Yeah, every villain in every comic book ever written is a "tactical genius", but 99% of the time this just means handing them an assortment of plot contrivances and deus ex machinas (sometimes literally).

Sadly, this plot isn't much different. "If I become a mass-murdering monster who seems all-knowing, you'll let me do anything I want OR ELSE!!11 How do I know these things? How am I capable of these feats? YOU CAN'T KNOW BECAUSE I'M 2SMRT5U" It runs into the exact same issue that the Sherlock series ran into- dumb people can't write smart people well because they can't imagine the methodology that makes smart people pull ingenious feats, so instead, dumb people write smart people functionally identical to wizards.

@@PeterDivine Hit the nail on the head, mate. They basically just made Riddler into TDK's Joker. It's never explained how he does all this impossible shit or why there's so many people on board with working with him besides just... plot. It seems like they're less interested in portraying the Joker, or the Riddler in this case, and just want to make "inexplicably invincible bad guy that schools the hero at every turn".

I think the key with Riddler’s vulnerability is that he wants to be seen as smarter than he actually is, whilst still being an absolute genius. It’s his inner shame, insecurity and need to prove himself that ends up being his downfall.

​@PeterDivine Thank you for saying that that's exactly what it is. It's just like when TV writers write hackers as being able to dovanything with a computer.

Is that a retcon?

@@camerondalton1495 wouldnt say retcon so much as "revealed a bit later".

​@@ZigealFaust that's what a retcon is lol

​@@nathanielk7415 A retcon would be changing something already known into something different This is not the case

@@foquitajeej2399 Not always. When a villian does something, its assumed that they were the ones to think of it. If that changes randomly in the future then its fair to call that retconning.

his best riddle yet

"How is that a riddle?" "You have to do it twice!"

​@@LAVATORRWell 3 times plus a geuss key

I swear during the boss fight against riddler in his mech suit in Arkham knight he literally goes “riddle me this Batman!” And then fucking right hooks him with his big robot hand

@@AVeryConvincingDisguise RIDDLE ME *THUNK*

Bros inner riddler got him tweakin

Jesus. That is some deep shit.

Legitimately. He has that "The Man in Black" type of persona.

Any of the guards could've just killed him instead of eachother, and what a coincidence that there would be "no witnesses", Nigma just snapped and "killed himself". Worst case scenario a guard pr guards would go to jail. The premise is just retarded when it can easily be solved like this. That's why even the idea of Batman with his no killing rule is fucking stupid no matter how some fanboys try to defend it.

​@@FerunaLutelouI don't wanna be that guy but, it's a comic dude. It's where you can escape from whatever you are doing and enjoy the comic

@@FerunaLutelou bro said the r-word in 2024 there aint no way

@@DanielGray123 go read about suspension of disbelief

@@FerunaLutelou Because they're nepo babys who are too arrogant to do any form of basic research on the subject(interviewing criminal experts etc.) and would rather BS their way through. it wasnt that bad in the past bc they had some passion, *now* they write comics solely to spite their political opponents and they thoroughly hate their fans .

That’s bc his son is one

I think hes just taunting him by saying his fathers words

he killed 37 people im pretty sure its way past the point where you can say its his dads fault its his fault he's doing this now

He's right

Hes intentionally playing on his trauma. Something batman uses all the time. Weaponizing the villain's trauma to win is his favorite tactic.

also i doubt nigma can do shit to ensure joker doesn't fuck with him. maybe revealing batman's identity? but i feel that the more you prepare for the joker the less you're actually ready for him. now i want to see this riddler trying to deal with the joker lmao

​​​​@@jtdevera1189I think the story subtly dealt with that. When the riddler speaks of the joker to Gordon, he talks as if they are old friends, like making jokes with each other. This may be too far, but it may be implied they even respect each other. I'd assume that's why they had each other's contact information Riddler also wasn't going to kill batman or release his identity( anyone he cares about also) to the public. I don't think there's any reason the joker would have a problem as the joker is in it for the game, unlike the riddler in this story.

It's such a dumb fucking story that has pretensions of grandeur. Which I suppose is exactly right -- it's the Riddler writing a Riddler story. Massive glaring holes in the plot that only a self-obsessed egomaniac couldn't see, papered over by layers of self-congratulatory lies. If we get a 'real' Riddler archvillain story, it needs to have someone like Tom 7 coming up with the plot.

​@@noneuklidTHANK YOU. I get it he is smart. But here they use it as a deus ex machina to do whatever he wants. He is a genius not a wizard.

Feels like a writer self inserted with this a lot. This has so much "Don't mess with the nice/smart guy or else..." energy. In most cases the smart guy would just get punched a lot. The most realistic end of him would just be your avarage crackhead some mobboss promised drugs. The more i think about it, the more examples i have how stupid it actually is tbh

whos all part of the 8? because canon or not turning batman villins up to 11 so he has to kill them is a set or storys im down to read

@@bricecass2208 I believe it goes riddler, two face, penguin, Mr freeze, bane, Catwoman, clayface, and Ras al ghul

@@MoojinBoi Nice, I was hoping there was one for catwoman

@@MoojinBoicatwoman seems interesting. i wonder what they would do for her series

Nah fr I need those back.

I hated those things.

Yeah but not the playboy ones

The Mullet Man stops playing games.

Don't worry I superior iron manned him and gave him his sight back

What did he do to control the city? All heard was you touch me and you family dies

​@@playfulwaddles He basically knew everything about everyone or more specifically where yo hurt everyone. Financially, socially, people's families, their locations, something batman does but on a much more dangerous level as he straight up said he watched Bruce's fucking family as they slept without him even considering the idea of it being a possibility. Mix that with people getting desperate and scared that even fucking BATMAN got spooked by him and literally no one would consider getting close to this man. It really does show that he was truly batman's better in intelligence.

​@@Erven777 yet he made the same mistake Batman did: he thought he'd never change

​@@Erven777 this was almost a Nemesis story with Riddler

​@@playfulwaddleshe pretty much predicted every move before it happened. He knew when people would try. So he already took measures to give ehr message to not even attempt to. The fact he kidnapped the dudes kid a week before should say he knows them very well. The only flaw the riddler has was thinking batman wouldn't change either. Honestly the idea of him going into the Wayne manner various times likely since the very beginning is insane. He would have to be even more stealthy than batman and know where very camera or security measure is. It shows just how scary he really is. The idea of him matching Batman's iq here is just straight up wrong. He succeeded it. He's probably one of the most intelligent people in all of dc in this comic.

A soft whisper of a spray can be heard in the background and a sweet smell permeates the air. The Riddler turns around and sees Batman. Batman crouches down and hands the Riddler a can of air freshener. He looks the Riddler in the eyes while giving him the can and says, " Edward, you don't have to keep living this life. You're smart enough not to be a fart smella".

This should not have made me burst out laughing

"What? How?? You wouldn't say THAT, how did you get it??"

Because if they do the riddler would kill their families

How he gonna do that if he dead

@@Hiayoukenfor all we know he probably hired henchmen to find em and kill ‘em all if he died

@@Hiayoukenyou really don’t think riddler didint think of that if he died his death would send a domino effect that would leave there families dead and if they killed him the guards would get sent to jail they probably didint want to spend there life in jail and for there families to see them like thet

Facts

He gave him the Joker special.

no he definitely killed him batman has killed times before

@@CarpetClosererm nuh uh (don’t take this comment seriously or I will remove your knee caps)

@@luxsolis95 erm my mom said so and she’s always right 🤓👆🏽

The main reason I think Batman actually killed him is because the panels reference the beginning of the story. When the random guy is killed by the riddler, he is on his phone, then it cuts to four black panels. The same four black panels are there after Batman says “what am I?”

There's a single villain who would fuck with Riddler anyways, the Joker, but I guess he just decided to stand back? Wait, or did Batman kill Joker in Killing Joke and that's why he's absent?

Like, a lot of the villains would not allow Riddler to just take over and a lot of the villains have no loved ones and, also, superpowers. Riddler would be dead day 2.

Shoot even Jason Todd would kill ed way before it got to that point

Plus there are other heroes who are slightly less adverse to killing than Bats. Wonder Woman for instance doesn’t like killing but will do it. Ah, and imagine Eddy pulling the “list off the names and addresses of all your loved ones “ with The Flash.

@@kiruppert Flash picks him up by the scruff of the neck runs him to 36000000BCE and leaves him with a tent and hunting equipment. He's smart as heck, it's not like he'll die.

Yeah and Jon Hamm for Batman and Michael Stipe from REM for the Riddler.

I hate myself

@@griffinv8382😭

@@griffinv8382 as you should

Who riddler?

Don't worrie , I hate you too.

So true, funny how DC universe, especially Gotham that just putting a bullet in the villains head is so obvious yet somehow a impossible feat.

@@lokensicarius9347 It seems very possible that, if he's pulling this stunt with the guards, he already set everything in motion for their loved ones to suffer, if anything doesn't go according to his whims. When you know that the villain who has come in and out of your "care" a bunch of times and you know they have a bunch of goons at their disposal and ready to strike, who would you deem more important? Random strangers, or the entire list of your loved ones?

Batman might be able to go toe to toe with the riddle but the guards probably know the riddler is smarter than them, if they did anything he didn't want he probably would have predicted it and had something in place. They couldn't guarantee their families wouldn't be killed if they shot him, they could guarantee it if they killed each other like he wanted.

​@@stammesbruderNah the stunt is simply not possible with the severity of the situation

​@@stammesbruder would it not be safe to assume a psychopath like Riddler would just allow the plans to go into motion whether or not you complied? At least you can get some form of vengeance.

They didnt know what would happen if they shot the riddler yeah he would be dead but he couldve already ordered the men to kill their families and no one there to call them off it isnt chess anymore its poker

Yeah, I really don’t like it either. He’s not luthor, he’s a pencil neck.

Welcome to comics, 🤦

My dude, it's Gotham. They know if the Riddler says your family name... he being alive or not changes nothing

The fact that he already knew their names and their family means he probably has it were they’ll die if they tried anything

Bro he was only serious in this comic

@@Bruno-le4loHe was serious in the one where he’s doing some magic ritual with the ghost of Gotham

Did you like the Riddler year one?

Do you think these stories would have the same impact if we didn’t have his usual shenanigans to contrast them with? Like if this was some new villain I don’t think I’d care much.

It's why him and Arcade are on the same level SURE they can just blow laundered millions on death traps, flashy suits and flashier clues. OR they can get the job done by playing a better game.

@@kangarooMonkee I think a good story is always still good story, but I do agree that the riddler hits much harder in these stories thanks to how he’s usually portrayed.

The Riddler is definitely my favourite villain when he's not being butchered by Jim Carey, and it's moments like this that prove why. Not a fan of him taking credit for Joker's crippling of Barbara Gordon, but other than that it's a great story.

He's like Dr Eggman in the comics. He's fun and messes around. But in truth. If he got serious. He could kill them all without even trying. Instead he cripples himself to win on his terms.

The intro really do be like that

The GOATS both releasing batman villain vids today it seems

@@SuperRONDALE truly a miracle

Bruh I thought I was the only one who saw that lol

Ayyyyye rob here too!

He’s the Riddler with massively intricate plans and is done fucking around, you think he hasn’t planned for his death?

Regarding paralyzing, that isn't as permanent a solution as you might think. In a world with magic, advanced technology, the Lazarus Pit, etc. What good would paralyzing your opponent do? Plus, these villains would find a way to retaliate. Also, it isn't humane or ethical. In a world where people return from the dead, a guard shooting the Joker may not have any staying power. Who's to say the Joker wouldn't find a way to come back to life? Especially from all the various times he's been 'killed off' or presumed dead before.

@@camerondalton1495 I completely understand where you are coming from. In the DC universe’s perspective, it is not a permanent issue. However, from a realistic and non status quo reaching perspective, these villains would unlikely have a plan in place to get them unparalyzed and would also be unlikely to set those plans in place if paralyzed. Who is going to get a paralyzed maniac the anti paralysis technology/magic or throw them into the Lazarus pit? Another maniac who probably needs to be paralyzed. You are completely correct about the humane and ethical point, but a guy like the Joker or Riddler probably deserves it. Finally returning from the dead. It’s completely up to the writers to find another way to return one from the dead or undo paralysis. In other words, it’s up to plot contrivance which is an entirely different issue.

@@camerondalton1495 How would the guards be aware of that though ?

@@JeRefuseDeBienPrononcerBaleine They live in the DC universe. How would they not?

Regarding why would a guard or someone in similar position not simply kill a villain while they are in their custody it's actually quite simple. Dead man's switch. A simple concept of a procedure or a machine that comes into effect in case a person dies. All a villain has to do is tell them that if they were to try something like this and succeed, a switch would activate. I can absolutely see Riddler setting up an elaborate web of such contingencies that come into effect if someone felt bold - or simply *convince* people those contingencies are there. And even if there was a guard or someone else feeling bold enough to try anyway? There'd be dozen others fearing for their loved ones whod stop him before anything is tried.

The answer to batman's riddle is death basically saying how the influence of the event "death" will be impactful

Also, if that does happen that's the goofiest death a character could have

@@Bruno-le4lo I think this comment is meant to be a joke ☺️

I just imagined Bruce snapping his neck

pretty sure the implication is he ninja'd him bare handed

Now riddle me this, Riddler. What walks on four legs in the morning, on two legs during the day and is very, very dead in the evening?

Human living through life​@@Furzkampfbomber

​@@attaelhusen7134 although said human has a premature death

nah to the smokin but same to the comics bein good

​@@bloodassasslnI just smoke weed but I do agree that any kind of smoke can be bad for your lungs in general

It's Tom King. Those two words explain everything.

Welcome to 90% of Riddler stories ever written. The Riddler wank will only get worse in this post The Batman world we live in.

Is that Riddler in a nut shell just pure plot armor as let's be real here he wouldn't have made it this far like at all.

True. But after that damn film. He kinda needs it lol

it's notably batman without being over gravelly a+

what is this comic?

Comic??

Arkham Asylum comic, full title “Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth”

​@@qrzt2000one bad day: riddler, part of an 8 issue mini series

​@@Waffles..other reply

i mean its the same issue the joker would have. There are definitely people who would totally kill themselves to take out a mass murderer like the joker or the riddler just to be remembered as a hero or just assuming they are dead no matter what and want to take a shot at them.

Yeah your right but then what about other people? the guards are the perfect example. that one guard was willing to take the risk of pumping the riddler full of lead and hopefully preventing his plans but the other two guards were scared shitless and prevented him from being shot. Its literally a ouroboros you want to kill someone but someone else is preventing you from killing that dude and if you do it anyways that person behind the other dude is going to kill that other dude and it gets very complex very fast.

Ain’t no way ur favorite villain is the riddler

what's great about him tho? hes just a human with a gun lmao He just got insane plot armour and some good backstory

Same, what i love about the riddler is that there nothing crazy going for him, no insane clowns or freeze powers, just one very smart Machiavellian dude who is capable of making gotham his city if he wants it

@@nicoavlz347 I feel like that makes it not make that much sense though..

​@@nicoavlz347The problem with these characters is that they are not really that smart at all, the writers overexaggerate these characters intelligence without even being that smart to know what would these characters realistically do.

Probably because he's absolutely not this powerful. Either one of the villains or some random civilian with a gun and no family would kill him. It's a cool comic as a thought experiment like the "Kills the Marvel Universe" comics but it would never even come close to happening.

I'd reckon that, if you already cross the line, you might as well commit to it. Being paralyzed would not stop the riddler from equipping someone else to become the next riddler, or at least to pull off one last evil masterplan. One of the most foolish and yet admirable qualities of Batman is his borderline endless faith in everyone to be redeemable. He wants to stop evil, but refuses to destroy the flicker of goodness presumed to be inside of them. Once he gets disillusioned, and there is no goodness to be saved, why would he spare them?

If you think that Batman needs to justify anything at this point, then you missed the point of the comic. It's not a story about excuses or justifications, it's a story about supposedly unchanging people changing who they are. And not for the better. The Riddler changed, and Batman did too.

@@Seoul_Soldier Yes, but that also kinda defeats the point of Batman. It's not fun to see a hero do this, especially when there are a million options to avoid it that still put The Riddler out of commission forever. Options that are easy to think of and break this story completely. For instance; - Have Superman put him in the Phantom Zone. - literally shoot him into space on a one way rocket to keep him isolated with enough food and supplies for the rest of his life. - Break his neck and paralyze him from the neck down, then put him in a room where he can't escape without moving, alone. - Bludgeon him hard enough that you damage his brain badly. Just because a story is 'about' something doesn't mean that it doesn't have to make internal logical sense. Batman is clearly smart enough to think of these alternatives before killing. There's no reason why Batman would kill the riddler, even under these circumstances. As for Batman's riddle -- a lot of people will assume it means "Death"... but if you die, you know nothing thereafter. The answer is "Consequence". You know consequences forevermore, after the first time you truly meet them. The comic is deliberately ambiguous while suggesting murder, it's a mirror to The Killing Joke, literally references it with Nygma's dialogue. The Joker didn't die in Killing Joke (as we learn from continuity) so I see no reason to assume that Nygma dies here. Also, let's be clear here -- if the Arkham guards were going to kill anyone there to save their families, they'd have just pincushioned The Riddler rather than shoot each other. The book's full of plot holes and bad characterization, but it's still a fun read, I suppose.

​@@NorthernWind0Well, that's what elseworld stories are for, to challenge the characters and see them go in a different direction.

@@illseeyaonthedarksideofthemoon That is indeed the point, but that doesn't excuse the holes in the logic of the story, regardless.

No holds barred. As in you can use any types of holds in wrestling (where barred means banned). So when someone says "no holds barred", it's a reference to allowing any available techniques in wrestling.

I think it's fear that a henchmen would do it instead. He already proved his intellect and would have a plan incase they kill him. Granted he should have said this and at least one wouldn't think of that so this is more a possible solution to that issue but oh well

He'd go after Lois, Jimmy, John, Connor, Kara, Steel, and the people of the Daily Planet.

@@camerondalton1495 Yeah, but super speed, hearing, and such. Then again, it may not always be consistent.

@@datemasamune2904 Agreed. Though Superman cannot be everywhere at once. Like if he's off the planet dealing with a big threat his loved ones would be in danger.

@@camerondalton1495 Well, another easy way to solve this then is just get Wonder Woman over to use lasso of truth.

Honestly, it will be not even considered smart...

he psyched some of them out into thinking something would happen to their families if he got hurt and the others into thinking he need to be killed to save them.

You're right, I also assume the justice league would step in after arkam loses a dude that kills more than a certain number of people until super duper gets involved I mean stories like these make gotham seem like it's not on earth with super heroes that do kill like aqua man.

@@Gamingchairenthusiast122 Also, let's not forget, Jim Gordon would have plugged the riddler the moment people started dying in that room. Just to quell the violence. That's the kind of cop he is.

If you read the panels, you will see that the guards where aiming to kill Edward there, but he lied OK the ground and their bullets hit each other.

@@tierghan5433 yeah, that doesn't change the fact that Gordon would have shot The Riddler right there.

For one, yeah, they were aiming at him but also, just remember, you are some random *ss guard, then the Riddler just casually tells you the names of your family - the *Riddler*, i.e. one of Gotham's well established villains who everyone knows as henchmen. Would you - could you be SURE that he has not already given one of his henchmen an order a la "go kill those specific people unless I give you an all clear later"? Would you risk everyone you love on the fact that a known supervillain has no contingencies? Sure, might even be that that's the case and he's just bluffing... but would you risk your entire family over it?

the riddler brought change

It's Tom King, I imagine Mullet Man cleaned up a lot of Tom's hackneyed writing.

FINALLY SOMEONE SAID THIS OH MY GODD

I think the story was showing what happens when he gets bored of playing "the game" and shows how dangerous he can be if doesn't want to be messed with.

@@kwayneboy1524 After reading some of your comments under this video, I think we like Edward Nigma for very different reasons.