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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wondertwins_342.jpg]]
The Wonder Twins are a BrotherSisterTeam (and their pet monkey, Gleek) of superheroes owned by Creator/DCComics, best known for co-starring (alongside the Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}}) on the ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' television show (and its comic-book SpinOff).
Created by artist Creator/AlexToth, the Twins (Zan and Jayna) were a replacement for the show's earlier {{Audience Surrogate}}s, Wendy, Marvin, and Wonderdog. Unlike their predecessors, the Twins (and Gleek) have superpowers and so are more believably useful to the superheroes: Zan can change into any form of water, and Jayna can change into any animal, but they can activate their powers only by touching first. Gleek has an elastic and prehensile tail.
The trio also starred in [[ThreeShorts some segments of the show]] by themselves, though usually in humorous adventures, or to teach children valuable lessons.
The Wonder Twins had their first comic book appearance in ''Super Friends'' #7 (October, 1977). The characters were further developed in the comic: it turns out they are mutants ''on top of'' being aliens. Because of this fact, after their parents' death (in a plague) they were adopted by the owner of a Space Circus, who only wanted them as part of their [[TheFreakshow freak show]]. Fortunately, the circus' [[NonIronicClown clown]] raised them well and gave them Gleek. Eventually, however, they decided to escape and hid on a supposedly uninhabited planet... that turned out to contain the secret base of Grax, a (pretty obscure) Superman villain. They overheard him planning to blow up the Earth with hidden bombs. The Twins go to Earth and contact the League, who (with help from several international superheroes -- ''not'' the same ones seen in the TV show) foiled the plan. Afterwards, the trio were allowed to succeed Wendy, Marvin, and Wonderdog on the team, as Wendy and Marvin were conveniently retiring to go back to school.
Zan and Jayna then live with Professor Carter Nichols, an old friend of Batman. They, too, attend high school, under their own secret identities (as Johan and Johanna Flemming, a pair of "foreign transfer students" from "Esko," a real town in Sweden) and have adventures of their own.
The Twins were eventually phased out of the TV show (with no explanation). When the comic was canceled, they pretty much disappeared (note that ''Super Friends'' was never canonical with the rest of DC Comics). Much later, they were reintroduced (ComicBook/PostCrisis) as a pair of [[DarkerAndEdgier alien slaves]] rescued by ComicBook/CaptainAtom's version of the League. This version of the Twins first appeared in ''Extreme Justice'' #9 (October, 1995).
The Twins ''finally'' got their first solo title, written by Mark Russell, as part of Creator/BrianMichaelBendis's teen-focused Creator/WonderComics imprint in 2019.
A pair of characters based on them (Downpour and Shifter) also appeared in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' ("Ultimatum"[[spoiler:, and clones of them in "Panic in the Sky"]]). Another version of them also appeared on the the ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' episode "Idol." They appeared in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' as well, with them briefly joining the team. Creator/AdultSwim once created five shorts called ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfTheWonderTwins'', which was a more adult, DarkComedy take on the twins.
----
!!The Wonder Twins provides examples of:
* AdaptationExpansion: The Twins' lives as Johan and Johanna were shown only in the comics.
* AllTheOtherReindeer: The Exorians didn't want to care for children with "mutant powers." Their hypocrisy is made obvious in a later story when they ''demand'' that the Twins save them from another duo of Exorian shapeshifters. This is also probably a ShoutOut to Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}}'s ''ComicBook/XMen''.
* AmazingTechnicolourWildlife: Gleek is a blue monkey. {{Justified|Trope}}, since he's an alien.
* AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle: Their occasional role on ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends''.
* {{Animorphism}}: Jayna's superpower.
* CanonImmigrant: Though it wasn't until the ''Extreme Justice'' comics that they were '''officially''' part of Franchise/TheDCU.
* ChestInsignia: Stylized Z and J, respectively. Justified, as they only added the letters to their SpaceClothes after joining the Superfriends. One of the comics has them getting the insignias ''specifically'' because of their admiration of Superman's "S" symbol.
* DeathByOriginStory: Their parents.
* DumbBlonde: Subverted; as Johan and Johanna, they dyed their hair blond (using one of Carter's inventions) and acted very intelligently.
* {{Edutainment}}: The Wonder Twins segments.
* ElementalShapeshifter: Zan's powers, with a generous side of MakingASplash and AnIcePerson.
* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Technically, Gleek is an alien who just happens to resemble a blue monkey.
* {{Fictionary}}: Interlac, the language spoken by the Twins before coming to Earth.
* HalfIdenticalTwins
* {{Invocation}}: Doubles as the Twins' CatchPhrase. Each will say "Form of [X]!" before transforming.
* ParentalSubstitute: First the clown, then Professor Nichols.
* PrehensileTail: Gleek. Not all of the results were desired, though.
* PrivateProfitPrison: The 2019 Wonder Twins comic series dealing with a privatized prison owned by Lex Luthor. In the vein of commentary on real-life issues relating to them, many inmates were incarcerated for minute crimes--such as overdue parking fines, which showed that even members of Lex Luthor's criminal organization aren't immune to his whims--and provided cheap labor in the form of a call center.
* RecycledInSpace: The circus.
* RubberMan: Gleek, but only in his tail.
* SiblingTeam
* SuperZeroes: Like ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, the twins have a reputation of being lame characters from the TV show; in the comic, they are ''far'' more effective. Even on ''Superfriends'', they were fairly creative. Would ''you'' have thought of becoming a "[[TravelCool steam-powered ice jet]]"?
* {{Suspiciously Similar Substitute}}s: Appearance and powers aside, they weren't much different from Wendy and Marvin.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Zan could turn into water, including ice and steam; Jayna could turn into animals, including mythological ones or alien ones.
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway:
** Zan. Jayna can turn into all sorts of creatures. Cool, right? Zan can turn into various forms of ''water''. That's it. Though with him, it depends on usage. In the show, he preferred a rather useless bucket of water. However, nothing's stopping him from using ice or water powers the way Franchise/SpiderMan villain Hydro-Man does. If not shackled to the IdiotBall, he could be the most powerful character on the show, barring Superman.
** This was actually parodied in one of Creator/CartoonNetwork's commercials, with Zan griping about his useless powers -- he could be defeated by a sponge! "It wouldn't even have to be an ''evil'' sponge!"
** Lampshaded and defied in their ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' cameo. The Titans find Zan pretty much useless, but he does demonstrate some practical uses for his power -- redirecting a rhino by becoming the ice under her feet, managing to briefly evade capture (until Beast Boy turns into a pelican), and finally demonstrating the SwissArmySuperpower idea -- to turn into an ''ice unicycle''.
* WonderTwinPowers: TropeNamer. Note that saying "Wonder Twin Powers, activate!" is ''not'' actually necessary, nor do they need to touch by the hands. In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', though, Clark stops a second round of LetsYouAndHimFight before it starts by putting his hand between theirs when they are going to touch and power up.
----
The Wonder Twins are a BrotherSisterTeam (and their pet monkey, Gleek) of superheroes owned by Creator/DCComics, best known for co-starring (alongside the Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}}) on the ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' television show (and its comic-book SpinOff).
Created by artist Creator/AlexToth, the Twins (Zan and Jayna) were a replacement for the show's earlier {{Audience Surrogate}}s, Wendy, Marvin, and Wonderdog. Unlike their predecessors, the Twins (and Gleek) have superpowers and so are more believably useful to the superheroes: Zan can change into any form of water, and Jayna can change into any animal, but they can activate their powers only by touching first. Gleek has an elastic and prehensile tail.
The trio also starred in [[ThreeShorts some segments of the show]] by themselves, though usually in humorous adventures, or to teach children valuable lessons.
The Wonder Twins had their first comic book appearance in ''Super Friends'' #7 (October, 1977). The characters were further developed in the comic: it turns out they are mutants ''on top of'' being aliens. Because of this fact, after their parents' death (in a plague) they were adopted by the owner of a Space Circus, who only wanted them as part of their [[TheFreakshow freak show]]. Fortunately, the circus' [[NonIronicClown clown]] raised them well and gave them Gleek. Eventually, however, they decided to escape and hid on a supposedly uninhabited planet... that turned out to contain the secret base of Grax, a (pretty obscure) Superman villain. They overheard him planning to blow up the Earth with hidden bombs. The Twins go to Earth and contact the League, who (with help from several international superheroes -- ''not'' the same ones seen in the TV show) foiled the plan. Afterwards, the trio were allowed to succeed Wendy, Marvin, and Wonderdog on the team, as Wendy and Marvin were conveniently retiring to go back to school.
Zan and Jayna then live with Professor Carter Nichols, an old friend of Batman. They, too, attend high school, under their own secret identities (as Johan and Johanna Flemming, a pair of "foreign transfer students" from "Esko," a real town in Sweden) and have adventures of their own.
The Twins were eventually phased out of the TV show (with no explanation). When the comic was canceled, they pretty much disappeared (note that ''Super Friends'' was never canonical with the rest of DC Comics). Much later, they were reintroduced (ComicBook/PostCrisis) as a pair of [[DarkerAndEdgier alien slaves]] rescued by ComicBook/CaptainAtom's version of the League. This version of the Twins first appeared in ''Extreme Justice'' #9 (October, 1995).
The Twins ''finally'' got their first solo title, written by Mark Russell, as part of Creator/BrianMichaelBendis's teen-focused Creator/WonderComics imprint in 2019.
A pair of characters based on them (Downpour and Shifter) also appeared in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' ("Ultimatum"[[spoiler:, and clones of them in "Panic in the Sky"]]). Another version of them also appeared on the the ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' episode "Idol." They appeared in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' as well, with them briefly joining the team. Creator/AdultSwim once created five shorts called ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfTheWonderTwins'', which was a more adult, DarkComedy take on the twins.
----
!!The Wonder Twins provides examples of:
* AdaptationExpansion: The Twins' lives as Johan and Johanna were shown only in the comics.
* AllTheOtherReindeer: The Exorians didn't want to care for children with "mutant powers." Their hypocrisy is made obvious in a later story when they ''demand'' that the Twins save them from another duo of Exorian shapeshifters. This is also probably a ShoutOut to Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}}'s ''ComicBook/XMen''.
* AmazingTechnicolourWildlife: Gleek is a blue monkey. {{Justified|Trope}}, since he's an alien.
* AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle: Their occasional role on ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends''.
* {{Animorphism}}: Jayna's superpower.
* CanonImmigrant: Though it wasn't until the ''Extreme Justice'' comics that they were '''officially''' part of Franchise/TheDCU.
* ChestInsignia: Stylized Z and J, respectively. Justified, as they only added the letters to their SpaceClothes after joining the Superfriends. One of the comics has them getting the insignias ''specifically'' because of their admiration of Superman's "S" symbol.
* DeathByOriginStory: Their parents.
* DumbBlonde: Subverted; as Johan and Johanna, they dyed their hair blond (using one of Carter's inventions) and acted very intelligently.
* {{Edutainment}}: The Wonder Twins segments.
* ElementalShapeshifter: Zan's powers, with a generous side of MakingASplash and AnIcePerson.
* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Technically, Gleek is an alien who just happens to resemble a blue monkey.
* {{Fictionary}}: Interlac, the language spoken by the Twins before coming to Earth.
* HalfIdenticalTwins
* {{Invocation}}: Doubles as the Twins' CatchPhrase. Each will say "Form of [X]!" before transforming.
* ParentalSubstitute: First the clown, then Professor Nichols.
* PrehensileTail: Gleek. Not all of the results were desired, though.
* PrivateProfitPrison: The 2019 Wonder Twins comic series dealing with a privatized prison owned by Lex Luthor. In the vein of commentary on real-life issues relating to them, many inmates were incarcerated for minute crimes--such as overdue parking fines, which showed that even members of Lex Luthor's criminal organization aren't immune to his whims--and provided cheap labor in the form of a call center.
* RecycledInSpace: The circus.
* RubberMan: Gleek, but only in his tail.
* SiblingTeam
* SuperZeroes: Like ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, the twins have a reputation of being lame characters from the TV show; in the comic, they are ''far'' more effective. Even on ''Superfriends'', they were fairly creative. Would ''you'' have thought of becoming a "[[TravelCool steam-powered ice jet]]"?
* {{Suspiciously Similar Substitute}}s: Appearance and powers aside, they weren't much different from Wendy and Marvin.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Zan could turn into water, including ice and steam; Jayna could turn into animals, including mythological ones or alien ones.
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway:
** Zan. Jayna can turn into all sorts of creatures. Cool, right? Zan can turn into various forms of ''water''. That's it. Though with him, it depends on usage. In the show, he preferred a rather useless bucket of water. However, nothing's stopping him from using ice or water powers the way Franchise/SpiderMan villain Hydro-Man does. If not shackled to the IdiotBall, he could be the most powerful character on the show, barring Superman.
** This was actually parodied in one of Creator/CartoonNetwork's commercials, with Zan griping about his useless powers -- he could be defeated by a sponge! "It wouldn't even have to be an ''evil'' sponge!"
** Lampshaded and defied in their ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' cameo. The Titans find Zan pretty much useless, but he does demonstrate some practical uses for his power -- redirecting a rhino by becoming the ice under her feet, managing to briefly evade capture (until Beast Boy turns into a pelican), and finally demonstrating the SwissArmySuperpower idea -- to turn into an ''ice unicycle''.
* WonderTwinPowers: TropeNamer. Note that saying "Wonder Twin Powers, activate!" is ''not'' actually necessary, nor do they need to touch by the hands. In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', though, Clark stops a second round of LetsYouAndHimFight before it starts by putting his hand between theirs when they are going to touch and power up.
----
to:
The Wonder Twins are a BrotherSisterTeam (and their pet monkey, Gleek) of superheroes owned by Creator/DCComics, best known for co-starring (alongside the Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}}) on the ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' television show (and its comic-book SpinOff).
Created by artist Creator/AlexToth, the Twins (Zan and Jayna) were a replacement for the show's earlier {{Audience Surrogate}}s, Wendy, Marvin, and Wonderdog. Unlike their predecessors, the Twins (and Gleek) have superpowers and so are more believably useful to the superheroes: Zan can change into any form of water, and Jayna can change into any animal, but they can activate their powers only by touching first. Gleek has an elastic and prehensile tail.
The trio also starred in [[ThreeShorts some segments of the show]] by themselves, though usually in humorous adventures, or to teach children valuable lessons.
The Wonder Twins had their first comic book appearance in ''Super Friends'' #7 (October, 1977). The characters were further developed in the comic: it turns out they are mutants ''on top of'' being aliens. Because of this fact, after their parents' death (in a plague) they were adopted by the owner of a Space Circus, who only wanted them as part of their [[TheFreakshow freak show]]. Fortunately, the circus' [[NonIronicClown clown]] raised them well and gave them Gleek. Eventually, however, they decided to escape and hid on a supposedly uninhabited planet... that turned out to contain the secret base of Grax, a (pretty obscure) Superman villain. They overheard him planning to blow up the Earth with hidden bombs. The Twins go to Earth and contact the League, who (with help from several international superheroes -- ''not'' the same ones seen in the TV show) foiled the plan. Afterwards, the trio were allowed to succeed Wendy, Marvin, and Wonderdog on the team, as Wendy and Marvin were conveniently retiring to go back to school.
Zan and Jayna then live with Professor Carter Nichols, an old friend of Batman. They, too, attend high school, under their own secret identities (as Johan and Johanna Flemming, a pair of "foreign transfer students" from "Esko," a real town in Sweden) and have adventures of their own.
The Twins were eventually phased out of the TV show (with no explanation). When the comic was canceled, they pretty much disappeared (note that ''Super Friends'' was never canonical with the rest of DC Comics). Much later, they were reintroduced (ComicBook/PostCrisis) as a pair of [[DarkerAndEdgier alien slaves]] rescued by ComicBook/CaptainAtom's version of the League. This version of the Twins first appeared in ''Extreme Justice'' #9 (October, 1995).
The Twins ''finally'' got their first solo title, written by Mark Russell, as part of Creator/BrianMichaelBendis's teen-focused Creator/WonderComics imprint in 2019.
A pair of characters based on them (Downpour and Shifter) also appeared in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' ("Ultimatum"[[spoiler:, and clones of them in "Panic in the Sky"]]). Another version of them also appeared on the the ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' episode "Idol." They appeared in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' as well, with them briefly joining the team. Creator/AdultSwim once created five shorts called ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfTheWonderTwins'', which was a more adult, DarkComedy take on the twins.
----
!!The Wonder Twins provides examples of:
* AdaptationExpansion: The Twins' lives as Johan and Johanna were shown only in the comics.
* AllTheOtherReindeer: The Exorians didn't want to care for children with "mutant powers." Their hypocrisy is made obvious in a later story when they ''demand'' that the Twins save them from another duo of Exorian shapeshifters. This is also probably a ShoutOut to Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}}'s ''ComicBook/XMen''.
* AmazingTechnicolourWildlife: Gleek is a blue monkey. {{Justified|Trope}}, since he's an alien.
* AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle: Their occasional role on ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends''.
* {{Animorphism}}: Jayna's superpower.
* CanonImmigrant: Though it wasn't until the ''Extreme Justice'' comics that they were '''officially''' part of Franchise/TheDCU.
* ChestInsignia: Stylized Z and J, respectively. Justified, as they only added the letters to their SpaceClothes after joining the Superfriends. One of the comics has them getting the insignias ''specifically'' because of their admiration of Superman's "S" symbol.
* DeathByOriginStory: Their parents.
* DumbBlonde: Subverted; as Johan and Johanna, they dyed their hair blond (using one of Carter's inventions) and acted very intelligently.
* {{Edutainment}}: The Wonder Twins segments.
* ElementalShapeshifter: Zan's powers, with a generous side of MakingASplash and AnIcePerson.
* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Technically, Gleek is an alien who just happens to resemble a blue monkey.
* {{Fictionary}}: Interlac, the language spoken by the Twins before coming to Earth.
* HalfIdenticalTwins
* {{Invocation}}: Doubles as the Twins' CatchPhrase. Each will say "Form of [X]!" before transforming.
* ParentalSubstitute: First the clown, then Professor Nichols.
* PrehensileTail: Gleek. Not all of the results were desired, though.
* PrivateProfitPrison: The 2019 Wonder Twins comic series dealing with a privatized prison owned by Lex Luthor. In the vein of commentary on real-life issues relating to them, many inmates were incarcerated for minute crimes--such as overdue parking fines, which showed that even members of Lex Luthor's criminal organization aren't immune to his whims--and provided cheap labor in the form of a call center.
* RecycledInSpace: The circus.
* RubberMan: Gleek, but only in his tail.
* SiblingTeam
* SuperZeroes: Like ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, the twins have a reputation of being lame characters from the TV show; in the comic, they are ''far'' more effective. Even on ''Superfriends'', they were fairly creative. Would ''you'' have thought of becoming a "[[TravelCool steam-powered ice jet]]"?
* {{Suspiciously Similar Substitute}}s: Appearance and powers aside, they weren't much different from Wendy and Marvin.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Zan could turn into water, including ice and steam; Jayna could turn into animals, including mythological ones or alien ones.
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway:
** Zan. Jayna can turn into all sorts of creatures. Cool, right? Zan can turn into various forms of ''water''. That's it. Though with him, it depends on usage. In the show, he preferred a rather useless bucket of water. However, nothing's stopping him from using ice or water powers the way Franchise/SpiderMan villain Hydro-Man does. If not shackled to the IdiotBall, he could be the most powerful character on the show, barring Superman.
** This was actually parodied in one of Creator/CartoonNetwork's commercials, with Zan griping about his useless powers -- he could be defeated by a sponge! "It wouldn't even have to be an ''evil'' sponge!"
** Lampshaded and defied in their ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' cameo. The Titans find Zan pretty much useless, but he does demonstrate some practical uses for his power -- redirecting a rhino by becoming the ice under her feet, managing to briefly evade capture (until Beast Boy turns into a pelican), and finally demonstrating the SwissArmySuperpower idea -- to turn into an ''ice unicycle''.
* WonderTwinPowers: TropeNamer. Note that saying "Wonder Twin Powers, activate!" is ''not'' actually necessary, nor do they need to touch by the hands. In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', though, Clark stops a second round of LetsYouAndHimFight before it starts by putting his hand between theirs when they are going to touch and power up.
----
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
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Changed line(s) 9,10 (click to see context) from:
The Wonder Twins had their first comic book appearance in ''Super Friends'' #7 (October, 1977). The characters were further developed in the comic: it turns out they are mutants ''on top of'' being aliens. Because of this fact, after their parents' death (in a plague) they were adopted by the owner of a Space Circus, who only wanted them as part of their [[TheFreakshow freak show]]. Fortunately, the circus' [[NonIronicClown clown]] raised them well and gave them Gleek. Eventually, however, they decided to escape and hid on a supposedly uninhabited planet...that turned out to contain the secret base of Grax, a (pretty obscure) Superman villain. They overheard him planning to blow up the Earth with hidden bombs. The Twins go to Earth and contact the League, who (with help from several international superheroes -- ''not'' the same ones seen in the TV show) foiled the plan. Afterwards, the trio were allowed to succeed Wendy, Marvin, and Wonderdog on the team, as Wendy and Marvin were conveniently retiring to go back to school.
to:
The Wonder Twins had their first comic book appearance in ''Super Friends'' #7 (October, 1977). The characters were further developed in the comic: it turns out they are mutants ''on top of'' being aliens. Because of this fact, after their parents' death (in a plague) they were adopted by the owner of a Space Circus, who only wanted them as part of their [[TheFreakshow freak show]]. Fortunately, the circus' [[NonIronicClown clown]] raised them well and gave them Gleek. Eventually, however, they decided to escape and hid on a supposedly uninhabited planet... that turned out to contain the secret base of Grax, a (pretty obscure) Superman villain. They overheard him planning to blow up the Earth with hidden bombs. The Twins go to Earth and contact the League, who (with help from several international superheroes -- ''not'' the same ones seen in the TV show) foiled the plan. Afterwards, the trio were allowed to succeed Wendy, Marvin, and Wonderdog on the team, as Wendy and Marvin were conveniently retiring to go back to school.
