| Riddler | |
|---|---|
 Riddler as he appeared on the cover of Batman: One Bad Day - The Riddler #1 (October 2022). Art by Brian Bolland. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Detective Comics #140 (October 1948)[1][2] |
| Created by | Bill Finger (writer) Dick Sprang (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Edward Nigma (later Nygma or Nashton) |
| Team affiliations | |
| Notable aliases |
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| Abilities |
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The Riddler (Edward Nigma, later Edward Nygma or Edward Nashton) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bill Finger and Dick Sprang, and debuted in Detective Comics #140 in October 1948. He has become one of the most enduring enemies of the superhero Batman and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery.
In his comic book appearances, the Riddler is depicted as a criminal mastermind in Gotham City. He has an obsessive compulsion to incorporate riddles, puzzles, and death traps in his schemes to prove his intellectual superiority over Batman and the police. His real name–Edward Nigma–is a pun itself; an "enigma" is a person or thing that is difficult to understand. With this self-conscious use of an elaborate gimmick, the Riddler's crimes are often theatrical and ostentatious. The character commonly wears a domino mask and either a green unitard decorated with question mark prints or a green suit and bowler hat. A black, green, or purple question mark serves as his visual motif. He commonly says "Riddle me this," before stating his iconic riddles.
The Riddler has been adapted into numerous forms of media, having been portrayed in live action by Frank Gorshin and John Astin on the 1960s television series Batman, Jim Carrey in the 1995 film Batman Forever, Cory Michael Smith on the 2014 Fox series Gotham, and Paul Dano in the 2022 film The Batman. John Glover, Robert Englund, Wally Wingert, and others have provided the character's voice ranging from animation to video games.
- ^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 299. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
- ^ Fleisher, Michael L. (1976). The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes, Volume 1: Batman. Macmillan Publishing Co. pp. 315–317. ISBN 0-02-538700-6. Retrieved 29 March 2020.