History Main / SecretIdentity

* ''LightNovel/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove'' beats this trope up for its lunch money [[GagSeries like it does so many others]]. Though the alien characters will try to keep {{Muggles}} from seeing their battles with {{Cosmic Horror}}s, they do little else to maintain TheMasquerade. Nyarko will gladly introduce herself as "The Crawling Chaos who creeps up on you with a smile, [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Nyarlathotep]]", and when joining Mahiro's high school gave a speech where she outright says she travels the stars and fights Malign Deities. And it's not even a case of being written off as a CloudCuckoolander, since people always seem to believe her BlatantLies about being pregnant with Mahiro's child.

[[folder:Films — Animation]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'':

--->"Your identity is your most precious possession; protect it."

--->"Super-ladies, they're always trying to tell you their secret identity. [whispers] Think it'll strengthen the relationship or something like that. I say, 'Girl, I don't wanna know about your mild-mannered alter ego or anything like that.' I mean, you tell me you're, uh, super-mega-ultra-lightnin' babe? That's all right with me. I'm good! I'm good."

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]

* ''Franchise/{{DCAU}}'':

--->"Super-ladies, they're always trying to tell you their secret identity. [whispers] Think it'll strengthen the relationship or something like that. I say, 'Girl, I don't wanna know about your mild-mannered alter ego or anything like that.' I mean, you tell me you're, uh, super-mega-ultra-lightnin' babe? That's all right with me."

* In ''Literature/BrothersInArms'' by Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold, Miles Vorkosigan, after being ambushed at a party, tries to distance himself from his Secret Identity Admiral Naismith by claiming Naismith is his clone. Then [[spoiler:he finds out that he really does have a clone, who tries to impersonate him and is not spotted by Miles' friends because they think the clone story is a fabrication. ''Naismith'''s friends and men, however, believe in the story.]] A few years later, in ''Literature/MirrorDance'', [[spoiler:Mark uses the info to pretend to be Naismith, to pursue a vendetta. By the time it's all sorted out, the situation has gone all to hell. In Miles' case, [[HumanPopsicle nearly literally]].]]

* Secret Identities are a major part of the plot of the anime ''LightNovel/{{Dokkoida}}''. Supervillains are unleashed and given Secret Identities to test a pair of supersuits used by the heroes and promised a pardon if they can successfully unmask either one. Also, should ''anyone's'' identities become known, the whole test is null and void. Finally, due to budget constraints, everyone (heroes and villains alike) [[LivingWithTheVillain are living in the same apartment building]].

* Four out of five SOS Brigade members in ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'', as well as all the other Aliens, Time Travelers, and Espers out there.

* [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]In ''WesternAnimation/MeteoHeroes'', while the public in general (including their enemy Dr Makina) doesn't know the kids real identities, their families are fully aware since they witnessed their powers manifest firsthand as well as the scientists and staff that work at the research institute which is used as their base (whose location is also secret).

* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', [[https://web.archive.org/web/20140209180101/http://sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3162 the two angels also appear as humans, tending the church or evangelizing.]]

One of the archetypal Secret Identities is that of the RichIdiotWithNoDayJob. The family and friends of such a hero are usually at risk of [[VillainOverForDinner having tea with the villain]]. Other good personas include the RidiculouslyAverageGuy, TheNondescript, or TheGenericGuy.

* ''Series/MightyMed:'' [[Creator/DisneyXD Disney XD's]] ''Mighty Med'' has Skylar Storm, a humanoid female alien superhero, using a secret identity as "Connie Valentine" in order to try to live secret life as a normal teen human being in high school. However, this becomes zig-zagged when she she gives up her secret identity as Connie Valentine in the spin-off show, ''Series/LabRatsEliteForce'', when she actually makes her identity as a superhero public, ''but'', joins the bionic superhero Davenport Lab Rats crew, Bree and Chase, and develops a new secret identity pretending to be a bionic super-human and superhero like the Davenports, in order to disguise the fact that she's an alien with superpowers.

* ''Series/MightyMed:'' [[Creator/DisneyXD Disney XD's]] ''Mighty Med'' has Skylar Storm, a humanoid female alien superhero, using a secret identity as "Connie Valentine" in order to try to live secret life as a normal teen human being in high school.

** Played straight by the Heroes For Hire, who are a collective HeroOfAnotherStory. The Heroes disdain codenames and costumes to build trust and remain accountable to their clients and the people of their neighborhoods.

* Joey Felt from ''WesternAnimation/AtomicPuppet'' keeps it a secret that not only is he Atomic Puppet, but the sock puppet he carries with him all the time is Mega City's former protector Captain Atomic [[BalefulPolymorph transformed by his ex-sidekick]] in a failed coup. Only a few other characters know about it too: aforementioned ex-sidekick Mookie, Joey's best friend Pauline, and several other superheroes.

** When World War II goes into full swing and the Red Panda decides to enlist in the military, he learns his commanding officer, Fitzroy, knows who he and the Flying Squirrel are and that the government has files on the two of them as well as other heroes of the "Home Team". The Red Panda and Flying Squirrel not only go to the trouble of tracking down every copy of these files they can find, but also replace them with multiple different versions, claiming the Red Panda is everything from a reformed gangster, a World War I ace piolt, a robot, and even Fitzroy himself, so that if a copy of the files ever turns up they can track where it came from. This has the unintended side effect of getting Fitzroy killed when the Nazis launch an attack on the Home Team's superheroes using the file that said the Red Panda was Fitz, but also keeps their identities safe years later when Canada's Prime Minister and a Nazi scientist, Friedrich von Schlitz, independently try to show they know who the Red Panda is... only to call him by the wrong name.

* For much of the ''Podcast/RedPandaAdventures'', not even the ''audience'' knows the secret identity of the Red Panda. The opening monologue for every episode describes him simply as "one of the city's wealthiest men" and only his driver Kit Baxter, a.k.a. the Flying Squirrel, knows who's behind the mask. It's not until close to episode sixty, when the Red Panda and Kit are wed, that we learn his name is [[spoiler:August Fenwick]].

[[AC:Franchise/TheDCU]]:

[[AC:MarvelUniverse]]

* ''Fanfic/IAmRedacted'' has the titular Redacted, aka Midoriya Izuku. Since secret identities are non-existent and technically illegal in the world of ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' (Izuku had to cut some sort of deal with the Japanese government to make it possible), it became all the more noticeable when Redacted showed up with one. In fact, Redacted isn't even Izuku's official hero name; his actual hero name is Nimbus, but he was NamedByDemocracy after researching his public records had his real name blocked out with the phrase [[AC:[REDACTED[=]=]]], and by the start of the story, has given up correcting reporters and fans alike.