10 Comic Book Characters Who Keep Changing Identities
Superheroes are tied to their identities, but they sometimes swap them around randomly.
Ever since Clark Kent started going by Superman while he wore his work clothes, superheroes and secret identities have gone hand-in-hand. While those secret identities remain... well, secret - many superheroes try on different personas every once in a while, and it happens more often than you may know.
For the most part, Bruce Wayne has always been Batman, but his little buddy Robin has gone through several name changes, and you may think you know all of them, but this list might surprise you. The same is true of Peter Parker, our Friendly Neighborhood... Ricochet?
The thing about comics is, when one goes on for decades, a writer or artist is bound to come along every once in a while and change things up a bit. Whether they kill someone off or bring them back from the dead, odds are, they will be sporting a new identity sooner or later.
This list highlights ten heroes who have chucked their superhero name and threads to call themselves something completely different. Some do it more than most, which is why they are front and center on this list, and a few of them might surprise you...
10. Billy Batson - Three Superhero Identities
Sometimes, a superhero changes their identity because they become older and wiser, while other times, the change is necessitated due to the complicated legal structure of copyright rights and the fear of infringing upon those rights. That's what befell the original Captain Marvel, the alter-ego of one Billy Batson.
Originally, Billy was given the power of SHAZAM, which included the abilities of flight, super strength, super speed, and more. Each ability was granted based on the letters making up the word he used to become Captain Marvel. By saying "SHAZAM" aloud, he was magically transformed into an adult thanks to the immortal elders, Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury.
When he did this, he became Captain Marvel, which was fine for quite a long time, but the publication of his book ceased when DC threatened copyright infringement against Fawcett Comics for Captain Marvel's similarities to Superman.
Ironically, after DC acquired the character with the purchase of Fawcett, it was Marvel Comics that had the upper-hand in threatening infringement. To avoid any issues, Captain Marvel became simply, Shazam! That wasn't the only name change though; even before Captain Marvel was created, he was known as Captain Thunder in an ashcan copy printed in 1939, but a trademark issue forced his name to become Captain Marvel when he officially debuted in 1940.