Riddle Me This: The Psychology Of The Riddler
Batman’s Rogue Gallery features some of the most intriguing villains to ever be created. From Ra’s Al Ghul to Mr Freeze, each foe represents a different aspect of the Dark Knight’s psyche.
They test Batman and push him to be better superhero. When it comes to challenging Batman’s intelligence, The Riddler is the perfect foil. Obsessed with proving his superiority, Edward Nigma uses more than riddles to achieve his goals.
The character’s most recent outing in The Batman demonstrated how danger he can be and for the purposes of this article I’m focusing on the classic version.
Riddler’s motivations make him fascinating as a solo villain and a supporting character to other rogues. I’m exploring the psychology behind his actions to see what makes him one of Batman’s deadliest enemies.
Addicted to the thrill
Nigma’s fixation with puzzles started from a young age. When he was a boy, his teacher announced a contest would be held to see who could solve a puzzle in the fastest time.
Nigma wanted to prove he could win, so he broke into the school at night and stole it. Nigma managed to solve the puzzle in under a minute. He won the competition, earning a book of riddles. Addicted to the thrill of winning, Nigma embraced the world of…
