EDWARD NYGMA was previously known as little Eddie Nashton, a short spunky fella who was too smart for the adults and too big for his own britches. His father was unkind (understatement of the year), and Eddie was the receiver of many punches and more than a few lashings for his trouble, the scars of which are still visible on his back in his adulthood. Nothing is known about the circumstances surrounding the death of Mister Nashton, only that Edward served some time in juvie and his record was expunged when he came of age. Edward himself remains tight-lipped about it to this day. Whatever happened, little Eddie Nashton changed his name to Edward Nygma as soon as he was legally able to.

As an adult, Nygma was constantly butting heads with his superiors in any job he would acquire, leading to him eventually striking off on his own, which made for a bad environment for his mental health but a very good one for developing his personal projects. Once The Batman made a splash in Gotham, Nygma became obsessed with proving himself better than The Bat, wanting all the praise and accolades to himself. A few stints in Arkham Asylum and many, many therapy sessions later, he was released on good behavior, though he has now added his time in the asylum to the list of things he refuses to talk about. Regardless, he has renounced violent villainy for the most part, choosing to annoy The Batman via wild goose chases for 'Riddler Trophies' and other tests of wit and grit.

As The Riddler, every complicated riddle maze he's set up in Gotham has had a built-in fail-safe for the purposes of releasing any kidnap victims before an untimely demise. He only cares for the illusion of danger for the purpose of putting pressure on the Bat. He's not a fan of needless death, even for the noble cause of proving his own superior intelligence. He is not, however, above the odd broken bone. Death is out of the question, but not a short hospital stay. Nygma's kill count is one — his father — but The Riddler's remains zero. Gotham residents don't particularly like him, but their dislike is on the same level as their opinion of rush hour traffic: annoying, but there's nothing to do but wait it out. In The Riddler's case, wait for The Batman to grab him by the scruff and haul him to the nearest GCPD jail cell.

These days Nygma keeps a professional distance between himself and his Riddler persona, believing this to be a healthy outlet for his egotistical aggressions so long as innocents don't get caught up in his war against The Batman and his Birds. His idea of a 'war' now includes such horrific things as digital chess matches with Red Robin, philosophical debates with Red Hood, and curiously positive pep talks with Nightwing over coffee and a late snack. Nygma calls that last one perfectly logical — would a win against a frustrated and depressed Nightwing really feel like a win? Absolutely not. Better to fight his enemies at their best than kick them while they're down. He still remembers what that feels like, and he refuses to stoop to his father's level. Nygma does his best keep any interactions with the Birds and Bats to his Riddler persona, though if he were to coincidentally strike up a conversation with Tim in a deli while grabbing a protein bar, that's neither here nor there.

◆ He can play piano rather well but rarely choose to do so in public, or at all. It feels a little gauche, a little Music Meister, and he wants nothing to do with that nutjob, thanks so much.

◆ Edward Nygma and Little Eddie Nashton are, to him, entirely different people. Edward Nygma and The Riddler, however, are mostly the same person. It is not an alter but a persona he adopts, and it's where he lets out his anger issues.

◆ He is a fan of pop music. Everyone likes some type of junk food, he reasons. He also enjoys green apple flavored candy, though he suspects this is due to his associate Harlen Quinn abhorring it and dumping it all on him.

◆ Nygma uses music and playlists to leave semi-hidden messages, a la a teenager on LiveJournal. Whether it's carefully arranged song lyrics neatly written in small print on post-it notes in green ink, or playlists where the song titles form a sentence, he's not above any of it. It's a habit he gained as a teen, and he never grew out of it.

◆ Nygma has some disordered eating issues, preferring protein bars and meal replacement shakes over any actual food. It's not something he thinks is an issue, however. He's of the belief that food takes time and thus gets in the way of his plans and projects.

◆ Ed used to use a mouth guard to protect his teeth from grinding in his sleep. He might still need it, but these days he doesn't sleep enough to notice.