By Phil Perich for Before the Bat: The Gotham Podcast

You may be wondering why I’m writing about a character who just appeared on Arrow in a Batman blog. That’s because until his Arrow appearance, Ra’s has primarily been a Batman villain. Ra’s first appeared in Batman #232 (June 1971).

Ra’s was born 600 years ago to a tribe of nomads that lived in a desert somewhere in Arabia. Although he only married twice, ra’s has fathered many children in his long life. His lifespan has been prolonged due to his bathing in Lazarus Pits. Ra’s wants to bring balance and harmony to the planet, but he believes the only way to bring this about is to kill off the majority of the human race. Ra’s meets Batman when he appears in the Batcave one day. Ra’s claims that his daughter Talia and Robin (Dick Grayson) have been kidnapped and that they must team up to save them. Ra’s says he figured out Batman’s identity by researching which rich American men had the money, skills, and drive to become Batman. Batman learns that the kidnapping is staged by Ra’s to test Batman to see if he is worthy to become Ra’s heir. Ra’s daughter Talia falls in love with Batman and Ra’s wants him to take control of his organization and marry his daughter and give him grandchildren. Batman refuses, which starts their years long war. Ra’s respects his enemy’s intellect, which is way he always addresses Batman as “detective”. Ra’s has attempted many schemes to further his goals, such as trying to kill the citizens of Gotham City and beyond with a deadly virus called Ebola Gulf A. He has also taken on the entire Justice League when he builds giant machines that create an effect that causes no one on Earth to understand spoken language.

Ra’s daughter Talia drugs Batman and manages to become pregnant with his child.

The boy is trained by the League of Assassins for the first 10 years of his life before he (Damian Wayne) is put into his father’s care.

When Bruce Wayne is believed dead, Ra’s cannot believe that his most skilled enemy is dead, even after he battles Nightwing before he takes up the mantle of Batman.

Ra’s had been portrayed many times in many animated DC movies and series. He has been portrayed in live action twice. The first time was by world famous actor Liam Neeson in the movie Batman Begins.