Are there any superheroes who are not aware that they are indeed a superhero? [closed]

Question

We know that there are schizophrenic villains who do not know what they are doing. I immediately think of two villains from Spider-Man: Norman Osborne or Doctor Octopus, who just get overwhelmed by their alter egos and turn into villains.

Now, are there any superhero analogies?

I am thinking of something like Batman, who has a personal life during the day and is Batman at night. Batman is completely aware of this. But what if he was doing all this while sleepwalking? When he wakes up the next day, he may be surprised by a few new scars, but he does not know that he has saved the world once more (for the sake of it, please ignore that most of his technology comes from being Bruce Wayne with all his money).

I am looking for answers from any universe (Marvel, DC, etc.) and any source (TV, comics, etc.).

Answer 1

Four examples I could think of, off the top of my head:

1. As noted in the comments, DC has a character named the Thorn. Her alter-ego is Rose Forrest.

   The Thorn is portrayed as either a full-fledged case of dissociative identity disorder, or something akin to that. Originally, when Rose went to sleep, the Thorn identity would take control of her and hunt for criminals. I don't think multiple personality disorder (as it was known at the time) was explicitly referenced, but it was certainly implied.

2. There have been times when Marvel's Sentry, in his Robert Reynolds identity, has been unaware of his super-hero identity. However, in this case, he was not acting as the Sentry during this time (as the Sentry was too dangerous to exist, but none of those responsible were willing (or able?) to kill him). The processing of making him (and everyone else on Earth) forget his being the Sentry appears to have involved both magic and science (Dr. Strange and Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four were definitely involved).

3. Roberta Mendez, the Captain America of 2099 shown in the 2015-2017 Spider-Man 2099 run, has no idea she's Captain America. It appears that she underwent some sort of mental conditioning (done by Alchemax, if done) that allows her persona to switch between Roberta and Cap. I believe Captain America has at least some knowledge of her Roberta identity, but I'm not certain. For that matter, as there may be some degree of physical transformation as well (change in height or musculature).

4. DC's Firestorm had another take on this. Firestorm was formed by the fusion of two characters - Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein. When the nuclear accident that transformed them into Firestorm happened, Stein was unconscious. Thus, when they formed Firestorm, Ronnie basically was Firestorm's personality and basic knowledge base - but, Martin was present in Ronnie's mind, and could communicate with him and advise him (useful - a high school student with average grades wouldn't always make the best choices when transforming matter at an atomic level).

   However, when the two separated, Martin originally had no memory or knowledge of what had transpired; as far as he could tell, he was having blackouts. After this issue came close to destroying his life, Ronnie was able to convince him of what was going on, and he eventually would retain at least some memory of what they did as Firestorm. So, this was a temporary situation - but one that lasted well over a decade, in terms of the character's published adventures.

Interestingly, each of the above examples has a somewhat unique rationale for the separation of identities. I'm sure there are other examples. Some may echo one or more of the explanations above; some may introduce yet other methods to explain the situation.

Answer 2

Captain Underpants. Captain Underpants is a superhero that is hypnotised while being Captain Underpants, and is shown to be out of his own control, and unaware, because when he comes in contact with water, he's back to being a grumpy old principal that is unaware of what he did, and is not afraid of being near the children who caused him to be Captain Underpants.

Answer 3

The Black Bomber was almost DC's first Black superhero but not only did his alter ego not know he was a hero, he didn't know he was black.

He was a racist white man who turned into a black hero under stress a la the Hulk.

Tony Isabella thankfully shut this down. He also said "In each of the two completed Black Bomber scripts, the white bigot risks his own life to save another person whom he can’t see clearly (in one case, a baby in a stroller) and then reacts in racial slur disgust when he discovers that he risked his life to save a black person. He wasn’t aware that he had two identities, but each identity had a girlfriend and the ladies were aware of the change. To add final insult, the Bomber’s costume was little more than a glorified basketball uniform."

http://nowiknow.com/the-racist-super-hero-who-never-made-it/

Answer 4

Moon Knight (Marvel Comics) 

Moon Knight's whole deal revolves around him having dissociative identity disorder, with multiple distinct personalities coexisting within him. He fits the bill perfectly for your question:

But what if he was doing all this while sleepwalking? When he wakes up the next day, he may be surprised by a few new scars, but he does not know that he has saved the world once more

That's precisely what's happening with Moon Knight in the Moon Knight (2022) series on Disney+. One of his key personas is Steven Grant, a mild-mannered British guy who finds himself in the most bizarre and perplexing situations.

We see poor Steven sleeping, only to end up waking up in unfamiliar places, completely baffled by how he ended up there. Not only that, but he often comes to his senses surrounded by a bunch of bloody, beaten-up bodies, with no recollection of the events that transpired.

At the start, Steven is absolutely clueless that he's the alternate personality of Marc Spector, an American mercenary who happens to be the avatar of the Egyptian god Khonshu and his "Fist of Vengeance"—the superhero Moon Knight. Steven is utterly bewildered by the sudden lapses in his memory and the unexplained violence he seems to be embroiled in.

Oh, and then there's this other guy named Jake Lockley thrown into the mix...

Answer 5

But what if he was doing all this while sleepwalking?

This is pretty similar to the backstory of a superhero appropriately named Sleepwalker.

From Comic Vine:

All that changed when an eerie creature began appearing, first in his dreams... and then later in the real world. Every-time Rick woke up, he saw television footage of a strange creature roaming the streets at night. It was the same creature from his dreams! Now, his life in shambles, Rick is afraid to sleep... afraid he'll release the mysterious being known as Sleepwalker.

Answer 6

Yes. Several. One that hasn't been mentioned is Carol Danvers who like Darkhawk started out unaware that she was having blackouts in which she fought crime.