Ra's al Ghul

**Rā's al Ghūl** (ラーズ・アル・グール, *Rāzu Aru Gūru*), known as the "**Head of the Demon**", is a fictional character and antagonist from the *DC* series. He is the leader of The League of Assassins, and a member of the council of the Light, designated **L-2**, he was 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, Ra'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, Ra's spent centuries in pursuit of his goals, and eventually met his most worthy adversary, Batman.

Throughout their battles, Ra's believed the Dark Knight to be the perfect candidate for his right-hand man and, eventually, his successor to destroy Gotham City. Ra's attempted to recruiting him, but Batman refused time and time again, defied the organization, dismantled his allies in the Gotham Underworld, and resulted in Ra's forming brutal operations that threatened the existence of Gotham City and the world itself.

"*Do you know who I am? I am life. I am history. I am time itself.*"
"*You've become what you've always fought against, and I will stop you.*"

—Rā's al Ghūl and Batman.

## Appearance & Biography

*Voice actor*: David Warner (English), Not Known (Japanese), Not Known (Arabic), Not Known (Brazilian), Not Known (Chinese), Not Known (Dutch), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (French), Not Known (German), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Hebrew), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Norwegian), Not Known (Poland), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Portuguese), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Thai), 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)

### Biography

Little is known of the early years of Rā's al Ghūl, leader of the League of Assassins, 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

Rā's al Ghūl is a tall and daunting man with green eyes. He has black hair with gray streaks. He has a long black mustache and wild, black eyebrows.

He dresses in a regal manner, with the majority of his clothes covered by a high-collared green cloak with large gold buttons. Underneath, he wears a black vest with gold hems, a white undershirt, and a golden sash. He wears black pants and knee-high black boots.

* Hair Color: Black and Gray
* Skin Color: Not Known
* Eye Color: Green
* Age: Not Known
* Birthday: Not Known
* Height: 5' 9"
* Weight: 245 lbs. (111 kg)

### 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

Rā's al Ghūl is a fierce and imposing leader treated by his direct subjects with most respect and reverence. All his trained assassins will do his bidding; he can even order them to go to sleep. Despite having their total submission, Rā's only provides his assassins with the information they need to fulfill a job.

## Relationships

### Friends/Allies

* League of Assassins
	+ Sensei
	+ Ubu
	+ Lady Shiva
	+ Hook
	+ Professor Ojo
* Light

### Family

* Talia al Ghūl (Daughter)
* Arkady Duvall (Son)
* Nyssa Raatko (Daughter)
* Robin (Grandson)

### Neutral

* Carmine Falcone
* Hugo Strange
* Scarecrow
* Clayface
* Bane
* Black Spider
* Terra

### Enemies

* Justice League
	+ Team Superman
		- Superman
	+ Bat Family
		- Batman

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

* **Lazarus Enhancement**: Rā's al Ghūl has lived for several centuries thanks to his use of Lazarus Pits which he has used countless times replenishing his aged, injured, or even dead body. As a side effect to numerous exposures to the pits his strength and stamina have been enhanced.
	+ **Near Longevity**: Rā's has been to prolong his life and kept alive for 600 years by through the use of Lazarus Pits.
	+ **Enhanced Strength**: The Lazarus Pit enhances his strength, to the point his older appearance is merely a trick that makes his enemies think he's weak.
	+ **Enhanced Stamina**: Contrary to his real and physical age, Rā's is just as energetic as a man in his prime.

### Abilities

* **Indomitable Will**:
* **Weaponry**: Rā's is adept in most forms of weaponry.
	+ **Swordsmanship**: Rā's is deadly with a blade, able to wound someone fatally and leave them time to be saved or have a few last words.
* **Leadership**: Rā's founded and lead the League of Assassins.
* **Occultism**: Rā's has knowledge of magic.
* **Genius Level Intellect**: Rā's has had hundreds of years to study and learn, making him effectively the smartest being on the planet.
	+ **Tactical Analysis**: Rā's is capable of seeing weaknesses and advantages in his plans and organization. All of which him exploit enemy's faults and build his League even better.
	+ **Deception**:
* **Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)**: A trained assassin with centuries of experience, Rā's is 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.
* **Martial Arts**:

## History

### Past

Ra's al Ghul was born over six hundred years before current time to a tribe of nomads in a desert in Arabia.
Interested in science from an early age but unable to learn any science living as a nomad, he abandoned his tribe to live in the city where he could conduct his scientific research. Growing up, he became a physician and married a woman named Sora, the love of his life.

When Ra's discovered the secret of the Lazarus Pit, he saved a dying prince by lowering him into it. The prince, who was sadistic to begin with, was driven completely insane by the Lazarus Pit and proceeded to strangle Sora, on whom he had already had his eye for some time. The sultan of the city, unwilling to admit to himself his son's culpability, declared Ra's guilty of the murder and sentenced him to a slow, tortured death in a cage with Sora's corpse.

Ra's was set free by the son of one of his previous patients and later heads into the desert where he convinced his nomad tribe to follow Ra's in his quest for revenge. By understanding the germ theory of disease, Ra's was able to infect the prince with a deadly virus through contaminated fabrics. When the sultan of the city came to ask Ra's to cure the prince again, Ra's killed both him and his son and then lead his tribe in razing the city to the ground and killing its inhabitants.

Having now named himself "Ra's al Ghul", Ra's spends the next several centuries journeying the world, using the Lazarus Pits to prolong his life. Over time, he becomes a master of many forms of combat, notably fencing, and builds vast wealth and creates The Demon; a vast international organization whose goal is to retain the balance between nature and the human race.

He has fought in both the Napoleonic Wars (for the British) and the French Revolution.

## External links

* Rā's al Ghūl *Wikipedia*
* Rā's al Ghūl *DC Database*
* Rā's al Ghūl *YJ Wiki*
* Rā's al Ghūl *Arkham City Wiki*

## Notes & Trivia

* Rā's al Ghūl first appeared in Batman #232 (June 1971).
* Rā's once unleashed a viral plague upon Gotham City in one of his attempts of restoring global balance.
* Rā's al Ghūl consistently addresses Batman as "the Detective" as a show of respect to the hero's intelligence and determination. He also refers to Superman as "the Icon". Furthermore, although he knows Batman's identity as Bruce Wayne, he sometimes goes out of his way to ensure that the secret is maintained and does not endeavour to take advantage of the knowledge himself, out of respect for his rival.
* Rā's has considered other men, aside from Bruce Wayne, to be his heir and husband to his daughter, Talia, over the years. These men include Bane and Lex Luthor, however, only Bruce Wayne has ever captured his daughter's interest.