Red Sonja (Dynamite Volume 1) Respect Thread

In case you’re wondering

The following analysis focuses on the feats and abilities of Red Sonja under her publication in Dynamite Entertainment. While her first solo and Unchained contain several references to her Marvel adventures, feats from those stories will be ignored since they’d take up too much space and there’s already a blog for that version.

Also, since Red Sonja continually reincarnates in her first run, each iteration will be given her own section categorized by either an in-universe name/title or general description.

Spin-offs, one-shots, and crossovers will be placed under whichever Sonja was published at the time unless there’s evidence pointing to a different incarnation (e.g, if an incarnation in the mainline comics is not from Hyrkania or worshiping Scathach but a crossover or one-shot from around that time shows otherwise)

Background

Red Sonja
Aliases: The Red Sonja, She-Devil with a Sword, Sonja the Flame Hair, The Red Devil, The Red Storm, The Red Rain, The Chosen One, The San Zha, The Blood Dynasty, Sonja the Red, Curse of the Hyrkanians, Queen of Swords
Nicknames: Red One, Red, Flame Hair, Fire Hair, Red Sweets, Ice Queen, Miss Red,
Height: 5’8
Weight: 150 lbs
Occupation: Warrior, mercenary, general of Olag’s army (formerly), queen of Dorn (formerly)
First appearance: Red Sonja #0 (April 2005)
Likes: Ale, horses, hunting, gold, Scathach (in most incarnations), Osin
Dislikes: Magic, excessive brutality, blind worship, bowing to others, false gods, Kulan Gath, Scathach (during her first two incarnations), Verona, Lucan Martur, cold weather

Backstory

“Know also, O prince, that in those selfsame days that Conan the Cimmerian did stalk the Hyborian Kingdoms, one of the few swords worthy to cross with his was that of Red Sonja, warrior woman out of majestic Hyrkania. Forced to flee her homeland and because she spurned the advances of a king and slew him instead, she rode west across the Turanian Steppes and into the shadowed mists of legendry.” - The Nemedian Chronicles

In the ancient land of Hyboria, there exist tales of a woman whose swordsmanship is unmatched by any other. A wanderer and mercenary to the highest bidder, her exploits are spoken of among the greatest of legends. She is the hellcat of crimson hair, the Red Storm, the She-Devil with a Sword: Red Sonja.

But before her reputation became that of legend, Sonja of Hyrkania was raised by a family of farmers. An eager youth, Sonja spent her days training to become a warrior, much to the disapproval of her mother, who insisted she focus on becoming a wife to stay at home and raise her children. These attempts to discourage her only would embolden Sonja’s efforts, even causing her to sneak out at night and practice with her father’s sword.

This defiant attitude struck a chord with her father and inspired him to take Sonja hunting on her 13th birthday, but when they returned from their celebration, Sonja’s home was ambushed by followers of the wizard Kulan Gath. Sonja could do nothing as Kulan’s men slaughtered her family, raped her, and left her to die by setting fire to her home. Upon escaping her burning home, Sonja was visited by the goddess Scathach, who’d been watching her for some time. Now appearing before her in full, the goddess comforted Sonja and granted her the honor of becoming her champion. This blessing gave Sonja a warrior’s strength, but there was one caveat: as the champion of a war goddess, Sonja could only be bedded by a man who first bested her in combat. After agreeing to these terms, Sonja slew the bandit leader and stole the talisman on his neck, swearing she’d one day find the man who caused all this.

The basics of this backstory are shared by most versions of Sonja, though there are key differences between them. The rest don’t involve Kulan Gath, some forego her being raped, and her age when the events happened can vary.

While it's never brought up for this version of Sonja, the “Sonja the Red” incarnation explains her oath also applies to women.

After proving her worth by passing Scathach’s trials, Sonja would hone her skills until she became a warrior unmatched by man or woman. Her reputation grew along with her exploits, and she was soon hired by King Ghaniff of the Hyrkanian city-state Pah-Dishah. Under Ghaniff’s orders, she was to lead his armies and steal a serpent tiara from the neighboring city of Makkalet.

Though she returned to the king successful, Ghaniff wasn’t satisfied with just having the tiara and tried to enslave Sonja as part of his harem. This greediness would later prove his undoing when Sonja killed him and his guards before escaping into the night.

From there, Sonja’s accomplishments would grow in scale, and she’d spend the next few years traveling the land, engaging in legendary battles against bear gods, pirates, sirens, and harpies. And after years of these journeys she would once again be contacted by Scathach, who assigned Sonja to recover the long discarded Hyrkanium sword in her village and prevent Kulan Gath’s revival by slaying his follower, the Borat-Na Fori. Though she managed to do so, this only succeeded in reviving Gath, who captured Scathach and began spreading his influence to rule the world as a god.

When the two finally met, Sonja was whisked away by Gath’s magic to visit Scathach, now trapped in a distant, nigh-unreachable mountain. And it was there that Sonja discovered the truth behind her origin.

Long ago, Scathach and Gath were lovers who lived on the paradise-like island of Seabreak. However, Gath’s natural curiosity led to him discovering the art of magic. Disturbed by his discovery, Scathach grew fearful of her husband and forced him away, though her own curiosity would lead her to discover light magic. With Gath gaining an intense lust for power and destruction, he used his power to reduce Seabreak to a barren wasteland. After striking her husband and forcing him to leave, Scathach combined Gath’s blood with the shavings of a tree’s heart, and using her magic, she gave birth to her ultimate tool for revenge: Red Sonja.

Disgusted by this revelation, Sonja renounced her faith in Scathach and abandoned her. However, while she may have discarded her faith, she still sought vengeance against Gath. With blade in hand, she sacrificed herself to end Kulan’s reign of terror, and while she may have died, her story didn’t end there.

Lady Sonja

After being judged by Death, Sonja was deemed worthy of reincarnation. Now free from any memories of her past life, Lady Sonja Hampton of Dorn began life anew as a noblewoman and married the handsome king Lord Daniel. However, her life would change when Daniel’s expedition to uncover the legendary Blood Dynasty resulted in a pirate attack that ended with his death and the fall of Sonja’s kingdom. Angered by the losses she’d suffered, Sonja swore revenge and dedicated herself to the life of a warrior

With Osin (a companion from her previous life) acting as her trainer, Sonja became well-versed in the use of a sword, aided in part by subconscious memories of her previous incarnation. And through her own cunning, she convinced the pirate crew that killed her people into joining her in an attack on their previous employer, Lucan Martur. Though she did this to rescue her sister Verona from a supposed captor, upon learning the two were in league, she pursued Lucan with the intent to kill him. And upon trailing him, she found one of his most guarded treasures: the armor and sword of the mythical hero Red Sonja. Stirred by subconscious memories, Lady Sonja put on the armor, and in doing so, fully regained her past memories.

Though Verona and Lucan escaped, Sonja was still able to avenge her husband by killing the pirate captain and his crew. Now accompanied by Osin, she and the old man embarked on a quest to recover the Blood Dynasty and kill Lucan and Verona. However, through Suumaro’s long dead ghost, she would learn the truth: the gemstone she was searching for wasn’t the Blood Dynasty. That was merely the source of its power. In truth, she was the Blood Dynasty. And before ascending to the afterlife, he left her with a warning: since she hadn’t received Scathach’s training, she no longer had the balance or focus of her past lives and could become evil if she wasn’t careful.

While Suumaro’s warning weighed on her, Sonja did what she could to remain on the side of good. She even freed a camp of slaves, and in the process got revenge on her sister. With the aid of two united armies, Sonja traveled to Lucan’s current dwellings: the cave where Scathach had been housed for all these years. Driven mad from the isolation, Scathach enchanted Lucan as her new champion and ordered him to kill Sonja. But even with the blessing of a goddess, Lucan found himself quickly slain, with Scathach following him soon after.

Now free from her shackles to the false god, Sonja and Osin ventured off to forge their own destiny and continue their adventures…

Sonja the Red

Following issue 49, Dynamite decided to go backwards and explore the life of the original Red Sonja. After her home was burned down and her family slaughtered as a young girl, Sonja of Hyrkania was filled with so much indignant rage that she summoned the goddess Scathach through prayer. With the goddess’ blessing, Sonja became an unmatched warrior whose prowess led to her being hand-picked to lead king Olag’s army. There, she’d befriend her high ranking officers and lead them into battle against the Argosian general Cavvalus. Though they won the battle and Cavvalus was slain, Persemhia, the city-state they’d been assigned to protect, was left in ruin and Sonja’s men were all slain.

Now with a bounty on her head, Sonja headed to Koth’s capitol, Khorshemish. After she protected his son Constantius from an assassination attempt, Koth’s prince Strabonus hired her as a mercenary to prevent any further attempts by killing Carvalko, leader of Cavvalus’ clan, the Bloody Tusk. But when she arrived, Carvalko in turn offered to pay her more if she killed Strabonus. Taking the offer, she and Carvalko faked his death as Sonja escaped to Khorshemish. However, Strabonus had anticipated her betrayal and attempted to kill her with his robot army. But his efforts were in vain as Carvalko and his monsters invaded Khorshemish to defend Sonja. With her job done, Carvalko gave Sonja her payment, but instead of using it for herself she gave it to Constantius to make a new living for himself.

Following this, Sonja and her comrades Osric, Johndro, and Barannes traveled to Kheshatta, city of magicians and home to Omahr-Bes, kinsman of one of Sonja’s past victims. Omahr used his crystal mirrors to make a copy of Sonja and set her against the Hyrkanian. But even with her clone perfectly mirroring her every movement, Sonja managed to beat her and kill Omahr.

She’d go on to have many adventures throughout her life, but none more important than the war between Hyrkania and Turan. Roped in after the royal torturer turned military leader Omaju butchered one of her allies, Sonja rallied Hyrkania’s people and led the charge against him. But Omaju had a secret of his own, having allied with Sonja’s doppelganger (now going by “Khala”), only to be slain by his former victim. With nothing left to interrupt them, Sonja and her double faced off in a climactic final battle that ended with Sonja’s victory, closing off the lost Nemedian Chronicle of Sonja the Red.

However, this wasn’t the end of her adventures. At some point, Sonja encountered Kulan Gath and split his amulet in two, using his magic to follow him to the distant time of 632 AD. Though she was captured by the Mayans and nearly sacrificed, she quickly escaped, only for her and Gath to be flung into the future by his magic dagger.

With the aid of unlikely allies like Vampirella, Dracula, Pantha, Eva (Dracula’s daughter), Athena, Herbert West, and Ash Williams, Sonja stopped Gath’s plans to destroy Earth in 2012. Though she managed to slay one of the seven Mayan gods he summoned, its venom left her near dead, but with the aid of Dracula, Sonja was revived as a vampire!

Though she despised her transformation, it would ultimately come in handy in the final battle against Kulan Gath when she used his own knife to stab him to death and undo his scheme. Unfortunately, while peace had returned to the world, Sonja’s transformation nearly drove her mad. Now hated and feared by the people she once saved and constantly fighting her urge to feed, Sonja battled Dracula, but despite her efforts, she eventually succumbed to his will and her vampiric urges. It was only thanks to the mage Amanda and a cure formed from the Atlantean Antola root that Sonja was able to fully control herself.

With this new freedom, Sonja ended Dracula’s reign and emerged as the only survivor of New Atlantis’ sinking, living to fight another day. She’d continue to have many adventures beyond this point, including sinking Atlantis and vanquishing the demon Bhamothes, but eventually her luck would run out when a particular battle left her with a serious wound to the stomach.

Though she survived thanks to the medic (and her future husband) Yusuf, Sonja’s injury forced her into a state of semi-retirement, which she made up for by training future generations to follow her example. Sadly, this school would be lost years later when the Egyptian god Sutekh burned it to the ground.

Aided by the students who survived, Sonja’s journey to take down Sutekh would lead her to the God Caves, a nexus between the world of mortals and the gods. While there, she’d once again encounter Scathach, who’d grown displeased by her “daughter’s” decision to hang up her sword. But she soon regained the goddess’ favor by swearing to become Scathach’s blade, transforming her into the Mother of Vengeance.

With aid of a broadsword blessed by numerous gods, the transformed Sonja set out to battle Sutekh and eventually succeeded in killing him. However, Scathach’s own lust for power led to her trying to take his place as the world’s supreme god. Despite being trapped within her own subconscious, Sonja was able to muster the willpower to regain control of her body, using the opportunity to stab herself in the chest and exorcise Scathach’s influence. Though many assumed this had killed her and mourned the fallen hero, Sonja still lived, watching the next generation from the shadows as they learned from her example.

Personality

Like most comic characters, Sonja’s characterization is somewhat inconsistent due to the multitude of different writers she’s had. However, this is more prevalent in Sonja’s case as her first volume has her continually reincarnate, meaning each Sonja is effectively a different character. However, there are a number of traits that most of them have in common.

Sonja is a brave, fierce warrior with a lust for battle who fears no god, ghost, or demon. Her love of battle is strong enough that she’s prepared to die in combat and has a sense of wanderlust that prevents her (or the rest of Hyrkania) from staying anywhere for too long. She’s also willing to fight in any condition, even doing so while naked on more than one occasion.

The only thing she loves more than battle is ale, which she’s more than capable of holding, to the point that she can outdrink any man.

As a result of her vow of celibacy, Sonja usually has a negative reaction towards being shown romantic feelings or someone improperly laying hands on her, either turning them down, threatening them with violence, or committing it depending on their insistence. This anger can even make her lash out upon being touched, even if it’s meant to help her.

However, she’s sometimes willing to tease others, make joking remarks, and will act playfully around close companions. She’s even admitted she wants men’s attention and dreamed about it, but her oath prevents her from acting on these desires. There have even been points where she challenged men she admired in the vain hopes they could defeat her.

Despite this, she still refused to break her vow. Initially this was out of the belief that doing so would make her lose her battle prowess (among other possible effects), but even after Scathach explained there would be no punishment if she did, she still maintained her vow out of honor.

Though Sonja is generally faithful to Scathach, she has occasionally been annoyed by the goddess’ cryptic answers.

Despite in-universe claims (from a domestic abuser and a psychopathic misandrist) that her vow is a liability for her to be raped again, Sonja denies these beliefs and views them as “a sickening misunderstanding.”

Because of the losses she’s suffered, she’s heavily sympathetic toward those who’ve lost families. She also refuses to kill innocents or for the entertainment of others, and is highly reluctant to kill anyone who’s unarmed or wounded, even sparing them for information or out of sympathy. Should she be forced to kill someone under these circumstances, she views it as regrettable but necessary and will even show sympathy toward them if they have noble goals.

Like her Marvel counterpart, she has a tendency to say “Tarim’s blood” (and on one occasion “Tarim’s ghost” or “Erlik’s bones”) when surprised or swear by it when angry. She has also invoked the names of gods like Mitra when praising, surprised, or angered (at one point saying “Mitra’s balls”); Hades, Anu, and Erlik when irritated; Ishtar (sometimes in conjunction with Bel) when she’s exhausted or annoyed, and Scathach (sometimes calling her “red goddess” or just “goddess”) when horrified or alarmed. She’s also sworn by Scathach’s sword a few times in Red Sonja: Berserker, and at one point said “Gods of my father.”

Red Sonja Annual #2 reveals she has no tolerance for animal abuse and loves dragons, considering them majestic and beautiful creatures.

It’s occasionally been brought up that she hates the cold in part because it slows reactions during battle.
She has regularly expressed a hatred of magic and sorcery, is generally distrustful of it, and refuses to use it under most circumstances.

First Reincarnation

Under Mike Carey and Michael Oeming, Sonja is a brutal, nigh merciless war machine willing to cut down any foe who crosses her path. Her dedication to this lifestyle is so great that she refuses the idea of becoming a queen, believing it to be a waste of time. She sees herself more as a warrior than a woman and is willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good. The only things that can match her dedication to being a warrior are her vow (at least until she renounced Scathach) and her sense of justice. Even after dying and being offered eternal rest, she denied herself the option and willingly reincarnated to stop Kulan Gath. However, she doesn’t tolerate excessive violence and refuses to shed innocent blood or kill children, though she has threatened it before and killed monster children without batting an eye).

She claims to trust no one and makes sure to keep a close eye on others, not even giving her name until she knows someone well enough.

During battle she can occasionally be somewhat spiteful and leave others to bleed out.

She doesn’t wish to be attended to by others or have them bow in her presence, believing no one should be forced to bow to others. She’s even stated she’d rather die than bow to anyone, even the gods. She particularly despises the idea of sacrificing yourself in service to the gods and believes false gods should be slain to free their worshippers from their lies.

She has encouraged women who’ve suffered similar experiences to take up their sword for revenge. Though she doesn’t view revenge as healing the losses suffered, she sees it as the only power to right wrongs and will offer them the chance to turn back if they can’t handle it. She’s also willing to help those oppressed by Kulan Gath, though she prefers not to think of it as help since “Help is for the weak, and those who stand against Gath aren’t weak.”

In spite of her own bravery, she holds no ill will toward those who show fear in stressful situations, believing you should only feel ashamed if you let it control you.

She’s also really good at mocking others.

Lady Sonja

Brian Reed’s tenure would take Sonja in a new direction. Aside from her new origin, this incarnation was also given a completely different personality. Originally a kindhearted noble with a sharp wit and slight temper, this Sonja was also a lot more romantic in nature, in part because she wanted to become a mother and have children.

After her kingdom was slaughtered, her fury caused her to swear herself to the life of a warrior so she could avenge the fallen. Her only goal was to kill the pirates responsible, but she recognized that doing so without a plan would be suicide. So with some training from Osin, she decided that rather than engaging them directly, she would join them to gain their trust. But even months after killing the entire crew, she still grieved over the loss of her husband and people. And while she was willing to kill her own sister to avenge Daniel, she decided to spare her niece.

Upon regaining the memories of her past, her personality became more in-line with her previous life, complete with her penchant for brutality. However, she still maintains her sense of justice and refuses to tolerate slavery.

She responds violently to being called a harlot.

Sonja the Red

Eric Trautmann’s Sonja was heavily implied to be the Red Sonja found in Marvel (I’ve heard he later confirmed it, but the forums have long since been deleted), and it harkens back to that version well. When we first see her as the leader of Olag’s army, Sonja acts something of a mentor to her men, advising them during battle and ordering them to show discretion with prisoners. Should they suffer particularly brutal or undignified deaths, she’ll be indignant enough to spit in their killer’s face.

One of the more notable aspects of this incarnation is her inherent anger. Sonja’s rage is strong enough to “shake the gods in their heavens,” and both fuels and strengthens her. This is reflected in her battles, where she tends to act furious while also taunting her enemies. She’s willing to fight in any condition and will do whatever it takes to win, even if that means using herself as a decoy or fighting naked. Despite her brutality, she’s willing to spare enemy soldiers to convert them to her cause, and will train them to improve their prowess. But this doesn’t prevent her from being unimpressed or annoyed with her potential students.

She has a tendency to be snide, sarcastic, foul-mouthed, sometimes saying “Damn and blast” in stressful situations. She can also be a bit boastful and full of herself at times. When fighting enemies, she has no problem with taunting them before their deaths. She also has a tendency to dish out karmic punishments on her more vile enemies, like when she crucified the dreaded and infamous sadist Omaju

She doesn’t trust politicians, believing they’re cowards who exploit the hard work and deaths of others.

It’s later revealed that she’s haunted by the memories of her family’s murder, her home being burned down, and the loss of her men in Olag’s army. The last one hit particularly hard since she considered them her friends and blamed herself for their deaths. Fortunately, she’d be inspired to keep going after Scathach comforted her over her losses. This had the side effect of turning her grief into a burning anger that demanded vengeance.

Despite being a wanted woman, she doesn’t mind it, having lost count of how many prices have been placed on her, and is more insulted by how low some of them are.

She’s aware of her flaws, such as her impetuousness and overreliance on skill and audacity, something she eventually overcame by the time of her final battle with Khala.

In the Prophecy miniseries, she’s initially hesitant to work with Vampirella and Dracula due to their monstrous natures. This attitude only worsened when Dracula was forced to turn her into a vampire. She despised her transformation, but was willing to bear it if it meant she could kill Gath. Following Gath’s death, Sonja’s transformation began to take its toll, leaving her a slave to her ceaseless hunger and Dracula’s will. Though she tried to fight it, even praying for Scathach’s aid at one point, she repeatedly succumbed to her vampiric urges. But upon coming to her senses, she still did her best to control herself.

Spin-offs like Red Sonja: Deluge depict her as being prideful of her homeland and its blacksmiths. Red Sonja: Raven shows that she’ll pray for innocents who’ve suffered during attacks and will put victims of torture out of their misery at their request. Berserker shows that she has a deep bond with animals like polar bears and is saddened when she has to put one down after he’s wounded. It also shows that she’s really good at making puns.

The Black Tower reveals Sonja has a natural hatred toward rapists and won’t hesitate to butcher or kill them. She also keeps up her defiant streak from the start of this run by spitting on her captors.

In Vulture’s Circle, following a particularly nasty stomach wound, she decided to enter a semi-retirement and became a teacher for future generations. While this time as a teacher helped temper her anger, it can still occasionally flare up, usually when someone calls her old.

Experience

Ever since the dawn of mankind, Sonja has existed and reincarnated throughout time, with lives ranging from ninjas, military generals, and legendary monster slayers. And with this much experience, she’s become a naturally gifted warrior said to be unmatched by man.

Both the first and second Red Sonja killed thousands in battle, with the latter being said to have a trail of blood longer than her life. As Sonja of Dorn, her body count increased to ten million.

With a body count that high, it’s only natural that she’s fought a wide variety of opponents. She’s defeated swordsmen, spearmen, archers, sorcerers, werewolves, giant trolls, four-armed giants, alchemic monsters, robots, three elemental dragons that are centuries old, and giants like Surtur and the sea god Leucoth. She’s bested a doppelganger of herself twice, defeated the monstrous swordsman Claw while he was holding nothing back, casually defeated the similarly empowered Crimson Katherine, and has bested Scathach’s champions and the goddess herself. That last one is particularly impressive because the Sonja that killed Scathach wasn’t empowered by her.

She’s also extremely pragmatic in battle, willing to use human shields, exploit her surroundings, throw dirt in eyes, use mundane objects as makeshift weapons, steal enemy weapons, go for bites, headbutts, and low blows like the crotch, pull an enemy’s hair to drag them into attacks, or disable them by cutting their tendons. She’s bound captors and strangled them with ropes and chains meant to bind her, killed women with broken pieces of metal and jagged shards of bone, killed Kulan Gath and his skeleton soldier with a broken sword, killed a soldier by wielding a spear with her legs, and once used an arrow to slit a man’s throat.

If that wasn’t impressive enough, she’s fought off an ambush from assassins while drunk, defeated several guards while in shackles, held her own in the afterlife against an army of all of her past victims (albeit briefly), and killed an entire clan of ninjas in a life where she didn’t have Scathach’s training. And in an alternate timeline, she led humanity in a war against an army of futuristic robots for years.

Strength

First Reincarnation

Red Sonja (2005) #33:

Crushes Ghaniff’s skull with a rock.

While battling an army of her past victims, she does all of the following:

Stabs an enemy through the chest and severs the legs of several men

Cuts a man’s face off while slicing an arrow in half

Decapitates a man

Headbutts one of her past victims, heel kicks him, then stabs a third in the head

Red Sonja (2005) #34:

Decapitates a giant.

Stabs Kulan Gath’s soul through the chest.

Savage Tales (2007) #8:

Crushes a skull with her bare hands.

Giant-Size Red Sonja #2:

Slices a snake man’s throat.

Decapitates a man.

Cuts Crimson Katherine’s ankle.

Savage Tales (2007) #10:

Knocks around several men twice her size in a bar fight, even throwing one of them through a door.

Red Sonja: Wrath of the Gods #1:

Slices a man’s throat.

Cuts a sword in half and knocks out its wielder in one punch.

Red Sonja: Wrath of the Gods #2:

Cuts, kicks, stabs, and decapitates several monsters.

Decapitates multiple leeches.

Red Sonja: Wrath of the Gods #3:

While mind controlled, she slices Thor across the back, legs, and throat.

Red Sonja: Wrath of the Gods #5:

Slices Odin across the chest, stomach, back and side.

Stabs Loki through the back.

Red Sonja: Revenge of the Gods #2:

Decapitates an enemy soldier.

Stabs a muscular commander through the chest.

Red Sonja: Revenge of the Gods #3:

Bites Loki’s ear off.

Red Sonja: Revenge of the Gods #4:

Uses her sword to rip Fenrir’s eye out of its socket.

Decapitates an ogre.

Stabs Loki from behind.

Red Sonja: Revenge of the Gods #5:

Cuts Loki’s arm off.

Cuts Surtur’s arm, stabs his eye out, cuts along his arm, then stabs him to death.

Red Sonja: Atlantis Rises #1:

Tosses a pirate overboard and stabs another in the chest.

Pulls a boat to shore during a storm.

Red Sonja: Atlantis Rises #2:

Stabs an Atlantean through the chest.

Slices through an Atlantean’s legs, cuts another in half vertically, slices through a third’s spear, and decapitates him.

Severs limbs and decapitates Atlanteans while flipping through the air upside down, ending her arc by stabbing one through the face.

Red Sonja: Atlantis Rises #3:

Cuts through and amputates some monsters.

Red Sonja: Atlantis Rises #4:

Her magic sword cuts down several rows of trees with one swing.

Cuts through a squad of soldiers and Atlanteans in a few strokes.

Slices Thulsa Doom in half.

Cuts through a massive spire and (again) slices Thulsa Doom in half.

Lady Sonja

Sonja the Red

Speed

First Reincarnation

Lady Sonja

Sonja the Red

Red Sonja (2005) #51:

Dodges Thumekmes’ sword swings.

Dodges a Stygian’s spear thrust, then does it again while killing another Stygian.

Red Sonja (2005) #53:

Ducks under a spear thrust.

Red Sonja (2005) #54:

Dodges Cavvalus’ sword swing.

Red Sonja (2005) #55:

Dodges a punch and an attempt to tackle her.

Red Sonja: Deluge:

Severs a man’s hand so quickly he doesn’t notice until seconds later.

Red Sonja; Vulture’s Circle #3:
Moves at FTE speeds while fighting a group of warriors.

Durability

First Reincarnation

Lady Sonja

Red Sonja (2005) #36:

Is still alive after being stabbed through the back and drowned, though she only survived thanks to a leech.

Red Sonja (2005) #37:

A punch from Osin’s demonic hand knocks her on her ass, but she gets back up.

Red Sonja (2005) #39:

Kicked by Lucan.

Remains conscious after Lucan punches her.

Red Sonja (2005) #42:

Survives being strangled and an attempt to drown her.

Red Sonja (2005) #43:

Gets back up after Leucoth knocks her some distance away.

Takes a backhand from Leucoth’s heart and withstands her breaking her wrist.

Unaffected by Leucoth’s stomach acid.

Red Sonja (2005) #46:

Takes a punch from Osin that leaves her spitting blood.

Red Sonja (2005) Annual #3:

Takes a punch from a troll.

Backhanded into a pillar by a ghost.

Red Sonja (2005) #50:

Survives being eaten by a werewolf.

Sonja the Red

Scaling

Thulsa Doom

Sonja has fought Doom before, having drawn blood from him and inflicted mortal wounds.

Qin Lo

Sonja killed him and survived being struck by his lightning.

Qin Lo summoned storms with his presence, which is also confirmed by the narration.

Kulan Gath

Sonja has beaten Gath and killed him on numerous occasions.

Kulan Gath’s magic transformed all of New York and would eventually spread to the entire planet.
There are multiple statements and references suggesting Dynamite’s Gath is the same as Marvel’s, meaning he should also get the following feats:

Knocking Conan out with one blast of magic. The same Conan who survived being exposed to city destroying aerokinesis.
Torturing Spider-Man and later killing him.
Transforming cities and all of Manhattan, plus more statements about it affecting the planet.
Is so powerful Doctor Strange needed the combined power of the X-Men and Avengers to defeat him.

Scathach

Sonja has obtained her power by merging with her and killed her in battle.

Scathach’s magic covered an entire island.
Overpowered Kulan Gath when they clashed and claims she could kill him.

Spider-Man

In their first team-up, Sonja killed demons that were said to be capable of killing Spider-Man. Their second team-up had her hold her own against him and his villains, even nearly killing them at points.

Spider-Man pushed Hulk out of the way of an antimatter bomb (1.2 kilotons and Mach 409.51).
Survived a mountain exploding (606 kilotons).
Fought Luke Cage and matched his strength, to the point he was worried they’d wind up killing each other.

Luke survived an explosion from Ultron’s sentries that destroyed Manhattan (54 megatons).

Survived being hit with enough electromagnetic energy to destroy a city (10 megatons).
Tanked a blast from the Scepter of the Manticore, whose energy could power the Sandman, which requires 1 exajoule of energy (239 megatons).
Has regularly beaten Electro, who could power a Quantum Particle engine that would destroy New York (316.5 megatons) and once absorbed all the energy in New York City (754 megatons).
Dodged Lightmaster's light beams.
Has dodged lasers explicitly stated to be light speed.
Blitzed Daredevil, who could barely track Spider-Man with all his speed and reflexes.
Daredevil can react in a nanosecond and attack within that same timeframe (5.6 c).

Venom

Sonja’s fought Venom before, even drawing blood from him and dodging his attacks while he was bloodlusted.

Venom has been consistently shown as stronger than Spider-Man, even with just the symbiote, and Peter’s admitted Venom could easily kill him. Venom’s also shown to be way faster, and has stated Spider-Man’s movements are in slow motion to him.
While weakened, Venom lifts up a collapsing ferris wheel, and was confident he could have supported its weight without Spider-Man's help.

The average ferris wheel can weigh between 32-35 tons.

Venom should be superior to other counterparts such as Ultimate Venom, who caused damage on a city block during a casual stroll (27.43 tons of TNT), and Mac Gargan Venom, who survived an explosion from Mar-Vell (1.83 kilotons of TNT).
Tanked a sound blast that broke windows for 10 miles (5.36 - 250 kilotons of TNT).
Fought Jack O’Lantern, who can harm suits capable of withstanding 50 megaton nukes.

Intelligence

Abilities

Stamina and Endurance

Sonja has survived having her heart torn out, and could keep going without it as if nothing was wrong.

A middle-aged Sonja the Red could carve through an entire army of undead, fighting for so long that “her shoulders scream in protest” and her old battle wounds from years earlier reopen.

The comparatively weaker Lady Sonja incarnation was able to support herself with a broken wrist and could carry 300 dead people in her homeland, digging graves for each one over the course of several days.

A past life was able to fight for three days and three nights straight against a giant monster, killed it, and only died of exhaustion the next day.

Agility

Sonja’s able to jump dozens of feet through the air, and can leap over a massive castle door, frost giants, and entire armies of soldiers. She’s avoided killing blows by jumping over, flipping over, spinning between, or backflipping away from opponents, even doing so while wearing a chainmail shirt. She’s even used this offensively by cutting through Atlanteans while upside down and flipping through the air.

Intimidation

Thanks to her reputation, just mentioning her name is enough to frighten others into avoiding conflict, and she’s forced a group of ruffians to run away just by telling them to.

Swordsmanship

Sonja’s years of training have made her an expert when it comes to dueling with blades. She can even dual wield if she feels like it. Her prowess is such that she’s been called a devil at swordplay. Even an accomplished swordsman was unable to defeat her and admitted he didn’t think any man could.

Weapons Mastery

Sonja is skilled with all weapons of the Hyborian age, whether they’re swords, maces, bows, axes, spears, hammers, and kusarigama.

Marksmanship

Sonja has shown to be rather proficient when hitting targets from afar or behind. She’s trained in archery and is skilled enough to hit multiple targets at once or down an entire army pursuing her. She can fire arrows fast enough to be mistaken for a group of archers or even an entire army.

She’s also extremely precise with her aim, able to hit a man through the legs, restrict others’ movements by hitting their garments, and cut the wings off a fly.

Close Quarters Combat

Even without her sword, Sonja is still a dangerous opponent with an expertise in unarmed combat, able to take down palace guards and disorient opponents with strikes to the throat.

Leadership

With her years of skill and finesse on the battlefield, Sonja has become a capable leader able to rally troops and command them in battle. She’s even united all of humanity against a robot army.

Trapping

Thanks to her father’s training, Sonja is an expert when it comes to setting up traps. Though she mainly does this while hunting, she can also use it to capture potential stalkers.

Battle Tactics

With her father’s training and her own experience, Sonja has become an expert at employing tactical moves both before and during battle. She knows how to scout a location, camouflage herself and remain in the shadows, poison dams, fend for herself in the wilderness, disguise herself, and remain undetected on the battlefield. She can also perform these strategies when leading an army, and has devised complex strategies just by looking at her enemies, whether they’re a squad of mercenaries or an army.

Stealth

Sonja has become something of an expert when it comes to stealth. She’s completely vanished from a woman’s sight, killed without being seen, avoided mercenaries and enemy soldiers for several days, and once snuck up on a man who’d gone undetected while sneaking around a camp. If she needs to, she can disguise herself to blend into an area unnoticed.

Seduction

Sonja is well aware of her good looks and willing to exploit it, whether to gain an advantage in battle or to gain information. It’s said that neither man nor god is able to deny her.

Battle Instincts

Sonja has instinctively punched others while waking up from unconsciousness. Additionally, her skills as a warrior are so ingrained that she can subconsciously recall them upon reincarnating and still used them even after her memories were erased.

Powers

Enhanced Senses

Thanks to her warrior’s training, Sonja’s senses are sharpened to the point where she claims she can hear colors and see sounds and smells. Her sense of smell can let her trail others from afar. Her hearing is enhanced to the point of letting her hear the whispers of child slaves being kept in a dungeon, giant snakes waiting to attack, and lets her know when she’s being watched or snuck up on even if it’s been several days.

Non-Physical Interaction

Sonja has physically harmed ghosts and done the same to damned souls while in the underworld.

Extrasensory Perception

Sonja was able to see and hear Scathach, who is unable to be perceived or heard by normal people.

Immortality

Sonja’s had her heart and soul torn out and could go on without them as if nothing was wrong. It took the complete destruction of her body to kill her.

Underwater Breathing

Thanks to Suumaro sacrificing himself to perform a dangerous spell, Sonja was granted the ability to breathe and speak while underwater.

Mental Manipulation and Possession

Should Sonja die in the presence of her sword, her soul will manifest inside it and lull nearby women into a hypnotic trance that forces them to pick it up. Upon doing so, Sonja’s soul will possess the woman and transform her body accordingly.

During this time, Sonja will remain in control of her host’s body as the host’s consciousness is placed in some sort of limbo. However, the host can still subconsciously influence Sonja’s actions and emotions, and in the right circumstances they can even converse and view each other’s memories.

Healing Factor

Sonja’s arm has healed itself seconds after being cut, and her body pushed a bullet out of her shoulder a few minutes after she was shot.

This healing factor is boosted in the spirit realm to the point where she can undo wounds near-instantly.

Reincarnation

Upon dying, Sonja will be ferried into the afterlife, where she receives two options: rest eternally or be reincarnated into a new life. By choosing the latter, her soul will be reborn in a few years time under a new identity (usually a descendant’s). While most incarnations aren’t given an exact timeframe between their death and rebirth, her second one was stated to take 20 winters (or 20 years).

Each reincarnation starts off by retaining some memories of her previous life, and upon regaining her full memories, she can instantly recall any battle experiences from prior incarnations. Though it’s worth noting she doesn’t retain the relationships of her past selves and has been unable to recall once familiar faces or names.

Forms

Vampire Sonja

During the events of Prophecy, Dracula revived Sonja after she sustained a mortal wound, transforming her into a vampire. While in this state, Sonja is constantly fighting her urges to drink blood, but she will eventually succumb to them sooner or later. Initially the only way to snap her out of this was to physically or psychically overwhelm her mind with pain. However, she later gained full control over it thanks to a a serum that cured her bloodlust and eventually burned the vampirism from her system.

This transformation gives Sonja all the abilities of a vampire, which include:

Superhuman strength and speed
Heightened senses
Night vision
An enhanced healing factor
Telepathy
Vampirism: By biting another person, Sonja will transform them into a vampire slave who’s completely subservient to her.
Shapeshifting: Dracula and Vampirella have been depicted growing wings, transforming their bodies, and turning into bats.
Immortality: Sonja was unharmed when a group of villagers tried to burn her at the stake.
Hypnosis: Dracula was able to hypnotize Sonja into joining him.
Hemokinesis: Dracula could control Sonja’s blood after she was cut.
Resistance to vampire weaknesses: Though she couldn’t do so at first, Sonja eventually gained the ability to exist in the presence of sunlight without issue and survived being blasted by Scathach’s divine energy. In addition, other vampires like Vampirella are unaffected by religious symbols.

Werewolf Sonja

Because of her cursed blue tunic, in the event that blood stains its fabric, Sonja’s body will be transformed into a werewolf. This transformation greatly enhances her strength and lets her track others by scent, but at the cost of being possessed by Bhamothes, turning her into a feral beast.

The more Bhamothes kills people and consumes their souls, the more control he’ll gain over Sonja’s body. Meanwhile, Sonja’s consciousness/soul will be placed in the spirit realm, where she’ll have to fight off his guardians and Bhamothes’ soul. However, she can break the curse and regain control of her body by destroying Bhamothes’ soul.

Mother of Vengeance

By surrendering herself to Scathach’s will, Sonja undergoes a transformation as her body bursts into flames, burning away her clothing and turning her into a golden-skinned, red-eyed agent of vengeance. This form merges Sonja’s conscience with Scathach’s, with Scathach’s taking prominence while Sonja’s struggles inside. As a result, the Mother of Vengeance considers herself a different person from Sonja and lacks the emotional bonds of her past relationships, even threatening her allies if they displease her. Though Sonja’s influence isn’t completely gone, as the Mother still retains her sarcastic sense of humor, and under the right circumstances, Sonja can overcome Scathach’s influence to regain control. She used this to permanently sever their merging and revert to normal.

In this state, Sonja gains the following abilities:

Flight
Extrasensory Perception: Can sense other people’s souls and the sins they’ve committed.
Battlefield Omniscience: Is aware of any actions others have taken during battle.
Pyrokinesis: Can manipulate fire to create streams, a barrier, or an enormous AOE explosion of fire.
Energy Manipulation: Can enhance her sword’s strength by coating it in energy.
Electrokinesis and Energy Absorption: Can expel electricity from her body to create AOE explosions and enhance her strength by absorbing lightning or electricity.
Possession and resistance to Soul Manipulation: Sutekh was only able to absorb her soul when she purposefully allowed him to, at which point she took over his body and turned it into her own.

Resistances

Extreme Temperatures:
Has stood next to molten lava and monsters made of it without being burned, and had no issue fighting in her bikini after the battlefield was covered in snow. She’s even admitted she doesn’t feel cold in it.

Soul Manipulation:
Sonja’s had her heart and soul ripped out, but could act without them. And when Sutekh attempted to absorb her soul, he could only do so when she allowed it.

Acid:
Was submerged in a giant sea monster’s stomach acid and suffered no injuries.

Poisons:
Has powered through multiple scorpion stings.

Curses:
Was unaffected after playing the Horn of Nergal, which normally kills those who play it.

Hypnosis:
After being purged of the vampiric influence that previously let him overcome her “iron will,” Sonja was unable to be hypnotized by Dracula.

Arsenal

Chainmail Shirt

The outfit worn by the original Red Sonja. It provides the top half of her body with protection. She later got rid of it and replaced it with the chainmail bikini while in Egypt.

Chainmail Bikini

Sonja’s most iconic and self-explanatory outfit. While it’s not the most practical form of armor, she wears it to show her body as a way of letting others know they lack the power to have her. The bikini is particularly useful for distracting wandering eyes during battle and luring rapists to their deaths like a siren’s song.

Pelt of Bhamothes

After the werewolf demon Bhamothes destroyed her chainmail bikini, Sonja got her revenge by killing him and turning his skin into a new fur pelt. However, because she spilled innocent blood while wearing it, the tunic became cursed and is unable to be removed normally. This curse would cause Bhamothes to possess her, transforming her body into a more bestial werewolf form. However, it was later dispelled when Sonja destroyed his soul, turning it into a regular tunic.

Broadsword

A double-edged broadsword and Sonja’s signature weapon. Originally belonging to her father, It’s strong enough to hold up against axes without breaking and can support the weight of Sonja and a grown man. It even makes for a good ranged weapon. And as a lesser known fact, it seems to be able to absorb lightning.

And its existence isn’t just confined to the physical world. Thanks to how the spirit realm operates, Sonja can carry it into the afterlife following her death and use it to kill souls.

Dagger

Sonja has wielded daggers numerous times throughout the years, either by stealing them from enemies, taking them from the surrounding battlefield, or using the one strapped to her thigh. Regardless of how they’re obtained, she can use them in the event that she’s disarmed or needs to fend off aggressors.

Hyrkanium Sword

Granted to her by Hyrkania’s king following Thulsa Doom’s defeat, this broadsword is forged from Hyrkanium, a strange metal said to turn wizards into gods and answer the riddle of steel.

Hyrkanian Sword

A sacred blade hidden deep within the seas of Hyrkania. Its power can only be wielded by those who seek vengeance and justice for the innocent. Should someone try to wield it for other purposes, the blade will not serve them. Due to its holy nature, it is able to wound and kill fallen angels like Ragniel, who couldn’t be harmed by mortal weapons.

Magic Sword

A sword forged by a skull-faced sorcerer for Sonja’s battle with Thulsa Doom and the resurrected Atlanteans. Its vibrating steel blade allows its slashes to create shockwaves that cover a surprisingly wide distance.

Blessed Sword

After setting her sword atop a sacrificial fire and invoking various gods, Sonja received their blessings, imbuing it with electricity and giving it a holy nature that lets it slay evil or demonic beings. She can guide the electricity to attack specific targets or unleash them as massive AOE blasts.

Scimitar

On occasion Sonja has been shown wielding a scimitar in place of her usual broadsword. She’s even dual wielded them against a stone monster after her normal sword was destroyed in battle.

Shield

Though she doesn’t wield them that often, Sonja has occasionally been depicted with a metal shield. It’s tough enough to withstand a triceratops’ horns.

Horse

Sonja is often depicted on horseback when traveling to other locations and sometimes into battle, with the horse usually appearing black, white, or brown. Being a horse, it should be able to reach a speed of 44 mph and kick with 2000 lbs of force.

Axe

Sonja has wielded axes on numerous occasions. She can use them up close or throw them for ranged kills.

Spear

Discovered in underwater ruins, Sonja has used this to kill sharks and whales. An earlier incarnation also used one to impale a spectator in a coliseum.

Bow

Sonja’s used numerous bows during battle, both at long range and close range.

The Blood Dynasty (false)

A legendary red gemstone said to have existed before the universe. Housed in the middle is a mysterious drop of blood theorized to belong to the creator or the world itself. The Blood Dynasty is said to be the most powerful artifact in the history of the world able to grant its wielder absolute power.

Contrary to the legends, the gemstone itself is not the Blood Dynasty. The true bearer of the moniker is Sonja herself, while the stone was just a weapon she used across several incarnations.

Mayan Knife

A sacrificial knife originally used by Kulan Gath when he time traveled to 632 AD and 2012. It’s been bathed in so much blood that it somehow absorbed the Mayans’ natural affinity for magic. These magical properties can be awakened via a blood sample (either the user’s or an unwilling victim’s), allowing Sonja to time travel to any point she desires or teleport herself and others across continents.

Ring of Odin

An ancient ring forged by the All-Father Odin using the World Tree. Though it was originally crafted to seal away Surtur and his demons, the ring has far more benefits. It’s said to make its user invincible and immune to earthly harm, letting them shrug off impalement without issue and regenerate slashed throats, missing eyes, skin, and muscles within seconds. And as an added bonus, the red gemstone can illuminate dark areas.

There is only one downside. Should someone manage to separate the ring from its wearer (either through stealing it or amputation), the wearer will lose all of these powers.

Sonja briefly wielded the ring during her fight with Surtur, but gave it up immediately after because she had no interest in a life without risk.

Witchblade

A sentient weapon that predates the universe itself and was created to balance the forces of good and evil. Granted to her after its future host Sara Pezzini convinced it to alter the past, Sonja used the Witchblade to retrieve her Hyrkanian sword from underwater.

One of the Witchblade’s more impressive abilities is that it can store the memories of all its hosts from across time, meaning Sonja could technically replicate any power displayed by other bearers. But given her lack of screentime with it and how extensive that list is, I’ll just include what she uses in the crossover.

Mental Link and Acausality: The Witchblade can telepathically communicate with Sonja and lets her do the same (or view the memories of) other hosts from across time.
Shapeshifting: The Witchblade can freely manipulate itself in any way Sonja desires, whether that’s making bladed tendrils, intricate weapons, or wings.
Weapon Enhancing: Can channel energy through her Hyrkanian sword.

Despite the new abilities it gives her, Sonja hates using the Witchblade and relinquished it to its previous host as soon as she could.

Dragon

A giant dragon Sonja tamed and led into battle against the Soulless, an army of advanced, futuristic robots. It can breathe fire capable of incinerating the robots. Sadly, it was eventually killed by the Soulless' ships, and the events of this period were undone using time travel.

Ray Gun

No, I am not bullshitting you. This actually happened. During Thraxis’ robotic invasion, Red Sonja armed herself with a futuristic ray gun that she stole from his forces.

Feats

First Reincarnation

Is so intimidating that the mention of her name can frighten others into refusing to fight her
Avenged her family’s deaths by killing their murderer
Passed Scathach’s three tests of worthiness
Recovered the serpent tiara for King Ghaniff
Assassinated Ghaniff after he tried to turn her into his concubine
Killed every man in a town and burned it to the ground
Was the first person to survive in Gathia’s Pit and kill its monster
Killed the Celestial, the priest of Borat-Na Fori
Helped the people of Hyrkania and their prince, Aashim, fight off the forces of Thulsa Doom
Helped Karena get her revenge on the army that killed her family and raped her
Killed the dark god Borat-Na Fori, unintentionally releasing Gath from his imprisonment in the process
Helped her companions perform a stage play to convince Ludi Scaenici’s lion men to spare them
Restored a barmaid’s honor by killing the four-armed rapist Kharion
While possessing Mary Jane, she briefly fought Spider-Man and would’ve killed him if MJ’s influence hadn’t stopped her
Helped Spider-Man fight Venom and the mystically transformed Scorpion, Lizard, and Hobgoblin
With Spider-Man’s help, she defeated Kulan Gath and returned New York to its former state
Defeated the similarly powered warrior Crimson Katherine
Sacrificed herself to stop Kulan Gath and became an inspirational legend among the people of Hyboria
Some time in the past, she avenged the death of her friend Daneeka
While in the afterlife, she and her deceased allies fought and killed (again) an army of all of her past victims
Was deemed worthy of reincarnation
In a flashback story, she stopped Ragnarok by killing Surtur
Ranked 1st in Comics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics"

Lady Sonja

Convinced the pirate crew that killed her husband to join her in sieging Martur castle
Killed the pirate crew that killed her husband
Killed Leucoth by slaying its sentient heart
United the undead rival clans of Kuro and Shiro by killing the demons that had brainwashed them
Killed Verona while freeing some slaves and sent her infant niece to live with a family friend
Killed Lucan after he became Scathach’s new champion, then killed Scathach
Tricked one of the men who killed her previous life’s family into dying against a legendary tiger
Killed a pack of werewolves

Sonja the Red

Became general of Olag’s army
Defended the Shemite city-state Persemhia from Cavvalus, the leader of Argos’ army
Tricked Cavvalus into killing himself
Killed the mercenaries and surviving soldiers of Cavvalus’ army
Killed the werewolf demon Bhamothes and skinned him into a new outfit
Defeated Raven, a fellow champion of Scathach
Killed Akim-Mehkt, high priest of the people of the scorpion
Defeated her doppelganger and killed Omahr-Bes
Killed the Bast priestess Azenathi
Killed the elemental dragons Qin Lo, Xi Longwei, and Lau Xifong
Defeated the sadistic interrogator Omaju and freed his prisoner (and Sonja’s ex-soldier) Wurkest
Led Hyrkania against Sultan Yezdigerd and his Turanian army
Killed Khala
Teamed up with Vampirella, Dracula, Pantha, Eva, Athena, Herbert West, and Ash Williams to stop Kulan Gath from destroying Earth in 2012
Killed the Mayan god Kukulkan when sent to Asia of 2012
After becoming a vampire, she killed Kulan Gath and thwarted his plans to destroy Earth
Helped Dracula turn an entire village into vampires
Killed Dracula after being cured
Was the only survivor of New Atlantis’ sinking
Killed Bhamothes and regained control of her body
Led humanity for years against the futuristic conqueror Thraxis and his army of advanced robots

Even though she eventually died to him, her actions inspired a legion of followers to continue her fight, eventually leading to Thraxis’ death at the hands of her daughter/clone/possible reincarnation, who used his time machine to return things to normal by killing his mom

Defeated Sutekh’s undead army while protecting her students
Became Scathach’s champion once again and merged with her to become the Mother of Vengeance
Killed Sutekh
Successfully purged Scathach’s consciousness from her body
Became an inspiration to future generations of warriors after her “death”

Weaknesses

While Sonja might be a formidable warrior, she’s not without her flaws. She’s still human at the end of the day and is susceptible to the same weaknesses as everyone else. Though her endurance and stamina are certainly impressive, she can still die from blood loss, decapitation, or overexerting herself, and poisons will affect her the same as any other man or woman. She’s also been repeatedly tricked by illusions and has fallen victim to mind control and possession before.

Befitting her red hair, Sonja can be a bit hotheaded and reckless at times, like when she killed a persistent suitor while drunk or when she challenged a giant sea monster to a fight and accidentally wiped out the city they were in.

Though her broadsword is extremely durable, it’s not indestructible and has been destroyed plenty of times throughout her battles.

Q & A:

Are Sonja’s combative abilities and prowess directly tied to her oath of celibacy?

While this topic has been brought up on occasion, there is nothing in the comics themselves to support that Sonja violating her oath of celibacy would directly hamper her abilities in combat. She has explicitly retained them after having sex with Kaleval, who had previously defeated her in battle, and Scathach herself has said there would be no punishment if Sonja violated her oath.

Even in her other incarnations, there isn’t anything to suggest Sonja will lose her ability to fight by violating her oath. Sonja the Red could still take down an army despite losing Scathach’s blessing and being deemed unworthy of her power by getting together with a man who hadn’t defeated her. And the very existence of Lady Sonja shows that her combative skills aren’t tied to her oath. Not only did she explicitly lack Scathach’s blessing, her skills were the result of training and subconscious reflexes.

Conclusion

Originally this was going to cover the entirety of Dynamite's Sonja, but after seeing how long the research document I was gettting, I decided it was better to cut it off to just volume one and separate each volume into its own respect thread. And having gone through all of them for this period, the first series was really good, though I’ll admit the difference in quality really surprised me.

Being more used to the somewhat tamer Marvel Sonja, I didn’t think the Dynamite version would be as gory or as sexual as it was at times, but I got used to it. Mel Rubi’s art was fantastic across the board, and the stories were easily on par with some of her material in Marvel. Granted, with the references they made at the start, I was under the assumption this was going to be a direct continuation of Marvel Sonja, so I was a bit weirded out when we began getting flashbacks to her backstory that veered way off from what I was familiar with. At first I figured it was just meant as a retelling to fit in more with the story’s conflict against Borat and Gath, but that got squashed when Suumaro showed up and the comic treated him as if Sonja had just met him. I initially brushed it off with the same excuse, and then I got even more confused when Scathach revealed her true origin.

Scathach sculpting Sonja out of a tree gave me real Wonder Woman vibes, and the reveal that she was a reincarnation of the first (Marvel) Sonja helped alleviate my confusion (at least a little).

Having looked her up beforehand, and with the various bits of foreshadowing sprinkled throughout, I knew Sonja was eventually going to die and be reincarnated. I just didn’t expect the death to be so anticlimactic. We see in Kulan Gath’s previous appearances that he’s this powerful sorcerer, a force to be reckoned with that wields numerous magic spells… and when he finally battles her, it ends as soon as it begins. Gath just runs in guns blazing, practically impales himself on Sonja’s outstretched sword, and kills both of them in a suicide explosion immediately after he gets shanked.

Granted, the brief arc in the underworld made for some excellent fight scenes, and the reveal that Gath was actually her ferryman caught me off guard. Plus, the part where Osin disemboweled Scathach was another surprise. When it came to the story of Lady Sonja, I was hooked as soon as Sonja kept getting flashbacks to her past and began training under Osin.

The lore surrounding Sonja’s past incarnations was really intriguing, and the quest for the Blood Dynasty had me really invested. With how cruel Lucan was becoming, I expected a reveal that he was actually a reincarnated Kulan Gath or that the Blood Dynasty was actually Gath’s amulet. I was not expecting the reveal that Sonja was the Blood Dynasty, or that Scathach teamed up with Lucan and became the final villain of that arc. To be honest, I thought she died back when Osin disemboweled her at the run’s start. But that aside, I thought Sonja’s final battle with her was a real step up after the rushed mess of Sonja vs Gath.

I thought the story would continue there, but I was totally mistaken. Issue 50 is basically a flashback of the original Sonja, and issue 51 began Eric Trautmann’s run, which was interesting. According to the run’s first issue and the hints at the end of issue 75, it’s supposed to be the original Sonja from Marvel, taking place some time before her first appearances in Conan. And it definitely pulled off that vibe.

In a refreshing change of pace, there wasn’t an overarching story for most of the run. Most of her adventures were all self-contained, multi-part vignettes that at best only slightly connected to each other. The only time they merged was near the arc’s end when Sonja’s doppelganger returned, and their final battle was a cool way of showing Sonja’s growth.

After this there was Prophecy, a massive crossover miniseries that was awesome, even if I was only vaguely familiar with some of the cast. I knew Ash Williams, I recognized Vampirella from a few Top Cow crossovers I’d read, Herbert West I knew from Galaxy Grudge Match, and Athena was a complete mystery to me. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying the hell out of it, especially when Sonja became a vampire! That was awesome, and seeing her struggle with it in the following story arc made for an interesting plot. Granted, the sudden cure for her vampirism feels like it came out of nowhere, and the ending honestly feels a bit rushed, but it was still a solid conclusion.

Once I finished that, I went through the spinoffs and crossovers released during that time. Some I found a bit forgettable like One More Day, Deluge, and Goes East. Raven had an interesting plot where Sonja gets defeated by a misandrist servant of Scathach and has to improve for a rematch so she can stop Raven from killing all the men in Hyboria. Sanctuary was a fine sequel that helped flesh Raven out a bit more by redeeming her, though I question the logistics of the ending since Raven manages to beat Sonja again (even referencing her defeat in the previous book) despite having not fought anyone in months. The Gods duology with Thor, Odin, and Loki were interesting, and Atlantis Rises bringing back Thulsa Doom while giving Sonja a magic, shockwave creating sword was cool. The Witchblade crossover was alright, though I was expecting more out of it. It just felt like there wasn’t much there on Sonja’s side of things compared to Sara’s.

Blue was probably one of the best Red Sonja stories I’d read so far. Going into it I figured Sonja would get her blue tunic somehow and she’d have to fight off a bunch of impersonators to prove herself as the real deal. Instead what I got was an awesome scene of Sonja skinning a demon alive, using its fur as her clothes, and then spending time in a bar while the story explores her oath of celibacy. The only real problem I had was the abrupt ending, where the bartender’s idiot son repeatedly challenges Sonja trying to claim her vow despite her warnings, cuts her arm, then Sonja lashes out and decapitates him… and that’s it. Really? We couldn’t spare maybe two more pages to get a more fleshed out ending? She just decapitates this guy and we end it with her looking over his bloody corpse. I mean, it’s not the WORST ending I’ve seen to a comic, but it’s definitely one of the most abrupt.

Black Tower was batshit insane, and I loved it! I went into this story expecting Sonja to fight off some conqueror, maybe a sorcerer or two. Then the robots came up in issue 2, but I initially brushed it off. I thought they’d be like those alchemy automatons from Trautmann’s run, but according to the story, these are legit robots with lightsabers.

And then I reached issue 3, where we go from swords and sorcery to swords vs sci-fi. I never thought I’d see Sonja in that genre, but it works surprisingly well. Now we have an aging Red Sonja riding into battle on a dragon, wielding a laser pistol as she leads humanity against an army of robots. Granted, she does die against them, which immediately clued me in to the fact this would be undone by time travel. While I was right, I really wasn’t expecting it to end with Sonja’s successor killing the villain’s mom in cold blood. That was actually pretty dark. Still, Red Sonja meets sci-fi was an unexpected but awesome combo.

Vulture’s Circle was awesome. I liked seeing Sonja take on more of a mentor role, and Scathach having actual physical involvement in a plot was a breath of fresh air after so long. The battles were all exciting and brutal, with this part easily being one of my favorite moments in all of Red Sonja’s comics. The Mother of Vengeance form was also a neat addition with a really striking design. My only complaint is I wish we got to see a bit more of the inner struggle between Sonja and Scathach’s mindsets. There’s one line of dialogue implying it, and then it’s pretty much forgotten about until Sonja’s consciousness returns at the end of the story. But aside from that small gripe, this was a great way to close off this “era” of Red Sonja.

Like the previous Sonja blog I considered including a few other quotes for the introduction, such as:

“Your master is a fool. Where he sees only a woman… there stands a warrior. A warrior that has faced death countless times. And found herself unafraid.”
“I’m not some witless girl dreaming of a man to sweep me away, and I can’t have men thinking it’s a game to attack me. Anyone fool enough to come at me with a blade gets left for the flies.”
“Come on, beast! Come meet a REAL devil! She will show you the way to HELL!”

Dodges an arrow at close range by jerking her head back Dodges an arrow by jerking her head back