Ra's al Ghul

Ra’s al Ghul
Species:	Human
Hair:	Black
Eyes:	Blue
Relatives:	Talia (daughter) Arkady Duvall (son)
Base:	Wherever a Lazarus Pit can be found.
Affiliations:	Society of Shadows (leader)
Rogue of:	Batman Superman Batman (Terry McGinnis)
Abilities:	Excellent swordsman Genius intellect Longevity through Lazarus Pits
Weaponry:	Sword
Voiced by:	David Warner

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am he who is called Ra's al Ghul." "The Demon's Head. I thought you were only a legend." "I am quite real." — Ra's and Batman

Ra's al Ghul (pronounced "Raysh"; Arabic for "The Demon's Head") was an eco-terrorist who has lived for over 600 years through the use of Lazarus Pits. Over his long lifetime, Ra's became a master planner, an expert fighter, independently wealthy and the leader of a powerful criminal organization, making him one of Batman's most dangerous foes.

History

Past

Ra's al Ghul and his son in 1883.

At some point in his life, this man discovered the Lazarus Pits, which he used to prolong his life over and over again.

Now known as "Ra's al Ghul", he founded the Society of Shadows to work towards his goal of reversing all the damage that modern human progress had done to the earth and restoring it to a pure world free of technology. He also fathered at least two children: Arkady Duvall and Talia.

Using an earlier incarnation of the Society of Shadows in 1883, he and Duvall created an airship and attempted to destroy the Transcontinental Railroad, halting the advance of the U.S. and its citizens into the then relatively untouched western frontier. From there Ra's and Duvall planned on using the airship to attack Washington D.C. and take over the United States; however, Ra’s and Duvall found themselves opposed by Jonah Hex who had been tailing Duvall for some time. Hex managed to put a stop to Ra's and Duvall's plans by destroying the airship and apprehending Duvall, forcing Ra’s to flee and abandon his son.

Encounters with Batman

Decades later, Ra's al Ghul's presence was first made known to Batman through a rogue splinter group of the Society of Shadows. He orchestrated a series of events to eliminate Vertigo from the picture and acquire a sonic drill, using his daughter Talia to carry out his will. His plan was almost successful, but Batman managed to sabotage the sonic drill before it reached him. At this, Ra's was forced to admit that Batman — "The Detective", as he called him — had attained some small measure of victory, but quickly declared that this was not over.

Ra's al Ghul sword-fighting with Batman.

Later, Ra's met Batman right in the Batcave, much to the Caped Crusader's surprise. Ra's requested his help in tracking down his daughter and Dick Grayson as they had both been kidnapped on the same night. However, it didn't take Batman long to realize that Ra's himself had done Talia's and Dick's kidnapping, and the whole thing was part of a plan to make Batman his heir, and carry on his legacy. When Batman refused, a disappointed Ra's chose to speed things up and accomplish his goals in his own lifetime by saturating the planet with the contents of the Lazarus Pits, killing a high percentage of the Earth's population. Again, Batman thwarted his plot, preventing the cataclysm from happening and knocking Ra's himself into a Pit.

However, Ra's had survived, and returned some months later when he and his servant Ubu broke into the Gotham Museum and stole the scroll of Osiris. Batman then went to Gibraltar to find Talia where he learned that the scroll was half of a map (of which Ra’s has the other half) leading to the tomb of Thoth Khepera, and that Ra’s is obsessed with finding it. Talia agreed to help Batman apprehend Ra’s, and the two of them confronted Ra's at one of his old sanctuaries in Cairo. Here, he told them that Thoth Khepera was thought to have control over life and death, and that he now wanted that power for himself. Ra’s subsequently denounced Talia as his daughter, and then attempted to kill both Batman and Talia; but Batman and Talia escaped the trap that Ra’s had set for them.

Ra's al Ghul enters the tomb of Thoth Khepara.

After catching up to Ra’s at the tomb of Thoth Khepera they all discovered that Thoth Khepera was actually some form of demon who steals the life energy of those who find her. Talia and Batman managed to save Ra’s and Ubu's lives, but Ra’s was able to escape as he accepted Talia as his daughter again, which caused Talia to immediately betray Batman. Talia, Ra’s and Ubu also left Batman stranded in the middle of the desert, although Ubu gave him his water canteen as a way of thanking Batman for saving his life.

Ra’s resurfaced some months later when he abducted an unidentified man from a nursing home in Gotham City. Batman and Robin found an audio tape in the man’s room left by Ra's. They subsequently rushed to the nearest airport to intercept Ra’s, and on the way listened to the story that had been recorded on the tape. Recorded on the tape was Ra’s narrating events that happened in 1883 and once this story was finished, Batman and Robin arrived at the airport, where Ra’s revealed that the man he had abducted was none other than Arkady Duvall. Ra’s said that Duvall had been able to live for so long because his access to the Lazarus Pit earlier in his life, and although he was now too old for the Pit to save him, Ra’s wanted to be with his son during the last days of his life. Batman was sympathetic and willingly stepped aside, allowing Ra’s to get away.

Ra's after gaining Superman's strength.

Ra's continued to come into conflict with Batman, even attempting to prolong his own life by stealing Superman's powers. At the end of this ordeal, he and Talia were caught in a collapsing cavern. In the aftermath, neither one could be found, dead or alive.

Near-Apocalypse

One way or another, Ra's al Ghul escaped death again and set into motion the Near-Apocalypse of '09. But in the end, Ra's was left at the brink of death and the Lazarus Pits unable to repair the damage of his body. He saved himself by transplanting his mind into another body; because at the time it would only work between blood relatives, the only candidate was Talia. He asked her to sacrifice herself and she gave her permission, ceasing to exist. In his new body, Ra's took over Talia's legal identity and was able to keep himself alive through the years with the Lazarus Pits, as well as "improve" his image with charities.

Future exploits

"Ra's al Ghul was a man of many contrasts. Leader, environmentalist--" "Sociopath. ...Sorry." "I was going to say father." — Ra's posing as Talia and Terry McGinnis

Since after Bruce Wayne retired by the 2040s, Ra's al Ghul correctly guessed that the new Batman was the assistant Terry McGinnis. Ra's, still posing as Talia, met the elderly Bruce on his birthday. Baiting Bruce with a supposed second chance with Talia and after staging an incident to show how infirm he had become, Bruce was convinced to use the Lazarus Pit. Bruce allowed himself to be immersed once. However, when he realized how unnatural the process was, he tried to get out of the deal — only to discover that Ra's was not only inhabiting the body of Talia, but he now wanted to take on the body of his rejuvenated nemesis, having perfected the mind transfer process.

Ra's in Talia's body

Ra's planned to return to Gotham with genetic and written proof that he was the "long lost son" of Bruce and Talia and use this to gain control of Bruce's company and holdings to fund his underground organization. At the last moment, Terry intervened, interrupting the process and causing Ra's' lair to go up in flames. As his enemies fled, Ra's refused to leave, desperately trying to save his equipment and successfully extinguished the flames. However, moments later, an exposed electrical cable struck the surface of the Lazarus Pit, setting off an explosion. It's presumed that Ra's perished in the blast with the last Lazarus Pit destroyed.

Powers and abilities

"A criminal mastermind more dangerous than the Joker and Luthor put together." — Batman

Through years of studying and practice, Ra's al Ghul had become one of the world's greatest swordsmen, capable of matching Batman in battle. He was also a gifted weapons expert. Aside from this, Ra's also possessed a world-class intellect, equaling if not surpassing that of the Dark Knight himself. Ra's al Ghul was the leader of an extremely powerful worldwide organization of ninja called the Society of Shadows, was in possession of vast resources and finances, and due to this had immense political influence. By regular dips in Lazarus Pits he had been able to live for over six centuries in his prime age.

Background information

• In the comics, Ra's al Ghul's real name, early life, and exact age have been described differently by various writers. This also extends to how the character's name is pronounced, with some media pronouncing it "Raz," and other media pronouncing it "Raysh." The DCAU pronunciation for the character is the latter, likewise pronounced "Raysh." Notably, the Batman Beyond episode "Out of the Past", features a scene where Terry McGinnis mistakenly pronounces Ra's as "Raz" and is corrected.
• Aligning with Ra's al Ghul's character overview as an international environmental terrorist, in conjunction with the character's background being subject to different renditions from multiple writers; co-creator of the character, Neal Adams, has stated that the character has no specific regional/ethnic representation of any kind, necessarily. Commenting "we created an equal to Batman, and that's what Ra's al Ghul is all about. He's not necessarily Arabic. He's not necessarily Eastern. He's not necessarily Western. He's not necessarily anything! He's just a villain and he's equal to Batman."
• Christopher Lee had been considered to voice Ra's Al Ghul, before David Warner was cast.

Appearances

Batman: The Animated Series

• "Off Balance"
• "The Demon's Quest"
• "Avatar"
• "Showdown"

Superman: The Animated Series

• "Knight Time" ^{(Mentioned Only)}
• "The Demon Reborn"

Batman Beyond

• "Out of the Past"

See also

• List of people who know Batman's secret identity

External links

• Ra's al Ghul at Wikipedia