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, the leader of the League of Assassins, and originally a former mentor and teacher to Bruce Wayne under the name **Henri Ducard** (ヘンリー・デュカード, *Henrī Dukādo*), he was 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, Ra's has formed a massive secret society throughout the world that is funded by his many business empires. Fueled by the chemicals of the Lazarus Pit, a fountain of youth capable of healing any ailment and even bringing others back to life, Rā's has spent centuries in pursuit of his goals, eventually meeting his most worthy adversary, Batman.

An international terrorist, Rā's' primary purpose is to restore the Earth's ecological balance by reducing the population of mankind. 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, resulting in Rā's forming brutal operations that threaten the existence of Gotham City and the world itself. Having implemented numerous pawns and pieces in place during a massive conspiracy known as Arkham City through a partnership with Hugo Strange, Silas, and Scarecrow, Rā's' plans of eradicating all that he sees as undesirable to society seem to be finally coming to fruition once and for all.

Rā's al Ghūl is also a member of the council of the Light, designated **L-2**.

"*You've become what you've always fought against, and I will stop you.*"
"*I have often wondered what it feels like to lose.*"

—Batman and Rā's al Ghūl in Wonder Tower.

## Appearance & Biography

*Voice Actor:* Dee Bradley Baker (English), Not Known (Japanese), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (German), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (French), Not Known (Latin American 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 brown hair with white streaks. He has a long mustache and wild 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: Brown with white streaks
* Eye Color: Green
* Height: 6 ft. 0 in.
* Weight: 140 lb. (Venom's full potential; 350 lb.)

### Attributes:

* Genius intellect, master strategist and tactician.
* Superior strength and stamina.
* Superb hand-to-hand combatant (Advanced), trained over millennia/centuries.
* Master Swordsman.
* 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.
* Tactical Analysis.
* Criminal Mastermind.
* Alchemy.
* Leader of the League of Assassins (The Demon's Head).

## Personality

Like Batman, Rā's had a burning hatred of the criminal underbelly. However, the difference is while Batman would never kill, Rā's acted as judge, jury, and executioner and sought to eradicate the criminal element from the face of the earth which could make him psychopathic.

Although he was once a proud, fearless, and honorable warrior, centuries of living has twisted Rā's personality into a wrathful, merciless, and fearsome warlord. He was not above killing someone when they disappointed or outlived their usefulness to him, as shown when he executed Silas and Scarecrow on top of Wonder Tower from behind, in cold-blood. Furthermore he would sacrifice anything and anyone to achieve his goals even if it was his own daughter.

Rā's is said to have been living for hundreds of years perhaps even centuries because of a mythical "Fountain of Youth" called the Lazarus Pit which has expanded his life longer than a mortals. However, he was in no way afraid of death as he frequently tried to goad Batman into killing him during their battle, but the frequent use of this chemical has corrupted Rā's mind.

Despite his cold and calculating nature, Rā's was a caring father to his daughter, Talia al Ghul. However, because of his misuse of the Lazarus Pit, Rā's became more violent and abusive toward his daughter and even went as far to hold her at knife-point and threatened to kill her if Batman did not take his place as the leader of the League of Assassins which proved to be his undoing.

Rā's is a highly skilled warrior and trained in every martial art in the world, but is also a master tactician and highly intelligent man who can easily manipulate a situation to his advantage as shown when he got Shiva to trick Quincy into opening Arkham Asylum and used Silas to unlock Arkham City and activate Protocol 10.

## Relationships

### Friends/Allies

* League of Assassins
	+ Lady Shiva

### Family

* Melisande (wife)
* Nyssa Raatko (2nd daughter)
* Dusan al Ghūl (brother)
* Talia al Ghul (daughter, deceased)

### Neutral

* Falcone Crime Family
	+ Vincent Falcone
* Scarecrow

### Enemies

* Bat Family
	+ Batman
	+ Robin
* Teen Titans
	+ Nightwing
* Leonid Pavel
* Gotham City Police
	+ James Gordon
* Outsiders

## Weapons and Abilities

### Abilities

* **Immense knowledge**: Due to his advanced age, Rā's has proven to have complete over the state of the world and the feelings of others.
* **Leadership**:
* **Master Manipulator**: Rā's shows that he is a master at manipulating others as he was able to turn Katana against Alfred Pennyworth and Arthur Elric by simply telling her that he would release her father's soul if she'd kill Arthur. He also used the fear of the people in Gotham City during the blackout to his advantage in order to seize control of the area without any problem.
* **Master Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)**: As the leader of the League of Assassins, Rā's shows great proficiency in martial arts which were so great that he was able to collect and teach a mass group of followers who are greatly skilled. Rā's also defeated Batman in battle
* **Master strategist**: Rā's also show that he is a man capable of planning as it is mentioned he never loss a battle until batman ruined his plans causing him to remark that he never knew what it felt like to lose. Before this Rā's proved that he was very skilled planner as he was able to bring the enemies of batman to his cause by offering them a piece of Gotham if they captured the vigilante by sunrise.
* **Expert Swordsman**: Though he is not shown using his sword in battle it is presumed that he is very proficient using a sword due to having the Soultaker Sword for centuries.
* **Suspended animation/Hibernation**: He can enter a state of hibernation or suspend animation. During his hibernate state, all of his bodily injuries regenerate completely & he de-ages or stops aging, thereby extending his lifespan. He can also go on without sustenance for almost indefinitely.
* **Enhanced capabilities due to exposure to the Lazarus Formula:**
	+ **Enhanced Strength**: Rā's is able to show atlas above-peak-human levels of physical strength.
	+ **Enhanced Endurance**: Rā's can exert himself for hours and tolerate more damage than Batman.
	+ **Enhanced Reflexes**: Rā's reacts instantaneously to any kind of attack
	+ **Highly Advanced Regeneration:** Rā's can even "heal" himself from death & regenerate any physiological & psychological damage to a molecular level at high-speeds.
		- **Extreme Longevity**: Rā's healing & regeneration capabilities keep him young.

### Strength level

* **Peak human strength**: Despite being over centuries old, he has shown that he is very efficient in a battle proven when Rā's was able to single handily defeat Batman (an above average human himself) in one on one battle without being tired.

## Notes & Trivia

* He is over six hundred years old.
* He was a warrior in the court of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
* His origin is from Near East.
* He is the oldest character in the series.
* 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".
* Rā's' army mining throughout Wonder City after their return is the cause of the seismic activity that caused part of Arkham City to be submerged in water.