A secret identity is an element of fiction wherein a character develops a separate persona (usually adopting a pseudonym), while keeping their true identity hidden. The character also may wear a disguise (ranging from makeup or a mask, to a complete costume). A character may have several types of secret identities simultaneously (such as adopted names, pen names, undercover identities, and crime fighting codenames).
Famous quotes containing the words secret and/or identity:
“There saw I how the secret felon wrought,
And treason labouring in the traitor’s thought,
And midwife Time the ripened plot to murder brought.”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)
“So long as the source of our identity is external—vested in how others judge our performance at work, or how others judge our children’s performance, or how much money we make—we will find ourselves hopelessly flawed, forever short of the ideal.”
—Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)