Ra's al Ghul

Ra's al Ghul
File:Rasalghul.PNG Ra's al Ghul. Art by Cliff Chiang.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Batman #232 (June 1971)
Created by	Dennis O'Neil Neal Adams
In-story information
Team affiliations	The Demon League of Assassins Underground Society
Notable aliases	Ra's, The Demon's Head, Terry Gene Kase, Henri Ducard
Abilities	Immortality from the Lazarus Pit Genius-level intellect Superior strength and stamina Skilled in martial arts, fencing, and alchemy Holds several centuries worth of accumulated knowledge, experience, and vast resources

Ra's al Ghul (Template:Lang-ar Raʾs al-Ġūl; "Demon's Head") is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. He is considered to be one of Batman's greatest enemies. His name in Arabic has been translated in the comics as "The Demon's Head" and references the name of the star Algol. Created by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams, he was introduced in Batman #232's "Daughter of the Demon" (June 1971). Given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Superman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Ra's al Ghul has been featured in various media adaptions, most notably the 2005 Christopher Nolan films Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises where he was portrayed by actor Liam Neeson. IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time List ranked Ra's as #7.

Character overview

Ra's al Ghul is an international criminal mastermind whose ultimate goal is a world in perfect balance. He believes that the best way to achieve this balance is to eliminate most of humanity. Ra's usually tries to assault the world's human populace with a biological weapon, such as a genetically-engineered virus. He is aided in this quest by the Lazarus Pits, reservoirs of rejuvenating chemicals that restore the dying to life; these pits have granted him a lifespan of several centuries.

He regards Batman as his worthiest opponent, addressing him as "Detective" out of respect for his intellectual brilliance, and has frequently sought to make the Dark Knight his successor. He is one of the few criminals in Batman's rogues gallery to have deduced his secret identity as Bruce Wayne. For his own part, Batman's opposition to Ra's is complicated by his attraction to the villain's daughter, Talia, which she reciprocates.

Ra's al Ghul's creators, O'Neil and Adams, had designed the character with a very specific motif conforming to Dracula. O'Neil was assigned by Editor Julie Schwartz to create a new supervillain for Batman. O'Neil had observed that Batman pretends to be Dracula-like and thus conjectured what would happen if Gothams "fake" dracula met the real Dracula. Upon historical research, O'Neil learned that the name Ra's Al Ghul (pronounced Raysh-Al-Ghoul) was the original name of a killer in the Middle East whose head was said could turn into a lion/tiger. This lead to people calling him 'ghouls head', the literal translation of "Ra's Al Ghul", or head of the demon. The persona of Ra's Al Ghul later migrated to Europe where his name "Raysh-Al-Ghoul" then morphed into "Drake The Ghoul." Drake The Ghoul became a viscious despot rumored to drink blood out of a chalice during rituals and was known to spike heads of his slain opponents on spears as he gained power and acquired a fortress or castle. The name "Drake The Ghoul" transformed into "Dray Ghoula" or "Dray kula", and finally "Dracula". With this in mind, O'Neil decided to name his villain Ra's Al Ghul to give DC the "real" Dracula under the use of his original name. In addition, to explain Ra's al Ghul's longevity or immortality, O'Neil came up with the Lazarus Pit. Neal Adams, the artist, understood O'Neil's intentions and designed Ra's al Ghul's face to look like the actor Peter Cushing, who Adams says looks exactly like Dracula. Although Batman had convinced the superstitious mind that he was Dracula, he ironically gained a villain who was the actual Dracula.

Fictional character biography

Origin

Ra's al Ghul's early life and exact age have been described differently by various writers. His Post-Crisis origin story is told in the graphic novel Batman: Birth of the Demon (1992) by Dennis O'Neil and Norm Breyfogle.

As told in Birth of the Demon, Ra's al Ghul is born over 600 years before his first appearance in Batman comics, to a tribe of nomads in a desert somewhere in Arabia, near a city whose inhabitants' ancestors have journeyed to the Arabian Peninsula from China. Ra's is interested in science from an early age, and abandons his tribe to live in the city, where he can conduct his scientific research. He becomes a physician and marries a woman named Sora, the love of his life.

Ra's discovers the secret of the Lazarus Pit, and he saves a dying prince by lowering him into it. The prince, who is sadistic to begin with, is driven completely insane by the Lazarus Pit. He proceeds to strangle Sora, on whom he has already had his eye for some time. The sultan, unwilling to admit to himself his son's culpability, declares Ra's guilty of the crime and sentences him to a slow, tortured death in a cage with Sora's corpse.

Ra's is set free by the son of a dying elderly woman, whom Ra's had earlier examined. The son feels that he owes Ra's a debt for easing his mother's suffering during her last few hours. Ra's and the son head into the desert to seek the tribe of Ra's' birth. Ra's convinces the head of his tribe, his uncle, to follow Ra's in his quest for revenge by promising the downfall of the sultan. By understanding the germ theory of disease hundreds of years before anyone else, Ra's is able to infect the prince with a deadly virus by sending him contaminated fabrics. When the sultan comes to ask Ra's to cure the prince again, Ra's kills both him and his son. Ra's then leads his tribe to raze the city to the ground and kill all of its inhabitants. Subsequently, Ra's declares himself the "Demon's Head."

Note: Batman: Birth of the Demon provides a rough figure of 500 years for Ra's al Ghul's age. Due to living so long, he assumes to have lost track of how old he is. Azrael #6 (July 1995; written by Dennis O'Neil) places Ra's age closer to 450 years. As he tells Jean Paul Valley; "I appear to be a vigorous fifty. I am actually a very vigorous four hundred and forty-eight...or is it four hundred and fifty-three? I lost count during the Black Plague. No matter." In Batman Annual #25 (published in 2006), Ra's al Ghul is described as a "700-Year Old International Terrorist."

File:Batman232.JPG

The first appearance of Ra's al Ghul, from Batman#232, June 1971. Cover by Neal Adams.

Ra's spends the next several centuries journeying the world. He fights in the Napoleonic Wars and the French Revolution and becomes a formidable warrior. As the world entered the modern age and industrialization began to cover much of the Earth, Ra's grew to despise the inhabitants who he believed were destroying the world's natural beauty, thus setting him on a path of eco-terrorism. Also during this time, Ra's, his uncle, and the boy are all using the Lazarus Pits to prolong their lives until an incident in London. Ra's catches the boy writing his own memoirs in their original language, of which Ra's has forbidden all records. During a battle, Ra's kills the boy and flees to a Lazarus Pit, which he uses. When he returns to their home in London, his uncle has vanished with the remnants of their historical records.

Over time, he becomes a master of many forms of combat, notably fencing. He also builds up vast wealth and creates The Demon, a huge international organization. According to Justice League of America (1st series) #94; "It has been whispered in the darkest places for 500 years that a cartel of criminals has slowly sucked its way into the rich veins of the Earth. Many are its names spit from the mouths of men, but most often it is cursed only as ...The Demon. It has a leader ... a Head." The League of Assassins, one of the many smaller organizations making up The Demon, is thus sometimes called "The Demon's Fang" or "Demonfang."

Contagion and Legacy

Ra's returns to prominence and comes dangerously close to realizing his dream of worldwide genocide in the "Contagion" story arc of the Batman titles. His organization unleashes a deadly virus known as Ebola Gulf A (a.k.a. "The Clench") in Gotham City, putting Batman in conflict with a force he seemingly cannot defeat. A cure is eventually located by Batman and his allies, though the mastermind behind the outbreak is not discovered until the follow-up story "Legacy".

Learning that the Demon's Head still lives, Batman and his team circle the globe, preventing further outbreaks of the virus. Ra's allies himself with Bane, the man who once crippled and nearly killed Batman. Ra's considers Bane a potential heir to his empire, despite his daughter Talia's distaste for the criminal mastermind. Eventually, Batman deduces a way to eliminate the Clench virus from an ancient "Wheel of Plagues" artifact whose knowledge has aided Ra's in the creation of the disease. The long-lived madman eludes justice again.

JLA: Tower of Babel

In the "Tower of Babel" storyline, in JLA #43-46, Ra's discovers Batman's contingency plans for stopping the other members of the Justice League of America, should they turn or be turned evil, and uses them to try to destroy the group. Meanwhile, Ra's steals the bodies of Batman's parents. This theft prevents Batman from realizing Ra's is using his traps until it is too late, as he is distracted by the search for the corpses of his parents.

Though defeated, Ra's does cause the exit of Batman from the JLA, who now distrust the Caped Crusader. Though some of the League resent Batman's plans, they agree that the plans were created for the right reasons.

Talia, disillusioned with her father, leaves the League to run LexCorp for former U.S. President Lex Luthor, before selling the company to Bruce Wayne for his Wayne Foundation to aid Batman and Superman's victory over Luthor. Ra's blames Batman for his failed relationship with Talia, and stages a plot where he tries to separate Batman from his heir, Dick Grayson, shortly before Wayne officially adopts his former ward as his son. The plan fails, and Wayne and Grayson go ahead with the adoption.

Ra's is also featured in Birds of Prey #31-35, where he has a romantic fling with the Black Canary. The superheroine is injured and healed in the Lazarus Pit, which also restores the Canary Cry she lost years earlier.

Death and the Maidens

In Death and the Maidens (2004), Ra's other daughter, Nyssa Raatko, furious at her father for abandoning her in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II, begins plotting to destroy him, prompting Ra's to contact Batman to make a deal for access to a Lazarus Pit to give him the strength for a final confrontation with Nyssa; in exchange for the location of a Pit, Ra's provides Batman with a serum that will allow him to walk in the spirit world and speak with his parents. While Batman experiences his 'vision', Nyssa befriends Talia and then kidnaps and brainwashes her. Nyssa plots to destroy all hope and optimism in the world by assassinating Superman with Kryptonite bullets she steals from the Batcave. While Batman stops Nyssa from killing Superman, he is unable to stop her from mortally injuring her father. A dying Ra's reveals that this is all part of his greater plan to ensure that his daughters will realize that he is correct in his perceptions about the world and what needs to be done to it, and that they would come to accept their destinies as his heirs. Ra's' plan works: both Nyssa and Talia become the heads of The Demon and the League of Assassins. Talia disavows her love for Bruce Wayne, and both sisters declare Batman their enemy. It is too late for Ra's, as Nyssa stabs her father through the heart, seemingly killing him for good. To ensure Ra's will not return, Batman oversees his nemesis' cremation.

The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul

Main article: Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul

Ra's al Ghul returns from the dead.
Art by Tony Daniel.

In Batman Annual #26, Talia is prompted to read the history of Ra's al Ghul to her son Damian by a mysterious figure from Ra's' past: the White Ghost. Unbeknownst to her, the White Ghost plans to use Damian as a vessel for Ra's' return. However, mother and son escape before the plan is completed. After the escape, Batman confronts the White Ghost; he fights Batman, but accidentally falls into a Lazarus pit.

As of Batman #670 Ra's al Ghul has returned, having evaded death by transferring his consciousness into the body of another. Because his host body is decaying from radiation poisoning, he needs to transfer his mind into another host body. His first choice is that of his grandson Damian Wayne, but Damian escaped to alert his father.

Upon taking Ra's to a "Fountain of Essence," which contains the qualities of a Lazarus Pit, Batman is confronted with the sight of Sensei, who is revealed to be Ra's father. After defeating Ra's, Sensei fights and impales Batman with a cane. Determined to win, Batman drags the Sensei into the Fountain, where he is killed for not being a pure soul. Ra's, meanwhile, has taken over the body of a Nanda Parbat monk and departs. Healed by the Fountain, Batman emerges and yells for Ra's.

Ra's returns in the form of his own son, Dusan al Ghul, Arabic: دوسان الغول, who is also called "The White Ghost".
Art by Ryan Benjamin.

Ra's attempts to make amends with Batman after his resurrection, but Batman responds by crushing his decaying fingers. Ra's accepts this latest rebuke and, with the help of his men, overpower Batman and capture Damian, who has arrived to try to help his father. Ra's attempts to take over Damian, but Batman breaks free just as Robin, Talia, Alfred Pennyworth, and Nightwing arrive to save him. While the battle ensues at Nanda Parbat, the White Ghost takes Ra's to a secluded place, where the terrorist appears to accept the fact that his death is inevitable. The White Ghost is revealed as Ra's' estranged, albino son Dusan, and offers up his own body instead. Ra's performs the transfer of souls, but the White Ghost apparently dies soon afterward. Ra's resumes the battle and attempts to kill Batman, but the monks at Nanda Parbat stop him and banish him from the temple.

Following his resurrection, Ra's al Ghul, in his new body, moves his base of operations to Gotham City where it is revealed that a remnant of his son Dusan's consciousness still remains within him. Since the White Ghost was his son, Ra's was able to use the resemblance between them to modify his new body's appearance to be more like his own. This arrogance contributes to the brazen move to Gotham and a subsequent ninja attack on Batman, which indirectly leads to the discovery of a map of all the known Lazarus Pit locations across the globe. Batman then infiltrates Ra's al Ghul's new Gotham penthouse headquarters and easily defeats his horde of ninjas and Ra's himself. To ensure Ra's is not a constant threat within Gotham City, Batman comes up with the false identity of "Terry Gene Kase," and plants it along with credible photos, medical records, and police records for both Blackgate Penitentiary and Arkham Asylum. Batman takes an unconscious Ra's directly to Arkham where it is believed he really is the prisoner "Terry Gene Kase," a criminal with multiple personality disorder who has just been transferred to Arkham to finish out multiple life sentences. Along with attaching false information and a false identity to Ra's al Ghul's file, Batman attaches a false prescription of potent medication that ensures slurred speech and next to zero mobility.

Despite these precautions, Ra's eventually escapes when the orderlies miss his dosage once, which allows him to become conscious enough to escape from Arkham.

The Return of Bruce Wayne

Ra's realized that Batman has apparently died after Darkseid's invasion during Final Crisis. After confronting Nightwing with his knowledge, he and the hero eventually duel with swords. Nightwing defeats Ra's and earns the immortal's respect, signified by leaving his sword in the Batcave as a gift after their fight. Ra's refuses to believe his enemy's passing despite the evidence, leading him to be involved in the Red Robin's (Tim Drake) quest concerning the fate of the original Dark Knight. After Drake finds proof that Wayne is still alive but lost in time after his battle with Darkseid, the former Boy Wonder cripples Ra's terrorist organizations, the League of Assassins, from within. In response, Ra's returns to Gotham to begin his attack to destroy every legacy of the Wayne Family. While his men target everyone close to the Waynes, Ra's makes a pact with Hush as part of his plans. Unknown to both men, Bruce Wayne has already named Tim as his heir prior to his disappearance, leaving him in control of the Wayne Family resources.

Ra's then enraged engages Tim Drake in combat which ends with Tim mocking Ra's that there's nothing he can do to harm the Bat Family anymore, to which Ra's smiles and says "Well done... Detective" (A name he has only ever reserved for Batman only). He then proceeds to kick him out of a skyscraper window and retreats from the battle. Later in seclusion, Ra's reveals everything which happened was a test for Tim Drake, from the League, the Council, the Men of Death, and the plot against Bruce Wayne.

Learning of Bruce Wayne's resurrection, Ra's muses that his next confrontation with the Detective will be particularly interesting as he believes that Batman has at last had a taste of the immortality that Ra's himself enjoys.

He goes after Vicki Vale and almost kills her. He spares her life only after she refuses to publish the identity of Batman and gets rid of all of the evidence she has to that effect. He also realizes that Vale may be a descendant of a French opponent, Marcel du Valliere, from centuries before, therefore his business with her may not be finished.

Powers, abilities, and weapons

Due to his expanded life span, Ra’s has accumulated a vast knowledge of hand-to-hand combat, chemistry, detective artistry, physics, and martial arts (all of which rival that of Batman). He has also gained many international contacts and a vast fortune, gained over centuries. When in combat, he favors more ancient weaponry (as he has had more time to utilize them than more modern weaponry). These weapons include scimitars, katanas, bolas, throwing stars, smoke pellets, and miniaturized explosives. Ra's is also assisted by his devoted, musclebound servant Ubu.

Ra’s greatest weapons are his Lazarus Pits, which will heal him of any injury (even if he is recently dead) while restoring him back to his prime of life. His constant exposure to the pits has also granted him slightly enhanced endurance, strength, and healing but also comes with the price of a gradual onset of insanity if overused.

Family

The Sensei

Main article: Sensei (DC Comics)

Created by Neal Adams in 1968, the Sensei was originally introduced as high-ranking member of the League of Assassins. He was portrayed as an aged but highly skilled martial artist. During the Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul storyline, he was revealed to be Ra's al Ghul's centuries-old father. He dies during the same storyline.

Dusan al Ghul

Created by Peter Milligan and David Lopez in 2007, Dusan al Ghul (Template:Lang-ar) was Ra's' only known son. He was also referred to as Al'Shabah Al-Abyad (Template:Lang-ar), meaning "the White Ghost". Though little is known about his past, it is stated that he was born out of a union meant to strengthen his father's hold over "some long-extinct people", suggesting that he was older than Ra's' other children. As an albino, he was never considered a potential heir to his father's empire. He ultimately sacrificed himself to ensure his father's survival during the Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul storyline.

Nyssa Raatko

Main article: Nyssa Raatko

Created by Greg Rucka and Klaus Janson in 2003, Nyssa Raatko (Template:Lang-ar) is Ra's al Ghul's oldest known daughter. She was born to an unnamed woman in 18th century Russia. She would later become a Holocaust survivor. She is murdered during the One Year Later storyline by Cassandra Cain.

Talia al Ghul

Main article: Talia al Ghul

Created by Dennis O'Neil and Bob Brown in 1971, Talia al Ghul (Template:Lang-ar) is Ra's al Ghul's daughter. Talia's mother was a woman of mixed Chinese and Arab ancestry named Melisande, who met Ra's at the Woodstock festival. Talia was born not long after. Talia is also one of the antagonists in 2012's The Dark Knight Rises.

Damian Wayne

Main article: Damian Wayne

Originally appearing as an unnamed infant in the 1987 graphic novel Batman: Son of the Demon, the character was introduced as Damian Wayne by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert in 2006. Damian is the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, thus he is the grandson of Ra's al Ghul.

Others

Although he fathered children with several women, Ra's al Ghul has only two confirmed marriages. The first was to Sora, whose death set Ra's on the path to becoming the "Demon's Head". The second was to Melisande, Talia's mother.

Ra's also appears to have an unnamed sister or half-sister, a female assassin belonging to a group called the "Daughters of Acheron", whose members share the same father. Another member is a woman using the alias "Promise". It is unclear if their common father, "Acheron", is in fact the Sensei (making them all Ra's' half-sisters) or if Ra's only has one half-sister on his mother's side.

In Batman and Robin #12, it is revealed that Talia has cloned her son, Damian. The clone is, therefore, a grandson of sorts of Ra's al Ghul. Additionally, Nyssa once stated that she has given birth twelve times, opening the possibility of Ra's having many other descendants.

Involvement with Batman

After Talia encounters and falls in love with Batman in Detective Comics #411 (May 1971), Ra's begins to consider Batman as a possible heir. Ra's first deduces Batman's secret identity when he reasons that the Dark Knight has to be rich, and learns that only Bruce Wayne has bought the equipment that a crime fighter would have; he is then ready to put Batman to a final test.

Ra's surprises Batman in the Batcave, seemingly to enlist Batman's aid in rescuing both Talia and Dick Grayson, the first Robin, both of whom have apparently been kidnapped. Batman soon discovers that the whole affair is a charade orchestrated by Ra's to test Batman, which he passes. Ra's asks that Batman become his heir, which Batman refuses, appalled by his genocidal plan to "cleanse" the world. This story was later adapted into a two part story in Batman: The Animated Series during its first season under the title "The Demon's Quest."

Despite being mortal enemies, Ra's al Ghul and Batman maintain some level of respect towards one another. Similar to The Riddler, Ra's admires Batman's intellectual prowess first and foremost, regularly referring to Batman as "Detective" or "The Detective" when speaking to or about him. And despite being aware of Batman's true identity as Bruce Wayne since their first meeting, Ra's has never exposed that information to the public or Batman's other rogues;something Batman once attributed to Ra's personal code of honor. However, Ra's has repeatedly used that knowledge to his own advantage when fomenting plans and contingencies against Batman.

In the story "Resurrection Night" in Batman #400, Ra's helps all of Batman's foes to escape from Arkham Asylum and the Gotham State Penitentiary, setting them on a plan to abduct certain individuals across Gotham City who are linked in one form or another to Batman. Ra's' true intent is to show Batman the folly of his efforts to protect a corrupt society that, to his mind, allows criminals to exist and flourish. Ra's eventually uses the Pit while still healthy, both increasing his strength and putting his life at risk, in an attempt to outmatch the Dark Knight. The plan backfires, as Ra's is left writhing in the pit, seemingly destroyed.

Other versions

Son of the Demon

In the graphic novel Son of the Demon, Ra's successfully enlists Batman's aid in defeating a rogue assassin and warlord, Qayin (a variation on the spelling of Cain), who has murdered Ra's' then-wife Melisande (Talia's mother). During this storyline, Batman marries Talia and she becomes pregnant. Batman is nearly killed protecting Talia from the assassin's agents. In the end, Talia ends her relationship with Batman, unwilling to put him in danger. She claims to have miscarried and the marriage is dissolved. The child is eventually born and left at an orphanage (eventually taking the name Ibn al Xu'ffasch). The only identification provided is Talia's jewel-encrusted necklace, which once belonged to Talia's mother. Two Elseworlds stories, Kingdom Come and Brotherhood of the Bat, feature two alternate versions of Ibn as an adult, coming to terms with his dual heritage. For a time, DC Comics' policy was that Son of the Demon was not canon and that Batman had no son. The recent appearance of the child (under the name Damian) in an issue of Batman implies that this policy may have changed.

30th Century

Ra's has previously been revealed as alive in the 31st century setting of the post-Zero Hour reboot Legion of Super-Heroes, impersonating Leland McCauley.

Superman & Batman: Generations

In the first Superman & Batman: Generations series, created by John Byrne, Bruce Wayne tracks Ra's al Ghul after passing the Batman mantle on to his son. Ra's offers Bruce a chance at immortality, having discovered a means of attaining truly eternal life, without the ensuing madness, from one Lazarus Pit: two souls enter and the Pit destroys one while imbuing the other with youth and immortality. With his only alternatives being a fifty-fifty chance at death in the Pit or being murdered by Ra's' men, Bruce agrees to the process, surviving exposure to the Pit and subsequently using Ra's' criminal empire to set up an anti-crime information network. He also becomes a near-immortal, aging one year for every century.

Spider-Man/Batman

In the second Spider-Man/Batman crossover book (considered an Elseworlds story), Ra's begins plans for worldwide devastation. He manipulates the Kingpin to his side by infecting the crime lord's wife Vanessa with cancer and promising him the cure in return for his allegiance. Ra's then orders him to press the button on his machines which would send New York City under the ocean. Ultimately, Spider-Man and Batman interfere and the Kingpin reveals that he knows Ra's' plans and allows the two heroes to board his plane so they can assist him. Defeated, Ra's bows out of the plan gracefully but claims that there is no cure for the cancer. Vanessa convinces her husband that she wishes no further violence, and they leave. Talia soon gives the cure to Batman, who then gives it to Spider-Man, who passes it on to the Kingpin.

Amalgam Comics

In the Amalgam Comics alternate dimension, Ra's is fused with Marvel Comics supervillain Apocalypse to become "Ra's Al-Pocalypse." Ra's daughter Talia is fused with Lady Deathstrike to become "Lady Talia."

Captain Carrot Reality

• In Captain Carrot and the Final Ark, Ra's is parodied as Rash Al Paca, an alpaca who plans to save the environment from "animalkind" by increasing global warming and flooding the planet.

Kingdom Come

In Kingdom Come, a rogue superhuman claimed that Ra's al Ghul was killed. Ra's grandson, Ibn al Xu'ffasch, is a member of Lex Luthor's Mankind Liberation Front.

Flashpoint

In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, Ra's al Ghul is a young boy and member of the H.I.V.E. council. He voted against using nuclear weapons to end the war in Western Europe between Aquaman and Wonder Woman.

In other media

Television

File:Animated Ra's al Ghul.jpg

Ra's al Ghul as he appears in Batman: The Animated Series.

• Ra's al Ghul made several appearances in the DC animated universe voiced by David Warner.
  • In Batman: The Animated Series, Ra's al Ghul first appears at the very end of "Off Balance" where he is informed about Batman by his daughter Talia. This sets the stage for subsequent appearances—each as the episode's villain—in the two-part episode "The Demon's Quest", adapting his attempts from the comic to make Batman his heir and then to cleanse the world of humanity. In the episode "Avatar", he makes an attempt at true immortality. Though Batman manages to catch him in the end, Talia ends up freeing her father and sending Batman on his way. In the episode "Showdown", he relates an event on a tape left for Batman and Robin after his men abducted a specific old man from a retirement villa. It mentioned that, in the 1800s, Ra's battled Jonah Hex, who also battles Ra's' deranged son Arkady Duvall (voiced by Malcolm McDowell). When Hex defeated Arkady, Ra's was forced to abandon Arkady. When Batman and Robin catch up with Ra's al Ghul in the episode's main timeframe, he reveals that the old man is his son Arkady Duvall. As Arkady's mind and body are beyond the Lazarus Pit's power to mend, Batman lets Ra's take his elderly son with him so that Ra's can spend one final day with him.
  • In the Superman: The Animated Series, Ra's al Ghul is dying as the Lazarus Pit has become ineffective at prolonging his aging body. In the episode "The Demon Reborn", he attempts to steal Superman's strength using an ancient Native American artifact. He almost succeeds, but is thwarted by Batman before the process is complete. The process has rejuvenated his body enough for him to resume his usage with the Lazarus Pit once more, however. He and Talia disappear at the battle's end.
  • In Batman Beyond, it is revealed that Ra's al Ghul has one last confrontation with Batman in a battle known as the "Near-Apocalypse of '09". However, Talia assists Batman in this battle and Ra's is apparently killed as the injuries he sustained were far beyond the healing capabilities of the Lazarus Pit. Ra's escaped death by using a new device to essentially possess his daughter Talia, transferring his mind into her body in order to stay alive. In the episode "Out of the Past", Ra's continues pose as Talia as he manipulates Bruce Wayne into using the Lazarus Pit to regain his youth - intending to take over Bruce's body and pose as Bruce and Talia's son to take control of Wayne Enterprises. He is thwarted by Terry McGinnis and presumably killed when his mansion is destroyed.

• Ra's al Ghul appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold voiced by Peter Woodward. In this show, Ra's al Ghul is interested in making Robin his heir rather than Batman or his own daughter Talia. In the episode "Sidekicks Assemble", Ra's attempts to infect Coast City with mutated plants using his flying island, but is stopped by Robin, Aqualad, and Speedy. Ra's al Ghul manages to get away with Talia. He later makes a cameo in the opening narration of "The Siege of Starro" Pt. 1 where he and Ubu are foiled by Batman. Ra's final appearance in "Crisis 22,300 Miles Above Earth" has him attempting to flood and 'cleanse' the Earth by melting the polar ice caps. His plan and his army are stopped by Batman, the Justice League International, and the Justice Society of America, with help from Talia. Ra's is last seen falling into an abyss in the Himalayas after a fight with Batman.

• Ra's al Ghul appears in Young Justice voiced by Oded Fehr. In "Targets", he hires his League of Shadows assassins Cheshire and Sportsmaster to kill Lex Luthor and a pair of Asian diplomats. The plot is foiled by Red Arrow and Aqualad. It is later revealed that Ra's al Ghul and Luthor are plotting together to have the diplomats saved by Mercy Graves from the assassins and have them make a weapons deal with Luther in order to assist the Light (Project Cadmus' Board of Directors). In "Revelation", it is revealed that Ra's al Ghul is L-2 of the Light. In "Auld Acquaintance", Ra's al Ghul, Lex Luthor, Queen Bee, Ocean Master, Brain, and Monsieur Mallah infiltrate Project Cadmus and steal the clones as well as the cryogenic pod containing the real Speedy. In "Darkest", Ra's al Ghul was with The Light when Black Manta tells them the progress of the mission and that Aqualad has 'seen the light'. Ra's al Ghul is the one the congratulates Aqualad and tells him that it is time that he met the Light's Partner. In "Summit," Ra's al Ghul joins the Light in meeting with the Reach in the caves of Santa Prisca. During the meeting, Ra's al Ghul manages to figure out that Tigress is Artemis upon removing the special medallion on her as a Glamour Charm. During the team's fight with the Light and the Reach, Black Beetle stabs Ra's al Ghul as Ubu gets his body away from Santa Prisca.

• Ra's al Ghul will appear in Beware the Batman voiced by Lance Reddick.

Toys

• A lead figurine of Ra's al Ghul was the 10th issue in the DC Comics Super Hero Collection.

Film

File:News-batbegins1-1.jpg

Liam Neeson as Ra's al Ghul (posing as Henri Ducard) in Batman Begins (2005).

Live action

• Ra's al Ghul is the main antagonist of the film Batman Begins played by Liam Neeson. He is the head of the centuries-old League of Shadows, a morally ambiguous organization based in Bhutan that is dedicated to keeping order and justice in a world which it views as decadent and corrupt. He is the silent partner of Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson) and Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) in a plan to disperse a fear-inducing toxin into the water supplies of Gotham City. For the first half of the film, he goes by the name Henri Ducard, disguising himself as the servant of an expendable decoy Ra's al Ghul (Ken Watanabe), and acts as a mentor to the young Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), teaching him the martial arts training that he will one day use as Batman. He reappears later at Wayne Manor, where he reveals his true identity and tells Bruce that the League of Shadows had tried to destroy Gotham once before, by causing the economic depression that indirectly resulted in the murder of Bruce's parents. Ra's sees much of himself in Bruce, relating the story of how he came to the League of Shadows following the death of his wife. In their final confrontation, Batman defeats Ra's and leaves him on a runaway train which falls off a bridge and crashes. Ra's is killed in the ensuing explosion.

• Ra's al Ghul makes a cameo appearance in The Dark Knight Rises (the third and final entry in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy) again protrayed by Liam Neeson. He appears to Bruce as a hallucination, telling him that there are many forms of immortality (with a flashback to Ra's speaking about his wife in Batman Begins) and that he has an heir that is carrying on the League of Shadows mission to destroy Gotham City. He tells Bruce that he no longer has the resolve to be Batman. Josh Pence plays a younger version of the character in flashbacks set 30 years before the events of the film. In an ancient part of the world, the young Ra's was a mercenary who married the daughter of his employer, a local warlord. When the warlord found out, he condemned the mercenary to a prison known as "The Pit", but the warlord exiled him instead when his pregnant daughter offered to take the place of her husband. The mercenary joined the League of Shadows and became Ra's al Ghul, while unaware of her imprisonment. His daughter Talia was born in the Pit, and when she escaped and located him, Ra's turned the League on the prison, killing every inmate but Bane (Tom Hardy), who helped Talia escape. Even after Bane saved his daughter's life, however, Ra's saw him only as a reminder of the Pit where his wife died, and excommunicated him from the League. Talia (Marion Cotillard) comes to Gotham to finish her father's work after Ra's' death, for which she blames Batman, and is joined by Bane, who enacts the plan. Recited in the (Lazarus) Pit, the prevalent chant deshi basara (Arabic: تيجي بسرعة) is of the Moroccan language, indicative of Ra's al Ghul's Arab background.

Animated film

• Ra's al Ghul appears in the animated film Batman: Under the Red Hood voiced by Jason Isaacs. In the film, he is responsible for the resurrection of Jason Todd (the second Robin) who was killed by the Joker. Halfway through the film when Batman travels to Ra's al Ghul's stronghold to question him, Ra's reveals that he had been planning to ruin the economy of Europe and had hired the Joker to provide Batman and Robin with a distraction. He soon realizes that he had overestimated his ability to control the Clown Prince of Crime, who quickly goes rogue and murders Robin. Plagued with guilt, Ra's al Ghul subjects Todd to the Lazarus Pit to resurrect him, but it drives Todd insane and he returns to Gotham City as the murderous vigilante Red Hood, intent on taking revenge on the Joker. Ra's al Ghul is last seen watching the news bulletin of the Red Hood's disappearance and the Joker's return to Arkham Asylum.

Video games

• Ra's al Ghul is the final boss and main antagonist in the 2003 video game Batman: Dark Tomorrow voiced by Don Leslie.

• Ra's al Ghul appears as a villain in the Batman Begins video game based on the movie. Both Ken Watanabe and Liam Neeson reprise their roles of "Decoy Ra's" and Henri Ducard/Ra's al Ghul.

• Ra's al Ghul is featured as an unlockable character in Lego Batman: The Video Game. He is also unlockable through the "Villain Hunt" minigame in the Nintendo DS version and by collecting all 300 minikits (10 per level), saving all hostages and buying Hush in the console versions. His special ability is health regeneration and fights using a pair of batons, similar to Nightwing.

• In Batman: Arkham Asylum, Ra's al Ghul's body can be found zipped up in a body bag in the morgue part of Arkham Mansion near Dr. Penny Young's office, which serves as the answer to the riddle "It'll be a cold day in hell when this Ghul rises again.". If the player returns after completing the riddle, the body will have mysteriously disappeared.

• Ra's al Ghul appears in Batman: Arkham City, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, as a chief antagonist, both as an orchestrator and a boss battle. Many years ago, Ra's and the League of Assassins started a project they called "Wonder City," which was to be a crime free and pro-environment utopia built underneath Gotham City. Ra's powers the city with the natural chemicals that were found underneath Gotham, concentrated in an area that would end up becoming the Lazarus Pit. The project fails, due to multiple reasons, though Ra's still did not give up on his dream of eliminating crime from Gotham. In present time, Batman requires his blood to create a cure for a disease that Batman, Joker, and multiple people of Gotham City are afflicted with, as the cure would degrade too quickly without the unique chemical formula of the Lazarus Pit and Ra's' prolonged exposure to it having turned his blood into an organic catalyst that would prevent degradation. In the Arkham game universe, Batman is unaware of the existence of the Lazarus Pit, but believes Ra's does not lie to him when he claims he has lived for over 600 years. It is during his encounter with Batman that Batman discovers the Lazarus Pit, and Ra's explains that extended exposure to the Lazarus Pit is having lasting effects on his body and mind, so he desperately requires someone to succeed him as head of the League of Assassins. Naturally, he asks Batman, but he refuses. It is later revealed that Ra's was financing the operations of Hugo Strange, after he comes to him with Batman's identity. Strange's plan was to construct a super prison to house the different criminals of Gotham for them to be exterminated all at once. If Strange was to succeed, he would replace Ra's as the leader of the League of Assassins. In the end, he stabs Strange (seeing him as a failure) after he is defeated by Batman and their plot is foiled. A dying Strange activates Protocol 11, a self-destruct sequence, forcing Batman and Ra's to jump out of the building. During the fall, Ra's kills himself in attempt to take Batman with him, taking his blade and putting it through himself. Batman lands safely as Ra's' body collides with the Arkham City main gate, leaving his body hanging over the gate, and his sword sticking out of his chest. If the player returns to Wonder Tower after completing the main storyline, Ra's' body will be gone and his sword will be found sticking out of the ground near the gate.

• Ra's al Ghul appears in DC Universe Online.

• Ra's al Ghul appears in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Steven Blum. He is a boss fight and unlockable character, found at the North Metro Station.

Miscellaneous

• Ra's al Ghul appears in The Batman Adventures. He arrived to break up a fight between Batman and Sensei and even had to allow Sensei to go with Batman.

• Ra's al Ghul appears in the comic book tie-in to Young Justice. In issue 11, Ra's al Ghul oversaw the hijacking of the rocket at Cape Canaveral and had the original research payload replaced with a diamond lens that would turn sun beams into death beams that would attack the various cities. Batman and Robin end up fighting Ra's al Ghul which ended with Ra's al Ghul falling off the tower to his death. Ubu and Talia were able to get Ra's al Ghul back to Infinity Island where Sensei used the Lazarus Pit to revive Ra's al Ghul. After emerging from the Lazarus Pit, Ra's al Ghul ordered Sensei to prepare their weapon called the Serpent. In issue 12, Ra's al Ghul arrived where he found Sensei and Talia being attacked by Clayface and learned from Sensei that the monster was their operative Matt Hagen. After Ra's al Ghul stated to Clayface that he was still a member of the League of Shadows and commanded him to sleep, he ordered Sensei to ship Clayface to Gotham City for him to bother Batman and then demanded an explanation from Talia on how Clayface came to be.

Collected editions

His stories have been collected into a number of volumes:

• Batman: Tales Of The Demon (1991), collecting the original 1970s Ra's al Ghul stories by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams
• Batman: Birth Of The Demon (1992) by Dennis O'Neil and Norm Breyfogle, giving the origin of Ra's al Ghul
• JLA Vol. 7: Tower Of Babel (2001), by Mark Waid, in which Ra's goes up against the Justice League of America (ISBN 1-56389-727-X)
• Batman: Death And The Maidens (2004) by Greg Rucka and Klaus Janson, giving the ultimate death of Ra's al Ghul (ISBN 1-4012-0234-9)
• Year One: Batman - Ra's al Ghul (2005) by Devin K. Grayson and Paul Gulacy, which takes place a year after Ra's' death in Death And The Maidens
• Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul (2008) by Grant Morrison, Peter Milligan, Fabian Nicieza, and Paul Dini, chronicles Ra's Al Ghul's resurrection.

See also

• List of Batman Family enemies

External links

• http://www.spider-bob.com/villains/dc/RasAlGhul.htm
• http://www.batmantas.com/cmp/ras.htm
• http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/WF/batman/btas/bios/rasalghul/
• http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/WF/beyond/bios/taliaras/
• http://www.unstable.com/whoswho/rasalghu.htm
• http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/WF/superman/episodes/TheDemonReborn/
• http://www.batman-superman.com/batman/cmp/ras.html