...in overall smarts? Who (human only) can run circles around him? Bonus question; How smart do you think Nigma should really be when compared to other genius characters in DC, even superhuman intellect?

Nigma is like that kid at school who was told they were really good at something and never saw fit to bother practicing further. He's smart, but the problem is that he believes he's super duper smart.

I think anyone could run circles around Nigma, as long as they've got some form of wit and self control in hectic situations. Unless you're Croc, in which case you just burst through the walls in the maze. Riddler just refuses to let anyone win or have the last word. He mainly wins because he outpaces everyone else. I think the only person who could seriously outrun Riddler, aside from Batman, is The Question. A conspiracy nut who treats every possibility, no matter how improbable, seriously would be Nigma's worst nightmare.

When it comes to superhuman intellect, well, they should be smarter than him. But then again, their intellect doesn't equal their wit. The hero/villain may be an all star mathematician, but the moment you hit them with a wordplay puzzle, they're fucked. I don't know much about Superman, but I think he could get frustrated easily with Nigma and his loopholes in the riddles he poses.

Out of the entire Rogues Gallery, he's probably in the top five of being the smartest, but I'd say Ra's al Ghul and Joker can top him.

That's my opinion, anyway. Nigma is my favorite villain (and sometime hero), and the fact that he has these faults about him is what makes me enjoy his character so much. Hope that somewhat answered your questions.

@CELKali: A very nice answer with an interesting perspective. I plan on writing for Nigma in a big superhero crossover role play with some friends of mine, so I've been flexing my mental muscles pretty hard to not only be smarter (I consider myself fairly smart and I do tend to have quick wit, at least with sarcasm), but to also understand the character inside and out. I do this with every pre-existing character I wish to RP, looking up every version, getting insights from the various writers, fans and even haters. I like to cover all areas possible. Nigma will be matching wits with a lot of characters (including Batman) and will be playing to win, so I need to make sure I don't under or overplay him.

Considering his very eccentric personality and Obsessive Compulsive behavior, I'd imagine it'd be difficult to tell exactly if he's a complete genius or above average in terms of intelligence and delusional. It sort of depends which version is being evaluated for the most part... I'd imagine he's around the margin of genius, but he's also very cleaver and sharp witted in most incarnations.

Some of his puzzles may seem fairly harder to solve than it'd be for him to make them, however weighing the variables in his puzzles against the odds of somebody genuinely intelligent solving them would take some first-hand experience in complex problem solving... Even if Batman (or Robin) does catch onto him every time. The only real problem he's ever been presented was his OCD, which always tempts him to leave a subtle but noticeable tip offs to his criminal activities. However, he's only been interested in committing crimes if there is a chance he might get credited for it, so he's essentially stuck in a repetitive trap of his own design.

Before this rant goes on forever: he's probably in the category of genius, but not a super-genius... If anything, he overrates himself out of narcissism or as a mechanism to intimidate less intelligent opponents/victims. He's probably one of Batman's most cleaver enemies, but his mind isn't disciplined enough for him to get over himself.

@Dracade102 said:

Considering his very eccentric personality and Obsessive Compulsive behavior, I'd imagine it'd be difficult to tell exactly if he's a complete genius or above average in terms of intelligence and delusional. It sort of depends which version is being evaluated for the most part... I'd imagine he's around the margin of genius, but he's also very cleaver and sharp witted in most incarnations.

Some of his puzzles may seem fairly harder to solve than it'd be for him to make them, however weighing the variables in his puzzles against the odds of somebody genuinely intelligent solving them would take some first-hand experience in complex problem solving... Even if Batman (or Robin) does catch onto him every time. The only real problem he's ever been presented was his OCD, which always tempts him to leave a subtle but noticeable tip offs to his criminal activities. However, he's only been interested in committing crimes if there is a chance he might get credited for it, so he's essentially stuck in a repetitive trap of his own design.

Before this rant goes on forever: he's probably in the category of genius, but not a super-genius... If anything, he overrates himself out of narcissism or as a mechanism to intimidate less intelligent opponents/victims. He's probably one of Batman's most cleaver enemies, but his mind isn't disciplined enough for him to get over himself.

In the other thread I made, I was going over some of Riddler's traits. I'll quote that and add to it. Keep in mind this is mostly conjecture formed from various takes on Nigma that I have read about and witnessed firsthand, so take it for what it's worth.

I also think to be taken somewhat more seriously he really does have to be smarter than nearly everyone else, at least when we're talking about deductive reasoning, abstract thinking, wordplay and to a lesser extent plotting ability. He isn't a genius in that he could outdo Reed Richards in general science, or Scarecrow in chemistry, or even Batman in "super-preparedness". Nor could he ever hope to match his IQ against someone whom is a super genius. He doesn't know everything, just a lot, and his ego makes him boast that he is even smarter than that.

His best traits are at scheming, deathtraps and of course riddles and puzzles. Maybe he's a good engineer, mathematician and computer hacker? After all, those are intellectually challenging things that he could use in making deathtraps or in dancing circles around other people with his riddles. In at least some of those fields I really think he should be among the top dogs (of Gotham). Am I saying he should be great at manipulating people? Yes. Should he necessarily operate like a shadowy figure that keeps himself hidden? No. We seem to agree on the narcissism part fully. He's The Riddler. He HAS to leave a clue behind that it was him. He must mentally challenge his opposition. His plots need to be more intricate, more labyrinth-like, but he should never lose that competitive streak. It's one of his defining character flaws.

Here was a funny blog post I read some time back elaborating on the five skills Arkham City's Riddler must possess: http://www.dpaddbags.com/blog/five-skills-arkhams-riddler-must-possess/

He's probably one of Batman's most cleaver enemies, but his mind isn't disciplined enough for him to get over himself.

Hehehe. "Cleaver" enemies.

Bird,Zombie and Trogg solved his riddles,so I'm tempted to say he's not as smart as people believe.

@entropy_aegis said:

Bird,Zombie and Trogg solved his riddles,so I'm tempted to say he's not as smart as people believe.

Even Batman has been written as a blundering idiot before.

@Ultimate_Riddler said:

@entropy_aegis said:

Bird,Zombie and Trogg solved his riddles,so I'm tempted to say he's not as smart as people believe.

Even Batman has been written as a blundering idiot before.

True but notice in this case it's not Riddler who's written as an idiot just that the others are written as being smarter.

Riddler is a genius, probably one of the most cleaver human in DC. Even Batman takes long time to solve his.