25 things you didn’t know about Wonder Woman

1. Wonder Woman was originally made out of clay

Yeah, you probably thought Wonder Woman was at least sort of human, didn’t you? Well, you’re dead wrong. In some of her earliest incarnations, young Diana was actually the result of her mom’s mad sculpting skills.

In the earliest versions of the Wonder Woman story, it was said that her mother, Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons, wanted a daughter. However, living on an island full of women (and, alas, avoiding any outright discussions of homosexuality or queerness in 1940s-era comics) made that biologically difficult. Their island, Themyscira, was remote and had a fearsome reputation, so there was little hope for a wayward human with Y chromosomes to make their way ashore.

So, what’s a Queen to do? She goes down to the shore of the Amazons’ island and picks up a load of clay there. She brings it back home and starts sculpting a baby, of course. Luckily, Hippolyta is pretty well-connected, so the Greek gods come down and imbue the clay figure with life. In many versions, Aphrodite, goddess of love, is the one who actually en-souls the sculpture and causes it to become fully human.

The newly-formed baby springs into Hippolyta’s arms and, so, Diana is born. She would be raised by Hippolyta and all the other Amazons of the island.