DC's Titans serves as the live-action debut for many of its titular heroes. Conor Leslie's portrayal of Donna Troy brings the character to life during the early seasons, complete with her signature Wonder Girl suit, lasso, a passion for crime photography and a seeming love for Frida Kahlo.
Nonetheless, there are several differences between the live-action Donna and her comic book counterpart, which is to be expected. Donna Troy has been around in some form since 1965 and is no stranger to a good retcon. She's one of the most prominent members of the Teen Titans and Titans and has been on countless adventures over the years. Some things about her have been changed in the jump from comic panels to live-action.
Updated on December 10th, 2022 by Amanda Bruce: Donna Troy didn’t join the Titans live action series until several episodes into the show, and her time with the group seemingly ended in Season 3. That doesn’t mean she won’t reappear in the future as the threats the Titans face grow each season, and Season 4 has been split into two groups of episodes for an apocalyptic storyline. If Donna does return to the series as Wonder Girl, or one of her other alter egos, there are still many differences between her character in live action and her character in the comics that might interest some of the fans.
Donna Troy's Origins
Whilst Donna's history hasn't been explored to the same extent as with Dick Grayson (Nightwing) in Titans, it seems the show is running with the character's best-known backstory. This is the young Donna rescued by Wonder Woman from an apartment fire, then raised by Queen Hippolyte of Themyscira, which is close to her origin story as seen in The New Teen Titans (1980-88) and its emotional 38th issue titled, "Who Is Donna Troy?"
Titans Donna is different from her comic version in that, in the show, she hasn't thus far shown much interest in delving into her past. In the comics, Donna finding out who she really was became a big part of her character development. However, there's no shortage of old and new origin stories to be drawn from, should the show's writers wish to explore her fascinating history more in the future.
Donna’s Knowledge Of The Multiverse
Though members of the Titans were seen in the death of the multiverse in a massive Arrowverse crossover, the multiverse hasn’t seen any screen time in the Titans series itself. Scientists in the show might acknowledge the potential of its existence, but none of the characters address it directly.
That’s definitely different from one of Donna’s biggest storylines in DC Comics. There, she had knowledge of the lives of versions of her from across the multiverse. One evil version of her from another timeline even made her relive those lives over and over as they sought to eliminate all the other Donna Troys in existence. In Titans, Donna hasn’t shown any particular sensitivity to the existence of other universes.
Wonder Girl
Donna Troy is the original Wonder Girl, but Cassie Sandsmark and Yara Flor have taken up the title since Donna all but parted ways with it in the comics. Donna Troy doesn't really need to be Wonder Girl to be respected as a hero, though. Her name has become synonymous with the same empowering qualities of her mentor, Diana, and her successors.
Whilst Donna in the comics has moved on from her hero identity and the mantle has since been passed on, she remains the sole Wonder Girl in Titans, but with a desire through much of the second season to leave the past (including The Titans), behind. Fans are coming up on three iterations of Robins in the show (Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake), so maybe one day they'll see another Wonder Girl enter the fray if Donna truly moves on for good.
Donna Troy's Romances
Titans details Donna's relationship with Garth, also known as Aqualad. In the comics, Donna's had different love interests and has even been married. Her best-known romance was with the college professor, Terry Long, and the two tied the knot in Tales of the Teen Titans #50.
This was way back in 1985, but she's gone on to have other romances with fellow Titan Arsenal (Roy Harper) and Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner). Donna's relationship with Garth in Titans is important to her storyline, but it's interesting to see how her romantic interests have been switched up from what's seen in the comics.
Wonder Girl's Powers
In the very beginning, Donna was given her Amazonian powers from a modified Purple Ray on Themyscira. Over time (and throughout various retcons), she's had other unique abilities added to her classic superpower roster. Some lesser-known but relevant powers included her ability to mimic anyone's voice, and in other storylines, she's had the powers of energy manipulation, light generation, the control of darkness and the cold, as well as dream sharing with Diana.
Donna's also had the power to conjure three-dimensional projections of peoples' memories. Her powers aren't as varied as this in the show, but the two versions of the character have been through entirely different sets of events, and comic book Donna has had a lot more time to grow her range of powers.
The Power Of Flight
Throughout Donna's history in DC and the Teen Titans comics, she's always possessed the ability to fly, whilst she cannot do this in the show. This can be said for other heroes in Titans too. Donna can, alongside Superboy and Krypto, leap to great heights, whilst it remains unclear if they, Raven and Starfire, can take to the sky.
Titans scales down a lot of its characters' abilities, and whilst its version of Donna is excellent at martial arts and possesses great strength and acrobatics, she doesn't have much of the powers she's wielded in past comics, at least not for now.
Donna Troy's Weapons
Modern Donna in the comics wields her sword and shield, but these aren't seen in Titans. The weapons compliment her silver Lasso and are not only fitting of an Amazonian warrior but a Donna Troy very much separate from Wonder Girl. These have become something of signature weapons for her.
If Donna returns in a future season of Titans, maybe Donna's mighty comic book arsenal will come into the picture. They would change up her current weaponry and help her show off more of her fighting styles, similar to Robin's transition into Nightwing letting him combine his moves with his new electric Escrima Sticks.
Wonder Girl's Lasso
Titans Donna wields a Lasso of Truth very similar in design and function to the one carried by Wonder Woman. However, Donna's lariat in the comics (the Lasso of Persuasion) glows blue or silver and works a bit differently than Diana's. Its capabilities are limited as it's only effective on those who have weaker willpower than Donna, though it is indestructible.
In the show, there's only really one instance of Donna using her Lasso to make someone speak the truth, so it's hard to tell exactly how it shapes up compared to the comic version of her weapon. It's proven astonishingly strong in combat, however, and there's no mention of the willpower catch with it, so it may just be more powerful than the Lasso of Persuasion.
Wonder Girl Suit
The Wonder Girl suit in Titans is super accurate to Donna's classic look in The New Teen Titans '80s run. However, over time, Donna has sported many other looks, like the iconic star-chart jumpsuit in the DC Special, The Return of Donna Troy, or her current outfit, the more armored look, which can be seen in the limited series, Titans United.
Maybe fans will see Donna take up one of these iconic looks in Titans' future. But for now, when out on Titans business, she keeps the classic Wonder Girl suit handy. Interestingly, Titans Donna usually dresses in black casual attire, perhaps in a nod to her comic palette.
Donna Troy's Allegiances
In Titans, Bruce Wayne and Wonder Woman uphold their duties within the Justice League, whilst the titular heroes dish out justice in San Francisco and Gotham. Several members of the Teen Titans have actually been part of the Justice League themselves. Cyborg, Starfire, Dick and not least, Donna Troy, all signed up in Justice League of America Vol 2 #41, though Donna does leave the group in time.
The Justice League are mentioned in Titans and are slightly important in the sense that they dictate whether Bruce is in town to help the team. However, no members are actually seen besides Wayne himself. Perhaps fans could see more of them and the Titans sometime in the future, as has been the case in the comics.
Wonder Girl's Death
Donna's controversial death in Titans was questioned further by some who pointed out that in Wonder Woman 1984, Diana survived that which killed Donna with seeming invulnerability and walked away relatively unscathed. But what if Donna died another way? Perhaps more similar to how it was done in the comics?
In Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day #3, Donna was killed during a battle with a Superman Android. Of course, as fans have seen now in live-action and in comic book form, Donna Troy doesn't stay dead for long. She finds a way to defy the odds and come back again fighting. In that sense, there is a similarity between the comic book and show deaths, but the ways in which they occurred are still very different.