Welcome back to another installment of Demanded Characters. Although the new Classics line will showcase figures from the entire DC universe, there is still one from the Bat universe that we still need to talk about. This week, we take a look at one of the most wanted of the Batman villains – The Riddler.
Last week we had a heated race between the modern and classic Cyborg. It was neck and neck, but the Modern version won out.
As a young boy, Eddy Nigma was fascinated with puzzles. Ed would learn of them in school, and after cheating at a contest he made puzzles his life. His passion for puzzles would lead him to working for a carnival, running a crooked puzzle booth.
As he grew, so did his need for more excitement leading, to a life of crime. The early criminal career of Edward was not a very successful one. Taking the name the Riddler, Edward was not able to pull a crime with out leaving clues for the GCPD or Batman. This little calling card would lead to his downfall every time. The Riddler, after being the joke of the DCU heroes for years, would never allow him to gain A-list villain status. His weakness of leaving clues would always backfire and get him caught not only by Batman but other heroes like Elongated Man and the Flash.
The Riddler would try time and time again to get the better of the heroes, trying such schemes as pumping him self up like Bane, only to be defeated and humiliated once again. The Riddler would find out later in life he had cancer and was told his life would end with no hope of cure, but he saw this as another riddle. Edward would search the world looking for a cure and found one in the Lazarus Pits of Ra’s Al Ghul.
Reborn and healthy, the Riddler set his sight on defeating Batman and enlisted the help of an old friend of Bruce Wayne, Tommy Elliot, aka Hush. The two would take Bruce / Batman on a wild ride which at no point did Batman suspect the Riddler was the mastermind. At the end of it all the Riddler revealed himself to Batman as the mastermind and told him of this great scheme, only to be defeated once again. The Riddler had solved the greatest riddle of them all, Batman’s secret identity. The one problem was that he could not boast or tell anyone.
Edward came back to the DCU during One Year Later with no memory of Batman’s secret and wanting to start a new honest life. The Riddler is currently a part of allies to the Batman, starting a private investigator firm in Gotham and consulting on cases with both Batman and Bruce Wayne.
So, what version of the Riddler do you want to see – First Appearance or Business Suit?
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