While many of The Riddler’s quips are just gags or jokes, he’s at his best when he brings out the actual riddles. We’ve collected our favourites from each iteration of the Prince of Puzzlers.
It’s also worth noting, The Riddler was co-created by Bill Finger and Dick Sprang for Detective Comics #140 (October 1948), which is also the issue our very first riddle comes from…
R:Why is corn hard to escape from?
Detective Comics #140
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A: Because it’s a maize
R:How can one get into a locked cemetery at night?
Batman #179
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A: With a skeleton key
R:How does an exhibitionist garbage collector break up with his girlfriend?
Batman: Riddler
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A: He dumps her in public.
R:I can be cracked. I can be made. I can be told. I can be played.
Batman #30
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A: A joke
R:If you throw me out of the window,
I’ll leave a grieving wife.
Bring me back, but through a door,
You’ll see someone giving life.
Teen Titans #12
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A: The letter N
Batman (1966)
The Riddler in the ’66 Batman show was iconic and possibly the most stylish of all the versions. He was first played by Frank Gorshin before a very short run John Astin in a decidedly lamer costume
R:What is it that no man wants to have yet no man wants to lose?
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A: A lawsuit!
R:There were three men in a boat with four cigarettes and no matches. How did they manage to smoke?
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A: They threw one cigarette overboard and make the boat a cigarette lighter!
R:When is the time of a clock like the whistle of a train?
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A: When it’s two to two. Too too too!
R:What President of the United States wore the biggest hat?
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A: The one with the biggest head!
Batman: The Animated Series (1992)
The Riddler pops up a few times in the animated series, though he might be the blandest version of the character. Still some good riddles, though.
R:I have millions of eyes, yet I live in darkness. I have millions of ears, yet only four lobes. I have no muscles, yet I rule two hemispheres. What am I?
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A: A: The human brain
Batman Forever (1995)
Say what you want about Jim Carrey’s Riddler, he’s definitely a fun one. His riddles are often more rhetorical though, rather than actual questions.
R:If you look at the numbers on my face you won’t find 13 anyplace.
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A: A clock
Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2008)
The riddles in Brave and the Bold aren’t exactly original, but they’re still pretty good 😉
R:What creature is on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening?
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A: Man
Gotham (2014)
Edward Nygma thrives in this Batman reboot. Though, in his developing years as The Riddler, he definitely doesn’t rely on corny riddles as much as the grown-up iteration.
R:What do you call a three-legged cow?
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A: Lean beef
R:I can bring tears to your eyes and resurrect the dead. I form in an instant and last a lifetime. What am I?
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A: A memory
The Batman (2022)
Of course, there are a lot of riddles in The Batman, with Paul Dano’s Riddler taking center stage. They are a heck of a lot more violent, though. There are no campy biffs and pows in this one.
R:What does a liar do when he’s dead?
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A: He lies still
R:It can be cruel, poetic, or blind. But when it’s denied, it’s violence you may find.
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A: Justice