# Supers with secret powers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 17, 2014, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931 "2014-03-17T17:57:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931/21 "2014-03-18T17:09:44Z")
The discussion of El Aguila reminded me of an old Green Lantern villain, Goldface. In his first appearance, he carried a gun that sprayed a mist which turned people into gold. Green Lantern eventually wrestled the gun away from him, only to discover that it was a decoy to conceal the fact that it was actually a beam from Goldface’s helmet causing the transmutation. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931/22 "2014-03-18T18:24:19Z")
> [@Bakhesh](#): > > I could never work out a name for him though, because Bluffman kinda gives the game away. Which is why he goes by “Batman”, instead. “Let me give you one word of advice…” 😉 Tangent One: I had a _City of Heroes_ character named Bluff. He stopped his first robbery by threatening the thieves with a bow…despite being blind. (He did have a form of blindsight, related to his teleportation power, but hadn’t trained it to a sufficient level of precision to shoot accurately at that point.) Tangent Two: [_Grrl Power_](http://www.grrlpowercomic.com/) has an imagine spot with the hypothetical super [Baconman](http://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/955/comment-page-2), who has the power to make you believe he knows Kevin Bacon…even after telling you upfront that that’s his power. ---
**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 18, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931/23 "2014-03-18T18:48:25Z")
Moonglow from the old SQUADRON SUPREME comic told people she had weird gravity powers, and would convincingly float into the air easy as immobilizing folks who were suddenly too heavy to move, or whatever. And on occasion she’d mysteriously shrug off an attack, or pull off a feat of teleportation. In fact, none of that was true; her thing was _illusions_. She’d shrug off an attack by dint of not actually being there – and if she dissolved that mere image right before you saw the real McCoy somewhere else, well, uh, ta-da. No, you don’t weigh more than you did before; you’re only immobilized because you _think_ you are; she can’t stop a runaway cart, or rise up to rescue someone from the window of a burning building. And, no, you didn’t blindfold her. Also, no, she’s not that good-looking. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931/24 "2014-03-18T19:39:59Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > In fact, none of that was true; her thing was _illusions_. She’d shrug off an attack by dint of not actually being there – and if she dissolved that mere image right before you saw the real McCoy somewhere else, well, uh, ta-da. No, you don’t weigh more than you did before; you’re only immobilized because you _think_ you are; she can’t stop a runaway cart, or rise up to rescue someone from the window of a burning building. And, no, you didn’t blindfold her. Also, no, she’s not that good-looking. You’d think illusionists would be a natural fit for this category, wouldn’t you? The first other character with pure illusion powers that comes to mind, though, is the DCAU Anansi, who makes no effort to hide the fact. He seems to use his illusions to hide, sow confusion, and briefly panic his opponents. Most of the other illusionists I can think of can produce non-illusory manifestations as well. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931/25 "2014-03-18T19:44:02Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > I think _Bleach_ characters tend more to the “I Am Not Left-Handed”, “Power Limiter”, and “My True Power” tropes (links omitted for your safety). They often hide the extent of their power, but usually not its nature. There are a couple of examples there, though, which I hadn’t thought of–Ikkaku, who hides his bankai, and, even more on point, Aizen. True. The Squad 11 Fifth Seat is a better match: Despite only being an average fighter he tends to walk out of battles looking spotless. Everyone puts that down to him being rather vain about his appearance, when he’s really got vampiric magic that sucks the life out of his enemies and heals himself. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931/26 "2014-03-18T20:44:24Z")
> [@Bakhesh](#): > > Spider-man is known as a cosutmed acrobat, but doesn’t he conceal the fact that he has a spider-sense? I think it’s less that he consciously conceals that fact than it is that it’s not a showy power. To the casual observer it seems that he is just inhumanly fast. Which of course he is, but not to the level that his spider-sense lets him simulate, because he’s not reacting to the stimulus people think he is. > [@](#): > > Also, Batman often seems to be trying to give the impression he is supernatural, despite being a bloke in a costume. Definitely true there. > [@](#): > > I once thought of a Superhero with the power to super-bluff. Basically, it would be like being able to win any hand in poker by raising the stakes so high that the other player got cold feet. He would win a fight before it starts, by convincing his opponent about just how incredibly powerful he was and the hell he would be able to unleash if they came to blows. > > I could never work out a name for him though, because Bluffman kinda gives the game away. How about **Superman**? At least pre-New 52, he was bluffing on many occasions – certainly every time he let his eyes glow red to remind people he could barbecue them by GLANCING at them. If you’re an ordinary street criminal he’s never going to do it. Hell, you’re much more likely to get seriously injured by almost any other hero. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931/27 "2014-03-18T21:16:07Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > -he always wins, and makes it look easy to onlookers, but readers would see him getting hit repeatedly until he figures out all the right moves. You could play format games with it, putting his failed moves and resultant clobberings in extra panels outside the main flow. > > I could see it working better in a graphic novel format. There are lots of fun little visual things you could do to show what his life is like. One image in my head is a series of panels with him talking to someone over dinner at a restaurant: the conversation flows smoothly, but in each panel, he has a different meal in front of him, because he’s rewinding repeatedly to think things over, and indulging by ordering different stuff each time. (The last panel shows a salad.) He’s Groundhog Day Man! I like it. With a bit of Shawn Spenser. I think it would be cool. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931/28 "2014-03-18T22:50:28Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > Ah, I didn’t see that you’d already brought up Worm(Did you pick it up from the HPMOR thread?). And, like I said, while there’s one character in the Worm universe, who is very much like the character described in the OP (maybe you haven’t reached the part where his power is described yet), you are also correct that many characters there hide the true nature of their power. Actually, I read it a while back, when the HPMOR guy recommended it. I can’t seem to think of any guy who would fit that. You aren’t talking about Coil, are you? I would say his powers are not the same as the OP. And we had part of the story from his point of view, so we know he wasn’t lying about his powers. I can’t think of anyone else who gets close. I can’t even remember someone who supposedly has the power of limited foresight. BTW, OP, Tattletale does flat out tell people she’s psychic. Her entire thing is being a trickster. Yes, she lets people draw their own conclusions often, but it’s still her deliberately tricking people. She says what they want to hear or the very thing that she knows would break them. Another example I thought of is Mysterio from Spider-Man, who is really an illusionist but pretends to have actual powers. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931/29 "2014-03-18T23:07:35Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > You’d think illusionists would be a natural fit for this category, wouldn’t you? The first other character with pure illusion powers that comes to mind, though, is the DCAU Anansi, who makes no effort to hide the fact. He seems to use his illusions to hide, sow confusion, and briefly panic his opponents. Most of the other illusionists I can think of can produce non-illusory manifestations as well. There was always Sensor Girl in the Legion of Superheroes. ---
**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 18, 2014, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931/30 "2014-03-18T23:08:09Z")
> [@Bakhesh](#): > > SAlso, Batman often seems to be trying to give the impression he is supernatural, despite being a bloke in a costume. At that, the Phantom’s _entire schtick_ is carrying on the family business: just like his dad and Grandpa Walker before him, and a dozen generations of Walker men before them, he’s dressing up as The Man Who Cannot Die – with the mask and the tights and the underpants on the outside and the fakery built on _four centuries_ of guys soldiering on until they’re crippled or killed, at which point the Ghost Who Walks role secretly passes from father to son and the act continues uninterrupted. ---
**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 18, 2014, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931/31 "2014-03-18T23:49:45Z")
Spider-Man again For a time, Spidey was wanted for attempted murder. So, he came up with new costumed identities. Ricochet- used a bouncy form of his web compound, his jumping ability and super agility. Hornet- He borrowed an anti grav back pack for this one. He also used spikes made from his web compound. Prodigy- use the antigrav back pack and his super strength. Dusk- I don’t remember. Nobody suspected that these four super beings (Ricochet pretended to be a villain) were actually Spidey. The Vulture did figure out who the Hornet was when Spidey slipped up and callled him “Vulchy”. The Vulture thought ‘Only Spider-Man calls me that!’ and loudly announced that the Hornet was really Spider-man. ---
**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 19, 2014, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931/32 "2014-03-19T00:42:08Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > In the Wild Cards novels, there’s an Ace (super) with five or six different powers: creating a field of darkness around him, chilling things to sub-zero temperatures, inhumanly strong, can climb walls, and a couple others. He developed three different superhero personas, each of which only ever used one or two of the powers. I don’t remember their names, but one was only known as being able to climb walls, one could chill things, one could create darkness fields… they all wore different costumes. There was another Wild Cards character who used his power deceptively. His supposed power was the ability to kill people - all he had to do was say “You’re going to die” and they did. He didn’t kill them directly but they’d always die within a few hours of him targeting them. The thing was he didn’t really have the power to kill people. His actual power was the ability to see people we’re going to die. So he was aware of their deaths but not causing them. However, he would sometimes tell one of the people he knew was going to die that he was using his killing power against them. When they subsequently died, it made it look like his killing power was real. ---
**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 19, 2014, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931/33 "2014-03-19T10:36:14Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > To start us off, here’s the character that led to this post: > > Codename: Foresight > > Real name: John Spotts I’m guessing his middle name is “Onthe”. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931/34 "2014-03-19T11:37:18Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I think it’s less that he consciously conceals that fact than it is that it’s not a showy power. To the casual observer it seems that he is just inhumanly fast. Which of course he is, but not to the level that his spider-sense lets him simulate, because he’s not reacting to the stimulus people think he is. And he mentions it to other heroes - though they seem unsure what it is, and dismiss it (No one ever followed up with “And spider-sense would be?”). Back when I was reading, there was a plotline starting up where a villain arranged a series of crimes simply to verify Spidey could sense danger with no perceptible stimuli. As far as I know, **nobody** knows Daredevil is actually blind. Even people that find out he’s Matt Murdock (Ben Urich, Kingpin) just think he’s come up with a pretty hardcore scheme for hiding his secret identity by pretending to be handicapped. He’s seen as a Batman-type - athletic with no superpowers. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931/35 "2014-03-19T15:12:52Z")
On the sideline of supers who misunderstand their own powers–how often does it work to their advantage? Say Ankhemar, the Living Mummy, has trapped Invictus, the Solar Sorcerer, in his scarab pit. The mocking mummy taunts Invictus, claiming that he has used an ancient ritual to seal the pit against magic, rendering the sorcerer’s powers useless…until Invictus whispers a word and flies out of the pit. “The power of the Light is within me, and your tricks cannot deny it!” Only Ankhemar’s ritual _should_ have worked. The pit was a null magic zone, and even the most powerful magician in the world couldn’t so much as light a candle in it. Although Invictus–ironically, not the brightest hero around–believes his power is magical, it’s actually a mutant ability to instinctively manipulate energy fields. His “spells” are mnemonics that help focus his rather scattered thoughts enough to do perform specific manipulations. Most of the time, it’s a detriment–Invictus can’t use his powers if he can’t speak or gesture, because he believes the spells are necessary. If he understood what he was doing, he wouldn’t need them. This time, however, it worked to his advantage, because his nemesis built a trap around the same false assumptions. > [@epbrown01](#): > > And he mentions it to other heroes - though they seem unsure what it is, and dismiss it (No one ever followed up with “And spider-sense would be?”). Back when I was reading, there was a plotline starting up where a villain arranged a series of crimes simply to verify Spidey could sense danger with no perceptible stimuli. Once you know that, what do you do with the information? Line your pit traps with pillows and furnish them with cozy blankets and some light reading (or maybe self-help books)? > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I’m guessing his middle name is “Onthe”. Spot on. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931/36 "2014-03-19T17:14:34Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Once you know that, what do you do with the information? Line your pit traps with pillows and furnish them with cozy blankets and some light reading (or maybe self-help books)? The villain wanted the ability for himself, or something similar. He basically sent robot henchmen to commit crimes rigged with explosives he could detonate remotely or time to strike at random. Spidey swings in to save the day and out of the blue realize things were about to go south. I quit the title soon after, so never saw where he went with it. Heck, back in the 1960s the Goblin came up with a gas to suppress his spider-sense - it’s how he learned Spidey was Peter Parker. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931/37 "2014-03-19T17:23:06Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > And he mentions it to other heroes - though they seem unsure what it is, and dismiss it (No one ever followed up with “And spider-sense would be?”). Back when I was reading, there was a plotline starting up where a villain arranged a series of crimes simply to verify Spidey could sense danger with no perceptible stimuli. > > As far as I know, **nobody** knows Daredevil is actually blind. Even people that find out he’s Matt Murdock (Ben Urich, Kingpin) just think he’s come up with a pretty hardcore scheme for hiding his secret identity by pretending to be handicapped. He’s seen as a Batman-type - athletic with no superpowers. Unless it’s been retconned (possible, with all the One More Day silliness), Spidey knows. Way back in the late 80s or early 90s, Aunt May unknowingly outed Parker to Murdock, and at the end of the storyline Murdock deliberately outed himself to Parker. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931/38 "2014-03-19T18:20:32Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Unless it’s been retconned (possible, with all the One More Day silliness), Spidey knows. Way back in the late 80s or early 90s, Aunt May unknowingly outed Parker to Murdock, and at the end of the storyline Murdock deliberately outed himself to Parker. Several people know Murdock is Daredevil (barring retcons, as you mentioned) - no one seems to know Daredevil really **is** blind, and has hyper-senses/radar sense. Does Spidey know that, or just who Daredevil is? Elektra, Black Widow and Stick are the only characters I recall that know both his identity and his secret ability. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931/39 "2014-03-19T18:28:35Z")
In the original version of J’onn J’onzz, Manhunter from Mars (backup to Batman in Detective Comics) no one even knew he existed. He used all his powers in the background or while invisible. Everyone thought police detective John Jones had incredible intuition, was foolhardy brave, etc. I think the basic idea was to play off the flying saucer “hysteria” – they’re here among us unknown. Shortly before the launch of the Justice League comic (in fact so shortly before, I’m not sure it was a coincidence), he lost the ability to use any of his other powers while invisible and began to operate opening. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931/40 "2014-03-19T18:56:00Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > Several people know Murdock is Daredevil (barring retcons, as you mentioned) - no one seems to know Daredevil really **is** blind, and has hyper-senses/radar sense. Does Spidey know that, or just who Daredevil is? Elektra, Black Widow and Stick are the only characters I recall that know both his identity and his secret ability. Barring retcons, Spidey explicitly knew. When they outed themselves to each other in “The Death of Jeanne DeWolff,” he commented that Murdock was blind, and DD explained. And in a later teamup they use Murdock’s blindness to their advantage. I also tend to think that Luke Cage and Iron First both know. There’s some story I couldn’t hope to remember in which NYC’s four most prominent street-level heroes team up to kick some Maggia ass, and Luke makes a “blind man” wisecrack. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supers-with-secret-powers/683931.md?page=3)