Any self-respecting superhero will have a real name, surely? Whether it’s an earth name given to hide their identity or just an alias to protect them from prying eyes, what and why do our comic book superheroes have an alias?
Not all superheroes need to hide, as some are happy to be the cape-wearing saviour all the time, but if you are blessed with superpowers and a bright-coloured uniform, do you really want to be that person day and night?
Some of our superheroes are from Earth and have a regular life, like Peter Parker, but some have come from a galaxy far, far away and need to adopt an alias in the form of a human name, such as Clark Kent.
A Brief History Of Superheroes
The first comic book superhero was Superman, and he dates back to 1938. Superman’s creators, writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster had unsuccessfully tried to sell the series to newspaper syndicates as a daily strip.
He was part of Action Comics but was eventually taken up by DC Comics, which had been operating since 1935 but was not a superhero comic book franchise at the time.
Marvel responded to the popularity of the DC Comics franchise with its first superhero edition in 1939, which contained not one but three heroes, Human Torch, Angel, and Namor the Sub-Mariner.
Superheroes Of Marvel And DC
If you are a comic book reader, then I am sure that you are aware of the two camps that are the most predominant in the comic book scene: Marvel and DC and whilst both have an array of fascinating characters, we are not here to decide who is the best but give you their real names, aliases or pseudonyms.
Marvel became the Marvel Universe in 1961, in which writers and creators Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Bullpen would link characters and storylines together.
DC Comics had tended to keep their superheroes apart with a few exceptions and have even teamed up with Marvel when Batman met Spiderman, for instance.
Alliteration
Many superhero names and their alias are alliterative but why? Originally the alliteration was usually given to the hero’s name for dramatic effect, Caped Crusader, Wonder Woman and so on. Still, the real name alliteration was predominantly used by the Marvel Universe and, in particular, its primary creator, Stan Lee.
When asked about this, he was quoted as saying that he has such a bad memory and had to give them alliterative names so that he wouldn’t forget them. That said, can you imagine a world without them?
More Than One Real Name!
Some of our characters will have more than one real name, Ant Man and The Green Lantern, for example, and this isn’t very clear to a fan as to a non-comic book reader.
Some of the heroes were rewritten, reborn and forgotten about and ended up with more than one alias.
As the franchises grew and television and cinema became more popular the opportunity to remake and update characters also grew so as the humans grew older they could pass their superpowers onto the next generation as with Ant Man for instance!
Maybe that is why the superhero and supervillain has always been popular with so many generations. One persons Hank Pym is another persons Scott Laing!
Heroes And Villains
Some of our esteemed superheroes also end up on the Supervillains list as they may, over the course of time, have taken the wrong path or got in with the wrong crowd, but hey, we are not here to judge them; just reveal their real names:
Name | Alter-Ego's |
---|---|
Marvel | |
Ant-Man | Johnathon "Hank Pym/ Scott Laing |
The Avenger X | Cressida |
Black Knight | Dane Whitman |
Black Panther | T'Challa |
Black Widow | Natalia Alianovna Romanova/(Natasha Romanoff (alias) |
Captain America | Steven Grant Rogers |
Captain Marvel | Carol Susan Jane Danvers |
Deadpool | Wade Wilson |
The Defenders | |
Daredevil | Matt Murdock |
Jessica Jones | Jessica Jones |
Luke Cage | Carl Lucas |
Iron Fist | Daniel Thomas/ Rand K'ai |
Doc Savage | Clark Savage Jr |
Doctor Strange | Stephen Vincent Strange |
Elektra | Elektra Natchios (Hero & Villain) |
Falcon | Samuel Thomas Wilson |
Fantastic Four | |
Mister Fantastic | Reed Richards |
Human Torch | Jonathan Lowell Spencer "Johnny" Storm/Jim Hammond (alias). |
Invisible Woman | Susan "Sue" Storm-Richards (nee Storm) |
The Thing | Benjamin Jacob Grimm |
Ghost Rider | Johnathon Blaze |
Green Arrow | Oliver Jonas Queen |
Guardians of the Galaxy | |
Star Lord | Peter Jason Quill |
Gamora | Gamora Zen Whoberi Ben Titan. |
Drax the Destroyer | Arthur Sampson Douglas |
Mantis | Brandt |
Hawkeye | Clinton Francis Barton |
Incredible Hulk | Robert Bruce Banner |
Iron Man | Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark |
Marvelman | Luc-Vell/ Lucas Lawson |
Quicksilver | Pietro Maximoff (formerly Pietro Frank) |
The Rocketeer | Cliff Secord |
Scarlet Witch | Wanda Maximoff/ (formerly Wanda Frank) |
She Hulk | Jennifer Walters |
Spider-Man | Peter Benjamin Parker |
Spider Woman | Jessica Miriam Drew |
Sub-Mariner | Namor McKenzie (Hero & Villain) |
Swordsman | Jacques Duquesne (and later) Phillip Javert |
Thor | Thor Odinson |
Vision | Victor Shade (alias) |
The Wasp - | Janet van Dyne/(formerly Janet Pym) |
Winter Soldier (Captain America) | James Buchanan Barnes |
Wolverine | James "Logan" Howlett |
DC Comics | |
Aquaman | Orin / Arthur Curry |
The Atom | Ray Palmer |
Batgirl | Betty Kane (later) Barbara Gordon |
Batman | Bruce Wayne |
Batwoman | Kathy Kane (later Kate Kane) |
Black Canary | Dinah Laurel Lance |
Catwoman | Selina Kyle (Hero & Villain) |
The Flash | Barry Allen |
Green Lantern - | Hal Jordan/John Stewart/ Kyle Rainer/ Guy Gardner |
Robin/ Nightwing - | Dick Grayson |
The Shadow | Kent Allard |
Shazam/ Captain Marvel/ Black Adam | Billy Batson |
Supergirl | Kara Zor-El / Linda Lang |
Superman | Kal El/ Clark Kent |
Ultra Boy | Jo Nah |
Wonder Woman | Princess Diana / Diana Prince |
Zatanna | Zatanna Zatara |