#Woobifying a villain =/= not being aware he's a bad person zzzzzz

[ed-nygma]

I think some people have been watching The Batman (2022) and missing the point of the Riddler as a villain. Now, what follows is my own interpretation of the character, and this being a subjective matter means there's no real answer. Just keep in mind this is a vague reply to a post I read recently, and that I'm not replying directly to it because I think it would be pointless to argue about something like this over the internet. (Plus, I acknowledge it's not that deep, but I wanted to talk about my own analysis of Edward)

The Riddler wasn't just lashing out, and he sure as hell wasn't fighting corruption. He wanted attention. That has always been, and will always be, the main driving force for him as a BATMAN villain. He uses a carefully constructed facade of righteousness and victimhood to draw people in. He has a cult personality, and he knows how to weaponize it. His goal was never justice, he never fell down a pipeline of radicalization due to the internet, HE used the internet as a tool to get OTHERS. And YES, you can draw parallels to problems happening in the real world right now, but I don't think drawing said parallels are enough to turn something into a 1:1 allegory.

Edward doesn't care about anyone but himself and those he perceives as equals (Batman, and I believe the same might apply to the Joker later in the Reevesverse). That's the reason he was fine allowing all of his followers to die for him while he stayed at Arkham. He never saw them as equals, and he never believed in a cause. He believed in himself, and he wanted vengeance for himself and himself alone. He had a vendetta against Gotham for what it did to him, not others, and, as such, he targeted the city.

However, unlike the Joker, the Riddler prefers positive attention. He likes to be praised and he likes to feel admired- he wants to be venerated and worshipped by people who genuinely believe he's a genius. This is why Edward hides behind morality and complex schemes, while the Joker engages in much more senseless plots. He knows he can attract more people by validating their own misery and, again, you can draw parallels to how people recruit disenfranchised men for extremist groups, but he never wanted to help a community, it doesn't matter what kind of sugary words he uses to charm his followers, he sent them on a suicide mission while he was safe at the asylum because he wanted the WHOLE CITY gone. That was his "cause." In fact, he idolized Batman not because of his morals and the way he was "helping" the city but rather because he liked the way people feared, respected (in some regards), and flaunted him. He thought he was cool, and he wanted to receive the same attention Batman was getting due to being neglected in the past, never feeling acknowledged. He drew inspiration from Batman because of this.

He's a cult leader- one who isn't devoted to any cause but himself. He wanted to destroy the city because he believed he had the right to do so due to his own personal misfortune, but he never wanted to fight corruption. If he was given the chance to become part of the elite Bruce Wayne is a part of, he would have happily taken it and never once looked back at the people who were once in a situation like his.