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| “ | If someone stands in the way of true justice, you simply walk up behind them and stab them in the heart. | „ |
| ~ Ra's al Ghul's most famous line |
Ra's al Ghul, also known as Henri Ducard, is the main antagonist of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight franchise, appearing as the main antagonist of Batman Begins and the posthumous overarching antagonist of The Dark Knight Rises.
He is the leader of the League of Shadows, and Batman's former ally and mentor. He plan to destroy Gotham City, which he sees as corrupt beyond saving, which puts him in direct conflict with his former protege. After his death, his daughter Talia takes up his mission to destroy Gotham.
He was portrayed by Liam Neeson, who also portrayed a villainous version of himself in Family Guy. In The Dark Knight Rises, Josh Pence portrays him as a younger man.
History[]
Ra's was once a mercenary who fell in love with and married a warlord's daughter, even though the warlord had already promised her hand in marriage to one of his allies. When the warlord found out about their marriage, he imprisoned Ra's in the Pit, but his wife, by then pregnant with Ra's' child, managed to win his freedom by taking his place in prison. She died after giving birth to their child, who was raised in the Pit until finally escaping, becoming the only person in the prison's history to do so.
Batman Begins[]
Calling himself Henri Ducard, Ra's al Ghul visits Bruce Wayne in a Bhutanese prison and offers to make him a member of The League of Shadows. Bruce agrees, and Ra's orders Bruce to find a rare blue flower outside the prison and near a mountain. Bruce then brings the flower to the temple on top of the mountain, and meets an imposter posing as Ra's al Ghul, part of a plan to manipulate and mold him into the destroyer of Gotham City.
Ra's puts Bruce through months of intense ninjutsu training, teaching him martial arts and how to use theatricality and deception to confuse and frighten his enemies. He reveals that the flower Bruce brought to the temple can be condensed into a fear-inducing hallucinogenic compound, and uses it in the training to help Bruce face his fear. He also tells Bruce about the death of his wife, and how it nearly destroyed him until he learned to dedicate himself to the ideal of "true justice".
After seeing that Bruce has become a formidable warrior, Ra's presents his final test - to execute a convicted murderer. Bruce refuses, however, saying that he cannot fight criminals by sinking to their level. Ra's and the decoy entreat him to kill the man and help them destroy Gotham City. Bruce instead destroys the temple and inadvertently kills the decoy, but rescues Ra's.
After returning to Gotham City and becoming the vigilante Batman, Bruce learns that Dr. Jonathan Crane, also known as The Scarecrow, is smuggling a "fear toxin" derived from the hallucinogenic blue flower into Gotham City with help from mob boss Carmine Falcone and a mysterious, powerful benefactor. As Batman, he uses the toxin on Crane and demands to know who he is working for; Crane, literally scared out of his mind, replies that he is working for Ra's al Ghul. Batman dismisses this, believing that Ra's al Ghul is dead. Later, Falcone demands more money from the smuggling operation, and Crane replies that their benefactor will simply kill him before dosing him with the fear toxin and driving him insane.
On the night of Bruce's 30th birthday, he is stunned to see the man he believes to be Ducard, who identifies himself as the real Ra's al Ghul. Ra's then explains that he will use Crane's fear toxin on the entire city, causing mass casualties as its inhabitants maim and kill each other, spurred on by panic-induced hallucinations. He also explains that Gotham is to be but the latest "decadent", crime-filled city that the League of Shadows has destroyed over thousands of years, and that they had brought on the economic depression that caused people like Joe Chill, the murderer of Bruce's parents, to turn to crime, thus making them indirectly responsible for the Waynes' murder. Finally, Ra's sets fire to Wayne Manor, and leaves Bruce to die. (Bruce manages to survive and escape, however.)
Ra's initiates the first phase of his plan by releasing the inmates of Arkham Asylum onto the streets to wreak havoc. He then sprays a small amount of fear toxin into the air, creating a panic. Finally, he cuts the breaks of Gotham's monorail train, thus sending it on a collision course with Wayne Tower, where the fear toxin is stored. At the last minute, however, Batman appears on the train and fights Ra's. Meanwhile, Sergeant Jim Gordon uses the Batmobile to bomb the monorail track, causing the train to derail. Bruce overpowers Ra's, and tells him that, while he will not kill him, he does not have to save him. He then escapes the train moments before it crashes into a deserted alley, killing Ra's.
The Dark Knight Rises[]
Nine years after Ra's death, the League of Shadows re-emerges, led by Bane, whom Ra's once excommunicated from the group. When Bane breaks Batman's back and puts him in a remote Middle Eastern prison called the Pit, Batman hallucinates Ra's gloating over the impending destruction of Gotham at Bane's hands.
After escaping the Pit and fighting Bane, Batman is incapacitated by his former lover, Miranda Tate - who reveals her true identity as Ra's al Ghul's daughter, Talia. She explains that Bane had been her protector in the Pit and helped her escape. Ra's, however, saw him only as a monster and a reminder of his wife's death, and so excommunicated him from the League. When Batman foils Bane and Talia's plot to destroy Gotham with a nuclear bomb, and both villains are killed in the attempt, Ra's al Ghul's legacy is finally put to an end.
Personality[]
Ra's is ruthless, cunning, and completely devoted to destroying Gotham City to achieve his twisted ideal of "balance". While he genuinely loved his wife and, presumably, Talia, he holds the rest of the world in complete contempt, considering modern society decadent and corrupt. He has no faith in the law, considering courts to be nothing but "corrupt bureaucrats", and is devoid of mercy and compassion, seeing those values as weaknesses that criminals exploit.
Skills[]
Ra's was an excellent soldier: he was an expert swordsman and fought classically with a Katana blade with flawless skill. He was capable of holding his own and gaining the upper hand against Batman during their final duel. Ra's was very aware of his surroundings in a fight, and used the environment to his advantage when it appeared that he would lose. He was also a superb fist-fighter, due to his advanced martial arts training.
Trivia[]
- Liam Neeson was not credited as Ra's al Ghul in the ending credits of Batman Begins. Instead, he was referred to by his pseudonym Ducard and the part of Ra's al Ghul was attributed to Ken Watanabe, who portrayed the decoy Ra's. Neeson was credited as Ra's al Ghul in The Dark Knight Rises.
- Though Ra's al Ghul was not seen or mentioned in The Dark Knight, Bruce quoted him by saying that criminals were not complicated.
- Similar to the Joker and Bane, antagonists in the trilogy's following installments, Ra's al Ghul's real name is never revealed, although it was possible that Henri Ducard was his birth name and not an alias.
- Neeson expressed interest in reprising his role as al Ghul in the The CW series Arrow. But he didn't accept the role when he had the opportunity so Matt Nable ended up taking it.
- Liam Neeson and Josh Pence also acted together in Battleship.
- While doing press interviews for Batman Begins, Neeson compared Ra's al Ghul to Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
External Links[]
- Ra's al Ghul at the Villains Wiki