59. Riddler

Some comic book villains are motivated by greed, or the need for revenge, or pure and simple insanity. The Riddler is a little different - you might say he embarked on a career in crime for the fun of it, at least in a very specific way. Obsessed with puzzles, mind-games, and elaborate death traps, he's compelled to commit crimes that involve some form of complex mental challenge. (What compels him to dress in bright green, though, is anybody's guess.)

In his early days, Edward Nygma was a bright young boy who enjoyed showing off his mental acuity. This led him to a career as a carnival con-man, where he could easily dupe fair-goers out of their money with his schemes. Eventually, this proved far too easy to satisfy his boundless ego. He embarked on an escalating series of crimes in search of a more worthy opponent - of course, he found exactly that in Batman.

The Riddler is a classic example of the "talking killer." He can't simply commit a crime - he has to create an elaborate scheme with which to pull off the job. Proving the worth of his superior brainpower is his real goal, which is why he's occasionally taken on less legally questionable challenges as well. For instance, he offered his services as a consultant to Carmine Falcone, when the mob boss sought to determine the identity of the Holiday killer. While his stock as a villain may have dropped in recent times, Riddler has had more than his fair share of greatest hits over the years - the most noteworthy being his deduction of Batman's secret identity (which he has since forgotten after a head injury). When it comes down to it, the Riddler is one of the few rogues capable of rivaling Batman's knack for detection and deduction. If only he'd drop the whole legit lifestyle and get back to wreaking havoc on Gotham City.