All about the Riddler - By: Jason Mcdonald

The Riddler is one of Bruce's long standing enemies and a lot of mystery surrounds him. Lets clear up some things about this character with a little explanation.

The Riddler's villain modus operandi is so deeply entrenched into his personality that he is virtually powerless to stop himself from acting it out. He cannot simply kill his opponents when he has the upper hand; he has to put them in a deathtrap to see if he can devise a life and death intellectual challenge that the hero cannot solve and escape. However, unlike many of The Dark knight's themed enemies, Riddler's compulsion is quite flexible, allowing him to commit any crime as long as he can describe it in a riddle or puzzle. Echo and Qurey are sometimes considered Nygma's assistants.

The Riddler has a steep obsession with puzzles. He gets his kicks in warning Batman of his crimes with clues in the form of these riddles. He is commonly seen in a green suit and domino mask. He often has a cane which is in the shape of a question mark.

The Riddler is typically played as a smooth-talking, yet quirky, victim of an intense obsessive desire. This was first introduced in the 1965 issue of Batman (titled, "The Remarkable Ruse of The Riddler") in which he tries to refrain from leaving a riddle, but fails. This compulsion has been a recurring theme, as shown in a 1999 issue of Gotham Adventures, in which he tried to commit a crime without leaving a riddle, but fails: "You don't understand. .. I really didn't want to leave you any hints. I really planned never to go back to Arkham Asylum. But I left you a clue anyway. So I... I have to go back there. Because I might need help. I... I might actually be crazy."

Others, like Chuck Dixon, suggest that his madness, as well as his descent into crime in general, have roots in a yearning to rise above anonymity that he possessed as a youth. It is in Dixon's 1995 origin story for the Riddler that the famous 'puzzle contest' backstory is introduced. After a teacher announces that a contest over who can solve a puzzle the fastest will be held, a young Edward Nigma sets his sights on winning this, craving the glory and satisfaction that will come with the victory. He sneaks into the school one nighttime, takes the puzzle out of the teacher's desk, and practices it until he is able to solve it in under a minute. When he wins the contest the teacher passes him a riddle book which he immediately starts devouring. This book gives him a very big thirst for puzzles and riddles. This is most likely what lead him to give the puzzles as a part of his capers.

After several failed attempts to put gangs together, Nigma, now calling himself the Riddler, encounters the caped crusader on a rooftop during one of his robberies. Previously believing that the Dark Knight was nothing more than a mere myth, Nigma narrowly evades capture, and first encounters his future sidekicks, Query and Echo, shortly afterward. He hires them right away, and together, the trio concoct a plan to rob one of Gotham City's biggest banks. Their next scheme centered around the "ransom" of a large number of priceless antique fiddles. During the exchange process, the owner of the fiddles turned out to be Batman in disguise. Query and Echo were apprehended immediately, and Batman tracked the Riddler down to an opera house and defeated him.

Of all of the Batman Villains, maybe none have more mystery around them than the Riddler. A little information should be able to help clear some of this mystery up.

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