Ra's al Ghul (Arabic: رأس الغول, Rāʾs āl-Ḡwl "Demon's Head") is a fictional character, a DC Comics supervillain who is 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).[3] 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 film, Batman Begins, where he was portrayed by actors Liam Neeson and Ken Watanabe (the latter being a successful decoy). IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time List ranked Ra's as #7.[4]
Ra's al Ghul is an international assassin whose ultimate goal is a world in perfect environmental 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 (whom, out of respect for his intellectual brilliance, he addresses as "Detective") as his most worthy opponent, 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.
Ra's al Ghul's early life and exact age have been described differently by various writers. His current, 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 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 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 king of the city. By understanding the germ theory of disease hundreds of years before anyone else,[clarification needed] 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."
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. However, 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." However, in Batman Annual #25 (published in 2006), Ra's al Ghul is described as a "700-Year Old International Terrorist."
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."
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 longevity madman again eludes justice, however.
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 Leaguers 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.
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.[5] 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. 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 his nemesis' cremation.
[edit] The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul
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.[6] 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 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. However, the White Ghost, revealed to be Ra's' estranged, albino son Dusan, 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 attributes 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.[7]
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.[8]
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. However, Nightwing defeated Ra's and earns the immortal's respect, signified by leaving his sword in the Batcave as a gift after their fight. However, Ra's refused 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 engages Tim Drake in combat and, after kicking him out of a skyscraper window, retreats from 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.[9]
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.
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 however are his Lazarus Pits, which will heal him of any injury (even if he is recently dead) while de-aging him back to his prime of life. His constant exposure to the pits has also granted him slightly enhanced endurance, strength, and healing.
The father of Ra's al Ghul, Sensei is considered a highly skilled martial artist, having trained a great number of the League of Assassins. After being thought dead following a previous battle with Ra's, Sensei returned and revealed his true connection with Ra's. He views his son as a failure who continues to live like a cockroach.
In Batman: Death and the Maidens (2004) by Greg Rucka, it is revealed that Ra's fathers a child named Nyssa Raatko while traveling in Russia in the 18th century. Enamored of her mother's romantic stories of 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 (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- reasoning that Hitler's death machine is more efficient than anything he could have developed himself, even if he has no strong belief in Hitler's policies-, 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 al Ghul is also Ra's' daughter[10] and accompanies him for many years. With the recent loss of her sister, she has apparently taken control of The Demon.
In Batman: Son of the Demon (1987), Talia's mother was said to have been murdered by Qayin, a terrorist, back in the late 1940s. As explained by Talia in Batman: Birth of the Demon (1992), Ra's had met a woman of mixed Chinese and Arab ancestry at Woodstock. Talia is the result of that union.
Talia is also the mother of Damian Wayne, whom she conceived with Bruce Wayne on the Tropic of Cancer and thus Ra's grandson. Damian is rebellious toward his grandfather, especially since Ra's previously tried to take over his body and is one of his father's enemies; he is currently the fifth Robin.
Ra's' only known son. He is born with the name Dusan al Ghul (Arabic: دوسان الغول), but because he was an albino, Ra's called him "the failed one" and kept him alive only out of pity. He was also known as Al'Shabah Al-Abyad الشبح الأبيض, which translates from Arabic as The White Ghost. Dusan sacrifices his body in order to ensure his father's life. After his son's apparent death, Ra's wishes he had treated Dusan far better, as he was the only child who remained loyal to him. It is later revealed there are some remnants of The White Ghost's consciousness still residing within his body with Ra's, still seeking his father's approval, but also prompting Ra's to make fundamentally rash decisions such as setting up a new base directly in Gotham City rather than operating at a distance.
Ra's half-sister. She is determined to mate with Red Robin (Tim Drake) after her half-brother's encounters with him in Gotham.
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 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. 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 becoming mortal enemies, Ra's al Ghul and Batman have maintained some semblance 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 before their first meeting, Ra's has never exposed that information to the public or Batman's other rogues; it's a consideration that Batman attributes 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. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.[11]
- Ra's al Ghul is featured in Batman: The Animated Series voiced by David Warner. He 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 "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 "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 he had a long-ago battle with Jonah Hex who also battles Ra's al Ghul's deranged son Arkady Duvall (voiced by Malcolm McDowell). Due to Jonah Hex defeating Arkady, Ra's was forced to abandon Arkady. It took Ra's al Ghul several years to locate Arkady until now when Batman and Robin catch up with Ra's al Ghul at the airport. He revealed that the old man is his son Arkady Duvall. As Arkady's mind and body were beyond the Lazarus Pit's power to mend, Batman let Ra's al Ghul take his dying son with him so that Ra's al Ghul can be there for Arkady's last day.
- In the Superman: The Animated Series episode "The Demon Reborn", Ra's al Ghul was dying as the Lazarus Pit became ineffective of prolonging his aging body, so he attempts to steal Superman's strength using an ancient Native American artifact to save himself. He almost succeeds, but is thwarted by Batman before the process is complete. However, the process has rejuvenated his body enough for him to resume his usage with the Lazarus Pit once more. He and Talia disappear at the battle's end.
- Sometime between the events of Justice League Unlimited and Batman Beyond, Ra's al Ghul has one last confrontation with Batman in a battle known as the "Near-Apocalypse of '09". Talia assists Batman in this battle and Ra's is apparently killed. In the Batman Beyond episode "Out of the Past", an elderly Bruce Wayne believes Ra's to have died after the Near-Apocalypse of '09. However, he survived but was badly injured; the injuries he sustained were far beyond the healing capabilities of the Lazarus Pit and he would eventually die. However, he escaped death by using a new device to essentially possess his daughter Talia, transferring his mind into her body in order to stay alive. Posing as Talia, he tries to take over Bruce's body after manipulating him into using the Lazarus Pit to regain his old youth- intending to take Bruce's body and then pose as Bruce and Talia's son to take control of Wayne Enterprises, but is thwarted by Wayne's successor as Batman, Terry McGinnis, and presumably killed when his mansion is destroyed. This was Ra's al Ghul's final produced and chronological appearance in the DC Animated Universe.
- Ra's al Ghul appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Sidekicks Assemble" voiced by Peter Woodward.[12] In this show, Ra's al Ghul is interested in making Robin his heir rather than Batman or his own daughter Talia. He 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, the Justice Society of America, and a betrayal from Talia. Ra's was 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 the episode "Targets", he hires his League of Shadows assassins Cheshire and Sportsmaster to kill Lex Luthor and a pair of Asian diplomats. The plot, however, is foiled by Red Arrow and Aqualad. It is later revealed however that Ra's al Ghul and Lex Luthor were plotting together to have the diplomats saved by Mercy Graves from the assassins and have them make a weapons deal with Lex Luthor helping with the plans 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 and Lex Luthor infiltrate Project Cadmus and steal the clones that they have.
- In the film Batman Begins, Ra's al Ghul is played by Liam Neeson, and is the main antagonist of the film. He is the head of the centuries-old League of Shadows, a morally ambiguous organization 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 and Scarecrow in a plan to disperse fear gas into the water supplies of Gotham City. For the first half of the film, he goes by the name Ducard and acts as a mentor to a young Bruce Wayne, teaching him the martial arts training and keysi methods that he will one day use as Batman. During this time, Ducard hides behind a decoy Ra's al Ghul. The Decoy (played by Ken Watanabe) is killed while battling Bruce. During Bruce Wayne's birthday party, Henri Ducard reveals himself to be the real Ra's al Ghul, and explains that the League is bound to destroy Gotham. He then explains to Bruce that he had hoped for Bruce to be by his side when he purged the evil from Gotham, a reference to the comics in which Ra's wished for Bruce to be his heir. As Ra's' men attack Bruce and wreck Wayne Manor, more of his agents release the inmates at Arkham Asylum as part of a diversion for the cops in order for Scarecrow's gas to envelop the city. In their final confrontation, Batman defeats Ra's and leaves him to die in a train crash.
- Ra's al Ghul appears in the animated film Batman: Under the Red Hood, voiced by Jason Isaacs.[14][15] 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 world economy and had hired the Joker to provide Batman and Robin with a distraction. He soon realized, however, that he had overestimated his ability to control the Clown Prince of Crime, who quickly went rogue and murdered Robin. Plagued with guilt, Ra's al Ghul subjected Todd to the Lazarus Pit to resurrect him, but it drove Todd insane and he returned to Gotham City as the murderous vigilante Red Hood, intent on taking revenge on the Joker for killing him five years earlier. 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.
- Josh Pence is set to play a young Ra's al Ghul in The Dark Knight Rises, the third entry in Nolan's Batman Trilogy. He will appear in flashback scenes set 30 years before the events of Batman Begins.[16] Liam Neeson will also reprise his role from Batman Begins in a cameo appearance.[17]
- 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 Ducard/Ra's al Ghul.
- Ra's al Ghul is featured as an unlockable character in Lego Batman: The Video Game.[18] 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 nunchuks, 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 prominent character in the game, as both 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 powered 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, however, failed, 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'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 decides to kill Batman as well, taking his blade and putting it through himself and into the body of Batman, who was holding Ra's as they fell. This fails to succeed as Batman pushes off him just in time. 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. His body later vanishes, although it is unclear if it was removed by scavengers or the League.
- Ra's al Ghul appears in DC Universe Online.
- 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.
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.
- ^ "Spider-Bob's Comics Book Encyclopedia". Spider-bob.com. http://www.spider-bob.com/villains/dc/RasAlGhul.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
- ^ Batman: Arkham City
- ^ McAvennie, Michael; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1970s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. "Writer Denny O'Neil once stated that he and artist Neal Adams 'set out to consciously and deliberately to create a villain...so exotic and mysterious that neither we nor Batman were sure what to expect.' Who they came up with was arguably Batman's most cunning adversary: the global eco-terrorist named Ra's al Ghul."
- ^ "Ra's Al Ghul Is Number 7". IGN.com. http://comics.ign.com/top-100-villains/7.html.
- ^ Death and The Maidens #8 (May 2004)
- ^ Batman #671
- ^ Detective Comics #840
- ^ Nightwing #145
- ^ Batman & Robin: The Road Back #1
- ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 145 "Before Batman first encountered one of his greatest adversaries, Ra's al Ghul, he met his daughter, the lovely but lethal Talia [in a story by] writer Denny O'Neil and artist Bob Brown."
- ^ Flashpoint: The World of Flashpoint #1 (June 2011)
- ^ "The World's Finest". Worldsfinestonline.com. http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/news.php/news.php?action=fullnews&id=633. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
- ^ List of Eaglemoss issues, www.heroesassemble.com
- ^ "New Batman DVD to peek out from 'Under the Red Hood' – Hero Complex – Los Angeles Times". The Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2010/02/new-batman-dvd-to-peek-out-from-under-the-red-hood.html.
- ^ "Kate Jewell interviews Andrea Romano". Comics Continuum. 2010-02-24. http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/1003/02/andrearomano2.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
- ^ Kit, Borys (2011-04-08). "'Social Network' Actor Lands Role in 'Dark Knight Rises' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/social-network-actor-lands-role-176577.
- ^ http://www.metro.co.uk/film/866505-the-dark-knight-rises-liam-neeson-spotted-filming-in-london
- ^ Game Informer features a two-page gallery of the many heroes and villains who appear in the game with a picture for each character and a descriptive paragraph. See "LEGO Batman: Character Gallery," Game Informer 186 (October 2008): 93.
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