Talia al Ghul was the daughter of the League of Assassins' leader Ra's al Ghul, the former lover of Batman and the mother of Damian Wayne. Following her father's death, she took Damian to Gotham City so that Bruce could raise him while she took over the position as leader of the League.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Before Ra's al Ghul's death, Talia was romantically involved with Bruce Wayne aka Batman. At some point during their last encounter, she became pregnant with his son, Damian, after drugging him. Since birth, Talia had Damian trained by the League of Assassins and kept his existence from his father.
When Damian was older, Talia, Damian, and Ra's were overseeing the training of the League until they were breached by a League of Assassins led by Ra's al Ghul's former henchman, Deathstroke. Talia led the defense of the League's base, then after the death of Ra's, brought her son to Batman for safety. Talia was captured during a failed attack on Deathstroke's base and was subjected to severe torture. Later, Deathstroke used the threat of killing her to make Damian come to his base. In addition to her wounds from the torture, Talia was shot upon shielding Damian with her body. Batman later used the nearby Lazarus Pit, around which the base was built, to revive her. She was healed and, after thanking Batman for saving her and Damian's life, departed to rebuild the League, leaving Damian with Batman.
Son of Batman[]
Talia led the defense of the League of Assassins, when Slade Wilson/Deathstroke, Ra's al Ghul's former right-hand man/future successor, attempted a hostile takeover of Ra's organization. Following her father's death during the attack, Talia journeyed to Gotham City, where she introduced Bruce to Damian for the first time and left him in his care.
In a failed attack on Deathstroke's base and regain full control of the League, Talia was captured and became subject to torture. Later, Deathstroke used the threat of killing her to make Damian come after him. In addition to her wounds from the torture, Talia was shot upon shielding Damian with her body from a bullet. Batman later used the nearby Lazarus Pit (around which Deathstroke's base was built) to revive her. Following their victory, Damian chose to remain with his father, while Talia departed with the intention of rebuilding the League.
Batman vs. Robin[]
Talia makes a cameo appearing in Bruce's nightmare as one of the fallen next to Damian Wayne's Batman.
Batman: Bad Blood[]
Talia has abandoned any pretense of morality and relinquished her compassion for both Damian and Bruce, seeing both primarily as tools to serve her purpose. Talia creates an artificially full-grown clone of Damian known as the Heretic and recruits multiple super-villains like Blockbuster, Calculator, Electrocutioner, Firefly, Hellhound, Killer Moth, and Mad Hatter. After capturing Bruce, Talia brainwashes him into her loyal servant. Later, she has Bruce use the new communication software of Wayne Enterprise to brainwash the various political leaders of the world. Her efforts are ultimately stopped by the "Bat-Family" and Nightwing manages to help Bruce break free of Talia's control. Furious that she failed at both ambitions of controlling the world and having Bruce at her side, Talia retreats. She proceeds to escape on her jet, but is confronted inside by Onyx and counterattacks causing the jet to crash and leaving their fates unknown.
However, since she never reappeared in subsequent films it is likely that she died in the explosion along with Onyx or more than likely was erased when Barry Allen created a Second Flashpoint,
Bakground Information Notes[]
- Morena Baccarin provides the voice for the character in all her appearances.
- This version of the character is based on the New 52 version and nearly a completely analogous adaptation to that continuity. Therefore we must assume she that she must be referred to with the run-on name extension "Talia al Ghul." The original character was created as simply "Talia" by writer Denny O'Neil first appeared in Detective Comics #411. After O'Neil's retirement editors abandoned the original concept her having a singular name.