Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2021 20:50:23 GMT -5
Subject Facts
Full Name: Ra’s al Ghul
Codename: n/a
Age: Unknown
Gender: Male
Archetype: Meta Villain
Aliases: The Demon’s Head
Marital Status: Widowed
Affiliation: The League of Shadows
Subject Attributes
Meta-Human Abilities:
- Lazarus Enhanced Longevity - Ra's lifespan has been supernaturally extended by prolonged, continual use of the Lazarus Pits. As such, Ra's is centuries years old and even he has lost track of his actual age.
- Lazarus Enhanced Strength - Due to prolonged use of the Lazarus Pits, Ra's strength is beyond the peak level of human strength.
- Lazarus Enhanced Speed - Due to prolonged use of the Lazarus Pits, Ra's footspeed is beyond the peak level of human speed (though is not anywhere near a speedster).
- Lazarus Enhanced Durability - Due to prolonged use of the Lazarus Pits, Ra's is able to sustain injuries that would typically incapacitate or kill a regular human.
- Lazarus Enhanced Stamina - Due to prolonged use of the Lazarus Pits, Ra's does not require much in the way of rest or recuperation. Additionally, he can go longer without stopping due to fatigue than the typical human.
- Lazarus Enhanced Agility - Due to prolonged use of the Lazarus Pits, Ra's is incredibly nimble and elusive to the level of surpassing an Olympic level gymnast.
Standard Abilities:
- Genius Level Intellect - Ra's possesses a genius level intellect gained through centuries of arduous studies and practice in a wide range of fields, arts, and professions.
- Wealthy - Ra's has lived many lifetimes to amass a fortune through various war campaigns, inventions, investments, and corporate enterprises maintained under aliases. While others may gloat about their wealth, Ra's truly sees it as nothing more than a means to an end. As such there is no real telling how his fortune compares to those of Lex Luthor or Bruce Wayne.
- Alchemist - Ra's was trained in the ancient ways of alchemy, thus he's capable of creating many complex formulas, chemicals, and potions through means that baffle modern science.
- Tactician - Throughout his life, Ra's has orchestrated the rise and fall of many empires through battles and war. For Ra's, war is just as much an art as painting or sculpting and plans these strategies out for months if not years in advance.
- Leader - Ra's possesses an animal magnetism and natural charisma that draws followers under his guidance. The proof of this is the League of Assassins who have been in operation now for centuries.
- Occultist - Ra's possesses vast knowledge of the mystical arts. Not only is he the leading specialist in Lazarus Pits, he also knows many rituals that allow him to transfer his soul into another body or astral project his consciousness.
- Martial Arts - Centuries of practice, study, and experience has made Ra's al Ghul an expert in multiple forms of martial arts such as Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu, etc.
- Swordsman - Centuries of practice, sudy, and experience has made Ra's an expert in multiple forms of armed combat but his preferred weapon is the sword. Whether it be katana, broadswords, claymores, or, his personal favorite, the scimitar Ra's is lethal with any form of edged weapon.
Paraphernalia:
- Lazarus Pits - A natural occurring small body of water with an unknown chemical combination that can heal the sick and injured as well as resurrect the dead. The first pit was discovered by Ra's centuries ago and he has since charted out the locations of every pit on the planet.
- The League of Assassins - A cult-like international organization of the world's deadliest killers and terrorists all devoted to Ra's al Ghul.
Subject Weaknesses:
- Mental Illness - The unnatural process of dying and being resurrected in the Lazarus Pits puts Ra's in a temporary state of insanity once resurrected. During these periods, Ra's is incredibly unstable and violent post-resurrection.
- Egomaniacal - Ra's is of firm belief that he is the only person willing and able enough to save the planet from humanity. As such he has a very high opinion of himself and low opinion of others - specifically other "geniuses" and leaders of men who he will no doubt outlive. Very few people have impressed Ra's, most notably Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake, Dinah Lance, and Jean-Paul Valley.
- Death - While Ra's can be revived using one of his many Lazarus Pits, death is still an inconvenience for the man. Ra's can be shot, stabbed, poisoned, suffocated, and whatnot to temporarily take him off the playing field until he is revived.
Subject History
Early Life & the Discovery of the Lazarus Pits
Much like his birth name, much of the truth of the history of the man called Ra's al Ghul has been lost to the sands of time. However, there is an agreed upon origin that Ra's himself will agree is "mostly" accurate. Ra's was born to a tribe of wandering nomads some 600 years ago in the deserts of Arabia. As he reached maturity, al Ghul's interest in science and medicine forced him to abandon his tribe of nomads to live in a city whose name time has forgotten. There, through hard work and ambition, Ra's became a physician and married a young woman named Sora.
While being asked to treat the dying prince of the city's ruler, Ra's discovered the very first Lazarus Pit and saved the young man's life by lowering him into it unaware of the pit's rage-inducing side effects. Once the prince opened his eyes, he attacked Ra's and killed his wife Sora. Rather than acknowledge that his son was a murderer, the ruler of the city framed Ra's for the crime and sentenced him to death in a cage. Before this could happen however, Ra's was saved by the son of a patient despite failing to save her because he had eased her suffering. Together the pair escaped into the desert to find the tribe that Ra's had been born into.
Once finding and convincing the tribe to follow his lead and destroying the city he had just escaped from, Ra's used his knowledge of disease and it's spread to unleash a plague on the city through the prince that had killed his beloved. When the king who had just sentenced him to death came to him again seeking aid for his sick son, Ra's killed both and sent his tribe into the city to burn it to the ground. After his tribe killed every inhabitant left in the city, he took the name Ra's al Ghul.
Amassing Wealth, Power, & the League of Assassins
Ra's, his uncle who had previously led his tribe, and the young man who helped him escape imprisonment spent the next few centuries traveling the world, amassing wealth, and gaining knowledge all while using the Lazarus Pits. Ra's began to study warfare, combat, the arts, as well as continue to expand his knowledge of the sciences and medicine. The trio also began to discover and take control of every Lazarus Pit they could find. There was one rule, however. No one was allowed to document their exploits or they'd risk the knowledge of the Lazarus Pits to leave their circles and, thus, lose their exclusive access to it. That being said, however, Ra's was forced to confront and execute the young man who had saved his life. When Ra's returned to his temporary home in London, however, his uncle had vanished along with the texts the young man had been keeping about their lives.
Ra's remarried, had children, and expanded his economical empire, the Demon. Of the Demon's many branches is the League of Assassins/Shadows that are also known as the Demon's Fang. This band includes some of the world's most prolific assassins, fighters, blade smiths, and strategic minds the world will ever know. Their purpose was self-evident. There would be times where power cannot be bought or maneuvered - sometimes it had to be taken by force. As was the case when he discovered Infinity Island in the Indian Ocean which contained a special Lazarus Pit at the core of the island. The League of Assassins were sent to take the island and enslave the inhabitants to Ra's will.
Meeting the Batman
As time passed, Ra's began to have children with his most prized being his daughter Talia. After a falling out with a former League of Assassin member, Talia was kidnapped by the member and taken to Gotham City. Batman was able to rescue his daughter who made an immediate impact on his daughter. Sensing that there someone out there that was smart and skilled enough to impress his offspring, Ra's al Ghul prepared a test for Batman to prove his worthiness by staging a kidnapping for both his daughter and Batman's sidekick Robin.
Batman grew wise to the plot and confronted Ra's demanding to know why. Ra's informed Batman that his daughter had fallen in love with him during their brief time together and Batman needed to prove his worthiness. Why? Well, Ra's needed an heir to the League of Assassins and Batman had proven his worth an then some - so much so that he earned the respect of Ra's to refer to him as "Detective." Batman did not immediately answer him and, for a time, Ra's would come to Batman for assistance with mysteries and strange occurrences. However that was short-lived as Batman learned Ra's was using him to gather resources for another act of eco-terrorism. Thus, the friendly companionship was over and the hated rivalry began.
As his enemy, Ra's al Ghul's vast resources, knowledge, strategic mind, and expert combat experience made him more than formidable. Batman was responsible for the destruction of countless Lazarus Pits as well as League of Assassin lairs. What hurt Ra's the most, however, was the betrayal of his daughter who, many times, opted to align herself with his hated enemy. What Batman quickly learned, however, was that Ra's was an enemy that could never go away - death was only a minor inconvenience for him. Despite all of this, the "Detective" was the only man on Earth that Ra's could respect. Even as he attempted to find other men who were worthy of being heirs (notably Bane and Azrael), they all failed in comparison to Bruce Wayne.
Ra's would find himself further entwined with Wayne and his extended family. After the apparent death of the second Robin, Ra's had Jason Todd brought to him though he found the boy's mind and body were utterly shattered. In another act of rebellion, Talia had Jason brought to a Lazarus Pit to heal his mind and body much to Ra's disdain and hatred. Ra's interaction with the third Robin Tim Drake was much more pleasant as he saw the young man as a potential protégé. After months of working with Tim in his quest to prove Bruce Wayne had survived his apparent death at the hands of Darkseid, Tim learned what Ra's true intentions were and outsmarted the master of strategy - earning him a show of respect by Ra's who referred to him as "Detective." The final Robin to have a meaningful connection with Ra's is the fifth Robin - his grandson Damian. While he disapproved his daughter's desire to be with Wayne, she still had his child. Ra's fascination with Damian is solely for the fact that he's a potential young vessel to transfer his soul into. Damian and his grandfather do not have the best of relationship.
Subject Interview
The downsides to the passing of time is that the memories all start to blur together after awhile. The important things stay of course. He had seen empires rise and he had brought those very same empires to their knees. He had taken the world's bravest, smartest, and most daring men and had them driven down before him to deliver the killing blow himself. He could recall vivid details of battles won, key moments of discovery, and knowledge that he had committed so deeply to memory that it had practically been branded to his soul. Yet everything else... it passed by like sands in his native desert.
There was something about this woman whose death strike he had maneuvered away from that held his attention. It wasn't her combat skills, of course. She was far too clumsy with the katana. If it wasn't for her fully formed figure he would have assumed that she was a child by the way she was just blindly swinging it around him. Was this the skill level of the assassins sent to end his life? Do his enemies have such little respect for him?
"You will die tonight, Demon!" Her accent was thick. He'd heard something like it before. Eastern Europe, perhaps? The Romance languages all sounded too similar to be able to discern in his opinion. It all came down to syllables and how they are accented when spoken. She swung the sword at him, head level this time, and he effortlessly guided it away with the flat end of his scimitar. He could end his dance any time he chose to but there was just this nagging feeling about this person. "Many have made similar threats and failed, child."
He could hear her growl at him underneath the cloth that concealed her nose and mouth. She had spirit but many animals do before they enter the throes of death. If she would be so bold as to enter his own chambers in a location that he had been assured was secured, the least he could do was allow this woman the illusion of hope. Now... what was it about her. "Die Demon!"
She thrusted the sword at him. Foolishness. He turned away from the strike, brought his arm around the blade and pinned it tightly in place before striking his would be killer with the palm of his hand under the jaw. He could hear the clicking sound of teeth being forced together. The killer stumbled backwards and he swept their legs out from underneath them. Ra's stepped down on her wrist and held her in place. "You remind me of someone and yet I have no idea why, young woman."
"Burn in hell!" Her eyes glared back up at him, partially from fear and partially from rage. She had some fight in her. Good for her. She was doomed but good for her. He forced a smile as he brought the scimitar down in a slashing motion that opened her throat. There was a gasp and then a gurgle and then silence. He looked down at her vacant eyes again as he heard the doors to his chambers open and the heavy footsteps of his loyal servant Ubu run in. "They have disabled our security, Master!"
He held up a hand to silence Ubu, not even so much as looking at him as he continued studying the woman's eyes. Ah yes. She did remind him of someone. Was it a few decades ago or a few hundred years? Was it Istanbul or Constantinople back then? The details were lost in time. She was a beautiful young woman who sold flowers in the courtyard. He didn't know her name but she had a certain sparkle in her eyes that he could never ignore. Perhaps this young woman was some lost relative? It didn't matter any longer. Ra's wiped the edge of his weapon on the dead woman's clothes. "It is no matter, Ubu. Perform a sweep of the premises to ensure she is our only guest. If not, you should be able to deal with them with ease."
With that he laid his weapon down and left the room to allow Ubu to dispose of the corpse before relaying his orders. He could use a small mug of tea. All of his excitement was going to ruin his night's sleep but at least it was nice to have a memory of something other than war, ruin, and conquering.
Author's Notes
Player Alias: Six
Other Characters: Dick Grayson/Nightwing, Digger Harkness/Captain Boomerang
How did you find ARFD?: Already here
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