History Main / SecretChaser

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* ''Comicbook/{{Fables}}'' did this twice; once when a reporter thought all the folks of Fabletown were vampires; and planned to "out" them to the world. The second time was with Thorne, later [[spoiler:subverted because he's a Fable himself]].
* Ben Urich was this to ''Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}'', in both the comic and the movie adaptation.
* Franchise/{{Superman}}:
** UsefulNotes/{{The Silver Age|of Comic Books}} ComicBook/LoisLane would occasionally act this way around Superman, as would Comicbook/LanaLang around Comicbook/{{Superboy}}.
** Also ComicBook/JimmyOlsen.

* Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}:
** In the Silver Age, Dick Malverne. He grew up at the Midvale Orphanage during the same time that Kara Zor-El/Linda Lee/Supergirl did, and he was constantly trying to prove she had super-powers. In ''Comicbook/YoungLove'', he revealed that he always knew Linda was Supergirl, but after a while he decided to keep it a secret.
** In ''Comicbook/ActionComics #361'', a boy thought Linda Lee was Supergirl, and he pretended to be Kryptonian to goad her into revealing her secret identity.
** In ''Adventure Comics'' Nasthalthia "Nasty" Luthor -- Lex Luthor's evil niece -- enrolled at Stanhope University as a student, hoping to lure Supergirl out into the open so her uncle could kill her. Several issues later she is convinced that Linda ''is'' Supergirl and follows her to San Francisco, where both begin work as junior reporters for K-SFTV as she tries to out Linda/Kara. In ''Comicbook/DemonSpawn'' she even tries to out Supergirl while the Kryptonian heroine is trying to get her out of a burning building.

* In the comic ''ComicBook/PS238'' a school full of kid superheroes in their civilian secret identity disguises also includes the extremely paranoid Cecil Holmes, who is convinced his school is full of disguised ''aliens.''

* Tim Drake used his abilities as this to convince Franchise/{{Batman}} that he should become the next [[Comicbook/RobinSeries Robin]], though initially he was hoping to just convince Bruce that he [[MoralityPet needed a Robin]] after his downward spiral in the wake of [[DeadSidekick Jason's death]] and didn't want the job for himself.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ultimate Spider-Man}}'', Mary Jane Watson, aspiring journalist, seeks to discover Spider-Man's true identity.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'', Jet's next door neighbor Mitchell tries to find proof that the Propulsions are aliens.

* ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'': Sayoko noticed how there is something off about Belldandy, and goes to great lengths to uncover her secret. Of course, since Belldandy is a Goddess who CannotTellALie, she simply tells Sayoko the truth. Sayoko never believes her and continues her schemes.

* ''FanFic/LeaveForMendeleiev'':

* ''FanFic/LeaveForMendeleiev'' has [[WesternAnimation/{{MiraculousLadybug}} Alya]] determined to figure out and reveal Ladybug's SecretIdentity. One of her primary defenses for her behavior is that there's several ''American'' superheroes who operate without secret identities; therefore, she insists that [[LogicalFallacy Ladybug should be fine with]] ''her'' identity being public knowledge. The fact that Ladybug clearly doesn't consent and has several very good reasons to keep her identity safe is lost upon her.
** Chat Noir ''also'' feels entitled to Ladybug's secrets due to their partnership. Despite her insistence on the importance of keeping their identities safe, he brazenly ignores her wishes, openly trying to mine and pry into whatever she says for any clues. After all, [[EntitledToHaveYou they're meant to be together]], so far as he's concerned, so why does she keep denying him?
** Over time, Alya [[CharacterDevelopment gradually improves]], as she [[HeelRealization comes to realize]] that she was fixated on the wrong thing and rechannels her energy into a better venue: pursuing ''Hawkmoth's'' true identity. Adrien, meanwhile, only gets worse, [[IgnoredEpiphany brushing aside]] all warnings until [[spoiler:his attempt to blackmail Plagg into spilling what he knows causes him to lose the ring]].

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* Jack [=McGee=] from the TV show ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk''.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "The Coon", Cartman spends most of the episode trying to find out who Mysterion is. He finally succeeds in having him unmasked when he convinces him that villains would continue to threaten the town unless he revealed himself. But the audience doesn't find out who it was until a later episode. [[spoiler: It was Kenny and he is effectively immortal; waking up the next day after he dies and no one remembers his death.]] Also everyone figures that The Coon is just Bruce Vilanch.

* The ''WesternAnimation/ChalkZone'' episode "Hole in the Wall" featured Vinnie Raton, who discovers [=ChalkZone=] and decides he wants to turn it into a theme park to become rich. Also, the episode "Indecent Exposure" has news reporter, Terry Bouffant, discovering [=ChalkZone=] and dedicating her life to exposing it to the public. Her obsession even unsettles Vinnie at one point.

** Super Goof should be easy to figure out, given [[ClarkKenting he's Goofy in long red underwear and blue cape]]... But as everyone is in denial, only his nephew Gilbert, his grandmother and Mickey know. HilarityEnsues every time someone tries to find out, with the Beagle Boys once being more willing to believe ''[[Disney/PeterPan Captain Hook]]'' was Super Goof rather than Goofy (later in that story, when a recently repaired supercomputer flat-out reveals that Goofy is Super Goof, [[CassandraTruth they and O'Hara conclude it was still damaged from Super Goof's earlier sabotage]], and they declare ''Tinkerbell'' as a more likely candidate).

* Notably absent in ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'', much to the surprise of everyone.
** Until Brad showed up.
* Sergeant Doakes from Series/{{Dexter}}.
** Detective Quinn becomes one as he starts to get suspicious about Dexter. However, he has secrets of his own and the closer he gets to the truth the less willing he is to pursue it further.

* Elton Pope (and the rest of LINDA) from the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Love and Monsters".
* Eugene Jones from the ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' episode "Random Shoes" (after his death, Gwen ended up investigating ''him'').

* In ''Series/PushingDaisies'', [[spoiler: Oscar Vibinius]] eventually ends up as one of these.

* Lois Lane in the LiveActionTV series ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman''.

** The first season also had reporter Roger Nixon, who Lex hired to investigate Clark Kent.
* This is basically Vince and Dave's ''job'' in ''Series/TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack''. When Dave finds out later on his own, he realizes that Danielle Atron and Vince are horrible people and becomes a SecretSecretKeeper in relation to Alex.

* ''FanFic/LeaveForMendeleiev'' has Alya determined to figure out and reveal Ladybug's SecretIdentity. One of her primary defenses for her behavior is that there's several ''American'' superheroes who operate without secret identities; therefore, she insists that [[LogicalFallacy Ladybug should be fine with]] ''her'' identity being public knowledge. The fact that Ladybug clearly doesn't consent and has several very good reasons to keep her identity safe is lost upon her.

** Paperinik's secret identity as Donald Duck is defended only by a DominoMask... And his well-known abilities as a MasterOfDisguise who has openly disguised himself as Donald multiple times (indeed, an early story before said abilities became well known had the entire city ''sure'' he was Paperinik, at least until [[IdentityImpersonator they saw a robotic Paperinik flying over them while Donald was in the open]]). Thus many a one-shot character tried to find out, with Gladstone and especially Scrooge joining the fun from time to time, only to be fooled by Paperinik's tricks (one of which had Paperinik being supposedly hit by radiations that temporarily gave him a beard impossible to shave-and Donald going out of his way to hide his chin just to have Scrooge take a fake bear from his face).

* Jack [=McGee=] from the TV show ''TheIncredibleHulk''.

Occassionally, the character will have had an obsession with the supernatural ''before'' they meet the protagonist. They may be a danger that comes from the outside -- HunterOfMonsters, an InspectorJavert or the IntrepidReporter.

* Ben Urich was this to ''Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}''; in both the comic and the movie adaptation.

** Played for black comedy in a one page story in an old superman comic: Clark is reading a book at the Daily planet when suddenly Louis Lane falls from a window. He rescues her without changing his clothes as Clark. Then she tells him this was the only way she would make sure Superman is Clark Kent. Next panel we see another reporter talking to Clark again reading a book:

Yes... she fall out of a window.

** In ''Adventure Comics'' Nasthalthia "Nasty" Luthor -Lex Luthor's evil niece- enrolled at Stanhope University as a student, hoping to lure Supergirl out into the open so her uncle could kill her. Several issues later she is convinced that Linda ''is'' Supergirl and follows her to San Francisco, where both begin work as junior reporters for K-SFTV as she tries to out Linda/Kara. In ''Comicbook/DemonSpawn'' she even tries to out Supergirl while the Kryptonian heroine is trying to get her out of a burning building.

* In the second season of ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers,'' Bulk and Skull became obsessed with discovering the Rangers' true identities.

** Paperinik's secret identity as Donald Duck is defended only by a DominoMask... And his well-known abilities as a MasterOfDisguise who has openly disguised himself as Donald multiple times (indeed, an early story before said abilities became well known had the entire city ''sure'' he was Paperinik, at least until they saw a robotic Paperinik flying over them while Donald was in the open). Thus many a one-shot character tried to find out, with Gladstone and especially Scrooge joining the fun from time to time, only to be fooled by Paperinik's tricks (one of which had Paperinik being supposedly hit by radiations that temporarily gave him a beard impossible to shave-and Donald going out of his way to hide his chin just to have Scrooge take a fake bear from his face).

* Dr.Denman from H2O: Just Add Water, In the episode "Something Fishy", Cleo's sister Kim tries to prove that the girls are mermaids.