History Main / SecretKeeper

* Although doctors are required to report evidence of a crime (gunshot wounds, suspected child abuse, etc.), most details of your medical history are protected by doctor-patient privilege. The exception comes when you threaten to yourself or others or when you are no longer capable of making decisions on your own and someone has to make decisions for you.

* Creator/StephenFry has [[http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/stephen-knows-the-meaning-of-the-ultimate-answer claims]] that Creator/DouglasAdams once told him in confidence "[[Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1981 exactly why 42]]." Apparently, "The answer is fascinating, extraordinary and, when you think hard about it, [[ItMakesSenseInContext completely obvious]]." However, he has vowed to take the secret with him to the grave.

* ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'': [[Characters/HazbinHotelAlastor's]] the only one of the protagonists, along with one of the Egg Bois, who knows that Carmilla is the one who killed an Exorcist and caused Adam to cut the extermination period from one year to six months. Subverted later on, as he shares this with Charlie in exchange for helping him with a favor of his choosing down the line, and it eventually becomes common knowledge for the rest of the cast.

* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in ''WesternAnimation/TheDeep'' with Nereus. He often kept many details about whatever the Nektons faced in certain episodes secret from them, which would often cause them to distrust him.

* Creator/JMichaelStraczynski was this to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_O%27Hare Michael O'Hare]]. O'Hare played the lead character on ''Series/BabylonFive'' but left after the first season. The reason for the departure was that O'Hare was battling bouts of paranoid delusions; this both hurt Straczynski's relationships with his cast members, who weren't privy to this knowledge, and threatened to damage the show. After discussing things with O'Hare, [=JMS=] wrote his character off in a way that would allow him to return when he was better, and publicly gave false reports on why the character was written off. Even after the show ended in 1998, [=JMS=] continued to not reveal the secret until O'Hare's death in 2012, in keeping with the man's wishes.

%%* Merton Dingle and Lori Baxter in ''Series/BigWolfOnCampus''.

%%* Devon (Captain Awesome) on ''Series/{{Chuck}}''. [[spoiler: He's now been joined by Morgan.]]
%%** [[spoiler: And now they have both been joined by Casey's daughter Alex, as well as Ellie.]]

%%* Original Cindy, from ''Series/DarkAngel''

%%* Janet from ''Series/MyHero2000''.
%%** Tyler technically could count as well, except no one would believe him anyway...

%%* ''Series/OneHundredDeedsForEddieMcdowd'': Justin Taylor
%%** The last episode has Tori.

%%* Keely in ''Series/PhilOfTheFuture''.

%% (ZCE) ** In ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm'', Red Ranger Shane's brother Porter.

%% (ZCE) *** Blue Ranger Theo's twin brother Luen.
%%* Naru Osaka and Motoki Furuhata in ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon''.

%%* Marta from ''Series/QueenOfSwords''.

%%* Harvey Kinkel in the later seasons of ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch''.
%%* ''Series/TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack'': Alex's friend Ray, and her sister Annie.

%%* Chris and Ginge, ''Series/TheTomorrowPeople1973''.

%%* The wives of ''Series/TheUnit''.

%%* Harper in ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace''.
%%** Justin's best friend, Zeke, becomes this in Season 4.

%%* Parodied [[http://www.qwantz.com/index.pl?comic=749 here]] in ''Webcomic/DinosaurComics''; the AltText explicitly identifies ''T. rex'' as "the worst Lois Lane ever".

%% * Elena Potato and her cousin Lonzo in ''WesternAnimation/MonsterAllergy''.

%%* Debbie Thornberry, in the last five episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TheWildThornberrys''.

%%* Matt Olsen in ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}''.

* J.M. Straczynski was this to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_O%27Hare Michael O'Hare]]. O'Hare played the lead character on ''Series/BabylonFive'' but left after the first season. The reason for the departure was that O'Hare was battling bouts of paranoid delusions; this both hurt Straczynski's relationships with his cast members, who weren't privy to this knowledge, and threatened to damage the show. After discussing things with O'Hare, [=JMS=] wrote his character off in a way that would allow him to return when he was better, and publicly gave false reports on why the character was written off. Even after the show ended in 1998, [=JMS=] continued to not reveal the secret until O'Hare's death in 2012, in keeping with the man's wishes.

See also TongueTied, for when a character is ''forced'' to keep a secret. See also TheConfidant, someone who keeps non-heroic secrets. For cases in which the hero doesn't ''know'' that someone knows their secret, see SecretSecretKeeper. Frequently discovers KeepingSecretsSucks, and is witness to TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife. If your secret involves superpowers, ShowingOffYourPowers night be required to get someone in on the secret.

See also TongueTied, for when a character is ''forced'' to keep a secret. See also TheConfidant, someone who keeps non-heroic secrets. For cases in which the hero doesn't ''know'' that someone knows their secret, see SecretSecretKeeper. Frequently discovers KeepingSecretsSucks, and is witness to TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife. If it involves superpowers, ShowingOffYourPowers night be required to prove they exist to your secret keeper.

See also TongueTied, for when a character is ''forced'' to keep a secret. See also TheConfidant, someone who keeps non-heroic secrets. For cases in which the hero doesn't ''know'' that someone knows their secret, see SecretSecretKeeper. Frequently discovers KeepingSecretsSucks, and is witness to TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife.

** In the original Filmation series of Archie shows, Jughead's pet Hot Dog is the only individual of the regular crew who knows the Sabrina is a witch. And of course he's not telling as his only communication to them are barks.

* The ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' series in general has a tendency for family members of the rangers to find out their secret identities; in these cases, they only appear in one episode. Some examples include:
** In ''Series/PowerRangersZeo'', Red Ranger Tommy's brother David.
** In ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce'', White Ranger Alyssa's father.
*** In the preceding episode, "Three's a Crowd", Kendall, a girl Black Ranger Danny is madly in love with, as well as a rich young man trying to win her love, both discover Danny's identity. Neither of them show any desire to reveal his secret, but the would-be lover does tell Danny that he shouldn't date Kendall due to his responsibilities, and while it's somewhat implied that he's just being a JerkAss so that he can have Kendall to himself, Kendall ultimately says the same thing at the episode's end.
** In ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm'', Red Ranger Shane's brother Porter.
** In ''Series/PowerRangersJungleFury'', Blue Ranger Theo's twin brother Luen.
*** Also, Fran, who discovers the secret identities of her fellow pizza-parlor staff around the time they get their MidSeasonUpgrade.
** ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'': the first people to discover the Rangers' secret identities were Rocky, Adam, and Aisha, and they pledged to keep them secret. They weren't able to play this role for very long, however, as Jason, Zack, and Trini were soon "[[PutOnABus sent to a peace conference]]", and Rocky, Adam, and Aisha became their replacements as Rangers.
*** Although it never happened on the show, it was originally supposed to be revealed that Ernie from the juice bar had known the secret identities of the Power Rangers all along. This is why he would always give them drinks on the house as a sign of appreciation. Because of this, Ernie is considered a SecretSecretKeeper, as the Power Rangers (and seemingly Zordon) aren't aware that Ernie knows who they are. When you look at some of the early episodes, there are other subtle hints that Ernie knows. This first is in his usage of the word [=DinoZords=]-before we hear it on any news report. While it is entirely possible that's how he heard it, the exact phrasing of his line indicates likely not. The second, aside from often giving them their food/drink on the house, is in the episode 'Happy Birthday, Zack'. Jason and his fellow Rangers need to do some ClarkKenting when Ernie suggests that, according to a ''rumor'' he heard, the Rangers were human. Jason fires back with one that suggests that the Rangers are aliens. That won't happen until the MMAR mini-series at the earliest and Series/PowerRangersInSpace with Andros at the latest, unless you count Zordon as part of the team and he ''is'' an alien. Ernie seems content to let the Rangers be oblivious to the fact that he likely knows who they are, though some fanfics have him informing them later on, after Angel Grove no longer has active teams.

* ''Franchise/{{Zorro}}'''s mute butler effectively hides his secret identity, and helps him out on more than one occasion. Zorro and the butler add an extra layer of security by pretending the butler is also deaf, on the assumption most people won't even try to ask him things.

** The Kwamis in general, are the only ones who know who the identities of their guardians are; Master Wu is also the only one who knows the identities of all the welders aside from Hawk Moth.

** Nathalie is the only one who knows Adrien's dad is Hawk Moth.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'': Tuck is the only character who knows Sheldon is the Silver Shell, having found out in Season 2's "Pain in My Sidekick"

* In ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'', Astrid briefly takes on this role after she discovers Toothless and she and Hiccup discover that the Red Death is forcing the dragons to attack Berk.