Maintaining your secret identity

[MGibster]

The question(s):

1. How long can you keep your identity secret against what we assume are the full resources of your nation (or indeed the world)? What methods do you employ, and what likely defeats you (if anything)?

I don't imagine I could keep my identity a secret for very long. The government, and others, are going to keep track of Super-Gibster sightings. After a while, they're absolutely going to narrow down where I hang my cape.

2. If your cover is blown, what realistically happens to you, and how long can you prevent/avoid whatever that is?

I'm a Superman tier individual. Realistically, what can anyone do to me? Is someone going to think it's a good idea to threaten my family? Is the US government going to come after me? (Eh, that might be a question better left unasked these days.)

I'll be happy to help out with my powers, not just because that's the premise of this thread, but odds are I'm going to try to make a living. Maybe move to Colorado and charge tourists $500 for a ten minute flight through the mountains.

 

[Celebrim]

One of the hardest things about being a superhero is one of the things they almost never worry about - being at the right place at the right time to actually do good with a power set that is heavily focused on "beats people up good". The truth is if you were just doing the Batman thing and hanging around for a crime to happen, you could hang around your whole life and never be in position to stop a mugging. Even with the Superman power set, at best you could punish a mugging every once and a while by listening in on the police radio or some such, but if its on the police radio things are probably going to get largely taken care of without you.

So I can't actually answer this question because it's outside the rules of the forums to do so.

Suffice to say that I think with the Superman power set I could keep my identity a secret for a good long while because I don't think being a Super hero would look anything like the comic books and I think that any government, even once with something like the NSA would have a hard time figuring out my motives, whereabouts, or center of operations if I didn't want them to do so. And yes, this assumes that I would use my powers for good and that I'd be compelled to do so in public.

 

[Clint_L]

Well a sweet mask, gloves, latex suit and what not to lessen the DNA I leave behind.

Dude, you don't have to justify wanting to wear a sweet mask, latex suit and whatnot. We support your choices!

With a Superman power set, I think you could keep your identity secret as long as you wanted. You can move at just under the speed of light (depending on which version we are looking at).

Which is probably a good thing, if like Supes you didn't immigrate legally...

 

[overgeeked]

I'm certainly not going to be able to maintain my secret identity for very long. Especially if I'm doing good things with my powers.

Yeah, that's the crux of it. In a world this evil, actually doing good would bring the full weight of the world down on you. Given Superman's powers, it wouldn't matter.

We have Superman comics where he takes nuclear blasts and survives. Nothing in any country's arsenal is going to put a dent in him. The only thing that could stop him would be kryptonite, magic, and going after his loved ones. Which would be the first thing the governments of the world would do.

Protect your secret ID or all your friends and family will be kidnapped and sent to black sites and tortured until you stop doing good. But then, with Superman's powers, you could just track them down and free them in a few seconds.

Juggalo makeup. Whoop whoop!

Anything that's not symmetrical really messes up facial recognition. If you have Facebook or similar you've probably already uploaded more than enough photos of yourself that an “AI” could slap whatever face paint you try onto the images and find you fairly easy.

But you'd also have to contend with all the other biometric data the government and various corporations have on you. Not to mention how easy it is to track cell phones. Better watch a lot of true crime and get an understanding of physical evidence real quick. Leave a couple of hairs or skin cells behind and all the rest won't matter.

Unless your invulnerability extends to your outfit, you're going to lose chunks of fabric every time you get into a fight. Won't take long to track you if you're buying red and blue spandex in bulk.

(Yes, I watch too much true crime and read too many mystery novels.)

 

[aco175]

I think the only way to pull it off nowadays is to have a complete double that maintains your "normal" identity when you're off being super. From there, the game is hiding the double when you're being a normal person.

Like in the movie The Prestige.

To the OP, I guess I would just do this every time someone found me out.

 

[bloodtide]

1. How long can you keep your identity secret against what we assume are the full resources of your nation (or indeed the world)? What methods do you employ, and what likely defeats you (if anything)?

Well, luckily Superman has a lot of nearly endless but helpful powers. Like the Kiss of Forgetfulness or the even more vague "mental powers". Plus Superman has science/technology like a billion years more advanced then 21st century Earth.

With all that, you could stay secret no problem. The mental ability is confuse people, control minds, erase memories, and such would be very helpful. You could fine tune peoples minds to what you want them to remember.

With Literal Super Tech you could have a MIB Neurlizer type device say like on your skin or clothing. Or a living nano tech virus that would watch and scrub all computers and things online.

And this does not even mention that one of Supermans many many powers is shapechanging, so he can alter his facial features.

Without all of the above, like if you were "just" Spiderman, it might be best just to meet with the government.....

2. If your cover is blown, what realistically happens to you, and how long can you prevent/avoid whatever that is?

The bad guys, including the government, will come after your family. Guess you'd be luck to be sent to a black box lab for experiments. Maybe just made into a secret enforcer type..

 

[DammitVictor]

Yeah, that's the crux of it. In a world this evil, actually doing good would bring the full weight of the world down on you. Given Superman's powers, it wouldn't matter.

I actually meant that if I were doing good and helpful things with my powers, I'd out myself in a matter of days. I don't need validation the way other people do, but I gloat.

Whereas if I could resist the temptations of heroism-- which I really couldn't-- and just stuck to being a bastard, the other bastards would keep it a secret for me. Problem is, my nobler impulses are a lot harder to control than my darker ones, and I have a hell of a lot less practice.

Protect your secret ID or all your friends and family will be kidnapped and sent to black sites and tortured until you stop doing good. But then, with Superman's powers, you could just track them down and free them in a few seconds.

That's the sort of plan that makes a lot of sense when you're dealing with a basically powerless political activist. I'm sure it would make a lot of sense to certain people in the fuzzy grey area between law enforcement, military intelligence, and organized crime.

Someone with Superman's power would not need to raise their hand or their voice to convince someone higher up the food chain that it's a strategic error when dealing with someone who can call an instant press conference by grabbing a news helicopter.

 

[jian]

In practical terms, you first need to limit your recognisability in public as much as possible. So a full body suit with a mask covering your entire face (and preferably changing the shape of your head) is essential, and preferably something changing your voice that doesn’t require constant effort (such as hyper-vibrating your larynx or something). This also reduces the amount of DNA you drop around the place.

You then need to limit how you’re tracked entering and leaving your home or neighbourhood and target areas such as other continents. Unless you travel well in excess of Mach 10 all the time, this is very difficult - military systems will be able to track you. Memorising a map of sensor territories may help but this is extremely challenging. If you frequently leave and return to New York while fighting natural disasters in Australia and Brazil regularly, you’re going to get tracked. Assuming you don’t want to give up your human life and camp at the North Pole for the rest of your life, and also don’t want to sonic boom your home city on an hourly basis, this is probably your biggest problem.

I therefore think it’s actually best to go Batman and be as much of an urban myth as possible. No costume, no long-term interventions, just turn up unexpectedly and blow out the wildfire and then leave before anyone knows you’re there. Assuming you’re the world’s only superhero, nobody is going to take the idea of a supersonic flying man seriously. However, assuming you persist in being a superhero, it’s only a matter of time before you’re spotted, and then it’s only a matter of time before you’re identified. Prepare yourself and your family for this.

 

[Maxperson]

This. So much modern tech makes the classic "secret identity" harder all the time. Cameras are everywhere. Facial recognition software gets better and better.

That's why you wear a costume.

 

[Maxperson]

One of the hardest things about being a superhero is one of the things they almost never worry about - being at the right place at the right time to actually do good with a power set that is heavily focused on "beats people up good". The truth is if you were just doing the Batman thing and hanging around for a crime to happen, you could hang around your whole life and never be in position to stop a mugging. Even with the Superman power set, at best you could punish a mugging every once and a while by listening in on the police radio or some such, but if its on the police radio things are probably going to get largely taken care of without you.

Remember, Superman has super hearing and hears people being mugged in the moment. He hears the struggle or cries for help and can be there in a fraction of a second. He'd be present to stop a whole lot.