Villain Profile: Ra's al Ghul

Let’s play a little game. What have I said about the groaning? Imagine there was a magic pool of water. Much like the legendary Fountain of Youth, bathing in this water could restore your health, youth and vigor. But, there is a catch. Each time you bathe in the water it chips away at your sanity. Would you take the risk, lengthening your life by years, centuries even, but knowing each time could snap your mind and drive you insane? For Ra’s al Ghul, the choice was an easy one. Let’s get to it.

He will have Batman, or see him destroyed.

He was born centuries ago, sometime in the 1400s. His birth name is never revealed, but I’ll call him Ra’s for simplicities sake. Ra’s was part of a nomadic tribe somewhere in the Arabian Desert. He was a brilliant young man and developed an interest in science at a young age. Given the era of human history that he lived in, this was somewhat frowned upon. Rather than be forced to live the life of a nomad, travels to the closest city and pursued his desire to be a researcher. This is in Asia, by the by, in case you are wondering why he wasn’t stoned for scientific pursuits. Ra’s became a physician and married a woman named Sora. Ra’s became well known in his city for his medical skill and was contracted by the sultan of his area to heal the sultan’s dying son.

This is when Ra’s made the discovery that would change his life. In the desert he uncovered a pool of water bubbling up from beneath the surface. He did some experimenting with it, and discovered its healing properties. On his urgings, they lowered the prince into the Pits. The mystic waters healed the prince, but had some unsavory side effects to his psyche. The prince was sadistic before this point, torturing servants and the like, but the Pits pushed him into full psycho territory. He sought out Ra’s wife and strangled her when she spurred his advances. The sultan, while grateful to Ra’s for saving his son, refused to believe his son had anything to do with Sora’s death. He declared Ra’s guilty and decided to put Ra’s through double torture death by imprisoning Ra’s in a cage with the slowly rotting corpse of his wife. Starting to think that the Pits weren’t the thing that drove Ra’s insane. He was saved by the son of a woman he’d treated earlier. The boy felt he owed a debt to Ra’s for easing his mother’s suffering and helped him escape. Ra’s and the boy fled to the desert, and tracked down Ra’s tribe. Using his natural charisma Ra’s convinced the tribe’s leader, his uncle, to get revenge on the sultan. His uncle jumped at the chance of destroying the sultan. Ra’s had some idea about germ theory a couple hundred years before anyone else. He infected several fabrics with an unspecified disease and sent them to the prince. The prince grew sick again, and the sultan sought Ra’s out to heal him again. Ra’s takes the opportunity to murder both the prince and the sultan, and then lead the attack on the city. They burned the city to the ground, killing all of the inhabitance. It’s around this point that our nameless doctor took on the moniker Ra’s al Ghul, “Demon’s Head” or “Head of the Demon” depending on who you ask.

Care to take a dip? It'll make you feel young
again.

Ra’s returned to the Pits and used the mystic water to live for centuries. A long running joke with Ra’s is that he’s lost track of how old he is, at times he states that he’s about 500, other times he’s closer to 450, sometime 485, either way, he’s lived for the better part of a millennium. Apparently he lost track during the Black Death. He fought in both the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. When mankind hit the Industrial Revolution he grew to despise the human race for destroying the natural beauty of the world. I’m guessing he got along well with the Romantic Poets. Ra’s shared his Lazarus Pit with his Uncle and the boy that saved him, Huwe. This arraignment ended when Ra’s caught Huwe recording his memoirs in their original language. Ra’s had forbidden any records, and killed Huwe for disobeying him. When he returned to their home in London, he discovered that his Uncle had disappeared with Huwe’s historical record. Around this time Ra’s had begun forming The Demon, an enormous international organization created to do his bidding. It has many separate parts, such as the League of Assassins, which serves as Ra’s enforcement squad.

He first comes into contact with Batman in the modern era when Batman saves his youngest daughter Talia from Dr. Darrk, leader of the League of Assassins. Batman eventually learns that Dr. Darrk and the League both originally served Ra’s al Ghul, but turned against him after Darrk failed a mission. Batman and Talia work together and kill Dr. Darrk. Ra’s considers Batman a prime candidate for successor, which does seem odd when you consider the ancient man has at least three children to pick from. Granted two of them were only “revealed” in the last decade or so, but come on Ra’s, why couldn’t the ever loyal Talia succeed you? Silence, how surprising. He later orchestrates the kidnapping of Robin and the fake kidnapping of Talia to test Batman’s skill. Batman passes with flying colors, but refused to serve as Ra’s’ successor.

He’s spent years trying to convince Batman to join him, and to destroy the greater part of the human race. The biggest of these plans, or at least the closest he comes to success, is when he releases a strain of Ebola that he dubs The Clench in Gotham City. While Batman’s resources and skills were put to the limit, he was able to stop the virus and Ra’s. Despite Batman’s attempts to stop Ra’s, he’s actually defeated by his own family. In the storyline Death and the Maidens, we’re introduced to Ra’s older daughter Nyssa Raatko. She was born in the 18^th century, and was later abandoned in a Nazi concentration camp during WWII. She wishes to see her father suffer. Not going to lie, kind of with Nyssa on this one. Ra’s is mortally wounded in the confrontation with his daughter, and as he dies reveals to Batman that things had proceeded as he’d hoped. Apparently this was all part of an incredibly complex plan to turn his daughters to his way of thinking. Which worked, which is kind of the messed up part. Batman sees that Ra’s corpse is cremated, to ensure that no one could dunk it into a Lazarus Pit and bring him back.

He's probably older than the sword techniques he
uses.

Unfortunately for Batman, Ra’s had figured another way back. Talia was convinced by a man named the White Ghost to read the history of Ra’s al Ghul to her and Batman’s son, Damian. This was part of a plot by White Ghost to resurrect Ra’s. Apparently knowing Granddad’s past made Damian a prime vessel for Ra’s spirit. Talia realizes the plan, and escapes with Damian before the ritual could be complete. Batman and White Ghost fight it out in front of a Lazarus pit. During their fight it’s revealed that WG is in fact Dusan al Ghul, Ra’s oldest son. Dusan falls into the pit, which while killing Dusan, ensures that Ra’s soul remain in this plane. After body jumping a few times, Ra’s found a new body, and returned to menace his former son-in-law, Batman. Side note, Dusan was never considered to be a candidate for heir to Ra’s because he’s an albino. Why that disbars him, despite the loyalty for his father that even surpasses baby sister Talia, I’ll never know.

Ra’s al Ghul has nearly a thousand years’ worth of knowledge and insight that makes him one of the most intelligent men on the planet. He’s skilled in just about every field that one can think of. He’s a master in martial arts, specializing in fencing and various ninja skills. He’s also absurdly rich, again, see the five hundred+ years of life. Ra’s al Ghul’s incredible life span is connected to the Lazarus Pits, a chemical pool he’s discovered. The pool’s waters heal the body and can even revive the recently deceased. And, while it can restore ones youth, there are limits. Ra’s has gradually grown older despite regular bathing in the Pits. We can most likely assume he was in his late twenties to early thirties when he began using the pits. Five hundred years later and he looks like a man in his late fifties. While that suggests that he’ll still have another century or two, it does mean that there will come a time when the pits can’t heal him anymore. The Pits also slowly chip away at his mind and sanity, so at his current age he’s pretty much certifiably insane.

Ra’s has appeared in a number of Batman series, and most recently in the third season of Arrow. Given how Green Arrow, for years, was used to sub in for Batman, it does seem only fair that they share a nemesis or two.

I'd follow him.

He was a recurring antagonist in Batman: The Animated Series. This series followed a few storylines very closely, even going over the Robin kidnap story. In the episode “Showdown,” Ra’s kidnaps an elderly man from a retirement community. He leaves a tape for Batman and Robin relating a story of how he and a son of his named Arkady once battled the western hero Jonah Hex. They were trying to stop the construction of the transcontinental railroad. During the battle Hex defeats Arkady, and Ra’s is forced to flee. Batman and Robin catch up with Ra’s, whom reveals that the old man he kidnapped was Arkady. Arkady had recently been released from prison after completing his fifty year sentence. Unfortunately, Arkady had grown too old for his mind and body to survive a dip in the Lazarus Pits. Batman leaves Ra’s with his son, so that he can spend some time with Arkady before he dies.

Ra’s appears in one episode of Batman Beyond. In the episode “Out of the Past,” Talia al Ghul visits Bruce Wayne for the first time in ages. She offers Bruce a chance at using the Lazarus Pits to reclaim his youth. Bruce, who was really feeling his age, agrees. While Bruce is at first happy with the results, he realizes that it’s a cheat and plans on returning to Gotham. When going to inform Talia of his decision, he hears Ra’s’ voice and confronts her about it. Talia then reveals that she is in fact Ra’s. Ra’s explains that after their last battle his body was broken beyond the Pit’s healing effects. So, he uses an experimental machine to transfer his mind to Talia’s body. Which is SO messed up when you think about it. He explains his plan, to use an upgraded form of his machine to transfer his mind to Bruce’s body, and then use the Pits to regenerate Bruce’s body to the appropriate age. He’d then return to Gotham with the genetic and legal “evidence” that he’s the long lost son of Bruce and Talia. He'd then resume his plans to destroy Gotham and Humanity at large, using Bruce's body and influence to do it. Not going to lie, it's a pretty solid plan. Insane as hell, but solid. Bruce tells Ra’s that he “[Doesn’t] cheat death, [he] trembles in fear of it.” Bruce is saved by his successor, Terry McGinnis, and Ra’s is assumedly killed in the explosion that destroys the Pits. A rather pathetic ending for an otherwise great villain.

Arrow's take. And they include the Lazarus Pits. Bonus points.

Young Justice also has a version of Ra’s al Ghul. He’s one of the members of the Light, an anti-Justice League group. He uses his network of assassins to cause as much trouble around the world as possible. He’s the immediate superior of Cheshire and Sportsmaster, the sister and father respectively of YJ member Artemis. He has a rather small presence for most of the series. In the second to last episode he is among the members of the Light present at a meeting with the Light and the Reach, an alien group invading Earth. During the battle between the Reach, the Light and the Young Justice Team breaks out, Ra’s is stabbed through the heart and killed. His minion Ubu flees with Ra’s body, vowing to keep him safe until Ubu can revive him in a Lazarus Pit.

In the movie Batman Begins, Ra’s al Ghul is portrayed by Liam Neeson. He initially introduces himself as Henri Ducard, and claims a servant portrayed by Ken Watanabe as Ra’s. He frees Bruce Wayne from Prison and trains him as a ninja. When Bruce choses to save Gotham rather than destroy it as Ra’s planned, he kills the fake Ra’s and saves the real Ra’s as the stronghold burns. Ra’s reveals himself at this films climax at Bruce’s home. He and the League destroy Bruce’s mansion and leave Bruce for dead. The evil plan to destroy Gotham is revealed to use a fear inducing toxin, laced in Gotham’s water supply, to drive the people insane. They use a microwave emitter created by Wayne Enterprises to vaporize the water, releasing the toxin, and dive the people insane. Batman defeats Ra’s and leaves him to die in a train crash. No mention is made of the Lazarus Pits or Ra’s’ advanced age.

Ra's in Talia's body. I couldn't do something like that.
1. I could never hurt a child of mine. 2. It'd be too weird
having servants and lackey's stare at my bum. Shudder.

Ra’s appeared in Batman: Under the Red Hood. In it, he hires the Joker to distract Batman while he ruins Europe’s economy. He’s disgusted when he finds out that Joker kidnapped and tortured Robin (Jason Todd) before killing him. He vowed to never battle Batman again, and resolved to revive Jason. He swapped Jason’s body for a convincing enough fake, (Convincing for the grief stricken Batman) and bathed Jason in the Lazarus Pits. Jason is revived and immediately goes on a murderous rampage, killing several of Ra’s servants as he escapes. He apologizes for his hand in Jason’s death and subsequent rampage. Batman leaves in a huff.

In Batman: Arkham City he’s one of the three main villains, alongside Dr. Hugo Strange and the Joker. He and the League are the power behind Hugo’s open air prison, Arkham City. He considered Hugo to be a replacement successor for Batman. When Hugo Strange fails to stop Batman, Ra’s kills him. Hugo activated his Protocol 11 which destroys his base of operations, the Wonder Tower. Ra’s impales himself on a spike rather than risk capture. His body is recovered, however, and he was most likely revived a short time later.

A version of Ra’s al Ghul appeared in the third season of the Arrow. I haven’t seen it, but it’s my understanding that Ra’s wants Oliver Queen as his successor in much the same way that he wanted Bruce in the comics. And, in a universe where Batman either isn’t a thing or just not a thing yet, I can’t say I fault the choice. He was mentioned earlier as the trainer of season one baddie Malcom Merlyn, and was the only man that Malcom feared. Can’t really comment on it in depth as I haven’t watched season three yet, but I’ll do an update when I do.

Ra’s al Ghul is one of Batman’s most…torn villains. Second perhaps to his own daughter Talia. While he very much wants Batman to serve as his successor and heir, he is still more focused on the whole destroy humanity front. While the Eco-terrorism thing has been done before, he's pretty much the polar opposite of characters like Poison Ivy or the save the rainforest hippies. You'd never accuse Ra's of not truly believing in his cause. His method of immortality is rather unique, since it could be argued that it’s destroying him even while it prolongs his life. He’s definitely one of Batman’s most successful enemies, being one of the handful that discovered Batman’s secret identity. Remember, Batman's secret ID is the crown jewel of secrets in the DC Universe. He also has a very tight hold on one of the loves of Batman’s life, Talia, and their son Damian. His influence on the both of them has kept Bruce Wayne from the happiness that has eluded him since that horrid night at the opera. He’s the long lived, evil environmentalist, the nefarious ninja, Ra’s al Ghul. Next time, The fallen Green Lantern, Sinestro.

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