With her Bracelets of Submission and Lasso of Truth, Wonder Woman is a top DC superhero. Even without them, she has a range of strengths and abilities that contend with the likes of Superman.
Wonder Woman’s powers are great, including super strength and speed, and she has amazing combat skills. She can do just about anything. Are there any limits?
For example, can Wonder Woman breathe underwater or in space? It depends on when we are talking about and by what means to get an answer to these intersecting questions.
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What Powers Does Wonder Woman Have?
When Wonder Woman came out in 1941, this character served as a backup story. In the next two years, Wonder Woman came forth more fully as a star superhero. She was dressed in red, blue, and white and had bracelets that could deflect bullets and missiles.
Wonder Woman is known for her silver lasso that makes people tell the truth and obey her. Besides the bracelets and lasso, Wonder Woman already has an impressive array of strengths.
As the daughter of the Queen of the Amazons from Paradise Island, Wonder Woman possesses speed and strength that compares with the best superheroes.
At top speed, she can move at the speed of light and may keep up with Flash. As for strength, Wonder Woman is “stronger than Hercules” and can contend with Superman.
Wonder Woman also has superhuman durability, reflexes, agility, and stamina. But that’s not all. She has unique powers like empathy and communication with animals and super vision, hearing, and smell.
Healing powers and resistance to magic are among Wonder Woman’s strengths. She also has a photographic memory.
Her combat skills are legendary too–Wonder Woman learned different forms of martial arts and how to use multiple weapons. She has fought Superman with her “Amazon training” in the comics and demonstrated her fighting skills in the 2017 Wonder Woman movie.
![Wonder Woman - Fight/Skills Compilation + Weapon Specialties (+ "Justice League") [Dolby® Vision™]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fJxVm8zADO4/0.jpg)
Quick reflexes, strength, skill with a bow and shield, use of lasso and bracelets, and more all come through from comics to screen. Wonder Woman has even served food at a Taco Whiz restaurant.
What are Wonder Woman’s Weaknesses?
With all these powers, we may wonder if Wonder Woman has any weaknesses. Projectiles are one of them. Arrows and bullets can harm Wonder Woman if they make it past her bracelets.
Another weakness is that Wonder Woman cannot stave off the effects of her Lasso of Truth if it’s turned on her. Certain kinds of poisons and gasses can also harm her.
A long-standing vulnerability has been when Wonder Woman is tied up. This weakness tends to occur with male captors and results in Wonder Woman losing her powers. Yet, she always manages to free herself and win out in the end.
One more weakness is that Wonder Woman’s bracelets restrict her powers. If she did not wear them, Wonder Woman would have even greater strength, but also a tendency to lose control of her anger, which could become a further weakness.
Can Wonder Woman Breathe Underwater?
We may think that Wonder Woman could breathe underwater since she came from a remote island. Yet, that was not one of her original powers. Only more recently did Wonder Woman demonstrate the ability to breathe underwater.
In the 2022 Wonder Woman: Evolution comic series, this character confronts an underwater sea monster and discovers she can breathe underwater–an ability she seems surprised about herself.
This seems to be a newfound strength. Yet, others contend that because of her “Amazonian physiology” and superhuman powers, Wonder Woman could already breathe underwater. Her body can draw on stored oxygen and “breathe” in a similar way that dolphins can do.
So, which is it? Did Wonder Woman have this power already or gain it only recently?
It does not seem that Wonder Woman originated with underwater breathing ability, but she could hold her breath for a long time. So, that ability may qualify for a kind of breathing underwater.
Based on the 2015 Justice League: Throne of Atlantis movie, Wonder Woman cannot breathe underwater but can hold her breath.
The ability to breathe underwater appears very recent then. Yet, it may have been hiding there all along.
Can Wonder Woman Breathe in Space?
Like breathing underwater, breathing in space does not appear to be one of Wonder Woman’s original powers. Yet, she did acquire this talent recently.
In the 2019 comic Wonder Woman: Come Back to Me #4, she donned a new armor that allowed her to breathe in space. That way Wonder Woman was able to fight a group of aliens.
The continued comparison with breathing underwater serves well here, though. Other commentators have shown that Wonder Woman has had this ability all along. Her earrings gave her the power to breathe in space.
These earrings, like the recent armor, provide Wonder Woman with the oxygen she needs to carry out this feat.
Here it is her accompanying items that provide the power, as with the bracelets and lasso.
Since that is the case, some have rejected this notion of breathing in space. For example, some DC fans have stated the opposite, that she would asphyxiate in space.
Breathing in space does have a historical and recent basis, but it is not a natural ability–it depends on what Wonder Woman wears.
Wonder Woman Underwater and in Space
Wonder Woman has so many powers, including strength, speed, stamina, agility, and more. With this range of superhero abilities, Wonder Woman added another one recently with being able to breathe underwater. She may have only had the ability to hold her breath before.
With the help of new armor, Wonder Woman also started breathing in space recently. She could already do this by the power vested in her earrings.
Wonder Woman’s strengths are thus enhanced with the help of a lasso, bracelets, armor, earrings, and her Amazon past.
Todd Wahlstrom is a creative and analytical freelance writer and life-long Star Wars fan who has expanded into writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He has written about recent shows such as The Mandalorian and Andor and classic topics like Darth Vader, the Jedi, and Boba Fett. His recent articles include the MCU’s Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor. Todd is the author of a non-fiction book, holds a Ph.D. in history, and enjoys hiking, running, and reading about science.