Friday, August 1, 2008

Batman villain info: The Riddler

EDWARD NIGMA AKA THE RIDDLER

The Riddler, (Edward "E." Nigma, also spelled Nygma by some writers), is an enemy of Batman. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist Dick Sprang, he first appeared in Detective Comics #140 (December 1948). E.Nigma is a pun for the word “enigma”.
Known for his purple domino mask and green, question mark-covered costume, either as a skintight catsuit or a business suit and bowler hat, the Riddler is obsessed with riddles, puzzles, and word games. He delights in forewarning police and Batman of his capers by sending them complex clues.

Edward Nigma discovered puzzles when he was a young boy, and he gradually incorporated them into his criminal career. Issue #2 of Justice by
Alex Ross suggests that Edward's father physically abused him, which left him with a compulsion to tell the truth (materializing through the telling of riddles), as well as a desire to prove his superiority by outwitting everyone around him.

Analysis of Criminal Insanity
The Riddler's criminal modus operandi is so deeply ingrained 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 Batman'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.
Sometimes, he is shown to drive a "Riddlermobile," a green car with "???" on the license plate. In the animated series and in Batman Forever, he carries a trick cane.
More info on Riddler: http://batman.wikia.com/wiki/The_Riddler

Film portrayals
Jim Carrey portrays the Riddler in the 1995 movie Batman Forever with Gorshin as his stated primary influence. He also said that he was attracted to the "stalker" angle added to the character in the script. Nygma is shown to be obsessed with his idol Bruce Wayne, his turn to crime a result of Wayne's rejection of his mind-manipulation invention. Throughout the film, Nygma obsesses over Wayne, copying Wayne's appearance down to a facial mole, and he forms an alliance with Two-Face, constantly stopping him from killing Wayne. This version of the Riddler employs a device called "the Box", disguised as a 3D imagery device for TVs, that extracts victims' memories and transmits them into the Riddler's head, making him smarter and contributing to his mental breakdown. It was through this scheme that the Riddler learns of Bruce Wayne's secret identity as Batman. In the end, Batman destroys the brain-wave hub with a Batarang, and Riddler's intelligence (as well as his sanity) is lost. Riddler is subsequently locked up in Arkham Asylum, where he claims that 'he is Batman'.
Movie version: http://batman.wikia.com/wiki/The_Riddler_(Jim_Carrey)

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