Every Riddle In The Batman Explained

The Riddler taunts The Dark Knight with a string of riddles in The Batman, but what does each of the Riddler’s riddles mean? Directed by Matt Reeves from a script he wrote with Peter Craig, The Batman is more of a detective story than any previous live-action Batman movie. It sees Batman (Robert Pattinson) and Lt. Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) working to catch the Riddler (Paul Dano) while also unraveling a conspiracy that links together several of Gotham’s most high-profile citizens. Beginning with the murder of Gotham’s mayor, the Riddler is targeting anyone with information about an informant who helped the Gotham City Police Department bring down the mob boss, Salvatore Maroni. The drug bust of Maroni is being lauded as the biggest win in GCPD history, but the Riddler knows it’s all a lie. The operation hasn’t actually been shut down, it’s just now being run by the crooked cops of Gotham.

This sort of corruption is nothing new, as the most powerful in Gotham have been stealing from the city for years. Most notably, they’ve been using a charitable program called Renewal that was started by Bruce’s father, Thomas Wayne, to launder money and get rich. This is the corruption the Riddler wants Batman to uncover, and he leads him along the path to discovery, doing so with the now-infamous series of riddles from The Batman. Some are simply a clever play on words and whose answers lead Batman closer to the truth, while others are confusing cryptograms that only make sense once more of the Riddler’s plan is revealed. Here’s every riddle in The Batman and what they actually mean.

Riddle #1: What Does A Liar Do When He’s Dead?

The Riddle: What does a liar do when he’s dead?

The Answer: He lies still.

A dead body, no matter who it was when alive, will “lie still” and no longer move. A dead liar, however, won’t just “lie still” in that sense – they’ll also “lie still” in that their lies will continue until the truth is found out. In the case of the murdered Gotham City mayor (at whose crime scene Batman gets this riddle), the Riddler is accusing him of lying for years to cover up the city’s corruption. Even now that he’s dead, he’ll continue to lie until Batman and Gordon can uncover the truth.

Riddle #2: Follow The Maze Until You Find The Rat…

The Riddle: Follow the maze until you find the rat. Bring him into the light, and you’ll find where I’m at.

The Answer: Reveal who the police informant is to the public, and the Riddler will reveal where he’s been hiding.

This may be the most important riddle since it helps drive Batman’s search for the Riddler. It’s discovered when examining the cage of rats used to murder Riddler’s second victim, Police Commissioner Pete Savage. Initially, Batman and Gordon believe Penguin is the rat, but when that lead turns out wrong, they then rightly suspect Catwoman’s father, Carmine Falcone. Ultimately, the mob boss is revealed to be not just the police informant, but the mastermind behind much of Gotham’s corruption, with several city leaders indebted to him. When Batman turns Falcone over to the police, however, and brings him “into the light,” he’s assassinated by the Riddler, who’s been working out of an apartment overlooking the Iceberg Lounge the whole time.

Riddle #3: You Are El Rata Alada

The Riddle: You are el rata alada.

The Answer: www.rataalada.com

Along with riddles from The Batman, the Riddler leaves messages in code for Batman. These messages use a cipher and can only be solved by figuring out what letters correspond to the symbols. The most noteworthy of these cipher messages is “You are el rata alada.” At first, Batman and Gordon assume the clue is the Spanish translation of “rata alada,” or winged rat, believing it’s referring to the Penguin because penguins have wings and Cobblepot is their chief suspect. When they confront Penguin over this, he points out the Spanish is incorrect since “rata alada” should be preceded by “la” and not “el.” This makes Batman rethink the message and realize that “You are el” is a homophone for “URL,” essentially meaning a website. They pull up www.rataalada.com and chat with the Riddler, who gives them another riddle when he realizes Batman still hasn’t put all the pieces together.

Riddle #4: It Can Be Cruel, Poetic, Or Blind…

The Riddle: It can be cruel, poetic, or blind. But when it’s denied, it’s violence you may find.

The Answer: Justice.

A play on words as justice can come in many forms, but when justice is being denied (as Riddler’s plan centers around his belief that justice is in short supply concerning Gotham’s elite answering for their crimes), the response is very often a violent one. This is the first of three riddles from The Batman posed to District Attorney Gil Colson and to which correct answers will unlock the bomb the Riddler has strapped to his neck. Batman is who actually supplies the answer, but the first combination code is unlocked all the same.

Riddle #5: If You Are Justice, Please Do Not Lie…

The Riddle: If you are justice, please do not lie. What is the price for your blind eye?

The Answer: Bribe.

If you want to keep a secret, a bribe is how you buy silence. In this case, the secret is the identity of the police informant. Colson and others were paid bribes to keep this secret – the “price” for his “blind eye.” After answering the riddle, Batman presses Colson for how much and learns he was paid $10,000, meaning it’s someone very wealthy who wants the rat’s identity kept a secret.

Riddle #6: Since Your Justice Is So Select…

The Riddle: Since your justice is so select, please tell us, which vermin you’re paid to protect?

The Answer: The rat.

Clearly, Colson is corrupt like so many of those in positions of power in The Batman‘s Gotham. Their “justice” is “select” because they only really serve those who have something to offer them. As for the “vermin” Colson and others have been paid to “protect,” that’s obviously the rat. Specifically, the Riddler asks for “which vermin,” meaning Colson must reveal the rat’s identity. Colson refuses, and since the Riddler doesn’t receive the full answer to his final riddle, he detonates the bomb, killing him and knocking Batman out.

Riddle #7: I Grew Up From A Seed, As Tough As A Weed…

The Riddle: I grew up from a seed, as tough as a weed. But in a mansion, in a slum, I’ll never know where I come from. Do you know what I am?

The Answer: An orphan.

An orphan is someone whose parents are dead, like Bruce Wayne, and the term generally refers to someone who lost their parents at a young age, growing up without knowing where they “come from.” There’s more to this riddle than that, though, because Batman deduces “in a mansion, in a slum” refers to the Gotham Orphanage housed in the old Wayne “mansion.” The building has since burned down, but it was in disrepair even before then as it had lost funding following the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents, effectively becoming a “slum.“

Riddle #8: See You In Hell

The Riddle: See you in hell.

The Answer: Arkham Asylum.

This riddle reads more like a threat than a clue, which makes sense since it comes from the scene of a bombing on Wayne Tower that sends Alfred to the hospital. Batman doesn’t actually solve this one, either, and it’s only explained to him by the Riddler when he confronts the villain at Arkham Asylum. Originally, Riddler believed Batman would join him in his crusade against Gotham’s corrupt officials, even imagining that Batman would be locked up in the asylum as well. “See you in hell” wasn’t really a riddle or a threat but more like an invitation, with “hell” meaning Arkham Asylum.

Riddle #9: What’s Black And Blue And Dead All Over?

The Riddle: What’s black and blue and dead all over?

The Answer: You!

The “You!” in this case is Batman, but it’s not made immediately clear how he is the answer until the Riddler’s ultimate plan to flood the city is revealed. Batman is already “black” thanks to the costume he wears, and once Gotham is flooded he’ll also be “blue” due to the water and eventually “dead” because of Riddler’s army of copycat killers. Riddler’s plan, including his arrest, doesn’t focus on Batman’s death, but the Riddler manages to wreak widespread damage across Gotham all the same.

Riddle #10: Riddle Me This…

The Riddle: Riddle me this: The less of them you have, the more one is worth?

The Answer: A friend.

The fewer friends one has, the more important each individual friend can become. The Riddler has no friends in Arkham, but he makes a new, very important friend when a fellow inmate poses this riddle to him. That inmate is the Joker, who appears in a small cameo near the very end of the film that’s a fun Easter egg and also a potential setup for a The Batman sequel.

As part of The Batman‘s marketing, fans can visit The Batman Easter egg site, www.rataalada.com, and answer some of Riddler’s riddles on their own. Answering them all correctly unlocks a final message from the Riddler, hinting that while he may be locked up in Arkham, fans haven’t seen the last of him. Here are riddles from The Batman featured on www.rataalada.com:

• The Riddle: What was new, is new again. Rebirth. Restoration. Reformation.
• The Answer: Renewal.

• The Riddle: Fear he who hides behind one.
• The Answer: Mask.

• The Riddle: I am first a fraud or a trick. Or perhaps a blend of the two. That’s up to your misinterpretation.
• The Answer: Confusion.

The Riddler Riddles In The Batman Were Too Easy

Throughout The Batman, Robert Pattinson’s iteration of the character has little to no problem deciphering riddles from The Batman left behind by the Riddler (except the mistranslated “El Rata”). This begs the question: were the riddles too easy given The Riddler’s whole deal? Ultimately, the riddles were pretty simplistic and no match for the likes of Bruce Wayne, which seems like an oversight on the filmmaker’s part. However, there could be another explanation behind why the riddles were so easy: the puzzles could’ve been designed to simply keep the vigilante distracted while Paul Dano’s Riddler was setting up his most troubling deed (flooding Gotham City) in the background.

The riddles from The Batman kept Batman on a constant trail that eventually led to the Riddler himself, which was the villain’s plan all along, as he idolized the caped crusader without knowing his real identity. In the end, the Riddler’s diversion worked, and no one had wised up to his master plan come its thunderous conclusion. In a way, the Riddler actually ended up winning, despite being carted off to Arkham, because he successfully executed what he wanted to do. Perhaps the real riddle in The Batman is knowing when one should or shouldn’t stop to answer riddles.

How Paul Dano Crafted A Riddler For The Modern Age

While The Batman is distinctively a Matt Reeves film, Paul Dano had a hand in crafting his character for the modern age. Both Reeves and Dano managed to take Batman’s campiest villain and turn him into a horrific masterpiece. The riddles from The Batman may have been a little easy to solve, but the Zodiac-killer-inspired villain wasn’t all that easy to find, and got away with his plan in the end. In an interview with EW, Dano discusses how he got into character for the Riddler, and how he had many sleepless nights while working on the movie. All in all, Dano had this to say about the character and Reeves’ vision:

Sometimes we can take our scars or whatever you want to call it, and that can be fuel for a fire that drives one towards greatness at times. There’s another side of that coin, where those traumas, scars, and pains drive you in another direction. And I thought that was really powerful in the script. I thought that the sense of good and evil was not as black and white as it often is in a superhero film. And I thought those gray areas were really exciting

In addition, There Will be Blood actor Paul Dano also suggested to Reeves that his character should wrap himself in plastic wrap in order to leave no trace DNA evidence at his crime scene, a suggestion Reeves loved. This caused some problems for the actor at first, but with the help of the costuming department, that was quickly resolved. Reeves sang the actor’s praises, saying in the same interview “He’s brilliant in so much. But I think you see him going through a very internal tortured experience in his characters. You can see him really in an active way, having this kind of psychological turmoil that I find is really compelling.” The riddles from The Batman aside, Paul Dano truly changed the Riddler for the better, and he perfectly fits inside Reeves’ dark universe.

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