A lot of wonder woman fans hate her having a sword all the time. What do you think?
This is a pet peeve of mine, too.
I don’t have a problem with Diana fighting with a sword, particularly when she’s up against powerful gods and monsters. But I do have a big problem with the sword supplanting her lasso as her primary weapon – the one she reaches for first in stories, and the one she’s most commonly depicted wielding in issue covers, promotional artwork and merchandise.
Because each weapon makes a very particular statement. A sword is a weapon designed to draw blood, to neutralise an enemy through stabbing, slashing and dismemberment. When Wonder Woman draws a sword, she’s implicitly choosing to engage in battle using lethal force, with the expectation that she will have to severely hurt or kill her enemy in order to win.
The lasso, by contrast, is intended to subdue and restrain, while causing minimal physical harm. It can be dangerous, particularly in the hands of a trained warrior like Wonder Woman, but it is not solely a weapon, nor is it designed for lethal combat. And while it can be terrifying in its power to compel people to speak honestly or confront unpleasant truths, it can also be healing, freeing people from illusion and deception.
By choosing to fight with her lasso over any of the myriad weapons of war she’s proficient in, Wonder Woman is signalling her preference to resolve the conflict without unnecessary harm or death – even if a bloodless resolution ultimately turns out to be impossible.
And this is something that goes all the way back to her original conception: When William Moulton Marston created Wonder Woman in 1941, central to the character’s premise was the idea of a superhero who solved problems not merely through brute force, but through love and compassion. She was a hero interested not only in defeating bad guys but changing hearts and minds, promoting rehabilitation and finding peaceful resolutions. And when she did leap into the fray, she countered her enemy’s guns with bullet-deflecting bracelets and a lasso capable of peacefully subduing attackers.
Now, obviously Wonder Woman has undergone numerous changes in the intervening decades, but certain things have remained relatively constant. She has continued to be champion for peace; and though she’s fought using a range of different weapons and tactics, her equipment of choice remains her bullet-deflecting bracelets and her Lasso of Truth.
Because while Wonder Woman is capable of killing (with her bare hands, even), and is prepared to do so if it’s necessary to preserve human life – she doesn’t set out to kill. And that’s an important distinction.
“We have a saying, my people. ‘Don’t kill if you can wound, don’t wound if you can subdue, don’t subdue if you can pacify, and don’t raise your hand at all until you’ve first extended it.’” – Wonder Woman vol. 3 #25 (2008)