The Secret Life

Wow, what a week it has been here in Paragon City. First, there were the stories about the continued heightened tensions between many of the city's heroes and the Crey security forces, and then the story about the kidnapping of The Blue Eagle's fiance by the Vahzilok and the horrible things that they did to her. My sentiments go out to the Eagle and to Sharon's family, and I know that he appreciates all of the sorrow that readers and the rest of the city have expressed.

That brings me to the subject of secret identities. Several people have mentioned to me over the years how odd it is that so many heroes fight crime under sometimes silly names. Some have actually suggested that it shouldn't be done, that these heroes for some reason or another must have something to hide.

The truth of the matter is that there are a lot of reasons why heroes use a different name when they're fighting crime. Most of the time, it is pretty simple: they are facing powerful enemies, and some degree of anonymity is needed to protect one's family and friends. It is the same reason that many police officers work under cover, a practice that is readily endorsed and easily understood.

Sometimes a secret identity is not really secret at all. I am a good example: The News Man is a nickname I picked up in high school because of my dedication to the school paper and my desire to become a journalist, and it has stuck ever since. I do not hide my real name, however, because it used to be rather difficult to get clearance into press conferences while using an alias.

Sometimes there are other reasons to use an identity other than one's real name. For example, not too long ago, I was working on some missions with a demon girl called the Plasma Imp. Over the comm channel, we just called her Imp, short and simple. It would have been a lot harder if we had to use her actual name because there are a couple of sounds in it that the human voice is incapable of reproducing. It cannot be written because there are no letters for that sound, and in fact, she said that it cannot even be written here in her native language because the script is three-dimensional. And I thought that English was tough to learn when I was a kid!

Now I know that you have probably at some time wondered what some handsome or beautiful hero's real name is, and you are not alone. There have been recent movements in the City Council to try to require all heroes to register with the city, including divulging personal information and secret identities. I think this is a horrible mistake because, as recent events have shown, there is a lot of risk associated with some heroes' identities being publicized, and the city would have a very difficult time guaranteeing the security of the registration information. It is a little known fact that all of the city government's computer systems are provided by Crey Industries, and given the sometimes high-profile political battles fought between Crey and some of the city's reputable heroes, I am very hesitant to trust these heroes' secret identities to these computers. Even if we give Crey the benefit of a doubt and assume that everything the company does is honest and above-board, there have been too many instances of rogue groups within the corporation to trust such sensitive information to them. If we truly want to continue trusting our heroes to protect the city, we should at least trust them to protect their name. I would rather have a city full of anonymous heroes than risk having one more incident such as The Blue Eagle has recently experienced happen again.

If the City Council succeeds in passing their resolution, it would have the affect of either discouraging the good heroes in our city from fighting crime or encouraging heroes to freelance under different identities. As an extreme example, a really good friend of mine is a heroine named Emperyl. She is a shapechanger and has fought crime as about every variation of girl there is. Once, she even snuck into a freakshow hideout as none other than Clamor herself. Anyway, she tells me that if the City Council presses on with this registration effort, she will simply do her best Lynda Carter impersonation for the official files and change into someone else whenever she hits the streets. Although most heroes do not have the luxury of being able to completely change their appearance, they can do almost the same thing by using masks, wigs, and different costumes.

So although I do try to stay out of politics in this column, if you have a few extra minutes in your busy day and appreciate the efforts of Paragon City's finest, please take a moment and contact your local zone's councilmember and tell him or her to oppose the new registration bill being considered.

That's all for this week. Until next time, stay safe, and keep The Blue Eagle in your thoughts in prayers.

Toño "No Name For Today" Vasquez