What utility does Superman derive from his secret identity?

Question

Why does he need Clark Kent? What if he just wanted to be a reporter or columnist? I am sure he could get a job – I mean as Superman.

I can see initially when he left the family farm he wanted a normal life, did not even know he would become a superhero so needed to be a normal human to get a job. But after so many years, why the masquerade?

Come to think of it, why does Batman need one? But the main question is, what does Superman get out of the Clark Kent thing?

Answer 1

The special edition of Superman: The Movie included a scene deleted from the theatrical cut, where Jor-El explained to his son that it was important to maintain his secret identity so that he wouldn't be expected to serve humanity 24 hours a day, and to prevent his friends and loved ones from being targeted by his enemies.

JOR-EL: You are revealed to the world. Very well, so be it. But you still must keep your secret identity.

SUPERMAN: Why?

JOR-EL: The reasons are two: first, you cannot serve humanity twenty-eight hours a day.

SUPERMAN: Twenty-four.

JOR-EL: Or twenty-four, as it is in Earth time. Your help would be called for endlessly, even for those tasks which human beings could solve themselves. It is their habit to abuse their resources in such a way.

SUPERMAN: And, secondly?

JOR-EL: Second, your enemies would discover their only way to hurt you: by hurting the people you care for.

SUPERMAN: Thank you, Father.

_{Superman: The Movie - Special Edition (1978)}

These sentiments are somewhat echoed in various Superman comics, such as those cited below.

SUPERMAN: Obviously I can't be "on call" twenty-four hours a day. Even I need time to relax and unwind. To be human for a little while. That's why it's lucky I didn't get the chance to tell anyone my name after I saved the shuttle. Now, with a few minor alterations, I can have a private place where no one will ever think to look for me -- a "Fortress of Solitude," so to speak. Meet the new Clark Kent!

JONATHAN KENT: See, Ma? With his hair all slickered back and an old pair of my spectacles, his whole face seems to change. All he needs to do is stoop a tad, and he looks like a whole different man. And so long as he's careful never to let on that he has two separate identities, he'll be able to move freely, like ordinary folks!

_{The Man of Steel #1 (October, 1986)}

SUPERMAN: It all started in Smallville. Right in this room, I thought about giving up Clark Kent completely. But I like being Clark Kent. I like who I am and who my parents were. So I came up with the idea of a dual identity. I thought about wearing a mask like Bruce does. But as close as we are, Batman's going for something different than I am. I'd rather good people trust me than bad people fear me. I think they need to see your eyes for that. So Clark Kent wears a mask instead of Superman.

_{Justice League Vol. 2 #15 (February, 2013)}

JON KENT: Dad, I got another question. Is it hard being Superman?

SUPERMAN: How do you mean?

JON KENT: Well, you don't get paid. An' there's so much wrong in the world that you could be doin' this 24/7.

SUPERMAN: Heh. True enough. But I work at trying to find the right balance of doing what I can while also having a personal life. You and your mom need me to do that... and I need it too. I'm still Clark -- a husband and father -- every bit as much as I'm Superman.

_{Action Comics Vol. 1 #967 (January, 2017)}

Superman wanting to spend some time living a somewhat normal life -- as a break from his role as a superhero -- makes sense to me. Despite his alien origins, he appears to feel most or all of the same emotions that humans do, and values his relationships with his friends and loved ones as much as a normal human. His having human-like emotions is especially evident when he's portrayed by human actors, but it's evident in the comics as well.

And sure, he's more self-sacrificing than most, but is he completely devoid of selfish desires? Apparently not, or else he surely wouldn't waste time pursuing romantic relationships, as he does in most continuities. He'd spend every waking second serving humanity in general... but living solely for others like that would likely take a toll on the mental health of someone who's portrayed as being as human psychologically as Superman is.

So if we accept that Superman is human enough on a psychological level to want (and possibly even need) some downtime, and the opportunity to experience normal human-style relationships, that explains the value of a secret identity, both as a means to be seen in public without constantly having to live up to the expectations of being Superman, and to avoid placing a bullseye on the backs of everyone he's known to have personal relationships with.

Does it guarantee the safety of his friends and loved ones? Clearly not, because his enemies can and do occasionally draw a link between Superman and people he cares about, as seen in Superman II, when Lex Luthor advised General Zod to take Lois hostage as a means to draw Superman out. However, the danger to his friends and loved ones would be greatly magnified if the full extent of his personal relationships were widely known.

Also, I'm not sure how practical it'd be for him to abandon the Clark Kent identity as an adult and openly work at the Daily Planet as Superman. If Superman were known to work at the Daily Planet, that'd surely make everyone employed there and the building itself a target for his enemies. And if it were known that he used to be Clark Kent, that'd make everyone he grew up with in Smallville a target for his enemies as well.

He could try and keep the fact that he used to be Clark Kent a secret, but in order to prevent anyone from drawing a link between Superman and his friends and family in Smallville, he'd either have to entirely end his relationships with those people, or find some other way to maintain those relationships inconspicuously. Why look for some other way to maintain those relationships inconspicuously, when he could already do so as Clark?

Answer 2

He can't give up Clark - that identity is who he is.

Though not biologically human (in spite of outward appearances - though see the footnote* for one Superman story that takes a different view) Clark Kent was raised as human, and thinks of himself as human - as that particular human named "Clark Kent" (in "Lois and Clark" this is expressed as "Superman is what I can do. Clark is who I am."). Clark values his ability to live as a human very highly - in some cases more highly than his superpowers (in the Arrowverse the Smallville version of Clark Kent is shown as giving up his powers so he can have a family).

"Superman" is an identity that Clark uses in order to save lives and prevent disasters - but (in many versions of the character) it's an artificial identity that Clark puts on, in order to protect his real identity as Clark.

This is in contrast with Batman -- in many continuities, Bruce Wayne (the millionaire playboy) is a false identity that Batman puts on, in order to fulfill the goals of Batman. In the Batman Beyond episode "Shriek" Batman recognizes that the voices apparently in his head calling him "Bruce" are not a psychiatric problem - because when he talks to himself, he calls himself "Batman" - even when wearing Bruce Wayne's clothes.

• In one DC what-if story

Red Son humans and Kryptonians are biologically closely related due to a time loop.

Answer 3

Come to think of it, why does Batman need one?

Batman is usually easy: What he’s doing is not legal. Yes, he’s cleaning up the streets (though arguments can be made in some continuities that his existence actually makes Gotham more dangerous for normal citizens), but he’s still going around regularly committing assault, trespassing, vandalism, and a slew of other crimes in the process of doing that. There are some exceptions to this in certain continuities, but in most cases, he is operating outside the law as a vigilante (which is actually in and of itself illegal in most parts of the world, independent of any other crimes committed while doing so).

If he were doing so as Bruce Wayne, the cops would have shown up with an arrest warrant within a week of him starting this (even if there were absolutely zero corruption in Gotham’s police force).

Additionally, having the alternate identity as Bruce Wayne allows him to influence society in ways he could not as Batman. In many continuities, he regularly leverages this to great effect, and is as a result able to achieve things he could not just as Batman.

The same premises apply to most other heroes with secret identities, all the way back to Orczy’s Scarlet Pimpernel who truly cemented the concept in English literature in the first place (and did things just as legally risky, as well as manipulating public opinion using his secret identity).

But the main question is, what does Superman get out of the Clark Kent thing?

This one is a lot more complicated. Superman is still quite often doing things that are, per the actual legal code, not legal. The comics gloss over this much more for Superman than Batman though because Superman is supposed to be a lawful good shining knight archetype (as compared to Batman’s chaotic good blackguard archetype), but it’s still a consideration (especially because Superman tends to do a lot more damage than Batman when he fights). Also just like Batman, having a secret identity allows him to influence things in ways he could not as Superman (though he rarely, if ever, seems to capitalize on this).

However, there are a whole slew of other benefits for him to maintaining the identity of Clark Kent:

• Sometimes you simply need to be in plain clothes to investigate properly, and having a clear identity for that purpose makes it much easier.
• Being a journalist is a professional license to be nosy, which is actually extremely useful for a superhero. Press access means he can get on the scene of a crime legally much more quickly without revealing his presence, the amount of information he has quick access to makes it easier to legally track people like crime bosses or major business moguls, and he has a (admittedly somewhat lame and generally shaky) excuse if he gets caught snooping in plain clothes. Additionally, this gives him a quick and easy way to disappear into a crowd when the reporters inevitably show up.
• Superman is a celebrity. Without a secret identity, he would essentially have to hide most of the time to avoid paparazzi, reporters, people asking for autographs, etc. This would both be taxing psychologically, and it would hamper his ability to reliably deal with major threats.
• It helps protect his family. This one is a shaky argument in some continuities, but in those in which Lois and Superman are not known publicly to be an item, it reduces the risk to her significantly.
• By maintaining a ‘normal’ identity, Superman maintains some greater degree of independence as he is still supporting himself financially. This is a bit of a tricky argument that never seems to come up in any of the media, but simply living is not free, and while the world would probably gladly subsidize Superman, he would also be beholden to them as a result, and dependent on their continued fondness for him. This is, admittedly, a bigger consideration for the writers than for Superman, as it makes him a bit more relatable as a character.

Answer 4

He may be Superman, deep within, he considers Clark Kent to be his real identity.

To add up to Andrew's answer, in the DCAU continuity, episode The Late Mr. Kent from Superman: The Animated Series (1996), Clark was doing some detective work, which ended up with an assassination attempt against him. Of course, he survived because he's Superman. But since there was a witness, he couldn't pretend that Clark survived anymore.

When Pa and Ma Kent were told about it on the phone, he was there with them and clearly expressed the need to be Clark Kent.

Ma: Well, this is a fine mess.

Pa: It's not like he's really dead, Martha. He just can't be Clark anymore.

Clark: But I am Clark! I need to be Clark! I'd go crazy if I had to be Superman all the time!

As a bonus, in the same episode, he admitted feeling pride in accomplishing something as Clark Kent and not as Superman (i.e. he actually did a good detective job to prove someone truly was innocent, instead of relying on brute force); emphasis mine:

Clark: I suppose I could have flown to the governor as Superman and given him the [floppy] disk. But that could have raised some awkward questions. Maybe there was some ego involved too. I wanted this to be Clark's victory, not Superman's.

In the same continuity, in the episode Comfort and Joy from Justice League animated series (2001), when Clark brings J'onn (aka. Martian Manhunter) to celebrate Christmas with his family, he expresses how much he enjoys being himself (emphasis mine):

Clark (while letting J'onn rest in Kara's room during her absence): You should be nice and cozy here, J'onn.

J'onn: Nice and cozy... How odd to hear you speak that way. I've never seen this side of you, Clark.

Clark: That's why I like coming home for the holidays. I can just relax and be myself.

Also, in another continuity, in the animated movie The Death of Superman (2018) which is based on the comic, the reason he's detaching his Superman identify from his personal life is because he cannot allow himself to put his loved ones in danger. As Superman, he's bound to have enemies who want him to suffer, either by attacking him directly or his loved ones. And unfortunately for him, they're not as invulnerable as he is.

The only way he can enjoy a peaceful life without putting them in danger is by having 2 separate identities. That, and, unlike Batman who's obviously a human-being, the chances that a super alien from another planet decides to have a secret John Doe life with loved ones are unlikely, which means people won't try to find Superman's secret identity, because he doesn't seem to need one as you pointed out.

---

To complement the previous quotes, maybe the question has been asked backward. In some continuity, he grew up as Clark Kent, and the Superman persona was created only when he started helping people out.

Still, in episode The Last Son of Krypton, Part III of that same animated series, after he started helping people in Metropolis and people started calling him Superman (which in this continuity wasn't a name he came up with), he was afraid.

Clark: Suddenly, people are calling me Superman. They want to know everything about me. Some are even afraid of me. Just like Jor-El and Lara warned. Does this mean I'm going to have to give up my life?

Which further proves he actually enjoys being Clark, and Superman is only a mean to conceal his real identity.

Answer 5

Several major issues are dealt with by having a secret identity

• You can't be normal
  • Readers often cannot comprehend this, because they want to be exceptional
  • Others have noted you can't (don't want to) be on call 24 hours a day
    • Doctors, lawyers, and other "exceptional" professions often note this as one of the worst expectations of the job.
    • Expectation is "if you could be available, you will be available"
  • Extremely difficult to have friends or other meaningful relationships
    • Your available pool of friends becomes {people who can associate with Superman}
    • Humans don't respond to celebrities the same way
    • Consider lottery winners, they hide for a reason, "friends" suddenly appear
  • You can't go to normal activities
    • Consider when a celebrity shows up to a baseball or basketball game. The cameraman focuses on them every shot to show the crowd their reaction.
    • Remember Biden going for a bike ride? "Haha, the President fell down..."
  • Money
    • People often assume you don't need money (even though everything in America is expensive)
    • People often assume you work for free (out of "goodness")
    • Caveat - You might get a sponsorship (although this has its own issues)
  • Superman is a literal space alien
    • Xenophobia / racism
    • Demands for alien technology or knowledge
    • The alien is more powerful than any human (jealousy, inferiority)
    • Religious / philosophical issues (DARPA had an interesting conference with the 100 Year Starship program, where several of these types of ideas were discussed. "Framework for the Off-Planet Church", "Did Jesus Die for Klingons", and "Making Aliens" all touched on these kinds of issues.
• You have all the celebrity detriments (taken from a subset of a Forbes Article on celebrity issues)
  • Loss of privacy.
    • Helen Hunt has An interesting Guardian article on loss of privacy and dealing with paparazzi.
    • Creepy beach photos that appear in every celebrity magazine.
    • What's Superman look like in his underwear?
  • Subjected to hyper-criticism
    • "Why didn't you save that kitten on the other side of the Earth?"
    • "My black grandma fell to her death, while you helped that white male"
  • Lies in the media
    • Spiderman suffers this a lot
    • People find a way to write you as a villain (often: you didn't do what we selfishly demand)
  • Taken advantage of by "friends"
    • "Can we join your entourage?"
    • "Can we borrow some money, you must be rich."
  • Taken advantage of by professionals and businesses
    • "Superman eats ______ every morning, based on our camera images through his window."
    • "Superman shops at our business."
  • Targeted by criminals
    • Everything you own is valuable, you're Superman
    • Automatic relics and mementos
  • Stalkers
    • Even your trash is valuable
    • "I'm sure we had moment while I was hanging from that building."
    • People trying to get blood/skin/hair samples to find a weakness or turn themselves into you.
• Enemies always want to challenge you a fight
  • How many supervillains cause issues just to get heroes to fight them?
  • Heroes and villains in comics always want to prove they're the most invincible.
    • Batman and Superman are "friends", yet Batman spends a lot of time thinking up contingencies for fighting Superman.
  • Miyamoto Musashi's issues with duels are a reasonable historical example
• All associates are targets
  • If someone can't win in a direct fight, they'll pursue other methods to hurt you.
  • Sometimes they'll hurt people near you just to make a point (consider Joker, Commissioner Gordon, and Batgirl in The Killing Joke)
  • Blackmail and other forms of leverage that make it difficult to respond
• You're dangerous
  • People don't want to live near you
    • Might get a car thrown through the wall
    • "Superman can look through my clothes?"
    • Literal s*** magnet. People like Doomsday gravitate toward you.
    • Your fights destroy entire cities.
  • Try getting an insurance policy (need catastrophic supervillain coverage)
  • Even if you're nice, you're still a security threat
    • Likely have a spy satellite (or two) aimed at your house constantly
    • Even if one govt. likes you, the others probably won't
    • Govt's will write laws directly related to you Ex: International Oversight of the Avengers
    • Govt's will demand you work for them
    • You live in America, we expect you to fight our wars for us. (see Jon Blue fighting Vietnam, Watchmen)
  • Legal issues of shooting deadly laser beams and knocking buildings over by breathing.

Answer 6

Ordinary people pay good money to read the magazines: they may be Clark Kents, but the stories allow them to feel that they, too, could be Superman if they needed to. Superman wouldn't have a public without Clark Kent: that is Clark's utility.