Ah! Edward Nygma, Gotham's local narcissist. I always found Edward an odd choice for a love interest because he is a narcissist, he loves myself more than any original character. Maybe it's because of the usual execution of this idea. While this does NOT apply to every Riddler fanfiction, the usual set up is that said love interest is VERY similar to Eddie and falls in love. Love interests for Eddie, in my opinion, can be quite bland which sucks because Eddie is such an interesting character. Here's how you can use Gotham's favourite attention whore as a love interest, and write a relatively realistic romance with him.
WHAT TO DO AND WHAT NOT TO DO;
THE RELATIONSHIP WON'T BE HEALTHY
This is a section that could be used for every villain, but this will be more tailored for Eddie. To believe that your character could be in a healthy relationship with a narcissistic man child is ignorant. Edward doesn't know how to be a descent person to anyone, including friends and love interests. He's a dick and clearly can't express emotions towards others. When writing your character's relationship with Edward, remember that he's not going to act loving/caring towards your character and this will lead to an unhealthy relationship between the characters.
UNDERSTANDING EDWARD'S NEED FOR ATTENTION
Edward's need for attention is consistent in all iterations of the character. Edward would constantly crave attention from your character not our of love but because he needs attention. When writing Eddie's relationship with your character, try and address Eddie's attention whore nature, and how your character would react to this aspect of his character. Would your character be annoyed by this? Or would they be an enabler?
DON'T FORGET EDWARD'S NARCISSISM
At the core of his character, Edward is a narcissist. Eddie loves himself more than anybody else, this is important. Regardless of how long or how much Eddie might love your character, he will always love himself more than your character. This aspect of Eddie definitely makes the relationship much more interesting and this aspect should be explored more. Turning Eddie into a selfless person that is extremely in love with your character, to the point where he cares more about them than himself, is extremely out of character.
DON'T FORGET EDWARD'S HISTORY OF ABUSE
Edward is an abuse victim, meaning he's got a lot of trauma. This trauma led to his need for attention/affection/love and ego. This shouldn't be ignored as it has deeply affected him as seen especially in the Arkham Games. Consider how your character would deal with Eddie's history of abuse? Would they be understanding? Would they ignore the issue? Figure this out as you flesh out your character.
NO, BECKY, THE RIDDLER WON'T GIVE UP EVERYTHING FOR YOU
This could apply to any villain but let me explain. The Prince of Puzzles, King of Conundrums, The Riddler would NOT give up his quest to be the smartest man alive just because some girl (because it's almost always a female love interest) showed up and he fell head over heels for him. Edward's motivation in life, the thing that makes him want to keep on living, is to prove he's the most intelligent man in the whole of Gotham and even the World. Edward won't give anything up just to please a person.
NO BRENDA, YOUR CHARACTER SHOULDN'T BE A RIDDLER CLONE
This annoys me to no end. When Eddie's love interests are exact clones of him in nearly or all aspects, it reeks of a lack of originality. While it is hard to come up with character concepts and make them unique, blatantly ripping off a canon character is a bad idea. It could be argued that Eddie would fall in love with a clone of himself, it's still lazy. Instead, try and create a character that could balance out Edward's characteristics and personality traits, or create a character that's Eddie's complete opposite.
CONCLUSION !
When constructing a relationship with Edward, remember the relationship isn't going to be healthy. Edward's experiences have shaped him into a egotistical man child that craves attention. Your character would need to be patient with Eddie and help fuel his ego. He/she/they don't need to be a carbon copy of Eddie with the EXACT same interests, personality and backstory as him. A well written relationship with Eddie and an original character would include an exploration into how these two could survive and, deal with each other in such an unhealthy relationship.
