# Is Batman's secret ID known to everyone? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 23, 2018, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682 "2018-05-23T15:23:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CaptainGeordie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbce88/32.png) [@CaptainGeordie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptainGeordie)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682/1 "2018-05-23T15:23:42Z")
Just getting back into comics again, and the current Bat-titles seem to imply that Batman’s secret identity seems to be known by all and sundry. Who does know, and when was it first revealed? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682/2 "2018-05-23T15:38:48Z")
Wha…? Don’t tell me Aunt Harriet knows! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682/3 "2018-05-23T15:42:30Z")
Alfred never could keep his mouth shut. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682/4 "2018-05-23T16:21:22Z")
Please, no unboxed spoilers. ---
**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:** [May 23, 2018, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682/5 "2018-05-23T17:50:59Z")
What do you mean by ‘everybody’? The general public don’t know. Most of his villains don’t know - Talia does, obviously; Poison Ivy has to be assumed to, given the Batman arc previous to the most recent one; Ulysses Armstrong does - even if he didn’t before, since he’s monitoring Red Robin, he does now; Joker might and I’m pretty sure Two-Face does, but that’s about the lot - the GCPD don’t (not even Gordon). The other heroes who work with him frequently do (the Justice League, the other major Gotham-based heroes (save maybe Huntress)), a few random civilians and other heroes (Alfred (obviously), Jacob Kane (his uncle, and Batwoman’s father), Julia Pennyworth (Alfred’s daughter), Flash (Wally), Arsenal, Lois)… So, there are a pretty good number, but with a handful of exceptions (the villains, uncle Jacob), they’re all people who are logically (and mostly necessarily) in a zone of trust. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682/6 "2018-05-23T20:42:23Z")
Well, all the readers know… Or they should. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682/7 "2018-05-23T20:57:28Z")
With that many villains knowing, though, I’d be very surprised that none of them has leaked. ---
**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:** [May 23, 2018, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682/8 "2018-05-23T23:18:38Z")
Given the list of villains that know, it makes sense - Talia’s generally concerned with Bruce’s well-being (less so, now, though she still wants Damien alive, so wouldn’t _indirectly_ endanger him), Ivy’s in the midst of rehabilitation (working with Barbara in Batgirl), Joker would never share (Batman’s HIS boyfriend, dammit), and the Harvey side of Two-Face still has influence even when Two-Face is dominant. Armstrong’s still a threat that will have to be dealt with at some point, though. (The pacing on Detective right now means it’ll probably be a longass while…the previous arc lasted for 6 months of twice-monthly issues…) (Actually, Jacob is probably the most likely to leak, I would say. His affection for Bruce has become strained, and he doesn’t approve of how he does things… I think if Kate wouldn’t take it as a betrayal, he’d go public.) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682/9 "2018-05-24T01:05:16Z")
In the comic mini series “Hush,” Edward Nygma, aka the Riddler deduced Batman’s secret identity. When he threatened to expose his identity, Batman called his bluff, telling him that if he revealed the answer to the riddle “Who is Batman?” the Riddler would no longer be in possession of the riddle, something that the Riddler wouldn’t be able to bear. Also, doesn’t Selina Kyle (Catwoman) know in many of the storylines (outside of the movies _Batman Returns_ and _Dark Knight Rises_)? ---
**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:** [May 24, 2018, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682/10 "2018-05-24T01:12:12Z")
Should hope so, they’re getting married in a couple issues. (Needless to say, she’s no longer a villain.) ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682/11 "2018-05-24T03:02:34Z")
In the \*Injustice \*alt-series ; everyone on the planet _does_ know because in the process of slowly becoming Superdick, Superman straight outed him. On Twitter of all places. Makes Bats’ life a liiiittle bit complicated for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682/12 "2018-05-24T03:06:33Z")
Well, he obviously has an entire construction crew keeping his secret, because there’s no way he built the entire Bat Cave, wired it up and installed all that stuff just by himself. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682/13 "2018-05-24T03:24:26Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > there’s no way he built the entire Bat Cave, wired it up and installed all that stuff just by himself. Even if he was prepared? Probably used the Bat-amnesia ray on them every day. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682/14 "2018-05-24T04:08:23Z")
I think I remember a comic where someone deduced the secret by the fact that Bruce Wayne was having all this stuff delivered to his house or something. The UPS guy figures it out. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682/15 "2018-05-24T13:41:45Z")
One good tax audit would put Wayne Enterprises out of business. And probably reveal Batman’s secret identity. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682/16 "2018-05-24T13:45:02Z")
In the current continuity the public believe that Wayne financially supports Batman but the idea that doofy, spoiled Bruce Wayne could be Batman (who is probably not even human anyway) is ridiculous. The real world analogy would be if someone tried to convince you that Paris Hilton was really a Ninja who fights crime. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682/17 "2018-05-24T17:14:17Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > The real world analogy would be if someone tried to convince you that Paris Hilton was really a Ninja who fights crime. Call Hollywood! ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682/18 "2018-05-24T18:20:31Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > One good tax audit would put Wayne Enterprises out of business. And probably reveal Batman’s secret identity. That’s why Wayne Enterprises is a defense contractor. Billions can go missing and no one notices. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682/19 "2018-05-25T00:28:45Z")
And it also gives them cover for making experimental military hardware. Oh, that? That was a prototype that we mothballed when the DoD decided not to put in a contract. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682/20 "2018-05-25T00:46:01Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > In the current continuity the public believe that Wayne financially supports Batman but the idea that doofy, spoiled Bruce Wayne could be Batman (who is probably not even human anyway) is ridiculous. > > The real world analogy would be if someone tried to convince you that Paris Hilton was really a Ninja who fights crime. Paris Hilton is bankrolling a crime fighting Ninja? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-batmans-secret-id-known-to-everyone/814682.md?page=2)