http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE60TheDemonsQuestPart1
Robin is kidnapped by someone who knows Batman's secret identity, and who dares him to rescue his ward.
Ra's al Ghul appears in the Batcave, reveals that he also knows Batman is Bruce Wayne, and offers to help him, as the kidnappers also took al Ghul's daughter (and Bruce's
Old Flame),
Talia al Ghul.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Ras figured out Batman’s identity by cross-referencing the description of him unmasked with people who would have the money to fund Batman’s enterprises, leading to Bruce Wayne.
- Batman does the same by identifying their target's location by identifying the knife in the photo along with the strain of hemp used to bind Robin and Talia.
- Berserk Button: Ubu will not allow anyone to walk in front of Ra's al Ghul or otherwise insult him in any way. Batman only tolerates it for so long.
- Cats Are Mean: Ra's sics a black leopard on Batman as a test. In reality, a leopard would be much smaller than that and incredibly unlikely to attack a grown man.
- Daddy's Girl: Ra's cites Talia being in love with Batman as another reason to make the guy his heir.
- Deducing the Secret Identity: Ra's Al-Ghul explains to Batman that he deduced his secret identity simply by identifying who could have wealth to fund Batman's war on crime, and then narrowing that down by looking at who would have the desire to use their wealth to fight crime and finally comparing the descriptions of those people with the one Talia gave when she unmasked Batman.
- Did You Actually Believe...?: Batman when explaining how he knew almost immediately Ra's was behind all this but went with him, anyway.
Batman: And do you think I'd have let you take me anywhere in your plane, unless I suspected you meant to lead me somewhere?
- Enemy Mine: Ra's al Ghul works with Batman, as the people who kidnapped Robin also took Talia, but it is revealed that it was all just a ruse to test Batman.
- Foreshadowing: For the audience, anyway, that Ra's al Ghul wasn't being entirely honest. When Batman is attacked by the mercenaries in Calcutta, Ubu pushes Ra's out of the way, and the latter just stares with glee as Batman fights.
Ra's: Yesssss.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Ra's sports glowing red eyes before surging out of the Lazarus Pit.
- GPS Evidence: Batman is able to figure out where Robin's kidnappers have taken him based on the photo of him they left behind as evidence of their action. He recognizes the unique knife type and rope-making technique to a very specific area of the world. Justified as this is a test of skill fabricated by Ra's Al Ghul to evaluate Batman's detective abilities.
- Heir Club for Men: Ra's al Ghul is insistent on having a male heir and his top pick is Batman.
- Hoist Hero over Head: More like anti-villain, as Ra's al Ghul lifts Talia over his head, and in Part 2 is about to throw her into the Lazarus Pit.
- Incurable Cough of Death: Ra's is dying of old age and he shows it by coughing a lot.
- Laughing Mad: Ra's after emerging from the Lazarus Pit.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Robin is incredibly confused during the confrontation after Batman reveals he knew Ra's was behind the kidnapping.
Batman: [to Robin] You ready to leave?
Robin: [looks left, right, left, right] Uh, if you say so, but it was just getting interesting!
- Not So Stoic: Batman is unfazed to be offered the chance to take over a vast global organization, but he's noticeably taken aback by learning that Talia is in love with him.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: To save themselves the difficulty and expense of showing a large fight in the middle of an episode full of such, Batman defeats most of the men guarding Robin off camera.
- Out-of-Character Alert: Ubu does not like it when Batman tries to walk in front of Ra's al Ghul... except for one specific instance in Malaysia, right before Batman walks into a trap. This is one of many hints that Batman picks up on that tells him that Ra's is responsible for everything.
- Papa Wolf: After Robin is kidnapped, Batman stops at nothing to find him, is clearly barely keeping his rage under control, and (once Robin is safe) kicks Ubu's butt and makes it clear he wants nothing to do with anyone in that room. You don't mess with a member of the Bat Family...
- Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: "And that's three!"
- Punch Catch: How Batman demonstrates he's done putting up with Ubu.
- The Reveal: Ra's al Ghul was the kidnapper. Batman had figured it out almost immediately, but played along since doing so was the simplest way to find Robin.
- Running Gag: Everything Ubu does something to Batman, he counts it at a strike. When he reaches strike three, Batman attacks him.
- Save the Villain: Batman takes Ra's to the Lazarus Pit after he collapses.
- Spotting the Thread:
- It was Ra's saying that Robin and Talia had been kidnapped the same night (something only the kidnapper would know) that first made Batman suspect he was behind it all. Given that this was all a test, Ra's may've done this deliberately.
- Batman also points out how Ra's always walked first and that Ubu never wavered on that, despite repeated attacks, except before entering that room in Malaysia with the panther. Batman noticed how more cautious they were when it came to a wild animal than they were with mooks who could be told to pull their punches.
- Third-Person Person: When Ra's comments upon the destruction of the rainforests by the upper class for profit, and directly accuses Batman of such, Batman replies that Bruce Wayne donates millions to preserve it (even though everyone present knows that he is Bruce Wayne).
- Villain Respect: Ra's constantly towards Batman, especially during the big reveal.
- Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?: A minor plot point. As stated earlier, Ra's realizing this and following the money trail was part of how the Demon's Head was able to deduce Batman was Bruce Wayne.
- With Us or Against Us: When Batman rejects becoming Ra's's heir, Ra's declares that they must then be enemies.
