History Main / AdaptationalSecrecyDowngrade

*** The ending of the film has Tony declare "I am Iron Man"; in the comics, Tony had had a secret identity from 1963 all the way until 2006, when ''ComicBook/{{Civil War|2006}}'' happened and Tony came out as pro-Superhero Registration.

* ''Film/Dune2021'': In the books, the fact that the Sardaukar hail from Salusa Secundus is a closely-guarded secret (though Thufir Hawat figures it out, and makes the connection that the Fremen -- raised on an equally harsh planet -- have the potential to match them in battle). The Baron certainly didn't know, having always assumed -- as the Emperor would have everyone believe -- that they're just the best recruits from among his regular levies. Here, it seems to be well-known to begin with: Piter goes to Salusa Secundus personally to negotiate their alliance with the Harkonnens, and the Sardaukar don't seem concerned about him knowing their origin, indicating they don't bother with secrecy in this continuity.

* ''Many'' ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' [[FanfomSpecificPlot fics]] involve Marinette and Adrien/Ladybug and Chat Noir learning each others secret identities for whatever reason. While the importance of keeping one's identity a secret is brought up numerous times during the show, in the fics it isn't treated like such a big issue (justified if Hawkmoth has been defeated, thus removing the reason for secret identities in the first place).
* ''Fanfic/TheOmnitrixHero'': In the original ''Franchise/Ben10'' series, Ben was able to keep his SecretIdentity for six years until he was eventually outed at the start of ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien''. While his secret was revealed to a select few individuals besides Gwen, Grandpa Max, and a few villains like Vilgax, it wasn't a regular occurrence for him before he was permanently exposed. Here however, Flash is much worse at keeping the Omnitrix a secret. Trixie was with him when he first got the Omnitrix, making her [[TheConfidant his primary confidant]], before Shining Armor finds out about it in the second chapter after seeing Flash revert to normal. The first "SeasonFinale" has not just Vilgax learning Flash's identity, but all of the Rainbooms too after they begin piecing some evidence together. Then in Season 2 it is practically a RunningGag for Flash to have his secret revealed to someone throughout the season, with his secret identity only staying safe due to those that learned either suffering LaserGuidedAmnesia, dying via HeroicSacrifice before they could tell anyone, or becoming a new SecretKeeper. This [[RunningGagged eventually culminates]] in [[spoiler:[[TheUnmasking Vilgax revealing Flash's secret to the entire world]] when he makes his return, only a few months after he first got the Omnitrix as opposed to it taking Ben six years]].

* ''Film/Dune2021'': In the books, the fact that the Sardaukar hail from Salusa Secundus is a closely-guarded secret (though Thufir Hawat figures it out, and makes the connection that the Fremen -- raised on an equally-harsh planet -- have the potential to match them in battle). The Baron certainly didn't know, having always assumed -- as the Emperor would have everyone believe -- that they're just the best recruits from among his regular levies. Here, it seems to be well-known to begin with: Piter goes to Salusa Secundus personally to negotiate their alliance with the Harkonnens, and the Sardaukar don't seem concerned about him knowing their origin, indicating they don't bother with secrecy in this continuity.

* ''WesternAnimation/PetAlien'': In the original toyline, as well as the web shorts made to promote it, the aliens had to be adopted by children and hidden from the public as to protect them from scientists who wanted to experiment on them and adults who wanted them sent back to their home planet. In the show, however, this element is completely dropped, with the aliens frequently going out in public without [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight arousing any suspicion]]. It's implied that most of [=DeSpray=] Bay (barring [[OnlySaneMan Tommy]], who knows the truth) are simply too stupid to realise that they're aliens; [[SpoiledBrat Melba]] refers to them as Tommy's "[[BuffySpeak things]]".

* ''Fanfic/DannyPhantomFireAndIce'': The fic is set after the end of the series (and the end of Danny's keeping a SecretIdentity). One of the catalysts of the fic's story is Danny starting to crack under the pressure of he and his family always being in the public eye.

Setting up a secret and TheReveal is a difficult thing to do. There are many things, from [[RedHerring red herrings]] to [[ChekhovsGun Chekhov's Guns]], to be considered, and there are many ways the writing can go wrong, from CluelessMystery to CaptainObviousReveal. It's particularly hard when, for example, you are adapting a 500-page-book into a ninety-minute movie.

** Also in the books, Barristan Selmy initially disguised himself as a man named Arstan Whitebeard in order to judge whether Daenerys had the qualifications to be a queen before revealing himself; as Dany was the only viewpoint character who interacted with “Arstan”, the readers didn’t learn the truth until she did. The show has Barristan introduce himself with his own name, as trying to hide his identity from the viewers would be pointless and the show had Daenerys get involved enough in Qarthian politics that Barristan could already get her measure from that.
* ''Series/GuestFromTheFuture'': In [[Literature/OneHundredYearsAhead the original book]], Kolya never learns the space pirates' identities due to [[FishOutOfTemporalWater coming from a different time period from them]]. In the series, he [[AdaptationInducedPlotHole inexplicably]] knows their names and details of how they look by the fourth episode.

* ''Film/HowCzarPeterTheGreatMarriedOffHisMoor'' has a downplayed version. In ''The Moor of Peter the Great'' by Creator/AlexanderPushkin, the entire Paris knows about the Countess's affair with Ibrahim and the ChocolateBaby's birth it led to — the entire Paris, that is, except for the Count. In the film, the Count does find out about the affair, challenges Ibrahim to a duel and gets killed.