The Dark Knight Rises Riddle Me This: The Riddler Characterization Thread

[Changeling]

Oh I had an idea like that when I was REALLY high. I wanted to get on the computer 'cuz I thought I could photoshop movies.

 

[Ryan]

Awesome. I knew I wasn't alone.

 

[Ace of Knaves]

Very nice rainingcrow. If you wanna actually post it click the download link on your picture on the deviantart page, copy the link and then paste it in the insert picture button on your reply.

Influenced by the Riddler in the Joker GN by any chance?

 

[rainingcrow]

embittered arrogant underappreciated self proclaimed genius... I like the suit and stuff sometimes, but honestly I see nigma as starting out looking basically like a thrashed I.T. guy that frequents some metal bars and is constantly trying to pick fights just to outsmart people. He loathes the use of brawn over brain... the sophisticated dapper look can come later... but I want him to be dangerous and scary in a different way first.

as far as characterization and motive... The guy wants to show he is smarter than the rest of the world... unmasking or beating batman ( who has evaded everyone else)... thats just a way to show them up...

Dont even start him out as a main villain... Make him a go to guy for other people who need technology, plans, or high end explosives and stuff... He's a smart guy, so give him a job that the smart guys would have.

Maybe he isnt a master criminal... he's just a morally ambiguous pissed off nerd who is supplementing his income by helping out criminals. Of course when someone pays him to basically build a trap or assasination attempt on batman, then it fails. The riddler would be unable to move past the thought that someone, anyone outsmarted him. Then it becomes a personal crusade to bring him down.

my idea is to introduce him through his failed attempt first... a bomb with a riddle attatched to kill gordon, but batman figures it out and saves him... or to kill batman who simply outsmarts him... dont even show his face or anything until the timing is right.

ok I just checked him out in the joker graphic novel... I kind of like that angle... but mine was really inspired by a couple of different things... one the animated show "the batman", two the scene of jim carrey entering his apartment to the tune of an r.e.m. song in the disaster of a movie batman forever... and three this dude I used to know back home that worked freelance for some of the local gangs.

 

[Ace of Knaves]

Yo man edit your posts, you'll get in trouble for posting like 5 times in a row.

 

[COMPO]

what if th riddler kidnaps Reese so that he can go into Gotham and be involved with the investigation, cos the homicide case with Batman would just be given to local law enforcement whereas if Batman is suspected of kidnapping its a federal crime, which be just case to bring him in.

 

[Jolly C.]

riddler should make a deal with reese...he gives him a riddle and he needs to solve it in a certain amount of time while riddler uses reese to get info for him and in the end when riddler doesnt need reese anymore he asks him the riddle again and reese gets it wrong so he kills him

 

[Kane]

I'll just copy and paste what I posted in another thread, since my post is more appropriate here:

I think The Riddler is an underrated character, even in the comics and animated series. I want to see The Riddler played out like he was in the story "Dark Knight, Dark City." It's probably the best arc the Riddler has in the comics. If Nolan uses The Riddler, he'll write him as a serious, cerebral character...which will automatically elevate it above the campy Carrey portrayal, even before Nolan casts an actor.

He's been known to engage in grand theft, assault, attempted murder, and murder. But he generally can't just shoot someone and be done with it. He has to concoct some intricate death trap and either - generally, if the victim is Batman - challenge the victim to find the one and only way to escape (yes, Jigsaw from the Saw series is, in some ways, a major Riddler rip-off) or - if it's someone other than Batman - provide Batman with riddles that he had to unravel in order to save the intended victim.

And of course, that's his M.O., no matter what kind of crime he's committing. Any crime that can described in a riddle, The Riddler can, and will, commit. And if they do another film version of The Riddler, they really need to make his riddles difficult, which they've never done in previous on-screen representations. The Riddler's riddles should require genius-level intelligence and problem-solving skills to solve. That's the point. Riddler is a narcissist who has to constantly prove to the world that he's smarter than everyone. And Batman can only thwart him by being even smarter.

 

[Jolly C.]

The Riddler should discover Batmans identity and attempt to publicly humiliate Batman by spilling the info to Gotham but then Batman explains that if his identity is revealed the riddler wont be smarter than anybody else...kind of like in HUSH...that would be cool if the final battle if Riddler develops amnesia and forgets what he knows abou batman.

 

[Kane]

Haha, that's where I always felt Reese would come into play. I always thought that the Riddler should kidnap Reese, make him spill who he is accusing of being Batman (which it ends up being true), and then putting him through one of his games for Batman to find or something. I think it would be better to kill him off, just so he can't be used again to spill the beans. This could be the point where Batman realizes that the Riddler is a bigger threat than he initially thought. Where it's much more than just riddles he needs to solve. Coleman Reese could be his first victim or something.

There's so much potential.

 

[BestGirl]

The Riddler should discover Batmans identity and attempt to publicly humiliate Batman by spilling the info to Gotham but then Batman explains that if his identity is revealed the riddler wont be smarter than anybody else...kind of like in HUSH...that would be cool if the final battle if Riddler develops amnesia and forgets what he knows abou batman.

I'd rather the Riddler not develop amnesia. That's a copout IMO.

Haha, that's where I always felt Reese would come into play. I always thought that the Riddler should kidnap Reese, make him spill who he is accusing of being Batman (which it ends up being true), and then putting him through one of his games for Batman to find or something. I think it would be better to kill him off, just so he can't be used again to spill the beans. This could be the point where Batman realizes that the Riddler is a bigger threat than he initially thought. Where it's much more than just riddles he needs to solve. Coleman Reese could be his first victim or something.

There's so much potential.

Now this is a good idea. It's a clever way to utilize and then dispose of Reese.

 

[Kane]

Thanks. I hope that whoever is chosen can pull off doing this:

[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ7g56Rp9UE[/YT]

 

[flickchick85]

Haha, that's where I always felt Reese would come into play. I always thought that the Riddler should kidnap Reese, make him spill who he is accusing of being Batman (which it ends up being true), and then putting him through one of his games for Batman to find or something. I think it would be better to kill him off, just so he can't be used again to spill the beans. This could be the point where Batman realizes that the Riddler is a bigger threat than he initially thought. Where it's much more than just riddles he needs to solve. Coleman Reese could be his first victim or something.

There's so much potential.

I like this idea, too! In my hypothetical B3 scenario, Black Mask and Riddler are both villains - Black Mask representing the mob side of things with a major grudge against Wayne (because of Sionis's recent corporate failure), so he's been kidnapping and killing Wayne Enterprises employees. Riddler would be representing the public's attempts to bring down Batman, and later in the story after the public's turned against him, I had him joining forces with Black Mask to kill Batman, but I hadn't settled on what common thread would bring them together. Your scenario would fill that gap perfectly - Riddler hiring Black Mask to kidnap Coleman Reese in order to get Batman's true identity. Once they both know that Bruce is Batman, they'd have a common enemy. And then yeah, Reese needs to bite the dust. Anyway, nice idea!

 

[Jolly C.]

i didnt intend for the riddler to get his identity from asking reese for it...i wanted him to make sure reese knew who batman was but before he can confess his identity the riddler presents reese with a riddle in which reese gets killed off by the riddler so that he wouldnt spoil the mystery of batman

 

[Kane]

The would be too Joker-like, having Reese killed off for spoiling Batman's identity. That was Joker's agenda in TDK. He didn't want Reese spoiling the fun, so he said he'll blow up a hospital unless someone kills Coleman Reese. It would end up being just a rehash of that if the Riddler did the same. I think it makes the villain more threatening when they know the hero's identity. If Riddler didn't want to know Batman's true identity, then Coleman Reese probably wouldn't be kidnapped by him in the first place.

My idea for the Riddler kidnapping Coleman Reese was so he could find out Batman's identity, and use that. The whole idea for the Riddler is that he's super smart. He HAS to know everything. Passing up an opportunity to find out who Batman really is wouldn't be like him. He would want that information, so that he could always be one step ahead of Batman.

 

[flickchick85]

Yeah, and in my scenario, Black Mask would probably die in the end, and the Riddler would end up incarcerated. Riddler, being who he is, wouldn't just go around shouting Batman's identity once in prison or Arkham (if he is declared mentally unstable). He'd hold onto it as a bargaining chip or something...for whenever it might come in handy. It would be the only bit of power he'd have left, so he'd hang onto it as long as he could, awaiting the perfect moment to use it to his advantage.

 

[Kane]

He'd hold on to the information because he wouldn't want to share it with anyone. He's narcissistic. He wants to make sure he's smarter than everyone, and let them know it. No way would he jeopardize that by giving out Batman's identity to everyone after he gets caught. That's why I think it would be best if he killed Reese, so that now he'd be the only other person besides those close to Bruce Wayne that knows he's Batman.

 

[COMPO]

I've always wondered what would be the Riddler's master plan? I mean Ra's was to make Gotham tear itself apart and Joker's was to make them destroy each other what would Riddler do?

 

[BestGirl]

I've always wondered what would be the Riddler's master plan? I mean Ra's was to make Gotham tear itself apart and Joker's was to make them destroy each other what would Riddler do?

I like to think of the Riddler as being a Zodiac-type criminal. What was the Zodiac killer's master plan?

 

[COMPO]

I don't know, what was it?

 

[BestGirl]

I don't know either. I don't think he had one except to kill as many people as possible and become famous. I guess if Nolan goes the Zodiac route he'll have to give the Riddler deeper motivation than that, something that taps into his narcissism.

 

[COMPO]

he could be trying to control Batman you know make him dance around with his riddles and then its to top Batman.

 

[jmc]

I've always wondered what would be the Riddler's master plan? I mean Ra's was to make Gotham tear itself apart and Joker's was to make them destroy each other what would Riddler do?

I don't think The Riddler's plan would be about Gotham City, I imagine would be to simply prove to everyone that he's smarter than everyone else, to bring Batman down using wits not force.

 

[bulletbillx]

Assuming the stuff in this post with bruce/batman happens they could do this as I posted in another thread minus a few additions.

Bruce emerging as Gotham's new white knight while secretly being the Dark Knight would be incredibly interesting.

Also If Riddler is the villain and that happens they could incorporate one of the actual interesting parts of his character from Batman Forever as well; If he finds out who batman is which would be a test/tests to see which persona is real and if batman and bruce could truly coexist which batman/bruce would have to overcome.

If they tied it into Bruce getting more into this monster of his at some point in the movie that would make it even more effective.

 

[COMPO]

yeah that last part of Forever would have made more sense and been more relevant if that had happened.