The Riddler vs Real World Law Enforcement

[Shai-Hulud]

The Riddler vs Real World Law Enforcement.

The Riddler is transported to our world. He gets:

• $2 million;
  
  
• three solid legal identities with no criminal record (requires some disguise skill to slip between identities);
  
  
• standard equipment;
  
  
• composite feats of both post-crisis and current version.

He begins a crime spree, always preceded by first presenting riddles related to what he's going to do.

Without Batman or other fictional super-detectives to outwit him, how do things go?

[The MunchKING]

Depends on the Riddler. Some of them are fairly straightforward crossword puzzle logic if you can follow the line of thought. Others appear to be wacky random nonsense that Batman just has to do some weird mental association thing to guess wildly at.


Of course that's assuming you want someone who will track down the clues he leaves. The real world cops will probably just pay off some of his goons to snitch on him, or catch him while he's doing the crime because they have the man power and places with valuable stuff have alarms that call them. I mean Gotham may have only had two non-corrupt police officers and a commissioner, but you'd have to go pretty rural to get that kind of ratio IRL.

Possibly more likely is Riddler pulls off a couple heists and gets away with it, and then tries to be a smug ******* to the other criminal types, thinking that like Gotham, they'll just kind of roll with 'Arrogant *******' being part of his gimmick. Only to find out that RL gangs don't fear Batman stopping them from murdering a fool who dresses in a silly green costume and does math crimes.

[Nschornhorst]

If Riddler is as smart as he thinks he is, he plays it smart. One identity performs the usual riddle-crimes-- since the OP stated he started it already, he uses this to try and build his bank, reputation, and also feel out any opposition. The second identity, I'd think would be his 'reformed' Detective Riddler persona, as it allows him to play the opposite side of the coin... sorta, and build cred that way, perhaps even infiltrating police agencies and learning more about them. The third identity, I believe, would be mundane in life, but would seek out worthy opponents online, as one of the core reasons Riddler does what he does is that he wants to prove how smart he is compared to the rest of the world. With no Batman or other super-sleuths around, Riddler has the psychological need to seek out opponents who could potentially match him or at least challenge him in some intellectual way.

If he becomes too much of a threat, he needs to find a way to avoid leaving any evidence (fibers, hairs, etc.), but could potentially win out. IF. If his psyche lets him. His whole thing is about challenging the world and proving how smart he is. Without a Batman or other focal point, he may become bored or sloppy. Or perhaps change direction entirely, becoming a businessman or other position that could make use of his intellect and skills. I think it just depends on if he can find anyone worthy enough to match wits with and if not, which way his obsession takes him from there.

[Shai-Hulud]

With no Batman or other super-sleuths around, Riddler has the psychological need to seek out opponents who could potentially match him or at least challenge him in some intellectual way.... I think it just depends on if he can find anyone worthy enough to match wits with and if not, which way his obsession takes him from there.

Would the law enforcement apparatus of the USA pose him any significant challenge? All the global surveillance and stuff, would he just breeze past it? (I did give him a $2 million stash for exactly these reasons, that is, buying whatever electronics he needs for his jobs.)

What about the psychological reward of being this world's only super-criminal? Seeing his name in the papers, becoming a cultural pop icon? On DC Earth he's essentially a minor criminal brain, but here he'd be legendary.

Would that be enough to fuel his efforts, or does he instead need one, singular opponent, an opposite number, in order to energize him?

[The Arbiter]

If memory serves, Riddler was sorta re-branded late in Post Crisis as a significantly greater threat. Like he wore all black clothing instead of green and Batman was suddenly more worried about him and so on. Anyone remember this? Or am I crazy?

[Nschornhorst]

Would the law enforcement apparatus of the USA pose him any significant challenge? All the global surveillance and stuff, would he just breeze past it? (I did give him a $2 million stash for exactly these reasons, that is, buying whatever electronics he needs for his jobs.)

What about the psychological reward of being this world's only super-criminal? Seeing his name in the papers, becoming a cultural pop icon? On DC Earth he's essentially a minor criminal brain, but here he'd be legendary.

Would that be enough to fuel his efforts, or does he instead need one, singular opponent, an opposite number, in order to energize him?

Being legendary would certainly help, but if he does reach the top, he'll lose interest quickly without someone to match wits with. He was in Arkham (depending on the writer), so his penchant for riddles and clues is beyond just what usual psychological rewards can net. He needs that challenge, I think. Success will fuel him to a degree, but he needs more, it's the excitement and the knowledge he's up against someone close in intellect to him that gives him fire.

I think law enforcement would *eventually* be a challenge, but it depends on how 'big' his first job is. If he starts out with robbing a museum here and a jewelry store there, or whatever, it'd take awhile, I think for law enforcement to pull out bigger guns. When it gets to a federal level or if murder (or worse) is involved, then it will be exceedingly difficult for Riddler unless he's amassed enough resources to completely disappear.

[Nschornhorst]

If memory serves, Riddler was sorta re-branded late in Post Crisis as a significantly greater threat. Like he wore all black clothing instead of green and Batman was suddenly more worried about him and so on. Anyone remember this? Or am I crazy?

He was 're-branded' a few times, IIRC... once with plastic surgery and some question mark tattoos and stuff (he faced Green Arrow during that time), once after Hush, he reformed as a detective, once, he dabbled in mysticism or somesuch, I don't follow the comics since Nu52, but one of the DC games has him with a big question mark scar on his torso, so that may be another rebranding... he's been a hanger-on to bigger villains, a murderer, strictly a thief (no killing), etc. So, I wouldn't be surprised if he was done this way, but I don't particularly recall it.

[Godzilla2099]

If Riddler ever gets apprehended, it wouldn't be for a long time.

Riddler is one of the most intelligent/clever of Batman's Rogues (I'm only going by my favorite Riddler Stories) If he can give Batman a difficult challenge, he's going to be a nightmare for law enforcement. The way I see it, Riddler will play it a little safe at first. Test the waters, leave a few clues, and see what he's up against.

One of two results happen:

1st. Time goes by and nobody is really giving him this challenge so he makes his puzzles more and more obvious. Gets more and more reckless. Eventually he gets caught

2nd. Riddler eventually gets bored with crimes and starts his own criminal/business empire. He becomes so wealthy and influential, even if he does get indicted for a crime, he'll have too many resources available so that he'll avoid any real repercussions.