Secret Identities in Fiction

Topic

Obviously when we think of secret identities we naturally think of super heroes, but the idea of a secret identity pre-dates the super hero as we know them today.

What I’m trying to figure out is, who was the first person in literature with a secret identity? The earliest I can think of was the Scarlet Pimpernel (1905). Does anyone have an earlier example?

I’m excluding people who adopted simple disguises (e.g. Sherlock Holmes counts when sleuthing about). That’s not something we would call a secret identity in the classic sense.

I don’t think Robin Hood counts either. Even though he adopted a new name and distinctive costume and nobody knew who he was, which are hallmarks of a secret identity, he didn’t lead a dual life as Robin Hood by night, Earl of Loxley (or whatever, depending on the version) by day, which I would say is also a key requirement. Robin Hood wasn’t a secret identity, it was just a new identity.

So I’m stumped for examples earlier than the Scarlet Pimpernel, but I can’t believe there aren’t any.

Replies

Does Dr. Jekyll count as a secret identity?

1 user thanked author for this post.

DavidM

What about Odin, posing as a wanderer and telling tales of the Gods, playing tricks on kings and courts?

1 user thanked author for this post.

DavidM

My knee-jerk reaction to this kind of question is usually “Shakespeare”, but all the examples that spring to mind from Shakespeare really fall into the “simple disguises” category.

The Importance Of Being Earnest (1895) has a more fully-formed secret identity with Ernest/Jack living a true double life in the country and the city, but maybe not in the swashbuckling sense that you’re talking about.

1 user thanked author for this post.

DavidM

Anonymous wrote:

What about Odin, posing as a wanderer and telling tales of the Gods, playing tricks on kings and courts?

Gods did that kind of shit all the time. Zeus loved it.

3 users thanked author for this post.

DavidM, Todd

Yeah, they’re kind of similar in that respect, but Zeus disguised himself as all manner of beasts and men. In Norse mythology and tales thereof, Odin often has one specific human form he uses to traverse midgard. A role which is like a separate identity, more than the many disguises Zeus pulls.

Or am I wrong here?

2 users thanked author for this post.

garjones, DavidM

Well if you’re not accepting stuff like Robin Hood, or say the Count of Monte Cristo, then yeah, the Scarlet Pimpernel is probably the first one. I was gonna say Zorro, but that was a bit later.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Yeah, I looked at Zorro too but it was a bit after.

Although, now that I think about it… if we’re talking about villains, there’s a case to be made for characters like Jeckyll/Hyde or Dracula… or even someone like Jack the Ripper, because when commiting a crime, you’re more likely to disguise yourself, and therefore have a secret identity by default. So I’m sure there are a lot of much earlier instances of villains having that type of alter-egos.

Did Dracula have a secret identity..?

Yes, Gary Oldman.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

Jon wrote:

Well if you’re not accepting stuff like Robin Hood, or say the Count of Monte Cristo, then yeah, the Scarlet Pimpernel is probably the first one. I was gonna say Zorro, but that was a bit later.

The Count of Monte Cristo 1844 is the prototype of the secret identity of an “agent of vengeance” against the unjust and wicked. However, you see many of the same elements in Jean Valjean from Les Miserables 1862.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

I definitely wouldn’t class Robin Hood as a secret identity. The ballads naming him as the Earl of Loxley and whatnot are later than most of the others, one of which even describes his birth and has him named “Robin Hood” from the off. His use of disguises and false identities is more akin to a trickster god than Batman or whoever.

Steve Sensible wrote:

Does Dr. Jekyll count as a secret identity?

If Bruce Banner does, then yes. Good call

2 users thanked author for this post.

Steve Sensible

Anonymous wrote:

The Count of Monte Cristo 1844 is the prototype of the secret identity of an “agent of vengeance” against the unjust and wicked. However, you see many of the same elements in Jean Valjean from Les Miserables 1862.

I considered Monte Cristo, but I don’t think he satisfies the “dual life” criteria. If Edmond Dantès remained supposedly chained up in prison while secretly sneaking out occasionally to do good deeds as the Count, it’s a secret identity. But he doesn’t do that, instead Dantès ceases to exist, to be replaced by the Count of Monte Cristo.

I hadn’t thought of Jean Valjean, but would discount him for the same reason.

1 user thanked author for this post.

In the Book of Genesis, Satan takes the secret identity of a serpent to trick Eve into eating an apple. I’m pretty sure that book came out before The Scarlet Pimpernel of The Count of Monte Cristo. Pretty sure…

3 users thanked author for this post.

garjones, DavidM

Steve Sensible wrote:

Did Dracula have a secret identity..?

Well I’m assuming he always uses the same human form as a disguise… so it’s sort of like a reverse secret identity, but yeah, kind of…

I suppose it depends on what you consider his true persona to be… does he turn into a monster(s) to hunt? Or does he turn into a human to blend in? But he result seems to be the same at any rate in that he uses a disguise either way.

 

1 user thanked author for this post.

DavidM

njerry wrote:

In the Book of Genesis, Satan takes the secret identity of a serpent to trick Eve into eating an apple. I’m pretty sure that book came out before The Scarlet Pimpernel of The Count of Monte Cristo. Pretty sure…

Well, back when it was written, the serpent wasn’t Satan, it was just a serpent (or the serpent). The idea of Satan as God’s antagonist is an invention of the early Christians, and the idea of the serpent being Satan originated somewhere in the Middle Ages.

…not that that’s not still pretty early. Just sayin’.

Christian wrote:

Well, back when it was written, the serpent wasn’t Satan, it was just a serpent (or the serpent). The idea of Satan as God’s antagonist is an invention of the early Christians, and the idea of the serpent being Satan originated somewhere in the Middle Ages.

So they invented the secret identity and the retcon?

7 users thanked author for this post.

Uncle Retrospective, Christian, Rocket, DavidM, njerry, Todd

DavidM wrote:

I considered Monte Cristo, but I don’t think he satisfies the “dual life” criteria. If Edmond Dantès remained supposedly chained up in prison while secretly sneaking out occasionally to do good deeds as the Count, it’s a secret identity. But he doesn’t do that, instead Dantès ceases to exist, to be replaced by the Count of Monte Cristo. I hadn’t thought of Jean Valjean, but would discount him for the same reason.

That’s a good point. In that case, I’d have to say the American idea began with THE CLANSMAN the popular novel and play that was  contemporary with the Scarlet Pimpernel and predated Zorro. It was the basis of the classic silent film THE BIRTH OF A NATION.

The Clansman | The Patron Saint of Superheroes (wordpress.com)

But the Scarlet Pimpernel lacks one of the superhero’s most defining characteristics. He has no costume, no repeating physical representation. He is only a name and a series of ordinary disguises. (He’s also remarkably non-violent, preferring to deter an enemy with a snuff box of pepper than a blow to the jaw.)

Another historical novel published in 1905 offers a more convincing (though disturbing) predecessor to the modern superhero. Thomas Dixon’s The Clansman is a fancifully offensive portrayal of the KKK as a heroic band of Southern patriots battling the corruption of Northern tyranny. They are also the first 20th century dual identity costumed heroes in American literature.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Todd, DavidM

Well, that’s depressing.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Christian wrote:

Well, that’s depressing.

You expect too much out of history. It’s all bad all the time.

Another interesting variation on the secret identity theme is the German Dr. Mabuse. First appearing in a 1921 novel but made much more famous in film, it is difficult to pin down the identity of the villain as he is almost an incorporeal spirit rather than a disguised mastermind.

Also, earlier than most candidates, there is also the story of The Spring-Heeled Jack who around the same time as Jack the Ripper and earlier even had plays and penny dreadfuls written about him where he is a nobleman cheated out of his inheritance who becomes the Jack as a kind of Robin Hood like vigilante/brigand. So it does fit the alter ego element of the secret identity trope since by day he is the nobleman and by night The Jack.

2 users thanked author for this post.

DavidM, Christian

Anonymous wrote:

a heroic band of Southern patriots battling the corruption of Northern tyranny.

I have a bunch of friends who are into Military History and replay battles with miniatures. They used to travel to play these re enactments but they stopped going south a long time ago because all the southern reenactors wanted to do was replay Civil War battles but change the outcome so that the South won. Southerners have refused to accept the South lost for over a century and now their descendants refuse to accept Trump lost. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

3 users thanked author for this post.

Todd, Christian