Ra's al Ghul

Ra's al Ghul
File:Batman232.JPG The first appearance of Ra's al Ghul, from Batman #232, June 1971. Cover by Neal Adams
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 (Former leader) League of Assassins (Former leader)
Notable aliases	The Demon's Head
Abilities	- Genius-level intelligence - Extended lifespan through the use of Lazarus Pits. - Adept at hand-to-hand combat, Fencing and Alchemy. - Holds several lifetimes worth of skills, resources and contacts.

Ra's al Ghul, sometimes written Rā's al Ghūl (Arabic: رأس الغول) (pronounced as Raesh Al Ghoul), is a DC Comics supervillain and an enemy of Batman. His name is Arabic for "The ghoul's head" (the Demon's Head, see Algol). Created by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams, he was introduced in Batman #232's "Daughter of the Demon" (June 1971). He has been described as a "James Bond"-style villain, created as a response to the popularity of James Bond during the previous decade and to give Batman a more epic scope and enemy. Given the grand scale of his plans, he has also come into conflict with Superman and other DC Comics superheroes.

Biography

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Ra's al Ghul

Early life

Ra's al Ghul's early life is told in the graphic novel Batman: Birth of the Demon (1992) by Denny O'Neil and Norm Breyfogle.

Ra's al Ghul is born between six and seven hundred years ago 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. Unable to learn any science living as a nomad, he 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 ruler of the city, 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 an elderly blind woman, despite having failed to save her. 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 that Ra's was born into. 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 king of the city. 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 ruler of the city 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."

Building an empire

Ra's spends the next several centuries journeying the world. 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 vast 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 a follow up story known as "Legacy."

Learning that the Demon's Head still lives, Batman and his team circled the globe, preventing further outbreaks of the virus. Additionally, it is discovered that Ra's has allied himself with Bane, the man who once crippled and nearly killed Batman. Ra's considers Bane a potential heir to his empire, despite Talia's distaste for the brutish criminal. Eventually, a way to eliminate the Clench virus is deduced from an ancient "Wheel of Plagues" artifact whose knowledge has aided Ra's in the creation of the disease. But the immortal madman again eludes his foes.

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Ra's Al Ghul among the JLA.

JLA: Tower of Babel

In the "Tower of Babel" storyline, as told in JLA #43-46, Ra's discovers Batman's notes on the weaknesses of the other members of the Justice League of America (developed in the event of a villain gaining control of the JLA's bodies and using them against humanity) and uses them to try to destroy the group. Though defeated, Ra's does cause the (temporary) exit of Batman from the JLA. Batman's exit occurs because of the mistrust of his teammates due to his contingency plans. Though some of the Leaguers resent the plans, they agree that the plans were created for the right reasons.

The contingency plans for the then current Leaguers are as follows:

• Green Lantern Kyle Rayner is given a hypnotic suggestion that he was blind, subconsciously tricking Kyle's mind into using the ring to make it real for Kyle.
• Martian Manhunter is infected by nanites that have magnesium in them, thus causing him to burst into flames in open air.
• Wonder Woman is shot by a Virtual Reality bullet, causing her body to believe she is fighting an even, never-ending battle, from which her heart would eventually give out.
• The Flash is shot in the spine by a vibrating projectile, which causes super-speed epileptic seizures.
• Aquaman receives exposure to a fear toxin, giving him aquaphobia rendering him weak as he was terrified of the water that he needed to live.
• Plastic Man is frozen and shattered, temporarily disabling him until the Flash can piece him back together and allow him to wake up.
• Superman is exposed to a synthetic form of Kryptonite which had lasting effects on him, making his skin transparent, super-charging him and causing him pain in the process since the sunlight is blazing right into his body without being filtered by his skin, upgrading his powers to a degree that nearly made him explode with power.

Batman does not realize Ra's is using his traps until it is too late, as he is busy searching for the corpses of his parents, which Ra's removes to distract him.

Talia, disillusioned with her father and his plans, leaves him 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 (Nightwing) shortly before Wayne officially adopted his now fully grown ward as his son. The plan fails, and Batman and Grayson go ahead with the adoption.

Death and the Maidens

In Batman: Death and the Maidens (2004), Nyssa, furious at her father for abandoning her in a concentration camp, begins plotting to destroy him. 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, both initially dissatisfied with his plans, 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. However, 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 the body's cremation.

Titans Tomorrow

In the Teen Titans storyline "Titans Tomorrow", the Titans are transported into the future, where a future Bette Kane mentions a deal with Ra's to use the Lazarus Pits. Whether this indicates Ra's' eventual return or a successor is unknown.

Other continuities

• 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. This story was extensively stated to be not in continuity, although two Elseworlds, Kingdom Come and Brotherhood of the Bat, feature two alternate versions of Ibn as an adult, coming to terms with his dual heritage. A recent appearance of the child (under the name Damian) in an issue of Batman implies that this policy may have changed.

• Ra's (or at least a clone) has previously been revealed as alive in the 30th century setting of Legion.

• In the first Superman & Batman: Generations series, created by John Byrne, Batman tracks Ra's al Ghul after passing the mantle on to his son. Ra's offers Batman a chance at immortality, having discovered a means of gaining true immortality (without the madness) from one Lazarus Pit: Two souls enter and the Pit destroys one while imbuing the other with youth and immortality. Batman survives and uses Ra's' criminal empire to set up an anti-crime information network. He also becomes an immortal, although he ages one year for every century.

• In the second Spider-Man/Batman crossover book (considered an Elseworlds story), Ra's begins plans for worldwide devastation. He manipulates Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin to his side by infecting Fisk's wife Vanessa with cancer and promising Fisk the cure in return for his allegiance. Ra's then orders Fisk to press the button on his machines which would send New York City under the ocean. Ultimately, Spider-Man and Batman interfere and Fisk 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 Fisk that she wishes no further violence and they leave but Talia soon gives the cure to Batman, who then gives it to Spider-Man, who then passes it on to Wilson.

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

Abilities

Ra's al Ghul has lived for several centuries thanks to his use of Lazarus Pits to which he has used countless times replenishing his aged, injured or even dead body. As a side effect to numerous exposures to the pits his strength, speed, stamina, agility and durability has been enhanced. However even without those enhancements his long life as attributed him vast wealth, knowledge and power. Allowed him to learn numerous fighting styles over the years making him rival even Batman in hand-to-hand combat and sword fighting as well as become a brilliant tactician. Ra's possesses a genius level intellect with aptitudes in a wide variety of sciences and medicine, particularly in the field of alchemy. He is always accompanied by a servant known as Ubu, who is also an especially dangerous fighter. It should be noted that rather than being a single individual, Ubu is actually a title held by a line of replaceable servants. And along with Malhar Naik, he has been one of the League of Assassins' leaders.

Because of all this, Ra's is among Batman's most formidable foes . Not only can he physically and mentally challenge "the Detective" (The name by which Ra's always refers to Batman) but he has also deduced Batman's secret identity (In his first appearance, he realized that Batman would need to possess certain equipment and research revealed that Bruce Wayne alone bought what Batman would need).

According to Batman Villains Secret Files & Origins 1998 #1 (October 1998), Ra's stands 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) in height and weighs 215 lbs (98 kg).

Agenda

Ra's' goal is a world in perfect environmental balance, a goal he will achieve at any cost. He believes that the best way to do so is to eliminate most of humanity. That he has the means to achieve his goal makes him extremely dangerous and brings him into frequent conflict with Batman. Ra's usually tries to assault the world's human populace with a biological weapon, such as a genetically-engineered virus.

Daughters

Nyssa

In Batman: Death and the Maidens (2004) by Greg Rucka, it is revealed that while traveling in Russia in the 18th century, Ra's has a child named Nyssa Raatko. Enamored of the romantic stories told to her as a child by her mother about Ra's, Nyssa sets out to find her father and eventually locates him at his headquarters in North Africa. Impressed by her beauty, her warrior skills, and the fact that "she was able to locate him," he promotes her to a high position within his organization. Ra's is so impressed with her abilities that he even allows Nyssa to use his Lazarus Pits; Nyssa finds a means of making the Lazarus Pits reusable (whereas previously each could only be used once).

Nyssa eventually becomes disillusioned with Ra's ideals and methods and disassociates herself from her father sometime in the 18th century. Ra's reluctantly approves this with the idea that she would return to him and that she and/or her children would become his future heirs. To his disappointment, Nyssa refuses to give herself or her family to Ra's; he retaliates by disowning her. During World War II, Nyssa and her family are sent to a concentration camp, where she is rendered infertile by gruesome Mengele-esque experiments, as the rest of her family is exterminated. Ra's, who is temporarily allied to the Nazis, abandons her and her family. Nyssa begins plotting her revenge, which comes to fruition years later.

In Robin: One Year Later, it is revealed that Cassandra Cain, the former Batgirl, has assassinated Nyssa and then taken over the League of Assassins.

Talia

As explained in Batman: Birth of the Demon (1992), Ra's meets a woman of mixed Chinese and Arab ancestry at Woodstock. From that union, Ra's' second daughter, Talia al Ghul is born and she accompanies him for many years. With the recent loss of her sister, she has apparently taken control of The Demon.

Involvement with Batman

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Ra's al Ghul and 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 in light of his great abilities and skill. Ra's first deduces Batman's secret identity when he realizes 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.

From that point forward, Ra's al Ghul and Batman are mortal enemies, even though they respect each other as adversaries.

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. However, 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.

Appearances in other media

Ra's al Ghul has appeared in animation, movies and games. In all his appearances he has always been a combatant of Batman in one way or another.

In animation

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

• In Batman: The Animated Series, Ra's al Ghul first appears in Off Balance and later in The Demon's Quest, Avatar, and Showdown as the villain of the episodes.

In Off Balance, he is briefly seen as the head of a the notorious global crime cartel, The Society of Shadows. He sends his daughter Talia to prevent his former second-in-command, Vertigo, from getting his hands on a sonic drill. In his following appearance in the two part episode The Demon's Quest, he kidnaps Robin and acts as if he too had his daughter kidnapped which causes he and Batman to join forces to seek the culprits. During the search, Ra's al Ghul is seemingly killed. When Batman finds Robin, it is revealed that this was all a test by Ra's to determine if Batman is worthy of succeeding him. However Batman knows it was a test and outright refuses Ra's al Ghul's offer to be his successor; soon after Ra's collapses and then, after being rejuvenated by the Lazarus Pits, attacks Batman in his insane state. After returning back to normal he sets his lair to self destruct to kill Batman and Robin as he escapes safely. With clues given to him by Robin, Batman discovers Ra's whereabouts and attempts to stop his plans to change the world into a lush fertile planet, as it once was, which would require the destruction of all human life on the planet. Ra's is stopped in the end and appears to die. In Avatar, Ra's al Ghul obtains a mystical Egyptian scroll to unlock the secrets of life and death. Due to the disastrous outcome of his pursuits, Talia helps Batman in an attempt to stop her father before it is too late. Finally in his last appearance in Showdown, he is shown in the past trying to seize control over the U.S. government but prevented from doing so by the bounty hunter, Jonah Hex. It is revealed that Ra's had a son and Batman lets Ra's go and take his elderly son back home with him.

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An elderly looking Ra's al Ghul in Superman: The Animated Series.

• In Superman: The Animated Series, Ra's al Ghul appears in the episode "The Demon Reborn". In the episode the effects of the Lazarus Pits keeps lessening to the point that he can no longer use them which causes him to appear as a frilly old man. In an effort to save his life, Ra's al Ghul seeks to transfer the life force and power of Superman into his body through mysticism. He succeeds but with Batman's interference he and his daughter falls to there apparent death while Superman's power is returned to him, though it was never shown why this happens.

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Ra's al Ghul rejuvenated by Superman's power in Superman: The Animated Series.

• In Batman Beyond, Ra's al Ghul appears in the episode "Out of the Past". However he appears most peculiar as he has taken possession of his daughter Talia. He did so as in the future, the Lazarus Pits could no longer rejuvenate his body and seeing his impending death he developed a way to transfer his own mind into the body of another however the process at the time could only work with one related to him causing him to use the procedure on his own daughter Talia (Whether she did this out of devotion or was forced was never known). Now Ra's al Ghul sought a new body in the form of Bruce Wayne, his long time foe who he once sought to take over for him. So to do so he staged an incident where Bruce saw his failings in his old age and with that in combination with his love for Talia, Ra's al Ghul manipulated him into rejuvenating him back to his prime with the power of the Lazarus Pits. But soon it was discovered he inhabited his own daughters body and intended to take over Bruce's now much younger rejuvenated body, he would then takeover Bruce's company and fortune as the illegitimate son of Bruce and his daughters. But his plans failed with the interference of Terry McGinnis, Wayne's successor as Batman and in an effort to save his mind transferring machine, he died in the resulting explosion. Note: That in the future after possessing Talia he was finally able to make it so the device could transfer his mind to someone not related to him.

In movies

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Liam Neeson as "Henri Ducard" (Ra's al Ghul) with Ken Watanabe as the Ra's al Ghul decoy

• In the 2005 film Batman Begins, Japanese actor Ken Watanabe plays a decoy of Ra's al Ghul, who trains Bruce Wayne to be a warrior in his League of Shadows (A renamed League of Assassins, although closer to Ra's' "Demon" organization in its importance). When Ra's reveals to Wayne the League's plan to destroy Gotham City and demands that Wayne execute a peasant who had murdered his neighbor as his initiation into the league, Wayne rebels and sets fire to the League's fortress, apparently killing Ra's in the process. Months later, Wayne, now embarked on his career as Batman, discovers that Ra's is alive and conspiring with the Scarecrow to poison Gotham's reservoir with a fear toxin that would destroy the city. Arriving personally to Gotham to destroy the city, he first comes to Bruce's 30th birthday party where Henri Ducard (played by Liam Neeson) reveals himself to be the real Ra's al Ghul and that the one who died was a decoy. Afterward Bruce tricks his guests into leaving and then fights Ra's while League of Shadows henchmen set fire to Wayne Manor, which is destroyed...but Bruce escapes the inferno with Alfred's help.

At the end of the movie, Batman and Ra's al Ghul battle aboard a runaway train. As they head toward a fallen pillar, Batman destroys the trains controls. After defeating his former mentor, Ra's al Ghul remarks that he cannot kill him because of his ethics but Batman tells him he also doesn't have to save him either and he then escapes the train as it plummets off the rails and explodes presumably killing Ra's al Ghul.

Although Ra's is a character of Arab ethnicity in the comic books, the decoy Ra's was presented here as either of East Asian (in the case of the decoy) or European or likely Eurasian ethnicity, while Ducard, the real Ra's was western European. In the film, he consistently pronounces his own name as "Razz" al Ghul (And ironically, the Batman Beyond Ra's comments that this is "a common mistake"). In the film, the agenda of Ra's al Ghul's organization differs slightly from that of the comic book version. Ra's explains that the League of Shadows is an ancient group dedicated to preserving its vision of justice, by means as violent as necessary. They believe in "purging" or destroying cities that have become corrupt and decadent. He claims that the group was responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire, the Bubonic plague and the Great Fire of London. He also claims the League of Shadows created the poverty that ravaged Gotham when Wayne was a child in order to motivate the poor to rise up and destroy the city.

In video games

• Ra's Al Ghul appears as the final boss in the Batman: Dark Tomorrow game.

References

• Batman: Birth of the Demon (1992) by Denny O'Neil and Norm Breyfogle, giving the origin of Ra's al Ghul
• 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)
• Batman: Tales of the Demon (1991), collecting the original 1970s Ra's al Ghul stories by Dennis O'Neil
• 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)
• Year One: Batman - Ra's al Ghul (2005) by Devin Grayson and Paul Gulacy, which takes place a year after Ra's' death in Death and the Maidens

Bibliography

Main article: Bibliography of Ra's al Ghul

See also

• Doctor Mabuse
• Fantomas
• Fu Manchu

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