Secret Public Identity: Difference between revisions

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*** It was intended that Zaladane have powers because she is related to Lorna Dane. Claremont forgot, however, that Lorna is adopted. (Source:X-Men danglers list)

** Lorna Dane wasn't called Polaris until [[Chris Claremont]] took over. She operated as just Lorna for some time.

*** And the name Polaris was first given to her by a mind-controlling villain (although Classic X-Men incorrectly showed the name earlier).

** This was also lampshaded in a commercial for ''[[X-Men: Evolution]]'', where the other members were introduced by their names and code names (for example, "Scott Summers ''is'' Cyclops"), but hers was simply, "Jean Grey ''is''... Jean Grey".

*** Heck, they discuss it in-show. "How come everyone has a codename but Rogue is just Rogue?" "Same way Jean is just Jean."

** Emma Frost, since joining the X-Men, dropped her codename "White Queen". Justified in that "White Queen" isn't just a name, it's a rank in the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club. Which she left to join the X-Men.

** Cecilia Reyes never chose a codename because she didn't want to be a superhero. But she had the X-Men Bumblebee Suit and she was considered one of them after she was outed as a mutant.

** Dani Moonstar, formerly Mirage, eventually dropped her codename and just went by "Moonstar". Admittedly, people who don't know her secret identity might well assume that Moonstar ''is'' her codename. {{spoiler|Also, her "civilian" identity is an agent of SHIELD, rendering the "secret identity" somewhat moot.}}

* Bucky, [[Captain America]]'s [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] [[Sidekick]] and current Captain America, was actually called Bucky Barnes, as a nickname based on his middle name, Buchanan. What's different, and very odd, about this is that "Bucky" was treated as a code name, and nobody knew that Bucky Barnes was the same person as Cap's sidekick Bucky.

* Bucky, [[Captain America (comics)]]'s [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] [[Sidekick]] and current Captain America, was actually called Bucky Barnes, as a nickname based on his middle name, Buchanan. What's different, and very odd, about this is that "Bucky" was treated as a code name, and nobody knew that Bucky Barnes was the same person as Cap's sidekick Bucky.

** This sort of thing happened a lot during [[The Golden Age of Comic Books]]. This includes sidekicks Roy the Super-Boy [who worked with The Wizard], Mickey Mathews [The Deacon], Tommy the Amazing Kid [Amazing Man], Rusty [Flagman], Sandy the Golden Boy [Sandman] and Mickey [American Crusader].

*** Speaking of Roy the Super-Boy, his Secret Public Identity was lampshaded in one story, where, when calling his friend's mother, he identified himself as Roy. When she asked him if he was her son's friend, he insisted that no, he's Roy the Super-Boy. For some reason, she buys it without question.

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* [[Luke Cage, Hero for Hire|Luke Cage]] hasn't been called "Power Man" in years. But then, he doesn't have a secret identity, either-- even calling himself Power Man was just [[Stage Names|for publicity purposes]].

** Though Luke Cage ''isn't his real name''. He adopted it after breaking out of prison.

*** Technically, it is his real name since he had it legally changed.

* The Justice Force's Ananda (''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'') goes by her real name; her mother Bernice, also a super-hero, went by "Battling Bernice".

* During the [[Darker and Edgier|Mike Grell]] run, [[Green Arrow]] and Black Canary largely dropped the costumes and codenames.

* Another [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] example, Doctor Hugo Strange [the heroic Nedor Comics version] was known as Doc Strange while adventuring. His costume was basically the 1940s version of [[Civvie Spandex]] and he had no secret identity. This was preserved when [[Alan Moore]] revived him in his America's Best Comics universe as ''Tom Strange''.

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* Dragon is the real legal name of the eponymous character in ''[[The Savage Dragon]]''.

* ''[[Madman (Comic Book)|Madman]]'' goes by his real name, Frank Einstein. He was called "a madman" during his first appearance but [[I Am Not Shazam|no one actually calls him that as a codename or otherwise]].

* In ''[[Captain America]] #289'', Cap's girlfriend at the time, Bernie Rosenthal, spends a backup story daydreaming about being a superhero called "Bernie America", leading to this exchange when she meets her reinterpretation of Steve:

* In ''[[Captain America (comics)]] #289'', Cap's girlfriend at the time, Bernie Rosenthal, spends a backup story daydreaming about being a superhero called "Bernie America", leading to this exchange when she meets her reinterpretation of Steve:

{{quote|'''Steve:''' Uh, ''B-B-Bernie?'' I have to t-talk to you...

'''Bernie:''' Please, Steve--call me Bernie ''America!'' You wouldn't want to jeopardize my double-identity, would you?