Secret Identity Exposed

Esther 4: 1 – 17

Secret Identity Exposed

1 When Mordecai learned all that had happened, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes and went out into the midst of the city. He cried out with a loud and bitter cry. 2 He went as far as the front of the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. 3 And in every province where the king’s command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. 4 So Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her, and the queen was deeply distressed. Then she sent garments to clothe Mordecai and take his sackcloth away from him, but he would not accept them. 5 Then Esther called Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs whom he had appointed to attend her, and she gave him a command concerning Mordecai, to learn what and why this was. 6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square that was in front of the king’s gate. 7 And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries to destroy the Jews. 8 He also gave him a copy of the written decree for their destruction, which was given at Shushan, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her, and that he might command her to go in to the king to make supplication to him and plead before him for her people. 9 So Hathach returned and told Esther the words of Mordecai. 10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a command for Mordecai: 11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days.” 12 So they told Mordecai Esther’s words. 13 And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” 15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!” 17 So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him.

A secret identity is a person's alter ego which is not known to the general populace.

A character typically has dual identities, with one identity being the hero persona and the other being the secret identity. The secret identity is typically the civilian persona when they are not assuming the hero persona. It is kept hidden from their enemies and the public to protect themselves from legal ramifications, pressure, or public scrutiny, as well as to protect their friends and loved ones from harm secondary to their actions as heroes.

The secret identity commonly consists of the hero's given birth name and may involve an occupation they had before becoming a hero. This is in contrast to the hero identity, which often utilizes a pseudonym to conceal the hero's secret identity. To help further preserve the anonymity of secret identities, characters may use or display a different set of personal characteristics when assuming the secret identity persona.

A significant precursor to the 20th century concept of a secret identity in fiction is The Count of Monte Cristo (1844) by Alexandre Dumas, a Huguely popular story which was frequently dramatized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In this story, the protagonist Edmund Dantes takes on the identity of the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo to carry out his plan of revenge against the men who were responsible for his downfall and imprisonment.

Some common motivations for a character to keep a secret identity include:

• Allowing the character to live a "normal life".

• Preventing the hero's enemies from seeking revenge on others the hero may care about.

• Gaining timely information on incidents as they happen, often through their occupation or that of their associates.