Edward Nigma

[Speaker for the Dead]

Name: Sean Edward Shivell
Alias: Edward Nigma, Edward Nygma, the Riddler, E. Nigma (Nygma), Edward (Eddie) Nashton, Eddie Nash, Patrick Parker, Enigma, Mr. E, Cory Michael Smith, Frank Gorshin
Clan: Ventrue
Sect: Independent/Camrilla
Sire: James Moriarty
Former Master(s): Regina Savona

Parents: Henry and Fiona Shivell
Sibling(s): --
Children: --
Adopted Children: Gwen Lockhart

Love Interest: Oksana March
Past Relationship(s): --
Crushes: Regina Savona

Childer(s): --
Ghoul(s): --

Year Born: November 14, 1834
Year Ghouled: 1861
Year Embraced: 1913
Heritage: British, Irish
Place of Birth: Dublin, Ireland
Residence: New York City, Agricola

Height: 6'3"
Weight: 195 lbs
Hair Color: Dark brown
Eye Color: Brown

Distinguishing Mark(s): Always sharply dressed and possesses a cane.

Occupation: Detective, Criminal Profiler, Psychiatrist, Inventor

Associations: House of M

Properties: Edward Nigma's Home for Peculiar Children

Prey Exclusion: Genius

Animal Form: Fox and Owl

Derrangements: Obsessive Compulsive, Narcissistic, Puzzles

Disciplines: Presence, Dominate, Fortitude

Out of Clan: Potence, Animalism, Protean, Obfuscate, Auspex, Celerity, Chimestry, Vicissitude, Dementation

Merits: Eidetic Memory, Iron Will

Flaws: --

Abilities: Genius-level intellect. Highly creative and skilled at making and/or solving puzzles and/or riddles be them actual, conceptual, or otherwise that can encompass virtually any conventional difficulty and/or variety especially those that require logical thought be them philosophical and/or mathematical in nature and/or practice. Intellectual prowess including, but not limited to, astonishing feats of inductive, abductive and deductive reasoning. Lateral and critical thinking. Pattern recognition. Vast esoteric knowledge. Mastery of a plethora of different sciences such as engineering, chemistry and technology. Photographic memory. Apophenia. Vast knowledge of philosophy, literature and geography.

Personality: Observant, Insightful, Resourceful, Survivor, Passionate, Genius, Competitive, Charming, Quirky

Brief History: The Riddler's criminal modus operandi is so deeply ingrained into his personality that he is virtually powerless to stop himself from acting it out. He cannot simply kill his opponents when he has the upper hand; he has to put them in a deathtrap to see if he can devise a life and death intellectual challenge that the victim cannot solve and escape. However, unlike many of his associates, Riddler's compulsion is quite flexible, allowing him to commit any crime as long as he can describe it in a riddle or puzzle.

After a teacher announces that a contest will be held over who can solve a puzzle the fastest, a young Riddler sets his sights on winning this, craving the glory and satisfaction that will come with the victory. He sneaks into the school one night, takes the puzzle out of the teacher's desk, and practices it until he is able to solve it in under a minute. As predicted, he wins the contest and is given a book about riddles as a prize. His cheating rewarded, Riddler embraced the mastery of puzzles of all kinds, eventually becoming a carnival employee who excelled at cheating his customers out of their money with his bizarre puzzles and mind games. He soon finds himself longing for greater challenges and thrills.

The Riddler possesses extreme originality in decoding and formulating puzzles of all kinds. His deductive ability perfused his role of private detective when he was reformed, during which he was shown to have investigative skills that rival associates in the field. He is a highly cunning criminal strategist. He is not especially talented in fisticuffs (although his endurance has grown from having to engage in them over the years), but sometimes employs weaponry that exploits his gimmick, such as exploding jigsaw pieces, his infamous question mark cane, known to house a wide variety of technological devices and weapons, and question mark shaped pistols. He is shown to be skilled with engineering and technology, confronting his adversaries with unique and elaborate deathtraps.

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