<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Riddler
Gender	Male
Publisher	DC Comics
Origin	Gotham City
First Appearance	Detective #140 (1948)
Creator(s)	Bill Finger and Dick Sprang
Alter ego	Edward Nash
Aliases	Edward Nigma
Abilities	Genius at making and solving puzzles, as well as designing clever crimes.
Affiliations	Secret Society of Super Villains

The Riddler is a fictional comic book character, an adversary of the comic book superhero Batman. Batman and the Riddler are owned by DC Comics.

During the Silver Age of Comics, the Riddler was depicted as an obsessive compulsive young man who was the the product of an abusive father. Supposedly, Eddie would bring home honors he had won with his cleverness, but his father could not perceive that his son was brilliant, and would beat him, claiming that he had cheated. Because of this, the Riddler is compelled to leave clever clues and riddles for each of his crimes, particularly for Batman, who he sees as a kind of twisted father figure. There have been instances where he has tried to commit a crime without leaving a clue, but he is unable to do it. He also cannot kill an opponent in cold blood, but must first devise a puzzle or trap for them and give them the chance to solve it and escape.

Traditionally, the Riddler wears the color green with dark question marks integrated into his outfit. The Riddler was actually a very minor Batman villain, until Frank Gorshin's Emmy-nominated portrayal of the character in the 1966 Batman TV series. Since then, the Riddler has been portrayed by Jim Carrey in the film Batman Forever (1995), and has appeared in almost every animated TV version involving the Batman character.

A recent retelling of his origin paints the character in a less sympathetic light. The Riddler grew up Edward Nash. Edward liked to solve puzzles and win contests, but he would often do so by cheating. Early in his crime career, he took on the alias E. Nigma. Later he would be come obsessed with proving himself more clever than the Batman in the guise of the Riddler. He eventually was able to figure out Batman's secret identity, but seems now to have forgotten it due to a head injury.

Recently, the Riddler seems to have reformed, and has been using his deductive puzzle-solving genius to solve crimes. He is still arrogant, impatient with others, egocentric, and a bit violent. How long his reformation will last is . . . a real riddle.

Riddler Portrayals

• 1966: Frank Gorshin's maniacal performance on the Adam West series is nominated for an Emmy. He will return in the 3rd season, as well as having the role in the big-screen version of the series. In 1979, he'll appear in the one-shot Legends of the Superheroes spoof
• 1966: John Astin (Gomez Addams) plays the second season Riddler
• 1968: Ted Knight voices this and a lot of other characters on The Batman/Superman Hour
• 1978: Michael Bell voices the Riddler on Challenge of the SuperFriends
• 1992: John Glover voices him for Batman: The Animated Series (and on the companion Superman series)
• 1995: Jim Carrey plays him in Batman Forever

• 2003: Brett Rickaby plays the Riddler and Frank Gorshin in the flashbacks in Return to the Batcave
• 2004: Gabriel Sabloff plays him in the fanfilm, Grayson
• 2004: Robert Englund voices him on The Batman

External links

• Batman Wiki: The Riddler