Riddler’s Riddles: 25 Riddles From The Iconic Villain of Batman Comics

The Riddler is one of the fan-favorite villains from Batman’s rogue gallery. This eccentric character has once again garnered the limelight after the bone-chilling portrayal by Paul Dano in Matt Reeves’s The Batman.

The Riddler is a challenging foe of Batman because of his comprehensive set of riddles. Some are pretty silly, while others require a high IQ to solve. Over the years, the Riddler has put forth a lot of riddles for the Dark Knight. The riddles served many purposes – working as clues for crimes, bringing forth information about the past, or sometimes just containing aspects about the Riddler himself. Some riddles are more famous than others. Check out some of the top riddles from the criminal mastermind.

A Dark Mystery

Dark Knight, Dark City, is a dark tale featuring the Riddler who goes on a rampage of crimes. Written by Peter Milligan and with illustrations made by Kieron Dwyer, this story starts with a mystery.

Batman is faced with a woman who is brainwashed by the Riddler and jumps to her death. Before she dies, she conveys a riddle for the Dark Knight, “generally, my leaves aren’t turned at night; usually, I’m full of worms by day, lots of words but deathly quiet.” Batman figures out the answer, which is “a book.”

One for the Holiday

The duo of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale wrote the seventh issue of Batman: The Long Halloween. In this issue of Batman, there is a holiday-themed serial killer who spends almost the entire year proving to be a nightmare for the people of Gotham. The killer targets mob figures, which scares the crime lord Carmine Falcone.

Falcone hires Edward Nygma to uncover the killer. In this issue, both Batman and the Riddler try to catch the killer in their own way. The Riddler asks, “when does a killer not kill?” After revealing himself, the killer outlines Nygma with bullets.

The First Time

First impressions are often memorable when done right. Edward Nygma, the Riddler, made his first appearance in Detective Comics Vol. 1 No.140. The issue was written by the co-creator of Batman, Bill Finger, while Dick Sprang made the illustrations.

Nygma is seen taunting Batman and Robin in the comic. His riddle in this one is quite corny. The Riddler presents a riddle, “why is corn hard to escape from?” Batman answers the riddle, “it’s a maze.”

Nightmare City

Zero Year by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo was a reimagining of Batman’s origin story. The elements of technology, inequality, and climate change are evident in Riddler’s plan.

The ultimate act of the Riddler includes turning Gotham into a city of a climatic nightmare by flooding it. The Riddler puts forth a riddle for Batman to solve to save the city, “my greatest of strengths is that I know my worth; I hug myself tightly at every birth.” There is a debate over the answer to this riddle. The Riddler insists that the answer is “knot,” while Batman believes it to be “blade.”