History Main / FriendOfMaskedSelf

[[folder:Fanfic]]

* Inverted in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/5743525 Now Kiss]]'',where Chat Noir and Ladybug are pretending to be friends of Adrien and Marinette, respectively, so that they can talk with each other about themselves.

See also ButHeSoundsHandsome, LovesMyAlterEgo. Contrast ActuallyIAmHim, where the character pulling the trick has no SecretIdentity to speak of, and can only fool strangers who don't recognize them. If you see something similar to this trope in RealLife, it's probably AlterEgoActing (type 1).

* Similarly, Kara uses this in ''Series/Supergirl2015'', sometimes using one identity to pass along "messages" from the other.

* [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Peter Parker]] makes his living off of this trope; he pretends to be Spider-Man's friend and sells interviews and photos of himself to the ''Daily Bugle''. (Although sometimes Spidey claims to ''hate'' that kid who makes money off him.) When he starts working for Horizon Labs, he claims to be the guy who makes Spidey's gadgets, and as the CEO of Parker International, Spidey's his bodyguard (an idea which everyone who knows his secret points out he blatantly stole from Tony Stark).

* In ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'', [[spoiler:Hisashi Midoriya]] says that he works near where Firestorm operates and that he's had to deal with the New York branch of the Hasigawa Family when the topic of the Yakuza is brought up at the U.A. Culture Festival.

[[folder:Film]]

* In ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'', Ned accidentally lets spill that Peter and Spider-Man are friends in an effort to make Peter look good in front of a girl. An embarrassed Peter tries playing it off by "clarifying" he just knows him from his internship with Stark Industries. Nobody really buys it except for said girl, and even then, it's more likely that she already liked Peter and was using the Spider-Man angle to give herself an excuse to invite Peter to her party.

-->'''Stephen Colbert:''' ...though we've never been seen together. Hmmm...''[curls hair over forehead, [[ClarkKenting takes off glasses]]]''...I wonder why.

* Played for laughs in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoBatmanMovie'', where Batman claims to be Bruce Wayne's "roommate" so that he can have an excuse for Bruce's (his) adopted son Dick Grayson finding the Batcave under Wayne Mansion. Taken to it's logical extreme when he claims that he and Bruce have joint custody over Dick so that he can take Dick on a mission to the Fortress of Solitude. [[note]]Bruce Wayne '''''NEVER''''' did this in any (non-parody) continuity.[[/note]]

* Bruce Wayne often claims to have a cordial relationship with Franchise/{{Batman}} to explain why the Caped Crusader [[BruceWayneHeldHostage shows up to his rescue so often]].

* In ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'', Ned accidentally lets spill that Peter and Spider-Man are friends in an effort to make Peter look good in front of a girl. Nobody really buys it except for said girl, and even then, it's more likely that she already liked Peter and was using the Spider-Man angle to give herself an excuse to invite Peter to her party.

* [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Peter Parker]] makes his living off of this trope; he pretends to be Spider-Man's friend and sells interviews and photos of himself to the ''Daily Bugle''.

This strategy has some risks. One of the main reasons a hero wears a mask is to protect their loved ones. if the character's civilian identity pretends to ''be'' one of those loved ones, the hero's enemies will trip over each other trying to get to the civilian. It helps if the character frames the relationship as either casual or strictly professional, and informs everyone that they don't [[SecretKeeper know who the hero is beneath the mask]]. Even so, there's still a chance they could wind up on the wrong end of BruceWayneHeldHostage or IHaveYourWife.

-->-- '''Peter Parker''', discussing his relationship with Spider-Man, ''Film/SpiderMan1''

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoBatmanMovie'', Batman claims to be Bruce Wayne's "roommate" so that he can have an excuse for Bruce's (his) adopted son Dick Grayson finding the Batcave under Wayne Mansion. Taken to it's logical extreme when he claims that he and Bruce have join custody over Dick so that he can take Dick on a mission to the Fortress of Solitude.

This strategy has some risks. One of the main reasons a hero wears a mask is to protect their loved ones. if the character's civilian identity pretends to ''be'' one of those loved ones, the hero's enemies will trip over each other trying to get to the civilian. It helps if the character frames the relationship as either casual or strictly professional, and informs everyone that they don't [[SecretKeeper know who the hero is beneath the mask]]. Even so, there's still a chance they could wind up as BruceWayneHeldHostage or worse.

* Similarly, Kara uses this in ''Series/Supergirl2015''.

* Clark Kent uses this trope (as usual) in ''Series/LoisAndClark''. One episode in particular had some reporters find Superman uniforms in Clark's closet, so [[IdentityImpersonator Superman appeared alongside Clark]] (Martha took up holograms as a hobby in the episode) and explained he simply needs to keep them ''somewhere''.

* Clark Kent uses this trope (as usual) in ''Series/LoisAndClark''. One episode in particular had some reporters find Superman uniforms in Clark's closet, so [[IdentityImpersonator Superman appeared alongside Clark]] (Martha took up holograms as a hobby in the episode) and explained he simply need to keep them ''somewhere''.

See also ButHeSoundsHandsome, LovesMyAlterEgo. Compare AlterEgoActing (type 1). Contrast ActuallyIAmHim, where the character pulling the trick has no SecretIdentity to speak of, and can only fool strangers who don't recognize them.

* The book series ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' was supposedly written by the reclusive and mysterious Lemony Snicket. Daniel Handler, the real author, often makes appearances as Snicket's official "representative", maintaining the fiction that Snicket is a separate person.

See also ButHeSoundsHandsome, LovesMyAlterEgo. Contrast ActuallyIAmHim, where the character pulling the trick has no SecretIdentity to speak of, and can only fool strangers who don't recognize them.