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| “ | It is true, you know! There is no man your equal-- therefore, you are the only man I can love! | „ |
| ~ Talia al Ghul. |
| “ | You are-- and will always be-- an assassin at heart, my lovely boy. Your mother's child. | „ |
| ~ Talia al Ghul to Damian Wayne. |
| “ | My exercise has clarified that Leviathan is nothing without me. You were all too busy power-grabbing and killing one another to make Leviathan effective. I was never merely the boss of Leviathan. It cannot exist without me. I am Leviathan. | „ |
| ~ Talia al Ghul. |
| “ | For once in my father's life, he tried to do the 'right thing.' A plan he hoped to save the world with. And he was killed for it. So I brought you all here together. To set aside our petty squabbles. Our unfortunate conflicts. And accept this mission. As a favor to me. Ra's al Ghul is gone. But his shadow will live forever with you… The Demon's Shadow. From the darkness, we will strike in a way the world has never seen. Deathstroke. His family. Anyone who has ever worked with him or tries to protect him... Kill them all. | „ |
| ~ Talia al Ghul. |
Talia al Ghul is a major antagonist in the DC Universe, specifically serving as a major antagonist in the Batman franchise.
She is the daughter and right-hand of Ra's al Ghul and co-leader of the League of Assassins, as well as a former lover/enemy of Batman, the mother of his son Damian Wayne, and the arch-rival of Catwoman.
She traveled the world with her father and learned numerous skills from him. Talia is also one of Batman's many love interests, but her loyalty to her father keeps them from being together. She would occasionally betray her father and help Batman or vice versa. However, after being spurred by him continuously and having their son side with him over her, she is now committed to destroying his legacy and everything he represents - including sacrificing their child to replace with a compliant clone.
She was created by the late Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams, first appearing in Detective Comics #411 in May of 1971.
History[]
Son of The Demon[]
Talia and Batman have a passionate, yet complicated relationship. Over ten years ago, the two engaged in a sexual relationship that left Talia pregnant (The details surrounding this incident change depending on the story, such as whether or not the two were legally married). Her son, Damian Wayne, would eventually become the fifth Robin.
Lexcorp[]
At some point after the Son of Demon, she becomes the new CEO of Lexcorp following Lex Luthor's nomination as President of the United States. While apparently working under Lex, she secretly tries overthrow him and eventually sells all of Lexcorp's assets to Wayne Foundation, leaving Luthor broke.
Red Hood: The Lost Years[]
When Jason Todd was killed and subsequently resurrected-albeit with brain damage-Talia took him in, hoping to win Batman's love by taking care of one of his sidekicks. When Talia threw Jason into a lazarus pit, he emerged mentally restored. In order to stall him from killing Batman, Talia agrees to finance Jason and aid him in his training.
Batman and Son[]
Talia and Damian
After the death of Ra's al Ghul, Talia became an increasingly villainous character, inheriting the League of Assassins and upgrading all her mercenaries using Kirk Langstrom's formula to create an army of ninja Man-Bats. She kidnapped Bruce Wayne, reminding him of the events in Son of The Demon, and introduced him to their son, Damian. This was revealed to be a distraction for the detective, as Talia instigated a terrorist attack whilst Damian ran around Gotham wreaking havoc. Damian showed that he was inherently heroic by siding with his father instead of his mother. Talia would then declare war on both father and son for this.
Batman Inc.[]
Talia (left) with her clone-son.
Talia becomes the head of the sinister terrorist organization known as Leviathan. She sends moles to infiltrate the infrastructures of various communities, particularly Gotham. These moles then go about indoctrinating children under the guise of teachers and other figures that children are told to trust.
Talia also manages to clone Damian, artificially grow the clone to adult size and use him as a personal bodyguard. Ra's al Ghul tries to reason with Talia, saying that her vendetta against Batman will do more harm than good, but Talia will not listen. Talia then orders for Damian's execution as a way of spiting Batman for turning their son against her.
Relationships[]
Allies[]
- Ra's al Ghul (father; sometimes)
- The League of Assassins
- Batman (love interest and ex-boyfriend; sometimes)
- Man-Bat
- Dr. Light
- Athanasia al Ghul (daughter, Injustice timeline)
- Tallant Wayne (son, Brotherhood of the Bat timeline)
- Saif al Ghul (son, Earth al Ghul timeline)
- Taj al Ghul (son, Earth al Ghul timeline)
- Janan al Ghul (daughter, Earth al Ghul timeline)
- Alfred Pennyworth
- Bane (love interest; formerly)
- Cheetah
- Cheshire
- Damian Wayne (son; sometimes)
- Jason Todd (formerly)
- Lex Luthor (sometimes)
- Riddler
- Superman (formerly)
Enemies[]
- Batman (ex-boyfriend; sometimes)
- Catwoman (arch-rival)
- Bane
- Batwoman
- Black Canary
- Damian Wayne (son; sometimes)
- Nightwing
- Jason Todd
- Tim Drake
- Azrael (Jean-Paul Valley)
- Lex Luthor (sometimes)
- Plastic Man
- Poison Ivy
- Power Girl
- Ra's al Ghul (father; sometimes)
- Superman
- Wonder Woman
- Zatanna
In other media[]
DC Animated Universe[]
- Main article: Talia al Ghul (DC Animated Universe)
Talia is a recurring character in the DC Animated Universe, first appearing in Batman: The Animated Series, where she alternates between antagonist and ally to Batman. She also appears in Superman: The Animated Series.
The Dark Knight Rises[]
- Main article: Talia al Ghul (Nolanverse)
Marion Cotillard as Talia al Ghul in The Dark Knight Rises.
Talia al Ghul serves as one of the two main antagonists of the third and final Dark Knight trilogy movie, The Dark Knight Rises. She goes under the alias Miranda Tate for the majority of the film and acts as a supporting protagonist. She is the heir and the leader to the League of Shadows, with her friend and partner, Bane, serving as the field commander.
In the movie, she was portrayed by Marion Cotillard - who also portrayed Mal Cobb in Inception, Lady Macbeth in the 2015 film adaptation of Macbeth, and Scarlet Overkill in the French dub of Minions - as an adult, and by Joey King - who also portrayed Claire Shannon in Wish Upon and Magenta in Flash - as a child.
DC Animated Film Universe[]
- Main article: Talia al Ghul (DC Animated Film Universe)
Talia appears in major roles in two films of the DC Animated Film Universe, being the mother of her and Batman's son Damian Wayne. She first appears as a major supporting character in Son of Batman, then as a cameo in Batman vs Robin and finally as the main antagonist of Batman: Bad Blood.
Arrowverse[]
- Main article: Talia al Ghul (Arrowverse)
Talia al Ghul appears as one of the two main antagonists of Season 5 in the CW-owned shared universe, with Simon Morrison under the alias of Adrian Chase as Prometheus being her warrior accomplice. She first appears as a child in 1960 in the DC's Legends of Tomorrow episode "Left Behind", and appears in Season 5 of its parent series Arrow. She is Ra's al Ghul's first child, but went unseen during previous seasons, replaced by Nyssa al Ghul, her younger half-sister.
She was introduced at the very end of an episode called Who Are You?, where she saved Oliver Queen from the Russian mobs. Next, in episodes Second Chances and Bratva, it was shown that she was the final mentor of Oliver Queen, she trained him in hand-to-hand combat and use of arrows, and ultimately gave him the idea of becoming the vigilante called The Greed Arrow. It was she who gave him his famous green costume, which was seen on Oliver in the first season of the show. By this, her appearances in the past ended.
But later, in present days, Oliver Queen discovers that she was the mentor of his current enemy, Prometheus, who he's now fighting with. He reaches Talia in her mountain castle in the episode called Checkmate, where the real motives and significance of Talia in this story were truly determined. It was revealed that she is actually a member of Al Ghul family, a daughter of one of the Arrow's strongest villains Ra's Al Ghul, and the very reason she agreed to train the man calling himself Adrian Chase and help him to become Prometheus was her sympathy for his lost, for Oliver killing his father as well. She openly confesses to Oliver that she wants him suffer in a big way. In the end of an episode Oliver as Green Arrow was captured by Prometheus/Adrian Chase. Talia appears before him on the side of Chase, when he blames her for dealing with such a psychopath. When leaving, Talia orders Chase to make sure Queen is suffering. [1]
Catwoman: Hunted[]
Talia al Ghul is the overarching antagonist in the 2022 animated movie Catwoman: Hunted. She is the leader of the League of Shadows, who helps Barbara Minerva and the Leviathan organization kill Catwoman.
Trivia[]
- Originally, Bruce and Talia had a mutual night of intimacy, which resulted in the conception of Damian. However, from Grant Morrison's run, it was retconned that Talia drugged and raped Bruce.
- While Jason Todd was originally revived when Superboy Prime punched the walls of reality, subsequent versions have him revived in a Lazarus Pit; thus, Talia helped him recover, but also had a sexual encounter with him when he was 17 or 18, however, due to her be having had a relationship with his adopted father, it reinforced her later more immoral personality.
External Links[]
- Talia al Ghul on the DC Wiki
- Talia Al Ghul on the Love Interest Wiki
- Talia al Ghul on Wikipedia
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