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| Donald & Deborah Ritter | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Eternals: The Herod Factor #1 (1991) |
| Created by | Roy Thomas Dann Thomas Mark Texeira |
| In-story information | |
| Species | Eternal–Devianthybrid |
| Team affiliations | Eternals Delta Network (Deborah) |
| Notable aliases | Dark Angel -Tzabaoth Doublemint Twins |
| Abilities | Merge |
Donald and Deborah Ritter are fictional characters appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. They are thetwin children ofThena, leader of theEternals, andKro, sometime leader of the race ofDeviants.
The Ritter twins were created byRoy Thomas,Dann Thomas andMark Texeira. The twins first appeared in the one-shot specialEternals: The Herod Factor.
Thena and Kro, despite being members of two offshoots of humanity who have been traditional enemies, have had a relationship for over 25,000 years. During theVietnam War, the two had a sexual encounter, and Thena discovered she waspregnant. Using her powers, she secretly implanted theembryos into an infertile human woman, and the two grew up unaware of their ancestry. When Dr.Daniel Damian, a human who was aware of the existence of Deviants and Eternals, sent a monster (formerlyAjak) to slay the two children, killing numerous other sets of twins in the process, Thena took the two toOlympia, the city of Eternals, but did not inform them of their heritage. However, even Olympia proved unsafe, and the monster captured the two and fled toPeru, where they confronted Damian. The Twins learned of their true origin, and were rescued by Kro and Thena.[1]
The Ritter twins have been shown few times since then; InAvengers #370-371, the two joined Kro'sDelta Network, and demonstrated the ability to merge into a two-mouthed, four-eyed and four-armed creature calling itself Tzabaoth. InHeroes for Hire #6, they again merged, this time forming into a sleek, winged metallic creature called Dark Angel. In both stories, the twins were supposedly merging for the "first" time, and both stories also portrayed the "resurrection" of the DeviantGhaur, suggesting that perhaps the writers of these stories were unaware that these characters had already been used in this way.[2]
They were briefly captured by the villainMaelstrom, but rescued by the Eternals and Kro.[3]
The Ritter twins are able to merge their bodies into a single entity. Their combined form possesses superhuman strength and can fly and project energy from its eyes.[volume & issue needed]
The Ritter twins are not the only characters to use the identity ofDark Angel. These include:
