History Characters / BatmanRasAlGhul

* RightForTheWrongReasons: Ra's al Ghul was wrong to stick with Circe in DC Rebirth where Lex Luthor bailed, but not because Circe was going to kill thousands to millions of people, as Ra's al Ghul intended to kill far more than that, and not because Luthor had any insight that Ra's al Ghul, Luthor was just being a coward. What made Ra's al Ghul ditch the EvilPlan was the fact he had been lied to about it.

[[Characters/BatmanBane Bane]] | Characters/{{Catwoman}} ([[Characters/CatwomanSelinaKyle Selina Kyle]]) | [[Characters/BatmanClayface Clayface]] | Characters/HarleyQuinn ([[Characters/HarleyQuinnTheCharacter Harleen Quinzel]]) | [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] | [[Characters/BatmanLadyShiva Lady Shiva]] | [[Characters/BatmanLeagueOfAssassins League of Assassins]] ('''Ra's Al Ghul''' | [[Characters/BatmanTaliaAlGhul Talia Al Ghul]]) | [[Characters/BatmanThePenguin The Penguin]] | [[Characters/BatmanPoisonIvy Poison Ivy]] | [[Characters/BatmanTheRiddler The Riddler]] | [[Characters/BatmanTheScarecrow The Scarecrow]] | [[Characters/BatmanTwoFace Two Face]] | [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart1 A-H]] | [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart2 J-R]] | [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart3 S-Z]]\\

%%* EvilCounterpart: Designed to be this for Batman. Both are men who are skilled at most things and seek to change the world. Ra's just so happens to be a lot more extreme than her.

* ItsPersonal Over time his status as a FriendlyEnemy to ComicBook/{{Batman}} has deteriorated and he's become a bitter enemy instead, as he started to personally blame Batman for Talia and Damian abandoning him.
-->'''Ra's Al Ghul''': ''[while talking to ComicBook/LadyShiva]'' [[EvilIsPetty I fear I have become petty, Shiva]]. "Batman" has shattered my family. So I must shatter his.

Ra's is second only to ComicBook/TheJoker in Batman's RoguesGallery, and is a more straightforward EvilCounterpart to the Dark Knight. Like Batman, [[RealLifeSuperPowers Ra's has wealth, skills, charisma, intelligence, and cutting-edge-technology]], but unlike Batman, he also has the League of Assassins, an entire shadow organization at his beck and call which follows him like a devoted cult. Ra's' ultimate goal is to stop the slow death of the planet Earth... by wiping out most of humanity. [[{{Ubermensch}} In its place, he plans to build a new society]] which will be overall superior.

Ra's is nearly immortal--he is ''literally'' ReallySevenHundredYearsOld. His life is extended by repeated usage of the Lazarus Pit, a mystical spring which can retard the aging process, heal virtually any wound, and even bring back the dead (though this does have the side effect of temporarily driving the subject insane). Such a practice has allowed him to live centuries, if not millennia, and he's taken advantage of such a long lifespan to master swordsmanship, war strategies, various fighting styles, and many other skills. However, repeated use of the Pit has made him addicted, and he has grown more and more reliant upon it as his time grows short. Which brings us to our next point...

The next thing Ra's is most famous for is his [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter beautiful daughter]], Talia al Ghul. After [[Characters/{{Catwoman}} Catwoman]], Talia is Bruce's second great love. And like Catwoman, [[DatingCatwoman being on opposite sides keeps them apart.]] Talia is often conflicted by [[DaddysGirl her loyalty to her father]] and her love for Batman. She [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor will often pick one over the other, only to change her mind again later]].

** He's Batman's secondary nemesis, after ComicBook/TheJoker.

* FlashForward: He once fought [[TimeTravelTenseTrouble (or will have fought)]] the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes, a thousand years from now. However, it turns out that [[spoiler:this Ra's is just a [[CloningBlues clone]] of the original, who was presumably long dead. The clone [[TomatoInTheMirror did not know this,]] and takes the discovery [[VillainousBreakdown very badly.]]]]

* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: Just how healthy of a relationship he has with his children and subordinates shifts from adaption to adaption.
** More directly while Sensai was revealed as his father for the mainstream continuity in ''Resurrection'', other comics such as ComicBook/BatmanOdyssey have him as Ras ''son''.

!!Ra's Al-Ghul has appeared in:

* TheDreaded: Everyone, wheter they're heroes or villains, is terrified of Ra's and even the toughest characters become frightened when they learn he's involved in a scheme or they've provoked his anger, given his intelligence, resources and ruthlessness. Even Bruce and the other members of the Bat family are reluctant to go up against him.

** Nyssa, Talia's sister, once chose [[Comicbook/{{Robin}} Tim Drake]], but [[AttemptedRape failed]]. This was arranged by and eagerly watched Ra's himself as part of his ongoing very uncomfortable interactions with Tim that started around the time Damian first came to Gotham.

!!Ra's Al Ghul

->''"A criminal mastermind more dangerous than ComicBook/TheJoker and ComicBook/LexLuthor put together."''
-->-- '''Franchise/{{Batman}}''' ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', "The Demon Reborn"

* TheDreaded: Everyone, wheter they're heroes or villains, is terrified of Ra's and even the toughest characters become frightened when they learn he's involved in a scheme or they've provoked his anger. He regularly shows exactly why he has such a reputation every time he shows up.

* ArchNemesisDad:
** Often to his own children, who oppose his ideals.
** He sees Bruce almost like the son he never had, and he actually plans on making him both his heir and his son-in-law by marrying him to his daughter Talia, something both Bruce and Talia are seriously tempted to do.
** His own father, Sensei, often struggles with him for control of the League of Assassins. [[EnemyMine He and Batman teamed up to defeat him.]]

** ComicBook/TaliaAlGhul has a complicated love/hate relationship with Ra, and has fought him many times, to the point it's not unreasonable to say he's one of her greatest enemies.

%%* EvilCounterpart: Designed to be this for Batman.

-->-- '''Franchise/{{Batman}}'''

* NoPronunciationGuide: Officially his name is said "Raysh Al-Ghool", but not everyone got the memo when it comes to Batman media with voice acting. While the "Al-Ghool" part sticks for the most part, the first part has variably been pronounced "Raysh", "Rash", "Raws", "Roz", "Raz", and more.

* WickedCultured: He's certainly lived long enough to become adept in many different philosophies, cultures, languages, and customs and his houses often contain vast libraries which he's constantly perusing

** Is considered DC's answer to The Mandarin from the ''ComicBook/IronMan'' comics, despite Ra's being Arab and the Mandarin being Chinese. This is due to both characters being the foreign archnemeses of American superheroes, their comparable intellects, resourcefulness and fighting prowess. However, this was not DC's original intent for Ra's, as they based him more on Franchise/JamesBond villains. Nowadays, it's rather that the Mandarin's current characterization in the comics has been off of Ra's, not the other way around. Considering how Iron Man himself has been considered Marvel's answer to Batman, this all makes sense.

* IconicSequelCharacter: Despite his importance, and that of various relatives, to the Batman franchise, he wasn't introduced until 1971 in real-world time.

* AdaptationalSympathy: He was already an AntiVillain and his Post-Crisis origin story establishes him as having a TragicVillain backstory in "Birth of the Demon". However, even that can fall apart a little when you consider how he willingly worked for a fickle Sultan with an evil son and engaged in open athletic horse races with the Prince that seriously injured bystanders, not to mention he had a twisted look on his face when he first brought back the Prince through the Lazarus Pit like he enjoyed playing God. His ''Rebirth'' incarnation in the "I Am Robin" storyline gives him a much more understandable reason for willingly becoming a court physician, because he had his elderly and sick mother, Ruh al Ghul, traveling with him and Sora at the time. Ultimately, his mother died before the tragic events that ended Sora's life and began the StartOfDarkness for Ra's but it was because of his desire to help his mother and to use a Sultan's resources to help her that Ra's is given much more rhyme and reason for working under [[AristocratsAreEvil a capricious Sultan and his evil son]].

* DeathIsCheap: Thanks to the Lazarus Pits, Ra and his close associates have easy access to [[FountainOfYouth extending one's lifespan]] and resuscitation. The Lazarus Pits were actually far more limited before, being one-use only and couldn't truly bring someone BackFromTheDead, only heal fatal wounds and restore their youth. But over time they started to be the go-to PlotDevice for all sorts of immortality and ressuction shenanigans in the ComicBook/DCUniverse, to the point they have been used to resurrect various ''other'' characters (such as Comicbook/LadyShiva, [[Comicbook/RedHoodAndTheOutlaws Jason Todd]], Comicbook/{{Batwoman}}, and others).

[[Characters/BatmanCentralRoguesGallery Central Rogues Gallery]] ([[Characters/BatmanBane Bane]] | Characters/{{Catwoman}} ([[Characters/CatwomanSelinaKyle Selina Kyle]]) | [[Characters/BatmanClayface Clayface]] | Characters/HarleyQuinn ([[Characters/HarleyQuinnTheCharacter Harleen Quinzel]]) | [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] | [[Characters/BatmanLadyShiva Lady Shiva]] | [[Characters/BatmanLeagueOfAssassins League of Assassins]] ('''Ra's Al Ghul''' | [[Characters/BatmanTaliaAlGhul Talia Al Ghul]]) | [[Characters/BatmanThePenguin The Penguin]] | [[Characters/BatmanPoisonIvy Poison Ivy]] | [[Characters/BatmanTheRiddler The Riddler]] | [[Characters/BatmanTheScarecrow The Scarecrow]] | [[Characters/BatmanTwoFace Two Face]]) | [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart1 A-H]] | [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart2 J-R]] | [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart3 S-Z]]\\

* VillainessesWantHeroes: Ra's encourages to the point that you almost believe he wishes he ''was'' Talia. [[spoiler: In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', he was Talia thanks to a GrandTheftMe. He later tried to pull another one on a rejuvenated Bruce and pass as son of Bruce and Talia so he could merge his empire with Wayne Enterprises]].

** [[UpToEleven His own father]], Sensei, often struggles with him for control of the League of Assassins. [[EnemyMine He and Batman teamed up to defeat him.]]

[[Characters/BatmanAndBatFamily The Bat-Family]] (Characters/{{Batgirl}} | Characters/{{Batwoman}} | [[Characters/BatmanJasonTodd Jason Todd]] | Characters/{{Robin}}) | [[Characters/BatmanSupportingCast Extended Bat-Family & Other Supporting Cast]] (Characters/{{Azrael}} | [[Characters/BatmanHuntress Huntress]])\\

[[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart1 A-H]] ([[Characters/BatmanBane Bane]] | Characters/{{Catwoman}} ([[Characters/CatwomanSelinaKyle Selina Kyle]]) | [[Characters/BatmanClayface Clayface]] | Characters/HarleyQuinn) | [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart2 J-R]] ([[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] | [[Characters/BatmanLadyShiva Lady Shiva]] | [[Characters/BatmanLeagueOfAssassins League of Assassins]] ('''Ra's Al Ghul''' | [[Characters/BatmanTaliaAlGhul Talia Al Ghul]]) | [[Characters/BatmanThePenguin The Penguin]] | [[Characters/BatmanPoisonIvy Poison Ivy]] | [[Characters/BatmanTheRiddler The Riddler]]) [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart3 S-Z]] ([[Characters/BatmanTheScarecrow The Scarecrow]] | [[Characters/BatmanTwoFace Two Face]])\\

''Characters/Batgirl2000'' | ''Characters/DarkNightsMetal'' ([[Characters/DarkNightsMetalTheBatmanWhoLaughs The Batman Who Laughs]]) | ''Characters/IAmBatman'' | ''Characters/{{Nightwing}}'' ([[Characters/NightwingDickGrayson Dick Grayson]]) | ''Characters/RedHoodAndTheOutlaws'' | ''Characters/Robin1993'' ([[Characters/RobinTimDrake Tim Drake]]) | ''Characters/Robin2021'' ([[Characters/RobinDamianWayne Damian Wayne]])-]]]]]

[[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart1 A-H]] ([[Characters/BatmanBane Bane]] | Characters/{{Catwoman}} ([[Characters/CatwomanSelinaKyle Selina Kyle]]) | [[Characters/BatmanClayface Clayface]] | Characters/{{Deadshot}} | Characters/HarleyQuinn) | [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart2 J-R]] ([[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] | [[Characters/BatmanLadyShiva Lady Shiva]] | [[Characters/BatmanLeagueOfAssassins League of Assassins]] ('''Ra's Al Ghul''' | [[Characters/BatmanTaliaAlGhul Talia Al Ghul]]) | [[Characters/BatmanThePenguin The Penguin]] | [[Characters/BatmanPoisonIvy Poison Ivy]] | [[Characters/BatmanTheRiddler The Riddler]]) [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart3 S-Z]] ([[Characters/BatmanTheScarecrow The Scarecrow]] | [[Characters/BatmanTwoFace Two Face]])\\

* {{Assassin}}: Leads a league of them. He is also trained in various forms of assassination and stealth himself, although his advanced age make it impractical to use them when he has thousands of minions more suited for the task.