EDWARD: Anonymous asks: Why choose to be evil? And a-bat-with-justice asks: Why choose to be a villain?

Oh, dear. This sounds like one of those 'philosophical' topics, today. Make yourself comfortable, won't you? Riddler is about to exposit. Let's begin with the idea of 'evil'. One could assume that evil implies the constant need, or desire, to inflict harm or
misadventure on others, for the sake of one's own gratification. Fine. Further, it implies the enjoyment of bad things happening to good people, whether one is the agent of malice aforethought or not. Also fine. On the other hand, we have the concept of the villain. You know the one - the masked, shadowy figure compelled to steal, kill, maim or destroy as their chosen life aspiration, such as yours truly. However, this is where the concepts of evil and villain rub up against each other unsatisfactorily; one does not need to be evil to be a villain. To use myself as an example, I do not find instant gratification in simply doing or being bad. I love to win, and the game of life that the good guys play is frankly dull. You have your evil villains like the Joker, who delights in chaos, mayhem and heads that go bump in the night. Dr. Quinzel beside him has enough morals unscrewed to follow his antics with glee, but I would hesitate in calling her evil. Enthusiastic and easily led, but not evil. One could contest that there are villains who do bad because that is the contrary action, as a sort of rebellion against the prevailing status quo of moral goodness. That can indeed be true. However, paragons of their own virtue would stay within their lane even if societal values were flipped. Dick Grayson would still help old ladies across the street if it were illegal. Joker does what he does because it makes him happy; if his methods were accepted or encouraged behaviour, he would keep at it, or perhaps become more extreme, to keep chasing that high.

Therefore, to answer the first question, one does not choose to be evil; evil is both a trait, and a motivation. I possess neither of those, as my interests are typically self serving. I would not call myself evil. I'm what one would call chaotic; sometimes I do good things, and other times I do awful, terrible, no-good things, and all for my own reasons. I feel no more pride for my evil doings than my good: nor any shame, for that matter. You could say my moral compass has never found its true north, if you like. As for choosing to be a villain, that's what makes ME happy. What I enjoy the most about being my sort of villain is the freedom it affords; my current living arrangement notwithstanding. I feel no restrictions about paths to take when achieving my desires: I have no need to stick to the high road, nor the low. I do whatever I like. I surmise that you could take my recent conservatorship of Ichabod as a noble gesture, but I disagree. I took her because I like her, first and foremost; she makes pleasant company. She listens to everything I say and never tells me to shut up; neither has she ever attacked me, unlike some sterling humans I could mention. What more could one ask for in a companion?

Who knows what would have happened to her if Jonathan were absent for the foreseeable future? It doesn't bear rumination. She's also no mere corvid, and could come in useful.

(Ikky squawks)

Sympathy for a fellow bird in a cage? Perhaps. She's been quiet today: I suppose she misses the old reprobate. Tell you what, Ikky - later on I'll do that Georgian accent you love so much. Jonathan better get to the crux of this Pyg fiasco quickly. Not becausehe's needed here, goodness no. Due to his absence, I am blissfully devoid of therapy. Rather, if these rumours are true, then this Valentino is conducting himself in a manner ill befitting a Gotham rogue. Those apes at the GCPD clearly cannot be trusted to deal with it, so steps has to be taken. Usually I would have laughed roundly at the image of Jonathan being carted off in shackles, but it should at least be for something he's actually DONE. I watched Jonathan closely when I mentioned Bolton - he never touched him. Though Jonathan's gaze is notoriously difficult to meet, it only serves to hide the fact that his eyes give him away. He hides this little weakness with an artifice: it's those damnable reading glasses he wears. He pushes them halfway down his nose, then the frame bisects his pupils and he doesn't have to look anyone in the eye. Next to which, Jonathan is so wrapped up with his own business that he wouldn't be terribly concerned about Bolton. He's a pointless bully, wholly beneath one's notice. Those ham-fisted clods at the GCPD would have kept Jonathan contained for days, trying to drag information out of him while Valentino did heaven knows what in the meantime. With Jonathan gone, Valentino could have focused on me next, being a more brilliant mind and the exponentially more interesting individual. You see? I'm a self-serving villain, what did I tell you? (chuckles) I tell you one thing, though - there's never a dull moment.

(Ikky squawks)

Oh, you betcha.