Crossovers
- In the Stargate SG-1/Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan fic Bridges
, Colonel Jack O'Neill tells Xander Harris that he's assigned to "Deep Space Radar Telemetry", a statement that makes Xander laugh.Jack O'Neill: What's so funny?
Xander Harris: Oh come on, Jack. A hotshot special ops operative like you assigned to something called "Deep Space Radar Telemetry"? Why didn't they just name it "Totally Not a Secret Project" and get it over with. - brilliant lights will cease to burn (by my hand i'll reignite them): As the Magical Boy "Deku" becomes more and more famous and the authorities struggle to figure out his Secret Identity, practically everyone who knows Izuku realizes that it's him. The only thing keeping his identity hidden is how everybody around him is willing to keep their mouths shut and protect him. (Aside from Bakugou, who's just straight up in denial due to his Inferiority Superiority Complex.) Eventually, Kero gives up on any semblance of keeping his presence hidden and starts hanging out on Izuku's shoulder.
- Code Prime: When Lelouch created the persona of Zero, it was meant to be his Secret Identity to run the rebellion for the rest of his time. However, he made it under the vision of The Autobots, and Megatron finds it out after only 3 chapters. From there, thanks to a Positive Friend Influence, Lelouch begins gradually opening up to others about it. Starting with Rai, then Kallen, Shirley, then the entire leadership of The Black Knights. Some like Nunally, Milly, Euphemia and Sayako already figured it out. And by the end of R2, Lelouch decides that if he's going to properly rally the Black Knights when their lives are in danger of a flying fortress he finally drops the pretention and reveals his identity to the whole army.
- Essentially applies to Hermione's worship of Loki in The Confectionary Chronicles; she doesn't openly hide that she's a pagan, such as making reference to 'her god' where a regular muggle-born might just say 'God', but only those closest to her have noticed the relevant clues and nobody has ever blatantly asked her what god she worships instead.
- Great Grand-Uncle Schimmelhorn's Toolbox: The concept of "secret identities" is presented here as more of a pretty fiction that most organizations, criminal and legal alike, maintain in order to avoid unnecessary conflict, as it's very easy to figure out any given cape's civilian identity with just a bit of digging.
- If Wishes Were Ponies: Dumbledore was convinced that the students had all heeded his warning to avoid the Third Floor corridor, to the point that he condescendingly dismissed Twilight's concerns about it. Cue his shock when it's revealed that Fluffy is this trope among the students, as Twilight gets them to confess that, yes, they all know, a lot of them have seen Fluffy for themselves, and more than a few of them were considering taking a look for themselves. Cue Dumbles getting a "The Reason You Suck" Speech from Twilight (the first of several to come...)
- Zig-zagged in Neither a Bird nor a Plane, it's Deku!. Izuku's keeps his Secret Identity as an alien fairly well and none of his classmates seem to suspect that he's anything but a guy with an exceptionally strong Quirk. But at the same time, virtually everyone in power knows who he is after he nearly killed Katsuki Bakugou when they were kids, prompting the government, police, and the Top Ten Heroes to learn Izuku's secret. They mostly keep it on the down low, but it isn't hard for someone like Lexi Luthor to learn Izuku's life story. The government also informs the entirety of U.A.'s faculty by the time Izuku begins taking the entrance exam.
- Not the intended use (Zantetsuken Reverse): Hammer illegally sells weapons and guns while hiding behind the front of selling bathing products. While he tries to keep his real business a secret (as selling firearms is illegal in Japan), in reality everyone knows; Soma doesn't even try to hide it, Daisuke hears about it from a completely unrelated third party, and the former detective who opens a bakery nearby starts suspecting him almost immediately.
- In Origins, a Mass Effect/Star Wars/Borderlands/Halo Massive Multiplayer Crossover, the Trans-Galactic Republic runs with several of these. Repeatedly lampshaded by both its operatives and other characters.
- There are videos of superlasers being used to pulverize a ship despite an official policy that the Spacelane Protection forces neither possess nor use superlasers.
- That Vorknkx intelligence gathering ships exist with their attendant cloaking devices is more widely known than the Republic Intelligence Service would like. As with superlasers, it's official policy that the Trans-Galactic Republic neither utilizes or holds any such devices.
- How much sense it makes that a supposedly-peaceful society is building huge vessels with big guns and tons of starfighters (hint: none) suggests that something's up it is, RISE goes berserk, but for good reason.
- The Trans-Galactic Republic's leadership is fervently hoping that certain actions taken by a specific paragon aren't this. So far, it looks as though Shepard's Heroic BSoD from Fractured (SovereignGFC) has fallen under a successful inversion of The Greatest Story Never Told despite the fact that Shepard's previous exploits often became cantina fodder (though nowhere close to what really happened).
Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers
- Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers uses a Fanon that nearly everyone knows Shane and Niko are a couple, but don't say anything because either they can't prove it or they don't care.
- Sam & Mickey's stop-motion Barbie comedies have Barbie try to pass off hers and Ken's illegitimate daughters as her "little sisters", but it seems rare for someone not to recognize Barbie as the girls' actual mother. It doesn't help that the "little sisters" often don't try to keep the secret.
- Vow of the King: Ichigo mentally lampshades how he and Nemu's relationship is practically out in the open despite everyone else being unaware about the supernatural.
- In A Cold Calculus, most Britannian and Japanese officials are well aware that Kallen is secretly the Red Knight, as well as the one who killed Clovis. But since she has the backing of Princess Euphemia li Britannia, nobody is willing to directly address the matter.
- In Subtlety, apparently everyone but Danny's parents and Valerie knows he's Danny Phantom, and everyone except Danny, Sam, and Tucker know that everyone knows.Paulina: He's playing secret superhero, ducking into alleyways and worrying about people knowing who he is. He finally has a chance to live every kid's dream. He is Superman, and maybe he's not very good at the secret thing, but that's okay. We'll play along.
- A Cure for Love: 1) Light is gay. 2) Light and L's "secret" relationship. 3) L, the Astraea Organization, Matt... pretty much everyone but the Kira Taskforce knows that Light is Kira.
- Apparently everyone knew about Pepa and Fèlix's secret relationship long before Abuela ever did in La polilla y la mariposa.
- In The Queen of Hearts, everyone in Arendelle (and several of its neighboring nations) knows that Elsa isn't the biological daughter of King Jonas. Everyone except Elsa and her younger sister Anna.
- Bruno being Casita's Secret Squatter in Through the crack in the wall becomes "the Madrigal family's worst kept secret" since the entire third generation ends up knowing about him, meaning over half of the family knows about him being there.
- In Son of the Desert the fact that the Elric brothers are willing to help anyone Ishvalan and are Ishvalan themselves is well known in the Central and Eastern Ishvalan communities, although they don't a say of word of this around the military.
- Departure From The Diary: Remus Lupin's lycanthropy is a downplayed example. Harry mentions it offhand and Katie remarks you'd have to be a complete idiot to not realize, but Angelina had no idea. Katie even points out that not only is Lupin "sick" every full moon, but Snape's substitute lessons are always about werewolves and how to identify them.
- In Heir, a Dark!Harry fic, Harry, Tom, and Draco aren't nearly as careful with their scheming as they think they are-Ron, Blaise and perhaps half of Slytherin house knows that Harry is the Heir but have so far kept quiet.
- In The Parselmouth of Gryffindor, the average Hogwarts student might not know, but any wizard who's halfway smart has heard of Time-Turners. People still act like it's supposed to be a secret, more out of habit. Hermione is particularly non-discreet at that.Hermione: (to Lupin, in an open space, with a crowd nearby) I did that with my Time-Turner.
Moody: (from a distance) Your what?
Hermione: (shouting) My Time-Turner! But don't tell anyone! It's a secret!
- A Thing of Vikings:
- Nearly everyone in Berk was aware that Hiccup and Astrid were having sex months before they actually got married. Nobody made any issue out of it out of respect for the pair and their privacy.
- Along similar lines, the fact that Tuffnut and Mor are having sex during their courtship is only technically a secret in that people are looking the other way. This doesn't stop several characters from openly discussing the matter.
- Played With in The Parts We Play; nobody was especially bothered about hiding the parentage of Katniss' baby before the Games, so several were aware that Gale was the father. However, after Peeta reveals his own feelings for her, most people inside the Capitol automatically assume that Peeta was the other parent. Eventually, Snow reveals that he knows that's not the case due to a DNA test, but accepts that Peeta is aware of this and is willing to die for Katness anyway.
- The Phoenix Corps: It's an open secret among the Phoenix Corps that Justice Lord Batman is Bruce Wayne, in part because the original six members were already aware of his real identity before the Lords ruled the world, and thus had no reason to tiptoe around the subject when the group was first starting out. Therefore, they aren't very careful with concealing his identity around others after the Phoenix Corps begins to expand their membership.
- Natural Selection: Pretty much everyone is aware that Ryuko and Mako are a couple to the point that it's a favored topic of Honnouji gossip rags, but it's not brought up in their presence because doing so guarantees that Ryuko will beat seven hells out of them at best or horrifically kill them at worst.
- In canon, Dr. Drakken tells his mother that he's a radio talk show host. A fair number of fanfics have her knowing perfectly well that he's a Mad Scientist villain trying to Take Over the World.
- The Boy Without a Fairy: While the existence of the Kokiri Sword is supposed to be a secret, Link was the only one who didn't know about it, or that Mido had it hidden inside a crate.
- Z To A: In the third interlude ("And so a legend is born"), much to his shock, Peter learns that his identity as Spider-Man had become this at Midtown Tech & Science.
- The Karma of Lies: Thanks to Alya's Loose Lips, the whole class knows about Marinette's crush on Adrien. Including Adrien; though he acts unaware, he's all too eager to confess that he knows after she's publicly revealed as Ladybug, expecting her to swoon into his arms. Too bad for him that she's already realized she was Loving a Shadow by that point, resulting in a Unrequited Love Switcheroo.
- In brilliant lights will cease to burn, Izuku's identity as the vigilante "Deku" is unknown to the authorities and the majority of Japan, but pretty much every he knows personally picks up on his change in behavior and treat them as one and the same. The only reason why he still has a Secret Identity is that he's helped them so much that he has their trust and admiration.
- Conversations with a Cryptid: While many reporters recognize that Endeavour shows signs of having arranged a quirk marriage, nobody is willing to broach the matter, knowing that they'd just be risking censorship and being slapped with lawsuits if they speak out against him.
- In Darkness of Gold, Izuku never uses his Quirk because the head of the Hero Commission told him how dangerous it was for anyone to find out about it. Despite this, pretty much everyone from Bakugo to Present Mic knows about his "super secret" Quirk and comments about how amazing it is. Given that said Quirk is also the reason his mother was given a new house, a promotion, and a massive amount of money, it's a wonder they even bother pretending it's a secret.
- Dekugate:
- This is ZigZagged when it comes to the matter of Izuku's lineage. While the public knew that All Might had gotten together with Parakeet and had a child, said child's identity was kept hidden until Izuku entered Yuuei. Even among his classmates, some (like Shouto and Tenya) were aware that one of their peers was the child of All Might, while others weren't aware until later in their first year.
- For a darker twist on this, the Conspiracy Theorists that make up the titular community firmly believe that everyone involved in the Pro Hero industry is in on the supposed conspiracy surrounding Izuku's existence. This includes his classmates; as far as the Dekugaters are concerned, either they're "leeches" trying to piggyback off the Hero Commission's prized pig, "idiots" who are too stupid to see the truth, or "true heroes" who share the Dekugaters' outrage by his existence.
- In Izuku Midoriya the Rabbit, it's well known that Hawks is little more than a puppet for the Hero Commission; due to their political power, however, nobody is willing to publicly call him out on it.
- The Scorpion Jar: After his plans come to fruition, Izuku makes no effort to hide how he was the one who organized the exposure of all his bullies and the downfall of Aldera.
- Toga Himiko's Guide to Time Travel: While Himiko attends U.A. under the name "Naomasa Himiko", Principal Nezu has ensured that the whole staff is secretly aware that she's the runaway and potential Villain Toga Himiko, as he saw straight through her act. Fortunately, he's invested in teaching her that Pro Heroes are fully capable of being heroic and trustworthy in order to sway her from any darker paths.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- Alicorn: Rainbow's parentage is kept under wraps by the throne, but the fact that she exists and is an alicorn is public knowledge. A physician points out that it's not very hard to make the educated guess that the young alicorn who was born during Luna's exile, and who carries a Strong Family Resemblance to Celestia, might be Celestia's daughter.
- The Pieces Lie Where They Fell: As discussed in the sequel Picking Up the Pieces, the existence of demons is this after the incursion that saw Gentle Step promoted to Captain-General. Before that, there were just legends, but then a number of civilian witnesses saw the demons in the flesh and spread the word to others about them being real (though not how many or what kinds there are) before the Guards could stop them. Since then, the Guards don't officially talk about it, but they don't have any way of keeping the truth hidden anymore.
- In Ultra Fast Pony, Rarity is into all manner of kinky, BDSM stuff, and she does a terrible job of hiding it. She keeps accidentally bringing it up in casual conversations, then tries to cover it up—as if everyone hadn't already figured it out from the last twenty times she let it slip.Pinkie: Yeah, okay, there is no way what Rarity does is still a secret.
- Glass Marionette: Everyone in Sunagakure knows that Gaara is the Ichibi's jinchuuriki. Similarly, all the adults in Konohagakure know that Naruto has the Kyuubi sealed inside of him. Despite being aware of this due to his memories of the original series, Kankurou is still shocked to see how poorly most residents treat Naruto, and that they openly refer to him as a 'demon child'.
- Discussed in The Kakashi Way. Once Sasuke and Sakura are informed that their teammate Naruto has the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed inside of him, they immediately realize that this was why he was treated so harshly by most of the adults. Both then question just how Hiruzen defined "secrecy", given how widespread the knowledge was among the adults of the village and how he didn't intervene to protect Naruto.Sasuke: No... I'm saying that everyone already knows. Except us, I guess. If it's a secret, it's the worst kept secret in the village.
- Lucky Charm: Tenten has been trying to keep the fact that she's a lesbian hidden, only for Naruto to eventually break it to her that the whole school has known since her freshman year.
- In Naruto: Eleven, Yugito knows at a glance that Naruto is the Yondaime Hokage's son and is honestly surprised when Naruto doesn't know and every Konoha ninja who knows acts like it's a big secret.
- In Naruto: The Game of Life, everyone in Konoha knows where the old Anbu headquarters is. Apparently, it was disguised as an apartment building with several "very polite but firm" guards who insisted it was "private residence only" despite having a sign advertising apartments available for rent.
- sunflower:
- Played for Drama with Kakashi. Unlike other ANBU, Kakashi makes no real effort to conceal his Secret Identity as Inu, openly walking around Konoha in his full ANBU gear and dog-mask pushed aside to reveal his regular mask. As a result, Himizu knows that his new team leader is the famous Copy-nin, and is desperately eager to earn his approval, which has tragic results.
- Hiruzen was somehow unaware of this bad habit of his, and reacts with shock when Gai unintentionally reveals it to him, not realizing that his Eternal Rival was flouting the rules.
- Itachi was assigned the weasel mask, making his code name... Itachi. As with Kakashi, this becomes an issue when he gets into an argument with another and openly addresses her by her real name, something Inu upbraids him for.
- Played for Drama with Kakashi. Unlike other ANBU, Kakashi makes no real effort to conceal his Secret Identity as Inu, openly walking around Konoha in his full ANBU gear and dog-mask pushed aside to reveal his regular mask. As a result, Himizu knows that his new team leader is the famous Copy-nin, and is desperately eager to earn his approval, which has tragic results.
- In Breaking (all the) Things, Morgana becomes a very poorly-kept "secret" among the members of Akira's social circle.
- Blasting Off!:
- Everyone in Celadon City knows that the local Game Corner is also Team Rocket's hideout; they just know better than to kick up a fuss about it.
- Similarly, everyone in a position of power knows Giovanni is both Team Rocket's leader and the Viridian City gym leader. No one does anything because Team Rocket is so ineffectual that they've accomplished nothing of note over the last eighteen years.
- Blue is Professor Oak's great-grandson, not his grandson, and Daisy is actually his mother whose baby-daddy ran off once she got pregnant. All of Pallet Town except Blue and maybe Red is fully aware of this and several of them wonder how the boy hasn't noticed that his alleged parents died eight years before he was born.
- A Young Woman's Political Record has the Battle of Duisbusch, which Tanya says was won by angry Germanian civilians who somehow got their hands on military equipment and overwhelmed the occupying Francois forces. There is no one that believes that story and it is widely known that it was Tanya and 203rd that did the deed.
- In Let the Galaxy Burn, the Targaryens security is so bad that almost everyone knows about their "secret" military shipyards and projects, to the point that the only reason the Starks are starting to have trouble is that the Targaryens have started so many secret projects that the Starks don't have enough spies to keep track of them all.
- An Open Secret:
- Anakin finds out that his relationship with Padmé and that she's pregnant with his children is not so secret when Aayla Secura openly asks him to be named the godmother, leading to him finding out every single Jedi but Obi-Wan Kenobi, Barriss Offee and Mace Windu had figured it out on their own. And even then, Obi-Wan knew they were closer than friends and suspected Anakin was the father, he just wasn't sure of it (or that they were married) until Anakin told him. Barriss, on the other hand, was already in jail by the time everyone started figuring it out, while Mace Windu has somehow missed everything and convinced himself Anakin fed the rumor mill and leaked it to the press to lure out traitors.
- Also, most of the 501st Legion know about their relationship (and the ones who don't are recruits who haven't seen Anakin around Padmé yet, because, as Ahsoka points out, you'd have to be blind to miss it), even if they haven't seen Padmé long enough to know she's pregnant, to the point that when they learn of the children from the celebrity news they are surprised that they had to learn of them from the news instead of being told by Anakin. There's also a number of senators that were aware of it before it went public, even if some misunderstood the exact details (Riyo Chuchi was under the impression that Obi-Wan and/or Ahsoka were also part of the relationship, something that would have been perfectly normal on her homeworld).
- In Wilhuff Tarkin, Hero of the Rebellion, Anakin and Padmé's utter inability to keep they're in a relationship secret has become a Running Gag (though people aren't sure if they're dating, Friends with Benefits, or married). They're bad enough Tarkin openly wondered how bad they were when Gilad Pellaeon mentioned it... And that is years before it was revealed that two entire Stormtrooper Legions know (the 501st, that still includes many Clones that served under Anakin and tell all the new recruits that Anakin and Padme were married, and the First Legion, who recruits entirely from the 501st). Or that the Death Watch figured out by seeing them interact once and had a bet going on about the particulars.
- In A Pink Planet, the Coral Project Site is a research station commissioned by Pink Diamond as a means of finding ways to incorporate organic life into gem-kind's colonization. While activities in Coral is meant to be kept a secret, two thousand years of activity and the increasing population of humans living near the site have led to such secrets leaking. By the time Steven is born, gem-human hybrids (a product of their research) are well-known, with the other Diamonds eventually finding out about it.
- New Tamaran: All the heroes seem to be aware that Killer Frost is freely allowed to torment the other prisoners at Belle Reeve. Robin/Nightwing is the only one to show any ethical objection, but not even he seems keen on doing anything about it.
- In At the Edge of Lasg'len, a number of Icelanders know damn well that a.) their country does indeed have Elves, and b.) pretty much where they are, but the two groups of people leave one another alone and get on with their lives.
- Handmaid: Despite Henry's best and genuine efforts, everyone in court (including his wife and handmaid) are perfectly aware of his courting of Jane Seymour. While some are unhappy with the situation, the two women in question don't really care: Katherine is used to Henry's cheating, while Anne is more interested in Katherine and is happy to ignore it as long as he doesn't flaunt the affair openly. If anything, she's more insulted by the fact that Henry genuinely believes he's fooling anybody.
- In Bugs In The System, Taylor suspects that most of the students at Arcadia have figured out who the Wards attending their school are, but are simply staying out of it and not saying anything. Ironically, the Wards themselves appear to be oblivious to this.
- Inheritance: Within a month, everyone who matters in Brockton Bay is fully aware Taylor Hebert is Weaver aka Butcher XV. They're also aware that she'll brutally murder anyone who violates the unwritten rules. The PRT would also rather have her spend eight hours a day at school than lead the Teeth full time. So they don't push it.
