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Riddle Me This, Batman
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About
Riddle Me This, Batman is a catchphrase often used by DC Comics villain and Batman's enemy The Riddler to preface his riddles. The phrase has since become source material for memes in which The Riddler asks Batman various riddles referencing memes and popular culture, with the format achieving major virality following the release of the 2022 film The Batman starring Robert Pattinson.
Origin
"Riddle me this" is a catchphrase that Batman's enemy Riddler often prefaces his riddles with for the hero or another person. The catchphrase was popularized by the 1966 television series The Batman (clip shown below),[1] in which The Riddler, played by actor Frank Gorshin, often used the phrase. The expression was cemented in popular culture after the 1995 film Batman Forever, in which The Riddler, portrayed by actor Jim Carey, said, "Riddle me this, riddle me that." The phrase "riddle me this" appeared in multiple Batman comics, cartoons, video games and other media since then.
Riddle me this!
While the phrase saw instances of use in memes before, it did not achieve notable popularity as a phrasal format until January 2021 when memes using the "Riddle me this, Batman, X" snowclone started being posted in the /r/okbuddyretard subreddit. For example, on January 24th, 2021, Redditor[2] TheBeltwayy posted a meme based on the Who Was in Paris? joke, which gained over 1,600 upvotes prior to being removed (shown below).
Spread
Throughout 2021, multiple viral memes based on the snowclone format were posted in the /r/OKBR subreddit. For example, on March 28th, 2021, Redditor[3] AlphaPotato42 posted a meme that gained over 22,200 upvotes in six months (shown below, left). A meme posted by Redditor[4] GorflopGazelle on April 13th, 2021, gained over 20,900 upvotes in the same period (shown below, center).
The format regained virality online in March 2022 following the release of the film The Batman (although The Riddler does not say the iconic phrase in the film). For example, on March 17th, 2022, Twitter[5] user @MeganBitchell posted a joke referencing the viral Why Do They Call It Oven? question that gained over 14,100 retweets and 123,400 likes in one day (shown below).
In mid-March 2022, several posts using the snowclone, combined with the image of The Riddler from the 2022 film, went viral on Twitter.
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1] Dictionary – riddle me this
[2] Reddit – knayr west ☹️😞
[3] Reddit – explain this, LIBTARDS!!1!
[4] Reddit – retard strong together 😈💪✊🏿✊🏻✊
[5] Twitter – @MeganBitchell
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