Secret identity

**Secret identities** are a recurring theme in the show *DC Super Hero Girls*. The Super Hero Girls have their own personal secret identitiies separate from their superhero identities, and a host of other characters keep two identities, some more separate and secret than others. The previous *DC Super Hero Girls* series did not have secret identities, and Lauren Faust, the developer of the new series, wanted to bring secret identities back so the girls "have a regular teenage life, they go to a regular school, and they are superheroes at night when they need to fight crimes." The superhero identities are used to explore metaphors of the "teenage experience."

## Knowledge of secret identities

Despite the association between the superhero identities and their personal secret identities not being common knowledge, the show depicts many opportunities for characters to associate each other's superhero identities with their personal identities:

* *Sweet Justice* - Mr Chapin sees Diana in detention in her Wonder Woman uniforms. The Super Hero Girls disclose each others' secret identities.
* *Hate Triangle* - Carol Ferris knows of the secret Green Lantern corps identities of Jessica Cruz and Hal Jordan, and they know of her secret identity as Star Sapphire.
* *Beeline* - Bumblebee overhears Harley Quinn refer to her math teacher Mr Johnson.
* *Super Who?* - Kara and Clark know each other's secret identities.
* *Shock It to Me* - Livewire takes over the online streaming channel created by Leslie Willis in front of an audience of millions.
* *From Bat to Worse* - Batgirl calls Commissioner Gordon "dad".
* *Beasts in Show* - Krypto and Ace are entered as themselves into a dog show.
* *DC Super Hero Boys* - the boys and the girls disclose each others' identities.
* *Frenemies* - the super villain girls disclose each others' identities. Babs and Harley inquire as teens about each other's injuries that they inflicted on each other as superheros.
* *Soul Sisters* - Tatsu and Diana discover each other's secret identity.
* *Rage Cat* - Dex-Starr discovers that Jess is a Green Lantern.
* *The Good the Bad and the Bizarre* - Kara and Bizarro hang out as teens and discuss their superhero identities.
* *Power Surge* - Kara tries to keep her Power Girl secret identity secret from Superman by saying she's from Earth 2.
* *Drama Queen* - Mortimer Drake announces his "secret" identify as Cavalier in front of the school theater audience.
* *Ally Cat* - Catwoman and the Super Hero Girls (except Batgirl who's away) work together on a heist in non-superhero costumes. Lauren Faust wrote on Twitter that the Super Hero Girls and Catwoman don't recognize each other on the heist because they were "stepping away from their theme colors" and that in their world "a pair of glasses" preserve secret identities. Some of the audience and even Lauren Faust's husband couldn't recognize which character is which.
* *Dinner for Five* - Mr Wilson discovers Batgirl's secret identity as the daughter of Jim Gordon. In turn, Babs discovers Mr Wilson is the assassin Deathstroke.
* *Living the Nightmare* - Fuseli discovers the Super Hero Girls' identities in their dreams.
* *All About Zee* - Casey Krinsky discovers the Super Hero Girls' identities. She shouts out the information at school, but nobody believes her.
* *Tween Titans* - the Tween Titans disclose their secret identities to Jess and Karen while staying in one of Bruce Wayne's manors.
* *Breaking News* - Lois Lane investigates the Super Hero Girls' identities. She is about to send her investigative article to the Daily Planet but deletes it after looking at articles extolling all the good the Super Hero Girls do. She decides to investigate the secret identity of Superman instead.
* *League of Shadows* - Ra's Al Ghul knows Supergirl's secret identity.
* *House Pest* - Julia Kapatelis identifies Diana as an Amazon.
* *It's Complicated* - Thaal knows that Jess and Hal are Green Lanterns.
* *Am Batgirl* - Catwoman steps out of the shadows in the secret hideout. Bumblebee asks her how she found it, which Catwoman answers with "darling please" and a wink.
* *Double Danvers* - the Danvers and their business partner watch a girl they assumed was Kara turn into Bizarro Supergirl.
* *World's Finest* - Max Lord refers to Giganta as Doris.

## References

1. ↑ Lauren Faust (January 15, 2020). DC Super Hero Girls’ Lauren Faust. Interview with Kristin Brzoznowski, TVKIDS.com
2. ↑ John Hogan (July 28, 2019). ‘DC Super Hero Girls’ EP Lauren Faust on Their Dreams & Interpersonal Conflicts. TV Insider
3. ↑ Tom McLean (March 8, 2019). Teen Girls to the Rescue: Lauren Faust Powers Up ‘DC Super Hero Girls’. Animation Magazine
4. ↑ Lauren Faust, March 9, 2020. "Just stepping away from their theme colors to try to suggest they're preserving their secret identities from Catwoman, and Catwoman from them. (It's a stretch, but in a world where a pair of glasses do the trick, we felt it worked well enough.)" Twitter