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In the DC universe (specifically Wonder Woman) there are portrayals of the gods from Greek mythology as characters.

Are these beings actual deities, or are they more like super-powerful beings from another plane of existence (much like the Norse gods in the Marvel Universe)?

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Historically they are depicted as characters who are capable of dying (though VERY hard to kill) and possessing of immense power.

As to whether or not they are gods, that depends on your definition. They are certainly powerful beings, but their origins are not explored. They are shown with many powers and abilities, many of which aren't shown by any non-'god' characters.

That said, their divinity is at the mercy of the writers. At any point where it's convenient, they will be retconned into powerful aliens. Then back into gods. Then they'll retcon them into being alien gods.

Suffice to say that Wonder Woman thinks they are gods, and the rest of the Justice League, at least, tends to follow her lead (either because they agree or are simply polite/trying not to annoy the powerful magical beings).

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    I want a plot where a Christian member of the Justice League tries to convert Wonder Woman. – DampeS8N Oct 28 '11 at 13:53
  • That's where I was trying to go, @DampeS8N I was wondering if they are gods, then why are there other religions in the DC universe? – OghmaOsiris Oct 28 '11 at 13:57
  • @OghmaOsiris: Sure, the Justice League and a few other super heroes have met Hera, Hades, etc. They may or may not believe they are deities. 99.99999% of the rest of the world's population (including super-powered people) haven't met them. They may have heard that WW believes in them, but may not believe it. Even if they do, the existence of one pantheon may give people 'evidence' for the existence of others... – Jeff Oct 28 '11 at 14:53
  • The Greek gods aren't the only ones to appear in the DCU: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presence_(DC_Comics)#DC_Comics – Wilerson Oct 28 '11 at 18:19
  • @DampeS8N The reverse of this is actually lampshaded in the comics (I think infinity crisis), where Mr Terrific claims he is an atheist, despite having worked alongside The Spectre, and other characters call him out on it. – Jordaan Mylonas Jun 5 '12 at 6:07
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in the wonder woman comic (a good while ago now), the titans re-appeared and overthrew the hindi gods and took their power (worship i guess). with the extra power they overthrew the olympians and then moved on to heaven (as in god god - the presence iirc). the angels saw chronos and sent the lowest of the low to meet him "it's only a greek" and with the new power chronos blasted him apart. then they had a bit of a kerfuffle

short ver - there are different pantheons in the DCU. The old gods, the new gods (Darkseid et al) and ones on earth too. the new gods are from what i've read a fair bit higher on the power scale than the greek gods. not 100% about the norse ones though. from memory i've only seen Odin in one comic and that was involving time travel to see "a newly minted Odin" millions of years ago. think that was in 52 or the last crisis.

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