Ra's al Ghul (Arabic: رأس الغول - Raʾs al-Ġūl; Demon's Head) is the mastermind antagonist of the television series Gotham. Making his debut in the third season, he serves as the main antagonist of the fourth season. Ra's appears as the leader of the League of Shadows, whose goal is to turn Bruce Wayne into his heir and the protector of Gotham City.
History[]
Ra's al Ghul is the enigmatic person behind the Court of Owls' activities and leader of the League of Shadows. With a past shrouded in mystery, the powerful supervillain uses cunning and deception to lay waste to his foes. His identity is foreshadowed upon the death of Shaman who works for Ra's al Ghul. When Bruce Wayne meets Ra's al Ghul in the bowels of the Yuyan Building, Ra's al Ghul mentioned that he wanted Bruce to be his heir and does a final test where he wants him to kill Alfred Pennyworth. After Bruce stabs Alfred, he angrily tries to attack Ra's al Ghul who gets away where he advises to Bruce to use the Lazarus Pit's waters to heal Alfred.
Siddig was promoted to a series regular for season 4. During this time, it is revealed that he had revived Barbara Kean through the Lazarus Pit and is seeking a specific embalming knife.
After killing Niles Winthrop and later Alex Winthrop in front of Bruce and Gordon, Ra's al Ghul surrenders and is remanded to Blackgate Penitentiary to await trial. While also transferring some of his energy to a visiting Barbara, Ra's al Ghul also had some of his men infiltrate Blackgate Penitentiary by posing as the prison guards. After doing a threat to Bruce Wayne to return to bother him when he starts a family, Bruce reluctantly uses the embalming knife on Ra's al Ghul which reduces him to a skeleton just as Gordon and Alfred arrive. Gordon came up with a cover story that Ra's al Ghul's men infiltrated the prison and made off with him.
The League of Shadows members that were loyal to Ra's al Ghul used a ritual that involved Bruce Wayne's blood to bring Ra's al Ghul to life when they think that Barbara is not living up to her potential. Following a duel where her abilities show her different outcomes like her getting stabbed or Tabitha's neck getting slit, Barbara relinquishes the abilities which fully restores Ra's al Ghul. Afterwards, he later pays a visit to Bruce when Selina is around where he states that an upcoming fire in Gotham City will shape him into a Dark Knight....if it doesn't consume him first.
After Ra's al Ghul's men help Jeremiah Valeska abduct Bruce in order to further his destiny, Ra's al Ghul and Jeremiah come into conflict with Alfred Pennyworth, Barbara Kean, Penguin, and Tabitha Galavan. Barbara manipulates Bruce's hand into using the reforged embalming knife to stab Ra's al Ghul again. As Gotham City starts to become a no man's land, Ra's al Ghul advises Bruce in his dying breath to embrace his destiny.
Appearances[]
Season 3[]
- "Heroes Rise: Pretty Hate Machine" (referenced)
- "Heroes Rise: Destiny Calling"
- "Heroes Rise: Heavydirtysoul"
Season 4[]
- "A Dark Knight: Pax Penguina"
- "A Dark Knight: The Fear Reaper" (referenced)
- "A Dark Knight: They Who Hide Behind Masks"
- "A Dark Knight: The Demon's Head"
- "A Dark Knight: The Blade's Path"
- "A Dark Knight: A Day in the Narrows" (mentioned)
- "A Dark Knight: Let Them Eat Pie" (mentioned)
- "A Dark Knight: Queen Takes Knight" (mentioned)
- "A Dark Knight: A Beautiful Darkness" (hallucination)
- "A Dark Knight: The Sinking Ship, The Grand Applause" (hallucination)
- "A Dark Knight: One of My Three Soups" (flashback)
- "A Dark Knight: That's Entertainment" (painting)
- "A Dark Knight: To Our Deaths and Beyond"
- "A Dark Knight: One Bad Day"
- "A Dark Knight: No Man's Land"
Season 5[]
- "Legend of the Dark Knight: Pena Dura" (mentioned)
- "Legend of the Dark Knight: The Trial of Jim Gordon" (mentioned)
- "Legend of the Dark Knight: I Am Bane" (flashback)
- "Legend of the Dark Knight: They Did What?" (mentioned)
Trivia[]
- Ra's al Ghul (translated from Arabic as the Head of the Demon) is an enemy of Batman in the comics, who was created by Julius Schwartz, Dennis O'Neil, and Neal Adams, and made his first appearance in Batman #232 (June 1971). In issue #400 of the Batman comics, his name is also revealed to mean The Mischief Maker, a character from the Arabian Nights. He is the leader of the League of Assassins (also called League of Shadows in specific media appearances) where he is the son of Sensei and the father of Talia al Ghul, Nyssa Raatko, and Dusan al Ghul.
- The second live-action version of Ra's al Ghul to appear on television and the third live-action version overall, with the first being in the 2005 live-action movie Batman Begins played by Liam Neeson and the second being in the series Arrow played by Matt Nable. Alexander Siddig is the first time an Arab actor portrays the character.
- Ra's al Ghul is the main catalyst for the events of the whole show since he is the true leader of the Court of Owls who ordered the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne (although this didn't come from Ra's), which resulted in Penguin snitching on Fish Mooney. Carmine Falcone then ordered Jim Gordon to kill Penguin but instead spared him, and Penguin returned to Gotham and eventually became a kingpin, thus setting in motion for the rest of the series' events. Ra's also orchestrated most of the other events, since he funded Hugo Strange's experiments that led to the creation of the Monsters (including Fish Mooney, Azrael, Firefly, Mr. Freeze, 514A, and Jerome Valeska).
- Due to the flashback shown in the episode A Dark Knight: They Who Hide Behind Masks and the frequent mentions of Ra's Al Ghul as being over or around 2000 years old in other episodes, it appears that the timeline of the show would be either set around the late 21st century or the early 22nd century within the show's universe. To date, Ra's Al Ghul's first death has been the only time a scene featuring one of the recurring characters has actually been given a concrete year.