10 Things DC Wants You To Forget About The Riddler

1. ...Or Just As A Supporting Character

Perhaps that's the key thing we can take away from all this. The Riddler is a pretty good character, despite everything - like the crummy real name, the similarities to The Joker and the often terrible riddles - but he might be better in a supporting role rather than as a fully-fledged bad guy. One of the best depictions we've seen of the character has been in the Arkham series of Batman video games, where he's rarely (if ever) seen as an on screen enemy, unlike...basically every other member of the rogues gallery who crops up in those games. Instead he provides the bulk of the optional missions, things that aren't essential to the plot but are plenty fun.

We think that might be the best way to use The Riddler, not as an instigator or major player in big storyline, but as a small piece of a larger puzzle. That's the role he plays in Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's classic Batman graphic novels The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, where his intelligence and puzzling skills are utilised by more forward thinking and straight up violent bad guys.

It makes more sense, honestly. It's why he worked so well as a reformed villain, he seems more like a guy who can lend his brain to people who need it rather than someone who comes up with dastardly schemes on his own. It's also why he worked well as a Green Arrow villain. He tended to be overshadowed by the other, more unique Batman villains, whileas in Star City he really stood out.

Amongst the denizens of Gotham he is unfortunately a lot less special, which is why we reckon he would fit in much better as part of a whole - that's certainly the way he started off in Zero Year, before becoming the main antagonist once again. So whilst he would probably work better as a supporting character, it's not gonna happen any time soon.