Worst Nightmares #06: The Riddler

Riddle us this: what cerebral criminal with an affinity for purple and green loves challenging the Dark Knight with cleverly calculated and puzzling plots?

One of the Dark Knight's most infamous villains, Edward Nygma enjoys flaunting his intellectual superiority by conducting crimes leaving clues for Batman to piece together. While this habits constantly leads to the aptly named Riddler failing his criminal endeavours, his puzzle-problem actually stems not only from his own narcissism and ego, but also from a deep-seeded psychological compulsion. Because of this, the Riddler often finds himself a resident of Arkham Asylum following his inevitable capture.

Possessing a genius-level intellect, the Ridller creates elaborate, sometimes Rube Goldberg-esque traps, and is even willing to use innocent civilians as baits. Although no physically imposing, the Ridller's brilliance, neurosis and lack of empathy make him an incredibly dangerous foe. He cares very little - if at all - about the lives of those he uses in his plots and instead only sees them as disposable pawns in his continuous intellectual battle against Batman.


Created by writer Bill Finger and artist Dick Sprang, the character first appeared in Detective Comics #140 (Oct. 1948).