Supermaxx — Roleplayer Guild

C H A R A C T E R   C O N C E P T   P R O P O S A LW O N D E R  W O M A N

DIANA PRINCE-TREVOR   ♦   QUEEN AND CHAMPION   ♦   THEMYSCIRA   ♦   THE AMAZONS AND THEIR PATRON GODS

C H A R A C T E R   C O N C E P T:

"Hateful to me as the gates of Hades is that man who hides one thing in his heart and speaks another."
- Homer, The Iliad

Diana was never born. Her first memory was of washing ashore an island paradise, swaddled in a bloodied cloak, as all Amazons before her. They raised her to be a warrior, taught her of their Patron Gods, and warned of the dangers of the outside world. Through skill at arms, a head full of wonder and a golden heart she earned the respect of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, who took Diana as her daughter and heir. For all her life she knew only the peace and plenty of Themyscira. Yet, for reasons even she couldn't understand, she yearned for more. She yearned to know what lay beyond the sea, beyond the horizon she had watched since she was just a little girl. The gods granted her a chance when a hulk of burning steel came falling from the sky, depositing bodies onto the very shores she was 'born' on.

Only one man survived the plane crash: its pilot, an American soldier by the name of Steve Trevor. He told his rescuers- and captors- of the world beyond the sea. He told them of an apocalyptic war put on by a mad tyrant, bent on conquest and genocide. He told them that if this man succeeded, even their island hidden in the mist could be under threat. The queen, calling on the wisdom of Athena, knew what ought to be done. A champion ought to be chosen to carry the survivor home, to defeat this terrible foe, and to be Themyscira's bridge to the mortal realm. Athena chose Diana as her champion. She would be granted boons of power by each of the Patrons to aid her in her quest, though they came with a mighty cost: An oath that Diana would never return to her home of Themyscira.

She would enter the world in October of 1941, joining the Allies in their fight against the Axis powers. Diana would fly alongside the Blackhawks, shake hands with the one they called Steve Rogers, and mistake Captain Marvel for a demigod. She would go toe to toe with beings of unimaginable power and cruelty. She would bear witness to the worst- and even the best, at times- of what humanity had to offer. It was also when her exploits caught the attention of international press, who chose the curious moniker of 'Wonder Woman' for her. It became a part of her.

Victory came and went, but the work was never done. Diana would follow the survivor, Steve Trevor, back to his United States and make a life with him there. She would begin her advocacy not only for Themyscira, but also for peace, and for other beings like her that the world often misunderstood. An embassy would be opened in Washington, D.C. The Amazons would be granted Permanent Observer status the United Nations. And her new, curious role of superhero would continue to grow in scope and importance. Life was hard, but it was good.

Things deteriorated as time went on. The Cold War would ramp up and her diplomatic presence would be met with more and more hostility by every side, her neutrality brought into question constantly. Metahumans were viewed with distrust or outright hostility. Many of her friends would retire in anonymity, putting down the cape and cowl after so much public pressure. On top of it all, Trevor's health was deteriorating. After much deliberation, Diana chose to retire, too, so that she might spend the last of her love's life with him in peace.

Decades passed in lonely isolation before Diana saw a golden messenger descend from the sky, grave news clutched in his fist. Hippolyta, her mother, had passed suddenly, and she had not named another heir since Diana had left. Themyscira was in chaos and Olympus was divided. Some of the Patrons were beckoning her to return despite her oath, while others still warned of the dire consequences. Diana didn't care. The world of man had little left for her, and the Amazons were in need- she would return home, Gods be damned.

Queen Diana of Themyscira has ruled for just under five years and already she's made many a radical change. She has established normal relations with the governments of mankind, allowing a trusted circle of Amazons to go and leave as they see fit, and even allowed choice outsiders to visit paradise. She's even begun her work as Wonder Woman once again, joining the Justice League to help defend Earth from threats too powerful for any one hero to handle.

Yet for all the appearance of prosperity and stability, there is stirring in the pantheon. Daggers move in the shadows of Olympus. The Patrons are weakened, divided, and their rivals seek to take advantage of Diana's broken oath. Poseidon and Hades bicker over the Abyss- that dividing line between the ocean and the underworld. Deimos, Phobos and Eris clamor for the release of Ares. And Zeus, Skyfather and the mightiest of all the Gods, turns his jealous eye toward other pantheons of Earth.

C H A R A C T E R   M O T I V A T I O N S   &   G O A L S:
I wanted to take advantage of the timeline of this game and went with a more mature version of Diana with a long history and a lot of lore I can draw from. She's seen everything from WW2 and the golden age of capes to the Cold War and the rejection of metahumans by the public, and those experiences will shape her characterization: Diana is more skeptical of people, she yearns for a return to an age of heroism, and she's more pragmatic in her application of violence. But, critically, she hasn't given up on her core principles. She still believes a better world is possible, only now she knows it is a road not easily traveled.  

One of my main inspirations for this version of Diana was Wonder Woman's Rebirth run by Greg Rucka and a few others. I intend to incorporate more mythological aspects of her lore than the traditional superhero bits, though I hope to touch on those as well. The opening plot will be focused heavily on her Patrons, her broken oath to never return to Themyscira, and the possibility of war in the heavens. The consequences of her actions in this arc will affect the trajectory of the rest of her story in radical ways that I'm pretty excited for, if I'm honest. I just gotta make sure I get there!

I think I've made one attempt at writing in the supernatural corner of these One Universe games, and I've never applied for a major character, and if I'm honest I'm a bit nervous taking on that responsibility. After quite a bit of thinking and writing and planning, however, I believe I have a strong plot mapped out and an interesting direction to take the character in.

C H A R A C T E R   N O T E S:
This section will be filled in as characters appear in-character.

Athena: Goddess of Wisdom and Battle Strategy, her symbol is that of an owl. She is one of the twelve major Gods of Mount Olympus and the principle architect of the rebellion against the Titans- when the Olympians' toppled the tyrant Gods that came before them. Through her sheer brilliance and no small amount of politicking, Athena had risen to be the favored child of Zeus, second in his eyes only to his wife, Hera. Recent events regarding her champion in the mortal realm, Wonder Woman, has eroded much of the respect she once held. Athena is the defacto leader of the Patrons.

Demeter:Goddess of Earth, Fertility and Harvest, her symbol is the cornucopia. One of the six Gods of the first generation and a major God on Mount Olympus, Demeter is said to have bestowed agriculture to the primordial men. She is said to care little for the goings on in the godly realm, preferring to walk among the forests and fields of the mortals, granting secret boons to those that show her kindness. It is said her shifting mood reflects the changing of the seasons. Like her niece Athena, Demeter is one of the Patrons of the Amazons.

Aphrodite: Goddess of Love, Beauty and Fertility, her symbol is that of the dove or a rose. She rules atop Mount Olympus as one one of the twelve major Gods and is a daughter of Zeus. Aphrodite is best known as the source of sexual desire and procreation, but her domain extends to beauty and passion in all their many different forms. It is said her love is the only thing strong enough to calm the blood rage of Ares, one of her many lovers, and the God of War. She has had many offspring by many consorts, though none by her husband, Hephaestus. Aphrodite is a Patron God of Themyscira.

Artemis: Goddess of the Hunt and the Moon, her symbols include the Moon, a deer, or a bow. She is one of the twelve rulers of Olympus, a daughter of Zeus and twin sister to Apollo, God of the Sun. Artemis is said to have hunted the greatest beasts and leviathans to roam either the mortal or heavenly realm, slaying creatures as tall as mountains with a single, well-placed shot. She is one of the Patrons of the Amazons.   

Hestia: Goddess of Hearth and Community, her symbol is a hearth and its fire. Hestia is the eldest daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, sister to the first generation of Olympians that overthrew their predecessors, and one of the twelve that rule Mount Olympus. Unlike many of her peers, she is a deeply reserved individual, preferring stability and peace to the constant in-fighting and warring of her fellow Gods. She is often asked to resolve disputes as she can be expected to be a neutral arbiter in any argument. Hestia is one of the Patron Gods of Themyscira.

Hermes: God of Heralds, Travelers and Wanderers, his symbols are either his legendary winged helmet, his winged sandals or his staff, the caduceus. He is the second youngest of the Olympians, a son of Zeus, and one of the twelve major Gods of Olympus. Hermes is the messenger of the Gods, carrying their declarations across realms, planets and continents alike, to any who needs to hear them. He is said to be one of- if not the- fastest being in existence. Hermes is the sixth and only male Patron of the Amazons.

Steve Trevor: Steven Howard Trevor was a Captain in the USAAF and a fighter pilot in the Second World War. He crash landed onto the hidden island of Themyscira, home of the Amazons, and was the first man to ever set foot on its shores. Trevor would go on to introduce Wonder Woman to the outside world, joining her on her adventures for the better part of his life. Time and his less-than-safe lifestyle would catch up to him in the 70s, when his health deteriorated so much he couldn't walk thirty feet without assistance. Diana would retire to live out the rest of his days with her, and the two would finally have the wedding they always talked about. He would die peacefully, with the love of his life at his bedside.

Cassandra Sandsmark: The second Wonder Girl. I'll be leaving this blank so she's available for anyone who wants to play her, but she is canonically active and did serve as Wonder Woman's sidekick after Donna Troy.

Donna Troy: The First Wonder Girl. I'll be leaving this blank so she's available for anyone who wants to play her, but she is canonically active and served as Wonder Woman's sidekick and the first Wonder Girl.
 
Castalia: Castalia is one the elder Amazons on Themyscira, and she fills the roles of healer, teacher and archivist. She is often one of the first people Diana will confide in when she's seeking advice, and she has a reputation as being closer to the Patron Gods than many of her sisters. Some have said she even experiences visions similarly to the oracles, though Castalia fiercely denies such rumors.

Artemis: Artemis is a fierce warrior and capable leader, and was once a member of Themyscira's sister island of Bana-Mighdall, though it was abandoned after Diana united their two peoples. Artemis is often regarded as the voice of the Bana sect as she is one of the few Amazons willing to stand up to Wonder Woman and speak her mind. This attribute has earned the respect of Queen Diana, and Artemis is privy to secrets and invited to meetings of great import that few other Amazons even know about.  

Io: Io is the master blacksmith of Themyscira's forges, overseeing the creation, mending and recycling of the Amazons' weapons and armor. She forged the tools that built Themyscira's greatest wonders, and created weapons that even Hephaestus himself has complimented. Io and Diana grew up together, and the two of them became the closest of friends- more than that, too, on occasion.

Penelope: Penelope is one of the Oracles of Themyscira, whose visions from the Gods have shaped the direction of their civilization and warded off great perils countless times. She and her sister oracles live in relative isolation in the temple to the Gods, perched atop the island's tallest peak, for fear of their constant prophecies driving their sisters mad.

Philippus: Philippus is the High General of Themyscira, leading them in all matters of war, conflict and defense. She was once the lover of Hippolyta and something of a second mother to Princess Diana, having played a hand in raising and training the girl to be the warrior she is today. Her experience with the sword and in battle are second to none, and she is given full reign to lead the Amazons to victory in times of open conflict. She acts as Diana's second and her closest advisor.

To be revealed.

S A M P L E   P O S T:
The Mediterranean
Nighttime

The king in the heavens wept, and the sky wept with him. His brother under the ocean, distant as he was, must have shared in the Sky God's grief, for the sea churned with equal power. Together they formed a tempest that could sunder steel and sink even the mightiest of vessels. Yet still a figure braved the storm. They were but a shadow against waves four hundred feet tall. Wind strong enough to sheer flesh from bone kicked and battered against them from every angle. Streaks of lightning colored the air, a few passing mere inches from their skin. They continued undeterred.

Diana had faced worse than this storm.

She had spent three days and three nights catching German shells at the Ardennes, tossing them away or letting them explode in her arms to spare the rangers huddled underneath her. She had dived into the blazing river Phlegethon to rescue a wrongly accused soul from the depths of Tartarus. Alien and leviathan alike had challenged her guardianship of Earth, each just as much a failure as the last. She was Diana of Themyscira, Wonder Woman; no sprinkle of rain nor unruly surf would deter her.

She flew through a wave headed right for her, boring a person-sized hole in its surface, never so much as flinching. The speed of Hermes would not be undone by even the power of Poseidon, it seems. She had traveled a great distance to get this far, and she'd met nothing like this before. That must've meant she was close. Just a little further, now...

Another bolt of lightning was hurled down from the clouds, and she felt her heart skip a beat. Her body reacted, dancing to the side as its clutching, electric fingers narrowly missed her. Diana had never seen colors so brilliant, so vibrant, as that of lightning a hand's breadth from her face. She had hoped the storm was evidence of the Gods sharing in her grief. That they saw the death of one of their oldest, most devoted servants and wept as terribly as she had. That was naive, and Diana was a fool to not see otherwise.  

No natural lightning could hope to touch one as quick as her.

'You were aiming at me, Father, weren't you?' The thought came with many an emotion: Fear at having attracted the wraith of her Gods. Hurt that Zeus would ever wish to harm her. Some tiny token of pride at having avoided the aim of the Skyfather. She wondered if some part of him was proud of her, too, at having come so far. There was a time when she couldn't catch an arrow. Lifetimes had passed since then. It was so long ago, now, those memories...fragments, more like a dream...

She pressed on despite all she now knew. On she went, despite whatever the consequences may be.

The roar of the wind was deafening. It reverberated like the enraged scream of someone none dared to disobey. The thrashing torrent carried no words yet its meaning, and the voice that spoke it, was all too clear. She knew who she dared to defy. His brother below her was no calmer, unleashing his rage in spouts of water that crashed against her chest, trying to knock her off course. If Diana fell from the air and into the waves, she knew she was done. No power on this earth could challenge Poseidon in his own oceans. It took all her strength to keep course.

"I have to do this!" She screamed into the wind until her throat was raw. "You must know that, damn you!"

Her people had not lost a queen in three thousand years. Hippolyta's rule was all many of them had ever known. General Philippus could keep the peace as regent for a little while, perhaps, but there was one fact that could not be ignored: another heir had not been chosen since Diana left Themyscira near eighty years ago. There wasn't an alternative. No records to dig into to find a distant niece or a cousin. No council to hold emergency election. The queen of the Amazons was never meant to die.

Mist rose up from the horizon. The pouring rain obscured it, but there was no mistaking it: the mist that shrouded her home from eyes that were not meant to see. It was not a simple trick of sorcery that hid that isle, either, but the will of the Gods themselves that made it so. Even with Zeus and Poseidon against her, Diana could see the mist. That must've meant something, right? She could not lay eyes on it unless some force in the heavens allowed it.

'I am Princess Diana of Themyscira, daughter of Hippolyta and heir to the throne of the Amazons. In the mortal realm, I am called Wonder Woman- a hero to all and champion peacemaker. My actions this day will earn me another moniker. One that will stain my very soul until the day I pass on into Hades's embrace...'  

Diana was forbidden to return to Themyscira. An oath had been made before God and Amazon alike. An oath, at the time, she had every intention of upholding.

'...Oathbreaker.'

But she was no oracle. She could not have foreseen what was to come. Things had changed, and the Amazons needed Diana now more than ever. The island's location was supposed to be lost to any who left its shores; that was the power of her promise. It was a promise every Amazon who'd ventured forth had made. Even the Gods who chose to visit had made their own oaths before the Patrons to ensure paradise's safekeeping. The Patron Gods knew there were too many who would see paradise destroyed if even so much as a memory could lead them to Themyscira. For decades, Diana thought herself afflicted with this curse as well. It wasn't until Hermes landed at her doorstep that the dreams started. The dreams where she would sore back to her home on the wings of an eagle...

Something, or someone, was drawing her her back-

P O S T   C A T A L O G:
A list linking to your IC posts as they're created. This can be used for a reference guide to your character or to summarize completed arcs and stories.

  'The Brown House' - East Warrens, Santa MartaIssue #1.02: Have a Little Faith
♬

'Hi, my name's Stephanie Brown. This is my bedroom.'

The clock strikes 6:00 AM and an alarm goes off on her smartphone. Its Michael Buble's cover of Feeling Good blaring out at max volume, demanding she rise to meet the morning. Steph gargled out a groan and rolled over until she was close enough to the nightstand to smack the screen, silencing it. A machine wasn't about to tell her how to live her life.

'And that's...me! I've never been very good at waking up.'

It was 6:30 AM, announced the alarm, and it was time to get up! The soothing yet energetic sound of jazz drifted through the bedroom, joined by the first rays of sunlight to peak through the window. It was a brand new day for Santa Marta, California, and the first day back to school since the pandemic came to an end. It was a day full of possibilities, hopes, aspirations...and Stephanie wanted none of it. She scrambled to mute her alarm for a second time before she was too awake to regret it.

'Never been very good at anything normal, really.'

7:00 AM rolled around and Michael Buble started singing right on schedule-

...Aaannnd Stephanie promptly shut him up before he could get two words out. She was quite on top of the whole 'not waking up' thing.

'But- given the whole cluster that was my childhood- can you really blame me?'

A knock on the door came at 7:45 AM. "Steph, honey, are you almost ready?" Crystal Brown called. "I spotted the bus stopped down the road while I was making us breakfast and came to check up on you." She paused for a beat, listening for a reply that didn't come. "Its waffles, bacon and eggs, by the way, just how you like them! I figured it would be a good way to celebrate going back to school after such a long hiatus. I know this pandemic's made things difficult, especially after the move, but I think..."

'That's my mom: my last, great anchor to reality. She rescued me from Bludhaven almost two years ago, now, no questions asked. I'd do anything for her- except eat her cooking.'

Stephanie blinked the crust off of her eyes and sat up, her head pounding. The sun was shining right in her face, she could hear her mother's muffled speech from other side of the door, and what was rapidly becoming her least favorite song in the world was playing in the background. Sliding out of bed, Steph stumbled over to the nightstand and plucked up her phone to shut it up. Then she saw the time.

"Shit!" She could've sworn it was six-something the last time she checked! How long had she dozed off for?

"Hey!" Mom yelled, her voice muffled by the door between them, "Language!"

Blankets went flying as she leapt outta bed, making a mad dash for her wardrobe. The bus would be gone in five minutes, tops. No time to get ready. Had to throw on the first pair of clothes she found. Deodorant was basically a shower in a can, right? That'd do. Hairbrush for the road. Grab the backpack outta the corner she'd tossed it in all those months ago. Try to tie her shoes and walk at the same time. Fail, fall over. Ouch. Finish tying before getting up. Was that everything?

She looked to the chest at the foot of her bed and her gaze lingered. Its body was all black save for the gold on its hinges, trimmings and lock. The colors were desaturated, the surface scratched and worn down by time. That chest's contents were all she'd brought with her when she left home. 

'I already know what you're going to say. "Steph, you're paranoid! You should be packing rulers, notebooks and, like, calculators, not a grappling hook!" And I know, I know- you're right. You're right! The chances something goes wrong? Super low. But, on the off-chance something DID happen-'

Another knock on her door shook her out of it. "Sweetie, are you okay? You're going to be late!" Her mom called.

'No. No, not this time.' Stephanie sprung to her feet and made for the door, quick as could be.

Crystal started to turn the doorknob and step inside. "-You can't be late on your first day of senior year, Steph. After all, you're-"

Stephanie bolted right past her mom, nearly knocking her over in the process. "Sorry! In a hurry!" She called over her shoulder as she jumped onto the stairway handrail and started sliding down it. "Oh, and-"

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