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- Silver Age (1960-1970)
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- Post-Zero Hour Era (1994-1996)
- JLA (1996-2006)
- Post-Infinite Crisis Era (2006-2009)
- Ambush Bug
- Black Lightning
- Firestorm II (Jason Rusch)
- Geo-Force
- Red Arrow I (Roy Harper)
- Post-Final Crisis Era (2009-2010)
- Post-Blackest Night Era (2010-2011)
- Jade
- Jesse Quick
- Nightwing
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- Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes)
- New 52 era (2011-2016)
Related Teams
Detroit Era (1984-1986)
Gypsy
AKA: Cynthia "Cindy" Reynolds
First Appearance: Justice League of America Annual #2 (October 1984)
Abilities: Invisibility
Cindy Reynolds was born into a happy suburban family, but her parents' relationship eventually soured. Fleeing their breakup, Cindy took to the streets when she manifested the power to turn invisible. She ran away to Detroit at around the same time the Justice League set up shop there, and after using her powers to covertly aid them in a fight, she was offered membership. Gypsy is almost a surrogate daughter to the Martian Manhunter and joined him in his Justice League Task Force. She has also been a member of the Birds of Prey.
- Action Girl: Aside from her powers, Gypsy is an expert in hand-to-hand combat. She has been trained by Bronze Tiger, and Shiva has offered to train her as well.
- Artistic Age: She was only 14 when she first joined Justice League Detroit, but you’d never know, because she was drawn as more developed like a young adult.
- Fad Super: Gypsy was originally a transparent (hah) attempt to cash in on Cyndi Lauper's popularity.
- Fights Like a Normal: Gypsy's main strengths are her skill at stealth, martial arts, firearms, and electronics. The invisibility is just a little extra.
- Hot Gypsy Woman: She is indeed part Roma, but despite her name, writers don't usually harp on it and she's defined by more than just her ethnicity.
- Invisibility: Originally she could only cloak herself, but as she's grown older, she's learned to affect multiple people and objects.
- Kid Hero: At first.
- Magical Romani: Of Romani descent, and has the power of illusion. Also invoked with her superhero name, Gypsy.
- Master of Illusion: Gypsy's primary power is that of illusion casting, which she can use in a large variety of ways focusing on invisibility and camouflage. She can camouflage both herself and someone standing in close proximity to her.
- Mutant: Her powers were inborn rather than gained from an external source.
- Parental Abandonment: They were eventually killed by Despero.
- Roguish Romani: Gypsy is sometimes Romani, sometimes not, Depending on the Writer. She did start as basically a street thief.
- Took a Level in Badass: In Justice League Task Force. She went from merely turning invisible to gaining proficiency in swords and firearms.
Steel
The original Commander Steel, obsessed with carrying on his legacy, subjected his grandson Hank Heywood III to the same procedure that gave him his powers after he suffered an accident. Encouraged by his grandfather join the newly restructured Justice League, even lending them a bunker for use as their base of operations, Hank struggled to adapt to life as a cyborg and clashed with the older JLAers. In the last days of the League's Detroit era, Steel was mortally wounded by one of Professor Ivo's robots and placed on life support by his grandfather; Despero, seeking revenge against the League, tracked him down in this state and ripped him limb from limb.
- Cyborg: His body was enhanced with mechanized steel devices, including a cybernetic skeleton.
- Killed Off for Real: Killed by Despero in 1990.
- Legacy Character: He was granted the mantle of his grandfather. After his death, his cousin Nathan took up his mantle as Citizen Steel in the Justice Society of America.
- We Can Rebuild Him: An ordinary human rebuilt as a Cyborg.
Vibe
Paco
Cisco
AKA: Paco Ramone
First Appearance: Justice League of America Annual #2 (October 1984)
Abilities: Generates damaging vibrations
A teenage gang member from Detroit, Francisco "Paco" Ramone was born with the power to create vibratory shock waves—a "one-man earthquake". When the Justice League of America moved to Detroit, Paco declared himself a member, and the League, desperate for new blood, accepted him. Despite his goofy exterior, he proved himself a hero. Tragically, he was killed by Professor Ivo's androids during the Legends crossover, becoming the first Justice League member to be killed in action.
Several Cosmic Retcons later, Vibe was reimagined for the New 52 relaunch, renicknamed and respelled as "Cisco" Ramón. After Cisco was caught in the event horizon of a Boom Tube when Darkseid's forces attacked Earth, his vibrational frequency was set out of sync with the rest of the world, making it impossible to film or photograph him, and leaving him able to sense dimensional disturbances and generate shock waves. He joined Steve Trevor's Justice League of America, and received his own short-lived series, Justice League of America's Vibe. He disappeared during Forever Evil (2013), his fate currently unknown.
Both versions of Vibe have appeared in other media, the most prominent being Cisco from The Flash (2014), played by Carlos Valdes.
This comic book character demonstrates examples of:
- Adaptation Name Change: Originally, Vibe's civilian name was Paco Ramone. The New 52 and The Flash (2014) have him addressed as Cisco Ramon.
- All-Loving Hero: What continues to get Cisco in hot water with while working for A.R.G.U.S. While Amanda Waller clearly wants brutal pragmatism in every fight, Vibe's sympathetic tendencies lead him to quickly trying to help his targets instead of taking them down.
- Arch-Enemy: In the New 52, Vibe's is Rupture, a relentless warrior with the same vibrational powers and a glowing red scythe. He also turns out to be Armando, Cisco's presumed-dead oldest brother.
- Captain Ethnic: Oh, Paco, Paco, Paco. This was of course dropped with the Cisco version of Vibe.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Vibe went missing during Forever Evil (2013), and hasn't reappeared since.
- Cool Shades: The shades are part of Paco's image as a gang member. However, he keeps them even in his superhero costume. Cisco, meanwhile, only has them as part of the costume. When he appeared on The Flash (2014), the shades were his way of sensing dimensional disturbances and the like.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: After Cisco acts directly against Waller's orders, a small Suicide Squad lineup of Deadshot, Harley Quinn, King Shark, and Crowbar are sent to take down the highly empowered Vibe and Gypsy. The Squad very quickly bring the two in.
- Dance Battler: Paco used breakdancing moves as part of his fighting style.
- Fad Super: Paco, much like his teammate Gypsy. He was supposed to cash in on the mid-80s breakdancing craze.
- Heart Is an Awesome Power: When the various eras of the DCU were starting to come apart in Crisis on Infinite Earths, he managed to put them back together while everyone else was fighting. You was saying, everyone? And keep in mind the shockwaves weren't just for show, too.
- Incompletely Trained: Vibe's biggest problems in the New 52 stem from this. While he seems to be one of the most highly-powered metahumans in the DCU, capable of ripping apart multiple realities at once (Waller is worried he could casually damage the timeline during one battle) , he simply doesn't have the training to hold his own against a more disciplined opponent.
- Killed Off for Real: During Darkseid's assault on Earth's "legends," Paco left his JLA comrades to seek the familiar solace of the streets. Vibe was attacked by one of Professor Ivo's androids, and despite a valiant effort, became the first Justice League member to be killed in the line of duty.
- Make Some Noise: Originally, Vibe's power was projecting sonic shockwaves from his hands.
- Mass Super-Empowering Event: In the New 52, Vibe gets his powers from Darkseid's invasion, alongside Armando. It's not just the two, however, who gain the new abilities; Detroit, the city itself, becomes a conduit of vibrational multiversal power like Cisco has within himself.
- Mythology Gag: The Cisco Ramone version mentions, rather derisively, having the middle name "Paco."
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Paco put on an over-the-top Puerto Rican accent ("Are chu the Chustice League?") and goofy persona to fit in on the streets.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Much is made of how potentially dangerous Cisco's powers are if he does not get them under control.
- Plucky Comic Relief: The Paco version. Very much so.
- Seers: The New 52 version of Vibe. The shockwaves come as a bonus.
- Swiss-Army Superpower: Vibe's abilities are quite versatile. In addition to the above moment listed under Heart Is an Awesome Power, the current version's powers grant him Invisibility to electronic devices, being able to hack machines, and can even disrupt the Speed Force. This makes him theoretically one of the most dangerous metahumans on the planet.
- Sinister Scythe: Rupture uses a glowing red-bladed scythe to focus his vibrational powers.
- Ugly Cute: Cisco runs across a multiversal messenger creature who, when removing his face-mask, has visible face tentacles and big, puppy-like eyes. Seeing as he immediately shows it mercy, this is his response In-Universe as well as the reader's.
- Vibration Manipulation: Vibe initially had the ability to create shockwaves but The New 52 brought his abilities more in line with his chosen name, being more focused on his control of vibrations. His power is such that Amanda Waller actively sought him as part of a counter-team against the Justice League should it prove necessary. Not only that but the nature of the multiverse means his powers can affect space and time when properly applied.
Post-Zero Hour
Amazing-Man
Amazing-Man
Will Everett III
- Heroic Lineage: He carried on his grandfather's heroic tradition.
- Energy Absorption: He could absorb and duplicate vast amounts of energy, as when he defeated the Overmaster by draining and duplicating its powers.
- Killed Off for Real: Will was apparently killed by a supervillainess named the Mist, along with the Crimson Fox and Blue Devil. In Amazing-Man's case, Mist tricked him into mimicking glass and then shattered him.
- Material Mimicry: Amazing Man could cause his body to duplicate the properties of any inorganic material he touched from stone to glass.
- Token Minority: The only black guy in the group.
Icemaiden/Glacier
Icemaiden/Glacier
Sigrid Nansen
The first hero to use the name and for a time was replaced by Ice. After Ice had left the Global Guardians, joined the Justice League International, and was killed by the Overmaster, Sigrid re-emerged. Icemaiden chose to honor the fallen heroine by serving as her replacement in the Justice League. In the 'Tis the season to be freezin anthology, Singrid is revealed to be Non-Binary (They/Them pronouns), and gets a new codename: Glacier.
- Abusive Parents: Their scientist mother who constantly belittled them for not having a boyfriend and not being a top scientist.
- Ambiguous Situation: After the "Infinite Crisis", it was revealed that Icemaiden had at some point been abducted by the supervillain Warp, a capture paid for by a mysterious "organ-napper" who turned out to be former film actress Delores Winters. Winters longed for new flesh to replace her own aging skin and had her personal physician surgically flay the Icemaiden in order to harvest their superpowered skin. Icemaiden did not die, however, and eventually was placed, comatose, into a hydration womb within a facility of S.T.A.R. Labs. Later, in the same story, the hydration womb is cracked. Singrid later reappeared alive, but the Dolores Winter situation wasn't concluded or referenced at all.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: They have blue skin.
- Famous-Named Foreigner: They are presumably named after the Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen.
- An Ice Person: Singrid possesses abilities surrounding ice, snow and cold. They can control small quantities of snow and ice, and project ice shields and icicles from her body, but their greatest ability is to become very cold and create ice armor in times of great stress. Their powers are closely linked to their mental state.
- Replacement Goldfish:
- Fire basically used Sigrid to try and fill the void left by Tora's death. Sigrid eventually grew tired of Fire's behavior and shocked her into accepting that Tora was dead by offering to truly pretend to be Tora.
- During their time in the JLA, they were disliked and criticized by Guy Gardner, who had also not come to terms with Ice's death.
Triumph
Triumph
William "Will" MacIntyre
Abilities: Electromagnetic Manipulation
Triumph was one of the founding members of the Justice League. In fact, it was he who assembled the League. But a Negative Space Wedgie sent him to limbo and erased him from history, removing everyone's memory of him. When he got back, needless to say, he was pissed. After making waves in the League, he was punted off to the team's training group, the Justice League Task Force, and soon after quit in anger. In desperation, he made a deal with the demon Neron that resulted in him turning evil. After an unsuccessful attempt at destroying the League, he was turned to ice by The Spectre, and kept in the trophy room of the JLA Headquarters. The HQ was eventually blown up in a later story, with him still inside.
- Adaptational Heroism: In the miniseries Trinity (2009), when the world was fundamentally altered by Morgaine le Fey and Enigma, Triumph reappears in the new timeline as a member of the Justice Society International in a world where Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman never existed. Like a real hero, Triumph fights to help restore the reality that should be, knowing full well that it will mean his death and he finds comraderie in Tomorrow Woman, who faces the same fate.
- Ambiguously Gay: Triumph's main creator Christopher Priest revealed
that he was written from the start as gay, though this was never revealed on-panel as "an appropriate storyline to deal sensitively with that issue" never came up. - Challenging the Chief: All the time with the Martian Manhunter, who was leader of the Justice League Task Force when Triumph was a member. Having organized the very first incarnation of the JLA itself, including Martian Manhunter (though J'onn didn't remember any of this), Triumph resented being subordinate to him. This eventually got so bad that Martian Manhunter crippled Triumph, albeit accidentally.
- The Chew Toy: Partially why he became evil; he could've been a great hero if the cosmos had ever stopped shitting on him.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Deciding he was tired of being beneath heroes like Superman his final appearance has him deciding to kill the JLA and replace them with his own brand of heroes brainwashed into loyalty. After defeating him, Superman plainly tells him to his face that Smug Super tendencies aside, Triumph was powerful and courageous. He would've been perfectly welcome in the JLA if he'd just asked for membership.
- Deal with the Devil: In Underworld Unleashed, Triumph makes a deal with Neron, trading his soul for the lost ten years of his life. He initially hemmed and hawed over if he should light the candle before an encounter with Gypsy and Ray convinced him to accept things and he abandons the candle. Sadly, the two find it and lit it up as part of their mini-memorial for fallen teammate Mystek and the deal goes through.
- Doomed Contrarian: An arguably meta example, as his tendency to argue with the big names like Superman and Martian Manhunter about things earned him the hatred of readers and DC writers. Once his creator was gone they couldn't kill him off fast enough.
- Driven to Villainy: The inadvertant loss of his soul (long story) left him Not Himself and he came under the influence of an evil 5th dimensional imp named Lkz.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: After being frozen by the Spectre (read below) he was stuffed in the JLA's trophy room until it was blown up. His fate was never explicitly stated, but was implied as heavily as it is possible to imply something.
- Fallen Hero: Triumph was lost for decades in a time warp, and returned to join the Task Force as its leader. His difficulties in adapting to the new times, added to the desertion of Martian Manhunter and Aquaman from the TF's ranks (which caused the government to close it down due to the real Justice League returning), ended with him broke and being harassed by common thugs. The inadvertant loss of his soul left him Not Himself and he came under the influence of an evil 5th dimensional imp named Lkz, he wreaked havoc and mentally dominated his former allies into fighting the JLA. When he failed, he was frozen screaming.
- Flanderization: When written by writers who weren't Christopher Priest Triumph's Jerkass tendencies tended to get dialed up while conveniently omitting him actually being right about things.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: A particularly tragic example and a deconstruction of the trope by showing some of its nasty repercussions if the friend in question REALLY doesn't like being forgotten. Triumph was the one who gathered and founded the Justice League of America before being wiped from existence by a time rift when he attempted to sacrifice himself to save the world, and as a result of the self-correcting timestream, was wiped out of everyone's memory, never to be seen or heard from again. A decade later, a time-space alteration brought him back into a world which he was rightfully a part of, but had never existed in and his attempts to retake his position as one of the original heroes of the world were rejected by colleagues who no longer even acknowledged his existence. After being shunted to a lesser-known Justice League Task Force by Martian Manhunter and kicked out for insubordination, the Demon Neron offered to trade the precious lost years of is life on Earth for Triumph's soul. He refused, but eventual meddling by his teammates sealed the deal, giving Triumph back his lost years but showing him the world he left behind was exactly the same and his absence made no difference at all, essentially leaving Triumph with nothing after all his sacrifice. At that point, Triumph predictably snaps and opts to destroy the current League to start his own to get back the prestige he felt he lost.
- Hand Blast: He can store energy in his hands and send it through metallic wiring as a powerful electric current. He can project powerful electric blasts from his eyes capable of melting thick plastic or rubber objects, or even shredding through steel alloys like confetti.
- Handicapped Badass: During his time with the Justice League Task Force Martian Manhunter beat him up so badly after one Challenging the Chief moment too many that he broke his back. Being too proud to reveal any vulnerability, Triumph used his powers to compensate for this injury.
- Hate Sink: Enforced hard. Creator Christopher Priest intentionally wrote Triumph as a bit unlikable, basing his personality off of DC's Director of Creative Services (and Priest's colleague) Neal Pozner, who Priest describes as "very direct and headstrong and always right", particularly right in the way that tends to annoy people. So fans didn't like Triumph and Priest expected that. What Priest didn't expect was for his co-workers to dislike Triumph, which they did, and apparently very passionately — Priest claims he literally had to remind his co-workers that Triumph was a fictional character. As one might expect of a character of this type, when handled by other writers he tended to get hit with Flanderization and lots of (from the point of view of those writers)
Take That, Scrappy! moments, many of which in retrospect seem quite petty and mean spirited. And as the cherry on the petty cake, once Priest departed DC writers wasted no time in killing the hated Triumph off in what Priest aptly terms "a Persian bazaar manner". - Hide Your Gays: In petty retaliation for the rumors that Triumph was gay, co-creator Brian Augustyn gave Triumph a girlfriend... who allegedly dumped him because his junk was very small. Real mature.
- Humiliation Conga: Basically his entire history was one of these, but special mention goes to the period when Martian Manhunter broke his back. After quitting the Justice League Task Force, he was rejected by 77 universities, had his powers stolen by Amazo and got hit with a shrink ray that infamously restored "almost all" of his anatomy (aka the mean-spirited dick joke referenced above).
- I Am Not Left-Handed: Triumph's last storyline showed how much he'd been holding back up to that point; after losing his soul and having his powers restored, he immediately seized the JLA Watchtower and stomped most of the JLA itself singlehandedly. Superman even admitted while struggling with him that Triumph must still have some of his innate goodness left, since if he didn't he'd have already killed him.
- Jerkass: He was portrayed as a hot-headed, arrogant, and self-righteous individual who felt he was "denied his destiny" to become one of Earth's greatest heroes. Made all the more frustrating in that he was usually right about everything and had a legitimate reason for being a jerkass.
- Jerkass Has a Point: The entire point of his character, as creator Christopher Priest wrote him as the sort of person who is usually right about things and is not shy about letting people know it.
- Loser Son of Loser Dad: His driving motivation for becoming a hero in the first place was to not turn out like his old man, a petty criminal and Disappeared Dad.
- No Social Skills: Priest describes him as having "terrible interpersonal skills" and being a "completed inverted person".
- Outdated Outfit: He was deliberately given a "bland and Silver Agey" outfit — due to actually being from the Silver Age.
- Power Floats: In the vein of traditional comics heavyweights like Superman and Magneto. This later became a plot point when Martian Manhunter crippled him and he began using his powers to pretend he was fine.
- Remember the New Guy?: Triumph was one of the founding members. He was the team leader of the original five members.
- Ret-Gone: On his first mission with the fledgling Justice League, Triumph seemingly "saved the world", but was teleported into a dimensional limbo that also affected the timestream, resulting in no one having any memory of him and his original peers now being veterans.
- Rightly Self-Righteous: A solid deconstruction. Though his reasons and motives are sound, his sense of self-righteousness greatly annoys his teammates and he has an unfortunate tendency to use people more as pawns than as teammates and concentrate on his plans more than teamwork. This results in him being fired from the League Task Force for insubordination and even having his back broken by an irate Martian Manhunter for challenging his decisions too often.
- Shock and Awe: Had control over the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
- Smug Super: Was absurdly powerful and knew it. Was written for a while to be "always right."
- Superpower Lottery: Triumph had the power to manipulate the electromagnetic spectrum, an enormously versatile ability which he could use for a wide variety of effects. Superman himself admitted that Triumph could kill him anytime he wanted by siphoning the solar energy from his body.
- Swiss-Army Superpower: He can manipulate all forms of energy, which gives him an almost unlimited range of powers. His powers include Force Fields, energy blasts, redirecting energy, and Energy Absorption.
- Taken for Granite: At the end of The 90s' JLA arc, the Spectre transformed Triumph into ice and prepared to smash him with a hammer, but was stopped by a compassionate plea by the angel Zauriel. His ice form was stored in the Justice League headquarters, marked "Founding Member of the J.L.A" as a memorial.
- Tuckerization: Invoked, as Christopher Priest literally calls Triumph " a gentle tuckerization" of Neal Pozner. Though he actually meant No Celebrities Were Harmed, as Triumph is based on Pozner, not named after him. Priest can be forgiven for the error however, as he wrote this in 2003, well before either trope was officially codified.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: A fatal case. Triumph was frozen by The Spectre and kept in the JLA trophy room during Grant Morrison's run on the book. At the climax to Morrison's run, they blew up the HQ, only they forgot to get Triumph out first. He's been dead ever since.
Wonder Twins
The Wonder Twins
Zan and Jayna
The Wonder Twins are a Brother–Sister Team (and their pet monkey, Gleek) of superheroes owned by DC Comics, best known for co-starring (alongside the Justice League) on the Superfriends television show (and its comic-book Spin-Off).
Created by artist Alex Toth, the Twins (Zan and Jayna) were a replacement for the show's earlier Audience Surrogates, 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 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 freak show. Fortunately, the circus' 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, with each bomb having a unique and dangerous method of defense. 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, while the Twins and Marvin and Wendy personally faced and defeated Grax himself. 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 (Post-Crisis) as a pair of alien slaves rescued by Captain Atom'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 Brian Michael Bendis's teen-focused Wonder Comics imprint in 2019.
A pair of characters based on them (Downpour and Shifter) also appeared in an episode of Justice League Unlimited ("Ultimatum", and clones of them in "Panic in the Sky"). Another version of them also appeared on the the Smallville episode "Idol". They appeared in Teen Titans Go! as well, with them briefly joining the team. [adult swim] once created five shorts called The New Adventures of the Wonder Twins, which was a more adult, Dark Comedy take on the twins.
- Adaptation Expansion: The Twins' lives as Johan and Johanna were shown only in the comics.
- All the Other Reindeer: 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 Shout-Out to Marvel's X-Men.
- Amazing Technicolour Wildlife: Gleek is a blue monkey. Justified, since he's an alien.
- And Knowing Is Half the Battle: Their occasional role on Super Friends.
- Animorphism: Jayna's superpower. She gets more usage out of it in the comics where she can turn into animals found only on Exor and mythological creatures, too- in one issue she turns into a roc to help provide transport for her teammates.
- Canon Immigrant: Born in the animated series Superfriends, it wasn't until the Extreme Justice comics that they were officially part of the DC universe.
- Chest Insignia: Stylized Z and J, respectively. Justified, as they only added the letters to their Space Clothes after joining the Superfriends. One of the comics has them getting the insignias specifically because of their admiration of Superman's "S" symbol.
- Death by Origin Story: Their parents died in a plague before they ever met them.
- Dumb Blonde: 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 focused on teaching morals more than the rest of the show.
- Elemental Shapeshifter: Zan's powers, with a generous side of Making a Splash and An Ice Person.
- Fictionary: Interlac, the language spoken by the Twins before coming to Earth.
- Half-Identical Twins: If they weren’t different genders, you probably couldn’t tell them apart.
- Harmless Liquefaction: Zan usually transforms into some form of water, sometimes in liquid form
- Invocation: Doubles as the Twins' Catchphrase. Each will say "Form of [X]!" before transforming. In the comics, it was only "Form of" for Jayna- Zan instead said "Shape of".
- Parental Substitute: First the clown, then Professor Nichols.
- Prehensile Tail: Gleek. Not all of the results were desired, though.
- Private Profit Prison: 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.
- Recessive Super Genes: According to the origin story given in the tie-in comic Super Friends #7 (October, 1977), the pre-Crisis version of the Wonder Twins got their powers this way. Originally, the intelligent species that inhabited their home planet Exor consisted of two distinct races: a "normal" race and a race of Shifters, who could take any form they wanted. The Shifter power was controlled by a recessive allele. When the two races began to intermarry, the recessive shifter allele was nearly bred out of the species, but even centuries later it still cropped up on rare occasions. Exorian kids who got two copies of the shifter allele usually developed one specific, limited shifting power.
- Rubber Man: Gleek, but only in his tail. Doesn't apply to the twins themselves.
- Sibling Team: Well, they are called the Wonder Twins.
- Simpleminded Wisdom: Zan in the 2019 comic series. He has a penchant for Comically Missing the Point, and sometimes borders on being The Ditz, but that doesn't mean he can't be insightful.Polly: (to Jayna) Stop pretending that you care. That you're my friend. You're just someone who does what they think is best and then tries to fix the pain it causes me afterwards.
Zan: Uh... Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that precisely what a friend does? - Super Zeroes: Like 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 "steam-powered ice jet"?
- Suspiciously Similar Substitutes: Appearance and powers aside, they weren't much different from Wendy and Marvin.
- Utopia: Exor itself is apparently home to a society that’s solved every single problem you could think of, and crime is only done in the event of extreme boredom.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Zan could turn into water, including ice and steam; Jayna could turn into animals, including mythological ones or alien ones.
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?:
- 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 Spider-Man villain Hydro-Man does. Notably, he can change his size, mass, and temperature at will — nothing's stopping him from becoming an avalanche, or a blast of searing hot steam, or a tsunami. He can also become any conceivable object, as long as it's made of ice. If not shackled to the Idiot Ball, he could be the most powerful character on the show, barring Superman.
- This was actually parodied in one of Cartoon Network'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 Teen Titans Go! 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 Swiss-Army Superpower idea — to turn into an ice unicycle.
- Women Are Wiser: Jayna is usually the more level-headed and intelligent of the two, though it depends a little on the incarnation.
- Wonder Twin Powers: Trope Namer. Note that saying "Wonder Twin Powers, activate!" is not actually necessary, nor do they need to touch by the hands. In Smallville, though, Clark stops a second round of Let's You and Him Fight before it starts by putting his hand between theirs when they are going to touch and power up.
JLA (1996-2006)
Major Disaster (Paul Booker)
Major Disaster is a super-villain and enemy to Green Lantern with the ability to cause chaos and natural disasters. This involves probability manipulation. His career began as a cheap criminal who hired scientists to develop high-tech weapons, although he later internalized their effects and gained super-powers. Later in his career he became a hero when Maxwell Lord invited him to join the Justice League.
- The Alcoholic: Major Disaster develops a huge drinking problem over the course of the Justice League Elite miniseries, much to his teammates' chagrin. After his drinking causes his powers to crap out at a really bad time, resulting in the death of Manitou Raven, he ultimately decides to get sober.
- The Atoner: He is atoning for his career as a supervillain.
- Bad Powers, Bad People: His ability is to make disasters happen (Earthquakes, meteor showers, blackouts, floods). While this was played straight while he was a villain, he's eventually coaxed into turning Face by Superman and uses his evil-seeming power for good.
- C-List Fodder: He's killed by Superboy Prime in Infinite Crisis.
- Deadpan Snarker: He starts off as one, but increasingly turns to alcohol to deal with all the shit he's gotten involved with.
- I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Major Disaster blames himself for Manitou's death, because he was so drunk that Manitou had to step in and save him.
- Knight in Sour Armor: Major Disaster isn't interested in going back to being a supervillain, but he's also increasingly disillusioned with being a superhero.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: He uses homophobic and sexist insults towards his teammates in the Justice League Elite rather regularly.
- Sole Survivor: The first issue of the Suicide Squad 2001 series ended with Major Disaster the only known survivor of the mission — though it was later revealed that Cluemaster survived as well.
- Survivor's Guilt: Manitou's death leaves Major Disaster such a wreck that he decides to retire from superheroics altogether.
- Token Evil Teammate: Wasn't evil when he joined the team, though he was treated like this by some of the other members, especially Green Arrow and Atom.
Manitou Raven
- Captain Ersatz: Joe Kelly confirmed he was based on Apache Chief.
- Creepy Good: Some of his spells are rather disturbing to look at, but he's definitely a good person.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: He's over a thousand years removed from when he was born, due to time travel. He's adjusted much less easily than his wife.
- Magical Native American: Sort of. He's Native American in origin, but Atlantean in citizenship.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Basically had this moment when he saw the Justice League in action and realised that they were true heroes, to the extent that Green Lantern turned from a battle for his life to protect Atlantean citizens who considered him an enemy.
- Timey-Wimey Ball: One version of him lived for a few thousand years in hiding until he could emerge in the future to help the Justice League go back in time and stop Gamemnae by changing history, which required the older Manitou to sacrifice his life while his now-alternate past self returned to the present with the League.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: He is gaunt, pale, and scarred, while Dawn is gorgeous.
- The Workaholic: Which causes his relationship with his wife Dawn to deteriorate.
Tomorrow Woman (Clara Kendall)
A robot created by Professor Ivo & T. O. Morrow to destroy the team, she overcame her programming at the cost of her own life. During the Trinity event, she was a superhero in the altered universe. Upon learning of her fate in the original universe, she decided to change it back anyway to save the world from the Troika. However, afterwards, a woman resembling her named Clara Kendall was spotted in the reformed universe.
- Alternate Company Equivalent: Of The Vision. Both are robots created by villains to infiltrate a superhero group, but change their minds and become truly heroic. They even share the green-and-yellow color scheme.
- Becoming the Mask: She was created to infiltrate the League, but actually liked being a hero for good.
- Grew Beyond Their Programming: Although she was programmed to destroy the League, she changed her mind. Morrow actually expected this trope to happen and is proud of it, as it shows he's built a really complex artificial brain which is able to take its own decisions.
- Heroic Sacrifice: She gives her own life to save the League. She gets better, though.
- Meaningful Name: "Clara Kendall" would be very close, in a dictionary of names to "Clark Kent". Add to this the fact that she's a TV newswoman
- Ridiculously Human Robot: Ridiculous enough to fool a team including Batman and Superman.
Zauriel
Zauriel was once a member of the Eagle Host, one of the Four Angel Hosts of Heaven. Then he fell in love with a mortal female and willingly gave up his Divinity to be with her. Now mortal, he lives among us as Heaven's Mortal Champion.
- I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy: He left Heaven because he fell in love with a mortal woman, but in the JLA: Paradise Lost mini-series, when he sees her with the boyfriend she already had and they declare their love for each other, Zauriel just smiles because he knows she's happy.
- Our Angels Are Different: Wings, flaming sword, humanoid but inhuman looking. Divided into four "hosts": Man, Bull, Eagle and Lion. Zauriel of the Eagle Host was technically a fallen angel during his time with the League (he was a guardian angel who cared too much about the woman he was guarding), but not as fallen as his arch-enemy Azmodel of the Bull Host, who was working with Neron.
- The Sleepless: He saw the dawn of creation and hasn't slept since so he'll never miss another dawn that beautiful.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Morrison created Zauriel during their tenure as writer of JLA, but was forbidden from using their originally intended name of Hawkman. At the time, Hawkman had been
declared off-limits by DC editors due to the character's convoluted continuity. Morrison does allude to a Hawkman-connection by having Aquaman mistake Zauriel as "Katar" when the two characters first meet in the middle of a frantic battle. - Time Abyss: As an angel, he's older than creation itself.
Post-Infinite Crisis
Firehawk (Lorraine Reily)
- Damsel in Distress: When Lorraine was a normal girl, as daughter of a senator, she frequently found herself the target of those who would seek to use her as a vehicle for sabotaging her father's political efforts and is often kidnapped.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: She was kidnapped and subjected to extensive programming to kill Firestorm (and transformed into Firehawk to have the ability to do so). She threw it off, but not before a fight.
- Distaff Counterpart: Lorraine is turned into Firehawk by being forcibly subjected to the same type of reactor meltdown that created Firestorm. Her powers are similar, but are more focused on nuclear fire than molecular restructuring.
- Flaming Hair: Firehawk is perpetually surrounded by a corona of "atomic fire". This ambient corona is for visual effect only, and does not possess any thermal properties. Lorraine's complexion takes on a golden or orange hue when in her Firehawk form.
- Flying Firepower: Firehawk can channel the nuclear energy within her body, granting herself the ability to fly.
- Hand Blast: Firehawk can generate waves of thermal nuclear energy, which she can focus into blasts of heat from her hands.
- Invocation: Though she doesn't need to, Lorraine Reilly tends to say "Firehawk!" upon transforming.
- Love Interest: Firehawk was once romantically involved with Firestorm. In later years, she became involved with the futuristic hero known as Booster Gold.
- Rescue Romance: Lorraine developed an immediate attraction towards the nuclear hero when he saved her, but constantly wrestled with her emotions, acknowledging the fact that she knew very little about him.
Post-Final Crisis
Rocket Red # 7
AKA: Gavril Ivanovich
First Appearance: Justice League: Generation Lost #4 (August 2010)
Abilities: Power armor grants super-strength, flight, invulnerability, energy blasts, and mecha-empathy
Gavril Ivanovich was a captain in the Rocket Red Brigade, but resigned out of disgust with Russia's continuing Westernization. He built his own Rocket Red suit (a throwback to earlier models), and set himself against corporations and rogue KGB cells. A long-standing admirer of the JLI, when they showed up in Russia on Max Lord's trail, he jumped at the chance to team up with them (even if they were initially dubious).
- The Blacksmith: Makes and repairs his own armor.
- Boisterous Bruiser: He's very loud and energetic.
- Color Character: Like his predecessor, he’s named rocked red after his red suit of armor.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Killed early on in the New 52 Justice League International.
- Eloquent in My Native Tongue: He's a genius... in his native Russian. Due to his disdain for western culture, he's not got the greatest grasp of English.
- Flight: His Rocket Red suit allows him this.
- Hypocrite: Sees no contradiction in fighting Westernization and teaming up with the JLI. For one, the JLI are working for the greater good. For another, he loves being on the JLI. (And yes, it has been pointed out to him...)
- Nice Guy: Hatred of the west, capitalism and democracy aside, he's actually quite sociable and good-natured. When one of his former teammates is threatened by Max Lord's schemes, Gavril pleads for the JLI to save him, despite them having been trying to arrest him not ten minutes previous. When it fails, he's saddened, and mourns the guy.
- Powered Armor: He is a Rocket Red after all. His is customized, and built like a tank compared to his more streamlined teammates.
- Technopath: He's able to sense, and control machines/computers like most reds.
- Why We Are Bummed Communism Fell: Like Crimson Dynamo from Marvel, he is this.
Element Woman
- Real Name: Emily Sung
- Affirmative-Action Legacy: She's a Korean woman who's essentially the new Metamorpho.
- Canon Immigrant: She was one of the only characters from Flashpoint to appear in the regular DC Universe after time was altered.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: She shows the same kind of excitement an overeager child would about getting to join the Justice League, and even brought hamburgers for everyone when she was invited as a member. She also likes to bring juice boxes with her and remember to have extra for other people.
- Interchangeable Asian Cultures: While originally described as Korean by Jim Lee, 2021's Festival of Heroes referred to her as Chinese instead.
- Notably the only version of her as of yet to refer to her ethnicity on page in a story was in the alternate universe of Bombshells.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted; she shares the name with a D-List villainess named Element Woman, a white-haired white woman.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: She disappeared from the Justice League following Forever Evil (2013) and when she returned she was now with the Doom Patrol, having been convinced by Niles Caulder the League abandoned her. Then she disappeared again.
