# Pointless superhero secret identities **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064 "2012-03-07T19:04:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rubixcube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Rubixcube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubixcube)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064/1 "2012-03-07T19:04:43Z")
I’ve never really liked the idea of a secret identity in superhero stories, but I at least understand from a plot standpoint why they’re necessary for some characters. Peter Parker doesn’t want to endanger his aunt/girlfriend/wife; Bruce Wayne is technically a fugitive and so on. But there are plenty of comics where the secret identity is there for no real reason. These have always bugged me since not only are they completely pointless, but they often make things significantly harder for the heroes in question. The two big examples I can think of are Tony Stark and Henry Pym. For Tony the whole bodyguard thing was pointless, it wasn’t to protect his factories since they were attacked nearly every issue anyway. And villains figured out very quickly that Iron Man showed up whenever they went after Stark, Pepper, or Happy, so he wasn’t protecting himself or them either. If everyone had known then he could have simply changed into the armor anytime it was necessary, rather than having to slip away and explaining his many mysterious disappearances. Pym had even less reason; the only person he was close to was Janet, who also has powers. Also his rogue gallery was far too lame to be any sort of danger to anyone at all. So can anybody else think of any unnecessary secret identities? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064/2 "2012-03-07T19:13:16Z")
> [@Rubixcube](#): > > The two big examples I can think of are Tony Stark and Henry Pym. IIRC Hank Pym hasn’t had a secret identity since Byrne took over the Avengers in the late eighties. Instead of Ant Man, Giant Man, or Yellowjacket, he goes around in red coveralls with many pockets containing shrunken doohickeys. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064/3 "2012-03-07T19:13:42Z")
> [@Rubixcube](#): > > The two big examples I can think of are Tony Stark and Henry Pym. For Tony the whole bodyguard thing was pointless, it wasn’t to protect his factories since they were attacked nearly every issue anyway. And villains figured out very quickly that Iron Man showed up whenever they went after Stark, Pepper, or Happy, so he wasn’t protecting himself or them either. If everyone had known then he could have simply changed into the armor anytime it was necessary, rather than having to slip away and explaining his many mysterious disappearances. Part of the reason he’s so good at slipping away and getting into the armor is that his would-be kidnappers are primarily looking all around for Iron Man while doing a half-assed job of keeping an eye on the guy they’re after. (Also, an early story had someone try to bribe Iron Man into betraying Tony.) ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064/4 "2012-03-07T19:17:22Z")
Re Bruce Wayne I though the Fugitive storyline was over and done with. ---
**Author:** ![Rubixcube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Rubixcube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubixcube)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064/5 "2012-03-07T19:19:29Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > IIRC Hank Pym hasn’t had a secret identity since Byrne took over the Avengers in the late eighties. Instead of Ant Man, Giant Man, or Yellowjacket, he goes around in red coveralls with many pockets containing shrunken doohickeys. They don’t have to currently or recently have had secret identities. I’m simply asking about heroes that have or had an identity solely for the sake of an identity without any real plot or character justification. Another one I just thought of was Golden Age Captain America. You spend massive amounts of time, effort, and money on making a super soldier, and then you make him pretend to be a buffoon around base so nobody finds out his real identity instead of, y’know actually sending him on missions where he would be useful. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064/6 "2012-03-07T19:29:08Z")
Thor. They work it into his story that he falls in love with his nurse and blah blah blah must maintain secret identity to protect her blah blah blah but they never needed to go there with him. He’s a freakin’ GOD. There was no reason for him to have to disguise himself and have a day job playing doctor, when he could have/should have just spent his days professionally asskicking. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064/7 "2012-03-07T19:30:32Z")
Maybe Clark Kent fits. I mean, it’s not like he needed to protect himself, and I can’t recall Clark really picking up leads for Superman or anything while supposedly working, so there was no real benefit to it. I think he was Clark just so he could hang out without having people pestering him constantly to get their cat out of a tree or use his heat vision to remove their grandmother’s tumor or stop an out-of-control drunk driver or something else annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Rubixcube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Rubixcube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubixcube)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064/8 "2012-03-07T19:33:11Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Thor. > > They work it into his story that he falls in love with his nurse and blah blah blah must maintain secret identity to protect her blah blah blah but they never needed to go there with him. He’s a freakin’ GOD. There was no reason for him to have to disguise himself and have a day job playing doctor, when he could have/should have just spent his days professionally asskicking. Wasn’t it explained that Odin forbid Thor from revealing his identity because he exiled him to earth in the first place to teach him humility, and having him reveal his identity would defeat that purpose? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064/9 "2012-03-07T19:36:15Z")
the absolute most pointless one is the Shadow. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064/10 "2012-03-07T19:39:14Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > the absolute most pointless one is the Shadow. Ya know, Cranston wasn’t his real identity either. It was revealed after many years that Cranston was a cover ID as well and he was really Kent Allard. I disagree with it being pointless though. The Shadow shoots at people and they shoot back. If he’d like to go anywhere without being shot at, he kinda needs another identity. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064/11 "2012-03-07T19:39:24Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > the absolute most pointless one is the Shadow. Kent Allard? I think the “secrets within secrets” deal worked out very well for him. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064/12 "2012-03-07T19:45:23Z")
> [@Rubixcube](#): > > Wasn’t it explained that Odin forbid Thor from revealing his identity because he exiled him to earth in the first place to teach him humility, and having him reveal his identity would defeat that purpose? Hmm… it would seem so. Touché. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064/13 "2012-03-07T20:12:35Z")
Green Arrow, after growing the beard. Who’s he fooling? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064/14 "2012-03-07T20:17:14Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Green Arrow, after growing the beard. Who’s he fooling? Yeah, _everyone_ knows he’s Travis Morgan. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064/15 "2012-03-07T20:26:34Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Maybe Clark Kent fits. I mean, it’s not like he needed to protect himself, and I can’t recall Clark really picking up leads for Superman or anything while supposedly working, so there was no real benefit to it. I think he was Clark just so he could hang out without having people pestering him constantly to get their cat out of a tree or use his heat vision to remove their grandmother’s tumor or stop an out-of-control drunk driver or something else annoying. I like how they inverted it – Superman was the secret identity and Clark Kent was the real guy. It makes sense to me that he would want to be a regular guy. ---
**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:** [March 7, 2012, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064/16 "2012-03-07T20:30:14Z")
Legal liability. If people knew it was Tony Stark inside that Iron Man suit, he’d be getting hit by lawsuits five times a day. By maintaining the fiction that he and Iron Man are two separate people he avoids this personal liability. Sure, they can sue Stark Industries but that’s what limited corporate liability is for. ---
**Author:** ![Rubixcube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Rubixcube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubixcube)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064/17 "2012-03-07T20:34:41Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Legal liability. If people knew it was Tony Stark inside that Iron Man suit, he’d be getting hit by lawsuits five times a day. By maintaining the fiction that he and Iron Man are two separate people he avoids this personal liability. > > Sure, they can sue Stark Industries but that’s what limited corporate liability is for. Why? Iron Man wasn’t doing anything illegal, almost all of his actions were done either to protect Stark property, or under official Avengers business. Did he start getting into legal trouble after revealing his identity? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064/18 "2012-03-07T20:41:20Z")
> [@Rubixcube](#): > > Why? Iron Man wasn’t doing anything illegal, almost all of his actions were done either to protect Stark property, or under official Avengers business. Did he start getting into legal trouble after revealing his identity? I don’t think illegality enters into it. ‘While fighting Titanium Man, you totalled our building. Pay us for the damages.’ ---
**Author:** ![Rubixcube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Rubixcube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubixcube)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064/19 "2012-03-07T20:43:26Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > I don’t think illegality enters into it. > > ‘While fighting Titanium Man, you totalled our building. Pay us for the damages.’ But wouldn’t that happen regardless? Whether an employee of Stark Industries causes property damage or the owner does Stark Industries will be paying either way. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064/20 "2012-03-07T20:48:43Z")
In the comics, Stark Industries funded much of the Avengers’ operations, IIRC, including damages. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pointless-superhero-secret-identities/615064.md?page=2)