8 Mysteries Even Batman Couldn't Solve

Those posers and puzzles too tough for even the World's Greatest Detective to handle.

by Andrew Pollard
Batman City of Bane Alfred Pennyworth
DC Comics

Amongst the world of comic book heroes and villains, few people have as much intelligence and smarts as Batman.

For as long as there has been a Batman, there has been the character's World's Greatest Detective nickname. Heck, Bats even made his debut in the Detective Comics book, and he's long called that title his home in addition to any other Bat-books of the day.

To be referred to by that World's Greatest Detective mantle, to have someone as rich in knowledge as Ra's al Ghul refer to you as simply 'The Detective', that's all the evidence you should need to realise how much wisdom, great intuition and an entirely different level of thinking Bruce is operating on.

Time and time again, we've seen Batman break down a case or a crime scene in minute detail, finding pivotal pieces of key information that everyone else has missed. In terms of mankind, there isn't a human walking the Earth who can outsmart Bruce Wayne. Well, most of the time, at least.

While he's usually unflappable and unstoppable in solving every problem that comes his way, that's not to say that the Caped Crusader has worked out every mystery that he's ever dealt with. And on that front, here are eight such examples of those conundrums that not even Batman could solve.

8. The Unsolved Riddle - The Last Riddler Story

Batman City of Bane Alfred Pennyworth
DC Comics
"What's got wings that do not fly, arms that have no hands, and eyes that cannot see?"

That right there? That's the riddle that not even Batman could solve.

Taking place in The Batman Adventures #10's aptly-titled The Last Ridder Story, here we find a Riddler who's questioning his life choices. When his goons come to break him out of prison, Nygma tells them that the game is up, the run is over, and that he's done with being the Riddler.

After this mob plead with their boss, Eddie relents and decides to take one last try at getting one over the Caped Crusader. If he succeeds, he's back to a life of crime. If he fails, he's hanging up the bowler hat and cane for good.

Surprisingly, the Riddler manages to actually get the better of Batman here.

Sure, the Dark Knight is a little preoccupied with debuting villains Mastermind, Mr. Nice and the Perfesser, but the fact of the matter is that Batman was unable to solve Nygma's riddle in this tale. For those wondering, said riddle relates to a jewelled eagle that Riddler successfully steals.

While Batman couldn't solve the mystery of this riddle, he did manage to give a swift beating to Riddler after being tipped off by the Perfesser. Still, being locked up didn't ruin the spirits of E. Nygma, for he was ecstatic at Batman admitting Riddler had outsmarted him.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.