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[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* In ''VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia'' the Edelfelt family of magi has a unique bloodline ability that lets two members inherit the family's magic crest at once. During the third Holy Grail War the Edelfelt sent twin sisters to represent the family, and in the present day Luviagelita also has a twin sister.
[[/folder]]
* In ''VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia'' the Edelfelt family of magi has a unique bloodline ability that lets two members inherit the family's magic crest at once. During the third Holy Grail War the Edelfelt sent twin sisters to represent the family, and in the present day Luviagelita also has a twin sister.
[[/folder]]
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* I'm ''{{Manga/Sekirei}}'', the twins Hikari and Hibiki are both in a relationship with their Ashikabi Kaoru, and the epilogue reveals that the two give birth to two sets of twin boys.
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* I'm In ''{{Manga/Sekirei}}'', the twins Hikari and Hibiki are both in a relationship with their Ashikabi Kaoru, and the epilogue reveals that the two give birth to two sets of twin boys.
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* ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': The titular Gordon Brittas has a twin brother (Horatio Brittas), becomes father to no less than two sets of twins over the course of the series and is apparently part of the fourth generation of twins in his family.
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** Phoebe also counts, since she has a twin sister named Ursula and herself gave birth to triplets (serving as a surrogate mother for her brother and his wife).
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* In ''{{Literature/Another}}'' twins run in the Misaki family. Besides Mei and her SeparatedAtBirth twin sister Misaki their birth mother Mitsuyo was also a twin, and Mei was adopted by Yuikyo, the other sister after Yukiyo suffered the TragicStillbirth of her own child.
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* In ''{{Literature/Another}}'' twins run in the Misaki family. Besides Mei and her SeparatedAtBirth twin sister Misaki their birth mother Mitsuyo was also a twin, and Mei was adopted by Yuikyo, the other sister sister, after Yukiyo she suffered the TragicStillbirth of her own child.child and financial problems in Mitsuyo's family meant they couldn't afford to care for two children.
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* The Sever family in ''{{Webcomic/Muted}}'' always births daughters in pairs, with the exception of Avaline, who is an only child. We learn later in the story [[spoiler:that this wasn't always the case, as she did have a twin but her own mother Athalie [[OffingTheOffspring sacrificed her daughter]] [[CainAndAbel as the price to have a demon murder her own sister]] and her children]].
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* The Sever Members of the Severin family in ''{{Webcomic/Muted}}'' always births birth daughters in pairs, with the exception of Avaline, who is an only child. We learn later in the story [[spoiler:that this wasn't always the case, as she did have a twin but her own mother Athalie [[OffingTheOffspring sacrificed her daughter]] [[CainAndAbel as the price to have a demon murder her own sister]] and her children]].
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* The Sever family in ''{{Webcomic/Muted}}'' always births daughters in pairs, with the exception of Avaline. We learn later in the story [[spoiler:thay this wasn't always the case, as she did have a twin but her own mother Athalie [[OffingTheOffspring sacrificed her daughter]] [[CainAndAbel as the price to have a demon murder her own sister]] and her children]].
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* The Sever family in ''{{Webcomic/Muted}}'' always births daughters in pairs, with the exception of Avaline. Avaline, who is an only child. We learn later in the story [[spoiler:thay [[spoiler:that this wasn't always the case, as she did have a twin but her own mother Athalie [[OffingTheOffspring sacrificed her daughter]] [[CainAndAbel as the price to have a demon murder her own sister]] and her children]].
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* The Sever family in ''{{Webcomic/Muted}}'' always births daughters in pairs, with the exception of Avaline. We learn later in the story [[spoiler:thay this wasn't always the case, as she did have a twin but her own mother Athalie [[OffingTheOffspring sacrificed her daughter]] [[CainAndAbel as the price to have a demon murder her own sister]] and her children]].
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%% Image chosen via crowner in the Image Suggestions thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/ImagePickin/ImageSuggestions152
%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1452266899092104700
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/160caf69_de64_4c1f_80c3_fd5129aba133.jpeg]]
%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1452266899092104700
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/160caf69_de64_4c1f_80c3_fd5129aba133.jpeg]]
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[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BarbieInTheTwelveDancingPrincesses'': Some of the [[MassiveNumberedSiblings twelve sisters]] are the result of multiple births: Hadley and Ilsa are twins, and Janessa, Kathleen and Lacey are triplets. [[ThoseTwoGirls Delia and Edeline]] are also implied, though not explicitly stated, to be twins.
[[/folder]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BarbieInTheTwelveDancingPrincesses'': Some of the [[MassiveNumberedSiblings twelve sisters]] are the result of multiple births: Hadley and Ilsa are twins, and Janessa, Kathleen and Lacey are triplets. [[ThoseTwoGirls Delia and Edeline]] are also implied, though not explicitly stated, to be twins.
[[/folder]]
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* ''Literature/NightWorld'': Hinted at with the Harman family. Edgith's younger siblings, Elspeth and Emmeth, are fraternal twins, and Edgith's daughters were also twins. Hellewise, the ancient founder of the family, was a twin too.
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->''"Multiples ran in her family. Felice was one of a set of twins, and not one of her sisters had ever given birth to less than twins. Her family history held that it had something to do with a blessing placed on them, but by what—well, there were several versions."''
-->-- ''[[Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar Out of the Deep]]''
-->-- ''[[Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar Out of the Deep]]''
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* ''LIterature/HeraldsOfValdemar'': The main characters of the books are identical twin girls with an older brother. Of the past five generations of their mother's family, [[HereditaryTwinhood three have consisted of identical twin girls with an older brother]].
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* ''LIterature/HeraldsOfValdemar'': The main characters of the books are identical twin girls with an older brother. Of the past five generations of their mother's family, [[HereditaryTwinhood three have consisted of identical twin girls with an older brother]].brother.
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* ''LIterature/HeraldsOfValdemar'': The main characters of the books are identical twin girls with an older brother. Of the past five generations of their mother's family, [[HereditaryTwinhood three have consisted of identical twin girls with an older brother]].
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* In ''{{Literature/Another}}'' twins run in the Misaki family. Besides Mei and her SeparatedAtBirth twin sister Misaki their birth mother Mitsuyo was also a twin, and Mei was adopted by Yuikyo, the other sister after Yukiyo suffered the TragicStillbirth of her own child.
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[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/FatalFrameII'', Ryokan Kurosawa was a twin who has twin daughters of his own. However, due to Minakami Village having a ritual based around OneTwinMustDie, he was the only one left by the time said daughters were born.
[[/folder]]
* In ''VideoGame/FatalFrameII'', Ryokan Kurosawa was a twin who has twin daughters of his own. However, due to Minakami Village having a ritual based around OneTwinMustDie, he was the only one left by the time said daughters were born.
[[/folder]]
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[[AC;Anime and Manga]]
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[[folder:Art]]
* "Baby's First Baby", a fake baby doll by artist Darren Cullen, satirises the idea of kids roleplaying as parents by depicting a pregnant baby doll whose fetus is also pregnant. It also comes with a fake ad for twin baby dolls who are both carrying pregnant twins.
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[[folder:Art]]
* "Baby's First Baby", a fake baby doll by artist Darren Cullen, satirises the idea of kids roleplaying as parents by depicting a pregnant baby doll whose fetus is also pregnant. It also comes with a fake ad for twin baby dolls who are both carrying pregnant twins.
[[/folder]]
* "Baby's First Baby", a fake baby doll by artist Darren Cullen, satirises the idea of kids roleplaying as parents by depicting a pregnant baby doll whose fetus is also pregnant. It also comes with a fake ad for twin baby dolls who are both carrying pregnant twins.
[[/folder]]
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[[AC;Anime and Manga]]
* I'm ''{{Manga/Sekirei}}'', the twins Hikari and Hibiki are both in a relationship with their Ashikabi Kaoru, and the epilogue reveals that the two give birth to two sets of twin boys.
* I'm ''{{Manga/Sekirei}}'', the twins Hikari and Hibiki are both in a relationship with their Ashikabi Kaoru, and the epilogue reveals that the two give birth to two sets of twin boys.
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* In ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'', the Cubi clan of Zezzuva [[http://www.missmab.com/Demo/Leader06.php specifically has this as their clan quirk]]. Zezzuva herself pulled this on her twin sister [[CainAndAbel by killing her and using her power to become clan leader]].
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* In ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'', the Cubi clan of Zezzuva [[http://www.missmab.com/Demo/Leader06.php specifically has this as their clan quirk]]. Zezzuva herself pulled this on gained her position from her twin sister [[CainAndAbel by killing her and using her power to become clan leader]].
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[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'', the Cubi clan of Zezzuva [[http://www.missmab.com/Demo/Leader06.php specifically has this as their clan quirk]]. Zezzuva herself pulled this on her twin sister [[CainAndAbel by killing her and using her power to become clan leader]].
[[/folder]]
* In ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'', the Cubi clan of Zezzuva [[http://www.missmab.com/Demo/Leader06.php specifically has this as their clan quirk]]. Zezzuva herself pulled this on her twin sister [[CainAndAbel by killing her and using her power to become clan leader]].
[[/folder]]
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* The Trebond family in the Literature/TortallUniverse displays this, starting with Alanna and Thom in ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'' and later on with Alanna's own children Alianne (protagonist of ''Literature/TheTrickstersDuet'') and [[DeadGuyJunior Thom]]. Alianne herself ends up with ''triplets''.
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* The Trebond family in the Literature/TortallUniverse displays this, starting with Alanna and Thom in ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'' and later on with Alanna's own children Alianne (protagonist of ''Literature/TheTrickstersDuet'') ''Literature/TrickstersDuet'') and [[DeadGuyJunior Thom]]. Alianne herself ends up with ''triplets''.
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* The Trebond family in the Literature/TortallUniverse displays this, starting with Alanna and Thom in ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'' and later on with Alanna's own children Alianne (protagonist of ''Literature/TheTrickstersDuet'') and [[DeadGuyJunior Thom]]. Alianne herself ends up with ''triplets''.
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* ''Series/DesperateHousewives'': Lynette and Tom have twins Porter and Preston at the beginning of the series. So when Lynette has a SurprisePregnancy in Season 5, she gets pregnant with twins again, although one of them dies in utero.
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* ''Series/DesperateHousewives'': Lynette and Tom have twins Porter and Preston at the beginning of the series. So when Lynette has a SurprisePregnancy in Season 5, she gets pregnant with twins again, although one of them dies in utero.
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* ''Series/DesperateHousewives'': Lynette and Tom have twins Porter and Preston at the beginning ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'': The "Family Secret" that Sabrina has to learn to earn her Witch's License is that every member of the series. So when Lynette has a SurprisePregnancy in Season 5, she gets pregnant Spellman family is born with twins again, although a twin, and one of them dies in utero.is inevitably the EvilTwin.
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There are long-running beliefs that twinhood is hereditary and twins skip a generation, and these beliefs bleed into fiction. A family that has a previously-introduced set of twins (or triplets, or so on) can expect to have at least one more set waiting in the wings -- even when this is [[ArtisticLicenseBiology nearly impossible according to real-life genetics.]]
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There are long-running beliefs that twinhood is hereditary and twins skip a generation, and these beliefs bleed into fiction. A family that has a previously-introduced set of twins (or triplets, or so on) can expect to have at least one more set waiting in the wings -- even wings--even when this is [[ArtisticLicenseBiology nearly impossible according to real-life genetics.]]
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* ''Franchise/TheFlash'': Prior to his death in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', Barry Allen fathered fraternal twins -- [[ThemeTwinNaming Don and Dawn]] -- with his wife, Iris. It was later revealed that Barry himself had a [[LongLostRelative long-lost identical twin brother]] who had been SeparatedAtBirth and had been raised by the Thawne family, eventually becoming the [[EvilTwin villain Cobalt Blue]]. Since [[SuperpowerfulGenetics Don and Dawn inherited his superspeed]], this led to the line in ''The Life Story of the Flash'': "Twins ran in the Allen family ... literally."
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* ''Franchise/TheFlash'': Prior to his death in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', Barry Allen fathered fraternal twins -- [[ThemeTwinNaming twins--[[ThemeTwinNaming Don and Dawn]] -- with Dawn]]--with his wife, Iris. It was later revealed that Barry himself had a [[LongLostRelative long-lost identical twin brother]] who had been SeparatedAtBirth and had been raised by the Thawne family, eventually becoming the [[EvilTwin villain Cobalt Blue]]. Since [[SuperpowerfulGenetics Don and Dawn inherited his superspeed]], this led to the line in ''The Life Story of the Flash'': "Twins ran in the Allen family ... literally."
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[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
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[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]Live-Action]]
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* Helena and Sarah on ''Series/OrphanBlack'' are revealed to be identical twins in a group of identical clones -- their embryo split into two. Helena then carries twin boys of her own later in the show.
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* Helena and Sarah on ''Series/OrphanBlack'' are revealed to be identical twins in a group of identical clones -- their clones--their embryo split into two. Helena then carries twin boys of her own later in the show.
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** Jason himself [[spoiler:fathers fraternal twins with Polly -- Juniper and Dagwood]]. Cheryl attributes this to twins running in the Blossom genes, even though this would be dependent on the mother's genes, not Jason's.
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** Jason himself [[spoiler:fathers fraternal twins with Polly -- Juniper Polly--Juniper and Dagwood]]. Cheryl attributes this to twins running in the Blossom genes, even though this would be dependent on the mother's genes, not Jason's.
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* ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'': Leia is Luke's fraternal twin sister. In ''The Last Command'' she births twins, Jacen and Jaina.
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* ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'': Leia is Luke's fraternal twin sister. In ''The Last Command'' Command'', she births twins, twins: Jacen and Jaina.
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* ''Franchise/TheFlash'': Prior to his death in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', Barry Allen fathered fraternal twins -- [[ThemeTwinNaming Don and Dawn]] -- with his wife, Iris. It was later revealed that Barry himself had a [[LongLostRelative long-lost identical twin brother]] who had been SeparatedAtBirth and had been raised by the Thawne family, eventually becoming the [[EvilTwin villain Cobalt Blue]]. Since Don and Dawn inherited his superspeed, this lead to the line in ''The Life Story of the Flash'': "Twins ran in the Allen family ... literally."
to:
* ''Franchise/TheFlash'': Prior to his death in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', Barry Allen fathered fraternal twins -- [[ThemeTwinNaming Don and Dawn]] -- with his wife, Iris. It was later revealed that Barry himself had a [[LongLostRelative long-lost identical twin brother]] who had been SeparatedAtBirth and had been raised by the Thawne family, eventually becoming the [[EvilTwin villain Cobalt Blue]]. Since [[SuperpowerfulGenetics Don and Dawn inherited his superspeed, superspeed]], this lead led to the line in ''The Life Story of the Flash'': "Twins ran in the Allen family ... literally."
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* ''Franchise/TheFlash'': Prior to his death in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', Barry Allen fathered fraternal twins -- [[ThemeTwinNaming Don and Dawn]] -- with his wife, Iris. It was later revealed that Barry himself had a [[LongLostRelative long-lost identical twin brother]] who had been SeparatedAtBirth and had been raised by the Thawne family, eventually becoming the [[EvilTwin villain Cobalt Blue]].
to:
* ''Franchise/TheFlash'': Prior to his death in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', Barry Allen fathered fraternal twins -- [[ThemeTwinNaming Don and Dawn]] -- with his wife, Iris. It was later revealed that Barry himself had a [[LongLostRelative long-lost identical twin brother]] who had been SeparatedAtBirth and had been raised by the Thawne family, eventually becoming the [[EvilTwin villain Cobalt Blue]]. Since Don and Dawn inherited his superspeed, this lead to the line in ''The Life Story of the Flash'': "Twins ran in the Allen family ... literally."
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* ''WesternAnimation/DavidTheGnome'': While explaining the idiosyncrasies of gnomish biology, David points out that gnomes only have children once in their lives and they're always twins.
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* ''WesternAnimation/DavidTheGnome'': ''WesternAnimation/TheWorldOfDavidTheGnome'': While explaining the idiosyncrasies of gnomish biology, David points out that gnomes only have children once in their lives and they're always twins.
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* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'': At the end of the Malloreon, Polgara (who had a twin sister) has twins; Belgarath says it's a family trait.
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There are long-running beliefs that twinhood is hereditary and twins skip a generation, and these beliefs bleed into fiction. A family that has a previously-introduced set of twins (or triplets, or so on) can expect to have at least one more set waiting in the wings -- even when this is [[ArtisticLicenseBiology nearly impossible according to real-life genetics.]]
The presence of established twin relatives, identical or fraternal, can often set up the birth of more twins or a [[LongLostRelative long-lost twin]] showing up. If one of the parents is a twin, having twin children is often used to bring their story full circle (especially if the children are [[UntoUsASonAndDaughterAreBorn a male/female pair]]). Often, the newer or younger set of twins parallels the older one in some way: they bear [[GenerationXerox strong similarities to the previous set]], take different life paths, or have an entirely different sibling relationship.
"Twins run in the family" will be used to explain all sorts of improbable twinning, such as a family having both fraternal and identical twins or multiple sets of identical twins, male fraternal twins going on to father twins, or sets of twins many generations removed from each other. A fictional species may even go as far as having a majority of births be multiples as a type of BizarreAlienReproduction.
In real life, there is no scientific proof that twins skip a generation, and as far as scientists know, identical twins are a spontaneous occurrence. Fraternal twins can run in the family through the ''mother'': some women are genetically predisposed to hyperovulation[[note]]Fraternal twins are caused by two separate eggs being fertilized by two separate sperm, while identical twins are caused by a previously-fertilized ovum splitting in half[[/note]]. Artificial insemination and a previous birth can also increase the chances of a multiple birth. Fiction, however, will often treat [[AlwaysIdenticalTwins identical twins and fraternal twins similarly]].
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Art]]
* "Baby's First Baby", a fake baby doll by artist Darren Cullen, satirises the idea of kids roleplaying as parents by depicting a pregnant baby doll whose fetus is also pregnant. It also comes with a fake ad for twin baby dolls who are both carrying pregnant twins.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''Franchise/TheFlash'': Prior to his death in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', Barry Allen fathered fraternal twins -- [[ThemeTwinNaming Don and Dawn]] -- with his wife, Iris. It was later revealed that Barry himself had a [[LongLostRelative long-lost identical twin brother]] who had been SeparatedAtBirth and had been raised by the Thawne family, eventually becoming the [[EvilTwin villain Cobalt Blue]].
* In ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'', twin births are the norm on Winath, to the point that children born without a twin, like the villain Lightning Lord, are outcasts in Winathian society.
* ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' has a complex example. ComicBook/ScarletWitch is the fraternal twin of ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}}, and Speed is the reincarnation of one of her magically-conceived identical twin sons. In one BadFuture, ComicBook/KateBishop is pregnant with Speed's twins.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': Dr. Ilene Chen, Monarch's chief mythologist and resident MsExposition, not only has a twin sister, but also twin daughters, her mother and aunt are twins and her grandmother and great-aunt are twins. The novelization takes this even further, confirming that twins run in Ilene's family. WordOfGod reveals that this is meant to settle Ilene and her sister Ling into the roles of the Shobijin, Mothra's twin priestesses.
* ''Film/{{Twins}}'': At the end, the twin brothers have married twin sisters, and each couple has twin babies.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'': In ''Dragonsdawn'', Barr meets up with Sallah after years apart. Barr tells Sallah that she now has five children, including a set of twins; after she gave birth to the twins, her husband informed her that he was a twin.
* ''Literature/TheFallOfTheHouseOfUsher'': Madeline and Roderick are HalfIdenticalTwins. One interpretation is that this sets up the twist that the Ushers are "all one line"; they were ''all'' born from BrotherSisterIncest between twins and the "taint" upon their house is as a result of this.
* ''Literature/SecretHistories'': {{Justified|Trope}} in the climax of the first book as the AwfulTruth behind the [[AncientOrderOfProtectors Drood family]]. Their {{deal|WithTheDevil}} with an EldritchAbomination causes all Droods to be born with an identical twin, who is [[HumanSacrifice sacrificed]] to the entity in exchange for magical power.
* In ''Literature/TheThirteenthTale'', Isabelle Angelfield, who is the fraternal twin sister of the violent possessive Charlie, has identical twins, Emmeline and Adeline. A heavy amount of IncestSubtext exists between Charlie and Isabelle, and the twins are noted to behave a lot like Charlie, so [[MamasBabyPapasMaybe the townsfolk speculate heavily]] that Emmeline and Adelaide are twins born of {{Twincest}}.
* ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'': Leia is Luke's fraternal twin sister. In ''The Last Command'' she births twins, Jacen and Jaina.
*''Literature/WolvesOfTheCalla'': in Calla Bryn Sturgis, the main setting of the story, this is taken UpToEleven as almost all births are twins, with having just one child being a rarity. It is lampshaded however that this is not a natural phenomenon, and the abundance of twins is what makes Calla a target for the Wolves, who want 1 child of each pair of twins every 23 years in order to drain them from the innate material responsible for TwinTelepathy.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Michael and Lindsey from ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' are established as being twins when they're introduced. It's later revealed that their father has a twin brother himself. [[spoiler:Later subverted when it's revealed that Lindsey is actually adopted.]]
* ''Series/EerieIndiana'': This is invoked in the "Foreverware" episode. The plot involves a family whose members have been sleeping in giant tupperware boxes to stunt their aging for three decades. The episode ends with the family ''accelerating'' the "spoiling" process instead slowing/stopping it, aging the twin sons thirty years overnight. When found doing work outside their house by someone unaware of the family secret, they pull a PretendingToBeOnesOwnRelative and claim that twins run in the family.
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': The final two-parter sees Erica, the woman whose baby Chandler and Monica are set to adopt, go into labour. The three of them are shocked during the birth to discover that it's twins, and as they discuss it, Erica notes that, "Twins actually run in my family!"
* ''Series/JaneTheVirgin'': Petra gives birth to identical twin daughters, which sets up the reveal later in the season that she herself is an identical twin. [[spoiler:And the finale pulls one last twist by revealing she is actually a ''triplet''.]]
* Helena and Sarah on ''Series/OrphanBlack'' are revealed to be identical twins in a group of identical clones -- their embryo split into two. Helena then carries twin boys of her own later in the show.
* The Drake family on ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars''. Mary Drake was revealed to be [[spoiler:Jessica [=DiLaurentis=]'s twin sister]], which sets up the reveal that [[spoiler:Spencer, since revealed to be a Drake,]] has an EvilTwin.
* On ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'', Cheryl is the AngstySurvivingTwin to Jason. In hindsight, Cheryl and Jason being twins is a hint that twins run in their family.
** [[spoiler:Their father Clifford]] is revealed to have a long-lost twin brother in season 2.
** Jason himself [[spoiler:fathers fraternal twins with Polly -- Juniper and Dagwood]]. Cheryl attributes this to twins running in the Blossom genes, even though this would be dependent on the mother's genes, not Jason's.
* ''Series/DesperateHousewives'': Lynette and Tom have twins Porter and Preston at the beginning of the series. So when Lynette has a SurprisePregnancy in Season 5, she gets pregnant with twins again, although one of them dies in utero.
* ''Series/WandaVision'' uses "twins begetting twins" for a different kind of plot twist. Wanda is a twin and gives birth to twin sons when she had just been expecting one child. But [[spoiler:seeing her sons reminds her of her brother, who had gone unmentioned since his death -- which in turn causes the fragmented sitcom reality to unravel]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/DavidTheGnome'': While explaining the idiosyncrasies of gnomish biology, David points out that gnomes only have children once in their lives and they're always twins.
* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': Dipper and Mabel are HalfIdenticalTwins, which foreshadows the reveal that [[spoiler:their Great-Uncle Stan is an identical twin.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/HulkAndTheAgentsOfSmash'': In "Days of Future Smash: The Tomorrow Smashers", the Hulk is sent into the future, and encounters a new team of Smashers. Among them are two red gamma mutate twins named "Thad" and "Betsy", who are heavily implied to be Red Hulk's descendants. After he returns to the present, Hulk nonchalantly suggests that twins run in Red's family, which Red confirms (then confusedly asks how Hulk knew that).
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E1TreehouseOfHorrorVII One story in "Treehouse of Horror VII"]] has Bart be the conjoined twin of an apparently EvilTwin called Hugo, following his identical twin maternal aunts Patty and Selma.
** The FlashForward episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS16E15FutureDrama Future Drama]]" has Nelson get both AlwaysIdenticalTwins Sherri and Terri pregnant. Later, both are shown to have given birth to twins.
[[/folder]]
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The presence of established twin relatives, identical or fraternal, can often set up the birth of more twins or a [[LongLostRelative long-lost twin]] showing up. If one of the parents is a twin, having twin children is often used to bring their story full circle (especially if the children are [[UntoUsASonAndDaughterAreBorn a male/female pair]]). Often, the newer or younger set of twins parallels the older one in some way: they bear [[GenerationXerox strong similarities to the previous set]], take different life paths, or have an entirely different sibling relationship.
"Twins run in the family" will be used to explain all sorts of improbable twinning, such as a family having both fraternal and identical twins or multiple sets of identical twins, male fraternal twins going on to father twins, or sets of twins many generations removed from each other. A fictional species may even go as far as having a majority of births be multiples as a type of BizarreAlienReproduction.
In real life, there is no scientific proof that twins skip a generation, and as far as scientists know, identical twins are a spontaneous occurrence. Fraternal twins can run in the family through the ''mother'': some women are genetically predisposed to hyperovulation[[note]]Fraternal twins are caused by two separate eggs being fertilized by two separate sperm, while identical twins are caused by a previously-fertilized ovum splitting in half[[/note]]. Artificial insemination and a previous birth can also increase the chances of a multiple birth. Fiction, however, will often treat [[AlwaysIdenticalTwins identical twins and fraternal twins similarly]].
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!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Art]]
* "Baby's First Baby", a fake baby doll by artist Darren Cullen, satirises the idea of kids roleplaying as parents by depicting a pregnant baby doll whose fetus is also pregnant. It also comes with a fake ad for twin baby dolls who are both carrying pregnant twins.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''Franchise/TheFlash'': Prior to his death in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', Barry Allen fathered fraternal twins -- [[ThemeTwinNaming Don and Dawn]] -- with his wife, Iris. It was later revealed that Barry himself had a [[LongLostRelative long-lost identical twin brother]] who had been SeparatedAtBirth and had been raised by the Thawne family, eventually becoming the [[EvilTwin villain Cobalt Blue]].
* In ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'', twin births are the norm on Winath, to the point that children born without a twin, like the villain Lightning Lord, are outcasts in Winathian society.
* ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' has a complex example. ComicBook/ScarletWitch is the fraternal twin of ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}}, and Speed is the reincarnation of one of her magically-conceived identical twin sons. In one BadFuture, ComicBook/KateBishop is pregnant with Speed's twins.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': Dr. Ilene Chen, Monarch's chief mythologist and resident MsExposition, not only has a twin sister, but also twin daughters, her mother and aunt are twins and her grandmother and great-aunt are twins. The novelization takes this even further, confirming that twins run in Ilene's family. WordOfGod reveals that this is meant to settle Ilene and her sister Ling into the roles of the Shobijin, Mothra's twin priestesses.
* ''Film/{{Twins}}'': At the end, the twin brothers have married twin sisters, and each couple has twin babies.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'': In ''Dragonsdawn'', Barr meets up with Sallah after years apart. Barr tells Sallah that she now has five children, including a set of twins; after she gave birth to the twins, her husband informed her that he was a twin.
* ''Literature/TheFallOfTheHouseOfUsher'': Madeline and Roderick are HalfIdenticalTwins. One interpretation is that this sets up the twist that the Ushers are "all one line"; they were ''all'' born from BrotherSisterIncest between twins and the "taint" upon their house is as a result of this.
* ''Literature/SecretHistories'': {{Justified|Trope}} in the climax of the first book as the AwfulTruth behind the [[AncientOrderOfProtectors Drood family]]. Their {{deal|WithTheDevil}} with an EldritchAbomination causes all Droods to be born with an identical twin, who is [[HumanSacrifice sacrificed]] to the entity in exchange for magical power.
* In ''Literature/TheThirteenthTale'', Isabelle Angelfield, who is the fraternal twin sister of the violent possessive Charlie, has identical twins, Emmeline and Adeline. A heavy amount of IncestSubtext exists between Charlie and Isabelle, and the twins are noted to behave a lot like Charlie, so [[MamasBabyPapasMaybe the townsfolk speculate heavily]] that Emmeline and Adelaide are twins born of {{Twincest}}.
* ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'': Leia is Luke's fraternal twin sister. In ''The Last Command'' she births twins, Jacen and Jaina.
*''Literature/WolvesOfTheCalla'': in Calla Bryn Sturgis, the main setting of the story, this is taken UpToEleven as almost all births are twins, with having just one child being a rarity. It is lampshaded however that this is not a natural phenomenon, and the abundance of twins is what makes Calla a target for the Wolves, who want 1 child of each pair of twins every 23 years in order to drain them from the innate material responsible for TwinTelepathy.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Michael and Lindsey from ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' are established as being twins when they're introduced. It's later revealed that their father has a twin brother himself. [[spoiler:Later subverted when it's revealed that Lindsey is actually adopted.]]
* ''Series/EerieIndiana'': This is invoked in the "Foreverware" episode. The plot involves a family whose members have been sleeping in giant tupperware boxes to stunt their aging for three decades. The episode ends with the family ''accelerating'' the "spoiling" process instead slowing/stopping it, aging the twin sons thirty years overnight. When found doing work outside their house by someone unaware of the family secret, they pull a PretendingToBeOnesOwnRelative and claim that twins run in the family.
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': The final two-parter sees Erica, the woman whose baby Chandler and Monica are set to adopt, go into labour. The three of them are shocked during the birth to discover that it's twins, and as they discuss it, Erica notes that, "Twins actually run in my family!"
* ''Series/JaneTheVirgin'': Petra gives birth to identical twin daughters, which sets up the reveal later in the season that she herself is an identical twin. [[spoiler:And the finale pulls one last twist by revealing she is actually a ''triplet''.]]
* Helena and Sarah on ''Series/OrphanBlack'' are revealed to be identical twins in a group of identical clones -- their embryo split into two. Helena then carries twin boys of her own later in the show.
* The Drake family on ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars''. Mary Drake was revealed to be [[spoiler:Jessica [=DiLaurentis=]'s twin sister]], which sets up the reveal that [[spoiler:Spencer, since revealed to be a Drake,]] has an EvilTwin.
* On ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'', Cheryl is the AngstySurvivingTwin to Jason. In hindsight, Cheryl and Jason being twins is a hint that twins run in their family.
** [[spoiler:Their father Clifford]] is revealed to have a long-lost twin brother in season 2.
** Jason himself [[spoiler:fathers fraternal twins with Polly -- Juniper and Dagwood]]. Cheryl attributes this to twins running in the Blossom genes, even though this would be dependent on the mother's genes, not Jason's.
* ''Series/DesperateHousewives'': Lynette and Tom have twins Porter and Preston at the beginning of the series. So when Lynette has a SurprisePregnancy in Season 5, she gets pregnant with twins again, although one of them dies in utero.
* ''Series/WandaVision'' uses "twins begetting twins" for a different kind of plot twist. Wanda is a twin and gives birth to twin sons when she had just been expecting one child. But [[spoiler:seeing her sons reminds her of her brother, who had gone unmentioned since his death -- which in turn causes the fragmented sitcom reality to unravel]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/DavidTheGnome'': While explaining the idiosyncrasies of gnomish biology, David points out that gnomes only have children once in their lives and they're always twins.
* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': Dipper and Mabel are HalfIdenticalTwins, which foreshadows the reveal that [[spoiler:their Great-Uncle Stan is an identical twin.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/HulkAndTheAgentsOfSmash'': In "Days of Future Smash: The Tomorrow Smashers", the Hulk is sent into the future, and encounters a new team of Smashers. Among them are two red gamma mutate twins named "Thad" and "Betsy", who are heavily implied to be Red Hulk's descendants. After he returns to the present, Hulk nonchalantly suggests that twins run in Red's family, which Red confirms (then confusedly asks how Hulk knew that).
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E1TreehouseOfHorrorVII One story in "Treehouse of Horror VII"]] has Bart be the conjoined twin of an apparently EvilTwin called Hugo, following his identical twin maternal aunts Patty and Selma.
** The FlashForward episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS16E15FutureDrama Future Drama]]" has Nelson get both AlwaysIdenticalTwins Sherri and Terri pregnant. Later, both are shown to have given birth to twins.
[[/folder]]
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