Who is the Riddler – Batman’s Enigmatic Foe Deciphered

The Prince of Puzzles, Enigma, Edward Nygma, The Riddler – this member of Batman’s Rogues Gallery asks a lot of questions, but who is he?

James Gunn and Peter Safran shared the new DCU slate – both movies and shows – this week. Hidden under all of that was the confirmation of The Batman Part II and its released date: October 3, 2025. Not much is known about the film’s story, but it will be a part of the new DC Elseworlds and will not tie in to the new slate.

Let’s look back at the first movie’s main villain: The Riddler.

As one of the early members of the primary Rogues Gallery, the Riddler has been a nemesis of Batman and Gotham for decades. He dominates with his genius and tortures his victims with puzzles. The character has been played by multiple actors on screen in various states of madness and modes of spandex.

Powers & Abilities

The Riddler is a genius. His main weapon is his lateral thinking and logic which allows him to decode and create all kinds of puzzles. That logic also lends to creating strategies for all sorts of criminal enterprises. He is considered one of Bruce’s most formidable opponents when it comes to brains.

This intelligence does have downfalls, though. The Caped Crusader has noted (in the Arkhamverse) that Nygma “exhibits personality disorders consistent with a fanatic narcissist, egocentrism, and megalomania crossed with severe obsessive compulsion.” If you’re as full of yourself as Nygma, you are bound to underestimate your opposition and make mistakes.

BtAS Episode 40, courtesy of Warner Bros.

Nygma has no superhuman strength, but he has some limited fighting abilities. He’s gotten his butt kicked by multiple goodies and baddies over the years.

He generally prefers to rely on traps, gizmos, and explosives. Things that give him at least arms’ reach.

The Riddler’s Comic Book Origins

Edward Nygma became enamored with puzzles and riddles as a kid. His criminal career started early, as well. He broke into his school to win a contest involving a difficult puzzle, which he won thanks to his cheating. Nygma went on to use both his criminal inclination and smarts to con carnival customers out of their money.

Art by Win Mortimer, courtesy of DC Comics

He soon grew bored of these easy marks and started looking for a challenge. Batman was a worthy challenge. Nygma put on a disguise, took on the name ‘Riddler’, and prepared.

He came at the Dynamic Duo with riddles followed by an attempt to kill them using a booby-trapped glass maze set up on a pier. Batman and Robin made it out unscathed but were unable to catch the Riddler– who left his trademark “?” in the ocean after vanishing in a puff of smoke.

He’s worked as an informant for Carmine Falcone and had a brain tumor that’s caused his madness. The Riddler has spent his fair share of time in Arkham. He’s even gotten a reformation story after getting punched into a coma.

Needless to say, he’s been around and his cartoony origin makes him no less of a threat to Gotham… or Batman.

Art by (L-R) Richard Giordano, Brian Stelfreeze, Guillem March, DC Artist, courtesy of DC Comics

The Riddler on Screen

The Prince of Puzzles has made appearances on the small and large screen, and animated and live-action.

via Warner Bros.

The latest to take on the character is Paul Dano in Matt Reeve’s The Batman. This Riddler has a different look than what we’ve seen, which has caused some grousing in the fanbase. I don’t think Jim Carrey or Frank Gorshin’s version would fit well into this dark story.

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

His look is DIY military surplus rather than tailored or skin-tight, but it does come in his favorite color. Rumors about his origins are out there. One theorizes that he’s known Bruce Wayne for a long time, which has fueled his need to make the Wayne family’s skeletons public.

We’ll find out if that’s accurate when ‘The Batman’ debuts on March 4th.

Author: Mars Garrett

Pop culture writer and news editor that has been on the BoLS team since 2010. Contributor on the One of Us podcast. Marvel, Vertigo, Batman, and dystopian sci-fi fan. Enjoys bad movies, amazing stunt performances, and the internet. Hates rom-coms. (she/they)