Ra's al Ghul

"You tasted death, and you wanted more, but the truth is everyone and everything must come to an end, even for one such as me."

- Ra's to Oliver Queen

Ra's al Ghul (Arabic: رأس الغول‎ Raʾs al-Ġūl; Demon's Head; born before 1854) is the leader of the League of Assassins. He is also the father of Nyssa al Ghul.

Early life
At the age of 11, Ra's killed a man for the first time because the man intended to harm his family. He felt ashamed that he had taken the life of a person, but also proud because he stood up to someone who threatened his family. He justified what he had done as necessary by claiming he had "replaced evil with death", a sentiment that later became the goal of the League of Assassins. Ra's went on to kill "several thousand more men", and believed the world was better off for it.

In 1854, Ra's happened upon an illusionist in Vienna, becoming mystified with his tricks. Nearly half a century later, he came across the man again, but the man was withered and old.

Around 1947, someone challenged Ra's to a trial by combat, presumably to the death, with Ra's coming out victorious.

At some point, Ra's became the leader of the League of Assassins. Malcolm Merlyn joined the group, but eventually released from his bonds to the League by Ra's, a decision he later regretted.

Throughout the years, Ra's al Ghul's reputation has spread far and wide to the point even Oliver heard frightening stories about him, even going as far as to say if even half those stories were true, they would all be killed if they crossed him.

Retrieval of Sara Lance
Ra's sent a messenger to Sara Lance, ordering her return, though she refused and killed the messenger when he declined to report to Ra's that he had not found her, as she wanted. Around a week later, he sent Al-Owal and a team of assassins to bring Sara back by force, only to lose his team to both Sara and Oliver Queen.

Ra's was later contacted by Moira Queen after Malcolm mentioned that he went to Nanda Parbat. After learning Malcolm was alive, it was revealed that Ra's wanted to kill him for breaking the League's code of honor with The Undertaking.

Ra's sent Nyssa and another League member to once again try to bring Sara Lance back to Nanda Parbat, though Nyssa ultimately released Sara from the League.

Meeting Mesi Natifah
Sometime later, however, Sara Lace returned to the League, to keep her family out of danger. Some months later, Ra's welcomed Mesi Natifah to Nanda Parbat, and invited her company in to the League of Assassins. He also momentarily gave her his sword, allowing her to strike down vengeance upon Khem-Adam for his violent acts.

Courting war with Oliver Queen
When Nyssa arrived back at Nanda Parbat from a visit to Starling City, she confirmed Malcolm Merlyn was still alive. Ra's informed his daughter that Malcolm would face consequences for crimes against the League's code. Ra's asked about Oliver Queen, to which he learned of Oliver's oath to protect Malcolm at any cost. Due to this, Ra's took it to mean Oliver was courting war with the League.

Following Sara Lance's death, Ra's sent a squad of assassins, led by Nyssa and Sarab, to capture Oliver. They informed Oliver that he would be given 48 hours to find Sara's killer, or the League would begin killing innocent civilians until the killer was caught. After the time was up, Ra's and various League members travelled to Starling City in preparation. However, Oliver met with them, falsely claiming to have killed Sara upon her request. By League law he was entitled to a trial by combat, and so Ra's accepted the duel, allowing Sarab to tell him of the neutral meeting place. The two met atop a mountain some time later. They both removed their shirts, going with tradition, and Oliver picked up two swords against Ra's who was bare-handed. The latter discussed his first kill at age 11, feeling proud that he had replaced evil with death, which was what the League strived to do. They began fighting, Ra's dodging each attack with his hands behind his back, and soon disarming Oliver and fighting with the blades. Ra's easily parried Oliver's strikes and promptly cut him. He led him back to the edge of the mountain. Impressed that he had lasted longer than most, Oliver was given a chance to steal back the blade, however Ra's quickly caught the blade as Oliver stabbed at him, disarming him once again. He promptly stabbed Oliver in the chest, saying a quick prayer before pushing the dying Oliver over the edge, and tossing the sword into the ground as a grave for Oliver. Ra's was confronted by his daughter, Nyssa who had just discovered Oliver survived and demanded Oliver be killed. After the League captured, Malcolm, Ra's watched as Malcolm beg for mercy, before sending Malcolm off to be tortured. When Oliver made an attempt to rescue Malcolm, Ra's locked Oliver in, along with Diggle. Later, Ra's asked if Oliver was willing to be his successor as Ra's al Ghul.

Personality
Ra's has a cold demeanor. According to Malcolm Merlyn, Ra's is ruthless, as he will not hesitate to kill his enemies, though despite this, he has a personal sense of honor. He is also shown to be capable of respecting his opponents and even holding them in honor, as shown in his commending Oliver's fighting skills and praying for him after stabbing him. After Nyssa told Ra's that Sara was apparently killed by Malcolm, he paid no heed and only focused on punishing him for his role in the Undertaking, saying he never saw Sara as a true member of the League of Assassins. Despite this, he seems to care for Sara because of Nyssa's feeling for her as he carried out the League's tradition of killing 50 people a day until Oliver reveals the one who killed Sara, although it is very likely that he knew as long as Sara's death was unavenged, it would distract his daughter from her duties to the League. He is also known for being impatient, refusing to impose his will after he speaks once. Despite having a somewhat calm and stoic demeanor, Ra's is capable of being surprised; as when he first looked upon Oliver's youthfulness, the only thing he could say at the moment was "You're just a boy". He said that he feels pride for the thousands of people he had killed as genuinely believes the world is better off with these men dead and in that way he created a better world. He said that this is the purpose of the League of Assassins. Despite his ruthlessness he seems to have somewhat of a soft side. This was shown when he granted Oliver a trial by combat and let Oliver pretend to be the one who killed Sara despite knowing full well he did not kill her and that Oliver was simply trying to keep the people in his city from dying. This made Ra's take a liking to Oliver. He also told Oliver in a soft manner that he shouldn't be afraid to die as death claims everyone sooner or later rather than just killing him in a ruthless manner.

As noted by Malcolm Merlyn, Ra's' custom after killing an opponent in a death duel is to leave his weapon in the arena of combat, as a marker to honor the opponent.

He is also intelligent and calculating, Ra's knew the moment after he had captured Malcolm, that Oliver would come and try to rescue the latter, actually planning to use this to request Oliver to succeed him.

Abilities

 * Peak of human physical condition: As a highly skilled fighter and assassin, Ra's is shown to be in top physical condition.
 * League of Assassins training: Being the leader of the League, Ra's would have the highest level of training any assassin could.
 * Longevity: Despite being at least 161 years old, Ra's maintains the appearance of a middle-aged man with excellent health through unspecified means.
 * Master hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: As the leader of the League of Assassins, Ra's is highly proficient and experienced in unarmed combat. During his death match against Oliver Queen, Ra's calmly faced his opponent unarmed, he dodged sword strikes with his hands behind his back and overwhelmed Oliver with multiple precise strikes before he disarmed him. He also mentioned, despite Oliver having fought him for a couple minutes, he survived longer than most of his opponents.
 * Master swordsman: As the leader of the League of Assassins, Ra's is a master swordsman. During a simple training routine, he easily defeated eight men, swiftly killing them. Against Oliver in their death match, Ra's was able to repeatedly catch Oliver off guard and slash him.
 * Master tactician/Leader: Ra's was able to predict the stealth attack on Nanda Parbat, and trapped Oliver and Diggle when they came for Malcolm. Ra's is also a great leader, as he is the one who founded the League of Assassins, and has led his organization for an unknown number of years with success since its founding.
 * High tolerance for pain: Ra's was able to catch a sword strike by Oliver during their duel, an act which shocked the latter, with his bare hands.

Arrow: Season 2.5

 * "Assurances" Suicide Squad: Crisis in Kahndaq

Behind the scenes

 * Ra's al Ghul, along with his daughter, Nyssa, are normally portrayed as enemies of Batman and his associates. However, his organization, the League of Assassins, has a history with Green Arrow and Black Canary. In the DC comics Ra's' other daughter, Talia, generally has a higher profile, having been (briefly) married to Bruce Wayne and borne him a son, Damian.
 * In Arrow, Ra's retains the look of a middle-aged man despite apparently being considerably old. In the DC comics, Ra's made use of the Lazarus Pits in order to keep himself looking youthful and essentially live forever. Matt Nable stated in a interview that Ra's al Ghul was indeed immortal, to some degree.
 * Matt Nable's casting as Ra's was met with notable controversy from fans. In light of Liam Neeson suggesting he would be happy to reprise the role (and the follow up reveal that Neeson was offered the role but had to turn it down being given little attention) many criticized the actions of the casting department when Stephen Amell announced it. Nable's debut in went largely unnoticed by critics due to only a very small amount of screentime, though fans were critical. Despite all of that, following the airing of, Nable was heavily praised by fans and critics alike, many suggesting he held up to Neeson's portrayal of the character.