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How many of the heroes have secret identities?

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rapthorn2ndform
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How many of the heroes have secret identities?

I was wondering if anybody knows anything about this. I know the Wraith, of course, has one and Legacy does not. But what about the rest.

I figured I'd put my thoughts here and see if anybody COMPLETELY disagrees with me. These are the ones I MOST care about at the moment.

Unity: I'm guessing that, because of her "wild college life". I mean, creating dinobots in class... not subtle.

Visoinary: Not really sure. On the one hand, she really doesn't seem to have TOO much of a life out of the suite so a secret identity isn't as important. On the other hand, she ay keep one in order to protect young Venessa Long (The Dreamer) so she can have a normalish life and to protect herself from being erased (if that's how time travel works). a toss up.

Tachyon: I don't THINK so. In Freedom Four #1 she' zooming around her labs. There is atleast one other person in those labs so it's probably not completly private. If I remeber righ she wasn't enen wearng her goggles most of that fight with Barron Blade. So, no?

Mr. Fixer: I can't immagine either way. He MUST have some way to keep his Identity from being well known. If he doesn't then his shp would probably ahev burnt down a few times.

Expatriette: She's probably doesn't go around ADVERTISING her I.D. but again probably dosen't need one as much as others.

Nightmist: Can't even guess.

Scholar: Doubtful.

Setback: I think, Setback just likes the mask. It makes him feel super hero-y. I'm also not positive he's smart enough to maintain one. Imen he calls THE WRAITH by name infront of a villan. Wraith is the ONLY hero that I'm positve has a secret identity and Setback just blows it. GRRR...I HAT THAT SETBACK IS MY FAVORITE.

 

I'm trying to get thisin my head for a fic i'm writing about Darkwatch investigating disaperances of people with magic bloodlines. Any thoughts?

 

 


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Legacy could have a secret identity the same way Superman has somehow maintained one.    Though I agree it seems unlikely.    

Ra has a secret identity as he does look different transformed into Ra compared to Dr. Blake Washington and he also seems to have a different personality.  

I don't think anyone would peg the Naturalist for his original identity especially since it was thought he might be dead.    

Bunker's true identity is probably not well known outside the military and the superhero community.  Same would apply to Absolute Zero    

I sincerely doubt Captain Cosmic's identity is well known but like a lot of heroes it seems that is his identity for the most part.   

Overall, I think a lot of the heroes might have a secret identity but from our viewpoint we mostly see them in their superhero personas.  


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rapthorn2ndform
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I can agree on most of this, except fo Legacy.

If it was just the "No Mask, Superman Style", I could buy that. Paul Parson is the 8th Legacy, his fater was Legacy in WW2 so AT LEAST the govenment would know. Also that Barron Blade's story, it says he has a grudge against the Parson family. This makes me think that Legacy keeps a publicly know identity.

 

I completely agree with you about Naturalist, Ra, Bunker, and AZ.

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I disagree about AZ.  He can't live outside the cryo-chamber without his suit, so I don't think he has the option of a secret identity.

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He may not be able to live without the suit but how many people know his actual name?


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None of these guys has a secret identity. You can read all of their bios on the website and it has all of their real names. They must be pissed at >G for giving up their secrets.

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rapthorn2ndform wrote:

Visoinary: Not really sure. On the one hand, she really doesn't seem to have TOO much of a life out of the suite so a secret identity isn't as important. On the other hand, she may keep one in order to protect young Venessa Long (The Dreamer) so she can have a normalish life and to protect herself from being erased (if that's how time travel works). a toss up.

 

I doubt that too many would relate a teenager with a little girl who just so happens to share the same name, but I'm guessing those in the know, like the other heroes and maybe one or two villains, have that knowledge. She possibly has a "Martian Manhunter" like role and is never just regular Venessa.

 

rapthorn2ndform wrote:

Mr. Fixer: I can't immagine either way. He MUST have some way to keep his Identity from being well known. If he doesn't then his shop would probably have burnt down a few times.

 

Quite true, though I doubt any thug would be stupid enough to try burning it down. What with them probably liking having all their teeth in their head and whatnot. It 's probably kept safe from any major vandalism by Slim's rep alone. Adding on the fact that he's punched fallen angels and mad scientists to that probably keeps a majority of trouble away from Fixer's place. :) I also doubt Fixer brags too much though, so some people just might not connect the dots.

 

rapthorn2ndform wrote:

Setback: I think, Setback just likes the mask. It makes him feel super hero-y. I'm also not positive he's smart enough to maintain one. Imen he calls THE WRAITH by name infront of a villain. Wraith is the ONLY hero that I'm positve has a secret identity and Setback just blows it. GRRR...I HATe THAT SETBACK IS MY FAVORITE.

 

He probably tries really hard to keep it a secret, but he's just so excited that he has trouble doing so. His powers could stop him from spilling the beans(trips on his shoelaces before he calls himself 'Setback' while walking down the street). He also has the rest of Darkwatch to help out too.

 

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I'm pretty sure Christopher confirmed Legacy's identity is public knowledge. 

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Every superhero has a secret identity; I don't know a single one that doesn't. Who wants the pressure of being "super" all the time?


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My take:
Absolute Zero I expect is secret, or rather, "Top Secret".
Argent Adept is public, a la Dr. Stephen Strange, where he's on a different level and far beyond identities now.
Beacon/Young Legacy: As per dad, I imagine.
Bunker I expect is similar. Both known to military brass, that's about it.
Captain Cosmic, both as an analogue to Green Lantern Hal Jordan, and as a masked man himself, is likely a secret identity type who is struggling to pay any attention to his job as a barrister.
Catastrophe, every time her abilities are seen, runs for it. I think that does a fair job of keeping the full breadth of her identity from being revealed. Card art also now shows full costume with oversized goggles-- secret ID for me! Same for Verge.
Chrono-Ranger: Nothing to hide. Jim is Jim! Just with a robot arm and a time-travel device.
Doctor Medico: Secret ID. Mask, day job, concerned (if still reckless) father, he's a secret.
Expatriette I assume is public ID.
Fanatic is sort of N/A. Her identity is Fanatic/Helena. Angel is all she is now.
Guise is a secret ID. Ish. I guess. Sure.
Haka is Haka, as well. Aata Wakarewarewa is definitely public, as the urban-legend-man he is.
Idealist is a child and masked, definitely kept secret (and shouldn't be allowed to fight crime! Irresponsible, dad!)
K.N.Y.F.E. I'm going to assume, despite the transparency of her visor, that she also exists in a "top secret" paramilitary sort of existence and call that Secret.
Legacy I would've guessed is secret (Superman rule), but if Christopher says public, it's public!
Mainstay has a mask, has a job, his ID is secret.
Man-Grove, by time of Tactics, is hero-ish. But he's definitely public ID-- as far as those who know of him, anyway.
Mr. Fixer is secret. Or was until Tactics. From his bio and the fact he had a publicly respected business, I expect he kept under the radar and somehow his baseball cap did a good job of concealing things. Further suggesting this to me is the mask he adds in the Dark Watch card after his resurrection-- to further protect his identity!
Naturalist is a secret ID. Firstly, he's dead. Secondly, he's wholly masked. I'm going with that.
Nightmist: Considering her years spent in mystical study, and her apparently permanent state of shifting into shadows, and the permanent glowing white hair and eyes look, I'd expect that she's eschewed the variance in her identity. Which sucks-- having her as a private eye secret ID would be great! So, while possible, I'm doubtful.
Omnitron-X: Clearly public. Nothing to hide here-- robot body, looks like an adorable Omnitron, that's the end of it.
Parse is private, I think. As someone obsessed with data collection, I imagine she might guard hers well. On top of that, it seems she's new on the scene, which means even with her thrown-together-adventurer outfit of "yep, these are just my work clothes", she's not had too much a chance to be exposed yet. Hope she costumes up!
Pinion/The Matriarch, I think, is private. Her mask allowed her identity to be a secret, which I'm sure made for good drama during the reveal with Tachyon, but it's not clear if she ever got put away-- especially since she still has the mask in her transition to Goodliness. I suspect she's managed to maintain relative secrecy to the world at large, if not the hero community.
Ra is secret in a Donald Blake/Thor or Shazam way-- transformation hides things well. That said, Ra hisself is definitely public, but Blake or whoever Tactics-Ra is are both not known.
The Scholar is as the Scholar does, so, public.
Setback is just lucky enough that his identity hasn't been exposed-- he's got the mask, and Pike Industries isn't certain where that escapee got to, which all inclines me to say he's kept it hidden. The mask also infers it.
Sky-Scraper is a Thorathian. Ain't no hiding that.
Tachyon appears VERY public, based on the Freedom Four #1 comic and her carefree nature about her abilities at work.
Tempest I assume is public-ish, as an undeniable alien.
Unity I think is semi-private. I think people may have suspicions from her college years with the robots, and her flimsy disguise (big goggles, mostly),  but I think she's trying to keep it on the down-low. I tend to always err on the side of keeping-it-secret unless evidence implies otherwise.
Verge, as per Catastrophe, Secret ID.
The Visionary is also, I suspect, marginally public knowledge. As someone out of time and space, I feel she keeps herself aloof and unknown, but she herself isn't hiding per se.
Wraith is definitively secret ID: until it's all revealed anyway by Tactics-time.
Writhe was locked up. He's been exposed. I doubt his ID is secret. That said, I imagine he's basically permanently Writhe now, so.

Summary:
PUBLIC:

  • Argent Adept
  • Beacon/Young Legacy
  • Chrono-Ranger
  • Expatriette
  • Fanatic
  • Haka
  • Legacy
  • Man-Grove
  • Nightmist
  • Omnitron X
  • The Scholar
  • Sky-Scraper
  • Tachyon
  • Tempest
  • Visionary (ish)
  • Writhe

 

SECRET:

  • Absolute Zero
  • Bunker
  • Captain Cosmic
  • Catastrophe
  • Doctor Medico
  • Guise
  • The Idealist
  • K.N.Y.F.E.
  • Mainstay
  • Mr. Fixer
  • The Naturalist
  • Parse
  • Pinion
  • Ra
  • Setback
  • Unity
  • Verge
  • Wraith

 

CONCLUSION:

16 Public
18 Secret

Fun Conclusions:
Freedom Five + Unity:
4 Secret (AZ, Bunker, Wraith, Unity), 2 Public (Legacy, Tachyon)
[until Tactics: Wraith becomes public ID, then 3/3)

Prime Wardens:
1 Secret (Captain Cosmic), 4 Public (Argent Adept, Fanatic, Haka, Tempest)

Dark Watch:
3 Secret (Mr. Fixer, Setback, Pinion), 2 Public (Expatriette, Nightmist)

The Sentinels:
3 Secret (Doctor Medico, The Idealist, Mainstay), 1 Public (Writhe)


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eviltoon wrote:

Chrono-Ranger: Nothing to hide. Jim is Jim! Just with a robot arm and a time-travel device.

His name may be known to other heroes but I doubt the public would believe/care about his true identity.   As it is depending upon the circumstances he may not even recall who he has and hasn't run into depending upon the order of when he went after different bounties.   

eviltoon wrote:

Guise is a secret ID. Ish. I guess. 

Probably not known to the public since he wears a full bodysuit and most likely he refers to himself entirely as Guise to everyone at this point.  


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Killswitch wrote:

Every superhero has a secret identity; I don't know a single one that doesn't. Who wants the pressure of being "super" all the time?

Captain Cosmic, Fanatic, and Guise appear to stay in their superhero persona all the time.    The Naturalist can't seem to get away from it and that seems more to be the case with his promo version.   

With Guise it doesn't seem like there is off time for him.  I see him either trying to steal the spotlight from other heroes or looking for a situation in which he can.  


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Powerhound_2000 wrote:

 

eviltoon wrote:
Chrono-Ranger: Nothing to hide. Jim is Jim! Just with a robot arm and a time-travel device.

 

His name may be known to other heroes but I doubt the public would believe/care about his true identity. As it is depending upon the circumstances he may not even recall who he has and hasn't run into depending upon the order of when he went after different bounties.

 

eviltoon wrote:
Guise is a secret ID. Ish. I guess.

 

Probably not known to the public since he wears a full bodysuit and most likely he refers to himself entirely as Guise to everyone at this point.

Powerhound_2000 wrote:

Captain Cosmic, Fanatic, and Guise appear to stay in their superhero persona all the time.    The Naturalist can't seem to get away from it and that seems more to be the case with his promo version.   


 

Anyone who doesn't hide who they are (as Chrono-Ranger above) is "public", imo. I.E. he'd probably introduce himself as "Jim" as often as "The Chrono-Ranger".
Anyone who hides who they _were_, and are permanently hero-self now (as Guise, Naturalist, and probably even Setback, and apparently Captain Cosmic is contended for this) I call "secret IDs". I.E. they'd only ever introduce themselves as "Guise", so on, even if there's really no secret ID 'left' functionally.


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I would agree that only identifying yourself by your hero name counts as having a secret ID even if the secret ID persona barely exists anymore.    


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In the case of Fanatic, she doesn't indentify herself with a hero name. The name Fanatic is something other people call her, much like The Scholar. Fanatic is going out as herself.

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Yep. Agreed. She's Helena the Angel as far as she's concerned. But her whole history of identity is public.


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Pretty sure The Naturalist also falls under the "all Superhero, all the time" banner, Michael Conteh is known to be alive (he did go back to his company after all) but "Leaving his name and his company behind, he returned to the wilderness.", so nothing for him to fall back on other than his new identity.


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Powerhound_2000 wrote:

 

Killswitch wrote:
Every superhero has a secret identity; I don't know a single one that doesn't. Who wants the pressure of being "super" all the time?

 

Captain Cosmic, Fanatic, and Guise appear to stay in their superhero persona all the time.    The Naturalist can't seem to get away from it and that seems more to be the case with his promo version.   With Guise it doesn't seem like there is off time for him.  I see him either trying to steal the spotlight from other heroes or looking for a situation in which he can.  

Aww, I was hoping the reference was understood. I was quoting the Incredibles.


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My bad then.  I have not watched that in a long time.  


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Definitely deserves a re-watch, especially since we're getting a sequel! The quote is probably the 2nd or 3rd line from the movie.

 

Maybe they're so secret that we're not even allowed to know their alter egos? Guise could be anyone; who knows.


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Guise was Joseph King, I'm pretty sure. Tabloid reporter, got nuked by a piano in a fight between Wager Master and the Freedom Five... but the Wager Master powers that killed him resurrected him as the fourth-wall-breaking Guise.

 

Or so the crossed-out-lines on his box art and such implies.


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Killswitch wrote:

Aww, I was hoping the reference was understood. I was quoting the Incredibles.

I got it! One of my all time favorite movies.


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arenson9 wrote:

 

Killswitch wrote:
Aww, I was hoping the reference was understood. I was quoting the Incredibles.

 

I got it! One of my all time favorite movies.

Same here. I could hear Craig T. Nelson asking the question. :)

It's also the only Pixar film that I ever felt NEEDED a sequel, so I'm quite happy one is coming, even if the Grasshopper might think he's a bit too old and the Munchkin might not get everything.

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eviltoon wrote:

Guise was Joseph King, I'm pretty sure. Tabloid reporter, got nuked by a piano in a fight between Wager Master and the Freedom Five... but the Wager Master powers that killed him resurrected him as the fourth-wall-breaking Guise. Or so the crossed-out-lines on his box art and such implies.

I'm pretty sure you mean a super model gave him a magical sports drink just as he grew into his mutant powers and found out that his dad was Chuck Norris. And he's also got perfect hair forever.

Edit: And no, I'm not just saying that because Guise gave me twenty bucks.

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I thought Guise inherited the costume and powers from his father.   Originally the suit was obtained from Jack Jouett so that Guise the First could warn the people of Virginia about the British coming but he forgot about that after putting the suit on instead telling people the French were coming to take their bread back.     That suit was handed down through the generations to the next Guise who gained more useless awesome abilities as the generations went on until the current Guise received the suit himself.  The suit is embroidered with DRY CLEAN ONLY FURTHERING YOUR FATHER'S AWESOMENESS


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Bowie S, pronounced like David, not like Knife, can be found in Minneapolis and has Monomaniacal Reverse Engineer d10
Death and the dice level all distinctions. -Samuel Foote
 

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Geez I thought my Guise origin story might get a chuckle at worst.   Instead the only reply since then is a picture of Wedneday saying I hate everything.   Tough crowd.    


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Powerhound_2000 wrote:

Geez I thought my Guise origin story might get a chuckle at worst.   Instead the only reply since then is a picture of Wedneday saying I hate everything.   Tough crowd.    

-pats on back-

It got a chuckle!


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Thanks.   yes


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