Hippolyta is a character appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. Created by writer

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

and artist

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

, the character

first appeared In comic books and other stories with a long history, first appearance refers to the first issue to feature a fictional character. These issues are often highly valued by collectors due to their rarity and iconic status. Reader interest in fir ...

in ''

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

'' #127 (April 1966). She is the queen of the

Amazons The Amazons (Ancient Greek: ', singular '; in Latin ', ') were a people in Greek mythology, portrayed in a number of ancient epic poems and legends, such as the Labours of Hercules, Labours of Heracles, the ''Argonautica'' and the ''Iliad''. ...

and the daughter of

Ares Ares (; , ''Árēs'' ) is the List of Greek deities, Greek god of war god, war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for ...

. Hippolyta is known under the codename Warrior Woman. She has faced the

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...

and the

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four, often abbreviated as FF, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover-dated November 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism i ...

at various points in her history.

Development

Concept and creation

The character is inspired by the queen of the Amazons

Hippolyta In Greek mythology, Hippolyta, or Hippolyte (; ''Hippolytē''), was a daughter of Ares and Otrera,Hyginus, ''Fabulae'', 30 queen of the Amazons, and a sister of Antiope and Melanippe. She wore her father Ares' ''zoster'', the Greek word foun ...

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

Publication history

Hippolyta debuted in ''

'' #127 (April 1966), and was created by

and

. She appeared in the 1998 Fantastic Four series.

Fictional character biography

Hippolyta is the daughter of the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

god of war

and

Otrera In Greek mythology, Otrera ( ''Otrērē'') was the founder and first Queen of the Amazons; the consort of Ares and mother of Hippolyta and Penthesilea. She is credited with being the founder of the shrine of Artemis in Ephesus. Mythology Quee ...

, and the step-sister to Phobos. She and her sister

would help create war, stealing the female children in the process to enlarge their armies. The group protected the cow-goddess Io as a favor to her grandfather

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

. After many years of ruling the Amazons, Hippolyta meets

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

when he,

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Med ...

, and the

Argonauts The Argonauts ( ; ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, ''Argo'', named after it ...

land near her city stronghold of Themiscyra. There, they attempt to steal Hippolyta's enchanted

girdle A belt without a buckle, especially if a cord or rope, is called a girdle in various contexts, especially historical ones, where girdles were a very common part of everyday clothing from antiquity until perhaps the 15th century, especially for w ...

and any slaves they could along the way. Fearful for her sister's life, Hippolyta's sister Antiope willingly disguises herself as Hippolyta. Jason, thinking her to be the Amazon queen, kidnaps Antiope and made her his bride. She eventually has a son with him, Hippolytus, whom Antiope named after her sister. Initially resenting Hercules for the initial invasion, Hippolyta eventually falls in love with him. Over the centuries, she tries various attempts to win his affection, forming a love/hate relationship with him. As shown in a ''

Howard the Duck Howard the Duck is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Steve Gerber, based very loosely on his college friend Howard Tockman, and artist Val Mayerik. Howard the Duck firs ...

'' story, Hippolyta has historically been one of the bearers of the Amulet of Pazuzu. As the Howard the Duck comic involves storylines that are both in and out of continuity, it is unclear if the Amulet exists in the

Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Superhero teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardia ...

. In her first modern-day appearance Hippolyta helped

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...

, the Roman god of the dead, in his plan to avenge himself on Hercules by posing as a movie actress and tricking the hero into signing a "movie contract" that in reality bound him to Pluto's realm,

Hades Hades (; , , later ), in the ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, is the god of the dead and the king of the Greek underworld, underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea ...

, while Pluto was disguised as the director. When Hercules was given the contract she told him that in the film he conquered the Netherworld by defeating Pluto and she remained by his side all the time, causing him to sign the contract. She then revealed who she really was to Hercules. But

came to his aid, and the heroes caused so much damage to Hades that Pluto himself broke the contract just to be rid of them. Hippolyta also formed a new generation of Amazons from female runaways in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

called the

Bacchae ''The Bacchae'' (; , ''Bakkhai''; also known as ''The Bacchantes'' ) is an ancient Greek tragedy, written by the Athenian playwright Euripides during his final years in Macedonia, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. It premiered posthum ...

. The group has clashed with such heroes as the

and the

. Much later, Hippolyta reappeared in the pages of ''The Incredible Hercules'', visiting her father Ares in an attempt to rally him to one of

Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; ; in Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Oly ...

's new schemes. Ares rebuffs her, however, and when Hippolyta returns, she is murdered by her daughter Artume, who is tired of her mother's obsession with Hercules. During the '' Dark Reign'' storyline, Hippolyta is among the dead people in Erebus when Hercules travels to the Underworld.

Hela HeLa () is an immortalized cell line used in scientific research. It is the oldest human cell line and one of the most commonly used. HeLa cells are durable and prolific, allowing for extensive applications in scientific study. The line is ...

later brings Hippolyta (under the moniker "Warrior Woman") from the Underworld to help the

Valkyrior The Valkyrior is a fictional organization appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Based on the Valkyries of Norse mythology, the group, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, first appeared in ''Thor'' #133 (October 1966). With ...

defeat the Doommaidens. Hippolyta then joins Valkyrie's

Fearless Defenders ''The Fearless Defenders'' was an ongoing comic book series published by Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidia ...

as a full-time member of this group. During the '' Monsters Unleashed'' storyline, Valkyrie and Hippolyta battle the Leviathon Tide monsters in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Powers, abilities, and equipment

As a human/Olympian hybrid, Hippolyta has immense strength, stamina, durability, speed, agility, reflexes, and healing, as well as virtual immortality. She is a highly skilled unarmed combatant and possesses the Gauntlet of Ares, which increases her physical powers a hundredfold. Hippolyta also has access to various melee weapons.

Reception

Brad Hill of ''

Sportskeeda Nazara Technologies is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational technology company that has business interests in mobile games, esports, and sports media. It is based in Mumbai. History Nazara Technologies was founded by Nitish Mitte ...

'' called Hippolyta one of the best Greek gods from Marvel comics.

In other media

Hippolyta appears in the "Thor" segment of ''

The Marvel Super Heroes ''The Marvel Super Heroes'' is an American animated television series starring five comic book superheroes from Marvel Comics. The first TV series based on Marvel Comics, Marvel characters, it debuted in broadcast syndication, syndication on Amer ...

'', voiced by Mona O'Hearn.

References

External links

*
Hippolyta
at Marvel.com {{Stan Lee Characters created by Jack Kirby Characters created by Stan Lee Comics characters introduced in 1966 Fictional ancient Greeks Fictional queens Hippolyta Marvel Comics Amazons Marvel Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds Marvel Comics characters with accelerated healing Marvel Comics immortals Marvel Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Marvel Comics female supervillains