* Batman Beyond ( 1999 – 2001 ): In the episode " Out of the Past ," it is revealed that sometime in 2009, Batman fought Ra's al Ghul in an incident referred to as " The Near-Apocalypse of 09.

In the 2010 film Batman: Under the Red Hood, the explanation for Jason's escape from death was retconned to Ra's al Ghul obtaining his body and immersing it in the Lazarus Pit.

Originally conceived to become a host for his maternal grandfather's soul as well as a pawn against the Dark Knight, Batman saved his child from this fate which forced Ra's to inhabit his own son's body, and Damian is affectionate to his father.

He has often played villains, in films such as The Thirty Nine Steps ( 1978 ), Time After Time ( 1979 ), Time Bandits ( 1981 ), Tron ( 1982 ), Hanna's War ( 1988 ), and television series such as Batman: The Animated Series playing Ra's al Ghul, the anti-mutant scientist Herbert Landon in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, as well as rogue agent Alpha in the animated Men in Black series and the Archmage in Disney's Gargoyles and finally The Lobe in Freakazoid.

He also voiced one of Batman's greater enemies, Ra's Al Ghul, in Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, and an episode of Batman Beyond.

McDowell has lent his voice to Lord Maliss in Happily Ever After, the Superman villain Metallo in Superman: The Animated Series, Mad Mod in Teen Titans, Merlyn in DC Showcase: Green Arrow, Arkady Duvall ( son of Ra's Al Ghul ) in Batman: The Animated Series and as the voice of a Death Star commander in a Robot Chicken episode parodying Star Wars.

The two of them agree to work together and the Riddler sets Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Joker, Clayface, and Scarecrow out to destroy Batman, with Ra's and Talia al Ghul, and Lady Shiva being temporarily drawn into the scheme as well.

In addition, Batman warns him that if he reveals the secret, it would give Ra's al Ghul a vital clue that he used a Lazarus Pit without his permission, and the League of Assassins would subsequently retaliate against him.

After his returns he confronts Two-Face and Ra's al Ghul, proving two of his mentor's greatest enemies that he is an equal to Batman after he defeated them.

He has voiced Ra's Al Ghul in the Batman Begins video game.

He provided the voice of Ra's al Ghul in the 2010 DC animated film, Batman: Under the Red Hood.

Ra's al Ghul has been featured in various media adaptions, most notably the 2005 Christopher Nolan film, Batman Begins, where he was portrayed by actors Liam Neeson and Ken Watanabe ( the latter being an expendable decoy ).

As told in Birth of the Demon, Ra's al Ghul is born over 600 years before his first appearance in Batman comics, to a tribe of nomads in a desert somewhere in Arabia, near a city whose inhabitants ' ancestors have journeyed to the Arabian Peninsula from China.

Note: Batman: Birth of the Demon provides a rough figure of 500 years for Ra's al Ghul's age.

" In Batman Annual # 25 ( published in 2006 ), Ra's al Ghul is described as a " 700-Year Old International Terrorist.

The first appearance of Ra's al Ghul, from Batman # 232, June 1971.

Ra's returns to prominence and comes dangerously close to realizing his dream of worldwide genocide in the " Contagion " story arc of the Batman titles.

Ra's allies himself with Bane, the man who once crippled and nearly killed Batman.

Eventually, Batman deduces a way to eliminate the Clench virus from an ancient " Wheel of Plagues " artifact whose knowledge has aided Ra's in the creation of the disease.

This theft prevents Batman from realizing Ra's is using his traps until it is too late, as he is distracted by the search for the corpses of his parents.

Though defeated, Ra's does cause the exit of Batman from the JLA, who now distrust the Caped Crusader.

Ra's blames Batman for his failed relationship with Talia, and stages a plot where he tries to separate Batman from his heir, Dick Grayson, shortly before Wayne officially adopts his former ward as his son.

Nightwing defeats Ra's and earns the immortal's respect, signified by leaving his sword in the Batcave as a gift after their fight.

In Batman Begins, the main part of the mansion is destroyed by fire caused by Ra's al Ghul, however its foundation survives intact and rebuilding efforts are underway as the film ends, with Alfred suggesting to Bruce to make improvements on the mansion's southeast corner ( where the Batcave is located ).

Ra's al Ghul enters the Batcave, revealing to Batman that he knows Batman's secret identity and saying that Talia was also kidnapped along with Dick.

It is too late for Ra's, as Nyssa stabs her father through the heart, seemingly killing him for good.

The plan backfires, as Ra's is left writhing in the pit, seemingly destroyed.

In time, through the use of Batman's notes, Ra's al Ghul was able to fashion a synthetic red kryptonite, this version turning Superman's skin transparent and leaving him almost exploding with power as the sunlight that gave him his powers was sent directly into his muscles without being filtered by his skin.

Ra's al Ghul ( Raʾs al-Ġūl ; " Demon's Head ") is a fictional character, a DC Comics supervillain who is one of Batman's greatest enemies.

For his own part, Batman's opposition to Ra's is complicated by his attraction to the villain's daughter, Talia, which she reciprocates.

In the " Tower of Babel " storyline, in JLA # 43-46, Ra's discovers Batman's contingency plans for stopping the other members of the Justice League of America, should they turn or be turned evil, and uses them to try to destroy the group.

Meanwhile, Ra's steals the bodies of Batman's parents.

Ra's first deduces Batman's secret identity when he realizes that the Dark Knight has to be rich, and learns that only Bruce Wayne has bought the equipment that a crime fighter would have ; he is then ready to put Batman to a final test.

Similar to The Riddler, Ra's admires Batman's intellectual prowess first and foremost, regularly referring to Batman as " Detective " or " The Detective " when speaking to or about him.

And despite being aware of Batman's true identity as Bruce Wayne since before their first meeting, Ra's has never exposed that information to the public or Batman's other rogues ; it's a consideration that Batman attributes to Ra's personal code of honor.

In the story " Resurrection Night " in Batman # 400, Ra's helps all of Batman's foes to escape from Arkham Asylum and the Gotham State Penitentiary, setting them on a plan to abduct certain individuals across Gotham City who are linked in one form or another to Batman.

In the graphic novel Son of the Demon, Ra's successfully enlists Batman's aid in defeating a rogue assassin and warlord, Qayin ( a variation on the spelling of Cain ), who has murdered Ra's ' then-wife Melisande ( Talia's mother ).

It is later revealed that Ra's was financing the operations of Hugo Strange, after he comes to him with Batman's identity.

Miranda Tate, the Wayne Enterprises board member responsible for the project in the first place, reveals herself to be Talia al Ghul, the child of Batman's deceased enemy Ra's al Ghul.

Batman then goes with Ra's to search for Dick and Talia ; in the end, it is revealed that Talia loves Batman and that the entire kidnapping is a setup designed by Ra's as a final test of Batman's suitability as an heir.

In the graphic novel Son of the Demon, Ra's al Ghul successfully enlists Batman's aid in defeating a rogue assassin who had murdered his wife, Talia's mother.

* In the Batman Beyond episode " Out of the Past ", it is revealed that Batman's final confrontation with Ra's, during a period known as the Near-Apocalypse of 2009, left Ra's so injured that not even the pits could heal him.

After Batman's return to the city and near the end of the story, Miranda stabs Batman to help Bane and reveals herself to be the child of Ra's al Ghul that escaped the prison.