What's the point of a secret identity?

That would be…weird.

I’m not weird.

:wink: Ah, I see what you did there.

Haha, Did you almost thought I was serious?

Almost. 8D

I thought so. 8D Sorry.

That’s okay.

What did I miss? :question:

We were discussing your question about a secret identity for your secret identity.

and she think’s it’s weird.

I don’t know what I was thinking when I asked that. Maybe an extra layer of identities would be a little complex.

Yeah, maybe.

Personally I think Metroman from Megamind could (if used in fanfiction) even be a good posterboy for why secret identies are good- he wouldn’t have a normal life to escape to after all if as a kid he was flying around and showing off. He’d just really be a symbol and in some (hilarious) cut footage he seems to do EVERYTHING from opening pickle jars to doing the policeforce’s jobs. That would drive anyone insane. The fantastic 4 were mentioned and their fans- as were villians hurting their loved ones.

Also there’s the aspect of this specific part of superhero life on other media: superhero insurance.

I mean yeah, I guess it didn’t help in the Incredibles case, but let’s face it, superhero battles are dangerous things- things get wrecked, innocent bystanders can be killed because you made the wrong call etc.

Personally I kind of am interested in the idea of that going overboard in some respects and it’s something I’d like to see explored (any suggestions?). I mean we get a lot of media of people treating superheroes poorly to begin with, but what if it went in the other direction- and they got away with too much? I mean to say a superhero it seems in some media has the coverance of being like a soldier in a warzone but in a civilian area a lot of the time. They can’t be charged with manslaughter or negligence in a lot of the classic stories (granted it’s never brought UP in the old classic superhero stories). But in the Incredibles world- the government knows who they are so could hold them accountable to some degree by the law without revealing their identities to the public it seems.

The consequences of this could be interesting (supers having too much power initially in the Incredibles before some law changed probably prior to Mr.I saving the suicidal man), especially if someone lost a loved one because of it and vowed it would never happen to anyone else and wanted ‘more control’ over superheroes as a result. It would be very understandable.

Heck if someone wanted to explore it in a fanfic, it might be an interesting prequel to the Incredibles- one of the politicians first for superhero control having had a loved one killed because of a superheroes recklessness (or has heard far too many people with similar stories) when defeating a villian. It would certainly explain a lot and would be an easily understandable position for people to take. There was also I believe additional information in the movie (the files?) about a superhero bigoted towards normal people and felt ‘entitled’. That sort of thing is dangerous even in normal people. For someone who can set you on fire with merely a thought it’s even worse.

I just don’t think everyone who would be against superheroes could be ‘evil’ or jealous or what have you. (Which was really an implication I didn’t care for in the movie- as if saying normal people against supers are merely petty or jealous. I still like the movie. But still.) I just really don’t think, to be realistic, the worst someone could get from a super making a bad call in a fight or rescue attempt would be minor injuries, nor was Mr.I the first to MAKE what they believed to be a bad call or it was even HIS first bad call (I mean come on Dash is 10 and Violet 13 and it seems allowed to fight, they’re going to make mistakes, and so do adults for that matter)- instead bad calls could involve serious permanent injuries and even death and perhaps a complete loss of livelihood (if insurance companies are really all that bad as they are in the movie). Their powers do add an extra dimension to the whole thing and can cause more damage if they’re not careful- sometimes even IF they’re careful. It’s not fair really to the supers either, because genuine mistakes and difficult calls have to be made, but there you go. The people they hurt still have the right to be mad, especially if it couyld have been avoided if they’d thought it through. (It doesn’t apply perhaps specifically to Mr.I’s case though in the movie, given the fact there was a BOMB on a kid so time was of the essence- but it’s just an interesting angle really).

Superheroes would need secret identities from yes ‘bad people’ they locked up and fans, but also perhaps simply normal people who they accidentally burned along the way and they didn’t even perhaps mean to harm. Even if in the case of charges being aquitted there would still be people who are bitter and want to take the law into their own hands. And honestly while I wouldn’t agree with the idea of killing someone in the name of revenge the desire would be certainly understandable.

I mean I guess it’s the thing with striking the right balance and what’s best for everyone overall. I’m guessing supers STILL can be sued to a degree after the movie- but while there would obviously be more leniance than the average person it would be necessary not the let them get away with too much lest they get careless or power-mad.

That would be funny! If there is an Incredibles 2, there should be a character like that.

That character would take confusing to a whole new level.

Is guess the point is to stop villians from attacking them 24/7 : :slight_smile:

That, and secrety identities are just kewl.

Not all. Ever seen Superman’s? His is kinda lame.

What whould happen if all superheros are really evil but they seen good cause were evil too?

I know what you mean. And also what are the masks are going to do. You can still recognize the hair and the eye colour.