Secret identity
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The genre with which secret identities are most associated is the American comic book. Superman is generally considered to be the first modern day superhero (while not quite the first costumed crime fighter) and his alter-ego, mild mannered reporter Clark Kent, helped popularize the secret identity throughout the medium, while sparking several trademark superhero clichés. These included the adoption of a timid persona for an everyday identity, wearing of the heroic costume beneath the character's everyday clothes, and the phrase "this looks like a job for..." when switching between identities.
As costumed crime fighters fell out of fashion in the years following World War II, comic book and pulp fiction writers increasingly relied on 'shock value' stories (most of which would be resolved as being mere daydreams or other such 'imaginary stories') to prop up flagging sales. One gimmick frequently employed was a cover or opening splash panel which promised the final exposing of a hero or heroine's secret identity. But by the time the comic book entered its renaissance in the 1960s; the secret identity was either used more intelligently (as with Spider-Man) or not used at all (as with the Fantastic Four or Wally West - the Flash in his first years as an adult). Recent times have continued this trend, with the secret identity no longer having the same level of prominence nor function as in the early days of the superhero genre.
The artistic purpose of the secret identity on the part of the writers is that it allows the characters to have ordinary lives which can allow for human drama as well as create tension with the effort needed to preserve the secret. This can include challenges such as throwing off the suspicions of associates who suspect and the need to quickly improvise means to get out of sight to change identities. It has also been argued that some superhuman characters benefit from an 'everyman' aspect to their makeup, giving them a link to their audience. A prime example being early comic book superhero Captain Marvel, whose secret identity was a mere schoolboy named Billy Batson - a deliberate attempt to play on the daydreams of a young readership. The same can be said for Peter Parker, Spider-Man's luckless teenage alter-ego.
A costumed crime fighter might refer to their alternate identity as their "nom de guerre" (literally, "name of war," an alternate usage of a French term for a pen name, "nom de plume"). More than one super villain has been punnishly referred to as having a "nom du crime".
The secret identities can be multi-layered; for example, Superman, The Shadow and Moon Knight all have real names, adopted identities and crime fighting codenames. Sometimes the distinction as to which identity is the "real" one is blurred; it has been said that Clark Kent pretends to be Superman, while Batman pretends to be Bruce Wayne rather than vice versa.
More recent superhero fiction has been turning the notion of the secret identity on its head. For example, the 2004 film Spider-Man 2 featured as sequence where the titular hero loses his face-concealing mask while saving an elevated train and all of its commuters, and subsequently passes out from the effort. When the commuters see the superhero unmasked, not only do none of them recognise him as Peter Parker, but they agree not to disclose any information about the encounter. Several reviewers of the film cited this scene as a commentary on how ideas from superhero stories, such as secret identities, are outdated and silly when applied to modern fiction.
The MMORPG City of Heroes more or less does away entirely with the concept of secret identities. For virtually every superpowered character, examples including Statesman and Positron, the real identities are either a matter of public record or well known by people at large. Little to no effort seems to be made to conceal their names.
Some of the recent superhero televisions series have also featured a twist on the traditional secret identities. For example, the superhuman protagonist of Smallville, the teenage pre-Superman Clark Kent, doesn't yet have a superhero identity that he can adopt while using his powers. Instead he uses his powers very carefully and deliberately so that most other characters don't realise that he even has any. The same is true of the protagonists of the TV series Heroes.
