Secret identity

A secret identity is the practice of hiding a person's identity so the actual identity of the person is not known or suspected. Legal uses of secret identity include people placed under witness protection programs to protect witnesses in criminal trials from retaliation from the criminal organizations they inform against. Law enforcement and intelligence agents often use secret identities in undercover operations in order to infiltrate criminal or foreign organizations for the purposes of investigations. Entertainers like professional wrestlers sometimes hide their identities beyond simple stage names in order create an appealing mystique for the audience. Writers also often use pseudonyms in order to hide \ntheir identity. In some cases, such as with James Tiptree, Jr, the writer will use a pseudonym because the image required by the genre does not match the writer's actual identity. In the case of Richard Bachman, Stephen King wanted to know whether his writing as an "unknown" writer would get as much interest as his non-pseudonym work. Finally, a writer who produces several independent series of works featuring different recurring characters (such as John Creasey) or who writes in different genres or styles (such as Nora Roberts) may use different names for each one. In politics, the assumption of a secret identity is sometimes used to avoid adverse political consequences of an identity being publicized. Famous secret identities in politics include Deep Throat, the unnamed source for Watergate information and X, who wrote a famous essay outlining the United States policy of containment. On the Internet, an alias or nickname is often used for privacy and abbreviation. (See also Internet friendship and Sherry Turkle's academic work.) Secret identities of real people include:\n* James Tiptree, Jr\n* Richard Bachman\n* X\n* "Anonymous", the author of Primary Colors\n* Deep Throat - Watergate informant\n* Publius, the authors of the Federalist Papers\n* The Residents\n* The Guerilla Girls\n* Slipknot see also: pen names

Secret identities in fiction

In fiction, secret identities are typical elements of superheroes who hide their identities both to preserve a private life and protect their loved ones from retaliation from criminals. The artistic purpose of the concept on the part of the writers is that it allows the characters to have ordinary lives which can allow for human drama as well as create tension with the effort needed to preserve the secret. Famous fictional characters with secret identities include:\n*Clark Kent- Secret Identity of Superman\n*Bruce Wayne- Secret Identity of Batman\n* Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Timothy Drake, Stephanie Brown, Carrie Kelly - Secret Identities of Robin\n* Barbara Gordon, Cassandra Cain - Secret Identities of Batgirl\n* Selina Kyle - Secret Identity of Catwoman\n*Peter Parker- Secret Identity of Spider-Man\n*Don Diego De La Vega- Secret Identity of Zorro\n*Britt Reid- Secret Identity of The Green Hornet\n*John Reid- Secret Identity: The Lone Ranger\n* Diana Prince - Secret Identity of Wonder Woman (Pre-Crisis Version)\n* Bruce Banner - Secret Identity of The Incredible Hulk\n* Prince Adam - Secret Identity of He-Man\n* Princess Adora - Secret Identity of She-Ra\n* Shoeshine Boy - Secret Identity of Underdog\n* Sir Percy Blakeney- Secret identity of The Scarlet Pimpernel\n* Steve Rogers- Secret identity of Captain America\n* Billy Batson- Secret identity of Captain Marvel\n* Dr Don Blake, Jake Olsen- Secret identities of The Mighty Thor\n* Brian Braddock- Secret identity of Captain Britain\n* Eric Twinge- Secret identity of Bananaman\n* Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West- Secret identities of The Flash\n* Alan Scott, Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner- Secret identities of Green Lantern\n* Jim Corrigan, Hal Jordan- Secret identities of The Spectre