Discover the most intriguing details of the Riddler, one of Batman’s most brilliant villains who will leave you intrigued with each Riddle in his crimes
What is the biggest riddle the Riddler has ever told? “How is a raven like a writing desk?” “When is it a door?” “What weighs six ounces, sits in a tree, and is pretty dangerous?” No.
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The biggest riddle the Riddler has ever told is: Who is the Riddler? It’s something we’ve apparently known the answer to since his 1948 debut. But with so many disparate views of the character, perhaps only Batman knows who Eddie Nygma really is (if that’s his real name).
As we prepare for a battle between two of Gotham’s most complex minds in The Batman, now is the time to examine what we know about who the Riddler really is. Because when fighting the Riddler, the best weapon to pack in your utility belt is knowledge.
intellectual guardian
Question number one when dealing with the Riddler: why does he always leave clues to his crimes?
One thing we can safely assume about the Riddler is that for him, it’s never really been about the money. (The Batman: Arkham video game series even suggests that Nygma is already independently wealthy.) The crime isn’t even the point, it’s just Nygma’s way of making people pay attention to his riddles.
In HBO Max’s Batman: The Audio Adventures, the Riddler calls himself a “crime artist.” His heists and schemes are not about personal wealth, but about making a statement.
That is quite true, up to a point. But the statement in question is always the same: “I’m smarter than you.”
Is his real goal crime?
For most versions of the character, the Riddler’s sole goal is to demonstrate his intellectual dominance in Gotham City over the one person he sees as his equal: Batman. And yet, the Riddler loses the challenge to his hooded opponent every time.
So why does it persist? And why, actually, does Batman do it? Just by appealing to the Riddler’s ego, he wouldn’t get him to leave Gotham alone?
Scott Snyder’s Batman comics provide another perspective: it’s not even about whether Batman can solve the riddle, but about the intellectual search for the solution.
The Riddler sees himself not as Batman’s rival, but as his guardian, keeping the Dark Knight always at his best for the battles to come. Almost admirable, in his own way, were it not for the lives he endangers in the process.
The (other) best detective in the world
Batman: The Animated Series is an indisputably integral part of the Batman canon, often reinterpreting Batman’s opponents with sympathy and a unique depth that has changed the way they’ve been portrayed forever.
Mister Freeze received his Nora. Poison Ivy transformed from femme fatale to environmental advocate. Riddler, well… what about Riddler?
For series creators Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, Eddie was the toughest nut to crack (particularly because, as they’re both the first to admit, neither was very good at puzzles).
His first effort resulted in a reinterpretation of the Riddler as a diabolical game designer with Batman as his intended player, a portrayal that would go on to inform Batman’s relationship with this Prince of Puzzles in the Arkham games.
But in the 1994 episode “Riddler’s Reform,” a different puzzle is presented: what would the Riddler look like if he remained intellectually active, but abandoned crime?
Guess this… guess that
The opening story shows us an Eddie Nygma who has given himself over to designing mind-bending toys akin to Rubik’s Cube, earning him the esteem he longed for. But, without the chance to beat Batman, it was a satisfaction that wouldn’t last.
So Dini introduced a new take on the Riddler for his Detective Comics run in 2006, one that would allow him to continue to match wits with Batman without resorting to crime. Instead of presenting his own puzzles, Edward Nygma would demonstrate his superiority as the one who solves crimes before Batman.
It was a unique period that produced some of the most beloved Riddler stories to date. But as is often the case with Batman’s rogues, it was only a matter of time before he reverted to his more criminal predilections.
Still, the notion of a Riddler using his intellect to solve crimes rather than commit them has stuck around ever since, from Justice League Action to the Gotham series.
Relic of a bygone era
Okay, let’s be real here. The truth is, when most people picture the Riddler, they don’t picture a brooding, intellectual rival to the world’s greatest detective. They depict a giddy little weirdo in a skintight green jumpsuit with question marks all over it, spouting clues before his heists that were either ripped from a children’s puzzle book or concocted from outright nonsense.
It’s Frank Gorshin’s Riddler, in the 1960s Batman TV show, who as the pilot’s villain set the tone for the series as a whole.
It’s Jim Carrey’s Riddler, in Joel Schumacher’s cheesy Batman Forever. More than that, he is Bill Finger and Dick Sprang’s Riddler, created in 1948 as one of the many colorful opponents Batman faces.
So why does the Riddler often feel like a character from a children’s story? Well, because he is one. And that’s fine! Comics and his characters must be fun! Part of what makes Batman special in the set of him is that he has the freedom to go as dark or colorful as he wants, and never betray the malleable source material.
A new Riddler for a new century
It is to this version of the Riddler that Neil Gaiman wrote his anthem about the character for his Secret Origins special, “When is a Door.” In this story, written years before his reimagining in The Animated Series, the Riddler is the last bastion of Batman’s era of goofy villains, a throwback to when the battle between crime and justice in Gotham City used to be fun. Riddle before everything changed. so serious in the 1980s.
Fortunately for everyone, time has shown that there is room for both versions of Batman in the cultural landscape and every conceivable nuance in between. Even as The Batman is about to introduce what may be the darkest Riddler yet, the Gorshins, Astins, and Carreys will never be too hard to find.
portrait of a serial killer
There is another way to see the Riddler. He is the one who has just broken his way into the public eye, born out of a new wave of fascination with true crimes and the criminals who commit them. Consider this: what kind of person intentionally leaves clues for authorities to find? What kind of mind delights in publicly eluding his captors, for anonymous prestige and infamy, seeking attention as much, if not more, than the thrill of the crime itself? Hundreds of special documentaries, nonfiction books, and podcasts point to the same archetypal real-world boogeyman: the serial killer.
A criminal ritually killing person after person is terrifying enough to capture anyone’s imagination, but when one leaves intentional notes and evidence of their intent, as they sometimes do, it becomes a phenomenon that we as a culture , we are unable to refuse. From.
This is the germ of an idea that inspired Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s Riddler in the Batman: Earth One graphic novels… and it’s very much the one we’ll see on screen played by Paul Dano in The Batman. Will this new, darker version of the character change the cultural perception of the Riddler as we know him? That is a Riddler Riddle that we will have to wait for it to be solved.
You can also read: SMASH Guide: Where can you watch the Batman movies?
Source: DC Comics
Discover the puzzles that Riddler left in SMASH and DC Comics Mexico
Question: What twisted genius leaves clues to the World’s Greatest Detective so that he can capture him, and thus – arrogantly – boast that he can trick him in very clever ways? Answer: Riddler.
A criminal mastermind prone to perplexity, Edward Nigma has historically been Batman’s most intellectually cunning adversary. With a whimsical insight to wreak havoc, his resourcefulness is unmatched. Well almost.
The most insane exploits of Gotham’s resident puzzle prodigy are brought together in BATMAN ARKHAM: RIDDLER! A volume of SMASH and DC Comics Mexico that compiles some of the greatest stories of the villain, made by some of the best creators in the industry.
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