History Characters / TheDarkKnightTrilogyLeagueOfShadows

* BadassInCharge: Of the League of Shadows.

* BodyDouble: Ra's makes use of this trope to [[spoiler:appear immortal.]]

* TheConspiracy: Ducard claims that their predecessors sacked Rome, spread the Black Plague, and burned London.

** To Batman. Both are driven by the loss of their parents and use deception and [=WayneTech=] weaponry to achieve their goals. While Bruce Wayne played the part of a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob, Talia's alias as Miranda was perceived as a BourgeoisBohemian.

* [[AdaptationalNiceGuy Adaptational Nice Girl]]: To Bane and ''only'' Bane. In the comics, Bane was an AbhorrentAdmirer to her, despite some consensual relations at first and she grows to detest him. In this film, she genuinely cares for Bane due to how he helped save her when she was a little girl in her HellHolePrison.

!!''ComicBook/TaliaAlGhul''

** No shades of grey in this version of Talia. She's a straight-up villain, much like [[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman the time Grant Morrison made her the personification of their mommy issues]].

* VillainousBreakdown: Defied to an extreme. Talia remains calm and self-assured in her plan to the very end. When the first detonator fails, she shows [[DeathGlare only vague irritance]] before smirking and revealing her contingency plan. In the final chase, she shows a subdued [[OhCrap look of dread]] as her truck crashes but afterward submits to her injuries and gloats, insistent she has won anyway.

* DefiantToTheEnd: Even after Batman mortally wounds her, she continues to mock him and vow his inevitable failure in her dying breath.

* FatalFlaw: Years of meticulous and successfully executed planning were ruined by her overconfidence and sadistic thirst for vengeance.

* FinalBoss: She has the honor of being this for ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy''. Technically she's the PostFinalBoss as Bane was the main threat throughout the entirety of the movie and she mostly tries to finish the plan on her own. Unlike Bane, however, she doesn't have nearly the power to really go toe to toe with Batman in the climax, at best trying to have her men shoot and shake him when he flies after the truck carrying the fusion bomb. Once they're taken care of, Batman blows her off the road easily and mortally wounds her in the crash.

* VillainousBreakdown: Defied to an extreme. Talia remains calm and self-assured in her plan to the very end. She shows a subdued [[OhCrap look of dread]] as her truck crashes but afterward submits to her injuries, insistent she has won anyway.

* AuntiePennybags: Subverted. She appears to be using her wealth to help Gotham, but it's a front.

* BaldOfEvil: The young Talia shown in flashbacks had her head shaved, likely to fool audiences to fool that Ra's al Ghul's child was the similarly bald Bane.

* TheConspiracy: Ducard claims that their predecessors sacked Rome, spread the Black Plague and burned London.

* EvilIsNotAToy: Both Ra's and Bane manipulate Gotham's local criminals, convincing them to particpate in plans which they believe are for their own benefit, but in reality are attempts to destroy the city and presumably the criminal element with it.

** In ''Film/BatmanBegins'', Ra's claims that past League members were a check against corruption in places like Rome and London, but also that they were responsible for disasters in these areas. He also claims that Gotham's conditions make it deserving of destruction, with their first attempt at dong so through economic means. All without an ounce of irony.
** In ''''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', Bane and Talia want to nuke Gotham and kill Batman as revenge for Ra's, despite the hero plainly telling them that Ra's was trying to kill the city's population off himself.

A major figure in the secret organisation known as the League of Shadows, Ducard approaches Bruce Wayne on behalf of Ra's al Ghul. He becomes Bruce's mentor, training him and attempting to impart his philosophy of justice to him. He is really Ra's Al Ghul. the leader of the League of Shadows.

* AdaptationNameChange: In this universe, his name is pronounced "Raz al Gool" instead of "Raysh al Gool" like his co-creator Denny O'Neil intended. However, the former pronunciation is more correct in pure Arabic, while the latter pronunciation is a mix of Hebrew and Arabic.

* AdaptationalJobChange: Likely as a result of his being a CompositeCharacter with Ra's al Ghul, this Ducard is the leader of the League of Shadows, whereas the comics Ducard has no ties to the League of Assassins.
* AdaptationalVillainy: Henri Ducard was a rather stern and self-serving man in the comics, but was still an ally of Batman. The Ducard of the films is not only the real Ra's Al Ghul, but perfectly willing to destroy cities and leave his pupil to burn to death.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Gives Bruce the most challenge out of any League of Shadows members till Bane. He originally beats Bruce in his house, and while Bruce later beats him in a rematch, it is very hard fought.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Lists the various fighting styles that Bruce attempts to use when he first arrives at the monastery, as well as being able to to pay attention to the immediate environment whilst fighting and use it against him.

* EvilAllAlong: Not only is "Ducard" not a good guy, he's actually the ''real'' BigBad, Ra's Al Ghul.

* EvilIsPetty: While Bruce did indeed burn down Henri’s house (but to be fair didn’t know it was ''his''), he also sacrificed himself to prevent Henri from falling of a cliff. [[spoiler: Henri, on the other hand, burns down Bruce’s house too ''and'' leaves him to die in an act of revenge]].

* EvilPlan: [[spoiler: Destroy Gotham city because he believes ItIsBeyondSaving and in need of a MercyKill.]]

* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Melancholic. Depressive, determined and romantic. (Shares this with Bruce and Miranda.)

* KarmicDeath: His plan was to crash a train into Wayne Tower, poisoning the city's water supply and destroying the Wayne's legacy in one stroke. What actually happens is he's abandoned on said train when it's derailed, leading to his death.

* MythologyGag: In the comics Ra's al Ghul is immortal. In the movies he plays with the idea by the use of decoys, and in the final movie, a child who is willing to carry on his EvilPlan. He even appears as a hallucination to taunt Bruce long after he's dead. "There are many forms of immortality."

* TragicVillain: In stark contrast to [[Characters/TheDarkKnightTrilogyTheJoker later antagonists]], his life is full of misery and regret. [[spoiler:Ra's was once a good man who just wanted to live a peaceful life with his wife and child, but his compassion and desire for justice led to the downfall of not just his own life, but that of his wife and child's. He soon came to believe that compassion was a luxury the world would never afford him and he turned into the unscrupulous assassin we see today. However, traces of his goodness do still exist, as he [[WellIntentionedExtremist still wants to make the world a better place,]] but he's far more brutal about it.]]

* WarriorPoet: Ducard has quite the colorful vocabulary and his monologues are quite memorable and articulate.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: In one of the companion books to ''Batman Begins'', it's mentioned that of Ra's many children, only two were sons and both died very young, with Ra's still looking for an heir to his legacy. [[spoiler:Given the revelations about Ra's being a decoy, this might not actually be true.]]

* ColdSniper: He is mostly seen with an assault rifle, but during the gunfight before Gordon enters the tunnels, he's shown with a large sniper rifle, shooting SWAT officers.

* FakeRussian: InUniverse. Barsad poses as a Russian soldier to drop off the three "prisoners" and Dr. Pavel with CIA. He plants the idea in CIA's mind that the "prisoners" are Bane's men, but never tells CIA that Bane is one of the hooded men. It's implied that the other soldiers in the truck with Barsad are either Bane's own men or soldiers who had been paid off.

Talia al Ghul is Ra's al Ghul's daughter. Her mother was a warlord's daughter who was thrown into the same prison Bane was in ([[StartOfDarkness which triggered]] [[Film/BatmanBegins Ra's al Ghul's leading of the League of Shadows]]). Helped to escape by Bane and actually falling for him, Talia convinced Ra's to save Bane and take him in. Their relationship, however, was frowned on by Ra's and she became distant from him because of it, until Batman [[Film/BatmanBegins played a role in his death.]] Now, she seeks to accomplish her father's vision of destroying Gotham as enacted by Bane's engineered conflicts.

* AdaptationalModesty: Talia in the comics and other media incarnations tended to show a bit more cleavage and/or her midriff more to the viewers, in addition to being shown to have her own harem of lovers. In ''The Dark Knight Rises'', her more sexual traits are toned down, as she dresses more modestly by comparison and even her love-making to Bruce is [[AdaptationalVillainy all part of a facade]].

** No shades of grey in this version of Talia. She's a straight up villain, much like [[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman the time Grant Morrison made her the personification of their mommy issues]].

* AvengingTheVillain: She mentions that she and her father didn't part ways on the best of terms after he excommunicated Bane. It was only after Batman let him die that she forgave him and decided to destroy Gotham like he wanted as a means to avenge him.

* BrokenAce: Successful charming beautiful businesswoman who wants to save the world front... hiding an upbringing that makes Bruce's look downright happy by comparison and a very unique interpretation of how best to save the world.

* DiabolusExMachina: As Bruce has Bane pegged for being Ra's al Ghul's child, Talia revealing her true identity to him was a ''massive'' curve ball. Once she started directly meddling with the protagonists, she very nearly wins; her plans are within seconds of completion before they're foiled.

* DramaticIrony: Taila was adamant on having Batman die slowly and painfully, living long enough to witness his failure. Because of this, he survives and ultimately mortally wounds her prematurely into her plan, leading her to die slowly and painfully, but perfectly convinced she had won.

** Talia and Bane also have love for each other, albeit platonic. Bane raised and protected her while she was a child in the pit, and sacrificed himself so she could escape after her mother's death. She parted ways for her father over his excommunication of Bane, and in the present day Bane remains loyal enough to her to die with her in her planned destruction of Gotham.

** Also to Selina, being a potential love interest to Batman who is revealed to be working with Bane. The differences being, Talia's philanthropic image was all a lie and her vendetta against Gotham is purely out of spite, while Selina genuinely cares about inequality and only commits crimes out of necessity.

* FinalBoss: She has the honor of being this for ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy''. Technically she's the PostFinalBoss as Bane was the main threat through the entirety of the movie and she's mostly tries to finish the plan on her own. Unlike Bane, however, she doesn't have nearly the power to really go toe to toe with Batman in the climax, at best trying to have her men shoot and shake him when he flies after the truck carrying the fusion bomb. Once they're taken care of, Batman blows her off the road easily and mortally wounds her in the crash.

** Many of her lines intentionally echo Ra's al Ghul's. For example, in her first conversation with Bruce she mentions she wants to "bring balance" to the world, and later berates him for not doing "what's necessary" by mothballing the fusion reactor instead of finishing it to provide clean energy.

** Early in the film, notice that she tells Daggett, "You understand only money, and the power you think it buys." Not only does this call back to the last film with the Joker's "All you people care about is money" line, but later, when Daggett tries talking down to Bane (who he paid a small fortune), Bane says with disapproval, "And this gives you ''power'' over me?"
* {{Four Temperament Ensemble}}: Dour, patient and sadistic Melancholic (Shares this with Henri Ducard/Ra's Al Ghul and Bruce).

* RaceLift: PlayedWith. In the comics she's mixed Asian with Chinese and Arab ancestry on both sides. In the film she's played by a white actress as a child, but her adult actress has Algerian ancestry, and in this universe she has a white father and brown mother.

* RevengeMyopia: A glaring case since initially Talia wanted nothing to do with her father's plans for Gotham. When Batman stops him and allows his death in the process, it was enough for her to not only want revenge, but to do so by doubling on Ra's ambitions and [[NukeEm destroy all of Gotham in as painful and sadistic a method as possible]].

* UnderestimatingBadassery: She does manage to ambush Bruce and stab him, revealing herself in the process. But otherwise completely doesn't think to just kill him and get it over with. After Selina saves Bruce, Bruce hunts Talia down instantly with the Bat and all her attempts to counter him with Tumbler escorts are quickly thwarted, leading to her death when the driver of the truck carrying the bomb is killed, causing the truck to fall over an overpass. She likewise doesn't think that Bruce would be willing to sacrfice himself to save the city either.
* TheUnfettered: Kill innocent people, construct a years-long deception and alternate identity to infiltrate Gotham's elite, seduce the man who killed her father, allow her closest friend and protector to die and face death herself... nothing is beyond her if it means Gotham is ashes in the end.
* VillainousBreakdown: Defied to an extreme. Talia remains calm and self assured in her plan to the very end. She shows a subdued [[OhCrap look of dread]] as her truck crashes but afterwards submits to her injuries, insistent she has won anyway.

* YouKilledMyFather: Initially she was on bad terms with her dad because of Bane's excommunication but after Batman let him die, the filial feelings reawakened.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: He's the only character that's beaten Batamn in a one-on-one fair fist-fight. Bane, the only other character to defeat Batman, beat a crippled and worn-out Bruce.

* RaceLift: In the comics she's mixed Asian with Chinese and Arab ancestry on both sides. In the film she's played only by white actresses, despite being having a white European father and a brown mother who may be South or West Asian.

!!!'''Appears in:''' ''Film/BatmanBegins'', ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' (Cameo)

* EqualOpportunityEvil: The Ra's al Ghul [[spoiler:decoy]] is played by a Japanese actor, Henri Ducard is Caucasian, and so on.

* EqualOpportunityEvil: The Ra's al Ghul [[spoiler: decoy]] is played by a Japanese actor, Henri Ducard is Caucasian, and so on.

* AdaptationNameChange: [[spoiler:In this universe, his name is pronounced "Raz al Gool" instead of "Raysh al Gool" like his co-creator Denny O'Neil intended. However, the former pronunciation is more correct in pure Arabic, while the latter pronunciation is a mix of Hebrew and Arabic.]]

* AdaptationalJobChange: [[spoiler:Likely as a result of his being a CompositeCharacter with Ra's al Ghul, this Ducard is the leader of the League of Shadows, whereas the comics Ducard has no ties to the League of Assassins.]]
* AdaptationalVillainy: Henri Ducard was a rather stern and self-serving man in the comics, but was still an ally of Batman. The Ducard of the films [[spoiler:is not only the real Ra's Al Ghul, but perfectly willing to destroy cities and leave his pupil to burn to death.]]
* AffablyEvil: There's a reason why [[spoiler: his BigBad status is a plot twist]]. Among other things, his relationship with Bruce was almost father-like, to the point of Bruce nearly throwing himself off a cliff to save his life.
* AgeLift: [[spoiler: Ra's al Ghul in the comics is at least 600 years old. This version ''isn't'' immortal and thus definitely isn't even close to that age.]]

* BadassInCharge: [[spoiler: Of the League of Shadows.]]
* BigBad: [[spoiler:He's the true Ra's al Ghul and the main antagonist of the first movie as the mastermind behind the Fear Toxin.]]
* BodyDouble: [[spoiler: The guy that died in a fire that was seemingly Ra's was actually a decoy, or at least that's what's implied.]]

** He even does this [[spoiler: posthumously in ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', telling Bruce that he is immortal in that his mission will continue to live on after his death and that Gotham will be destroyed. Bruce is hallucinating, but still...]]
* TheCameo: [[spoiler: In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', see the below entry DaydreamSurprise.]]

* CompositeCharacter: In the comics, Ducard and [[spoiler: Ra's al Ghul]] are two separate characters. He also gets some of [[spoiler:King Snake]]'s backstory.

* CreateYourOwnHero: Not only did Henri Ducard provide Bruce the skills to become Batman but [[spoiler: he reveals that the League of Shadows deliberately exacerbated the poverty and corruption within Gotham to "make everyone a criminal". In other words, if not for the League, Joe Chill probably never would have killed the Waynes and Bruce would have never ended up becoming Batman]].
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Hinted at in ''Begins'' when he talks about the loss of his great love, but it's not until ''Rises'' that we learn [[spoiler: he was a mercenary who fell in love with a warlord's daughter. They married, conceived a child, and her father found out. He was to be sent to the pit, but by his wife's sacrifice, he was only exiled]].

* DaydreamSurprise: [[spoiler: Is in one in ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises''.]]

* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler: He's immortal in the comics. In the films... not so much.]]

* TheDreaded: [[spoiler: Ducard mentions how Ra's is "a man greatly feared by the criminal underworld", and indeed, when Falcone hears that Ra's is coming to Gotham, he's clearly terrified of him.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[AllThereInTheManual The novelization of]] ''Film/BatmanBegins'' states he has a dislike of nuclear weapons and does not use them, unlike [[spoiler: his daughter]] in ''Rises''. This is implied to be part of the reason that [[spoiler: Bane was excommunicated from the League of Shadows. Rumors about Bane imply that he was (in Alfred's words) "too extreme for Ra's al Ghul", and Talia claims that Ra's only saw Bane as "a monster"]].
* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler: Not only is "Ducard" not a good guy, he's actually the ''real'' BigBad, Ra's Al Ghul.]]

* LateArrivalSpoiler: Much of the series' promotional material (including the picture on the main page) does not attempt to hide that [[spoiler: he's the real BigBad of ''Batman Begins'']].

* TheManInFrontOfTheMan: [[spoiler:Ducard appears to be Ra’s al Ghul’s right-hand man as his spokesman and the man who trains initiates. Then it turns out Ra’s is a DecoyLeader and Ducard is the real Ra’s al Ghul]].

* MythologyGag: [[spoiler:In the comics Ra's al Ghul is immortal. In the movies he plays with the idea by the use of decoys, and in the final movie, a child who is willing to carry on his EvilPlan. He even appears as a hallucination to taunt Bruce long after he's dead. "There are many forms of immortality."]]
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: [[spoiler: Ra's al Ghul is Arabic for "The Demon's Head".]]

* PayEvilUntoEvil: The modus operandi of the League of Shadows, particularly seen when [[spoiler: Ra's leads the massacre of the prisoners who murdered his wife]].
%%* PosthumousCharacter:[[spoiler: In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises''.]]

* RaceLift: [[spoiler: Appears to be European, rather than Arab as in the comics.]]

* ShadowArchetype: [[spoiler:Ra's and the League claim that they serve justice, but their idea of justice is closer to karmic vengeance. Bruce thought the same in his earlier years before he came to realize that justice and revenge are not the same]].
* SoftSpokenSadist: A ruthless and efficient killer [[spoiler: and terroristic mastermind]], he rarely, if ever, raises his voice above a calm monotone.
* TragicVillain: In stark contrast to [[Characters/TheDarkKnightTrilogyTheJoker later antagonists]], his life is full of misery and regret. [[spoiler: Ra's was once a good man who just wanted to live a peaceful life with his wife and child, but his compassion and desire for justice led to the downfall of not just his own life, but that of his wife and child's. He soon came to believe that compassion was a luxury the world would never afford him and he turned into the unscrupulous assassin we see today. However, traces of his goodness do still exist, as he [[WellIntentionedExtremist still wants to make the world a better place,]] but he's far more brutal about it.]]
* TheUnfettered: Stops at nothing to achieve his goal of [[spoiler: destroying Gotham City]].
* UngratefulBastard: [[spoiler: Bruce saving his life doesn't stop him from trying to kill Bruce and destroy Gotham.]]

* WalkingSpoiler: Just look at all this white space! Most of it intended to hide that [[spoiler: he's the real BigBad of the first movie.]]
* WarriorPoet: Ducard [[spoiler: aka Ra’s]] has quite the colorful vocabulary and his monologues are quite memorable and articulate.

* OverarchingVillain: Their leaders are the {{Big Bad}}s of the first and third film and although ComicBook/TheJoker takes the reigns in the second, this means Batman's conflict begins and ends with the League.

* BigBad: [[spoiler: Of the first movie, since the Fear Toxin thing is his plan and he sends in the Order.]]

* BigBad: Of ''Batman Begins''. He's in charge of the League of Shadows and plans on destroying Gotham city with fear gas. [[spoiler: {{Subverted|trope}} as he was quickly killed in the beginning of the movie and turned out to be merely a decoy (or something like that) to the real Ra’s al Ghul: Henri Ducard]].

* BeardOfEvil

* BigBad: Masterminds the plot to destroy Gotham in ''The Dark Knight Rises''.
* BigBadDuumvirate: With Bane. It is unclear if Talia outranks Bane or not but together they plan to destroy Gotham, with [[TheHeavy Bane]] taking most of the action and [[TheChessmaster Talia]] manipulating Bruce Wayne and his company for their goal.

%%* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Melancholic (Shares this with Miranda.)

%%* {{Four Temperament Ensemble}}: Melancholic (Shares this with Henri Ducard/Ra's Al Ghul).

* BadassBeard: A fuller one than Ra's has. [[spoiler:And subtler, as it has the same points, but they aren't obvious at first glance. They do become more prominent after TheReveal]].

* BadassBeard: Ra's sports two small, pointed beards on either side of his chin, much like the comics' version of the character. [[spoiler:Which helps to disguise that Watanabe's character is not the real Ra's al Ghul.]]