Name:Edward Nigma
Age:Forty eight years old
Alias:The Riddler
Appearance:Edward is never seen without his signature green suit, purple tie and patronising grin, unless he's recently been apprehended by Batman, in which case he wears orange asylum overalls and a disgruntled scowl. Getting on a little in years, Nigma now likes to use a question mark cane as well. Some sources suggest it may contain concealed weapons, though Nigma rarely deigns to do something as thuggish as fight someone in hand-to-hand combat.
Skills/Abilities:- Genius level intellect, particularly when presented with puzzles and riddles.
- Experienced planner and manipulator
- Many contact in the Gotham underworld and Supervillain circles, veteran baddie
- Independently wealthy, having stashed money from legal and illegal deeds for years.
Weaknesses:- Obsessed with riddles and proving his intellectual superiority
- Compulsively leaves clues for others to figure out his motives, location and actions
- Physically weak and has little skill with personal combat
History:As a young boy, Edward saw the tests and questions his teachers presented him with as nothing more than puzzles with solutions so obvious, it almost wasn't worth solving them. He did though and was rapidly advanced through different schooling systems and to more and more prestigious establishments. Although young Edward's success meant that he went to better schools on scholarships, his early success greatly frustrated his father, a man who hadn't achieved in his entire life a quarter of what his son had in less than ten years. The man could not accept that his son was gifted or intelligent, instead choosing to believe his son was somehow cheating on every test he took. Whenever Edward brought home a school card full of straight As, his father beat him and demanded that he reveal his method of deception.
His father's actions had a profound affect on Edward. Despite not being able to satisfactorily explain to his father how it was he had passed every test ever presented to him, the attacks quickly drummed a lesson into his mind; the truth must be told. Throughout his childhood, the young man was unflinchingly honest and often received still more trouble for it. We all know that sometimes it is better to lie than to tell the truth, whether it's to protect someone's feelings or to save ourselves answering some unnecessary questions. And so now Edward had two conflicting messages, one saying that lying was wrong and the other that the truth could get you into trouble.
By the time he was thirteen, the young Nigma had come upon a solution. He simply found ways to tell the truth that were not immediately obvious to a listener. He was say one thing while meaning another by shifting his tone or allow the other person to leap to conclusions by not finishing sentences. And yet this still felt a little too much like lying to him so, during a class trip to the carnival, he was delighted by his discovery of riddles. Here was a way to put the truth in front of someone's face and defy them to understand it. It was here that Edward began both an extensive study of the history and mythology of riddles and to amass a vast collection of esoteric facts to serve as props for his riddles.
Edward eventually left both school and his father behind, becoming first an investor, then a banker and finally a security advisor. While the stock market had been an interesting game, it was too chaotic for his tastes, too lacking in carefully constructed rules. In short, it wasn't puzzle like enough for him. That's not to say he didn't make an awful lot of money during his two previous careers though, he made an awful lot of cash that he carefully stashed away in different accounts and funds. But as a secuirty advisor, designing and manning advanced security systems, he felt he might have found his true calling. Edward was able to create puzzles and riddles for intruders (though he personally thought of them as contestants) that lead them one way or the other, depending on whether they guessed right. And watching through his CCTV cameras, Nigma had the time of his life.
It all got stale soon though, for the average thief or burglar isn't particularly interested in solving complex riddles, they'd rather just cut the power to the building, smash a window and grab whatever their desire is. Or, if the puzzles were too complex, simply give up and leave. Edward realised that the fun was going out of his games because his contestants were a) too stupid and b) had the ability to leave whenever they wanted to. If he really wanted full satisfaction, he'd have to create an environment where they couldn't leave and had to apply their full concentration to escape. Maybe he should make some of the traps deadly?
It was a fateful night that he began designing some more lethal riddles because one of the many buildings he was monitoring was being broken into. The thief, or should that be cat-burglar, was very carefully navigating around every single one of the Edward's riddles and traps, using the ceiling, floor, air ducts and whatever else she pleased. It so annoyed Nigma that he was about to trip the alarm himself when he saw another figure, a shadowy giant with pointed ears. Where the thief was going round the puzzles, the newcomer was solving them with almost contemptuous ease. If anything, he seemed to be gaining ground on the feline intruder! Edward could hardly believe his eyes as the two of them waltzed in through his meticulously designed security system without a care in the world, being rude enough to leave without even stealing anything, not that the cat-burglar didn't try.
Now Edward was both incensed and exhilarated. Someone had beaten his traps and without apparent effort, solving puzzles and riddles alike. This was the person to go through his newly designed, lethal maze, the perfect contestant to try it out. And what better way to show that pointy eared fool that he only got through Nigma's system because Nigma wasn't ready than to kill him! So Edward constructed, concealed and baited the trap, leaving out riddles all over Gotham for his foe and taking a hostage to provoke the other's heroic nature. When he finally arrived, the puzzle master was waiting and eager for the games to begin. But it happened again, the newly named Batman seemed completely unimpressed with these new challenges! And what was worse was that he found some small clues that might lead him straight to Nigma!
But Edward couldn't stop. He constructed a new set of traps in his own home, sure this time he would defeat the Bat. When he ended up in Arkham Asylum a week later, it was in a state of shock, confusion and despair. It took many months of rotting in a cell for Nigma to realise what must have happend; Batman must have cheated! The filthy rodent! Well Edward would show him! He'd show them all!
That was around the second year of Batman's dark crusade. Ever since, Nigma has been a constant thorn in the side of the Bat, testing his intellect again and again while convinced that he can never match the mental prowess of the king of questions without cheating. Early on in both their careers, the press labelled Edward 'The Riddler' and it appealed to him. He soon adopted it as his 'supervillain' name and got himself a matching outfit.
