Surelly, there must be a point when it is so diluted, that it is not Sonja anymore. If any woman with a metal bikini and a sword can be Sonja, is there any point for any character to continue to be called Sonja? What about a Nubian she-warrior from the bronze age? Will she be named Black Sonja? An Egyptian Queen from any of the Ptolemaic dynasties, will she be Sonja-Ra? And what will you call a vampire-hunting girl: Vampironja? Or maybe Sonjarella? When you wash away the distinctive personality and traits from a character, and leave only a name, you’re not creating a symbol, nor a myth. You are not saying that she is so recognizable that she is the embodiment of all strong, fighting women throughout time. Just as you need more than a loincloth and a sword to build a larger-than-life character like Conan, and won’t do with a blue leotard and a red cape to equal Superman, or any random twelve tasks to make a Hercules out of your characters, so Sonja cannot be reduced to a pair of metal encased tits and a phallic sword. Or should not. Dynamite keeps whoring Sonja, and id doing so she’s on a par with the times. Originality is no longer something to be cherished. Neither is continuity, as it smells too much of conservatism. The times are for institution-bashing and quality-smashing drible. Homeopathic drible, where you dilute so much what could work that it is not there anymore.
