History DistaffCounterpart / MarvelUniverse

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Spider-Man has had five different [[ComicBook/SpiderWoman Spider-Women]] (Jessica Drew, Julia Carpenter, Mattie Franklin, Charlotte Witter, and an AlternateUniverse [[ComicBook/SpiderGwen Gwen Stacy]]), two different [[ComicBook/SpiderGirl Spider-Girls]] (May Parker and Anya Corazon), and the heroine ComicBook/{{Silk}} (Cindy Moon), who has the same powers as Peter but chose her own codename. Interestingly, the first two Spider-Women, Jessica and Julia, have origins completely unrelated to Spider-Man and had never even met him until after they were already established, their connection to him being purely thematic. Marvel EIC at the time even wanted Peter to have a black costume similar to Julia's, thus, the black costume was made, leading to the creation of Venom years later.
-->"All the ladies just want to be me, I guess."\\
-- '''Spider-Man''', ''The Incredible Hercules'' #139
** Several of ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'''s villains have had this done to them:
*** A female Vietnamese scientist was transformed into Quicksand (and ironically started out fighting ComicBook/TheMightyThor), Doctor Octopus has Lady Octopus as his girlfriend/student/successor, Kraven the Hunter's wife and daughter have taken up his mantle, Scorpia acquired superhuman powers and a mechanical tail similar to those used by the Scorpion, and among the several people who've taken up the mantle of Jack O' Lantern is Maguire "Maggie" Beck.
*** Not to mention newcomer Lady Stilt-Man. Who has since dropped the "Lady" despite remaining a lady.
*** Oddly enough, Lizard's distaff counterpart Komodo does double duty as both this and as a [[EvilCounterpart good counterpart]].
*** The ComicBook/{{Venom}} symbiote once took a female host, known as She-Venom. A clone of the symbiote has had two hosts, both female - one called She-Venom (again) and one called Mania.

* Thor Girl, obviously a counterpart to [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]]. What makes it silly is that "Thor" isn't a superhero alias, it's his actual birth name. Putting "Girl" on the end of it is roughly equivalent to calling Supergirl "Clark Kent Girl" or Spider-Woman "Peter Parker Woman" or even Ironheart "Tony Stark Lass".
** Jane Foster became the new Thor starting in [[ComicBook/{{Thor 2014}} 2014]] following ComicBook/OriginalSin. Because she wields Mjolnir and is worthy, she ''is'' Thor. Which is still confusing, since it's a name rather than a title. Interestingly, in a ''ComicBook/WhatIf'' story depicting her discovering Mjolnir instead of Donald Blake during the first ''Thor'' story, she was called Thordis instead.
** Thor's original distaff counterpart was ComicBook/{{Valkyrie|MarvelComics}}. Like Thor, she's an Asgardian who had adventures on Earth by way of joining her essence with a mortal, though she has long since grown into a distinct character in her own right. She died during ''ComicBook/WarOfTheRealms'', leaving the mantle to be assumed by none other than Jane Foster.
* ComicBook/SheHulk -- made following rumors at the time that CBS was planning on making a spin-off of the wildly successful Hulk TV series starring a female [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]]. Marvel wouldn't see any royalties from that unless they had a trademark on "female Hulk", so they created She-Hulk. ([[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2015/01/30/comic-book-legends-revealed-508/ Contrary to popular belief]], this wasn't due to a sketch on ''Series/TheBennyHillShow'' with a female Hulk, which aired over a year after She-Hulk was created.)
** The same is true for the aforementioned Spider-Woman who was created when Marvel found out that Creator/{{Filmation}} was going to create their own super heroine with that name.
* Marvel has just one-upped itself. Not content to merely turn the Hulk's nemesis Thunderbolt Ross into a palette swapped EvilCounterpart of the Hulk -- ComicBook/RedHulk, aka Rulk -- they turned his daughter Betty into a Red She-Hulk, making her both a DistaffCounterpart of the Hulk's EvilCounterpart ''and'' an EvilCounterpart of the Hulk's DistaffCounterpart!
* In ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'', there's the Giant-Woman Squad, an entire unit of female ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} agents with costumes and abilities patterned after those of [[ComicBook/AntMan Giant-Man]].
* Sharon Ventura aka Ms. Marvel II who became a female version of the Fantastic Four's Thing. She doesn't like the codename She-Thing.
** The ComicBook/MarvelNOW ''[[ComicBook/FantasticFour FF]]'' series introduces Miss Thing, a young woman in a Thing costume (the same one the original Thing wore during a period when he was BroughtDownToNormal, in fact).
* American Dream, in the ''ComicBook/MarvelComics2'' universe May Parker's ComicBook/SpiderGirl comes from, is a distaff Captain America. A little more than half of the heroes in this 'verse are heroines, in fact.
** On the subject of Captain America distaffs, Dani Cage (the daughter of ComicBook/LukeCage and ComicBook/JessicaJones) is the new Captain America in ''ComicBook/UltronForever'', while a woman named Roberta Mendez is the new Captain America in the ComicBook/Marvel2099 timeline.
** A villainous example from ''ComicBook/MarvelComics2'' is Magneta, a female version of ComicBook/{{Magneto}} with her own Sisterhood of Evil Mutants. And then there's [[PsychoElectro Aftershock]], the daughter of Electro, an enemy of ComicBook/SpiderGirl who's picked up the feud their fathers had. She doesn't call herself Electra probably to [[OneSteveLimit avoid confusion with]] a certain [[ComicBook/{{Elektra}} Greek ninja]].
** The Ladyhawk twins, who were inspired by (and wear costumes patterned after) ComicBook/TheFalcon.
* Rikki Barnes started off as (essentially) the female version of Captain America's sidekick ComicBook/{{Bucky| Barnes}}.
* Sunfire's little sister Sunpyre, who had a costume and powerset nearly identical to those of her brother.
* ComicBook/{{X 23}}, the OppositeSexClone of ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}. She's this to ComicBook/{{Daken}} as well, possibly even more so than with her "father".
* The Silver Samurai has the Scarlet Samurai, who turns out to be [[spoiler:Mariko Yashida, Logan's formerly deceased lover]].
* Rachel Cole-Alves, the female partner from Creator/GregRucka's run on ComicBook/ThePunisher. She wears the exact same outfit as her male counterpart, with very little skin showing. [[spoiler:Rucka's run ended with Alves hauled off to prison after accidentally killing an innocent cop, and his concluding "War Zone" miniseries has Frank freeing her to carry on the mission in Los Angeles. She eventually returns post-''ComicBook/SecretEmpire'' to help Frank battle the forces of [[Characters/CaptainAmericaCentralRoguesGallery Baron Zemo]] alongside ComicBook/BlackWidow, the second ComicBook/GhostRider, [[ComicBook/NewWarriors Night Thrasher]], and ComicBook/MoonKnight.]]
** However, she's only the second female Punisher. The first was Lynn Michaels, an ex-cop turned vigilante.
* Namora and Namorita to Namor the ComicBook/SubMariner. All [[HalfHumanHybrid half-human and half-Atlantean]], part of the Atlantean minority of being born pink skinned (although Namorita would later develop blue skin), with FlyingBrick power set, raised within the Atlantean royal family and more importantly all known more for their connections to other hero groups than their solo adventures.

* ComicBook/{{Psylocke}} briefly replaced her brother as a female Captain Britain before being brutally beaten by one of his enemies. The complicated series of events that followed led to her joining the X-Men. As of ''ComicBook/DawnOfX'' she returns to being Captain Britain, with Japanese assassin Kwannon (whose body the original Psylocke famously ended up [[FreakyFridayFlip trapped in for years]]) taking the Psylocke alias for herself.
* For a brief period Polaris became this to ComicBook/{{Magneto}}, complete with a [[GenderedOutfit feminized]] [[http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/1133/81995-34640-polaris_super.jpg variant of his costume.]]
* Gamma Corps Black is a trio of Distaff Counterparts to Hulk villains. Aberration (Female Abomination), Axon (Female Zzazz) and Morass (Female Glob).
** That first one is a little redundant, since the Gamma Corps proper already has Mess, a female counterpart to the Abomination.
* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': ComicBook/{{Galactus}} now has a ''daughter'' called ComicBook/{{Galacta|DaughterOfGalactus}}, who is essentially the same concept, if less powerful, [[PlanetEater pickier about her diet]], and considerably more adorable. Think ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'' (same creator), but replace Emp's image issues with food issues and a daddy complex.
* The 2011 ''ComicBook/GhostRider'' was a woman named Alejandra.

* The villain ComicBook/{{Thanos}} briefly created Terraxia the Terrible during his run in ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet, in an attempt to replace Death as his consort. Terraxia was an AmazonianBeauty female version of himself (she has the same purple skin, black empty eyes and wrinkled chin, as well as dresses in similar gold and blue). She apparently had all of his (non-Infinity Gauntlet) powers as well, including Thanos' strength, in that she was easily able to [[spoiler:slay Iron Man and Spider-Man.]]
* For a while Pepper Potts was a Distaff Counterpart to ComicBook/IronMan, under the name ComicBook/{{Rescue}}. While her armour was destroyed, she still has implanted repulsor-tech, giving her a few Iron Man-like powers.

* It can get confusing when you realize that there are currently two ''ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}'''s in the Marvel universe - the original, Clint Barton and his DistaffCounterpart Kate Bishop. The latter took up the mantle (later officially acknowledged by ComicBook/CaptainAmerica) as part of the ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' when the former was dead. When Clint [[DeathIsCheap came back]], he ended up acknowledging that Kate was the best archer he'd ever met and simply allowed her to keep the monicker, even when he went back to being Hawkeye himself.
* The Marvel parody series ''What The--?!'' milked this trope for all what's worth, as "Wolverina" appeared well before X-23.

* ComicBook/{{X23}}, the OppositeSexClone of ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}. She's this to {{ComicBook/Daken}} as well, possibly even more so than with her "father".
* The Silver Samurai has the Scarlet Samurai, who turns out to be [[spoiler: Mariko Yashida, Logan's formerly deceased lover]].
* Rachel Cole-Alves, the female partner from Creator/GregRucka's run on ComicBook/ThePunisher. She wears the exact same outfit as her male counterpart, with very little skin showing. [[spoiler:Rucka's run ended with Alves hauled off to prison after accidentally killing an innocent cop, and his concluding "War Zone" miniseries has Frank freeing her to carry on the mission in Los Angeles. She eventually returns post-''ComicBook/SecretEmpire'' to help Frank battle the forces of ComicBook/BaronZemo alongside ComicBook/BlackWidow, the second ComicBook/GhostRider, [[ComicBook/NewWarriors Night Thrasher]], and ComicBook/MoonKnight.]]

** There's also a female Deadpool in another universe named "Wanda" Wilson, though her official name in her timeline is Deadpool as well. But she's also called Lady Deadpool, in the same way that "Zombie Deadpool's Head" is called Headpool.

* ComicBook/{{Galactus}} now has a ''daughter'' called Galacta, who is essentially the same concept, if less powerful, [[PlanetEater pickier about her diet]], and considerably more adorable. Think ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'' (same creator), but replace Emp's image issues with food issues and a daddy complex.

* ComicBook/CarolDanvers, the current Captain Marvel, formerly known as Ms. Marvel. She has long since overshadowed the original male ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}}, as he only existed to allow Marvel Comics to trademark the name, and his series never really caught on with readers. As a result, he was eventually killed off and it's telling that he has actually stayed dead all these years. Ms. Marvel, on the other hand, was allowed to grow organically as a character and became much more popular with readers. Even when her original series was cancelled, she remained in readers' eyes through her complicated relationships with ComicBook/TheAvengers and the ComicBook/XMen. She went through several codenames before finally calling herself Captain Marvel, and while she isn't the first person or even [[ComicBook/MonicaRambeau the first woman]] to take the name since Mar-Vell's death, she is the only one who actually knew him in life.

* Several of ''Franchise/SpiderMan'''s villains have had this done to them:
** A female Vietnamese scientist was transformed into Quicksand (and ironically started out fighting ComicBook/TheMightyThor), Doctor Octopus has Lady Octopus as his girlfriend/student/successor, Kraven the Hunter's wife and daughter have taken up his mantle, Scorpia acquired superhuman powers and a mechanical tail similar to those used by the Scorpion, and among the several people who've taken up the mantle of Jack O' Lantern is Maguire "Maggie" Beck.
** Not to mention newcomer Lady Stilt-Man. Who has since dropped the "Lady" despite remaining a lady.
** Oddly enough, Lizard's distaff counterpart Komodo does double duty as both this and as a [[EvilCounterpart good counterpart]].
** The ComicBook/{{Venom}} symbiote once took a female host, known as She-Venom. A clone of the symbiote has had two hosts, both female - one called She-Venom (again) and one called Mania.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Spider-Man has had five different [[ComicBook/SpiderWoman Spider-Women]] (Jessica Drew, Julia Carpenter, Mattie Franklin, Charlotte Witter, and an AlternateUniverse [[ComicBook/SpderGwen Gwen Stacy]]), two different [[ComicBook/SpiderGirl Spider-Girls]] (May Parker and Anya Corazon), and the heroine ComicBook/{{Silk}} (Cindy Moon), who has the same powers as Peter but chose her own codename. Interestingly, the first two Spider-Women, Jessica and Julia, have origins completely unrelated to Spider-Man and had never even met him until after they were already established, their connection to him being purely thematic. Marvel EIC at the time even wanted Peter to have a black costume similar to Julia's, thus, the black costume was made, leading to the creation of Venom years later.

* Franchise/SpiderMan has had five different [[ComicBook/SpiderWoman Spider-Women]] (Jessica Drew, Julia Carpenter, Mattie Franklin, Charlotte Witter and an AlternateUniverse Gwen Stacy), two different [[ComicBook/SpiderGirl Spider-Girls]] (May Parker and Anya Corazon), and the heroine Silk (Cindy Moon), who has the same powers as Peter but chose her own codename. Interestingly, the first two Spider-Women, Jessica and Julia, have origins completely unrelated to Spider-Man and had never even met him until after they were already established, their connection to him being purely thematic.

-- '''Spider-Man''', ''Incredible Hercules'' #139

** Jane Foster became the new Thor starting in [[Comicbook/{{Thor 2014}} 2014]] following ComicBook/OriginalSin. Because she wields Mjolnir and is worthy, she ''is'' Thor. Which is still confusing, since it's a name rather than a title. Interestingly, in a ''ComicBook/WhatIf'' story depicting her discovering Mjolnir instead of Donald Blake during the first ''Thor'' story, she was called Thordis instead.

* For a while ComicBook/PepperPotts was a Distaff Counterpart to ComicBook/IronMan, under the name Rescue. While her armour was destroyed, she still has implanted repulsor-tech, giving her a few Iron Man-like powers.

* ComicBook/SheHulk -- made following rumors at the time that CBS was planning on making a spin-off of the wildly successful Hulk TV series starring a female Hulk. Marvel wouldn't see any royalties from that unless they had a trademark on "female Hulk", so they created She-Hulk. ([[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2015/01/30/comic-book-legends-revealed-508/ Contrary to popular belief]], this wasn't due to a sketch on ''Series/TheBennyHillShow'' with a female Hulk, which aired over a year after She-Hulk was created.)

* So you know ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}? There's also a female Deadpool in another universe. Named Wanda Wilson, her official name in her timeline is Deadpool as well. But she's also called Lady Deadpool, in the same way that "Zombie Deadpool's Head" is called Headpool.
** In one issue, Deadpool was being coerced into joining a team of Canadian superheroes. First came the hockey-themed Puckman. Then, there was... [[PunnyName Ms. Puckman]].

* The villain ComicBook/{{Thanos}} briefly created Terraxia the Terrible during his run in ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet, in an attempt to replace Death as his consort. Terraxia was an female version of himself (she has the same purple skin, black empty eyes and wrinkled chin, as well as dresses in similar gold and blue). She apparently had all of his (non-Infinity Gauntlet) powers as well, including Thanos' strength, in that she was easily able to [[spoiler:slay Iron Man and Spider-Man.]]

* The villain ComicBook/{{Thanos}} briefly created Terraxia the Terrible during his run in ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet, in an attempt to replace Death as his consort. Terraxia was an AmazonianBeauty female version of himself (she has the same purple skin, black empty eyes and wrinkled chin, as well as dresses in similar gold and blue). She apparently had all of his (non-Infinity Gauntlet) powers as well, including Thanos' strength, in that she was easily able to [[spoiler:slay Iron Man and Spider-Man.]]

* ComicBook/CarolDanvers, the current Captain Marvel, formerly known as Ms. Marvel. She has long since overshadowed the original male ComicBook/CaptainMarVell, as he only existed to allow Marvel Comics to trademark the name, and his series never really caught on with readers. As a result, he was eventually killed off and it's telling that he has actually stayed dead all these years. Ms. Marvel, on the other hand, was allowed to grow organically as a character and became much more popular with readers. Even when her original series was cancelled, she remained in readers' eyes through her complicated relationships with ComicBook/TheAvengers and the ComicBook/XMen. She went through several codenames before finally calling herself Captain Marvel, and while she isn't the first person or even [[ComicBook/MonicaRambeau the first woman]] to take the name since Mar-Vell's death, she is the only one who actually knew him in life.

** ComicBook/JaneFoster became the new Thor starting in [[Comicbook/{{Thor 2014}} 2014]] following ComicBook/OriginalSin. Because she wields Mjolnir and is worthy, she ''is'' Thor. Which is still confusing, since it's a name rather than a title. Interestingly, in a ''ComicBook/WhatIf'' story depicting her discovering Mjolnir instead of Donald Blake during the first ''Thor'' story, she was called Thordis instead.