Since the very dawn of the superhero concept first being introduced into comic book culture, secret identities have always been a key aspect of who a superhero is. After all, what is a superhero without a secret identity? Why protect a hero's name with an alias or wear a mask if they don't have a secret identity? Superheroes typically hold secret identities because they know that saving the world mask-less for the world to see risks putting their friends, family, and maybe even themselves at risk.

Related: 10 Superheroes Who Revealed Their Secret Identity To The World

More often than not, a hero only lets their secret identity be known to a small but close-knit group of people, but there have been rare cases where a hero's identity had not been so much as revealed to even the reader. In the latter case, the reader was left in the dark for only a brief amount of time before a big reveal, but there are a select few heroes who to this day technically still have a "secret identity" even to fans.

10 Master Chief

Arguably video game history's most popular superhero, it's always been a key part of Master Chief's character that he never be unmasked nor have his real name revealed to audiences. Truth be told, Master Chief himself could not tell anyone his real name if he tried.

Even in spinoff media like the Halo: Escalation comic series written by Christopher Schlerf, Brian Reed, and Duffy Boudreau with artwork by Sergio Ariño, Ricardo Sanchez Arreola, Douglas Franchin & Ian Richardson, a point is made that Master Chief had been working his job so long— insisting that others refer to his rank and not his identity — that he's forgotten his own name.

9 Hooded Justice

Watchmen's Hooded Justice

While in the HBO mini-series Watchmen sequel, Hooded Justice is revealed to be a black man underneath a mask and noose, the character's secret identity was never revealed in the original comics run.

Related: Watchmen: 10 Hidden Connections The HBO Series Has To The Original Comics You Never Noticed

That was much of the character's allure for readers. No one— not the readers, not his teammates, not even his lover Captain Metropolis— so much knew Hooded Justice's name, let alone what he looked like. The closest anyone came to learning his identity was when he was incorrectly assumed to be Rolf Müller and framed for his crimes.

8 V

Close-up of the Guy Fawkes mask from V for Vendetta.

In an interview with Giant Magazine about the landmark graphic novel V For Vendetta, Alan Moore said that he wanted to leave V's actions morally ambiguous to allow the readers to decide whether V was in the right with his murderous plots or if he was merely just a crazy anarchist.

It would be safe to assume that Moore had the same kind of thinking when writing V without a secret identity. At no point in the graphic novel or even in the 2005 movie adaptation was V's face ever revealed to the viewer and neither was his name.

7 The Phantom Ranger

Power Rangers Turbo Phantom Ranger

Just about every multi-colored hero in the Power Rangers franchise has a secret identity, except the Phantom Ranger. There were always hints in regards to his origins, but neither his name was revealed nor was he ever seen outside of his Ranger form. For one reason or another, the writers never got the chance to spill those beans.

Although, Turbo showrunner Judd Lynn once said in an interview with Henshin Justice that there were plans to introduce the Phantom Ranger as a former Ranger, potentially Billy. Canonically, this was never confirmed.

6 The New Green Ranger

Power Rangers New Green Ranger 2

Speaking of Power Rangers, this is another Ranger's identity that has never been revealed. Granted, this one might be cheating because, since he's been a newly introduced character, there's a chance that his secret identity may be revealed in the future. It just hasn't yet as of this writing.

Related: Power Rangers: 10 Characters Who Could Be The New Green Ranger

In the Boom! Studios comic update of the classic series, a new Green Ranger has been introduced while Tommy Oliver is donning his white and gold colors. Introducing a new Green Ranger was not Zordon's doing and not even the bad guys know who he could be. Whether this Green Ranger's identity is ever revealed remains to be seen.

5 Snake Eyes

gi joe snake eyes

The elusive Snake Eyes character was first introduced into G.I. Joe lore way back in 1982 and almost 40 years later, an origin story revealing his name and face has yet to exist. Granted, there have been details about the character's origin story introduced over time, like how he and Storm Shadow went from friends (or "sword brothers") to enemies after serving in Vietnam together, and how he studied the ninja arts.

However, when it comes to his actual name, that— much like Snake Eyes himself— has always been shrouded in the shadows of secrecy. There is talk that the forthcoming Snake Eyes solo movie might spill all these details, but we'll have to wait until October to find out.

4 Phantom Stranger

phantom stranger

It's shocking to think that a character with as much longevity as The Phantom Stranger— with his 1966 debut taking place over 50 years ago— has never received a proper origin story, let alone a name or face reveal.

The closest that readers ever came to learning about where or what The Phantom Stranger came was in an issue of Secret Origins, Vol. 2 #10 to be exact, by Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo— where not one, not two, but four different possible origins were proposed for the character. However, nothing concrete has been made officially confirmed within DC canon.

3 Night Raven

panel from marvel comics

Before getting his own comic series, Night Raven was first introduced in Hulk Comic #1, written by Steve Morre, drawn by Dave Gibbons, and published by Marvel's UK comics division in 1979. To this day, no one knows who this crime-fighting vigilante is underneath his mask.

As far as origin stories go, the only thing readers know is that he is a skilled marksman fighter who is so effective that he puts even The Punisher to shame. Even better, a chemical interaction with Yi Yang's toxins made him virtually indestructible.

2 The Flaming Carrot

flaming-carrot

While the rest of this list focused on superheroes who were all meant to be taken seriously in their stories, The Flaming Carrot was always intended as a parody character.

Related: Dark Horse Comics: 10 Screen Adaptations That Need A Reboot

The founding member of the Mystery Men and the star of Flaming Carrot Comics series, little about his origin has ever been revealed, while his name and face have never been shown to readers at all. His origin reads simply: The man behind the carrot had read 5,000 comics in a single sitting as part of a bet, only for the ordeal to suffer brain damage and become The Flaming Carrot.

1 The Black Bat

the black bat

Hardcore readers of Batman's history probably know that the more modern interpretation of The Black Bat's secret identity has been revealed as being Anthony Quinn under the mask, but that merely refers to the second person to don the cape and cowl.

As far as the first version of The Black Bat, as originally released during the 1930s around the same time as DC Comics introduced Batman (hence the lawsuits from both parties arguing that one character ripped off the other), that character's secret identity was always kept a secret. Even to this day, no one knows who the original Black Bat was.

Next: DC Comics: 10 Powerful Alternative Versions Of Batgirl