana's patrons who are the "nice" ones in the Dodekatheon.
- Cool Helmet: His spiked and winged petasus shaped helmet.
- Defector from Paradise: Following Darkseid's attack, Hermes refuses to quit Earth with the other Olympians, and eventually joins Diana's (mostly mortal) supporting cast. At first it's pretty clear he's trying to have his cake and eat it too, zooming around and using his remaining powers to dazzle and bribe the Puny Earthlings into worshiping him, but he undergoes some pretty brutal Break the Haughty and starts losing his powers entirely.
- Distressed Dude: Diana and Ares had to save him from Hades after Athena took the throne and Hades, Poseidon and Zeus teamed up to get back at her.
- Iconic Item: His caduceus of course, a staff with twinned snakes wrapped around its length topped with little wings.
- Intrigued by Humanity: Hermes is super fond of humans and their idiosyncrasies, quirks, and ingenuity, though he definitely considers himself our superior. In Volume 2 hung out with Steve Trevor and Diana in a mostly human guise.
- The One Guy: The only male Olympian to bless Diana at her conception, as Hera was unavailable. He gave her great speed.
- Sadly Mythtaken: There was a period in the early 2000s where Greg Rucka seemed to confuse Apollo's status as a healer with Hermes, probably because of the caduceus (a staff used by messengers in Greek mythology) which Americans love to mistake for the Rod of Asclepius, a symbol of medicine.
- Skewed Priorities: He tends to focus on the little things. When Ares killed Hades and became lord of the dead and returned Hermes to life, and then he learned that Athena had usurped Zeus while he was out of it too he started asking questions and was promptly distracted by the fact that Athena had set up a laptop to work with the internet in Olympus. Before anyone could explain anything he zipped over to play with it even though Athena was asking him not to. It might be partially because Hades kept him strung up in Tartarus for years and his father is a compassionless jerk.
- Unrelated in the Adaptation: Atlantiades was his son by Aphrodite before becoming the Trope Namer for Hermaphrodite in mythology while the DC Rebirth version of the Erote is presented as having no father. Atlantiades is even named for Hermes' grandfather, though writer G. Willow Wilson misunderstood the sources giving Zeus and Dione as Aphrodite's parents and thought Atlas was Aphrodite's grandfather through Dione. Dione is given variously as the daughter of Uranus or Aether, and Aphrodite herself is famous for being born from the sea foam as a daughter of Uranus.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: He doesn't seem to have any interest in shirts and the closest he gets to covering his top half is a sash or scarf. His New 52 version keeps all covered up, but that version was a fake.
New 52 Version
See here
Zeus
Zeus/Jove/Jupiter
New 52 Version 
Pre-Flashpoint Version:
"A future of chaos— and possible madness— awaits us all because the meek, the mortal, have matured and begun assuming control of their universe."
Generally leader of the gods, and he acts just like in myth, complete with the jerkass tendencies and the Attempted Rape. Even so, he's among the most powerful beings in the cosmos and commands the respect (if not the admiration) of every pantheon of gods, even Darkseid. He's spawned countless offspring over the ages, including the gods Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus; and the demigods Hercules and Cassandra Sandsmark (the second Wonder Girl) and Diana in the New 52. Just as the goddesses of Olympus lend their powers to Diana, Zeus has also empowered other heroes, such as the Olympian and Captain Marvel.
The New 52 made Diana his illegitimate daughter, when she'd previously been fatherless, but later arcs made all of her early interactions with the gods into an elaborate ruse of lies to prevent her from realizing she couldn't get back to Themyscira.
First DCU Appearance: Superman #28. (1944)
god of: Sky. Weather. Kings. Fate.
Affiliation: Dodekatheon.
- Abusive Parents: His treatment of his kids varies from bragging about them, to not caring (or knowing) about them, to being an outright dick depending on how he feels that day.
- Apollo: I have some surprising news about our father.Ares: That he loves us?Apollo: I said surprising, not shocking.
- Aesop Amnesia: He never learns from a lesson in benevolence for long, and is quit to revert right back to his jerkass self in his next appearance.
- Attempted Rape: He was going to try this on WONDER WOMAN of all people.
- Double Standard: Rape, Divine on Mortal: He is hugely offended by Diana resisting his attempts to rape her, and does not at any point ever see how his doing so could ever be seen as anything more than a wonderful boon. Most of his children are disgusted by his refusal to change with the times and accept the mere concept of consent.
- Grandpa God: An embarrassing grandpa even, with his outdated misogynistic notions.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Hypocritically enough, Zeus hates it when the services and loyalty of those who served him happen to serve someone else. Especially another God. When Zeus came to a benevolent Hawaiian God who appointed Wonder Woman as his champion after the Olympians were lost in space, he demanded that Wonder Woman be handed over to him as his servant. When the Hawaiian God refused and pleaded her loyalty was not Zeus' to take, he spitefully killed the God and tore out his heart to make a new champion loyal to him alone.
- Jerkass: Even when he acts nice it ends up being a Double Subversion as his jerkassness comes back tenfold whenever he doesn't get what he considers to be the proper gratitude for his "gifts", which have included the chance to be impregnated with yet another one of his illegitimate children, or having your society be pushed aside to make way for his newest favorites.
- Really his only redeeming trait is that he does at least sometimes learn from his mistakes and eventually accepts that his daughter has taken over from him when he realizes that she deserves it more than he does.
- Literal Split Personality: Prior to Zeus and Jupiter joining back together in a single body they were two different personalities split off from one person with their own forms and lives. Their personalities never fully merged afterwards and Jove has occasionally been the primary personality in control of the merged Olympus but usually Zeus is in charge as the stronger and original one.
- Really Gets Around: It wouldn't be Zeus if he didn't, and fathered Cassandra Sandsmark among other illegitimate demi-god children.
- Sadly Mythtaken: (Pre-Crisis) Zeus is a wise and good-natured god in Wonder Woman, instead of the petty serial rapist of the original myths. He became much more like his hypocritical, self-centered Jerkass God mythological self Post-Crisis.
- Truly Single Parent: Zeus gave birth to Athena by himself.
New 52 Version
See here
Dionysus
Dionysus/Dio/Bacchus
New 52 Version 
Pre-Flashpoint Version:
Dionysus rarely interacts with Diana, and his casual relationship with driving people to life ending madness means they don't get on very well when he does. Dionysus is the youngest of the twelve Olympians, having been granted a seat by his aunt Hestia who stepped down from the position.
First DCU Appearance: Adventure Comics #193. (1953)
god of: Wine. Festivity. Madness. Comedy. Tragedy.
Affiliation: Dodekatheon.
- Beneath Notice: He can hang out among his fellows slouched and drinking without them ever taking note of him unless he brings attention to himself. You'd think they'd know better; he's the god of theater and madness after all.
New 52 Version
We're gods Hermes. We live forever, but twas mortals made this—and if you give them a chance? They'll never stop astounding you—learn to savor the moments.
—Dio, Wonder Woman Vol 4 #31
See here
Hephaestus
Hephaestus/Smith/Vulcan
New 52 Version 
Pre-Flashpoint Version:
"I was the smith who forged it, and I alone can destroy it... before it destroys us all."
Blacksmith of the gods. His forge and home are located within Mount Etna in Sicily.
First DCU Appearance: Wonder Woman #226. (1976)
god of: Smiths. Fire. Metalworking.
Affiliation: Dodekatheon.
- Handicapped Badass: He may have a lame leg, but he's still a Physical God and should not be trifled with.
- Ultimate Blacksmith: As usual. He is the one who built Wonder Woman's invisible jet and magic lasso, amongst other things. Though the jet is sometimes—and was originally—built by Amazons in those continuities where their culture didn't stagnate after they secluded themselves from the world.
New 52 Version
See here
Poseidon
Poseidon/Neptune
New 52 Version 
Pre-Flashpoint Version:
"I did as a God pleases. And if Thule was not returning … if its presence did not cause harm to my domain … I would ignore it still."
God and physical manifestation of the seas, and king of a mythological element of it, however King Arthur is the true king of the physical sea.
First DCU Appearance: Flash Comics #9. (1940).
god of: the Sea. Flooding. Earthquakes. Horses.
Affiliation: Dodekatheon.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Pre-New 52 he often manifested as a green-skinned merman.
- And Now You Must Marry Me: His Pre-New 52 self once tried to do this to Aquaman's wife Mera.
- Making a Splash: Obviously, being the God of the Sea.
- Our Mermaids Are Different: Before Flashpoint one of his favorite forms was a green-skinned merman with a beard that looks like it's made of seafoam.
- Slashed Throat: Cheetah slits his throat in his human guise using the Claws of Extinction, a power that negates his ability to heal from it, in the lead up to the Justice League/Aquaman crossover "Drowned Earth".
New 52 Version
See here
Achilles Warkiller
Achilles Warkiller/Olympian
" I have done many misdeeds. But I will not allow you to sacrifice yourself."
The war hero who helped invade and sack Troy who was deified after his demise. In an effort to take control of Themyscira Zeus tried to create a Themysciran King loyal to only himself and used the ancient warrior's soul to make "Achilles Warkiller". Achilles ended up freeing Wonder Woman himself once he realized how he was being used. He later joined the Outsiders with the code name Olympian.
Unlike Hercules he's tried to adapt with the times and has done his best to become heroic in a modern sense of the word rather than remaining a violent, proud and self-obsessed Greek hero.
First DCU Appearance: Whiz Comics #2. (1940)
Affiliation: Elysium. Olympus. Gargareans. Outsiders.
- Adaptational Heroism: Achilles is trying his hardest to be a hero in the modern sense of the word, and has little in common with the narcissistic Straw Nihilist of the original myths.
- Back from the Dead: Resurrected by Zeus to be the leader of his new anti-war mission.
- Big Damn Heroes: Against the Citizenry's snake.
- Flight: Achilles can fly, though he seems to like riding Mysia.
- Heel–Face Turn: Abandons his mission from Zeus to side with Wonder Woman.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: By Alkyone. Luckily, Achilles had the heart of a God and healed from it.
- Public Domain Character: He's from The Iliad. It doesn't get much more public domain than that.
- Spear Counterpart: To Wonder Woman. Both created by Gods? Check. Both attempting to stop conflict, despite different methods? Check. Both the rulers of one gender races? Also check. You see where I'm going with this.
- Straight Gay: You wouldn't know it from the way he looks or acts, but Achilles is this. His marriage to Alkyone was merely a political one and he later hooks up with his realtor, Patrick Cleese, who turns out to be the reincarnation of Patroclus.
- Super-Strength: On par with Wonder Woman.
- Unwitting Pawn: Of Alkyone. He figures it out and eventually kicks her ass.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: When he was still working for Zeus their supposed goal in disarming humanity and slaughtering anyone who stood in their way was to end war and strife,... by subjugating everyone to Zeus and punishing those trying to practice their free will. A few confrontations with Diana had him questioning the whole thing.
Eros
Eros/Steven Howard
New 52 Version 
Pre-Flashpoint Version:
"My mother! We're far different gods of love, she and I! To her, love is a wimsy thing, all gossamer and moonlights tender sighs! But to Eros— love is fierce, intense, so that its denial makes me grow to giant size in rage."
A deity of love, though quite less encompassing than Aphrodite. He is the son of Aphrodite and Ares, though his New 52 version was fathered by Hephaestus instead.
First DCU Appearance: DC Comics Presents #32. (1981)
god of: Love (love at first sight). Sexual Desire. Attraction.
Affiliation: Aphrodite. Olympus. Daemones. Erotes.
- '90s Hair: The '90s hit poor Eros hard (if a little late) as he went from having a curly top of blonde hair to having blonde dreadlocks.
- Adaptational Modesty: Mythological Eros did not wear clothes. He sometimes had a sash slung over his shoulders, wore a necklace, or wore a leather harness for pulling Aphrodite's chariot with another of the attractive men in her retinue but he wasn't modest in the least.
- Arch-Enemy: For Yara Flor, on account of manipulating her and causing serious harm.
- Bed Trick: It's a bit murky but when Doctor Cyber killed Steve Trevor Eros inhabited the lifeless body with his spirit and operated as Steve Howard after seeing Diana's grief. Just how much of Steve Howard is really Eros instead of Trevor is up to interpretation, but Eros had claimed to love Diana and forced a kiss on her before.
- Cupid's Arrow: Well he is the trope maker. Diana tries to keep him from using this trick around her through as she feels it cheapens romance and takes away choice and autonomy.
- Real Men Wear Pink: His dedication to maintaining a persona that correlates to traditional manliness waxes and wanes over his appearances but he's usually wearing at least some pink, be it a scarf or the strap to his quiver.
- Sadly Mythcharacterized: Oh so so much. Mythological Eros was a cruel playful trickster and prankster who only. maybe, matured out of playing horrifying deadly jokes with peoples emotions only after he himself fell in love and got married. He never stopped being a trickster though, just maybe stopped casually making people fall madly and irreversibly in love with those he ensured would rather die than be with them. Comics Eros claims to represent the dark fierce side of love and passion in the way Aphroditie did in the original myths, while claiming "To her, love is a wimsy thing, all gossamer and moonlights tender sighs!". (This is zig-zagged under different writers though)
- Winged Humanoid: He's depiced as a handsome youth with feathered wings just like in mythology.
New 52 Version
See here
Atlantiades
Atlantiades/Hermaphroditus
"I am the union of opposites."
—Wonder Woman Vol 5. #69
One of the Erotes, and a child of Aphrodite. They have a number of half-siblings through their mother including Eros, Deimos, Phobos, and Harmonia. Atlantiades left Olympus and moved to Summergrove, Connecticut and resents Aphrodite's pride.
First DCU Appearance: Wonder Woman (Rebirth) #69. (2019)
god of: Androgyny. Unions. Sexuality. Sexual Desire/Lust.
Affiliation: Erotes.
- Hermaphrodite: The mythological figure from whom the term was derived Atlantiades is physically both sexes.
- Hot God: As expected from a god of sexuality, they're supernaturally attractive.
- Living Aphrodisiac: Able to cause lust and desire to anyone in their vicinity.
- Not Good with Rejection: They attempt to flirt with Diana who is immune to their Living Aphrodisiac powers and uninterested in them, causing Atlantiades to become outraged that anyone can dare to rebuff them, especially when they learn that she loves a mortal.
- Reclining Reigner: When Diana finds them, they're sitting on their throne in this manner.
- Sadly Mythtaken:
- In mythology Atlantiades was born to Aphrodite and Hermes, the gods of female and male sexuality respectively, while here they were created by Aphrodite alone.
- In mythology Atlantiades name comes from Hermes' mother being a daughter of Atlas, while here Aprhodite's mother Dione was mistaken for one of Atlas' daughters when her father was given variously as Uranus or more commonly Aether, never Atlas.
- Getting rid of their father Hermes makes their more commonly known name of Hermaphroditus entirely nonsensical, as the name is a combination of their parents names Hermes - Herm and Aphrodite - aphroditus.
- Hermaphroditus was one of the Erotes in mythology, but was the god of hermaphrodites, effemate men, and androgyny while lust, sexual desire and mutual love were aspects of other Erotes: lust/desire an aspect Himeros and Eros and mutual love of Anteros.
- Sex God: Mentions to Maggie that a casual hook-up with them would ruin her for any future lovers.
- Taking Up the Mantle: Takes over as the Avatar of Love following the death of his mother, Aphrodite.
- Unrelated in the Adaptation: Hermes is their father in mythology, while here they're presented as having no father.
- Winged Humanoid: Atlantiades is depicted with feathered wings.
Heracles/Hercules
Heracles/Hercules/Wonder Man
Hercules post-Rebirth 
Pre-Flashpoint:
"Too many women have tried and failed, Diana. Time for a man, don't you think?"
Alter Ego: Herakles
Species: Demigod
First appearance: All-Star Comics #8 (October 1941)
The son of Zeus, now an immortal himself with powers on par with Wonder Woman's. In ancient times, Herakles and his men sought to secure Gaia's girdle from the Amazon Queen Hippolyta. After being allowed entrance to their city the brute drugged and enslaved the Amazons and raped the queen. While he left after stealing her girdle some of his men remained, only to be soundly defeated and killed to the last man when the Amazons recovered their strength. In doing so the Amazons broke a sacred oath made to the gods. The Amazons' brutality in securing their freedom infuriated their matron goddesses who forbade them from seeking vengeance on Hercules and set them the task and punishment of moving to the hidden island of Themyscira and guarding Doom's Doorway. The Amazons were split as a segment felt betrayed by their goddesses and chose to leave instead to seek vengeance, losing their immortality but not their strength and becoming the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall. After his demise and apotheosis, Hercules spent centuries imprisoned and bound beneath Themyscira for this transgression and it is source of constant enmity between the Amazons and the now immortal Hercules.
Over the centuries, Hercules has made attempts to become more noble, but his rash nature and love of violence make him a frequent thorn in Wonder Woman's side. His resentment of the Amazons after spending centuries bound beneath Themyscira as punishment without gaining their complete forgiveness has sabotaged his frequent tries for a more modern version of heroism, but he seems to have finally truly learned remorse for his less scrupulous actions of the past. He's gone by Heracles of Thebes, Mighty Hercules, Lion of Olympus, Champion/Harold Campion note , Paul Bunyan/Paul Jackson, and Wonder Man.
In the 1970's Hercules carried his own title, Hercules Unbound, for twelve issues. Unbound was set in a post-apocalyptic future and tied into other post-apocalyptic books like Kamandi.
For related characters see the Wonder Woman character sheets, especially the pages for her related gods and allies.
While he has used the title Wonder Man he's quite different from the character most commonly associated with the name; Marvel Comics' Wonder Man, nor is he to be confused with Wonder Man (Fox), or the Wonder-Man from 1963 that turned out to be a Superman Robot. If you were looking for Marvel's version of the demi-god he can be found at The Incredible Hercules.
- Adaptational Villainy: Sometimes. Generally Heracles' is simply a case of Deliberate Values Dissonance, but at times—such as during Amazons Attack! he acts as a straight up villain, a very different role from that of the mythical character.
- Ancient Grome: Most of the time he is referred to by the Roman variation of his name. The Perez reboot notably averted this by calling Heracles.
- The Atoner: Typically displays this attitude when in heroic mode, and finished the Post-Crisis, Pre-New 52 run this way.
- Brother–Sister Incest: When Zeus and the other gods were abducted by Darkseid's minions, he suggested to his sister Cassandra that they might have to start a new pantheon themselves.
- The Brute: He's got brute strength that he'll turn on people with little notice, and obscure reasoning. He's also incredibly misogynistic by today's terms and his father can set him on people quite easily since he rarely thinks things through before acting.
- Cool Helmet: Sometimes uses the head of the Nemean Lion as such.
- Death by Adaptation: In DC Rebirth Hercules legitimately learns and repents for his actions, growing over time to become humble even. Then he gets killed and leaves all his stuff to Diana.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: In the Greece of the 1200s BC, Heracles would have been a genuine hero. He hasn't evolved much, however, and this makes him a pretty dark character by modern standards.
- Dumb Muscle: Not dumb, per se, but Herc rarely thinks before he swings his fists.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: He truly cares about his mother, Alcmene, and his sister, Cassie Sandsmark. A little TOO much in Cassie's case. Squick.
- Face–Heel Turn: Was revealed to be working with Circe in a plot to conquer the entire world. And then tried to rape Circe and Wonder Woman.
- Go Mad from the Isolation: It's mentioned his punishment to lift and hold the lower foundations of Themyscira for centuries, feeling every bump, crack, and force from the strenuous activity of the Amazons over the years, drove him completely nuts. He mentioned the trauma from that imprisonment to be the reason behind his crazy behavior.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: Heracles is trapped in a cycle of transgression and repentance, making him sometimes a hero, and sometimes a villain. He first started off mildly heroic before being convinced to rape and pillage the Amazon nation. After that he was cursed to hold up the new Amazon homeland, then set free thousands of years later. In an attempt to repent for his awful ways, he returned as a hero under the moniker of "Champion", only to secretly drug Wonder Woman with a love potion to eventually seduce her as vengeance for his imprisonment. He went back on this plan after genuinely falling in love with her, and returned again under the moniker of "Wonder Man" to take over after Wonder Woman passed on her mantle... then betrayed Wonder Woman and tried to rape her. Ultimately he settles on the Face side after being imprisoned again, until released by Zeus during the events surrounding Countdown; he even saves Cassie's life before leaving to do penance (after being rendered mortal)
- I Banged Your Mom: Pulled a profoundly dark version on Wonder Woman when he was working with Circe as well as an Attempted Rape after she refused his offer to create a New Olympus and rule as his mate.Hercules: Then I'll take you by force if I have to. The same way I took your mother. Now how about a kiss?
- Iconic Item: The skin of the Nemean Lion, slung about his shoulders.
- Love Mother, Love Daughter: Heracles seduced and eventually raped Hippolyta before enslaving and doing the the same to her people, before being punished to hold up Themyscrira for centuries. When he came back, he eventually seduced and fell in love with Wonder Woman, daughter of Hippolyta.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: He was already insanely tough due to being a demi-god and favored son of Zeus, but his apotheosis made him significantly more invulnerable.
- Nominal Hero: He tries to be heroic, but this is hampered by Deliberate Values Dissonance and the fact he cares little for the people he is supposed to save, expecting them to pretty much grovel at his feet.
- Outdated Hero vs. Improved Society: In his day, Heracles was heralded as the greatest of all Greek heroes. These days, his actions constitute crimes such as murder, rape and slavery.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Has been both this and Politically Incorrect Villain. He displays large degree of casual and ingrained and thorough disrespect for the female gender.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: What he and his men did to the Amazons. They have not forgotten and many have not forgiven.
- Sadly Mythtaken: A large part of Hercules' Adaptational Villainy comes from changes in the myth of his ninth labor which was to retrive Hippolyta's girdle. In myth, Hercules and Hippolyta got along quite well (even developing a potential romance) until Hera instigated the Amazons into attacking leading him to kill Hippolyta in the battle. In the Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis, Ares goads Hercules into attacking the Amazons leading to the bad blood between the Amazons and him.
- Super-Strength: He's Hercules. This is to be expected.
- Ungrateful Bastard: He elbowed Superman in the face for saving him from Gog, the Godslayer. Not to mention he keeps betraying and sometimes trying to sexually assault Wonder Woman in his reappearances, the same woman who freed him from his punishment after he enslaved and raped her mother and her people.
- Wants a Prize for Basic Decency: He seems to think he deserves to be forgiven and liked by the Amazons because he spent time imprisoned for taking over their country and turning them into sex slaves. It's a major sticking point to him that the woman whose rapes he condoned and conducted don't think he's a hero, since he feels they're being petty and ridiculous.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Hercules delivered one to Wonder Woman during One Year Later after he found out that she had run away from her duties as a superhero and left Donna, Cassie and himself to do all the work.
- Wrestler in All of Us: A skilled Greco-Roman style wrestler actually.
Hestia
Hestia/Vesta
Pre-Flashpoint Version 
New 52 Version:
- "I am pleased that you too did come, Hestia. I know you usually avoid that which divides the gods."—Athena, Wonder Woman (1987) #1.
Once one of the twelve Olympians Hestia gave up her chair on Zeus' council to her nephew Dionysus. Hestia is the eldest of Cronus and Rhea's children, and when her brother Poseidon tried to marry her she chose to enter the hearth of Olympus and remain unwed eternally.
Hestia is one of the matron goddesses of Themyscira and was one of the goddesses to help grant Hippolyta a fatherless daughter.
First DCU Appearance: Wonder Woman Vol 2 #1. (1987)
goddess of: Hearth. Home.
Affiliation: Olympus. Dodekatheon (formerly). Themyscira.
- Bit Character: She occasionally interacts with Wondy but she largely keeps out of the chaos and drama her siblings and their broods generate and doesn't have to put up with them if she doesn't want to since she gave up her seat on the council.
- My Friends... and Zoidberg: When introducing or speaking about the Olympians she sometimes gets tacked onto the end of the list, even though she's no longer part of the twelve and doesn't participate in their manipulative backstabbing.
- Only Sane Man: Among her backstabbing incestuous siblings.
Chthonians
Hades
Hades/Pluto
Post-Crisis Version 
King of Hades and ruler of the dead, in DC his realm includes Tartarus. Usually keeps out of the family drama the his siblings and their broods kick up. In some DC tales he's made one of the Dodekatheon to the exclusion of Hephaestus.
First DCU Appearance: Wonder Woman #329. (1986)
god of: Death. Wealth.
Affiliation: Underworld (Hades. Tartarus. Elysium.). Olympus.
- Dark Is Not Evil/Dark Is Evil: Depending on the Writer and on the situation. His Pre-Crisis incarnation allied with Ares against the other gods, but ended up pulling a Heel–Face Turn after his beloved wife Persephone confronted him, while both his Post-Crisis and New 52 selves are depicted as morally ambiguous, but not actively evil.
- Everybody Hates Hades: Notably averted; in contrast to his Marvel counterpart Pluto, DC's Hades is sometimes depicted as morally ambiguous and feared by mortals, but rarely as truly malevolent and almost never as a Satanic Archetype, since that role usually goes to Ares.
- Happily Married: Prior to Flashpoint he was quite happy with Persephone, and pretty much bowed to her wishes. Very thoroughly averted in the New 52.
- Last Episode, New Character: Pre-Crisis, his first appearance was the very last issue of Wonder Woman before the reboot.
- Necromancer: Well, he is the ruler of the underworld. He has been depicted as capable of directing the shades of his kingdom as though they were puppets, and raising the recently dead as zombies under his direction.
Hell
New 52 Version 
New 52 VersionSee here
Persephone
Persephone/Kore/Proserpina
Pre-Crisis Version 
"Warriors of the underworld hear the voice of your mistress! Cease this attack, return to your place of memories and yearning. Your time in the world of possibilities is over. Leave the darkness nevermore."
—Kore, Wonder Woman Vol 1, #329
The dread queen of the underworld Persephone is the wife of Hades and daughter of Demeter and Zeus. She is the only god in the pantheon to truly be a denizen of both Hades and Olympus, but given she's queen of the former that's where she is sorted on this sheet.
First DCU Appearance: Wonder Woman Vol 1, #16. (1946)
goddess of: Spring. Death.
Affiliation: Hades. Tartarus. Elysium. Olympus.
- Cool Helmet: Kore uses a very distinctive heavily spiked helm as part of her battle dress.
- Green Thumb: Perhaps not as powerful as her mother but Persephone can control plants.
- Hair Color Dissonance: (Pre-Crisis) Her hair is colored blue/green but seems to be intended to be black.
- Happily Married: Prior to flashpoint she was quite happy with her husband, especially since he pretty much bowed to her wishes. Very thoroughly averted in the New 52 where she tried to kill herself to get away from him. For those curious the first interpretation has more in common with the original mythology.
- Necromancer: Like her husband she can control the shades of the dead, and can even countermand the orders of her husband.
- Purple Is Powerful: The powerful Queen of Hades, distinguished in combat and with power overshades and plants has a wardrobe largely consisting of purple cloaks and capes.
- The Scottish Trope: Her name "Kore" is no name at all, it means simply maiden, relating to her connection to spring. It's a way of referring to her for those who fear drawing her attention by use of her name or title.
Persephone/Girl
New 52 Version 
New 52 Version"He wouldn't let me leave. In trying to escape I damed myself and he will never let me forget [it]"
—Persephone, Wonder Woman Vol 4, #9
Demeter's daughter, who so hated her forced marriage to Hell that she slit her forearms and killed herself trying to escape him. While this did bring an end to their marriage it also dammed her as a shade under his control in his realm and he forces her to hold an always bleeding form in reminder.
See here
Charon
New 52 Version 
The ferryman of Hades. His parents are Erebus and Nyx, making Nemesis his sister. First DCU Appearance: More Fun Comics #56. (1940)
god of: Ferrymen. Transport for the Dead.
Affiliation: Hades.
- Adaptational Modesty: His mythological counterpart generally wears a hat and short Doric chiton fastened at a single shoulder, showing off his arms, a large chunk of chest, and his legs while in the comics he's fully covered in a draping oversized robe.
- Black Cloak: Charon wears a dark deep hooded cloak, such that usually, it is unknown whether he bothered to manifest a face for himself during his appearances.
- The Ferryman: DC's version of the trope maker. He ferries the dead, and most anyone else willing to pay that hasn't offended Hades, across the River Styx.
- Psychopomp: He transports the dead.
Ferryman
New 52 VersionSee here
Erinyes/Furies
Alecto. Megaera. Tisiphone.
The three Erinyes who serve Hades and Persephone and whose wrath can only be placated by ritual purification and assigned tasks of atonement. They enforce the completion of sacred oaths and tear apart those who break them, and take vengeance upon murders and those harboring them. A victim can evoke them to take vengeance, especially against those who have betrayed or murdered a member of their own family.
First DCU Appearance: New Teen Titans #12. (1981)
goddess of: Vengeance. Retribution.
Affiliation: Hades. Persephone.
- Animal Motifs: Vipers, which they have a mass of atop their heads.
- Sibling Team: The three sisters Alecto, Megaera and Tisiphone always work together.
- Winged Humanoid: The sisters have tattered feathered wings, though when they are waiting and ominously watching over oaths they do not always manifest them as they usually only bother with wings in their less human more demonic forms.
Harmonia
Harmonia/Concordia
The Brave and the Bold Version 
The goddess of Harmony. She is the daughter of Aphrodite and Ares and sister to Eros, Deimos and Phobos. In versions where Ares' parentage of Hippolyta is maintained—that is most versions—Harmonia is Wonder Woman's aunt.
First DCU Appearance: DC Comics Presents #32. (1981)
goddess of: Harmony. Concord.
Affiliation: Aphrodite. Ares. Elysium. Daemones.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: In her first appearance she wears a deep hooded tattered cloak and unraveling mummy-like bandages with only her cracked uneven fingernails showing. In her subsequent appearances she looks like a pretty young woman with light reddish hair piled atop her head. Of course she is a shapeshifter and she was trying to be creepy the first time Wondy met her.
- Animal Motifs: Vultures, strangely enough despite her clear ties to snakes in the myths. Both animals are sacred to her father Ares.
- Balance Between Good and Evil: She is the counter to Eris.
- Bit Character: She doesn't show up relevant to the plot as often as her siblings, because she doesn't bring any drama or strife to the table and therefore doesn't facilitate new plots as easily. It also helps that her abode is in Elysium where few ever bother traveling in the DCU.
- The Face: Out of her father's children. After Ares agrees to stop trying to destroy or take over humanity he starts sending Harmonia as his representative to gatherings of the Olympians, which is helpful since it is in her nature to act as the voice of reason and the Olympians are backstabbing, conniving and dramatic at the best of times.
- Only Sane Man: Her siblings, and parents, can be a little extreme being a batch of war and love deities. She's much more mellow than them and sees things through a less one-sided lens. She tries to talk sense into her siblings repeatedly, and while Eros occasionally tries to listen he's not good at remembering the lessons she imparts about forcing people to "love" each other for very long.
Eris/Enyo
Eris/Strife/Discordia/Enyo/Bellona
New 52 Version 
The goddess or personification of discord and the strife of battle, her New 52 version is the daughter of Zeus and Hera. Her most famous act from mythology was tossing the golden apple betwixt Hera, Aphrodite and Athena claiming it to be for the "fairest", and the three of them starting the Trojan War over it. She and Enyo are (usually) one and the same in the comics, which happened occasionally in mythology though Enyo/Bellona was usually a separate war goddess from Eris/Discordia. At least one comic has presented her as Ares' daughter and another as the daughter of Nyx.
She is not traditionally strongly associated with the underworld but in Wonder Woman she emerges from it to try to destroy the Amazons after Diana defeats Ares.
In Wonder Woman: Odyssey she, as both Enyo and Bellona, is revealed to have joined the trifecta of war goddesses known as the Morrigan in the service of Nemisis.
For the version of this character appearing in Wonder Woman: Warbringer see here.
First DCU Appearance: Wonder Woman #183. (1969)
goddess of: Discord. Strife. War. Destruction. Conquest. Bloodlust.
Affiliation: Ares. Daemones. The Morrigan.
- Affably Evil: In the New 52 Universe, although she is more Affably Amoral.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: In the New 52 she's lavender-skinned.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: She is traditionally the daimona of the conflict/strife of war.
- Braids of Action: A war goddess who wears her hair braided into battle.
- Me's a Crowd: While everyone in the pantheon can split into their different aspects as individual guises Enyo and Bellona are on the same team and saw each other as friends before Bellona killed Enyo.
- Mythology Gag: (New 52) Eris' reaction to Ares' death gets a comment from Aphrodite about Eris acting as though they were lovers even though they weren't. As Enyo and Eris are one and the same in this reality it's a sly nod at the fact that in Roman mythology Bellona was Mars' consort.
- Sadly Mythtaken:
- Eris/Discordia and Enyo/Bellona are two distinct goddesses (save for when Homer was writing them), the first the daimona of strife and discord and the second a war goddess with the portfolio of bloodlust and destruction.
- Enyo's parents were the primordial sea god Phorcys and primordial sea goddess Ceto, this means Enyo's potential siblings were a host of mythological monsters including the Gorgons and Scylla, and that she was descended from no Olympians least of all her lover Ares/Mars. Although she is sometimes termed "the sister of War" neither of his parents are ascribed to her. She was his mother in one telling, but never was he her father.
- War God: The strife she relates to is usually specifically that of war, and she traditionally haunts battlegrounds. This is part of the reason she cares for Ares and has a—sometimes uneasy—friendship with him.
Hecate
Hecate/Brimo
The goddess of magic. She has served as an enemy to Wonder Woman and the Justice League Dark. Her abode is in Hades and her king and queen hold no grudge against her nor act to stifle her frequently villainous behavior.
First DCU Appearance: Superman Family #218. (1982).
goddess of: Magic. Witchcraft. Ghosts. Night. Necromancy. the Moon.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: The closest thing Hecate has to a sense of morality is her belief that stagnation is bad, and anything that shakes up the status quo should be applauded.
- Lady of Black Magic: The powerful and fearsome goddess of magic.
- Sadly Mythtaken: Mythological Hecate was a virgin unmarried goddess and confidante and friend to Persephone. DC's was supposedly Hades' first wife that he got tired of and resents Persephone for taking her place.
- Wicked Witch: Usually, but sometimes not so much. It depends on her mood.
- Wild Card: Hecate takes no sides and does whatever she wants. Occasionally, that's aiding the protagonists she's interacting with.
Titans
Titans
The titans were the gods who ruled before the Olympians, and from whom most of the Olypians and Chthonians decended. Most of the time all them but Themis are considered to have died or been trapped permanently in and merged with Tartarus during the Titanomachy, but writers occasionally ignore this and have them free to wander and influence the mortal world if it fits the story they're trying to build, such as with one of Donna Troy's origins after her rescue by Wonder Woman and being adopted and raised by the Amazons no longer fit into DC shortened timeline.
- Adaptation Distillation: DC's version of the Titanomachy is streamlined and simplified and involves far fewer players when it is discussed.
- Adapted Out: Most of the titans do not make it into the comics, Styx for instance is only the name of a river in the underworld instead of also being the name of a titan who sided with the Olympians during the Titanomachy.
- Composite Character: Several of their roles are subsumed by Olympians, which also happened to an extent with the original myths over time. Notable examples are Helios, god and Anthropomorphic Personification of the sun, a title and role which DC's Apollo usually claims, and Selene, goddess and Anthropomorphic Personification of the moon, a title and role which DC's Artemis often claims.
- Death of the Old Gods: As in mythology most of them were killed in the Titanomachy, and they were replaced in their positions of power by the Olympians.
- Our Titans Are Different: Some writers continue the long tradition of making the titans giants, best seen with Atlas who is the most commonly shown of their number and whose ankle is usually above the height of any humans.
Cronus
Cronus
King of the Titans and father of Chiron, Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia, Posiedon and Zeus who consumed all his children but the youngest who was hidden from him. Zeus killed him and rescued his siblings, thus becoming the new Top God.
First DCU Appearance:
Titan of: Kings. Time.
Affiliation: Titans.
- Abusive Parents: He ate his children. This is not something good parents do.
- Generation Xerox: Cronus was tasked by his mother Gaea with killing his brutal Top God father Ouranos. Zeus was tasked by his mother Rhea with killing his brutal Top God father Cronus. The cycle is prophesied to repeat itself with a twist when Athena deposes Zeus.
Atlas
Atlas
First DCU Appearance: Spy Smasher Vol 1 #3. (1942)
Titan of: Astronomy. Endurance.
Affiliation: Titans.
- Super-Strength: Such that in raw strength alone he is usually considered the most powerful out of all the Titans and the Olympians. He's holding up the weight of everything in the celestial sphere and is therefore unquestionably one of the strongest characters in the DCU.
- Sadly Mythtaken:
- Sometimes DC's Atlas is depicted as carrying the weight of the earth rather than the weight of all that is visible from earth in the celestial sphere.
- Somehow when Donna Troy's backstory was modified (again) so that the Titans rescued her Atlas is now able to move about and influence things and be part of a team of titans, making his creative prison entirely pointless.
- Tailor-Made Prison: The immense weight he's holding and cannot release lest he be crushed by it is the method Zeus used to punish and imprison him.
Themis
Themis/Justitia
Pre-Flashpoint Version 
Last of the Titans. Themis is the Titan goddess of divine law and daughter of Uranus and Gaea, she is called the last of the Titans as she remains on Olympus and was not imprisoned or killed when the current batch of gods took over like her fellows.
First DCU Appearance: New Teen Titans Vol 2 #11. (1985)
Titan of: Divine Law. Justice.
Affiliation: Olympus. Athena. Titans.
- Blind Justice: She wears a blindfold in most of her appearances, especially when she's in Olympus.
- Composite Character: She's more a combination of mythological Themis (divine law) and her daughter Dike (justice, moral order, societal customs) than just Themis.
Other Greek dieties
Deimos
Deimos/Metus/Formido/Fear
Demios is the son of Ares and Aphrodite and twin of Phobos. He has faced off against Wonder Woman across several iterations of the character.
For the version of this character appearing in Wonder Woman: Warbringer see here.
First DCU Appearance: Wonder Woman #183. (1969)
god of: Terror. Dread.
Affiliation: Ares. Daemones.
- Always Identical Twins: It's obviously a choice considering their shapeshifting capabilities but he and Phobos take care to appear quite identical in their various forms, usually with only hair to differentiate them. They cared less about this pre-Flashpoint.
- Animal Motifs:
- (Post-Crisis) Deimos adopted a snake motif in reverence of his father, specifically cobras. It's a comic original animal connection since he had no sacred animals in mythology, and could only really be equated with birds since he and Phobos had feathered wings. It seems in practice he also stole his sister Harmonia's snake motif from mythology, as she is now associated with vultures instead.
- (Rebirth) Deimos and Phobos both pick up a dog motif, and spend a lot of time manifesting as dangerous dogs.
- Brains and Brawn: (Post-Crisis) Deimos acts as the brains to Phobos' resentful brawn.
- Fusion Dance: He and Phobos can combine to create a really spot on duplicate of their father, even though apart they don't have enough power for their attempts to mimic dear old dad to mean much to other deities.
- Killed Off for Real: Prior to Flashpoint Diana killed him in her first outing to "Man's World" and he stayed dead for decades, through several reboots of the universe, despite being a god. Her lasso is a god touched and created weapon so it bypasses the gods can only be killed by other gods rule.
- Love God: Demios is technically a love god like his mother in addition to the traits he picked up from dear old dad. He's just a really dark kind representing the fear of the loss of loved ones.
- Sibling Team: With Phobos—and Eris when she's considered his sister. All three of them have an undying loyalty to their father, even though this loyalty sometimes manifests as them going against his apparent wishes to try and restore him to glory or take revenge on Wondy.
- Spared by the Adaptation: In his first appearance in DC's more concrete universe that emerged from Crisis on Infinite Earths Diana killed him rather quickly to save Steve and Etta, his Rebirth incarnation is still going strong. Of course in the end that killing didn't stick anyway, it took him out for years but didn't really have any of the elements needed to put down a Greek deity in the DCU for good.
- Supernatural Fear Inducer: He's the god of terror, and he can impose dread on those unfortunate enough to stand in his way.
- Visual Pun: He and Phobos are war gods who spend a lot of time in DC Rebirth looking like either hellish hounds with skeletal faces or doberman pinschers. they're dogs of war
- War God: The fear he strikes is most commonly tied to the fear brought on by war, and he often accompanies his father on the battlefield.
- Weird Beard: In his first appearance he manifested with a vaguely human upper face, mostly hidden by his cobra adorned helmet, and a writhing beard of thin snakelike tentacles that started almost directly beneath his eyes.
Nemesis
Nemesis/Rivalitas
The Goddess of Retribution. Nemesis was driven mad by the cries of the unjustly slain, while simultaneously being empowered by them. Every murder, and every casualty of war made her stronger and more fanatical, until she was strong enough to drive all other gods out of reality itself. Seeing Diana as the last obstacle to her own domination, Nemesis sought to remove her by any means necessary.
For the version of this character appearing in Wonder Woman: Warbringer see here.
First DCU Appearance: Wonder Woman #611. (2011)
goddess of: Retribution. Indignation.
Affiliation: Daemones.
- Artifact of Doom: The Flashing Blade, created by the Titans to kill gods themselves. It's a semi-sentient sword that longs to punish murderers and warmongers.
- Big Bad: Of the Odyssey arc.
- Demonic Possession: To the Wonder Woman of Earth-0, or most of her, anyway.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: She couldn't exist without it and it's that very fact that fuels her virtually infinite power.
- Omnicidal Maniac: Since humanity is the source of murder, Nemesis reasoned that she could only fulfill her purpose by destroying them entirely.
- Sadly Mythtaken: In mythology the dead were of no consequence to her. She saw the measure of happiness and fortune in a person's life and if they had what she considered was too much she'd deal out suffering for those in question, as a direct counter to Tyche (the goddess of fortune). She was also far more concerned with getting revenge for jilted lovers in myths than the murdered dead.
- Suicide by Cop: Her ultimate goal. She considers allowing Diana to kill her and become the new Nemesis to be her ultimate victory.
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: With every unjust death, her power grew until she could reign alone out of all the gods to the point all the gods fled the mortal plan in terror of her and went into hiding to escape her wrath. It also drove her completely mad.
- Xanatos Gambit: Either Diana joins her as part of the Morrigan, allowing Nemesis to kill everyone, or Diana kills her and is forced into the position herself. Either way Nemesis gets what she wants.
Phobos
Phobos/Pavor/Terror/Panic
Phobos is the son of Ares and Aphrodite and twin of Deimos. He has faced off against Wonder Woman across several iterations of the character, and usually teams up with his siblings Deimos and Eris.
For the version of this character appearing in Wonder Woman: Warbringer see here.
First DCU Appearance: Wonder Woman #183. (1969)
god of: Fear. Panic. Rout.
Affiliation: Ares. Daemones.
- Always Identical Twins: It's obviously a choice considering their shapeshifting capabilities but he and Demios take care to appear quite identical in their various forms, usually with only hair or their very different helmets to differentiate them. They cared less about this pre-Flashpoint.
- Animal Motifs:
- (Post-Crisis) Phobos' mythological ties to lions has been used to inspire some of his looks.
- (Rebirth) Deimos and Phobos both pick up a dog motif, and spend a lot of time manifesting as dangerous dogs.
- Brains and Brawn: (Post-Crisis) Deimos acts as the brains to Phobos' resentful brawn.
- Dumb Muscle: (Post-Crisis) Phobos' most common manifestation looks like a large troll, and he seems to bumble along angrily following Deimos' plans while Deimos belittles him and calls him dumb. Ultimately he surprises the reader by proving he's not dumb when he comes up with a plan to get revenge for his brother that causes a lot of destruction and death.
- Fusion Dance: He and Demios can combine to create a really spot on duplicate of their father, even though apart they don't have enough power for their attempts to mimic dear old dad to mean much to other deities.
- Love God: Phobos is technically a love god like his mother in addition to the traits he picked up from dear old dad. He's just a really dark kind representing the fear of the loss of loved ones.
- Sibling Team: With Demios even though they don't often get along they're also rarely seen without each other.
- Supernatural Fear Inducer: He's the god of fear, the kind which can rout an army, and he can impose it on those unfortunate enough to stand in his way.
- Visual Pun: He and Demios are war gods who spend a lot of time in DC Rebirth looking like either giant hellish hounds with skeletal faces or doberman pinschers. They're also the actual sons of someone who goes by War. they're dogs of war
- War God: The fear he strikes is most commonly tied to the fear brought on by war, and he is specifically the god of rout.
Ogdoad, Ennead & other Egyptian dieties
Bast/Bastet
Bast/Bastet/B'sst/Baast/Ubaste/Baset
"Gods can't die. We merely fade away."
—Bast
Bast was one of the goddesses to grant protection to the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall, helping magically hide their city from detection.
First DCU Appearance: The Sandman (1989) Vol 2 #24 (1991)
goddess of: Cats.
Affiliation:
- Animal Motifs: The cat headed goddess of cats with powers relating to cats.
- Cat Folk: She's occassionally appears as an actual cat but her usual look is that of an anthropomorphic black cat that's mostly human outside of the head and tail.
- Sizeshifter: All the Egyptian gods can alter their size dramatically at will.
Isis
Isis/Ēse
Isis was one of the goddesses to grant protection to the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall, helping magically hide their city from detection. She is often accompanied by her sister Nephthys.
Not to be confused with Isis, a hero connected to the Captian Marvel mythos who is named after the goddess.
First DCU Appearance: All-Flash Vol 1 #19 (1945)
goddess of: Fertility. Maternal Healing. Birth. Protection of Mummies.
Affiliation: Ennead.
- Love Goddess: A fertility goddess.
- Sizeshifter: All the Egyptian gods can alter their size dramatically at will.
Neith
Neith/Nit/Net/Neit
Neith was one of the goddesses to grant protection to the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall, helping magically hide their city from detection in a trade for worship.
First DCU Appearance: Wonder Woman Vol 2 #176 (2002)
goddess of: War. Hunting.
Affiliation: Amazons
- Pintsized Powerhouse: She can alter her size at will, but in her default form she is by far the shortest of the goddesses who protect the Amazons, and as a war goddess with little interest in ceremony or tradition she packs quite the punch.
- Sizeshifter: All the Egyptian gods can alter their size dramatically at will.
- War God: Yes indeedy, though these days she focuses her looks and behavior more on the hunting element of her portfolio.
Nephthys
Nephthys/Nebthet/Nebet-Het
Nephthys was one of the goddesses to grant protection to the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall, helping magically hide their city from detection. She made a deal with Artemis of Bana-Mighdall to grant her young acolyte a weapon of her own.
First DCU Appearance: Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol 2 #2 (2016)
goddess of: Protection. Defense of the Monarch. Death. Protection of Mummies.
Affiliation: Ennead.
- Holy Halo: Depicted with a vibrant disk of light as an aureola behind her desiccated head.
- Sizeshifter: All the Egyptian gods can alter their size dramatically at will.
Other Deities
Anann
Anann/Anand
Odyssey Version 
First DCU Appearance: Wonder Woman #605. (2011)
goddess of: War.
Affiliation: The Morrigan.
Celtic warrior goddess. In Wonder Woman: Odyssey she is revealed to have joined the triumvirate of war goddesses known as the Morrigan in the service of Nemisis.
Affiliation: The Morrigan.
Celtic warrior goddess. In Wonder Woman: Odyssey she is revealed to have joined the triumvirate of war goddesses known as the Morrigan in the service of Nemisis.
- Affably Evil: She's trying to turn Diana into another war goddess, but even then the affable bit is come and go.
- Cool Helmet: She's got a marvelously spiky helm.
- Sadly Mythtaken: While the Morrígan is often (though not always) described as a trio of goddesses there were specific sister goddesses who composed that trio, even if there were three separate options for which trio of goddesses it may be in any given manuscript. Anand is the only member of the DCU's trio who is ever claimed as part of the trio in mythology, though that name was also used interchangeably with Morrígan. There's also the fact that while she/they were a warrior they were more a goddess of guardianship than razing other places to the ground unprovoked.
- Throat Light: When she's unleashing one of her fiery flesh melting screams her throat and eyes light up green.
- War God: A Celtic one, who was sometimes paired with Badb (war goddess) and Macha (sovereignty goddess) to make the triumvirate of the Morrigan, though sometimes the trio excluded Anann and had Nemain (havoc of war) in her place, or was comprised of a different three sister goddesses. Sometimes Anann was the Morrigan rather than a single component thereof.
Janus
Janus
Female Half
Male Half
First DCU Appearance: Wonder Woman Vol. 5 #774. (2021)
god of: Transition. Beginnings. Endings.
Affiliation: N/a
The dual Roman God/Goddess of transitions, past, and future. The female half (representing the future) was an Arc Villain for Diana in Wonder Woman (Infinite Frontier).
- Body Horror: The back on Janus' male half is not a pretty sight after the female half cuts itself free of it.
- Dressed Like a Dominatrix: Janus' female half outfit evokes this with her version of Diana's Norse attire outfit with more exposed cleavage, spikes on the shoulders, and a leather choker on her neck.
- Duality Motif: As dual god/goddess over the past and the future, the past is represented by it's male half in the form of an old bearded man and the future is represented by it's younger looking female half.
- Evil Me Scares Me: As one can see from the picture above, Janus' female takes the form of an evil looking Diana.
- Kill the God: Janus' female half wields the "God Scalper" and uses it to kill off the Olympian Pantheon once she becomes free of her male half.
- Move in the Frozen Time: The male half has this ability and uses it to talk to Diana privately.
- Insistent Terminology: Janus' male half makes a point to Diana that he's a Roman God, not Greek.
- More Deadly Than the Male: Janus' female half kills off (temporarily) the entire Olympian pantheon and scores of other gods across the DC Cosmos. Subverted in that it turns the female half got the idea from, and influenced by, it's male half
Odin
Odin/Wotan
First DCU Appearance: Comic Cavalcade #17. (1946)
god of: Wisdom. Poetry. War. Death. Divination.
Affiliation: Asgard. Valhalla.
Pre-Crisis Odin was rather one-dimensional as the father of the antagonistic Valkyries who acted as Wonder Woman's enemies under the leadership of Gurda. He gained a great amount of strength from the conflict of WWII and Diana first confronted him when Valkyries kidnapped Steve Trevor from the battlefield to Valhalla, which was a planetoid over which Odin ruled. Wonder Woman led a contingent of Amazons against Valhalla, which was aiding the Axis powers, and destroyed it.
Post-Crisis Odin was far less one note, being the Highfather of the Norse gods rather than a lone figure with only the Valkyries as allies. He was also far less antagonistic, teaming up with Zeus/Jupiter and Ares/Mars to fight Darkseid, and Wonder Woman traveling to him to ask for aid though he declined to give it out of fear of Athena.
- Driven to Suicide: (Pre-Crisis) After Aphrodite took his Valkyries and Odin was left alone in his fortress he killed himself out of shame at his defeat.
- Eyepatch of Power: His eyepatch is always present, and he is a Physical God.
- Sore Loser: After the Amazons defeated him he decided to target them and try to turn them into Valkyries with no choice but loyalty and servitude to him. It took Aphrodite stepping in to save those Amazons he managed to grab.
- Top God: So far as Norse gods are concerned he's their ruler.
- War God: He derives strength from ongoing wars, especially those involving his worshipers or their descendants.
Tezcatlipoca
Tezcatlipoca
The trickster god of the Aztecs, Tezcatlipoca faced Wonder Woman during her intervention in the South American republic of Tropidor.
- I Have Many Names: Says this word for word during his first meeting with Wonder Woman.
- Physical God: A trickster deity with all the dangerous unpredictable power that entails.
- Trickster God: He can manipulate and lie and twist the meaning of words and play dangerous pranks with the best of them.
Thor
Thor
First DCU Appearance: Comic Cavalcade #17. (1946)
god of: Thunder. Sky. Protector of Mankind.
Affiliation: Asgard. Valhalla.
The Norse God of Thunder. Not to be confused with some other Thors you may have heard of.
- Amazon Chaser: In Wonder Woman (Infinite Frontier), he's shown getting on well with Gundra, Wonder Woman villain and Queen of the Valkyries, who is somewhere around 10 feet tall.
- Elemental Motifs: He's got a big and prominent lightning bolt across the front of his outfit.
- Fiery Redhead: Whenever he pops up in the DC Universe he tends to have his Truer to the Text red-hair to go with his Boisterous Bruiser personality.
- Mind Manipulation: Has shown to be susceptible to this. In his first appearance in Comics Cavalcade in 1946, Adolf Hitler uses the Spear of Destiny to mind control him.
- In Wonder Woman (Infinite Frontier), his aggressive demeanor (even by his standards) is revealed to be due to enchantments on the weapon's he's been using caused by Dr. Psycho
- Truer to the Text: In Wonder Woman (Infinite Frontier), Thor is depicted as a stout, red-headed man with a beard, which is how he was said to look in the original mythology, as opposed to Marvel's take on the character. Mjolnir is also designed to look more like it does in Norse mythology, rather than the block-on-a-stick design Jack Kirby gave it and popularized by the MCU.
Urzkartaga
Click here to see his plant form Pre-Crisis
First DCU Appearance: Wonder Woman (1987) #605. (1989)
god of: Plants. Blood. Fertility.
Affiliation: the Temple of Urzkartaga.
Urzkartaga is the god from whom Cheetah derives her powers, by acting as his an avatar/consort.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Barbara finding Urzkartaga works out poorly for her in both continuities.
- In the first her desire to become the latest Cheetah works out and she's amoral enough that she doesn't mind the Human Sacrifice and Blood Magic aspect, but since he offended his "bride" wasn't a virgin, he spitefully cursed her human form to become frail and in constant pain.
- In Rebirth Barabara was trying to find proof that old gods were actual entities and upon locating him was forcibly and painfully transformed into the Cheetah.
- Botanical Abomination: His physical form is that of an ordinary plant, but it sustains itself on human blood. In Rebirth he becomes even more so than his previous incarnation, as he now has an actually demonic monstrous form that is made out of plants and vines.
- Death by Adaptation: Barbara is freed from Urzkartaga in Wonder Woman (Rebirth) through his destruction, while his original incarnation was merely demoted to occasional mentions.
- Demoted to Extra: In the Post-Crisis continuity. He was originally a central aspect of Cheetah, but became increasingly less relevant as time went on, not helped by the fact Minerva got Circe's help and became a Voluntary Shapeshifter that was not affected by his frailty curse and no longer needed blood to fuel her transformation. She still occasionally mentioned that her powers were divine by origin, with his name not even being used as she simply referred to him as a Fertility God.
- Fantastic Flora: A godlike, mystical plant being from Africa.
- Fantasy Pantheon: Urzkartaga is a DC original god from a DC original country.
- Fertility God: He's either referred to as a plant or fertility god, although in the Post-Crisis continuity, we never get details if he did anything for his tribe other than granting the Cheetah powers to his chosen champion for their protection. In Rebirth he's more explicitly made to be a fertility god.
- God of Evil: A cruel god who requires sacrifices of blood and takes virgins as his avatars and consorts and whose own worshipers turned against him to try and seal him away.
- Grand Theft Me: In Rebirth, he had his cult of worshippers capture Steve Trevor so he could possess his body and acquire a human host for himself since his divine body was imprisoned in his lair, but Diana foiled his plans and killed him.
- He-Man Woman Hater:
- In Post-Crisis continuity, since Minerva wasn't a virgin he saw no worth in her as a bride, so he betrayed Minerva for Sebastian Ballesteros due to the belief a human male would serve as a better Cheetah host than a woman, since he sees women as naturally inferior warriors. When Minerva managed to kill Sebastian, Urzkartaga reluctantly accepted her back as his champion and Cheetah host.
- Rebirth makes him a more explicit chauvinistic, with him punishing his non-virgin female worshippers and preferring women as his Human Sacrifices.
- Jerkass Gods: He's a very petty and cruel god, who harshly punished Minerva in both Post-Crisis and Rebirth purely out of jealousy of the idea his bride has been with another man.
- Killed Off for Real: He's defeated and reduced to a seedling by the of Wonder Woman (Rebirth)s "The Lies" story arc. That seedling is then used by Veronica Cale to make a serum to give Minerva back her Cheetah powers, and he's presumably destroyed for good.
- Marriage to a God: His chosen champion who he grants the Cheetah powers to must also serve as his bride.
- Nature Adores a Virgin: He greatly values virginity, and is furious when he discovers Minerva isn't one, and punishes her by cursing her human form to become frail and in a state of constant agony (Post-Crisis) or by giving her an insatiable hunger for human flesh (Rebirth). In Rebirth he also curse his female worshippers who aren't virgins, not just the Cheetah.
- The Power of Blood: His power seems to come from human blood, thus he requires the Cheetah and his other worshippers to feast on blood or sacrifice it to him, so he can keep granting her divine powers.
- Religion of Evil: Worshipping him seems to revolve around Blood Magic, Cannibalism and Human Sacrifice.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: In Rebirth he got sealed in the Urzari Jungle in Africa many years ago, and years for release.
- Super-Empowering: Urzkartaga grants powers of Cheetah to the women who become his consorts and champion through ceremony When he gets destroyed in Rebirth, Minerva is promptly Brought Down to Normal, but soon after Veronica Cale manages to use his remains to develop a serum that empower Minerva once wore.
