History Main / SecondSuperIdentity

[[folder:Film - Animated]]

[[folder:Film - Live-Action]]

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/SpiderMan https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Spider-Man_Identity_Crisis_1870.jpg]]]]

** Early in Creator/PeterDavid's run, the Hulk is caught in the middle of a gamma bomb explosion and presumed dead, but he ends up hiding out in Las Vegas as a mob enforcer calling himself Joe Fixit. This ends up being the gray Hulk's all-but-official name.
** In the Omega Hulk storyline, the superintelligent Hulk took the name Doc Green.

* Comicbook/SpiderMan did this as an entire group of heroes. When Spider-Man was accused of murder during the "ComicBook/{{Identity Crisis|1998}}" storyline, he temporarily adopted four other costumed identities to allow him to continue fighting crime without appearing as Spider-Man: Hornet, Prodigy, Ricochet and Dusk. By having 4 different identities (2 of which he used to go undercover as a "supervillain"), Spidey could freely discard any one that got compromised while continuing to act as a hero. Eventually these personae were adopted by other heroes, creating The ComicBook/{{Slingers}}.

* Clint Barton USUALLY goes by ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}, but he's also been Ronin (the second Ronin in the Avengers) and Goliath. Plus he tried out the Captain America identity after the death of the original, but decided it wasn't for him.

* Comicbook/SpiderMan did this as an entire group of heroes. When Spider-Man was accused of murder during the "Identity Crisis" storyline, he temporarily adopted four other costumed identities to allow him to continue fighting crime without appearing as Spider-Man: Hornet, Prodigy, Ricochet and Dusk. By having 4 different identities (2 of which he used to go undercover as a "supervillain"), Spidey could freely discard any one that got compromised while continuing to act as a hero. Eventually these personae were adopted by other heroes, creating The ComicBook/{{Slingers}}.

** In chapter 7, it's revealed by flashback that Luka used an unnamed snake transformation [[ProperlyParanoid as a precaution]] when signing a record deal with [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Bob Roth]], which lets him turn back time after signing and learning how skewed the contract really was in the fineprint.

** In chapter 2, when a group of expelled bullies invade and attack Dupont, Marinette uses her instead Ladybug powers to take a new appearance, which is publicly named "Maribug".

* In Bronze Age ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'', Miss Terious and Sir Prize replaced Superboy and Supergirl when the Earth was covered in Kryptonite, eventually revealing themselves to be [[spoiler: Dream Girl and Star Boy, who had previously left the team]].

* ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'':
** Before her existence was revealed to the world, Pre-Crisis ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} sometimes operated as the heroine "Mighty Maid".
** Post-Crisis Supergirl briefly took up the "Flamebird" moniker during the ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 Candor]]'' story arc, alongside Comicbook/PowerGirl as Nightwing.
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** Back in the early '90s, the Franchise/{{Superman}} comic books had a super-antihero named Gangbuster. After a year, he turned out to be [[spoiler:Superman, with a trauma-induced separate personality]].

* In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', Gohan becomes a crime fighting superhero. At first, he just turns into a Super Saiyan and is referred to as "the Golden Warrior". Later, Bulma builds him a tokusatsu hero outfit and he adopts the moniker, "The Great Saiyaman". But during the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai, he ultimately ends up revealing that he's both.

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademiaVigilantes'', the vigilante Stendhal is introduced killing villains in what he believes makes up for the heroes' failure for removing them. [[spoiler:He is later revealed to be Chizome Akaguro, who would take the identity as the Hero-Killer Stain [[Manga/MyHeroAcademia in the main series]]]].

[[quoteright:350:[[Comicbook/SpiderMan https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Spider-Man_Identity_Crisis_1870.jpg]]]]

*** In "Kuro Neko", [[spoiler:Adrien uses an alternate transformation with the Cat Miraculous to become Cat Walker]].

* In the ''New X-Men'' series written by Creator/GrantMorrison, the friendly Chinese dissident mutant Xorn (who was explained to require a mask at all times due to the nature of his powers) was revealed to be ComicBook/{{Magneto}} in disguise all along, who after crippling Professor X proceed to take a giant, [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Nazi-esque]] leap over the MoralEventHorizon. Attempts were made by higher ups and other writers to RetCon this as soon as possible, leading to a ContinuitySnarl, wherein Xorn was explained to be [[MultiLayerFacade Xorn pretending to be Magneto pretending to be Xorn]]. And then later on, another Xorn showed up who was the brother of the impostor Xorn. For his part, Morrison maintains that he always intended Xorn to be Magneto.

* ''Manga/DeathNote'''s L, the greatest detective in the world, also assumes the identities of the second and third greatest detectives, respectively Eraldo Coil and Deneuve.

* In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', Gohan becomes a crime fighting superhero. At first, he just turns into a Super Saiyan and is referred to as "the Golden Warrior". Later, Bulma builds him a sentai outfit and he adopts the moniker, "The Great Saiyaman". But during the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai, he ultimately ends up revealing that he's both.

* On ''Series/TheBoys2019'', the superhero known as Stormfront [[spoiler:went by the name Liberty back in TheSeventies and operated out of North Carolina]], where she [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain murdered black people for kicks]]. [[MegaCorp Vought International]] repackaged her and moved her around to avoid her violent racist outbursts being exposed, like a superhero version of a PedophilePriest being shuffled between parishes. After discovering her past, the Boys speculate that this has happened multiple times with her.

* ''Fanfic/AShadowOfTheTitans'': After ending up in the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' world, circumstances lead to [[WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures Jade]] (now [[BalefulPolymorph changed into a Shadowkhan]] again) being mistaken for a villain and taken in by the HIVE; playing along, she takes the identity of a KungFuWizard called Zhu Chan. Later on, after her internship with the Joker goes south (as in, [[spoiler: he gives her a GlasgowGrin and she undergoes an EmergencyTransformation to survive]]), she goes into hiding in Gotham out of concern that the HIVE will [[YouHaveFailedMe terminate her for failure]]. To enable this, she changes into a new costume, complete with a plague doctor mask, and starts calling herself Karasu.

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* ''Manga/DeathNote'''s L, the greatest detective in the world, also assumes the identities of the second and third greatest detectives, respectively Eraldo Coil and Deneuve.

!!!Marvel

* Comicbook/SpiderMan did this as an entire group of heroes. When Spider-Man was accused of murder during the "Identity Crisis" storyline, he temporarily adopted four other costumed identities to allow him to continue fighting crime without appearing as Spider-Man: Hornet, Prodigy, Ricochet and Dusk. By having 4 different identities (2 of which he used to go undercover as a "supervillain"), Spidey could freely discard any one that got compromised while continuing to act as a hero. Eventually these personae were adopted by other heroes, creating The ComicBook/{{Slingers}}.
* Hank Pym, the original ComicBook/AntMan, has a habit of juggling multiple superhero personae (i.e. Giant-Man, Wasp, Goliath, Ant Man, Yellowjacket and even, at one point, his real name). Some continuities explain this as him having identity issues.

** In ''ComicBook/MightyAvengers2013'', a powerful guy joins the team with the first disguise he found, a ridiculously colored "Spider Hero" outfit. When he clarifies he'd be happy to wear anything hiding his identity but better looking, Luke Cage hands him a box of old Clint Barton's stuff, so the reader still doesn't know his first identity, but he becomes the new Ronin. He is eventually revealed to be [[spoiler: Blade]].
* Ronin was intended to be an example (he was supposed to be Daredevil in disguise) but ExecutiveMeddling changed Ronin's identity. [[spoiler: It still remained an example, as Ronin was revealed to be Echo, a deaf former AntiVillain.]]
* In the ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'' series, the original premise was that the Masters of Evil took on new (faux) super-hero identities and presented themselves as a replacement for the Avengers.
* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk''

* In the ''New X-Men'' series written by Creator/GrantMorrison, the friendly Chinese dissident mutant Xorn (who was explained to require a mask at all times due to the nature of his powers) was revealed to be ComicBook/{{Magneto}} in disguise all along, who after crippling Professor X proceed to take a giant, [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Nazi-esque]] leap over the MoralEventHorizon. Attempts were made by higher ups and other writers to RetCon this as soon as possible, leading to a ContinuitySnarl, wherein Xorn was explained to be [[MultiLayerFacade Xorn pretending to be Magneto pretending to be Xorn]]. And then later on, another Xorn showed up who was the brother of the impostor Xorn. For his part, Morrison maintains that he always intended Xorn to be Magneto.
* During the ComicBook/XMen storyline "The Twelve", {{ComicBook/Apocalypse}} has a new Horseman, Death, who fights and kills Wolverine. Death turns out to be [[spoiler:the real, albeit brainwashed, Wolverine. The Wolverine he killed was a Skrull imposter.]]
** Other characters with existing identities who became Horsemen include Angel (Death, afterwards he'd adopt the name Archangel), Plague of the Morlocks (Pestilence), Caliban (Death and Pestilence at different times), Hulk (War), Deathbird (War), Gazer (War), Sunfire (Famine), Polaris (Pestilence), Gambit (Death), and Psylocke (Death).

!!!DC
* In ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'', Lex Luthor thinks Franchise/{{Superman}} has done this and become the new hero Supernova. After looking into it, his subordinates come to the conclusion it's actually Superboy. Of course, they're all wrong. It's [[spoiler: ComicBook/BoosterGold]].

!!!Other

* ''Comicbook/{{Supreme}}'' had a version of Superman's Nightwing identity, when he and Diana Dane entered the Prism World as Doctor Dark and Duskwing, based on Professor Night and Twilight.
* Happens to a few characters in the ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse:

* ''Fanfic/SOE2LoneHeirOfKrypton'': Asuka created her ComicBook/PowerGirl identity when she became a superheroine for first time. Later she decided she had to become a different and better kind of heroine, so the she made a new costume and took a second secret identity as ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}.
* ''Fanfic/CheshireMiraculousLadybug'': Marinette have ''several'' identities at her disposal, depending of the Miraculous that she uses.

* ''Fanfic/WormWaterworks'': [[Literature/{{Worm}} Taylor]] starts to set up multiple Tinker Rogue identities.
** Plumber: specializes in plumbing, pipework, and liquid-based machinery.
** Sailor: specializes in aquatic vehicles and transportation.
** Hydroponics: specializes in irrigation, filtration, and water management systems.

* ''Fanfic/HeroChat'': Officially to the public, both Chloé and Kagami stepped down as Queen Bee and Ryuko respectively after their identities were exposed. In truth, both of them still use the Bee and Dragon Miraculous as Honey Bee and Arashi respectively. The only ones that know this are the rest of Team Miraculous.

** [[spoiler: Tsunotori has Rodeo as her Official Hero name and Tree Leaper as a vigilante.]]
** [[spoiler: Uraraka has Uravity as her Official Hero name and Dive Bomber as a vigilante.]]
** [[spoiler: Kaminari has Chargebolt as his Official Hero Name and Railgun as a vigilante.]]
** [[spoiler: Mineta has Grape Juice as his Official Hero Name and Dark Wine as a vigilante.]]
** [[spoiler: Ashido has Pinky as her Official Hero name and Alien Queen as a vigilante.]]
** [[spoiler: Kirishima has Red Riot as his Official Hero name and Black Diamond as a vigilante.]]
* ''Fanfic/ConsequencesMiraculousLadybug'':
** In ''RUNNING AMOK'', Lila (having been both the akumas Volpina and Chameleon) is given the Peacock Miraculous to become Pavona. After the heroes defeat her and reclaim her Miraculous, Adrien/Cat Noir uses it to become Catbird.
** In ''EXPOSED'', Adrien uses the Fox Miraculous to become Kitsune in order to save Ladybug's SecretIdentity, who had been exposed by Lila Rossi.
** In ''CUTTING THE STRINGS'', Max (the Horse hero Pegasus) and Kim (the Monkey hero King Monkey) are given the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous respectively after Marinette and Adrien are captured by an akumatized Lila. They use them to become Bug-a-Boy and Jaguaro.
** In ''SUN'S WRATH'', after Adrien is akumatized, Nino (the Turtle hero Carapace) is given the Black Cat Miraculous to become Calico.

* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:

* In the ''Literature/WildCards'' series, the superhero Black Shadow killed a couple of criminals early in his career. Sought by the police, he simply adopts various other superheroic identities. He eventually starts thinking of himself as "Shad" just so he has an internal identity that he can cling to, because things have gotten so confusing.

* In the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'', masked wrestler The Amazing Nine-Tails, [[spoiler:Damian Tenma,]] says he has recently started wrestling under a second, {{Heel}} persona in addition to his normal {{Face}} one. The problem is, the two personas have been scheduled to fight ''each other'' very soon, leaving him in quite the pickle.

* ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles''
** In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' cartoon, Donatello becomes the superhero known as Dark Turtle when [[IdentityAmnesia he hits his head]].
** And in ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'', Michaelangelo becomes the "Turtle Titan," especially when hanging out with Justice Force.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' episode "Gone Flushin'" has Catman become Ratman due to winding up in the sewers after an orderly at the nursing home flushed him down the toilet under the belief that he was dead when he was only napping. He got the rat costume because Timmy's Dad flushed it down the toilet due to the costume being dead to him.

*** In "Desperada", Ladybug entrusts Adrien with the Snake Miraculous, becoming Aspik. [[RefusalOfTheCall Adrien eventually turns this down,]] believing he's not the one for the job and that Chat Noir is necessary to take down the titular villain, having [[GroundhogDayLoop tried and failed]] [[{{Determinator}} over 25,000 times]].

** In ''EXPOSED'', Adrien uses the Fox Miraculous to become Kitsune.

** In ''SUN'S WRATH'', after Adrien is akumatized, Nino (the turtle hero Carapace) is given the Black Cat Miraculous to become Calico.

* ''Fanfic/ConsequencesMiraculousLadybug''

** In ''RUNNING AMOK'', Lila (having been both the Akumas Volpina and Chameleon) is given the Peacock Miraculous to become Pavona. After the heroes defeat her and reclaim her Miraculous, Adrien/Cat Noir uses it to become Catbird.

** In ''CUTTING THE STRINGS'', Max (the Horse hero Pegasus) and Kim (the monkey hero Roi Singe) are given the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous respectively after Marinette and Adrien are captured by an Akumatized Lila. They use them to become Bug-a-Boy and Jaguaro.
** In ''SUN'S WRATH'', after Adrien is Akumatized, Nino (the turtle hero Carapace) is given the cat Miraculous to become Calico.