10 DC Characters Who Discovered Batman's Secret Identity
The World’s Greatest Detective has the world’s worst kept secret.
Having a secret identity is maybe the most important part of being a superhero. While there are those who go without, the general rule is that in order to keep you and your loved ones safe, a secret identity is key.
For Batman, the importance of concealing his true identity is even greater than most. As Bruce Wayne is such a well-known celebrity in the DC universe, the potential for him to be blackmailed - or killed - by those who know about his night-time heroics is insanely high.
Perhaps more importantly, the fact that Bruce Wayne has adopted practically every sidekick he’s ever taken on means they are also put at risk should anyone uncover his secret.
This said, ironically one of the most popular reasons for someone to find out Batman’s secret identity is actually through his various wards, narrowly seconded by the fact that Bruce Wayne’s chin is apparently not that difficult to identify him by.
Regardless of the cause, seeing how different characters react to discovering the iconic superhero’s true identity makes for endlessly interesting comic material - as well as an endless crisis for the Caped Crusader.
10. Every Robin
As should come a surprise to precisely no-one, every individual Robin has deciphered the secret identity of their mentor at some point or another in their point as his sidekick.
What is interesting, however, is how different the ways in which each Robin ends up discovering about Bruce Wayne. For some like Damian, the process is pretty much hand fed to them - as Batman’s son is told by Talia Al Ghul of who exactly his father is, and his subsequent ‘birthright’ as his heir.
On the other end of the spectrum, however, we have Tim Drake - the third Robin - who works out the identities of both Bruce Wayne and the first Robin, Dick Grayson, by recognising an acrobatics move that Tim remembered Grayson doing in his time as a professional acrobat.
While the various Robins learning about their Batdad is never exactly shocking, the different ways they manage to are genuinely effective in showing the different skills, backgrounds and personalities each member possesses.