Wonder Girl
Wonder Girl is one of three superheroines in DC Comics. The original was a younger version of Wonder Woman. The second and third are both protégés of Wonder Woman, and both members of different incarnations of the Teen Titans.
Characters
Diana
The character of Wonder Girl was originally introduced in the Wonder Woman comic as a teen-aged version of Wonder Woman; that is, a teen-aged Princess Diana of the Amazons. A third incarnation, Wonder Tot, Wonder Woman as an toddler, had also been featured. From Wonder Woman #124 (August 1961) onwards, all three versions of her frequently appeared together in stories that were initially labelled "impossible tales," said to be films made by her mother, Queen Hippolyta, by splicing together films of herself and Princess Diana at different ages. However, by the time the Teen Titans made their first appearance, the idea that Wonder Girl was Wonder Woman as a teenager was no longer pointed out explicitly, which is a likely explanation for why Haney began writing stories with Wonder Girl that took place in the same time period as those of Wonder Woman.
Donna Troy
As a character in her own right, she made her first appearance in The Brave and the Bold #60 (July 1965), and was portrayed as a member of a junior Justice League consisting of Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad, joining together as had their mentors (respectively, Batman, The Flash and Aquaman). Together, they were known as the Teen Titans.
The relationship between this Wonder Girl and the younger version of Wonder Woman was not fully explained at the time. The mystery of Wonder Girl's background would linger in the series until finally resolved in the 1980s. She would eventually change her name to Troia to match her post-crisis heritage. Eventually it was revealed in the 2005 mini-series The Return of Donna Troy, that the current Donna Troy is an amalgam of every Donna Troy. She remembers all her incarnations and more specifically that the multiverse existed.
Cassandra Sandsmark
Cassie Sandsmark is the third character to be called Wonder Girl. She is the daughter of Dr. Helena Sandsmark, an archaeologist, and Zeus. She has been a member of both Young Justice and the most recent Teen Titans. She first derived powers from stealing ancient Greek artifacts. Zeus then granted her a boon and gave her actual powers. Her powers are mostly the same as Wonder Woman's, though instead of a lasso of truth she carries a lasso that can expel Zeus's lightning, given to her by Ares, the Greek god of war. When the Greek gods left the mortal plane during Infinite Crisis, Zeus also stripped Cassie of her powers, though she was granted more power by Ares in exchange for becoming his champion. Since Superboy's death she has quit the Titans and apparently taken to crime-fighting on her own.
Wonder Girl in other media
Wonder Woman
In 1976, a version of Wonder Girl also appeared in the Wonder Woman TV series of the mid-1970s, and was played by Debra Winger in one of her first film roles.
Although the pilot episode of that series had made specific reference to the fact that Wonder Woman's alter-ego, Princess Diana of Paradise Island, was Queen Hippolyte's only child, three later episodes featured a younger sibling named Drusilla.
The first appearance of Drusilla was in the two-part episode "The Feminum Mystique". In that episode, Queen Hippolyte (Carolyn Jones) sends Drusilla to America in order to bring her sister home to Paradise Island.
Drusilla is consequently caught up in a Nazi plot to discover the secret of Wonder Woman's magical bracelets. In the process, she masters the spinning transformation her older sister does to become Wonder Woman and in the process creates the persona of Wonder Girl (though the distinction is lost on her Nazi abductors; they abduct Wonder Girl believing her to be Wonder Woman). Wonder Girl's costume is a scaled down version of Wonder Woman's, but it also has similarities to the comic book version.
Drusilla appeared again in the final episode of the first season, "Wonder Woman in Hollywood".
When the series returned for subsequent seasons, with its storyline updated to modern day, the character of Drusilla/Wonder Girl did not re-appear. Reportedly the producers had hoped to bring the popular character back, but Debra Winger, not wanting to be typecast, bought out her contract.
Drusilla made a cameo appearnce in Infinite Crisis #6, as the Wonder Girl of Earth-462.
Late Night with David Letterman
In 1993, Debra Winger went on to promote her new movie Wilder Napalm, but David made her talk about her first major role as Wonder Girl. Debra was prepared for this, and in the middle of the interview bust out of her "civilian" clothes and ran out in her Wonder Girl outfit that she hasn't worn in 17 years. STX-SUPERHERO-REPORT
Teen Titans
Although Wonder Girl has long been rumored to appear on the Teen Titans animated series, legal issues prevent her from appearing on the show. In "Homecoming" (part two), a character resembling Donna Troy appeared in a very brief scene, though she was not named.
Justice League Unlimited
Wonder Girl makes an appearance of sort in the Justice League Unlimited episode Kid Stuff. Superman, Batman Green Lantern and Wonder Woman are reverted to 8 yrs. Diana is still referred to as Wonder Woman, but fits the original concept of Wonder Girl. She is the only one in the League who enjoyed the time as a child.