Look up bane in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Bane may refer to:

Places

• Bane, Iran, a city in Kurdistan Province
• Bane, Lebanon, a village in Bsharri District
• Bane, Nigeria, a village in Nigeria
• Bané Department, one of the 13 departments of the Boulgou Province of Burkina Faso

Music

• Bane (band), a hardcore punk band formed in 1995
• Bane, a Joey Arkenstat album produced in 2004 by Mike Gordon

Fictional characters and groups

• Bane (comics), an adversary of Batman
• Bane (Matrix character), a character in the Matrix film trilogy
• Bane (Forgotten Realms), a deity in the Forgotten Realms fictional universe
• Bane (Harry Potter), a centaur in the Harry Potter series
• Cad Bane, a bounty hunter in the Star Wars universe
• Darth Bane, a Sith Lord in the Star Wars universe
• Durin's Bane, a Balrog, a fictional being from the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien
• Bane the Druid, a Guardian in the Legacy of Kain franchise
• Bane (Sarah Jane Adventures), an alien race in The Sarah Jane Adventures
• Prince Bane, a cunning 10-year-old human prince from The Death Gate Cycle series, by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
• Bane (Pearlpelt), the enormous white rat leader intent on genocide in The Underland Chronicles.

Other fictional uses

• "Bane" (Stargate SG-1), an episode of the television series Stargate SG-1
• Isildur's Bane, a term for the One Ring from the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien.

Other uses

• Bane (plant), a poisonous plant, name from the original meaning.
• Bane ethnic group of Cameroon

See also[link]

• Baneh, Iran
• Bain (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Christian Bale
Bale in June 2009
Born	Christian Charles Philip Bale (1974-01-30) 30 January 1974 (age 38) Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire
Residence	Los Angeles, California
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1982–present
Spouse	Sandra Blažić (2000–present)
Children	1
Parents	David Bale, Jenny (née James) Bale
Family	Gloria Steinem (Step-Mother)

Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor.^[1] Best known for his roles in American films, Bale has starred in both big budget Hollywood films and the smaller projects from independent producers and art houses.

Bale first caught the public eye at the age of 13, when he was cast in the starring role of Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun (1987). He played an English boy who is separated from his parents and subsequently finds himself lost in a Japanese internment camp during World War II.^[2] He is also notable for his role as serial killer Patrick Bateman in American Psycho (2000), and for portraying Bruce Wayne/Batman in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) and the upcoming finale The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

In 2010, Bale portrayed Dicky Eklund in the biopic The Fighter. He received critical acclaim for his role and won several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role.

Early life[link]

Bale was born in Wales to parents of English descent. His South African–born father, David Bale, was an entrepreneur, commercial pilot and talent manager, and his mother, Jenny (née James), was a circus performer.^[3][4][5][6] He spent his childhood in England, Portugal, and the United States.

Bale's first foray into acting was a commercial for the fabric softener Lenor in 1982.^[7] A year later, he appeared in a Pac-Man cereal commercial playing a child rock star. In 1984, he made his stage debut in The Nerd, opposite Rowan Atkinson.^[8]

Career[link]

1986–1998[link]

A 14-year-old Bale in Stockholm, Sweden in February 1988 while promoting Empire of the Sun

Bale made his film debut as Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia in the made-for-television film Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna in 1986, which was followed by leading roles in the miniseries Heart of the Country and the fantasy adventure Mio in the Land of Faraway, in which he appeared with Christopher Lee and Nick Pickard.

Bale's performance as Jim Graham in Empire of the Sun earned him widespread critical praise and the first ever "Best Performance by a Juvenile Actor" award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.^[9] The attention the press and his schoolmates lavished upon him after this took a toll on Bale, and he contemplated giving up acting until Kenneth Branagh approached him and persuaded him to appear in Henry V in 1989.^[9] In 1990, he played the role of Jim Hawkins opposite Charlton Heston (as Long John Silver) in Treasure Island, an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic book.

In 1992, Bale starred as Jack Kelly in the Disney musical Newsies, and followed it up in 1993 with another release, Swing Kids, a film about teenagers who secretly listened to forbidden jazz during the rise of Nazi Germany.^[10] Bale was recommended by actress Winona Ryder to star in Gillian Armstrong's 1994 film Little Women.^[9] Bale provided the voice for Thomas, a young compatriot of Captain John Smith, in Disney's Pocahontas (1995) and in 1997 played Arthur Stuart in Velvet Goldmine, Todd Haynes' tribute to glam rock.^[10] In 1999, Bale contributed to an all-star cast, including Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Stanley Tucci and Rupert Everett, portraying Demetrius in an updated version of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.^[10]

1999–2001[link]

In 1999, Bale played serial killer Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, director Mary Harron's adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' controversial novel. Bale was briefly dropped from the project in favour of Leonardo DiCaprio, but DiCaprio eventually dropped out to star in The Beach, and Bale was cast once again. He researched his character by studying the novel and prepared himself physically for the role by spending months tanning and exercising in order to achieve the "Olympian physique" of the character as described in the original novel.^[11] He went so far as to distance himself from the cast and crew to maintain the darker side of Bateman's character. American Psycho premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival to much controversy. Roger Ebert condemned the film at first, calling it pornography,^[12] and "the most loathed film at Sundance,"^[13] but gave it a favourable review, writing that Harron "transformed a novel about bloodlust into a film about men's vanity." Of Bale's performance, he wrote, "Christian Bale is heroic in the way he allows the character to leap joyfully into despicability; there is no instinct for self-preservation here, and that is one mark of a good actor."^[14]

On 14 April 2000, Lions Gate Films released American Psycho in cinemas. Bale was later approached to make a cameo appearance in another Bret Easton Ellis adaptation, The Rules of Attraction, a film loosely connected to American Psycho, but he declined out of loyalty to Harron's vision of Bateman, which he felt could not be properly expressed by anyone else.^[15] In 2000, he again played a wealthy murderer, this time in John Singleton's Shaft.

Bale has played an assortment of diverse characters since 2001. His first role after American Psycho was in the John Madden adaptation of the best-selling novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin. Bale played Mandras, a Greek fisherman who vied with Nicolas Cage's title character for the affections of Pelagia (Penelope Cruz). Captain Corelli's Mandolin was Bale's second time working with John Hurt, after All the Little Animals.

2002–2004[link]

From 2002 to 2003, Bale starred in three feature films. Laurel Canyon (2002) was generally well received by critics.^[16] This film also marked the second time he worked with actress Kate Beckinsale, his costar in Prince of Jutland (1994). Critics generally focused on star Frances McDormand's performance over the rest of the cast, however.^[17]

Reign of Fire was Bale's first action vehicle and had, compared to all his previous work, an immense budget estimated at US$95,000,000.^[18] Bale entered into negotiations about starring in the film with reservations, but director Rob Bowman convinced him to take the lead role.^[19] Bale starred as Quinn Abercromby opposite Matthew McConaughey's Denton Van Zan. Bale and McConaughey trained for their respective roles by boxing and working out.^[19]

Equilibrium was Bale's third film of 2002, costing US$20 million to produce but earning just over US$5 million worldwide.^[20] In Equilibrium, Bale played John Preston, an elite law enforcer in a dystopian society. Equilibrium featured a fictional martial art called Gun Kata that combined gunfighting with hand-to-hand combat. According to moviebodycounts.com, the character of John Preston has the third most on-screen kills in a single movie ever with 118, exactly half of the movie's total of 236.^[21]

After a year's hiatus, Bale returned in 2004 to play Trevor Reznik, the title character in the psychological thriller The Machinist. Bale gained attention for his devotion to the role and for the lengths to which he went to achieve Reznik's emaciated, skeletal appearance. He went without proper rest for prolonged periods, and placed himself on a crash diet of generally coffee and apples,^[22] which reduced his weight by 63 pounds (4 st 4 lb/27 kg) in a matter of months.^[23] By the end of filming Bale weighed only 121 pounds (8 st 9 lb/55 kg),^[22] a transformation he described as "very calming mentally"^[24] and which drew comparisons to Robert De Niro's alternate weight-gaining regimen for his role as Jake LaMotta in the 1980 film Raging Bull.^[25] Bale claimed that he had not worked for a period of time before he was cast in the film. "...I just hadn't found scripts that I'd really been interested in. So I was really dying for something to arrive. Then when this one did, I just didn't want to put it down. I finished it and, upon the kind of revelation that you get at the end, I immediately wanted to go back and re-visit it, to take a look at what clues I could have gotten throughout".^[26] The Machinist was a low-budget production, costing roughly US$5 million to produce, and was given only a limited US release. It was well received, with the review tallying website Rotten Tomatoes reporting that 75% of the critics' reviews tallied were positive.^[27]

Bale, an admirer of Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away,^[15] was then cast as the voice of the title character, Howl, in the English language dub of the Japanese director's fantasy anime adventure Howl's Moving Castle, an adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones's children's novel. Its gross in the US was US$4,711,096, a fraction of its worldwide gross (US$235,184,110).^[28]

Batman: 2005–present[link]

Bale in 2005

It was reported that Bale had previously auditioned for the role of Robin in Batman Forever (1995) and later Batman and Robin (1997), but lost out to Chris O'Donnell. However, this rumour was later dispelled by Bale himself in a magazine interview in 2008.^[29] In 2004, after completing filming for The Machinist, Bale won the coveted role of Batman and his alter ego Bruce Wayne in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, a reboot of the Batman film series. Bale beat out Jake Gyllenhaal, the closest competition for the role.^[30]

Still fresh off The Machinist, it became necessary for Bale to bulk up to match Batman's muscular physique. He was given a deadline of six months to do this. Bale recalled it as far from a simple accomplishment: "...when it actually came to building muscle, I was useless. I couldn't do one push up the first day. All of the muscles were gone, so I had a real tough time rebuilding all of that."^[23] With the help of a personal trainer, Bale succeeded in meeting the deadline, gaining a total of 100 lb (45 kg) in six months. He went from about 130 lbs to 230 lbs.^[31] He then discovered that he had actually gained more weight than the director desired, and dropped his weight to 190 lbs by the time filming began.^[32]

Bale had initial concerns about playing Batman, as he felt more ridiculous than intimidating in the Batsuit. He dealt with this by depicting Batman as a savage beast.^[23] To attain a deeper understanding of the character, Bale read various Batman comic books. He explained his interpretation of the young boy: "Batman is his hidden, demonic rage-filled side. The creature Batman creates is an absolutely sincere creature and one that he has to control but does so in a very haphazard way. He's capable of enacting violence — and to kill — so he's constantly having to rein himself in." For Bale, the most gruelling part about playing Batman was the suit. "You stick it on, you get hot, you sweat and you get a headache in the mask," he said. "But I'm not going to bitch about it because I get to play Batman."^[33] When promoting the film in interviews and public events, Bale retained an American accent to avoid confusion.^[34]

Batman Begins was released in the U.S. on 15 June 2005 and was a U.S. and international triumph for Warner Bros., costing approximately US$135 million to produce and taking in over US$370 million in returns worldwide.^[35] Bale earned the Best Hero award at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards for his performance.^[36]

Bale reprised his role as Batman in the Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight. He trained in the Keysi Fighting Method, and performed many of his own stunts.^[37] The Dark Knight was released in the U.S. on 18 July 2008 and stormed through the box office, with a record-breaking $158.4 million in the U.S. in its first weekend.^[38] It broke the $300 million barrier in 10 days, the $400 million mark in 18 days and the $500 million mark in 43 days, three new U.S. box office records set by the film.^[39] The film went on to gross over $1 billion at the box office worldwide, making it the fourth-highest grossing movie worldwide of all time, before adjusting for inflation.^[40]

Bale will reprise his role in The Dark Knight Rises which will be released on 20 July 2012,^[41] making Bale the actor who has played Batman the most times in feature film. Bale has given the same opinion as Nolan that, if the latter was forced to bring Robin into the films, he would never again play Batman; even though one of his favourite Batman stories, Batman: Dark Victory, focuses on Robin's origin.^[42]

2006–2009[link]

Bale in 2008

After Batman Begins, Bale returned to appearing in independent films. He was cast as one of the two leads in the South Central David Ayer-helmed crime drama Harsh Times, co-starring Freddy Rodriguez and Eva Longoria. Bale played Jim Luther Davis, a grim Afghanistan War veteran afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder, approached by the Department of Homeland Security and hired as a federal agent. Harsh Times premiered at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival and had a wide release on 10 November 2006.^[43]

Terrence Malick directed The New World, a period piece inspired by the stories of Pocahontas, and Bale was cast as John Rolfe. He shared the screen with Colin Farrell and Q'Orianka Kilcher, who played John Smith and Pocahontas. The majority of screen time was devoted to Farrell and Kilcher; Bale was a secondary character, and only appeared during the last third of the film. The film was a failure at the U.S. box office and its worldwide total (US$29,506,437) fell short of turning a profit (the production budget was placed at US$30 million).^[44]

In 2006, Bale took on four projects. Rescue Dawn, by German filmmaker Werner Herzog, had him playing U.S. Fighter pilot Dieter Dengler, who has to fight for his life after being shot down while on a mission during the Vietnam War. Bale left a strong impression on Herzog, with the director complimenting his acting abilities: "I find him one of the greatest talents of his generation. We made up our own minds long before he did Batman."^[45]

In The Prestige, an adaptation of the Christopher Priest novel about a rivalry between two Victorian stage magicians, Bale was reunited with Batman Begins' Michael Caine and director Christopher Nolan. The cast of The Prestige also included Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Piper Perabo, and David Bowie. I'm Not There, a film in which Bale again worked alongside Todd Haynes and Heath Ledger (who would go on to play The Joker in The Dark Knight), is an artistic reflection of the life of Bob Dylan. He starred opposite Russell Crowe in a commercially and critically successful Western film, 3:10 to Yuma.

Bale was originally cast to play George W. Bush in Oliver Stone's film W., but dropped out due to the prosthetics involved.^[47] Bale played John Connor in Terminator Salvation^[48] and FBI agent Melvin Purvis in Michael Mann's Public Enemies.^[49]

[edit] Terminator Salvation incident

In July 2008, Bale flew into an angry tirade on the sets of Terminator Salvation, while filming in New Mexico.^[50] In February 2009, the audio recording of the incident was released.^[51][52] The tirade was directed at Shane Hurlbut, director of photography for the film. According to Bale, Hurlbut had, for the second time, ruined his concentration by walking onto the set during a scene.^[50][53][54] The recording is of a highly agitated Bale directing profanities at Hurlbut, threatening and belittling him, and finally threatening to quit the film if Hurlbut repeated his offence without being fired for it.^[53] It was reported that Warner film executives sent the tape to the insurer of the film in case Bale decided to quit the movie.^[55] In an interview with E! Online, assistant director and producer of Terminator Salvation, Bruce Franklin, said it was an isolated incident. "If you are working in a very intense scene and someone takes you out of your groove ... It was the most emotional scene in the movie ... [A]nd for him to get stopped in the middle of it. He is very intensely involved in his character. He didn't walk around like that all day long. It was just a moment and it passed," Franklin said.^[56]

Actors Whoopi Goldberg and Terry Crews,^[57][58] directors Darren Aronofsky^[59] and Ron Howard,^[60] as well as Ain't It Cool News website creator Harry Knowles^[61] have also publicly defended Bale's actions, some of them citing the practice that crew members are to remain still while the camera is rolling. The incident also inspired experimental band The Mae Shi to write the song, "R U Professional", which features samples from the recording;^[62] similarly, Lucian Piane's remix "Bale Out" is composed almost entirely of audio from the incident. Stephen Colbert parodied the incident on 4 February 2009 episode of The Colbert Report, in which guest Steve Martin repeatedly walked in front of the camera and was berated by Colbert.^[63] The incident was re-enacted on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, with Inside the Actor's Studio host James Lipton giving performances of both Bale and the crewmember.^[64] An episode of the animated comedy series Family Guy also mixed in the voice of Peter Griffin interacting with Bale and reacting to Bale's comments as if they were directed at him to comedic effect.

After remaining silent for most of the week, Bale gave a public apology on 6 February 2009, to a Los Angeles radio station, KROQ. He stated that the outburst was "inexcusable" and that it was motivated by the day's shooting intensity.^[65] Bale said he "acted like a punk", and that he and Hurlbut talked after the incident and "resolved this completely".^[66] Bale acknowledged that the two worked together for several hours after the incident, and "at least a month after that... I've seen a rough cut of the movie and he has done a wonderful job. It looks fantastic".^[66]

2010–present[link]

Bale starred alongside Mark Wahlberg in the David O. Russell-directed 2010 drama The Fighter, for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and thirty other awards in 2011.^[67] Near the end of his acceptance speech during the televised Golden Globes awards ceremony, Bale complimented Robert DeNiro by saying he was "the shit". The comment was censored by NBC.^[68]

Writer/director Joe Carnahan confirmed in November 2007 that Bale is also involved in the upcoming movie Killing Pablo in which he is to play Major Steve Jacoby.^[69] According to a Nuts magazine interview, Bale stated that he will be in the running to play the role of Solid Snake in a film adaptation of Metal Gear Solid.^[70] Niels Arden Oplev, director of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, is to have Bale as lead in his current project The Last Photograph, which Oplev hopes to start filming early 2011.^[71] In December 2010, it was announced that Christian Bale would be starring in the historical drama war film The Flowers of War, directed by Zhang Yimou.^[72]

While filming The Flowers of War in December 2011, Bale and a CNN crew attempted to visit Chen Guangcheng, a blind "barefoot lawyer" under unofficial house arrest for his activism against China's One Child Policy. While on camera, Bale was punched, shoved, and denied access by dozens of Chinese security guards who failed to recognize him.^[73] Bale later stated that he had wanted "to meet the man, shake his hand and say what an inspiration he is".^[74][75] Video footage also showed Bale and the CNN crew having stones thrown at them, and a minivan then chased their car for more than 40 minutes.^[73]

Bale is set to appear in two Terrence Malick directed films to be shot in 2012, Lawless and Knight of Cups.^[76][77]

In early 2012, it was confirmed that Bale was portraying the character Russell Baze in Scott Cooper’s upcoming thriller Out of the Furnace.^[78][79][77]

Personal life[link]

On 29 January 2000, Bale married Sandra "Sibi" Blažić (born 1970), a former model, make-up artist and personal assistant to Winona Ryder; the couple have a daughter, Emmeline,^[80] who was born on 27 March 2005 in Santa Monica, California.^[81][82] Since 1992, Bale has resided in Los Angeles.^[83]

Like his late father, Christian Bale actively supports environmental groups such as Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund.^[7] Feminist activist Gloria Steinem became Christian Bale's stepmother on 3 September 2000;^[84] it was her first marriage (at the age of 66), and the couple were together until David's death.^[5]

Film and television credits[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Christian Bale

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Christian Bale

• Christian Bale at the Internet Movie Database
• Christian Bale at AllRovi
• Christian Bale at Yahoo! Movies
• Christian Bale on Charlie Rose
• Christian Bale collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Works by or about Christian Bale in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Christian Bale at the Open Directory Project

This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. Please help rewrite it to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective. (October 2009)

Talia al Ghul
Talia al Ghul. Art by Greg Land.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Detective Comics #411 (May 1971)
Created by	Dennis O'Neil and Bob Brown
In-story information
Alter ego	Talia al Ghul
Team affiliations	Secret Society of Super Villains LexCorp League of Assassins Leviathan
Notable aliases	Talia Head
Abilities	Expert at hand to hand combat and in the use of weapons High level intellect Utilizes her father's Lazarus Pits to restore life and heal wounds

Talia al Ghul (Arabic: تاليا الغول‎) is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe, the now-estranged daughter of the supervillain Ra's al Ghul, a love interest of Batman, and the mother of his son Damian Wayne, the fifth Robin. She sometimes uses the anglicized name Talia Head^{[citation needed]}, the surname obviously being derived from her father's name ("rāʾs" meaning "head", as in Arabic "Rāʾs āl-Ḡwl", "Head of the Demon").

She first appeared in Detective Comics #411 (May 1971). Her usual role is as a recurring romantic interest for Batman; her father, the leader of a worldwide criminal empire, considers Batman the man most worthy to marry Talia and to become his heir. It is natural that Batman is uninterested in the criminal empire, but he has shown considerable interest in Talia.

She is a complex character, not quite heroine nor villainess but more of an antiheroine. She has undoubtedly committed criminal acts; however, they were usually committed due to her loyalty to her father rather than for personal gain. She has saved Batman's life or helped him on numerous occasions. Furthermore, she helped to bring about the downfall of Lex Luthor.

IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time List ranked Talia as #42.^[1] She was ranked 25th in Comics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.^[2]

Fictional character biography[link]

Early life[link]

The graphic novel Batman: Birth of the Demon (1992) explains how her father met her mother, who was of mixed Chinese, European, and Arab descent. Talia's mother later dies of a drug overdose. This is a retcon of Batman: Son of the Demon (1987), which states that Talia's mother was named Melisande and was murdered by a former servant of Ra's named Qayin.

In her youth, Talia travels with Ra's around the world. He teaches her hand to hand combat as well as the use of most conventional weapons, from swords to guns. She helps him in the management of various organizations that he controls.

Batman[link]

Talia first meets Batman in the story "Into the Den of the Death-Dealers!" in Detective Comics #411 (May 1971) by Dennis O'Neil and Bob Brown.^[3] In the story, Batman rescues her from Dr. Darkk, apparently the leader of the League of Assassins. It is eventually revealed that the League is just one part of Ra's al Ghul's organization, The Demon, and that Darkk apparently turned against Ra's after failing in a mission (the usual punishment for this being death). At the end of the story, she shoots and kills Darkk to save Batman's life.

Talia next appears in "Daughter of the Demon" in Batman #232 (June 1971). In the story, Dick Grayson (Robin) is kidnapped. Ra's al Ghul enters the Batcave, revealing to Batman that he knows Batman's secret identity and saying that Talia was also kidnapped along with Dick. Batman then goes with Ra's to search for Dick and Talia; in the end, it is revealed that Talia loves Batman and that the entire kidnapping is a setup designed by Ra's as a final test of Batman's suitability as an heir. Though Batman rejects Ra's offer, he nevertheless returns Talia's feelings.

In the years since Talia meets Batman, she is repeatedly torn between loyalty to her father and her love of Batman. However, she has proven an important 'ally' in her way; most prominently, she encourages Batman to return to Gotham City when it is declared a "No Man's Land" following an earthquake, and he had lost his fighting spirit and did not believe he could save Gotham.

Son of the Demon[link]

In the graphic novel Son of the Demon, Ra's al Ghul successfully enlists Batman's aid in defeating a rogue assassin who had murdered his wife. During this story line, Batman marries Talia, which later results in her becoming pregnant. Batman is nearly killed protecting Talia from an attack by the assassin's agents. In the end, Talia concludes that she can never keep Batman, as he will be continuously forced to defend her. She fakes a miscarriage, and the marriage is dissolved.

In reality, Talia gives birth to the child. The child is left at an orphanage; he is adopted and given the name Ibn al Xu'ffasch which is Arabic for 'son of the bat'. The only clue to the child's heritage is a jewel-encrusted necklace Batman had given to Talia which Talia leaves with the child.

The story used to be considered to be outside of the DC universe's standard continuity.^{[citation needed]} The story has apparently been modified and is once more canon, however.^{[citation needed]} It is also referenced in three Elseworlds storylines: Kingdom Come, its sequel The Kingdom, and Brotherhood of the Bat feature two alternate versions of the child as an adult, coming to terms with his dual heritage.

The Red Hood[link]

During the "Death in the Family" storyline, Jason Todd, the second Robin, is murdered by the Joker in Ethiopia. Batman and Alfred Pennyworth bring Jason's body back to Gotham and bury him with the rest of the Wayne Family. However, six months later, Superboy Prime resurrects Jason with a reality-altering punch. (Batman Annual 25, 2006) Although Jason is returned to life, his body and mind are still broken from the Joker's attack. Some time later, he is discovered by the League of Assassins. Out of her love for Batman and the desire of making Batman love her again, Talia takes Jason to her father and Jason spends months in the care of the League of Assassins. Although his body recuperates, Jason's mind is shattered.

Seeing no other way to help him, Talia takes Jason down to the Lazarus Pit and throws his body in while her father regenerates himself. Jason is fully revived in body and mind. Immediately afterward, in order to spare Jason her father's wrath, she aids the boy's escape.

Livid at the fact that Batman failed to avenge his (Jason's) death by killing the Joker and that Batman had done nothing more than imprison him again, Jason pursues his own brand of justice. In order to stall him from killing Batman, Talia agrees to finance Jason and aid him in his training, so that he then become the second Red Hood.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Bane[link]

After Bane enters the League of Assassins, Talia's father, Ra's al Ghul, considers Bane a potential heir to his empire and wants his daughter to marry him. However, Talia rejectes the international brute, regarding him as merely a cunning animal compared to the more cultured intelligence of his predecessor, and after Batman defeats Bane, Ra's agrees that Bane was unworthy of his "only" daughter.

LexCorp[link]

Talia, disillusioned with her father and his plans, leaves him to run LexCorp for Lex Luthor when Luthor becomes President of the United States. Although she seemingly supports Luthor, she secretly works to undermine him, anonymously leaking news of his underhanded dealings to Superman. In Superman/Batman #6 (March 2004), when the time comes for Luthor's downfall, she sells all of LexCorp's assets to the Wayne Foundation, leaving Luthor penniless and his crimes exposed to all.

[edit] Death and the Maidens

In Batman: Death and the Maidens, it is revealed that, during his travels in Russia in the 19th century, Ra's al Ghul met a woman by whom he had a daughter named Nyssa. Ra's abandons Nyssa at a crucial time: she is tortured, her entire family is killed in a concentration camp during the Holocaust, and she is rendered sterile when Nazi doctors pour acid into her uterus. Seeking vengeance, Nyssa plans to use her considerable wealth and resources to kill Ra's by befriending, kidnapping, and brainwashing Talia, turning her into a weapon to kill their father. To this end, she captures Talia and, using a Lazarus Pit, kills and resurrects her in rapid succession, leaving Talia virtually broken from the trauma of dying again and again in so short a time as Nyssa asks Talia why her father is 'letting' this happen to her. Rendered apathetic by her time in the camp, unable to feel anything, Nyssa also plans to assassinate Superman with Kryptonite bullets she stole from the Batcave, hoping that, by uniting the world in one moment of tragedy, she would manage to rouse herself once more.

While Batman is successful in preventing the assassination of Superman, he is unable to stop Nyssa from killing Ra's. This, in turn, is actually part of a greater plan concocted by Ra's, who wants to ensure that his daughters would accept their destinies as his heirs and take up his genocidal campaign. Realizing and accepting this, Nyssa and Talia become the heads of The Demon, with Talia disavowing her love for Bruce Wayne as another result of her torture at Nyssa's hands (both sisters then consider Batman to be their enemy).

The Society[link]

In Countdown to Infinite Crisis, it is revealed that Talia is one of the core members of the Secret Society of Super Villains (the others were Lex Luthor (secretly Alexander Luthor, Jr. in disguise), Black Adam, Doctor Psycho, Deathstroke, and Calculator). This is revealed to be part of one of half-sister Nyssa's plans to take over the planet and bring about world peace and equality. Nyssa explains why she and Talia are working with the villains of the Society to Batgirl (Cassandra Cain).

Nyssa fails to recruit Batgirl to her new League of Assassins, and the Society fails to achieve its goals.

One Year Later[link]

After Nyssa's apparent death at the hands of Cassandra Cain (who usurps control of the League of Assassins), Talia becomes the new Demon's Head. However, the League of Assassins has apparently splintered and Cassandra Cain has gained only partial control.

The child of Talia and Batman from Son of the Demon is reintroduced to continuity in the story "Batman & Son", written by Grant Morrison. Talia either does not abandon the child (called Damian) or retrieves him from his adoptive parents and allows him be raised in part by the League of Assassins. Talia gives him back to Batman as part of a grand scheme involving ninja man-bats and the kidnapping of the British Prime Minister's wife. Batman is unsure whether this is his son but attempts to deal with the spoiled, hot-tempered child anyway. Damian, effectively raised to be an assassin, kills a criminal and nearly kills Tim Drake, the current Robin. Shortly afterwards, father, mother, and son confront each other on a ship which is destroyed by a torpedo.

Talia and Damian survived the explosion and Talia continues to keep a close eye on Bruce. Meanwhile, Damian is injured severely and undergoes a transplant of all his major organs.

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 manage to escape before the plan is completed. After the escape, Batman confronts the White Ghost; he fights Batman, but accidentally ends up falling into a Lazarus Pit.^[4]

[edit] R.I.P & Final Crisis

During the Batman R.I.P. storyline, Talia and Damian become aware of the Black Glove's plot against Batman and begin devising a plan to help save him. They arrive at Wayne Manor just in time to save Commissioner James Gordon from being killed by assorted booby traps created by the Black Glove. She offers to join forces with Gordon to save Batman. She and Gordon arrive too late, however, and are informed by Robin that Batman went missing and may be dead following a battle with Doctor Hurt.

Furious that her love may be dead, she sends out her ninja bats to murder Jezebel Jet, who plays a major role in trying to kill Batman. Soon after it is revealed Batman did not die, but survives only to be captured by Darkseid during the Final Crisis and then apparently murdered by the New God.

Following Batman's apparent death, Talia apparently decides to leave Damian in the hands of his adopted brother Dick Grayson, who later takes on the role of Batman, and selects Damian to succeed Tim Drake as Robin.

In Final Crisis, she is placed on the new Society's inner circle by Libra. Despite Talia's interaction with the new Society she still behaves lovingly and almost devoted to Batman.

It is revealed in Gotham City Sirens #2 that Talia has trained Catwoman to resist even the most intense psychological coercion to reveal Bruce Wayne's secret identity.

Following an operation in which Damian's spine is replaced, it is revealed that Talia inserts an implant into his spine that allows her or anyone she chooses, including Deathstroke, to control Damian's body remotely. She intends to use this device to force Damian to kill Dick Grayson, whom she perceives as holding her son back from his potential.^[5] After Grayson frees Damian, Talia reveals to her son that she has begun cloning him after realizing that the Boy Wonder has completely sided with his father's circle during their confrontation. She is too much of a perfectionist to love her son after he has defied her in such a manner, and is no longer welcome in the House of al Ghul.^[6]

She is later revealed to be the mastermind behind the Leviathan, a shadowy organization formed to oppose Bruce's "Batman Incorporated" project. She places a bounty of 500,000,000 dollars on Damian's head, and declares war on Batman.^[7]

Powers and abilities[link]

Talia is an Olympic-level athlete, having been trained since birth in many forms of martial arts. She is also quite proficient with most hand weapons. Often underestimated, Talia is also an excellent hand to hand fighter. Her abilities allow her to lead the League of Assassins from time to time.

In other media[link]

Television[link]

• In Batman: The Animated Series, Talia is voiced by Helen Slater (who is known for her portrayal of Supergirl, another DC Comics character, in the film of the same name) It is worth noting that Talia was never called by her full name of Talia al Ghul at any time in the DC animated universe, even by herself or her father, and was simply called Talia by those around her. The episodes "Off Balance" and "The Demon's Quest" parts 1 and 2 are based on the two classic Talia stories "Into the Den of the Death-Dealers!" and "Daughter of the Demon". Her first appearance in "Off Balance" is based on Talia's first appearance in the comics, with only minor differences, mainly that the villain is Count Vertigo instead of Dr. Ebeneezer Darkk, and she is tracking Vertigo for her father instead of being Vertigo's prisoner. The episode ends with Batman and Talia stopping Count Vertigo, though Vertigo appears to die in the process and is not seen since. In "The Demon's Quest-Part 1", Talia and Robin are kidnapped by Ra's al Ghul, and Batman (unaware that Ra's is their captor) makes an alliance with Ra's and Ubu to save them. Batman saves them and Ra's reveals himself as the man who kidnapped Robin, and that Talia had never even been captured to begun with. Ra's nearly dies towards the end of the episode (why he is dying is never explained), and Batman drops Ra's into a Lazarus Pit to heal him. The episode ends with Ra's having been maddened by the Lazarus Pit and holding Talia over the edge of the pit. In "The Demon's Quest-Part 2", Talia manages to break her father's madness before fleeing their arctic base with Ra's and Ubu. Ra's reveals his plan to Batman after the Dark Knight is captured: with no male heir to carry out his crusade, Ra's plans to use a satellite to wipe out all life on Earth by destroying all the Lazarus Pits on Earth simultaneously, killing exactly 2,560,986,000 people. While Batman successfully foils his plans with Talia's aide, Ra's and Talia manage to escape. Talia reappears in the Lovecraftian episode "Avatar" to help Batman stop her father using an Egyptian scroll to unlock the secrets of life and death for his own purposes. Even though Batman manages to capture Ra's al Ghul, Talia ends up freeing him before Batman had plans to hand Ra's al Ghul over to the authorities.

• In Superman: The Animated Series, actress Olivia Hussey voiced Talia, replacing Helen Slater. In the episode, "The Demon Reborn", she and her father's minions arrived at Metropolis to steal a Native American mystical staff which possesses a power of healing. After she succeeded, she used it to drain Superman's powers in order to capture him. Ra's was dying as the Lazarus Pit became ineffective to prolong his life, so the father and daughter planned to use the staff to transfer Superman's strength to save Ra's life. Batman later arrived and interfered with the process. Despite Batman arriving in time to save Superman's life, Ra's had enough of The Man of Steel's life force to resume his longevity with the Lazarus Pit once more. Ra's and Talia later fell to the bottom of a cave, but it is later confirmed that they survived.

• In the Batman Beyond episode "Out of the Past", it is revealed that Batman's final confrontation with Ra's, during a period known as the Near-Apocalypse of 2009, left Ra's so injured that not even the pits could heal him. Talia took control of his company, using it for philanthropic purposes to undo her father's actions and eventually approaches Bruce on his birthday with an offer to use the pits' restorative powers to become young once more (the process of using the pits has become so refined now that it can now grant youth without the same madness). A moment of weakness when he nearly fails to save a woman in a traffic accident leads Bruce to accept. During their stay at her mansion, Bruce and Terry McGinnis, the new Batman, discover that Talia is actually Ra's; because his body was injured beyond repair in the Near-Apocalypse, Talia effectively gave her life for him by copying his mind into her body. Though the transfer process could only work between two close genetic relatives at first, Ra's has since modified to work universally, and plans to transfer into Bruce. With Bruce's rejuvenated body, he can claim to be the son of the elder Bruce and Talia, inheriting control of Wayne-Powers for his own ends. Despite the transference almost taking place, Bruce escapes with Terry's help after Ra's underestimates the new Batman, only for Ra's to abandon all attempts to escape when he tries to save the computer he needs for the mind transference process. Ra's activates fire-extinguishing foam and manages to save the computer, but a stray cable strikes the pits and creates a massive explosion, destroying the mansion and presumably Ra's along with it. Although Bruce tells Terry not to bother investigating the mansion's remains, stating that whatever was left in there died years ago, he still shows some regret for Talia's death, commenting that she was a very special woman when Terry wishes that he could have met the real Talia (prompting Terry to ask if she was the special woman), the episode ending with Bruce looking at a picture of himself dining with Talia and saying "Rest well, Beloved". Actress Olivia Hussey again voiced this incarnation of the character, though Ra's also speaks in his own, male voice for the rest of the episode once his identity is revealed (voiced again by David Warner).

• Talia appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Sidekicks Assemble!" voiced by Andrea Bowen. Talia and Ubu aid Ra's in his plan to infect Coast City with superpowered plants in his flying island. When Ra's expresses his desire to make Robin his heir, rather than her, she helps him, along with Aqualad and Speedy escape from Ra's deathtrap and foil his plan. After Ra's is defeated by Batman, she helps her father escape. In "The Knights of Tomorrow!", Catwoman is Batman's wife and the mother of Damian Wayne, instead of Talia. In "Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth!", she is now shown harboring a crush on Batman and saves him after Ra's orders his execution. Enraged at his daughter's betrayal, Ra's al Ghul ties Talia and Batman to a rocket aimed at the sun, but they are rescued by the intervention of the Justice Society of America and the Justice League International. She presumably escapes after Ra's al Ghul is presumably killed during his fight with Batman. Talia makes her last appearance during the show's final episode, "Mitefall", as one of the numerous characters present at the wrap party for the now-cancelled Batman: The Brave and the Bold series. Talia's appearance in the series finale marks her only media appearance where her father is not present.

Film[link]

• Talia was set to appear as an antagonist in the unmade Justice League film, portrayed by Teresa Palmer.^[8]

• Despite not appearing in Batman Begins, where Ra's al Ghul is the main villain, she is mentioned in the novelization when Ra's writes to his daughter in Switzerland, and in Ra's' character biography in the DVD special features of the film.

• Talia al Ghul appears in a non-speaking role in the animated film Batman: Under the Red Hood. During a flashback, she is shown standing next to her father while he attempts to bring Jason Todd back from the dead using the Lazarus Pit. She later attempts to shoot Jason after he awakens and attempts to escape from the Pit; however, her father wants Jason alive and stops her.

• Joey King will play Young Talia in The Dark Knight Rises.^[9]

Video games[link]

• Talia al Ghul appears in several cinematics in Batman: Dark Tomorrow.

• Talia was a playable character in the Nintendo DS version of Lego Batman.

• Talia al Ghul appears in DC Universe Online voiced by Ellie McBride. She is the "alert" broadcaster for the villain side.

• Talia al Ghul appears in Batman: Arkham City voiced by Stana Katic. Unlike most media incarnations of the character Talia is visibly armed with a sword and wears armor-plated clothing and boots. Talia first appears in Wonder City saving Batman from her elite guard. Talia tries to convince Bruce to join her cause and begins to kiss him until she sees the damage from the disease, that afflicts the Joker and him, has done to his face. Batman tells Talia he wishes to become an assassin, waving off her suspicion by using his illness as his reason for this sudden change of heart. Talia leads him to the first "Demon Trial", and after Batman succeeds in mastering the Trial, she takes Batman to Ra's al Ghul. When Ra's tells Batman to take his rightful place as the Demon by killing him, Batman reveals he only needed Ra's al Ghul's blood, after which Talia becomes angry at Bruce's lie, though she still urges him to take his place as the Head of the Demon. After Ra's al Ghul is defeated, he holds Talia hostage to make the Dark Knight kill him, but this backfires when Batman manages to defeat him and Talia flees the room, angered that she had been betrayed by both Batman and Ra's. Talia later steals the Titan antidote from Harley Quinn and ties her to a pipe. Talia reappears in the steel mill, saving Batman from Joker and offering the Clown Prince of Crime "the gift of immortality", giving him the position she had previously offered Batman. As she leaves, she shows Batman she has activated the tracker that he used to find her in Wonder City. When Batman escapes the steel mill, his immediate goal is to save Talia from the Joker rather than stop Protocol 10 (the genocide of every inmate in Arkham City) and Hugo Strange, though both Oracle and Alfred Pennyworth defy his wishes, stating Batman cannot let thousands die for the sake of one. Though Batman agrees to stop Strange, he has Barbara keep a lock on Talia's signal. After Ra's al Ghul and Hugo Strange are killed, the Joker broadcasts that he is holding Talia hostage in the Monarch Theatre. When Batman arrives, he tries to convince the Joker to let Talia go free which distracts Joker long enough for Talia to kill him with her sword, explaining the only way to end his reign of terror is to kill him. When Talia presents the antidote to Batman, he realizes that there were two Jokers the whole time (as the one holding Talia hostage had been perfectly healthy), and Talia is shot and killed by the real Clown Prince of Crime. Talia apologizes to Batman for her mistake before dying in his arms, dropping the cure for Clayface (who had been masquerading as the Joker) to take. Batman uses Talia's sword to defeat Clayface in the final battle as well as destroy the machinery around the Lazarus Pit, preventing Joker from reaching immortality. Her body vanishes during Batman's fight against Clayface and does not fall into the Lazarus Chamber with them, though how her corpse vanishes is never made clear. It is possible though that her body was recovered by the League of Assassins.

Miscellaneous[link]

• Talia appears in issue #11 of the Young Justice tie-in comic book series. In the issue, she and her father attempt to hijack the launch of a Ferris Aircraft space shuttle only to be thwarted by Batman and Robin. She is later revealed to have caused Matt Hagen's transformation into Clayface, after he seduces her into using the Lazarus Pit to cure his cancer. She finds out, and angry, locks him up in the Pit for months, causing him to mutate into Clayface. In issue 12, Clayface emerges from the pit calling out Talia's name. As Clayface grabs Talia, Sensei chops off Clayface's arm as Ra's al Ghul arrives where Sensei tells him that the monster is Matt Hagen. After commanding Clayface to sleep, Ra's al Ghul orders Sensei to ship Clayface to Gotham City so that he can bother Batman and then demands an explanation from Talia on how Clayface came to be.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Talia al Ghul

• Appearances on the Batman animated series
• Women of Gotham Biography: Talia al Ghul
• Talia al Ghul on the official Superman/Batman Adventures homepage
• Talia al Ghul on the DC Animated Universe Wiki