Edward Nygma

"*Riddle me this, Batman.*"
—Nygma to Batman.[src]
**Edward "Ed" Nygma** (born October 28, 1980) is a well known criminal in Gotham City and a former member of the Secret Six. When Barbara Kean became the Queen of Gotham's criminal underworld, Nygma joined the Kean crime family and helped her stay in control, using the alias **The Riddler**. However, after her death, Nygma lost all power and was run out of the city.

He returned years later only to be rediscovered by his old friend, Barbara and granted a high tech cane to defeat Batman. He eventually failed and was back into Arkham Asylum.

## Biography

### Early Life

As a boy, Ed was obsessed with riddles which annoyed his father and caused him to physically and emotionally abused Ed which eventually drove him to stab his father in the throat and kill him. Ed was then put into the care system but was never adopted and eventually got old enough to move out. However, he was extremely smart and did exceptionally well in school, being able to become a forensic scientist at the GCPD.

### Drop into Insanity

#### Kristen Kringle's Death

Whilst working at the police department, Ed met and fell in love with Kristen Kringle, who despised him and his riddles. After a murder in the city, the two were assigned to work together in order to uncover the culprit, which Kringle hated. When the two were searching through old records, Ed attempted to tell Kristen how he felt but was interrupted when she exploded with anger and began yelling at him, saying that she hated him and everything about him. This awakened something in him that had been trying to claw it's way out and as she attempted to leave the room he hit her over the head with one of the filing cabinets, knocking her out.

He then took her back to his apartment and lay her on his couch, unsure if he should kill her or not. As he was thinking, Kristen woke up and attempted to escape but was ultimately pinned against the wall by Ed who was also holding a knife to her. She begged for her life but was then stabbed in the stomach by him and slowly died. He then took her body to a forest on the outskirts of Gotham and buried her corpse there. After this he had lost most of his sanity and began to kill even more. Eventually, he was caught and almost incarcerated but managed to escape, leaving his job at the GCPD and becoming a wanted criminal in the city.

#### Becoming The Riddler

After Ed became a criminal he began to pull robberies and was able to outsmart the cops every time. This caused him to gain popularity in the criminal underworld and amongst normal citizens within the city. During this period, Ed began to become even more obsessed with his riddles and started to leave riddles behind at each of his crime scenes. The Gotham Gazette then came up with the nickname, "The Riddler" and Ed loved it and began signing his name as The Riddler at each of the riddles left at his crime scenes.

### Establishing His Name

#### Kean Crime Family

All of this popularity Ed gained caught the attention of the new Queen of Gotham's underworld, Barbara Kean, who was interested in him joining her crime family. Once she finally tracked his lair down, she introduced herself and proposed him the offer of helping her take over the remaining parts of Gotham. He quickly accepted the offer and became a high-ranking member of the Kean crime family.

One evening in Barbara's nightclub, Ed was staring out the window at the city when Barbara came up behind him and asked what he was doing. He explained that wasn't interested in taking over Gotham but rather showing off his intelligence and super smarts to the citizens. She told him that they could still make that happen and the two stared out as the sun set. However, the crime family was completely disbanded when Barbara was killed by detective Jim Gordon, her ex-husband who then went after Ed. Planning to leave the city, Ed went back to the forest to retrieve Kristen's remains, not wanting to leave the city without his love. However, he was tracked and followed by Jim who apprehended him and managed to incarcerate him in Arkham Asylum.

#### Disappearance

He later used his smarts to escape his cell and travel through the vents to escape the entire asylum. After this, he managed to get out of the city and wouldn't return until many years later.

### Return to Gotham

#### Attack on the GCPD

After hearing about a meta-human clay-like creature and vigilante in Gotham, Ed returned and planned to search for the vigilante and what caused the meta-human to appear. However, by the time he reached the Arkham Bridge, he was confronted by his former boss, Barbara Kean, who was, as far as Ed was concerned, dead. When asked how she was alive she simply stated that it was a long story and that he shouldn't worry about it. She then gifted him a golden cane that had a question mark on the tip. It was revealed by Barbara that the cane had the latest tech installed into it and, with the mechanical gloves that came with it, was able to come back to Ed as if it were a boomerang along with many powerful weapons. Ed thanked Barbara and she told him to show off to Gotham.

Later that night, Ed interrupted an award ceremony for the GCPD by throwing his cane and knocking out Harvey Bullock who was presenting the awards on stage. He stepped out into the spotlight and greeted everyone in the room and then proceed to take out a camera and started recording his own speech and broadcasting it to every television in the city. After telling everyone about the poisonous gas he has placed in the air vents, Ed then put on a gas mask and pressed a button on his cane which began to pour gas into the room. As he tried to escape, Ed was thrown across the stage by the bat vigilante, who had seen his broadcast. The vigilante attempted to grab him again until he pressed another button which caused the stage to explode, knocking Ed backstage and launching the vigilante to the end of the room. Ed later managed to escape but his plan had failed since the vigilante managed to synthesise a cure in time and release it through the air vents. However, he had left a riddle behind for the vigilante to solve. He then set up a lair in his old, abandoned apartment in the low neighbourhood of the city. Whilst constructing his lair, Ed caught local investigative reporter Vicki Vale and her cameraman, Chuck Griffith snooping for a story to aid in the GCPD's investigation. However, Ed swiftly slit Griffith's throat with his cane and kidnapped Vale.

#### Back To Arkham

After figuring out the answer to the riddle and learning that Vale was being held hostage, the vigilante discovered Ed's lair and headed there. When he arrived, he was shot several times by a machine gun Ed had placed behind the front door. However, the vigilante managed to throw an object at the gun and blow it up. When he got to the middle of the apartment, the vigilante stood on a pressure plate which launched two harpoons from each side of him. He managed to dodge both but was ambushed by several robots which Ed playfully nicknamed "Riddler Bots". However, the vigilante managed to defeat and destroy them all and when he opened the door to the control room, Ed ambushed him with a knife from behind but was ultimately thrown down on the ground and held in a choke hold. He then revealed to the vigilante that he had a second plan and pressed a button on his cane, starting a count down from five on the TV screens. The vigilante grabbed Ed, untied and grabbed Vicki and jumped out the window with him. The three ended up under the Arkham Bridge as the apartment was blown up and Ed was handcuffed to a street light and knocked out. He was later picked up by the GCPD and incarcerated in Arkham Asylum once again.

## Personality

Being extremely smart, Ed is often very cocky with everything he does. When setting a trap for the vigilante, Ed didn't even consider a backup plan just encase his original would fail, convinced that his plan was so genius that it could never fail.

## Abilities

* **Extreme High-Level Intellect/Expert Tactician:** All his life, Ed has been the smartest in a room and was a genius from a young age. He is capable to coming up with riddles in his head instantly and also able to successfully plan out strategies and plans.
	+ **Computer Specialist:** Ed was capable of using a computer he set up in his apartment to control several traps he had also orchestrated. He was even able to control a drone with extreme accuracy from the same computer.
	+ **Master Engineer:** Ed was able to construct fully active Riddler Bots and command them to

## Equipment

* **Green Suit:** Ed mainly wears a bright, green suit when committing his crimes as The Riddler.
* **Question Mark Cane:** Ed was given a high-tech, golden cane by Barbara Kean. He has used it in every crime ever since.
* **Tech Gloves:** Ed was also given a pair of tech gloves with his cane in order to bring it to him if he was distanced from it.
* **Riddler Bots****:** During his first encounter with Batman, Ed created and successfully engineered his own personal robots, which he nicknamed, "Riddler Bots".

## Appearances

### *Batman: Anarky*

Season 1
* "Hey, Diddle Diddle"
* "Die One, Die All" (mentioned)
* "Treat Them Mean, Keep Them Kean" (flashback)
* "The Secret Six"

Season 2
* "Abandoned" (mentioned)
* "Bat Family" (pictured)
* "Vengeance"
* "Arkham Has Fallen" (mentioned)

Season 5
* "Underworld Unleashed, Part 1"
* "Harley & Ivy"
* "Attack on the Nest" (mentioned)
* "The Joke's On You"

### *Green Arrow*

#### Season 3

* "Underworld Unleashed, Part 2" (mentioned)

### *Batwoman*

Season 1
* "Pilot"
* "Drink Me"
* "Curiouser and Curiouser"
* "A Mad Tea-Party"
* "No Use Going Back To Yesterday"
* "The Duchess! The Duchess!"
* "Off With Her Head" (mentioned)

## Behind the Scenes

* In DC Comics, **Edward Nigma**, formerly **Nashton**, is an extremely prominent member of Batman's rogues Gallery known as the **Riddler**. He was once considered a villain no one could take seriously but has featured in quite dark stories in recent years.

## References

1. ↑ Batman: Anarky: 1.11: Treat Them Mean, Keep Them Kean
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Batman: Anarky: 1.02: Hey, Diddle Diddle