Wonder Twin Powers: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

''Wonder Twin powers: activate!''

Presumably, their in-built weakness is being ineffective unless they're together. [[Most Common Superpower|Not truly related to a certain kind of "Wonder Twins."]] See also [[Synchronization]], [[Sibling Team]] and [[Bash Brothers]]. Contrast with [[All Your Powers Combined]].

 

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* [[Miracle Girls]] fits the name so well that it might have been the trope namer. Mikage and Tomomi are identical twins (albeit with different hairstyles), who need to be in physical contact to teleport.

* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' originally played with this trope by suggesting while Chibi-Usa's powers are mostly useless, using them with Usagi's similar ones results in something powerful. In the fourth season, this was taken further when they couldn't even transform or deliver a finishing attack without being together. Many fans cite this as a detriment to Usagi's role as the show's star, but also a plot device to handwave Chibi-Usa's increased screentime pushing out the main cast. Unlike ''[[Futari wa Pretty Cure]]'' and ''[[Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star]]'', the noticeable age difference in the two made for some acrobatics to make sure the two [[Must Have Lots of Free Time|just happened to be together at the time]].

** Also in ''Sailor Moon'', Cyprine and Ptilol's strongest power requires the two to work together: one of them absorbs any incoming magical attacks, the other reflects them. Naturally, the Senshi defeat them by tricking them into separating.

*** A more traditional example is Nefertimon and Pegasusmon, who have an attack that requires both of them.

** ''[[Digimon Xros Wars|Xros Wars]]'' vacillates between this and [[Fusion Dance]]: some DigiXros combinations transform one character into a new form for the other to wield, such as Dorulumon turning into a cannon for Shoutmon to aim and fire.

* Viola and Cesario from ''[[Kiddy Grade]]''. Cesario's ability, "Driver", does nothing by itself, while Viola's power, "Calamity", can manipulate matter at the atomic level, but requires "Driver" as its energy source. (Tweedledee and Tweedledum also have an ability (Windstorm) that they can coordinate with each other, and in the last episode of season 1, {{spoiler|Eclair acts as a power source for Lumiere's Puppet ability}}.

* Time travelers in ''[[Natsu no Arashi]]!'' depend on being close to each other to jump through time. As Arashi points out on her second trip, without someone else, she has no way to return to the present.

* The twins from ''[[Heroic Age]]'' were two of the strongest human telekinetics but they could only use their powers when together, though not necessarily in contact. {{spoiler|Whether the limitation still existed after the departure of the Silver Tribe or due to force of habit they still joined hands to use their powers even after receiving a massive power boost.}}

* Campachino and Brindo from a ''[[One Piece]]'' filler arc. They use an ability called Combination Play, in which they [[Selective Magnetism|magnetically attract and repel each other]] and say that they can do it because of their "[[Power of Love|brotherly love]]".

 

== Comic Books ==

* Aurora and Northstar of ''[[Alpha Flight]]'' have [[Flight]] and [[Super Speed]] individually, but can emit bursts of light and heat when touching.

** This was later inverted when Aurora had her powers modified so she could use her light powers without touching her brother. Afterward, touching caused them both to lose their powers for a while.

* In [[Marvel Comics]], Andreas and Andrea von Strucker, the Fenris twins, have to be touching to fire energy bolts. Following Andrea's death, {{spoiler|Andreas became the new Swordsman, activating his powers by wielding a sword with her skin covering the hilt}}.

** When {{spoiler|Andrea was resurrected (it didn't last), Andreas flayed the skin off his arm to give to her.}} Because they're [[Creepy Twins|creepy]].

* Hawk and Dove in the [[DC Universe]].

* One of the earliest examples (from the 1940s) of this was [[DC Comics]]' superhero duo ''TNT and Dan the Dyna-Mite'', who had to touch their rings together (they had "positive" and "negative" charges) in order to activate their powers (superstrength and energy projection.)

** In the end, to defeat a [[Big Bad]], Ed ''swallows'' Marshall's ashes and is transformed into a new superhero who saves the day. (And then promptly leaves the planet.)

* At least one version of the alien 'Blood Brothers' required them to be near each other in order to keep up their massive strength. [[Iron Man]] once beat them by getting [[Daredevil]] to lure one away, so their individual strength dropped.

* ''Ball and Chain'' is about a married couple whose powers only work when they're together and are triggered by their physical contact. The problem: they were splitting up when they got said powers and have a lot of trouble cooperating. Secondary problem: Neither of them was aware of this caveat for a while, meaning that when Edgar ("Ball") got ambushed by bad guys he thought he was going at them with superpowers that were waning rapidly.

* The [[New 52]] version of [[Teen Titans]] supporting characters Thunder and Lightning, in addition to their respective electric and sonic blast powers, can fly as long as they're touching each other. Interestingly, only one of them has to ''want'' to fly for it to work.

 

== Film ==

* Reversed in ''[[Hancock]]'', where once a pair of superheroes (a man and a woman) that were made for each other are united, they start losing their powers, so they can live [[I Just Want to Be Normal|normal lives.]]

* The ''[[Double Dragon]]'' movie had this as the only way the two halves of the [[MacGuffin|Dragon Medallion]] could be used without corrupting the user with its power, with Billy using one half and Jimmy using the second.

 

== Literature ==

* In [[Dragonlance]], the only way to enter the Portal to the Abyss where Takhisis lives is to have both an evil mage and a good cleric activate it. Raistlin {{spoiler|takes advantage of a cleric, Crysania and uses her for protection throughout the Abyss. Then, while she is dying, he abandons her, kills the pantheon of Krynn, and ascends to godhood. Caramon ends up going back in time to warn him about the after-effects, though.}}

* In ''Son of [[Spellsinger]]'', Jon-Tom's son and Mudge's kids have to perform together as a band to gain the full benefits of spellsinging magic. They're a trio, not a duo, but same idea.

* In the young adult fantasy series ''[[Twitches]]'' main characters Camryn and Alex are powerful twin witches separated at birth whose powers become super-strong when they work together.

 

* Shotaro Hidari and Phillip from ''[[Kamen Rider Double]]'' have to transform at the same time to form the titular Rider. The psychic connection powers of their [[Transformation Trinket]] let them easily do this even from across town, but if Phillip is unconscious, being chased, or just has something better to do, then Shotaro is screwed.

** In addition, if it's ''Phillip'' who's in trouble, he can't transform unless he contacts Shotaro and has him put on the Double Driver.

* [[Smallville]] had some [[Creepy Twins]] (though adults) who could generate [[Barrier Warrior|force fields]] when their hands touched.

** The ''actual'' Wonder Twins have since turned up. Complete with "Powers, activate!"

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* Rant and Rave of the ''[[Mutants and Masterminds]]'' Freedom City supplement, are a brother/sister pair with sonic and visual distortion powers respectively, but can deploy a distintegration attack when physically touching.

* One Dragon Magazine article introduced the Dvati, a race in which each individual member is actually a pair of twins who share a soul, to [[Dungeons and Dragons]]. They have to act in unison to cast any spell.

 

== Video Games ==

*** As an Augment, Twincast allows the final party to raise all their HP caps, buff physical and magic attack power, and cast a devastating White Magic spell. The same flaws still apply, so your mileage may vary, but it's Rosa's only other magic offense besides Holy.

* In ''[[Spyro]] 2: Ripto's Rage/Gateway to Glimmer'', in Scorch, the exiting cutscene shows siblings (twins? They don't say) Handel and Greta surrounded by armed soldiers in a castle. As the bad guys approach, Handel and Greta slowly move their hands together and when they join hands, their eyes turn red and they cast some sort of spell that knocks their enemies off the castle.

** As of Black and White, these abilities are no longer exclusive, plus/plus and minus/minus pairs still boost and can potentially be used to greater effect with the new Triple and Rotational battles. This is still a problem though, as none of the 3 new users are very good, and are fairly redundant with each other.

* In ''[[Backyard Sports|Backyard Baseball]]'', Ashley and Sidney Webber play much better when they are on the same team. They become the best pitchers in the game.

* Suikoden plays this with characters with look-alikes. Each pair can perform combinations when they're in the same team. ''[[Suikoden V]]'' has [[The Hero|the Prince]] and Roy. ''[[Suikoden Tierkreis|Tierkreis]]'' has Marica and Another Marica.

 

* ''Killroy & Tina'' has the two main characters share super powers as long as they're within five kilometers of each other. They also suffer from [[Synchronization]]; if one dies, both die.

* Dimitri and Alina Tokamak of [[Dresden Codak]] have superpowers activated by contact based around physics.

 

== Web Original ==

* In the [[Whateley Universe]], the supervillains The Twin Terrors get stronger as they get closer together, with energy powers when they are next to each other. At a distance, they seem to be ordinary Exemplars. Next to each other, they outpowered Lancer.

** Phobos and Deimos, the Fury Twins, have a fear aura. The closer together they get, the worse it grows. When they get too close, they can accidentally merge into a two-headed monstrosity with a fear aura so powerful [[Reality Warper|it warps reality around them]]. They hate it.

 

== Western Animation ==

** Watch Thunder and Lightning make it rain. You know. Literally. However, each is individually powered as well.

* ''[[Transformers Animated]]'': Jetfire and Jetstorm combine to make "Safeguard".

** In fact all [[Combining Mecha]] have a bit of this, in that they're devastating in a [[Five-Man Band]], but nothing to write home about individually.

* Parodied on one episode of ''[[Camp Lazlo]]''. When Chip and Skip, the dung beetles, join hands and shout "Scum twin powers, activate!" they can call all the grime in camp to the area.

* ''[[The Twins of Destiny]]'' was a French production in which the main characters, Jules and Julie, would hold hands and say "We call upon the (number) Power of the Seven Powers..." and then fill that last part in with whatever they needed the power to do.

* Despite being sentient themselves, the [[Humongous Mecha]] in ''[[Robotix]]'' could only activate their [[Transforming Mecha|transforming powers]] when they had human pilots.

 

== Real Life ==

* Related to this is the real-life "dual key" system for nuclear weapons- American nuclear weapons require two people (at least) to launch them.

** This is basically a more extreme version of the ubiquitous safety trigger, in which two buttons must be depressed simultaneously in order to activate something dangerous, such as a taser or circular saw.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Superhero Tropes]]

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]

[[Category:Magic and Powers]]