# Has there ever been a comic book hero with more than 2 identities? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 29, 2005, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521 "2005-10-29T23:13:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521/1 "2005-10-29T23:13:02Z")
Most superheroes have their everyday-Joe identity (Peter Parker, Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, etc) to go along with their superhero personna. Has there ever been an instance where a superhero had three identities (assuming they weren’t under some evil influence or something)? ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521/2 "2005-10-29T23:15:52Z")
The Shadow had a complicated backstory, where he was Kent Allard, then he killed Lamont Cranston and assumed Cranston’s identity, while also operating as the Shadow. Moon Knight, an Egyptian-themed Batman-esque vigilante superhero, had several identities, including a soldier of fortune, big city cab driver, and wealthy playboy and gadabout. His real name was Marc Spector, but I forgot which identity Spector correlated to. A lot of people are speculating that a new member of the Avengers, Ronin, is secretly Matt Murdock, better known as Daredevil. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521/3 "2005-10-29T23:16:51Z")
The Sentry. He has multiple personalities and at least three different identities. Bob Reynolds (normal, somewhat slobby suburbanite). The Sentry (champion of light, power of million exploding suns, guardian of good. The perfect comic-book hero). The Void (demonic beast that tortures and manipulates people as well as having the power to destroy the known universe). All three are the same person. Might not be exactly what you are asking but I thought I’d throw it in there anyway. ---
**Author:** ![priapus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@priapus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/priapus)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521/4 "2005-10-29T23:22:22Z")
Didn’t Superman run around Kandor with Jimmy Olsen like Batman and Robin back in the 60’s ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521/5 "2005-10-29T23:49:23Z")
Moon Knight came to mind first and he had an actual Multiple Personality disorder. Daredevil adopted two secret identities at one time, so he’s only up to three. I wonder if we can count Kartar Hol’s multiple lives here – probably not, but he’s got more actual identities that he remembers than anyone I can think of off hand. That’s all I have off the top. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521/6 "2005-10-29T23:53:33Z")
> [@priapus](#): > > Didn’t Superman run around Kandor with Jimmy Olsen like Batman and Robin back in the 60’s Yep, as **Nightwing** and **Flamebird**. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521/7 "2005-10-30T00:02:14Z")
Batman maintains a number of ‘in character’ identities for infiltrating the criminal underworld, most notably ‘Matches’ Malone. Superman, driven by a guilt complex, once adopted the identity of ‘Gangbuster’ while in an advanced sleepwalking state. And back in the days of Red Kryptonite, there were a few one-shot alternate identities, including that of a very adept baseball pitcher in one story I recall. J’onn J’onnz maintained a number of identities around the globe, but I believe most or all were exposed in the pages of his own title a while back or in the pages of Chase. (I forget which.) ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521/8 "2005-10-30T00:26:19Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > A lot of people are speculating that a new member of the Avengers, Ronin, is secretly Matt Murdock, better known as Daredevil. Daredevil has also used the identities of Mike Murdock and Jack Battlin in the past. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521/9 "2005-10-30T01:01:26Z")
Reed and Sue Richards of the Fantastic Four took on alternate identites for a while, temporarily leaving the FF and moving to suburbia. Can’t recall what their identites were though. Sort of along the lines of the Katar Hol example is Grimjack, who had three and possibly four incarnations shown in his book. Two of them did appear simultaneously so if we torture the premise it almost kinda fits. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521/10 "2005-10-30T01:29:57Z")
The Saint (Val Kilmer version, at least) used lots of fake identities, familiar to Catholoics everywhere. Hawkeye used other identities, including Goliath (extended period), Golden Archer and Dreadknight Roger Aubrey pulled double duty in WWII as Dyna-Mite and Mighty Destroyer. His roommate, Jack Falsworth, used both those IDs and Union Jack as well at various times. Spider-Man, through a complicated arrangement with one of his clones, acted sometimes as Scarlet Spider. He also used a spate of one-off IDs like Hornet, Ricochet, Prodigy and Dusk. Hank Pym has lots of superhero identities, none of them secret. Captain America was also Nomad and the Captain at various times. Wolverine has also operated as Weapon X and Patch. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521/11 "2005-10-30T01:48:14Z")
Well, there’s also Badger, who’s another hero with multiple personality disorder. There’s: -Norbert Sykes (the “normal” guy) -The Badger (a crazed martial arts expert who can talk to animals…this personality appeared when Norbert was being held prisoner by the Viet Cong when God appeared to him in the form of a badger and told him to kick some ass) -Emily (a nine-year-old girl) -A dog -A black guy whose name I can’t remember -Max (a rich gay guy) -Pierre (a psychotic Frenchman) -One other I can’t remember Badger lives with an ancient Welsh druid in a castle in Wisconsin. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521/12 "2005-10-30T01:51:43Z")
Badger? As in “I’m and American citizen and I demand to speak to my geese” Badger? That dude’s crazy… ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521/13 "2005-10-30T01:56:46Z")
I thought Batman had some semi-regular identity as a lowlife that hangs around sleazy bars to get info. ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521/14 "2005-10-30T02:50:11Z")
Hal Jordan was a Green Lantern, but in the Silver Age he was frequently abducted into the future and had adventures as Pol Manning. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521/15 "2005-10-30T02:56:03Z")
Bruce Banner/Hulk has multiple personalities _and_ identities; not only are there multiple versions of the Hulk, but they’ve been seperated at times. Also, The Grey Hulk spent some time as a Mob enforcer, Mr Fixit. ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521/16 "2005-10-30T03:03:37Z")
Posted too soon! I have more. This one contains spoilers for James Robinson’s excellent Starman series: David Knight was two different incarnations of Starman, one in 1951 (revealed very late in the series, they were always assumed to have been two different people) and one in what was presumably the early 1990s (in the first issue of the series). Also, the Starmen Will Payton and Prince Gavyn were also revealed to be the same person. On the Teen Titans cartoon, Robin created an alternate identity known as Red X. Jean Grey was both Marvel Girl and Phoenix. Stephanie Brown was Spoiler and (briefly) Robin. Most of the Teen Titans eventually grew up and took on adult identities (Dick Grayson/Robin/Nightwing, Roy Harper Speedy/Arsenal, etc.) Oh, and another one for Hal Jordan: he was the Spectre for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521/17 "2005-10-30T03:27:37Z")
Jon Sable sort of had three identities. He had his mainstream identity, his superhero identity, and he was B.B. Flemm, a popular author of children’s books. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521/18 "2005-10-30T04:16:53Z")
Y’all, I don’t think the OP is asking about heroes who have had multiple super-hero identities. The OP is asking about heroes who have multiple _civilian_ identities. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521/19 "2005-10-30T06:04:22Z")
> [@cbawlmer](#): > > This one contains spoilers for James Robinson’s excellent Starman series: Also in Starman, the original Dr Midnite was revealed to have briefly been a Starman. In LSH Celeste McCauley (the neice of Leland McCauley III, and cousin if LM IV) uses the identity Celeste Rockfish so she can be a private eye without getting favours based on her family connections. (Everyone calls her Rockford, though, in a joke that wears thin pretty fast.) Thanks to the time distortions around Zero Hour, she also ended up with 2 different heroic identities - one resembling a Green Lantern, the other a Darkstar. ---
**Author:** ![Booker57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521/20 "2005-10-30T06:14:25Z")
Firestorm the nuclear man. Two men who merge into one super-hero. Ronny Renolds a college student is one, and when merged the domenant one. The other is a college professor whoes name excapes me now. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-comic-book-hero-with-more-than-2-identities/328521.md?page=2)