League of Shadows

The League of Shadows was a group of vigilantes led by Ra's al Ghul in the film Batman Begins. They are based on the similar League of Assassins from the Batman comics.

Throughout history, the League of Shadows was a secret society that, in their minds, restored balance to places where the environment was affected by human corruption. Some of their activities were the sacking of Rome, starting the Black Plague, and the great London fire. Whether Ra's al Ghul was always the leader due to the life-restoring Lazarus Pit (as in the comics) is unknown. An ancient and powerful organization, the League was based on a mountain in the Himalayas (though other bases around the world may have existed)

At one time, when Bruce Wayne was but a child, the League attacked Gotham City. Infiltrating its infrastructure and manipulating the economy, it started a depression that was designed to destroy the city. However, the crime that resulted from it brought about the death of Thomas Wayne and his wife. This shocked the people of Gotham, most notably the rich and powerful, into saving the city from the depression.

A number of years later, Bruce himself joined the League to fight injustice. While traveling the globe, he was recruited from a Tibetan prison by a man named Henri Ducard, who saw great potential in the angry young man. After completing his training, he saw what the League really was, and left, destroying their base and the man he believed to be Ra's al Ghul himself. However, he saved Ducard, his teacher while in the League.

Bruce returned to Gotham City and became Batman to fight the city's crime, using Ducard's lessons in the martial arts, stealth, intimidation, and theatricality. Meanwhile, the League was busy bringing a fear toxin (created from a hallucinogenic blue flower grown near their Himalayan base) into Gotham by employing some of Gotham's criminals, most notably Carmine Falcone and The Scarecrow. After Batman put both men behind bars, the League was forced to act sooner than expected. Using a microwave emmiter stolen from Wayne Enterprises, they began vaporizing the city's water supply, which the toxin had infected. Everyone who breathed in the toxin turned on everyone else in fear.

Batman, with the help of Jim Gordon, was able to stop the League before it could vaporize all the water in the city. In the process, Batman left Ra's for dead on a train that crashed. Whether he survived is unknown, and the League's current activities, if any, are unknown. Though they may have disbanded with the death of their leader, the League's longevity would indicate that they may one day rise again.

Appearances

 * Batman Begins
 * Batman Begins (Book)