The Riddler
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 The Riddler by Jim Lee
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The Riddler a. k. a. Edward Nygma is a DC Comics fictional villain enemy of Batman, created by writer Bill Finger and artist Dick Sprang, and known for his gimmick of leaving riddles in the crime scene whenever he makes a hit. He was created in 1948 but was not frequently used until the late 1960s thanks to Frank Gorshin's portrayal of the character in the Batman live action TV series.
His most common trademarks are his green clothes with purple question marks, a purple domino mask and a question mark-shaped cane. His original costume is all green and spandex with purple gloves and belt, but a green suit with black shirt and a derby hat was designed for the 1960s series at Gorshin's request, since he didnt like to wear the spandex costume.
His personality varies fom the hiperactive over-the-top version of Gorshin and Jim Carrey to the cold minded one from Batman: The Animated Series and The Batman, but his obsession with riddles, his high I. Q., and the way he likes to match withs with Batman when commiting crimes remain a constant.
Traditionally, his modus operandi involves giving Batman and the police clues in the form of riddles about his crimes before of after he commits them. Most times his criemes are robberies, but although he is not really a murderer he has also performed kidnappings, put people in deadly danger or threatening to destroy invaluable things. However, over the time, he has sometimes moved on to bigger things, like he co-master minded a plot to mess with Batman's life in Batman: Hush, before which he finally solved the biggest riddle, Batman's identity.
Like The Penguin and Harley Quinn, he has tried to reform both in the comics and other media. In Batman: The Animated Series's Riddler's Reform, he tries to become a toy maker, and in a number of 2007 issues of Detective Comics written by Paul Dini, after forgeting Batman's identity due to amnesia, he becomes a celebrity/detective rivaling with Batman himself.
[edit] DC Universe fictional biography
[edit] Hush
In the Batman 12 part story arc Batman: Hush (Batman #608-619, the Riddler played a major role behind scenes as the real mastermind of the Hush operation. When he fist appears in the story he seems to be among several of the Batman's rogues gallery trained in new ways by a mysterious new enemy, but after Batman defeated him so easily, he was discarted as part of the operation. Two weeks after Batman defeats Hush, a man who seemed to be setting several of the Dark Knight friends and foes, who is in fact Tommy Eliot a childhood friend of Bruce wayne, it is revealed that the Riddler's true role in the play.
The Riddler had suffered from cancer, and used one of Ra's Al Ghul's Lazarus Pits to rid himself of the disease. Knowing cancer also afflicted Dr. Thomas Elliott's mother, the Riddler offered him the chance to cure his mother as well, for a large sum of money. However, Elliott was in fact eager for his mother to die in order to inherit her fortune and explained that he would only give Riddler the money he wanted if Riddler played along with his "game" to get revenge on his childhood friend Bruce Wayne; Riddler agreed, and the two of them set Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Joker, Clayface, and Scarecrow in a plan to destroy Batman, with Catwoman, Ra's Al Ghul and Talia, Lady Shiva (In Ra's's employ), Two-face, Harold, the Huntress and Superman (Temporarily under Ivy's control) being temporarily drawn into the scheme as well.
During the psychotic break that followed exposure to the Lazarus Pit, Riddler deduced Batman's secret identity, that Jason Todd was once Robin and that Harold worked in the Bat-cave. He then he bribes Harold with surgery (courtesy of Dr. Elliott) to place subliminal messages to bring Tommy Elliott back into Bruce's life, and told the Joker to pretend to kill Tommy with Clayface impersonating him. Clayface is also set to impersonate Jason in order to torment Batman, who was haunted by the former Robin's death. Batman first thought that Riddler had stolen Jason's corpse and hid it outside of Gotham Cemetery, but it turned out that Jason was alive the whole time.
During his confrontation with Batman at the end, when the Riddler threatened to reveal his identity, the Caped Crusader mocked the threat as harmless, stating it was like the old joke about "What time is it when an elephant sits on your fence"; if Riddler revealed the answer to the riddle "who is Batman?", it would become worthless, something Riddler wouldn't be able to stand. Riddler hadn't even told Clayface Batman's true identity when he was posing as Jason, the one thing that would have made the impersonation perfect, and had only told Hush because he had to. In addition, Batman warned the Riddler that if he revealed the secret, it would give Ra's al Ghul a vital clue that he used a Lazarus Pit without his permission, and the League of Assassins would subsequently retaliate against him.
[edit] Riddler's amnesia and reform
In recent comics, after Batman: Hush and Infinite Crisis the Riddler gets amnesia (even forgeting Batman's secret identity) and, along with the Penguin and Harley Quinn, characters that have also reformed in other continuities, he becomes a celebrity/detective rivaling with Batman himself.
