Secret Keeper: Difference between revisions

Your hero has a [[Masquerade|dirty little secret]] that is central to the character and the show's main plot. He might be a superhero, or he might have [[Dexter's Laboratory|a lab in his bedroom]], or that [[Sabrina the Teenage Witch|she's a witch]]. There will sometimes be one regular Joe who knows about the hero's secret, and will also keep it secret. The '''Secret Keeper''' can be family, [[Adults Are Useless|as long as it's not a parent]].

 

 

 

See also [[Tongue-Tied]], for when a character is ''forced'' to keep a secret. See also [[The Confidant]], someone who keeps non-heroic secrets. For cases in which the hero doesn't ''know'' that someone knows his secret, see [[Secret Secret Keeper]]. Frequently discovers [[Keeping Secrets Sucks]], and is witness to [[The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life]].

** Bruce Wayne is also one of Clark's Secret Keepers (as is Clark for Bruce).

*** Leading to an amusing sequence when Bruce assumed ''Lois'' knew his secret, because he didn't expect Clark to keep secrets from his wife, whereas Clark felt it wasn't his secret to share. By the end of the story Lois has become another of Bruce's Secret Keepers.

** And, of course, Jonathan and Martha Kent, who have been keeping Clark's secret since before he knew about it himself.

** Pete Ross discovered Superman's secret ID back when he was just Superboy during a camping trip. A convenient flash of lightning revealed Clark changing clothes, and Pete kept it secret, [[Secret Secret Keeper|not even letting Superboy know that he knew]]. He once even used his knowledge to become an honorary member of the Legion of Super-Heroes by claiming he had telepathy and knew Superboy's secret ID. Writing the identity on a lead tablet so Superboy couldn't see. Superboy assumed Pete was bluffing and that everyone else was just going along with the joke.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

** To be fair, Pettigrew was only chosen because everyone would naturally assume James Potter would select his brother-from-another-mother best friend, Sirius Black. Knowing that, the Potters decided to choose a less obvious Secret Keeper and Pettigrew became it. They just didn't know that Pettigrew was a Death-Eater...

** Note that Harry, himself, doesn't have a Secret Keeper in this trope's sense, which is a key reason why he's so miserable every summer with the Dursleys (who know what he is, but won't let him speak of it). Hermione's parents, being supportive of her gifts and hence exceptions to the "no parents" rule, are her summertime Secret Keepers, which spares her from feeling as isolated while she's away from school.

* ''[[Zorro]]''{{'}}s mute butler effectively hides his secret identity, and even helps him out on more than one occasion.

== [[Video Games]] ==

* In the second game of the ''[[Eagle Eye Mysteries]]'' PC [[Edutainment Game]] series, protagonists Jake and Jennifer Eagle, as well as your [[The Faceless|unseen player character]], become Secret Keepers in "Case of Blood's Bold Bauble." A distant relative tells you that there's a particular story that has been kept within his immediate family for generations: that three centuries ago, an ancestor found a small but very valuable ruby that was dropped by the titular thief Captain Blood and his gang, who beat a hasty retreat after attempting to break into the Tower of London to steal the Crown Jewels. The ancestor, fearing he would be implicated in the robbery if he tried to return the ruby, kept it for himself and only told its story to his son, who in turn told the tale to ''his'' son, and so on. By the time you, Jake and Jennifer have been told the story, the secret's origins are so distant that the ruby's revelation can no longer hurt the family; the only reason the relative tells you the story is because he thinks one of his three children, who are currently the only other people who know the family secret, might have broken the bond of parent-child trust and told the secret to cash in on it—hence, the beginning of your covert investigation to find out who's responsible without tipping off any of the children as to your knowledge. {{spoiler|Turns out none of the kids talked--the oldest son is set to star in a film about a very different Captain Blood, and the misunderstanding arose from that}}.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* In ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', Outside the "core" cast, Melissa is Noah's secret keeper.

* In ''[[The Dreamer]]'', Yvette is the only person who knows about Beatrice's time-travel dreams.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* Elena Potato and her cousin Lonzo in ''[[Monster Allergy]]''.

* Matt Olsen in ''[[WITCH (animation)|WITCH]]''.

* Dee-Dee, from ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]''

* Richie from ''[[Static Shock]]'', who later becomes a superhero himself.

* In a twist on the usual [[Secret Identity]] trope, Robin from ''[[Young Justice (animation)|Young Justice]]'' is hiding his civilian identity from his superhero teammates. [[Word of God]] (and [[All There in the Manual|Free Comic Book Day tie-in]]) is that while Batman has forbidden him from revealing his real name, he told Wally anyway.

* Cavin and later, Princess Calla from ''[[Adventures of the Gummi Bears]]''.

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

** Similarly, 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.

* Catholic priests are bound by The Seal of the Confessional to never divulge what anyone says in confession, even if they confess to a crime. A priest violating the seal would risk laicization (defrocking) and excommunication (which that he could not receive any sacrament until he would (ironically) confess his violation of the seal.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Characters As Device]]

[[Category:Superhero Tropes]]

[[Category:The Secret Index]]

[[Category:Secret Identity Tropes]]