The following is an overview of themembers of theDC Comics superhero team known as theSuper Friends (Super Powers Team in thefinal season), anadaptation of theJustice League of America.
This is thelist of Super Friends members who were on the show since its premiere in 1973.
Aquaman was a major character in the original season of the animated television seriesSuper Friends (1973).Super Friends is often credited with having exposed Aquaman to a much wider audience outside of the comic book community. In this series, Aquaman was shown to display superhuman strength—hefting a bulldozer blade over his head, for example, and using it to help stop a tidal wave. He also had encyclopedic knowledge of oceanography and oceanology, in addition to his more familiar water-breathing power and aquatic telepathy.
However, the various successor series (Challenge of the Superfriends,The World's Greatest Super Friends,Super Friends,The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians) have been blamed for making Aquaman unpopular and even laughable by toning down his role and often incorrectly using him alongside other heroes. They are accused of having portrayed him in an unflattering light, as they focused almost exclusively on his water-breathing and telepathic powers, thus reinforcing a weak image of the character.
In the first two seasons ofSuper Friends, he was voiced byNorman Alden, and for the rest of the series he was voiced byWilliam Callaway.
Olan Soule serves as the voice ofBatman in all but the last twoSuper Friends series, where Batman is voiced byAdam West (who had portrayed the character in the1960s live-action series):
Robin (voiced byCasey Kasem) appeared alongside Batman in variousSuper Friends shows produced byHanna-Barbera from 1975 through 1985. These included:
The variousSuper Friends series produced byHanna-Barbera featuredDanny Dark asSuperman.
Superman's younger self,Superboy, also appears, voiced by Danny Dark in the episode "History of Doom" andJerry Dexter in the episode "Return of the Phantoms".
Wonder Woman appeared in every incarnation of theSuper Friends Saturday morninganimated series. She was originally voiced byShannon Farnon and later by Connie Caulfield inSuper Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show, followed byB.J. Ward inThe Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians.
In theSuper Friends animated series, Wonder Woman'smagic lasso possessed the ability to follow the telepathic commands of Wonder Woman, physically moving to accomplish tasks. InSuper Friends, Wonder Woman constantly used the lasso to accomplish tasks using her strength and speed. The lasso had the ability to nulify the effects of mind control.[1]
Cyborg appeared inThe Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians from 1985 to 1986, voiced byErnie Hudson.[2] Cyborg was a promising decathlon athlete until an accident destroyed most of his body and his father replaced part of his body with machine parts. He becomes fast friends with teammate Firestorm.
Firestorm appeared inSuper Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show andThe Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (the last twoSuper Friends series).Mark L. Taylor provided Ronnie Raymond's voice whileOlan Soule providedMartin Stein's voice. The crew responsible for the first series depicted the flames on Firestorm's head as a static, fire-shaped ornament. The second series' authors made another change, transforming the hair into a waved haircut.
The Flash (Barry Allen) appeared off and on in theSuper Friends series throughout its run from 1973 to 1985, voiced byJack Angel. He initially appeared inSuper Friends to help fellow Justice Leaguer, Superman. JLA members Flash,Green Lantern, andBatman eventually joined forces with Superman and the rest of theSuper Friends inChallenge of the Superfriends,Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show, andThe Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians.
Hal Jordan was an occasional supporting character in the variousSuper Friends incarnations:Challenge of the Superfriends,Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show, andThe Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians.Michael Rye provided the voice of Green Lantern.
Hal Jordan and his nemesisSinestro were also regulars inChallenge of the Superfriends (as previously mentioned) which aired 1978–1979. One notable episode featured a re-telling of Jordan's origin in which the dyingAbin Sur passes on hisring.
Hawkgirl (Shayera Hol) appeared in a few episodes of theSuper Friends paired alongside her husband Hawkman.
Hawkman (Katar Hol) has appeared as a Super Friend inThe All-New Super Friends Hour,Challenge of the Superfriends,Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show, andThe Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians. His voice was provided byJack Angel.
The Super Friends have several international members. With the exception of Rima, all of these members were original characters created forSuper Friends to increase the cast's ethnic diversity.
Apache Chief (voiced by Michael Rye) is aNative American superhero. By speaking the word "Inyuk-chuk" ("Big Man"), Apache Chief can grow to vast sizes. In the episode "Colossus", Apache Chief grows to cosmic proportions to battle the Colossus, a titanic space creature.
Black Vulcan (voiced byBuster Jones) is African-American. His powers include the ability to emit electricity from his hands, as well as fly by charging his lower body with energy. On a few occasions, he exhibited the ability to assume a form of pure energy and travel at the speed of light. He was even able to travel back in time by fluctuating his body's energy in such a way that it opened a rift in space.
El Dorado (voiced by Fernando Escandon) is Hispanic and comes from an unspecified Latino country. He first appeared as a minor character in theSuper Friends animated shorts, and later inSuper Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show as a full-time member.
El Dorado's most frequently used ability was teleportation, which allows him to teleport himself and anything that he covers with his cape. He also exhibited some degree of mental powers, including telepathy and the ability to create illusions.
Rima the Jungle Girl appeared in three episodes ofHanna-Barbera'sThe All-New Super Friends Hour during the 1977-78 season, alongside such mainstays asAquaman,Batman, andWonder Woman. Rima was originally created for the 1904 novelGreen Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest, where she originated from the rainforests of South America.
Samurai (voiced byJack Angel) is originally from Japan. He possesses the ability to manipulate wind, which allows him to create powerful gusts and fly by creating a small tornado around his lower body.
The following is an overview of characters who only made one appearance on the series.
The firsttelevision appearance ofGreen Arrow was a single guest spot in an episode of the original 1973 incarnation ofSuper Friends. He was voiced byNorman Alden. He was referred to as a "staunch member of the Justice League of America".
Plastic Man made his animated debut in a cameo appearance in theSuper Friends episode "Professor Goodfellow's G.E.E.C.", voiced byNorman Alden.
Wendy Harris and Marvin White are two junior superheroes in training who were created to act ascomic relief andaudience surrogates. In the comics, Wendy is stated to be the niece of Harvey Harris, a detective who once trained Batman when he was still a teenager.[3] Marvin is the son of Diana Prince, a nurse whose nameWonder Woman took as an alias. Wendy and Marvin later appeared in the main DC Comics continuity, primarily appearing in the seriesTeen Titans.
Wonder Dog is the pet/sidekick ofWendy and Marvin. He appears in all 16 episodes of the original television series. Wonder Dog also appeared in the first six issues of theSuper Friends comic book series.
TheWonder Twins made their debut inThe All-New Super Friends Hour and went on to appear inChallenge of the Superfriends,The World's Greatest Super Friends,Super Friends, andSuper Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show. Zan (voiced byMichael Bell) and Jayna (voiced by Liberty Williams[4][5]) are siblings from the planet Exxor who are being informally trained by the superheroes. Zan can transform into any form of water, while Jayna can transform into any animal. Their powers are activated via contact with each other.
Gleek (vocal effects provided byMichael Bell) is a monkey-like alien the pet of the Wonder Twins. Gleek is often used ascomic relief for the series, as the character often gets into mischief. Gleek possesses a stretchable,prehensile tail and communicates in an unintelligible alien tongue.
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