Whoever you are, whatever you do, you have a confidant that you can run to whenever you need to get anything off of your chest. Again No man is an island. Whether we talk about emotional dilemmas or problem solving we all need someone to bounce ideas off of. Not every man has all the answers, which is also why confidants are needed, to share knowledge as well as guilt. Almost every hero has a confidant, but the relation of the confidant to the hero tends to be different all the time or, in some cases, the amount of confidants is different. The hero’s confidant can be many things :

• an employee like Alfred Pennyworth(Batman)
• a loved one like Mary Jane (Spider-Man)
• a friend like Cassidy (Preacher)
• a mentor type person like Whistler (Blade)
• or a figment of the hero’s imagination like the memory of Shelly (The Crow)

In certain cases, like Batman, you may have multiple confidants or colleagues to chat with. Batman has his butler Alfred Pennyworth, his side kick Robin, his colleague Nightwing (a later version of Robin), and another sidekick Batgirl.

There are a few important aspects as to writing a confidant or members of the inner circle. The obvious is to think of who, but the less obvious is to think of how/why. The how/why, or how/why it comes up, usually happens either by choice-coming out with the truth-or by accident-which can involve the confidant finding you injured or unmasked.

Beyond that there is the even less obvious, which is how does this information effect this person and what will they do with it. Not every confidant is Lois Lane, they don’t all keep secrets. A great example of a bad confidant would be Karen Page, who sells Daredevil’s secret identity, for a drug fix, in the Daredevil comics.

Ok, now get out your notebook and a writing utensil, it’s time to brainstorm.

1. Imagine you happen upon an actual superhero on the street battered and beaten. You take him or her home. You take care of them as best as you can, but their mask happens to fall off. It happens to be someone you know. They tell you everything. How do you react?
2. Now that you know, will your friend talk to you in costume from now on, out of costume only, or in both forms?
3. Does this put you in danger in any way?
4. Take into account your normal life style and choices, is there any way that you would end up giving away this secret?

Remember: Knowledge can be good or bad depending on how it is used.