Ra's al Ghul

## Rā's al Ghūl

**Rā's al Ghūl**, is both a fictional character and antagonist of the *MDC's* *Captain Batman* series created by Joe Simon and Bob Kane. He is an international eco-terrorist, the League of Assassins' founding leader, and a Cabal Light member.

Believing that humanity is a blight on the planet, Ra's views humanity as a race of planet-destroying parasites that must be stopped, or at least "culled", before its sheer numbers destroys the natural world.

His hatred of mankind is tied to his long life, having watched the world become increasingly industrialized, where areas of pristine and natural beauty are destroyed as technology takes over.

One of the most long-lived men on the planet, Ra's increases and revitalizes his life by immersing himself in "Lazarus Pits". An international terrorist, Ra's' primary purpose is to restore the Earth's ecological balance by reducing the population of mankind.
An extreme environmentalist, Ra's views humanity as a planet-destroying parasite that must be stopped, or at least "culled", before its sheer numbers destroys the natural world. His hatred of mankind is tied to his long life, having watched the world become increasingly industrialized, where areas of pristine and natural beauty are destroyed as technology takes over.

Being aspired to wipe the entire world clean of crime and pollution by eradicating most of the population. Possessing amazing stamina, martial art skills, and genius level intellect, Rā's formed a massive, secret society throughout the world, which was funded by his many business empires. Fueled by the chemicals of the Lazarus Pit, a fountain of youth that was capable of healing any ailment and even brought others back to life, Rā's spent centuries in pursuit of his goals, and eventually met his most worthy adversary, Batman.

Throughout their battles, Rā's believed the Dark Knight to be the perfect candidate for his right-hand man and, eventually, his successor. Batman refused time and time again and resulted in Rā's forming brutal operations that threatened the existence of Gotham City and the world itself. After he implemented numerous pawns and pieces in place during a massive conspiracy known as Arkham City through a partnership with Professor Hugo Strange, Rā's' plans of eradicating all that he saw as undesirable to society seemed to finally come to fruition once and for all.

Those plans ended in failure, however, thanks to the continued intervention of Batman, resulting in Arkham City's shutdown, the contamination and destruction of Rā's primary Lazarus Pit, and the deaths of the Joker, Strange, Clayface, Rā's, and even his daughter, Talia. With a massive power-vacuum left in place, the League fell into complete chaos as its forces segmented into fractions, and fought for complete control over the organization. With loyalists dedicated to Rā's goals, who attempted to resurrect him once more, and the rebels, who sought to prevent his return and reform the League, the secret Shadow War that occurred between the fractions claimed countless assassin lives and threatened to tear Gotham to pieces on Halloween Night nine months later.

"*You've become what you've always fought against, and we will stop you.*"

—Batman, to Rā's al Ghūl at Wonder Tower.

## Appearance & Biography

*Voice Actor*: Dee Baker (English), Not Known (Japanese), Not Known (Arabic), Not Known (Basque), Not Known (Brazilian), Not Known (Cantonese), Not Known (Catalan), Not Known (Chinese), Not Known (Croatian), Not Known (Danish), Not Known (Dutch), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (Filipino), Not Known (French), Not Known (Galician), Not Known (German), Not Known (Greek), Not Known (Hebrew), Not Known (Hong Kong), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Indonesian), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Mandarin), Not Known (Norwegian), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Portuguese), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Tagalog), Not Known (Thai), Not Known (Valencian), Not Known (Ukrainian), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (Canadian French), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (European Portuguese), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Latin Spanish), Not Known (Spain-Spanish)

### Biography

Little is known of the early years of Rā's al Ghūl, leader of the League of Shadows, whose name means "the demon's head".

He had continued to survive for many centuries due to Lazarus Pits, containing a mystical and alchemical brew, Lazarus, that restores his youth, health and suspend his life span. A brilliant master of strategy and organization, Rā's al Ghūl's goal was to save the Earth from ecological devastation by destroying most of its population.

He recognized Batman as both a worthy foe and a possible ally - except that Batman cannot accept his dystopic worldview.

### Appearance

* Hair Color: Black/Gray
* Skin Color: Not Known
* Eye Color: Green
* Age: Not Known
* Birthday: Not Known
* Height: 6'0"
* Weight: 200lbs

### Attributes:

* Genius intellect and strategist.
* Superior strength and stamina.
* Superb hand-to-hand combatant, trained over millennia.
* Continuable survival and brought back from the dead thanks to his Lazarus Pits.
* Commands a legion of followers dedicated to bringing his vision of an Earthly paradise to fruition.

## Personality

A man of vast resources, intellect, and skills, Rā's al Ghūl utilized all of those to his agenda and to further his goals. To his followers, the League of Assassins, Ra's was wise, enigmatic, and calculating and thrust his charisma and cause toward his forces, all of whom were fanatically loyal to him. Though Ra's had somewhat noble objections, he viewed the world in a cancerous state because of cancer; the criminal element and the only solution to save the world was to destroy that element, no matter what the sacrifice.

To achieve that, Rā's adapted the League to fit the new world and used more modern weapons, including politics. Rā's was a puppet-master of the highest order, the grandest of his manipulations and conspiracies were Arkham City in which he instilled numerous pawns, including Hugo Strange and Quincy Sharp for the sole purpose of eradicating the entire population of criminals. To achieve his goals, Rā's was stubborn, uncompromising and willing to sacrifice anything, including his own daughter.

Rā's had a deep authority complex and self-righteousness that allowed him to believe he did what was right for the world. Rā's had a very twisted sense of honor and little morality, which extended to his own followers as he killed Strange atop Wonder Tower, from behind for simply proving that Batman was his superior. Ra's deemed Batman a fool for his desire to make the world a better place yet his refusal to kill criminals.

Rā's was equally determined in making Batman his successor, no matter how many times that he blatantly refused, Rā's still persisted in forcing Batman to take his place until he showed a willingness to take a life, even if that was his own and was willing to utilize, Talia as a means of persuasion and later a bargaining chip. Each time that Rā's exited the Lazarus Pit, a mythical rejuvenating agent that could revive an individual from death, it warped his mind and pushed him to absolute extremism and insanity.

The effects reached its tole during the Shadow War: Rā's became an almost zombie-like state of mind, and his appearance resembled that of a corpse and became considerably less lucid. Though the League constantly brought him back to life, Rā's had little fear of death as he constantly encouraged Batman to permanently kill him, and even told the Dark Knight that he was proud of him for destroying his Lazarus machine on his deathbed.

## Relationships

### Family

* Talia al Ghul (daughter)
* Nyssa Raatko (daughter)

## Abilities and Powers

### Powers

* **Lazarus Enhancement**: Ra's al Ghul lived for several centuries thanks to his use of the Lazarus Pits which he used countless times that replenished his aged, injured, or even dead body. As a side effect to numerous exposures to the Lazarus Pits, Ra's strength and stamina were enhanced.
	+ **Near Immortality**: Ra's was kept alive for 600 years by the Lazarus Pits.
	+ **Enhanced Strength**: The Lazarus Pit enhanced Ra's strength, to the point that his older appearance was merely a trick that made his enemies think that he's weak.
	+ **Enhanced Stamina**: Contrary to his real and physical age, Ra's was just as energetic as a man in his prime.

### Abilities

* **Genius-Level Intellect**: Ra's had hundreds of years to study and learn, which made him effectively the smartest being on the planet.
* **Hand-to-Hand Combat** (Advanced): A trained assassin with centuries of experience, Ra's was on par or perhaps even better at killing than Deathstroke. Batman was forced to solely be on the defensive in their battle in Arkham City.
* **Leadership**: Ra's founded and lead the League of Assassins.
* **Occultism**: Ra's had knowledge of magic.
* **Swordsmanship**: Ra's was deadly with a blade, and was able to wound someone fatally, which left them time to be saved or have a few last words.
* **Tactical Analysis**: Ra's was capable of seeing weaknesses and advantages in his plans and organization: All of which exploited his enemy's faults and helped to build the League even better.
* **Weaponry**: Ra's was adept in most forms of weaponry.

### Equipment

* **Lazarus Pit**: Basically a "fountain of youth", which kept Ra's alive and restored him even from the dead.

## External links

* Rā's al Ghūl *Wikipedia*
* Rā's al Ghūl *Batman Wiki*
* Rā's al Ghūl *DC Database*
* Rā's al Ghūl *DC Universe Online Wiki*
* Rā's al Ghūl *Gotham Knights Wiki*
* Rā's al Ghūl *Villains Wiki*