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Related: Who was the first publicly recognized Super Hero before the advent of comic books? (but, it doesn't deal with costumes and dual identities)

Batman is grey area. This question hasn't been answered properly: Why are heroes without supernatural powers considered “super” heroes?
So, I am kicking him out of the league. So, no Robin Hood.

Who are the first Superhero and Supervillain with costume and dual identities?

Adamant
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user931
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  • Good question, maybe you can know that by the date of creation of the characters? – Gawey May 16 '17 at 07:13
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    Tricky.... The thing is you have The Shadow, who had a costume of sorts and fought crime, but his supernatural powers didn’t come until after Superman. Doctor Occult always had supernatural powers, but no costume initially. The Phantom always had a costume and a secret identity, but at least initially no powers. – Adamant May 16 '17 at 07:19
  • Does being able to jump over a 9ft fence count? – Edlothiad May 16 '17 at 07:22
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    @Edlothiad - Spring-Heel Jack? I’ll go with “not fiction” (that is to say, in terms of people actually believing in him). As an aside, that’s why I think these types of questions should ask about “inspiration.” An inspiration can be real or fictional. – Adamant May 16 '17 at 07:24
  • Wouldn't this work better as two separate questions? – user14111 May 16 '17 at 07:26
  • @Adamant Why does it need to be fictitious? – Edlothiad May 16 '17 at 07:29
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    @Edlothiad - Basically, because real-life people aren’t superheroes. ;) But more generally, this was discussed in the context of religion some time back (people giving the Bible, say, as an example of “first book that”), and it seemed like that was the general consensus. It seems like an implication of this answer to me (if the work was not intended as fiction, don’t count it). On the other hand, perhaps there are some penny dreadfuls about Spring-heeled Jack that could fit the bill for obviously fictional. – Adamant May 16 '17 at 07:30
  • Jumping 9 ft is a lot of feet! – Edlothiad May 16 '17 at 07:32
  • Unfortunately, the penny dreadful versions (while quite old) tend to describe him as a technological hero a la Batman. – Adamant May 16 '17 at 07:34
  • Guess it's down to one of yours then. – Edlothiad May 16 '17 at 09:02
  • Seems there's a really old Japanese superhero called "Ōgon Bat", and there's also a character created by Lee Falk before he made The Phantom, called "Mandrake the Magician", but I'm not sure they actually had dual identities. They certainly had superpowers and costumes though. I think, given the criteria, the earliest Superhero with superpowers, costume and dual identity may well have been Superman himself. – DisturbedNeo May 16 '17 at 09:24
  • Dr Jekyll was a guy with a secret identity as the villain Mr Hyde, but he wasn't really super. – DCShannon May 16 '17 at 20:10

1 Answers1

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Griffin (H. G. Wells' The Invisible Man, 1897) kept his civillian and powered criminal identities separate by way of clothing choice.

Gaultheria
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