Talia al Ghul (Arabic: تاليا الغول) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman. The character was created by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Bob Brown, and first appeared in Detective Comics #411 (May 1971). Talia is the daughter of the supervillain Ra's al Ghul, the half-sister of Nyssa Raatko, on-and-off romantic interest of the superhero Batman, and the mother of Damian Wayne (the fifth Robin).
Talia has appeared in over 500 individual comics issues, and has been featured in various media adaptions. The character was voiced by Helen Slater in Batman: The Animated Series, which became her first appearance in media other than the comic books. Talia was subsequently portrayed by Marion Cotillard in the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises, and by Lexa Doig in the television series Arrow.
Fictional character biography[]
The first Talia comic story appears in "Into the Den of the Death-Dealers!" in Detective Comics #411 (May 1971), written by Dennis O'Neil. In the story, Batman rescues her from Dr. Darrk, apparently the leader of the League of Assasins. It is eventually revealed that the League is just one part of Ra's al Ghul's organization, The Demon, and that Darrk apparently turned against Ra's after failing in a mission (the usual punishment for this is death). At the end of the story, she shoots and kills Darrk to save Batman's life. Talia next appears in "Daughter of the Demon" in Batman #232 (June 1971). In the story, Robin is kidnapped. Ra's al Ghul reveals to Batman that he knows Batman's secret identity and that she was also kidnapped along with Dick. Batman then goes with Ra's to search for Dick and Talia; in the end, it is revealed that Talia loves Batman and that the entire kidnapping is a setup designed by Ra's as a final test of Batman's suitability to be Talia's husband and his successor. Though Batman rejects Ra's offer, he nevertheless returns Talia's feelings. Ra's and Talia consider Batman to be married to Talia with only their consent necessary in DC Special Series #15 (1978) in the story "I Now Pronounce You Batman and Wife!".
In the graphic novel Son of the Demon (1987) , Ra's al Ghul successfully enlists Batman's aid in defeating a rogue assassin who had murdered his wife and Talia's mother, Melisande. Talia witnessed the murder as a young child. During this story line, Batman marries Talia and the prior marriage from DC Special Series #15 (1978) is referenced. They have conjugal relations which results in her becoming pregnant. Batman is nearly killed protecting Talia from an attack by the assassin's agents. In retrospect, Talia concludes that she could never keep Batman, as he would be continuously forced to defend her, so she fakes a miscarriage and the marriage is dissolved.
DC Rebirth[]
She later appeared in Batman #33. Batman and Catwoman came to Khadym to see Holly Robinson, who had been hiding with Talia since fleeing Gotham after killing hundreds of terrorists. Talia initially refused to allow them to see Holly, going as far as severely wounding Batman and challenging Catwoman to a duel.
Talia had the upper-hand at first, but her arrogance was her downfall. Selina grabbed the sword of the smug Talia and kicked her bitchy face, knocking her to the ground. Talia pathetically crawled forward as she tried to regain her bearings. Rather than admitting that she was defeated by Selina, despite having greater resources growing up, Talia threatened to kill Selina. Selina taunted her by saying "You mind holding my sword?", and teaches the pompous Talia a lesson by pulling Talia's arm back and stabbing the sword into the back of her shoulder. Talia --getting what she deserved-- screamed out in agony. Not only did Bruce reject the her, she was thoroughly humiliated by Bruce's lover. The skewered bitch will likely think twice before showing her face in Selina's presence ever again.
Gallery[]
In Other Media[]
- Talia al Ghul appears in Son of Batman, voiced by Morena Baccarin.
- Talia al Ghul returns in Batman: Bad Blood with Morena Baccarin reprising her role. Since last appearing in Son of Batman, Talia has abandoned any pretense of morality and relinquished her compassion for both Bruce Wayne and their son, seeing both primarily as tools to serve her purpose. Talia creates the Heretic (Damian Wayne's artificially full-grown clone) and recruits multiple super-villains. After capturing Bruce, Talia brainwashes Wayne into becoming her loyal servant. Later, she has Bruce use Wayne Enterprise's new communication software 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, who was looking for revenge on Talia for the Heretic's death, and counterattacks causing the jet to crash and leaving their fates unknown.
- Talia al Ghul appears in story sequences in the 1999 game Catwoman for Game Boy, in which she offers to pay Catwoman to steal an artifact from a museum, but Catwoman refuses, wanting it for herself.
- Talia al Ghul appears in several cinematics in Batman: Dark Tomorrow, voiced by Cynthia Farrell.
- Talia al Ghul appears in DC Universe Online voiced by Ellie McBride. She is the "alert" broadcaster for the villain side.
Trivia[]
- Talia's voice over Morena Baccarin appeared as Adria in the TV series Stargate SG-1 from 2006-2007, and again in the video Stargate: The Ark of Truth in 2008.
- Morena Baccarin played spy Karen Walker in 2015's Spy