I’m also a fan of Clark. While it may be considered an old trope, it’s still effective. As a Superman fan, believe me, I’ve had this conversation many times:
Most people don’t know or assume Superman would have a secret identity. They assume he’s Superman 24/7. We know he has one because, as the audience we’re privy to it. To the people in the streets in Metropolis, unless they’re connected to a superhero, they’re not aware of secret identities.
It also helps that Clark and Superman have been seen at the same place at the same time thanks to robots or shapeshifters. So even if people were to suspect, seeing the two together throws it off.
Considering we live in a world where everyone is trying to look like someone famous, adopting certain looks, if people saw Clark on the street and thought he looked like Superman, they’d probably just assume he was trying to look like him on purpose. Look at all the Kardashian wannabes out there.
Finally, I’ll always remember that issue of Superman where Lex uses the most advanced computer to deduce who Superman really is. The computer correctly names Clark Kent and Lex doesn’t believe it; he thinks if Superman had another identity, it would be someone of power, not a reporter and blames a “faulty” machine.
Like I said, I’ve had this conversation many a time lol
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Jim Corrigan / Spectre. Who would think and believe he’s a dead man?
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Jim Corrigan / Spectre. Who would think and believe he’s a dead man?
This is kinda the opposite of the question, but I just realized again just how fast people would probably figure out that Barry is the Flash. Especially with him being late everywhere
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But he had been late even before he became the flash, so it won’t really warrant suspicions
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I think Alfred has the best Secret Identity I mean, I don’t think anyone knows that he is the Joker! or that he killed the Wayne’s and this is all a sick game to him.
Your welcome Scott Snyder, feel free to use this plot twist in your stories. just give me a shout out. 
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That is a very interesting theory, @Aquamon.
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I have the weirdest names coming to mind, but I can’t help but think of Swamp Thing, Hush, Orphan, Silencer, Etrigan, and the entirety of the Court of Owls.
These either have the craziest transformations, or they have the littlest known about them in their personal lives that it doesn’t matter who they are in real life.
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Probably Jack Ryder, I’d never guess the guy on the news was a crazy person with green hair running around in a scarf fighting crime.
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Phantom Stranger honestly because he is so mysterious.
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@BatmanSwagger178 Most of those I don’t consider only because they don’t have secret identities in the sense they have a second life they lead with it. Although others mileage may vary.
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There are so many awesome answers here! I think, personally, I’d have to agree with many others that Shazaam has a pretty iron-clad secret identity. At least, as far as being visually identified goes. He’s not nearly as careful with his secret as he could be, honestly.
I am actually going to throw out a weird one here, but I think Batman’s secret identity is pretty good.
Sure, Batman had to be connected to riches and that narrows the pool, but Gotham usually has a pretty sizeable upper class. It’s not like Bruce is the only absurdly wealthy person in the city. Also, if I lived in Gotham, I’d be a lot more inclined to believe that Batman was funded by someone who is extremely wealthy, rather than believe Batman himself is a billionaire.
Bruce uses expectations to his advantage. He’s always busy in his day to day life, always dating, and lets the world view him as someone who is well-meaning but out of touch and a little selfish.
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Superman has been portraying Clark Kent for a very long time, and the woman who spends more time with him than anyone else on the planet is fooled by his (super?) cunning and is still completely fooled.
I’d call Clark Kent the best secret identity in the DC Universe.
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That easy ambush bug (Me)
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Honestly i was thinking about this watching young justice again. Why didnt cadmus remove their masks when they put them in the tube for cloning? Because it didnt matter. They would be just some kid. The only reason robin would matter is the connection to bruce wayne. But if bruce wayne had no public connection with dick greyson, then who would ever know who dick greyson is in his robin days? The secret identity doesnt really matter, opposed to the public identity. All that matters is “this is robin”
So if you apply that to the other younger kids then for the most part who cares who they are in their day to day. Because why would it matter if someone found out what kid flash looks like if wally west is so insignificant in the public eye?
Exactly like when lex switches bodies with the flash, and when he goes to look says “i have no idea who this is”
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All valid and interesting points Nighthood. Although I was meaning believable in terms of keeping their friends from catching on. Obviously most if their enemies unmasked them with no kind of media coverage would not be recognised.
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Best would arguably be those where you are talking about shape shifters or the hero otherwise being completely different from the human.
But, for those that have just a mask, glasses, etc to hide behind, Superman does a good job of pulling it off in the comics and Reeve movies, but for Lois Lane not to notice after being so close to both is not so believable. In the original Superman movies, Christopher Reeve did a great job making the two appear very different. It’s not just the glasses and I think the comics do that some as well. It wasn’t impressive at all in Man of Steel or Batman v Superman. Someone who met both should see through it immediately there as it is just the glasses. For the world at large, though most wouldn’t know what both look like so it would be largely safe until someone really took a hard look. The best defense for Superman, as has been noted though, is why would he have a secret identity? But again, Man of Steel movie fell very flat here. Superman admits to the general he grew up in Kansas at the end of the movie - - not long after a huge fight of Superman and Kryptonians in Smallville, KS. So Superman destroyed the multimillion dollar drone following him only to clue the general in to exactly where to start looking into his past right after that. facepalm.
Batman does a good job of contrasting his two personas but there are just too many ways to tie Batman back to Bruce Wayne with all those wonderful toys for it to hold all that long in the real world, but it’s also apparent in the movies (Suicide Squad) that there are people in government who know exactly who he is and give him a pass.
In the real world, it would be extraordinarily tough to have a secret identity unless the world at large has no reason to expect you to have one. Batman, Flash, etc hiding behind masks immediately clue the world in the fact that there likely is another identity and it likely wouldn’t take long for people in the age of the internet and DNA to find them. Superman paradoxically works better because he doesn’t wear a mask so the assumption would be he’s always Superman.
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Gotta go with Batman because he could just buy all the news outlets and pay anyone else off that tries to reveal his secret identity
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