Line #15 ComicBook/JLAALeagueOfOne


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jla_a_league_of_one_hc.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:In this instance, the dragon needs to be rescued from the princess.]]
3
4	->''Ancient serpent brought to bay, Dies upon a golden spear.''
5	->''Brave hearts riding unto death to save the living world from fear.''
6	->''In victory the heroes fall. Dragon slaying as she's slain.''
7	->''Good and evil, joined in death. Hades' Gates admit the twain.''
8	--> '''Diana''' hears the prophecy that sets her on her destiny.
9
10	''JLA: A League of One'' is a one-shot graphic novel, first published in 2000, both written and painted by Christopher Moeller. In the time of the Middle Ages, the dragon Drakul Karfang finds herself hunted and besieged by Crusaders. Managing to escape deep into the mountains of Switzerland, she falls into slumber for centuries and is gradually forgotten as time moves on. In the modern age, when ComicBook/WonderWoman learns from the [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Oracle]] the coming return of this ancient and evil dragon will bring about the death of the ComicBook/JusticeLeague, Diana sets herself on a collision course with the coming dragon and her friends on the League.
11
12	Notable for being one of the few Wonder Woman-centered Justice League stories, Moeller would return years later to pen another Justice League tale; ''JLA: Cold Steel''.
13	----
14	!!This Storyline provide these examples:
15	* BadBoss: Drakul treats her gnome servants like crap, having no regard whatsoever for their well being.
16	* BatmanGambit: Diana's way of removing Superman from the table is, as she admits to him she can't beat him in a straight-up fight. [[spoiler: She tells him Batman, Flash, and Green Lantern are on escape pods destined for the asteroid belt, along with only around 20 hours of oxygen left, because she knows he wouldn't knowingly let his unconscious friends die like that]].
17	* BreathWeapon: Drakul, obviously, has the standard fire but it comes in three different ones. Fire, magic MookMaker fire, and poison gas.
18	* ConsummateLiar: Drakul knows of the prophecy, and temporarily convinces Diana that she misinterpreted it. [[spoiler:She didn't.]]
19	* CoolVsAwesome: Wonder Woman vs. a Dragon
20	** Also Wonder Woman vs. The Justice League.
21	* CorruptTheCutie: Well, "cutie" is pushing it, but according to one gnome the main reason Darkul is so evil is that the gold she ate to become strong was tainted with the essence of its wicked former owners.
22	** One of Drakul's fire breath variants can turn people into her demonic servants and she attempts this on Diana as a last-ditch effort. [[spoiler: It doesn't work]]
23	* DivideAndConquer: Diana's strategy on incapacitating her League colleagues revolves around this. Taking them out one at a time before [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} most]] realize what's going on.
24	* DontMakeMeDestroyYou: Diana states to Drakul she would prefer not to kill her and offers her at chance to surrender and live in peace during an interval in their battle.
25	* DraconicAbomination: Drakul has consumed so much wicked gold over her long lifespan that she's stated to have essentially become an embodiment of hatred and lies.
26	* DraconicHumanoid: [[spoiler:The climax involved Wonder Woman getting hit by the MookMaker flame which turns her into one of these. Luckily NoOntologicalInertia is in play so once Karfang dies WW shifts back]].
27	* DragonsAreDemonic: Drakul. See DraconicAbomination below.
28	* DragonsVersusKnights: The opening prologue features Drakul up against an army of European Knights.
29	* TheDreaded: Drakul is this. Feared by all who know of her, and for good reason.
30	* EndOfAnEra: The opening prologue posits the defeat of Drakul Karfang as this with Europe coming out of the Middle Ages and into a new era.
31	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Drakul's first action upon waking up is to kill one of the Gnomes singing her praises simply because [[ItAmusedMe it amused her]].
32	* FatalFlaw: [[spoiler: What ultimately undoes Drakul as she sees everyone as beneath her, and thus fatally underestimates Diana]].
33	* ForTheEvulz: One of Drakul's more notable acts during her rampage upon her awakening is to burn a church down full of village people despite earlier promising anyone in the church would be safe so long as they offered up a human sacrifice for her. Ironically, the young women offered up as sacrifices manage to get away.
34	* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Drakul is stated to be The Queen of the Dragons and is evil to the core.
35	* HatePlague: Drakul's mere presence instills paranoia and hatred within people.
36	* HumanSacrifice: A small town is informed if they don't want to all be burned down they'll let leave a group of young women out to be killed by Drakul.
37	* IKnowYourTrueName: If Drakul knows a person's real name, she can push their mind into believing lies. [[spoiler: Works both ways as if her own full name is revealed, she becomes weakened.]]
38	* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Diana is usually depicted as this in most stories, and she is shown enforcing it through a regular ritual where she binds herself in her own lasso. Here [[spoiler:it becomes a plot point as Drakul's [[ThePowerOfHate hate flames]] are shown to have no effect on her because of this]].
39	* ISurrenderSuckers: [[spoiler: Drakul offers to allow Wonder Woman to keep her heart for insurance that she will no longer cause trouble. It's a ploy of course, and leads directly to Karfang's death]].
40	* LastOfHerKind: Drakul is this stated to be this in the prologue of the story.
41	* LoopholeAbuse: This is Diana's means of ensuring the prophecy still goes through but so as none of her friends will be killed is this. [By incapacitating them long enough, she'll be the only member of the League left to go face Drakul and thus the only one fated to die.
42	** Zoe the Nereid, not wanting to see Diana die, also suggested a version of this by saying she would resign from the League so she won't be obligated to go face Drakul.
43	* MagicFire: Drakul has a special green fire that forcibly transforms gnomes into Drakugnome minions.
44	* MoneySpider: [[spoiler:When Wonder Woman shatters Karfang's heart the dragon explodes into a pile of old gold coinage that she had eaten previously]].
45	* MookMaker: One of Drakul's types of fire breath turn gnomes into monstrous Drakugnomes.
46	* MoralityGuidedAttack: Drakul's fire is said to burn someone with the intensity of their own lies. While they singe Wonder Woman, because nobody is perfect, they otherwise [[IncorruptiblePurePureness leave her unharmed]]. It's this that gives further justification for her fighting Drakul alone, as she believes her teammates would have fared far worse.
47	* NobodyCallsMeChicken: The main thing Diana takes umbrage, twice, with when arguing over her actions with Batman is him calling her a coward.
48	* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Drakul; a classic western style six-limbed dragon. Breathes two kinds of fire, one semi-normal flame, and a magic green flame that creates monsters. Collects gold to use as a bed, and also consumes it to strengthen outer armor, but this gold is tainted by the spirit of its owners, influencing the dragon in question.
49	* OurMermaidsAreDifferent: Zoe, a water nymph who lives in the waters around Themyscira, uses her power to turn Diana into a mermaid for a brief bit.
50	* OurNymphsAreDifferent: Two of Diana's assistants throughout the story are Zoe, a water nymph, and Athlea, a wood nymph. Both are portrayed as looking like little girls who have been Diana's friends since childhood as well as with powers associated with their respective elements/domains.
51	* RageAgainstTheHeavens: Diana does this the closer her encounter with Drakul approaches.
52	--> '''Wonder Woman:''' ''"Hera! Athena! Is this the end you dreamt of when you made me? To be a failure? Your mission of peace left undone?"''
53	* ThePowerOfHate: Drakul's flames are instilled with the power of pure hatred, which takes the fear and hatred within a person's soul and uses it to burn them from within. [[spoiler:This is how Diana is ultimately able to defeat her. Wonder Woman has no hatred to speak of.]]
54	* SealedEvilInACan: Drakul was first defeated and buried in the mountains of Switzerland in 1348 A.D. A little under 700 years before the story takes place.
55	* SicklyGreenGlow: One of Drakul fire breath variants is this.
56	* SmugSnake: Drakul is this in spades.
57	* SoulJar: Drakul, and dragons by extension, are stated to be invincible unless their heart is destroyed.
58	* StrongerWithAge: Drakul was already old before her imprisonment in the 1300s and there's no implication she's gotten any weaker upon waking up after centuries of slumber.
59	* TitleDrop: Come ups in the form of response during Diana's fight with Batman saying he won't let Diana face Drakul alone.
60	--> '''Wonder Woman:''' ''"A league of one. It will be enough."''
61	* TechnicolorFire: Drakul has a special green fire which forcibly transforms gnomes into Drakugnome minions.
62	* [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman This Looks Like a Job For Wonder Woman]]: [[spoiler:It is stated the reason Diana is the most suited to face Drakul is because of her IncorruptiblePurePureness in comparison to the rest of her team members.]]
63	* UseYourHead: [[spoiler:Diana's means of defeating [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner)]] is to headbutt him once she is able to remove his ring from his hand]].

Context ComicBook / JLAALeagueOfOne