8 Superheroes Who Had Their Identities Exposed

[Music] it may not seem it given the MCU continues to downplay their value but secret identities are still really important they're prevalent across Marvel and DC and serve a purpose in protecting heroes and their loved ones from being targeted as civilians having that safety net expose then tends to be a pretty big deal and it's no surprising it's a trope multiple comics have deployed in different years to different figures but whereas most identity reveals come from characters choosing to share their identity sometimes as spider-man far from home so eloquently demonstrated that opportunity is robbed from them sometimes they get exposed either due to an ally or enemy connecting the dots and figuring out who they really are or because they were careless in the line of duty and it usually leads to some explosive scenarios so I'm Ewan this is what culture comics and here are eight superheroes who had their identities exposed the eight spider-man Peter Parker has actually had his identity exposed on several occasions but he's always been able to put the genie back in the bottle either through a convoluted explanation or through a horrendous rat con wherein he sacrifice his entire life to save an elderly aunt may unsurprisingly the most shocking occasion where spider-man had his identity revealed also related to that rat calm back during civil war when Marvel Super Heroes found themselves pitted against each other on the topic of accountability and individual liberty which you know include the right to have a secret identity spider-man wound up surprising everyone by siding with Tony Stark who was heading up the pro Registration side of the debates Park his own identity had been a closely guarded secret for for decades by this point and it was for that reason that Tony believed he should be the poster boy for the pro Reg movement stark convinced Peter to follow in his footsteps and reveal his true identity to the world a decision Spidey would later come to regret the webslinger voluntarily giving up his anonymity may not count as him being exposed per se but starts manipulation could definitely put it into that bracket number 7 fat girl of all the members of the bat family to have a secret identity Barbara Gordon potentially has the most precarious she doesn't live with Bruce Wayne her father's Commissioner Gordon and she doesn't have these same resources as either Batman or Robin at least not at first that bombs is Gordon's daughter has proven to be a major source of tension between Batman and his most trusted ally for years and so it should come as no surprise to hear that multiple stories have explored what would happen if the Commish ever discovered the truth both in and out of mainstream continuity before crisis on Infinite Earths it's revealed that her father had to juice to her identity as Batgirl just as BAFTA started to tell him the truth furthermore stories depicted in Batman the Animated Series over the edge and injustice gods among us the comic have shown just how devastating that revelation could become with it causing a rift not just between Gordon and his daughter in one instance but also between the entire police force and the Dark Knight's her identity is once again under wraps in DC rebirth but only time will tell if daddy Gordon learns the truth once more number six Green Arrow all the Queen's identity literally makes no sense not because it doesn't make any sense in the grand scheme of nonsensical superhero identities or because his glorious Van Dyke appeared as a stone-cold giveaway that he's secretly also Green Arrow but because DC's writers can never seem to decide whether it's public knowledge or not Ollie is an odd case and that his identity was exposed after his death papers reported his true identity after he was killed disarming a bomb armed by eco-terrorists and that remained the case when he returned in quiver however in literally the next arc Brad Meltzer's equally lauded artist quest no one knows his true identity no explanation was given either it's just the case that he's closed double life back and the public is none the wiser Queen is then able to mount a mayoral campaign in the years following before all of this even happened the CIA master deduced Queens identity during might growls longbow hunters again on account of his trademark facial hair but Ollie was still able to keep its identity secret in the years following melts as comic compounding the confusion further it's the fact that Ollie has his secret identity outed yet again in the aftermath of Justice League cry for justice which was then of course reversed with the new 52 and DC rebirth number 5 Nightwing Dick Grayson may not even know his own identity these days after having been shot in the head earlier this year but it's still important nonetheless Rick as he's known by currently has embarked on a new life after surviving his assassination attempt earlier in the year it's an earlier incident that proves he's the bat family's most unfortunate member as of late back during forever evil when the crime syndicate has soon leaked the Justice League Dick Grayson was intercepted behind the group and unmasked live on air dick then proceeded to go through well a whole lot shall we say but the unmasking proved pivotal enough him to completely change as a hero no longer going by Nightwing dick infiltrated the spy agency known as spiral and operated under a new alias he did this for several years until he once again Asuma Nightwing I then see come DC rebirth only discover the air for mentioned wound and the side Rick was a more appropriate name number for Batman Batman's secret identity might just be the superhero community's worst kept secret allies seem to be able to figure it out or anything all because his villains aren't necessarily better at it either but because Bruce is romantic partners just keep figuring it out although obviously not one of said romantic partners unless you're doing it in your own fan fiction who am I to judge Bane deduce the Dark Knight's identity simply by looking eyes jawline pausing for a second and going mmm what kind of looks like Batman's surprisingly few Batman villains have put two and two together and if they do most prefer to keep the secrets to themselves as they'd rather their rivals weren't privy to the same information Patti well yeah but it also makes sense why would the Riddler want the world to know Batman is Bruce Wayne or even Bane for that matter it matters more to them if they're the only ones to know with both having exactly plots against the world's greatest detective after they've discovered his secret but back to Batman's love interests all just seem to figure him out at one point or another with silver st. cloud the first to do so all the way back in the 70s others to have to do the Caped Crusader's identity include Tim Drake Lex Luthor and the Joker but there's a threat of revealing it to the public it's what makes a knowledge so valuable number three Superman fans like to poke holes in Superman's secret identity all the time but apart from that potentially being you know the most boring thing you could ever possibly say about the character the fact still remains that it's a compelling dichotomy as mild-mannered reporter Clark hence the alien known as kal-el has the perfect cover his job gives him the perfect excuse to get close to danger where you can then slip away and be the Man of Steel the quants absence when danger strikes has proven to be conspicuous on occasion Lois figuring out Superman's true identity isn't anything new but her plastering it across the pages of The Daily Planet certainly was she decided to do so because a villain was blackmailing the Man of Steel but all sorts of adverse consequences further down the line currently the version of Superman seen in DC rebirth is an amalgamation of the new 52 incarnation and his pre flashpoint counterparts once again the public sees no connection between Kent and the last Son of Krypton number two the Hulk this might seem like a bit of an odd one given how everyone involved in the gamma bomb nuclear tests were supposedly aware of the fate that befell Bruce Banner but even as a fugitive the doctor has much to lose him having his alter ego exposed at this point in time however 1967 the identity of the whole crystal announced the Condors antagonists Hulk finds himself accused of putting a nearby city in harm's way and comes up against a cold killer a red humanoid designed with the sole purpose of you guessed it murdering Marvel strongest Avenger sorry Thor after reverting back to his human form Bruce is able to take on the killer and win but a great cost his dual identity gets exposed and even while the public hails the Hulk as a hero at least temporarily general Thunderbolt Ross resolves to take him down for good Ross & Co discovering bond and secret identity proved to be a watershed moment in the Carrodus history but battle frequently depicted as a fugitive in the decades following walking around in the rain all the time - sad music like in the Hulk TV show god I just want to give him a hug just look how look how sari is and number one daredevil although no one knows who daredevil really is in current Marvel continuity the opposite was the case for over a decade during Bryan bonuses and Alex Malia's revered stint on the man without fear that you should cut the status quo in a way that could be described as irreversible well not entirely given the superhero genre isn't short of convoluted ways to Ratkin big kind of changes but still it lasted for a long time all the same declaring himself to be the new kingpin of Hell's Kitchen Murdoch's spirals into a pit of darkness and gradually gets pushed to his limits and then in the Murdoch papers kingpin reveals to the Daily Bugle and the FBI who The Man Without Fear really is and for once Matt's blindness doesn't prove to be a stumbling block for people to accuse him of being a vigilante afterwards Murdoch went to prison and even asked Iron Fist to impersonate daredevil to prove his innocence and while he was legally exonerated the world still believed he was actually the man without fear all the way up until the purple children want everyone's memory of the events surrounding kingpins testimony in 2015 but hey even though no one knows their levels identity these days it did give us that glorious image of Matt rocking the I'm not daredevil jumper during Mark Waid and Chris Sam knees amazing run on the character that moment pretty much exemplifies why this specific identity reveal worked as well as it did because other writers didn't shy away from addressing the fallout so often in comics there's a tendency to forget what came before when a new creative team embarks on their own story and well no one should ever feel prohibited by what came before reappraising leigh murdoch papers is partially what made those future daredevil stories so enjoyable and that was our list do you know of any other heroes who had their identities exposed please let me know in the Khans below and don't forget to Like share and subscribe you can find more articles like this over on wakil ChiCom forward slash comics and you can follow me on twitter after you in ruins things have a great day and i'll see you next time bye

Channel: WhatCulture Comics

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Length: 10min 0sec (600 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 28 2019