Who is he??

The Riddler, Edward Nygma, is a Batman villain. This particular version of him comes from the 1992 series, Batman: The Animated Series. He first debuted in the episode "If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?" from season 1, episode 39. He is voiced by John Glover. Like many other incarnations of the character, the Riddler is obsessed with puzzles and riddles and is fueled by his ego.

History

This particular version of the Riddler started out as a well-to-do, yet arrogant fellow who worked as a computer software designer, making a name for himself by being the mastermind behind the computer game, "Riddle of the Minotaur". After being cheated and let go by his former boss, Daniel Mockridge, he started to steer down the path of villainy by taking on the pseudonym of the Riddler and kidnapped his former boss in order to kill him. Obviously his plot failed and his identity had been found out, thanks to Batman and Robin.

In the episode "What is Reality?", after Batman had uncovered his identity, Edward eliminated every trace of his former identity by destroying documents bearing his legal name. Edward Nygma was no more... He sent a computer with a viritual reality simmulator to the Gotham Police Department which trapped Commissioner Gordon and its up to Batman to free him and solve a set of deadly riddles laid out. After being tricked by Batman, Riddler loses his concentration which causes the virtual reality he created to fall apart. After escaping the VR world, Commisioner Gordon & Batman found the Riddler at his hideout, where he was found catatonic after failing to escape his VR world in time. It was presumed that his mind was either destroyed or trapped. He was sent to Arkham asylum.

Edward's final appearance was in the 8th episode of season 2, "Riddler's Reform". After the Riddler was released from Arkham on parole, Batman and Robin tracked him down to a loading dock only discover that Edward wasn't up to his old tricks... It turns out Edward had joined the Wacko Toy Corporation and had his Riddler persona licenced, along with inventing several puzzles that quickly became popular with children. He seems to have reformed and given up crime for good... Or so we are led to believe. Turns out he continued committing robberies and left clues in his company's Ads. Later, while taking a phone call away from a party, Batman confronts Riddler, telling him that he can resist being a criminal and that sooner or later, he will get caught.

After the party, Nygma had concluded that Batman is in fact right, claiming that had fooled everyone, the doctors, the parole board, and the police... everyone except Batman. Batman was the one saw through all the deception and figured out he was behind all those robberies. Batman was the only one who ever truly challenged him. He concludes that he must get rid of Batman once and for all. Nygma airs one last Tv Ad to relay yet another clue for Batman to figure out, which led him to to the Gotham Convention center which is laced with booby traps and a bomb. With little to no time left to escape, Batman hid himself in a safe. Meanwhile at his apartment, the Riddler burns his Riddler costume, since to him, there's no point to being the Riddler now that Batman is gone. Suddenly, Batman shows up, takes down his henchmen, and finally confronts him. Bewildered, Riddler demanded Batman to reveal how he managed to survive the explosion, Batman doesn't answer. Riddler is taken to Arkham once again. There he loudly rants and demands to know how Batman escaped certain doom.

"It's impossible, I tell you! Impossible! My trap was perfect! How did he do it? I have to know! Somebody tell me! It's not fair! There was no way, I tell you! No way he could have gotten out! Somebody tell me! Do you hear me? Somebody tell me how he did it! I have to know! I have to know!"

Unfortunately, he didn't have as many appearances as his fellow Batman rouges (not counting cameos) in the cartoon. But he did have more appearances within the DCAU continuity, such as the tie-in comics (The Batman Adventures & The Batman and Robin Adventures).

Why this guy?

Well that's a good question. I'm not drawn to villains typically but somehow The Riddler is an exception. Perhaps its his demeanor, his design (before New Batman Adventures), the slight depth he had in his debut episode. Like many of the rouges in BTAS, Edward wasn't just evil or a petty villain. He was essentially screwed over by his former employer and was rightfully angry at this. But his hubris got in the way and buried him deeper and deeper until he landed in Arkham Asylum for good. Whatever it may be, I was drawn to him.

Before I ever refered to myself as a selfshipper, I had strong feelings for Edward for literal years, perhaps dating back to when I first watched Batman the Animated Series. I had crushes (squishes???) on other characters and real people before but none of them lasted this long. It seems regardless how much I changed over the years: from realizing I'm arospec & aplatonicflux or me realizing that I am amatopunk and having not very straightfoward feelings towards relationships (to an extent). Whatever my feelings for Edward may be, they are still real and it's here to stay despite how much I've grown since then.♡ ♡ ♡

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