Maintaining your secret identity

[soviet]

It's you.

But how do the rest of us know what wealth-resources-etc Lanefan has access to?

 

[soviet]

In terms of CCTV and so on, one thing that's quite common in the UK is for the police to show (low resolution) images of people of interest in a crime and to ask the public to identify them. Being caught on camera by itself isn't the end of the world if you're not already someone who is well known to the authorities and your friends/family don't turn you in.

 

[Morrus]

In terms of CCTV and so on, one thing that's quite common in the UK is for the police to show (low resolution) images of people of interest in a crime and to ask the public to identify them. Being caught on camera by itself isn't the end of the world if you're not already someone who is well known to the authorities and your friends/family don't turn you in.

I don't imagine it's usually friends/family and more just somebody who recognises you. Acquaintances. They don't even have to know you. A customer or a client, a checkout assistant or the plumber who unblocked your sink. The guy who works in the bakery you like to buy those croissants from, or the postal worker who delivered your eBay package. Unless you're going to go about life as a hermit without interacting with anybody, somebody will recognise you.

 

[soviet]

I don't imagine it's usually friends/family and more just somebody who recognises you. Acquaintances. They don't even have to know you. A customer or a client, a checkout assistant or the plumber who unblocked your sink. The guy who works in the bakery you like to buy those croissants from, or the postal worker who delivered your eBay package. Unless you're going to go about life as a hermit without interacting with anybody, somebody will recognise you.

Well maybe but I believe you are in the UK too. Police quite regularly seem to repeat old images and say 'we're still looking for this person, do you know who they are?'. It doesn't seem to be that great a means of finding people.

If you already are a suspect and they can match you up to an image, then that's different of course.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

It's you.

I live next to a NORAD base so flying at supersonic speed might cause a blip on the radar as I leave the continent. That said, I'm not sure they can find stuff if it's going close to the speed of light.

But then again, I suppose you can just run instead of fly and you won't trigger anything since they're patrolling the skies and not the ground. I just think with that kind of mobility, you have a lot of freedom that disguises don't have to be too elaborate.

The DNA thing mentioned might be an issue - once again- in a peaceful country where they're going to investigate that kind of thing. I'm not sure that'll happen in a war-torn country.

One question not covered in the OP is the level of wealth-resources-etc. the real-world version has, or has access to.

I feel it would be easy to get money. But it depends on your morals, I suppose.

 

[MarkB]

I live next to a NORAD base so flying at supersonic speed might cause a blip on the radar as I leave the continent. That said, I'm not sure they can find stuff if it's going close to the speed of light.

But then again, I suppose you can just run instead of fly and you won't trigger anything since they're patrolling the skies and not the ground. I just think with that kind of mobility, you have a lot of freedom that disguises don't have to be too elaborate.

Unless you're Flash and can access the Speed Force, flying or running at supersonic speeds will generate sonic booms. And while it's not commonly covered in fiction, running that fast is likely to leave a distinctive trail of fractured tarmac.

I feel it would be easy to get money. But it depends on your morals, I suppose.

That can potentially open a new can of worms. Instead of just having people trying to uncover your superheroic identity, you now also have people investigating your criminal identity. Best to try and find ways that your powers can help you earn money legitimately.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I love the idea of a small organization that's like a "reputation.com" but for superheroes instead of really rich people.

 

[rmcoen]

Lodestar's powers, from the Villain's Code series, include bending reality to protect her identity. You literally cannot learn who she is unless she specifically and voluntarily tells you - no matter how meta-brilliant you might be. And if she tells you, you can't successfully tell anyone else - they won't believe you.

Without a protection-power like that... pretty much anything else is going to eventually fail. So instead, you need a lot of money, the best lawyers in the world, and potentially such a fearsome retaliation reputation that even if someone finds out, no one f's with you or your loved ones... possibly because pieces of the last such intruder are still being found?

(Otherwise I would say "magic", because magic bends/breaks all rules, and would be way easier than any tech solution.)

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Well maybe but I believe you are in the UK too. Police quite regularly seem to repeat old images and say 'we're still looking for this person, do you know who they are?'. It doesn't seem to be that great a means of finding people.

If you already are a suspect and they can match you up to an image, then that's different of course.

You're talking about policing, though, looking for a guy who stabbed a guy outside the chippy.

The hunt for a superman wouldn't be policing of that kind. It wouldn't be "Well we went around to a couple of shops and the council's cameras and one undertrained civilian assistant (not a police officer), scrubbed through the footage once, found a few clunky images from these local cameras, from just around the time of the crime, then we never made any effort to look at footage beyond that, didn't re-check cameras days later to see if he was still in the area, nor check camera days earlier, or the like", which is how it is with policing, where budgets are limited and usually misdirected into flashy nonsense or numbers-chasing, and very limited effort is going to be expended on all but the most sensational crime.

This would be an ongoing intelligence operation with a huge amount of resources being thrown specifically at it, and that'd be entirely different.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I think it’s important to remember that while Superman is said to be “invulnerable” he’s not. He’s just very tough. He can be beaten by brute force—you just need a lot of it. He can survive one nuke, but that almost kills him. A bigger nuke, or a second nuke, would probably do it. While that is not an easy or practical solution, it is a logistical question of directing enough force at him.

And, absent kryptonite and magic, red sunlight weakens him, and he needs yellow sunlight to recharge. Those are two vectors which can be used. Again, difficult, but it’s been done many times in the comics, TV, and movies. Don’t forget that Supergirl, who is more powerful than him, was captured and imprisoned for years in that Flash film. It can be done.

I guess this raises the question though - do we have superman's general power set (common to many superheroes), or superman's exact powers and weaknesses?

Because it does change things. Once Kryptonite (specifically) and Yellow Sun/Red Sun (specifically), get into the mix, then things are much more complicated and comic-book-y because that takes it a lot further from the real world.