Wonder Woman: Gods & Mortals

## Overview

This is the first installment in the Wonder Woman Trilogy

## Plot Synopsis

When Circe a secluded enchantress on the island Aeaea was banished by the Amazons many years ago, she promised herself revenge. Now she's escaped and wants her revenge against the Amazons for banishing her, as well as against Wonder Woman for killing Ares. When she finds out that an ancient relic hidden in the Smithsoanian Museum that can lead her to Themyscira, she uses her powers to convince the famous thief Angle Man to steal the relic for her. What will happen if the relic falls into the wrong hands?

## Plot

During the late stone age, a caveman is exiled from his tribe for failing a hunt - a failure that has also cost him his hand. His pregnant mate tries to console him, but her pity enrages him, spurring him to attack and kill her. Moments later, the caveman is shocked to see his mate's corpse twitching, and hear a voice whispering from the Earth.

A blinding light suddenly flies from the cave-woman's corpse, into the sky above.

Many millennia later, the Gods of Mount Olympus discuss a pressing issue: their worshipers' dwindling faith. Zeus, King of Olympus, hears competing proposals from Ares, God of War and Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt on the matter. The former proposes cowing man into obedience through force and bloodshed; the latter, creating an all-female race who will enlighten man.

Zeus eventually loses patience with the debates, proclaims the issue beneath him, and leaves; his wife Hera likewise refuses to engage. This dissuades neither Ares, who plots to surpass all Olympus, nor Artemis, who has already allied with five other Olympians: Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest, Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth, and Hermes, Messenger of the Gods. With Hermes' help, the five Goddesses journey to the Cavern of Souls, a portion of the Underworld where Gaea has housed the spirits of all women unjustly killed by men.

By pooling their divine powers, the Goddesses withdraw these spirits - save one Athena notes a "special destiny" for - and reincarnate them into grown women. These reborn women, tasked with raising man's virtue and piety, are dubbed the *Amazons* and given blessings by each Goddess; the first two reborn, Hippolyte and Antiope, are additionally gifted with golden girdles, crystallizations of Gaea's power, that mark them as the Amazons' leaders. Under Hippolyte and Antiope, the Amazons soon build the renowned city-state of *Themyscira*.

Unfortunately, the Amazons' success attracts jealousy and suspicion from Greece's other rulers, which Ares wholeheartedly fans. The War-God's influence eventually snares Zeus' son Herkales, who gathers an army and tries to invade Themyscira; upon being outfought by Hippolyta, Herakles feigns surrender and proposes an alliance, which the Amazon Queen accepts. The two parties celebrate well into the night, Herakles romancing Hippolyta while his companion Theseus pursues Antiope. None of the Amazons, save the oracle Menalippe, suspect their new "allies" are giving them drugged wine.

Once the wine takes effect, Herakles and his men easily sack Themyscira and enslave the Amazons; subsequently, Herakles claims Hippolyta's girdle as a spoil and rides off in search of new conquests. When the beaten, manacled Hippolyta begs Olympus' forgiveness, Athena replies, chiding the Amazon Queen for forgetting her mission and isolating her race from the rest of mankind. By Athena's instruction, Hippolyta forswears any thoughts of revenge and rededicates herself to the Goddesses, regaining the strength to break her chains.

Hippolyta quickly frees the rest of the Amazons, sparking rebellion against Themyscira's remaining occupiers; and though she repeats Athena's instructions, many Amazons - chief among them Antiope - embrace their hatred and kill the occupiers to the last man. In the aftermath of this brutal "victory", Antiope bitterly renounces Olympus, surrenders her girdle to Hippolyta, and secedes from Themyscira with many like-minded Amazons.

Downcast but still devout, Hippolyta leads the remnants of Themyscira to the Aegean Sea, where the Goddesses have prepared their new destiny. With Poseidon, God of the Seas as their guide, the Amazons travel to a lush, uncharted island, beneath which lies countless demons. To repent for their failures, Hippolyte and her followers must keep these demons confined and keep the island hidden from all mortal men. So long as they maintain this vigil, they will retain Olympus' favor and remain unaging.

Over the next three thousand years, Hippolyta and her followers hold true to their new purpose, building a stronger, grander Themyscira in the process. Though undisputed Queen of this new Themyscira, Hippolyta remains unfulfilled until her deities tell her - through Menalippe - that she had been reincarnated from a pregnant cave-woman, and thus desires a child. At their direction, Hippolyte sculpts a baby from Themyscira's shoreline clay - which Artemis and her allies bless and infuse with the Cavern of Souls' last occupant. Thus is born *Diana of Themyscira*, first Princess of the Amazons.

As Diana approaches adulthood, Menalippe receives another vision from the Gods: that Ares has grown in both power and madness, and plots to destroy the entire world. There is but one hope: Themyscira must send a single champion, selected through tournament and "Flashing Thunder", into Man's World to battle Ares. Hippolyta obeys this edict but, fearing for her daughter's well-being, forbids Diana from competing in the tournament.

With Athena's blessing, the stubborn Diana disobeys her mother and enters the tournament, knowing all the contestants will be masked to guarantee impartiality. The disguised Diana out-performs her fellow Amazons and proves herself worthy of being the Champion - much to Hippolyta's horror. Though remorseful, Diana insists she has only obeyed the Gods' will, and Hippolyta has little choice but to give her the Champion's silver bracelets and let her take the final challenge – the Trial of Flashing Thunder.

The "Flashing Thunder" is revealed to be a handgun - a weapon from "Man's World" wielded by Queen Hippolyta's chief general Philippus. Diana is ordered to defend herself against it with nothing but her silver bracelets, and succeeds, though not without difficulty. With this final challenge concluded, Diana is officially proclaimed Themyscira's Champion, attired in the armor of a great warrior from ages past, and readied for her journey into Man's World.

Meanwhile, General Gerard Kohler of the United States Air Force orders Colonel Steve Trevor to fly a new bomber over an uninhabited stretch of the Caribbean Sea, ostensibly to impress foreign dignitaries. In truth, Kohler is being manipulated by Ares, the bomber is armed with a nuclear warhead, and the "uninhabited" area contains Themyscira; Ares seeks to destroy the Amazons before their champion can confront him, and Trevor is the only pilot skilled enough to circumvent the mystical storm-clouds protecting the island.

Concurrently, the Gods of Olympus present Diana with one last tool - an unbreakable golden rope that Hephaestus, God of the Forge had crafted from the remaining Girdle of Gaea. Once Diana has been equipped, Hermes transports her to Ares' former kingdom, Areopagus; there dwells Ares' malformed daughter "Mad" Harmonia, who surrenders a strange amulet supposedly tied to her father.

As Diana accepts the amulet, Colonel Trevor breaks through Themyscira's defenses, forcing her to rush back to the island. The existence of Themyscira shocks Trevor, but his copilot - another of Ares' minions - quickly overpowers him and launches the warhead. Fortunately, Diana intervenes in time, using the Gods' golden rope to fling the warhead away from Themyscira seconds before detonation.

Meanwhile, Trevor struggles against his maddened copilot, eventually crashing the bomber into the sea. The copilot is burned alive for his failure, but Trevor proves too conscientious for Ares to directly influence, and remains intact. On orders from Olympus, Diana pulls Trevor from the sea and brings him to the Amazons' Healing Isle. Though several Amazons object to a man in their midst, the Gods praise Diana for her unwavering piety; after a final round of farewells, Diana begins her journey to Man's World, the unconscious Trevor in tow.

In Man's World, Trevor's disappearance is quickly noticed by several figures, chief among them his best friend Matthew Michaelis, his attaché Etta Candy, and his commander John Hillary. When Kohler's smoldering corpse is found on-base, the trio begin to debate Trevor's possible guilt, not knowing they are being watched by Ares' sons, Phobos and Deimos.

Hermes brings Diana to Massachusetts, where she deposits the unconscious Colonel Trevor at Hanscom Air Base. Upon waking, Trevor find himself under arrest by General Sam Tolliver, and charged with the murder of General Kohler. Though he tries to cooperate, Trevor soon realizes Tolliver and several other base members - all minions of Ares - mean to kill him. In desperation, he overpowers his captors and flees to Lt. Etta Candy's apartment.

Meanwhile, Diana is guided to Harvard University, where she quickly befriends a history professor named Julia Kapatelis. Though at first unable to understand the Themysciran tongue, Julia soon realizes the importance of Diana's mission, and agrees to help decipher the powers of Harmonia's amulet. This development angers Phobos, the brasher of Ares' sons; while his wilier brother Deimos surreptitiously spreads fear and mistrust among American and Soviet leaders, Phobos sends a cursed statuette to the Kapatelis home, hoping to preemptively kill Diana.

Diana spends the rest of the day at the Kapatelis home, learning English so she can better communicate with Julia. Shortly after midnight, Phobos' statuette activates, releasing a powerful demon named Decay. Decay immediately drains the life-force from Julia's teenage daughter Vanessa, before doing the same to the very foundations of the house, collapsing it with Diana and the Kapatelises still inside.

As the Kapatelis home collapses, Diana rushes Julia and Vanessa to safety. Decay's attacks, however, have left Vanessa prematurely aged and nearing death; as the demon escapes into the night, Diana pursues, vowing to find a cure for Vanessa. While Julia rushes her daughter to the hospital, Diana and Decay clash in the Boston Common. Their fight attracts city-wide media attention before Diana finally destroys the demon; the following morning, Diana is dubbed *Wonder Woman* by the press.

Meanwhile, having been declared a murderer and national fugitive, Steve is forced to hide in the Massachusetts countryside. His only ally remains Etta, who keeps him supplied with food and continues to investigate Kohler's death in hopes of proving Steve innocent. Eventually, they come across two leads: Etta finds and photographs a strange file in Kohler's office titled "the Ares Project", while Steve sees a news report of Decay and recalls it was Wonder Woman who'd saved him in the Caribbean.

Etta and Steve make their way to the Kapatelis winter home, where Diana and Julia are busy researching Harmonia's amulet. Steve is initially met with hostility, but a larger problem soon captures his attention: Etta has been knocked unconscious, with Colonel Michaelis, gun in hand, standing over her.

As Ares' power continues to grow, bloodshed around the world rises; truces are broken in several war-zones, while multiple airports fall victim to terrorist attacks. The war-god's influence is even felt in Themyscira, where the very earth begins to die. Indeed, many of Themyscira's patron Gods have resigned themselves to defeat and oblivion; only Artemis and Athena stand fast, refusing to lose faith in the Amazons' champion.

At the Kapatelis winter home, Diana, Julia, and Steve learn Etta's injury was an accident; Colonel Michaelis, wanting to help Steve, had tailed them to the Kapatelis house and unintentionally startled her. The five make peace with one another, and tackle the mystery of Harmonia's amulet anew. After an exhausting night of research, the amulet is finally deciphered; paired with Etta's information on the "Ares Project", it obliquely reveals that Ares means to hijack American and Soviet missile bases to spark a third world war.

The group attempts to contact Washington, but quickly learn - to their horror - that Ares and his loyalists have already seized the bases. Diana thanks her four companions for their help and prepares to confront the mad War-God, using Harmonia's amulet as a key into his realm. To her surprise, all four arm themselves with Michaelis' spare weapons and demand to join her - a demand Diana reluctantly yields to.

In Ares' realm, the quintet are confronted by Phobos and Deimos, whose divine powers nearly destroy them all. Ultimately, Diana manages to slay Deimos, spurring the cowardly Phobos to retreat. From Deimos' corpse, Diana takes a magical talisman - a twin to Harmonia's amulet. When the two amulets are joined, they transport Diana and her companions to the American missile base Ares has seized.

Upon arrival, Diana and her companions immediately find themselves held at gunpoint by General Tolliver and his men; Tolliver, another follower of Ares, stands ready to launch the missiles at his master's command. Ares himself soon materializes, gloating over his impending victory.

Ares stands on the cusp of victory: Olympus, Themyscira, and all of Earth are moments away from total destruction, and his would-be challengers are helpless under General Tolliver's guns. After mocking his helpless foes, the War-God leaves, and Tolliver prepares to launch the missiles.

Seconds after Ares' exit, Wonder Woman and her comrades launch a desperate counterattack. Michaelis, Etta, Steve, and Julia distract Tolliver's men with gas-grenades and bullets, while Wonder Woman attacks Tolliver and tries to keep him away from the missiles' launch-key. However, despite her best efforts, Tolliver secures the key and barricades himself in the control center. As Wonder Woman pries open the barricades, she curses Ares's cowardice; Ares, stung by this insult, transports Wonder Woman into his domain and challenges her to personal combat.

With Wonder Woman gone, stopping Tolliver falls to Steve, who manages to shoot the general before the launch-key can be turned. To Steve's horror, however, Ares' magic immediately reanimates Tolliver's corpse. This same magic unfailingly reanimates any soldier that Julia, Etta, or Michaelis manage to kill; eventually, Michaelis falls to the self-replenishing army.

A gloating Ares displays Michaelis' death - as well as the decaying Themyscira - to Wonder Woman, all while beating the young Amazon senseless. Wonder Woman grimly acknowledges she cannot match an Olympian's might, but she possesses one power even he cannot defy: truth, embodied by her golden lasso. With her last bit of strength, she catches Ares in the lasso and forces him to realize the consequences of nuclear war: a lifeless Earth, containing none to worship the great war-god. Without worshipers, even the most powerful God alive amounts to nothing.

The vision horrifies Ares, who personally stops the missiles from launching and disintegrates both his American and Soviet followers. Having averted world war and his own destruction, the War-God tasks Wonder Woman with educating Man's World on the follies of war, and departs. An instant later, Wonder Woman is returned to the missile base, battered and barely alive.

Following her narrow victory against Ares, Diana is taken back to Themyscira, where Poseidon and his subordinate Nereids heal her many injuries. Indeed, all of Olympus' Gods are immensely grateful to the Amazon Princess - none moreso than Zeus, whose renewed interest in the Amazons draws concern from Artemis and Athena, not to mention his wife Hera.

After her rejuvenation, Diana immediately asks her mother permission to return to Man's World, citing Ares' assignment as well as Vanessa Kapatelis' injuries. Though the Queen is unenthusiastic, the Gods approve and gift Diana with the Sandals of Hermes, which will let Diana travel between Themyscira and Man's World at will. An ecstatic Diana returns to Man's World, where she uses a medley of Themysciran herbs to cure Vanessa of Decay's curse.

Diana's return soon draws attention from both the military and a pushy publicist named Myndi Mayer; the former demand a "logical" explanation for the recent missile crisis, while the latter wants to capitalize on the image of Boston's first super-heroine. Though annoyed by both parties, Julia realizes that Diana will need media savvy to win over Man's World, and reluctantly introduces Diana to Myndi's firm.

## End Credit Scene #1

In following weeks, the Mayer Agency turns Wonder Woman into an international celebrity, headlining countless articles and advertisements. One such article comes to the attention of Dr. Barbara Minerva, an unscrupulous British archaeologist who becomes obsessed with obtaining Wonder Woman's lasso - no matter what the cost.