Edward Nygma is the secondary antagonist of the the television series Gotham. He is the secondary arch-nemesis of James Gordon and Lucius Fox.
He is portrayed by Cory Michael Smith.
Biography[]
Edward Nygma is a supporting protagonist in season 1, appearing in his own subplot building towards his start of darkness. In season 2, after killing Kringle, he appears as a supporting antagonist and becomes James Gordon's enemy. In season 3 he becomes partners in crime with Penguin after they take over the mayor's office, although Nygma becomes an antihero when he overthrows Penguin from power, as a revenge scheme after Penguin murders Nygma's girlfriend Isabella and the pair spend the rest of the season trying to take each other down. In season 4, he is again an antihero in a romance subplot with Leslie Thompkins, although struggles with his darker Riddler personality who begins to takeover once again. In season 5, he is the unwilling antagonist after being brainwashed by Hugo Strange to work as a puppet for Theresa Walker and Bane and murders loads of innocents against his will. After having the brainwashing stopped, he becomes a supporting protagonist and antihero once again as he allies with the heroes in a mutual goal to protect Gotham City from Bane's forces. In the series finale "The Beginning...", he appears as the tertiary antagonist behind Jeremiah Valeska and Penguin, although he is more or less used as a pawn by the former.
Trivia[]
- In the 2013 video game Batman: Arkham Origins, Edward Nygma appeared as an employee of the Gotham City Police Department, although he worked as the head of the Cyber Crime Division rather than being a forensic scientist.
- His origin with an abusive father is omitted from Gotham, and Nygma's personal family life is never explored during the series, although Cory Michael Smith was once interested in having his character's father introduced to the series (with possibly Jim Carrey, who portrayed Riddler in the 1995 film Batman Forever, appearing in a guest role).[1]
- Nygma is much older than Bruce Wayne/The future Batman in the series, whereas in most depictions they are around the same age. In reality, Michael Smith and David Mazouz (Bruce Wayne's actor) are around fifteen years apart in age.
- The character having a split personality and initially being an ally to James Gordon is similar to another Batman rogue Harvey Dent/ Two-Face. Harvey Dent himself appears in Gotham, and aside from being shown to having an explosive temper (which he manages to conceal through a lot of restraint), doesn't get any such similar story arc.
External Links[]
- Edward Nygma on the Villains Wiki
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