Same Sex Triplets



With twins, you might get a boy and a girl. But triplets are almost always the same sex. That's what the media wants people to think. Usually, they will be all identical, but sometimes, they are all fraternal for easy recognition. In Real Life, identical triplets are always all boys or all girls (for obvious reasons), but most triplets are two identical and one fraternal and only have a fifty-fifty chance of all being the same sex. All-fraternal triplets only have a one-in-four chance.

So why are Same Sex Triplets so common in fiction? Because of Cast Calculus. Having one of each sex gives you balance, but three people don't divide evenly that way. So triplets are portrayed as three of a kind to give a sense of wholeness to the group. The same appeal makes Real Life Same Sex Triplets more marketable, so they are more likely to achieve fame as a group than mixed triplets. And if they happen to be children, Same Sex Triplets are just plain cute.

Compare Power Trio and Rule of Three. Many Twin Tropes also apply to triplets. If this trope is averted, they may be Three Amigos or Two Guys and a Girl.

Anime and Manga

 * Mitsuba, Futaba and Hitoha from Mitsudomoe.
 * The Ran triplets from Saiunkoku Monogatari, all of whom are named Setsuna. They also have personal names, but almost nobody uses them: multiple births are considered unlucky in Saiunkoku, so the triplets were raised to be as identical as possible and only the wife of one of the triplets can tell them apart.
 * The Butterfly Triplets from Touka Gettan.
 * October, November and December from Coyote Ragtime Show.
 * The Hanamura Triplets from Sally the Witch.
 * Ichigo, Ringo and Sango from Hanaukyo Maid Tai.
 * A set of same-sex triplets (Taichi, Tatsuji, and Yuzo Tomizawa) become murder suspects in Case Closed, and it's up to Conan to figure out which of the three killed their father.

Comic Books

 * The Kleinstocks (Sven, Harlan, and Eric), Marvel Comics supervillains.
 * Also from Marvel Comics, the Stepford Cuckoos, for a time.
 * The DC Comics villain Kushti, who consists of conjoined triplets.
 * Gooey, Screwy and Ratatouille from Life in Hell.
 * April, May and June Bleak from My Dead Girlfriend.

Film

 * The Triplets of Belleville.
 * Identical triplets identified in the credits as "Bimbette 1, 2 and 3" appear in Beauty and the Beast.
 * Lisa, Jessie and Megan Wyatt from The Parent Trap III. Interestingly, while the twins were played by the same actress (Hayley Mills), the triplets were played by real life triplets Leanna, Monica and Joy Creel.
 * Averted in the Shrek series; Shrek and Fiona's triplets are two boys and one girl.
 * When Bowen comes to Kara's village in Dragonheart and suggests that they sacrifice a virgin to get the dragon to leave them alone, the father of identical dark-haired triplet girls freaks out because Bowen is looking at his daughters.
 * The Beverly Hillbillies: Ellie May once mentioned having fought a set of triplets.
 * In the upcoming Pixar film Brave, the main protagonist has triplet brothers

Literature

 * The Snipp, Snapp and Snurr children's books by Maj Lindman. Or Flicka, Ricka and Dicka.
 * The eponymous girls from the Spanish children's book series The Triplets.
 * Trips, Traps and Trull in Trips Traps Ja Trull. A rare case where two of the triplets are identical.
 * Melody, Harmony and Rhythm from Xanth.
 * Mallory from The Baby Sitters Club has identical triplet brothers.
 * The Chiga triplets from Zaregoto.
 * The Quagmire triplets (Duncan, Quigley and Isadora) from A Series of Unfortunate Events are an aversion, being two brothers and a sister.
 * However, there are identical same-sex triplets revealed in the penultimate book,.
 * The Roze brothers from Garrett P.I. might qualify, if puny Dojango and colossal Doris and Marsha really are triplets. But then, there's that whole "different mothers" issue that Garrett refrained from asking about...
 * Lily, Rose and Violet from The Secret of Platform 13.
 * Though there are quite a few sets of triplets in Warrior Cats, this trope is almost always averted. Possibly the only example of it being played straight is with Crookedstar and Willowbreeze's kits: Willowkit, Minnowkit, and Silverkit.
 * Elk-Frodi, Thorir Dogfoot and Bodvar Bjarki from the Saga of Hrolf Kraki.

Live Action TV

 * Tracy, Niki and Barbara from Heroes.
 * The CSI: Miami episode "Triple Threat" features identical triplet women.
 * Averted in Aussie soap opera Neighbours, where magnate Paul Robinson's triplets were one daughter and two identical sons (one of whom was evil).

Music

 * The Del Rubio triplets (Edith, Elena and Milly).
 * They also played the Wanker Triplets on Married... with Children.
 * The Fernández Rousse triplets (María Laura, María Emilia and María Eugenia), three singers known collectively as Trix.
 * The Villegas triplets (Diana, Sylvia and Vicky) of the pop group The Triplets.
 * The Haden triplets (Petra, Tanya and Rachel).
 * The Landeberg triplets (Izzy, Rock and Kelii) of The Wildflowers.

Mythology

 * Although there are many triplicate goddesses in various European mythologies, such as Hecate or the Norns, the differentiation into the Maiden, Mother and Crone wasn't invented before the 19th century.
 * Greek Mythology has the 3 Fates, the 3 Furies, the 3 Graces, the 3 (elder) Cyclopes, the 3 Hekatonkhires, the 3 Horai/Seasons (usually), the 3 Harpies (usually), the 3 Graeae, and the 3 Gorgons (usually). The Hesperides sometimes number 3. The Romans also adopted the Fates (renamed Parcae) and Graces (renamed Gratiae) into their pantheon.
 * Several ancient religions in Eurasia have the triple Fates. One famous example is Norse Mythology, with the 3 Norns: Urd, Skuld, and Verdandi. They sometimes correspond to past, present, and future.

Real Life

 * The Dahm triplets.
 * Faith, Hope and Charity Cardwell, the longest-lived set of Triplets (95 when the first of the three died).
 * The triplets who played baby Katie on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, enabling her to be frequently seen on-screen without ever violating SAG rules or child-labor laws about the amount of hours a child can work.

Video Games

 * In CSI: Hard Evidence, one of the investigations involves triplet brothers.
 * In Pokémon Black and White, Cilan, Chili and Cress are triplet brothers/Gym Leaders.

Western Animation

 * Huey, Dewey and Louie. Or April, May and June.
 * The Powerpuff Girls were genetically engineered to be girls. Likewise the Rowdyruff Boys or the Powerpunk Girls from the comics.
 * Alvin and The Chipmunks (although some sources give them different ages, they actually are triplets). Or the Chipettes.
 * Maggie’s triplet nephews from Maggie and the Ferocious Beast.
 * The Weird Sisters on Gargoyles, who are also identical except for their hair color (blonde, white and black).
 * Popeye had 4 identical nephews-Pip-Eye, Pup-Eye, Poop-Eye, and Peep-Eye.
 * The Simpsons once did a retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo where Moe and Marge had a set of triplets. All looked like Moe-faced Maggies.
 * The Triplets