Philippus is a fictional character created by DC Comics. She made her first appearance in February 1987 as an Amazon character in the Wonder Woman comic book. The character was created by writer/artist George Pérez.
Philippus made her live action debut on the DC Extended Universe films Wonder Woman, Justice League, and Zack Snyder's Justice League, played by Ann Ogbomo.
Fictional character biography
Amazon origin
3,000 years ago a select few of the Olympian gods, which included Artemis, Athena, Hestia, Demeter and Aphrodite, took the souls of women slain throughout time by the hands of men and sent them to the bottom of the Aegean Sea. The souls then began to form bodies with the clay on the sea bed. Once they reached the surface the clay bodies became living flesh and blood Amazons. Philippus was one of these new race of women. The first to break surface was Hippolyta and thus she was titled as Queen of the new race. The second Amazon to break surface was Hippolyta's sister Antiope and she ruled as a second to Hippolyta in all affairs. Each of the goddesses that created the Amazons blessed them with personalized gifts: hunting skills (Artemis), wisdom (Athena), warm homes (Hestia), plentiful harvests (Demeter), and beauty inside and out (Aphrodite). The Amazons eventually founded the city of Themyscira in Anatolia and became known as fierce warriors of peace in Turkey, Greece, and Rome.
Downfall
The jealous and vengeful god Ares soon after tried to discredit the Amazon's name by having his half-brother demi-god Heracles invade the Amazons and demean their standing by stealing Hippolyta's symbol of power: the Golden Girdle of Gaea. When Heracles first approached the Amazons seeking battle, Hippolyta met him outside the city gates and tried to reason with him for peaceful negotiations. When this did not work Heracles attacked the Amazon Queen using his strength to his advantage. Hippolyta easily turned the tables on him by using her wisdom and battle skills to subdue him. Still wishing peace, Hippolyta invited Heracles and his men into their city to celebrate a potential friendship with a feast. Hiding his anger, Heracles accepted the invitation.
Once in their stronghold, Heracles and his men drugged the wine the Amazons were drinking and took them prisoner. After the theft of Hippolyta's Golden Girdle and abuse and rape of the Amazons, Hippolyta cried out to Athena to help them escape their bonds. Athena said that she would only aid them on the condition that the Amazons not seek retribution against Heracles and his men as that would be beneath the ideals the Amazons were created to stand for. Hippolyta hastily agreed and the Amazon's bonds were broken and the drugs given wore off. Once out of their drugged state the Amazons were filled with hate and revenge. Breaking Hippolyta's oath to Athena, the Amazons began slaughtering their captors but were upset to find that Heracles and his general Theseus had returned to their homelands. Philippus was especially affected by the abuse as she no longer truly trusted the male species since.
After the slaughter Athena reprimanded the Amazons for disobeying her orders. She demanded the Amazons serve penance for their actions. Though Hippolyta agreed to the goddess' wishes, her sister Antiope scoffed at Athena for being angered at them for killing their rapist captors. Antiope then denounced all ties to the Olympian gods and said goodbye to her sister Hippolyta, giving Hippolyta her Golden Girdle of Gaea to replace the one stolen by Heracles. She left for Greece, along with half of the Amazon Nation who supported Antiope in her new quest to battle Heracles and Theseus out of vengeance and to replace Antiope's girdle with Hippolyta's. Antiope's tribe later became the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall.
Godly penance
Philippus and the remaining faithful Amazons then went to the sea shore where the Olympian Gods told them their punishment for going against their ideals. They were to be given immortality so that they would forever safeguard a doorway to the underworld called Doom's Doorway. Not only must they protect anyone from entering, but they must also vanquish any evils that try to escape. The doorway was on a far-off isolated island and it would take some time to get there. To guide their way, the god Poseidon cleared a pathway for them across the seas. Once they arrived at the island the Amazons created a new city and named their new home Themyscira, after their previous fallen city. This way of life continued for 3,000 years.