Secret Keeper: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

{{quote|'''Max''': How do you save the world ''and not tell anybody?''

 

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]].

 

* ''[[Sonic X]]'' has Chris Thorndyke, his grandfather, and his two servants Mr. Tanaka and Ella right before everyone knows about Sonic and his friends.

* The whole premise of [[Fruits Basket]] is Tohru Honda serving as the Secret Keeper of the Sohma family if she wants to continue living with them, leaving even her [[Those Two Guys|two closest friends]] out of the loop—even though one of them has Electric Psychic Powers.

* In ''[[Karin]]'', the character [[Face of a Thug|Kenta]] [[Nice Guy|Usui]] ends up as one for the Marker/Maaka family when he learns that Karin is a [[Friendly Neighborhood Vampire|vampire]].

* In ''[[Baccano!]]'', Ronnie Suchiart serves as [[The Older Immortal|Maiza's]] secret keeper and only constant companion up until {{spoiler|just about ''everyone'' in the [[The Mafia|Martillo family]] winds up immortal, and Maiza catches on that that Ronnie is [[Eldritch Abomination|a lot less human]] than he originally presented himself as}}, at which point the roles reverse.

 

* Modern age comic book Lois Lane knows that [[Clark Kenting|Clark Kent]] is actually [[Superman]] but only Modern age comic book Lois Lane. Golden Age Lois was blitheringly ignorant of the fact, Silver Age Lois suspected and kept trying to prove it and Lois of other mediums is nearly uniformly portrayed as not knowing.

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

* [[Green Lantern]] Hal Jordan's first Secret Keeper was his airplane mechanic, Tom Kalmaku. When Tom accidentally learned Hal's identity, he respected GL enough to offer to let him erase the memory from his mind — but the offer convinced Hal that Tom was trustworthy, so he let him keep the knowledge and they became close friends.

 

* In ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]'', {{spoiler|Rika and Kyon are this to each other}}, {{spoiler|Miyoko/Miyokichi}} inadvertently became one, and Kyon's sister wants to become one.

** So far, quite a few members of the extended SOS Brigade trust Kyon's sister, but Kyon himself doesn't trust her.

** He gets a lot more secret keepers in the sequel: as of the moment, Garrus, {{spoiler|Madison}}, Thane, Kasumi, and Shala'Raan have all found out.

 

* Patrick and Grace Winslow play this role in ''[[The Smurfs (film)|The Smurfs]]'' regarding their little blue visitors from another time and place, because, hey...who would believe them in a world that seems to regard the Smurfs as [[Recursive Canon|a mere legend documented by a Belgian cartoonist?]]

 

* The [[Trope Namer]] is Peter Pettigrew, the traitorous rat-animagus from the [[Harry Potter]] series. He was chosen by Harry's parents to guard the secret of their location from Lord Voldemort. Bad choice on their part.

** 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...

** Later, Dumbledore is the Secret Keeper for the headquarters of the [[Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix|Order of the Phoenix]]. This also proves to be problematic in later books.

** 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.

* Safe-Keepers of Sharon Shinn's ''Safe-Keepers Series'' can be told any secret, no matter how terrible, no matter how much damage may be caused, and will never reveal it until the secret is found out by someone else, Or they get permission. Yes, they really ''will not'' tell. Never. Ever.

** This doesn't mean that they won't ''do'' anything about it, though. Fiona in ''The Safe-Keeper's Secret'' goes out of her way to help this one girl who confides in her. However, considering that {{spoiler|she doesn't actually have the Safe-Keeping gift, since she's [[Oblivious Adoption|Obliviously Adopted]] and is in fact a [[Heroic Bastard]]}} this may or may not count.

* In the final books of ''[[Animorphs]]'', the Animorphs end up revealing their powers and ongoing battle to their families as part of hiding them away from the Yeerks.

** The Animorphs are also mutual Secret Keepers: their allies include a race of ancient androids who have been posing as normal humans at least since the time of the Great Pyramids, and a colony of alien freedom fighters who escaped from the Yeerks. They also know the identities of two key members of the Yeerk Peace Movement. Later, Visser One figures out that they're human (because {{spoiler|"Andalites don't make human pop culture references!"}}), while they find out that she has {{spoiler|two human children}}—again, they become mutual Secret Keepers for strategic reasons.

* In ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'', three people know Perrin can talk to wolves: Egwene, Faile, and Elyas.(Who can also talk to wolves, and helped Perrin discover that he had the ability in the first place.) Also {{spoiler|Moiraine knew about it too, but she was out of the picture, and believed dead for 8 books and has only just returned.}}.

* In the ''[[Warrior Cats]]'' series, there's quite a few.

** Several cats help keep forbidden relationships hidden. Fireheart and Mistyfoot do this for Graystripe and Silverstream's relationship, and {{spoiler|Squirrelflight raises Leafpool's kits as her own}}.

** In the second series, Leafpaw is the only cat that knows about both prophecies: the one that the traveling cats recieved, and the fire-and-tiger sign.

** {{spoiler|Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Leafpool know that Hollyleaf killed Ashfur}}, but they decide not to reveal it to the Clan. Apparently keeping secrets just runs in the family.

 

* Captain Roger Healey on ''[[I Dream of Jeannie]]''.

** Tyler technically could count as well, except no one would believe him anyway...

* Original Cindy, from ''[[Dark Angel]]''

* Naru Osaka and Motoki Furuhata in ''[[Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon]]''.

* ''[[The Secret World of Alex Mack]]'': Alex's friend Ray, and her sister Annie.

** The last episode has Tori.

* Keely in ''[[Phil of the Future]]''.

* Merton Dingle and Lori Baxter in ''[[Big Wolf on Campus]]''.

* Omar (and at least one other kid of John's), ''New Amsterdam.''

* The writers of ''[[Smallville]]'' have had to let so many people in Clark's secret to keep the show fresh that Lois Lane is about the only one who DOESN'T know by now. Lana, Chloe, Lionel, [[Product Placement]] Pete. And now, as of the Season 7 finale, Lex also knows.

** {{spoiler|Lois seems to know now and is currently a [[Secret Secret Keeper]] as Chloe was before her.}}

* ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'': 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 "[[Put on a Bus|sent to a peace conference]]", and Rocky, Adam, and Aisha became their replacements as Rangers.

* Fran in ''[[Power Rangers Jungle Fury]]'', who discovers the secret identities of her fellow pizza-parlor staff around the time they get their [[Mid-Season Upgrade]].

* [[Hannah Montana]]'s secret keepers (aside from Bobby Ray and Jackson) are Lilly and Oliver. Later, there's Jake Ryan, Lilly's mother, Oliver's mother, Officer Daria and his daughter. That is until everyone discovers the fact in the movie.

* Almost all the major [[Muggle]] characters on ''[[Kyle XY]]'' end up being this, although in this case it's also to help Kyle and Jessi. At one point, it causes a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]] for Josh as he spills all his ''other'' secrets. Josh also briefly doubles as one for Andy, before her cancer is made public.

** {{spoiler|And now they have both been joined by Casey's daughter Alex, as well as Ellie.}}

* On ''[[Bosom Buddies (TV series)|Bosom Buddies]]'', Amy kept the secret that Kip and Henry were [[Disguised in Drag|pretending to be their own sisters]] during the first season. In the second season, the remainder of the main were also in on the secret and helped maintain the ruse.

* In ''[[The Quest for Karla (TV series)|Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy]]'', only George Smiley ever knew Control's real name.

 

* 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}}.

 

* In ''[[Red vs. Blue|Red vs. Blue: Reconstruction]]'', Agent Washington hides the fact that he has all the memories of the Epsilon AI, which is the manifestation of the Alpha AI's memories, which ''itself'' was created from the Director's mind. This means that he has knowledge of both the torture used to split the Alpha into separate AIs and all of the access codes used in the Director's lab.

 

* Parodied [https://web.archive.org/web/20070610064616/http://www.qwantz.com/index.pl?comic=749 here] in ''[[Dinosaur Comics]]''; the [[Alt Text]] explicitly identifies T-Rex as "the worst Lois Lane ever".

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

 

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

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

* Max, from ''[[Batman Beyond]]''.

** As of the ''[[Justice League (animation)|Justice League Unlimited]]'' episode, Dana knows as well. Terry considered trying to [[It's Not You, It's My Enemies|break up with her for her own safety]], but was last seen asking her out while palming an engagement ring.

** As well as Helga's shrink Dr. Bliss, who is a Secret Keeper by way of professional confidentiality.

* Subverted by Gaz on ''[[Invader Zim]]''. She discovers early on that Zim is an alien, but doesn't care. When Dib says "Zim's trying to conquer the world," Gaz replies, "but he's so ''bad'' at it." Which is true, but...

* The human friends of [[The Smurfs]] act in this role to prevent humans from ever getting their hands on them.

* 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.

 

* Lawyers (at least in the United States, the United Kingdom, and some other common law jurisdictions; [[Your Mileage May Vary]]). While there are a few exceptions to attorney-client privilege (generally having to do with preventing reasonably certain serious bodily harm), for the most part, an attorney can't reveal anything that their client tells them in confidence. This means that in most, if not all, U.S. jurisdictions that if an attorney find out their client committed a crime that an innocent person's in jail for, their ethical obligations to their client prevent them from saying anything without their client's permission, even if the other person is serving a life sentence. [[Keeping Secrets Sucks]].

** 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.