The tale of Donna Troy, known to many as Wonder Girl, stands as one of the most fascinating and convoluted origin stories in comic book history. Born from a creative mistake and subjected to countless retcons over nearly six decades, Donna Troy has experienced more origin stories than perhaps any other character in the DC Universe. Yet through it all, she has remained a beloved founding member of the Teen Titans and an enduring symbol of strength, resilience, and determination.
A Character Created By Accident
The story of Donna Troy’s creation is itself a testament to the chaotic nature of comic book publishing in the 1960s. The character who would become Donna Troy first appeared in Wonder Woman comics during the 1940s and 1950s, but she wasn’t actually Donna Troy at all. These early appearances featured Wonder Girl as simply a younger, teenaged version of Diana herself, appearing in what were called “Impossible Tales” where Wonder Woman teamed up with her mother Hippolyta, a toddler version called “Wonder Tot,” and this teenage iteration of herself.
The confusion began in 1965 when writer Bob Haney and artist Bruno Premiani created the Teen Titans for The Brave and the Bold #60. Looking to fill out the roster of this junior superhero team alongside Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad, Haney made a critical error: he assumed Wonder Girl was a separate character rather than young Diana herself. This editorial mistake became the foundation for an entirely new character, one who would go on to become a cornerstone of DC Comics.
For several years, Wonder Girl existed on the Teen Titans without an actual identity or origin story. She was simply there, fighting alongside her fellow teenage heroes. It wasn’t until 1969 that writer Marv Wolfman finally gave this mysterious character a name and backstory in Teen Titans #22.
The Wolfman Origin: The Rescued Orphan
Marv Wolfman’s contribution to Donna Troy cannot be overstated. In what would become her first “official” origin story, Wolfman established that Donna Troy was an orphan rescued from a burning apartment building by Wonder Woman when she was just an infant. With no known living relatives, Diana brought the child to Paradise Island, where she was adopted by Queen Hippolyta and raised among the Amazons.
To give Donna powers comparable to Diana’s, she was exposed to the Purple Ray, a piece of advanced Amazonian technology that granted her superhuman abilities. This origin was simple, elegant, and provided a clear connection between Donna and the Wonder Woman mythos. She was Diana’s adopted sister, trained in the ways of the Amazons, and ready to fight alongside the Teen Titans as Wonder Girl.
Wolfman would later expand upon this origin in The New Teen Titans #38 (1984), in a landmark story titled “Who Is Donna Troy?” This beloved issue delved deeper into Donna’s past, exploring her adoption and her relationship with the Titans. The story remains one of the most acclaimed Teen Titans comics ever published and solidified Donna’s place in DC continuity.
Crisis Changes Everything
Just when Donna Troy’s origin seemed settled, DC Comics launched Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985, fundamentally restructuring the entire DC Universe. The event rebooted Wonder Woman’s origin, establishing that Diana had only recently arrived in “Man’s World” in the present day, rather than having been active as a hero for decades.
This created an immediate and massive problem: if Wonder Woman had just arrived, how could she have rescued baby Donna from a fire decades earlier? How could Donna have been active as Wonder Girl before Wonder Woman even existed?
The solution came in 1988 through The New Titans #50-54, in a storyline titled “Who Is Wonder Girl?” This new origin completely severed Donna’s connection to Wonder Woman. Instead, it revealed that Rhea, one of the Titans of Greek mythology, had rescued young Donna from the fire. Donna was revealed to be one of twelve orphans from across the universe chosen by the Titans of Myth to be raised on New Cronus as “Titan Seeds”—children destined to become the saviors of the Titans.
These children were given superhuman powers, named after ancient Greek cities (hence “Troy”), and then stripped of their memories before being returned to their homeworlds to await their destiny. In this version, Donna had no connection to the Amazons and had never met Wonder Woman until they both joined the superhero community. Following this revelation, Donna adopted a new codename—Troia—and a striking new starfield costume to honor her connection to the Titans of Myth.
John Byrne’s Magical Duplicate
The Titans of Myth origin lasted about a decade before yet another radical revision came along. In the late 1990s, writer John Byrne took over the Wonder Woman series and decided to reconnect Donna to Diana’s mythology. Byrne’s revision was perhaps the most complex yet.
In this version, an Amazonian sorceress named Magala had used a magical mirror to create a duplicate of young Princess Diana as a playmate for the lonely child. However, this magical duplicate was mistaken for Diana herself and kidnapped by Dark Angel, a villainous entity who was eventually revealed to be an evil Donna Troy from the destroyed Earth-Seven.
Dark Angel condemned the duplicate to live countless tragic lives across the multiverse, with each existence ending in suffering and tragedy. In each life, Dark Angel would erase all evidence of Donna’s existence, preventing Hippolyta from ever finding her lost “daughter.” One of these lives was the Titans of Myth storyline, now recontextualized as just one of many reincarnations.
This origin attempted to incorporate all of Donna’s previous backstories as different lives she had lived, making her a multiversal anomaly who had existed across numerous realities. While ambitious in scope, this version only added to the confusion surrounding the character.
Death and Return
Donna Troy’s convoluted history took another turn in 2003 with the crossover event Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day. In this storyline, Donna was killed by a rogue Superman android, sacrificing herself to save innocent lives. Her death was shocking and led to the disbandment of both the Teen Titans and Young Justice.
However, death in comics is rarely permanent. Donna returned in the 2005 miniseries The Return of Donna Troy, written and illustrated by Phil Jimenez. This story attempted to streamline her history by positioning her as a living repository for all the alternate versions of herself across the multiverse, making all her origins simultaneously valid. While well-intentioned, this approach still left many fans scratching their heads.
New 52 and Rebirth: More Changes
When DC launched the New 52 reboot in 2011, Donna Troy was initially absent from continuity. When she was finally reintroduced, she had yet another new origin: she was now a clay golem created by the Amazonian sorceress Derinoe with the specific purpose of destroying Wonder Woman and claiming the throne of Themyscira.
This version of Donna was positioned as a villain before being defeated by Diana and going into self-imposed exile to discover her true identity. However, the 2015 Titans Hunt miniseries brought back elements of the classic Teen Titans, suggesting that Donna had always been part of the team, creating yet more contradictions.
Return to Basics: The 2023 Restoration
After decades of increasingly complex and contradictory origins, DC Comics finally brought Donna Troy full circle. In Tales of the Titans #3 (2023), her classic pre-Crisis origin was officially restored. Once again, she is a child rescued from a fire by Wonder Woman and raised on Themyscira as Diana’s adopted sister.
This restoration was further cemented in the critically acclaimed Titans Annual 2025 #1, written and illustrated by Phil Jimenez. The issue celebrates Donna’s history while focusing on her emotional journey, bringing back long-dormant elements of her past including her marriage to Terry Long and the tragic death of her infant son Robert. Rather than trying to reconcile every contradictory origin, Jimenez wisely focused on the emotional core of the character and her relationships with Diana, Hippolyta, and the Titans.
Powers and Abilities
Throughout her various incarnations, Donna Troy has consistently possessed powers comparable to Wonder Woman, though traditionally at slightly reduced levels. Her abilities include superhuman strength capable of lifting over 100 tons, superhuman speed and reflexes, the power of flight, enhanced durability that allows her to survive in space, and accelerated healing.
Depending on the era, Donna has wielded different weapons and equipment. As Wonder Girl, she used an Amazon-made lasso that was stronger than normal rope but lacked the magical properties of Diana’s Lasso of Truth. She later gained the Lasso of Persuasion, which could command those caught within it as long as Donna’s willpower remained stronger. Her signature silver bracelets allow her to deflect bullets, and during her time as Troia, she gained the ability to generate and manipulate photonic energy.
A Founding Titan
Despite the chaos of her origins, one element has remained constant: Donna Troy is a founding member of the Teen Titans. Alongside Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and later Speedy, Donna helped establish one of DC’s most enduring superhero teams. Her relationships with her fellow Titans, particularly Dick Grayson and Wally West, have been central to her character throughout every iteration.
Whether called Wonder Girl, Troia, or simply Donna Troy, she has consistently been portrayed as a natural leader, skilled tactician, and warrior with an iron will. Her connection to the Titans has remained her anchor through decades of editorial chaos.
