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Abimael Guzmán

Manuel Rubén Abimael Guzmán Reynoso (3 December 1934 − 11 September 2021 ), also known by his nom de guerre Chairman Gonzalo (Presidente Gonzalo), was a Peruvian Maoist guerrilla leader and convicted terrorist. He founded the organization Communist Party of Peru – Shining Path (PCP-SL) in 1969 and led a rebellion against the Peruvian government until his capture by authorities in 12 September 1992. He was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment for terrorism and treason.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Guzmán was a professor of philosophy active in far-left politics strongly influenced by Marxism, Leninism, and Maoism. He developed an ideology of armed struggle stressing the empowerment of the Indigenous people. He went underground in the mid-1970s to become the leader of the Shining Path, which began "The People's War" or the "Armed Struggle" on 17 May 1980.

Early life
Manuel Rubén Abimael Guzmán Reynoso was born on 3 December 1934 in Mollendo, a port town in the province of Islay, in the region of Arequipa, about 1000 km south of Lima. He was the illegitimate son of a well-off merchant, who had eight children by five different women. Guzmán's mother, Berenice Reynoso, died when he was five.

At Arequipa, Guzmán completed bachelor's degrees in philosophy and law. His dissertations were titled The Kantian Theory of Space and The Bourgeois Democratic State. In 1962, Guzmán was recruited as a professor of philosophy by the rector of San Cristóbal of Huamanga University in Ayacucho, a city in the central Peruvian Andes. The rector was Efraín Morote Best, an anthropologist who some believe later became the true intellectual leader of the "Shining Path movement." Encouraged by Morote, Guzmán studied Quechua, the language spoken by Peru's Indigenous population, and became increasingly active in left-wing political circles.

In 1965, Guzman attended a cadre training course in China, returning to Lima and taking a leave of absence from his professorship to focus on party activism. In April 1967, Guzman led his fraction of the PCP to an international meeting in Albania, and would return to China between August and September of that same year. This placed him in China during the Cultural Revolution, which made a large impression on him.

He attracted several like-minded young academics committed to bringing about revolution in Peru. Guzmán was arrested twice during the 1970s because of his participation in violent riots in the city of Arequipa against the government of presidents Velasco Alvarado and Belaunde Terry. He visited the People's Republic of China with his then-wife Augusta La Torre for the first time in 1965. After serving as the head of personnel for San Cristóbal of Huamanga University, Guzmán left the institution in the mid-1970s and went underground.

In the 1960s, the Peruvian Communist Party had splintered over ideological and personal disputes. Guzmán, who had taken a pro-Chinese rather than pro-Soviet line, emerged as the leader of the faction which came to be known as the "Shining Path" (Mariátegui wrote once: "Marxism–Leninism is the shining path of the future"). Guzmán adopted the nom de guerre Presidente or Comrade Gonzalo and began advocating a peasant-led revolution on the Maoist model. His followers declared Guzmán, who cultivated anonymity, to be the "Fourth Sword of Communism" (after Marx, Lenin, and Mao). In his political declarations, Guzmán praised Mao's development of Lenin's thesis regarding "the role of imperialism" in propping up the "bourgeois capitalist system". He claimed that imperialism ultimately "creates disruption and is unsuccessful, and it will end up in ruins in the next 50 to 100 years". Guzmán applied this criticism not only to U.S. imperialism, but also Soviet imperialism, to what he termed as "social-imperialism" (in accordance with the Chinese stance after the Sino-Soviet split).

In February 1964, he married Augusta La Torre, who was instrumental in founding Shining Path. She died under unclear circumstances in 1988. Guzmán and Elena Iparraguirre, a long-time lieutenant of Guzmán's and his lover, have both refused to talk about La Torre's fate since their imprisonments. In the fall of 2006, while in prison, Guzmán proposed to Iparraguirre, who is also serving a life sentence in a separate prison. After fighting for the permission to marry with a hunger strike, the couple wed in late August 2010.

Guzmán had long identified with atheism. He agreed with Karl Marx about religion as the "opium of the people", and viewed it as a "social phenomena product of the exploitation and that will extinguish while exploitation finishes to be swept and a new society arise". However, he pleaded respect for religious diversity and claimed religion would not be an obstacle for the armed struggle.

Insurgency
The Shining Path movement was at first largely confined to academic circles in Peruvian universities. In the late 1970s, however, the movement developed into a guerrilla group centered around Ayacucho. In May 1980, the group launched its war against the government of Peru by burning the ballot boxes in Chuschi, a village near Ayacucho, in an effort to disrupt the first democratic elections in the country since 1964. Shining Path eventually grew to control vast rural territories in central and southern Peru and achieved a presence even in the outskirts of Lima, where it staged numerous attacks. The purpose of Shining Path's campaign was to demoralize and undermine the government of Peru in order to create a situation conducive to a violent coup which would put its leaders in power. The Shining Path targeted not only the army and police, but also government employees at all levels, other leftist militants such as members of the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA), workers who did not participate in the strikes organized by the group, peasants who cooperated with the government in any way (including by voting in democratic elections), and middle-class inhabitants of Peru's main cities. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission later estimated that the resulting conflict led to the deaths of some seventy thousand people, approximately half of them at the hands of the Shining Path and a third at the hands of the state.

Guzmán's image as a dispassionate murderer became widespread after he moved against the city of Lima. After a series of bombings and selective assassinations the whole nation was shocked in 1992 when a car bomb exploded in one of Lima's busiest commercial districts on Tarata street, thus causing many casualties and enormous material losses. To his death, Guzmán denied responsibility for the Tarata bombing by claiming that it was carried out without his knowledge.

The movement promoted the writings of Guzmán, called "Gonzalo Thought", a new "theoretical understanding" that built upon Marxism, Leninism, and Maoism whereby he declared Maoism to be a "third and higher stage of Marxism," having defined Maoism as "people's war." In 1989, Guzmán declared that the Shining Path (which he referred to as the "Communist Party of Peru") had progressed from waging a people's war to waging a "war of movements." He further argued that this was a step towards achieving "strategic equilibrium" in the near future, based on Maoist theories of waging people's war. Guzmán claimed that such an equilibrium would manifest itself by ungovernability under the "old order." When that moment arrived, Guzmán believed that Shining Path would be ready to move on to its "strategic offensive".

The Captura del Siglo

In 1992, during the first administration of President Alberto Fujimori, the National Directorate Against Terrorism (DIRCOTE) began surveillance on several residences in Lima because agents suspected that terrorists were using them as safehouses. One of those residences, in the upper-class neighborhood of Surco, had been operating as a ballet studio. The DIRCOTE operatives routinely searched the garbage taken out from the house. The house was supposedly inhabited by only one person, the dance teacher Maritza Garrido Lecca, but it was soon noticed that the household produced more garbage than one person could account for. Furthermore, agents found discarded tubes of cream for the treatment of psoriasis, an ailment that Guzmán was known to have. On 12 September 1992, an elite unit of the DIRCOTE carried out Operation Victoria, raiding the Surco residence. On the second floor of the house, they found and arrested Guzmán and eight others, including Laura Zambrano and Elena Iparraguirre, Guzmán's female companion.

Trials and imprisonment
Guzmán was tried by a court of hooded military judges under provisions of articles 15 and 16 of Law 25475 adopted by Fujimori's government in May 1992 after April's constitutional crisis. After a three-day trial, Guzmán was sentenced to life imprisonment and incarcerated at the naval base on the island of San Lorenzo off the coast of Lima.

Subsequently, he was said to have negotiated with a presidential advisor at the time, Vladimiro Montesinos, in order to receive some benefits in exchange for helping the Peruvian government put an end to the Shining Path's militant activities. Guzmán appeared several times on Peruvian television and on 1 October 1993, he publicly declared "peace" with the Peruvian government. This declaration split the Shining Path and raised questions about the organization's future. About 6,000 guerrillas within the party accepted it as a sign of defeat and surrendered.

Guzmán's re-trial began on 5 November 2004. The international press was held in a sound-proof chamber and all media was banned from observing the trial after the Shining Path cadre turned their backs on the judges and delivered a revolutionary salute to the media gallery. The only words Guzmán spoke in the presence of the international press were "Long live the Communist Party of Peru! Glory to Marxism–Leninism–Maoism! Glory to the Peruvian people! Long live the heroes of the people’s war!" After he made this statement, the courtroom microphones were silenced and the press was unable to hear any of the proceedings that followed. When the trial resumed on 12 November, no reporters were allowed to observe the proceedings. Eventually two of the judges recused themselves and the trial ended in chaos. Guzmán's third trial began in September 2005 and was opened and closed amid a media blackout. No reporters were allowed to attend.

Sentence
On 13 October 2006, Guzmán was sentenced to life in prison on charges of aggravated terrorism and murder. At his sentencing, three judges read the charges in a verdict that lasted more than six hours.

In 2014, Guzmán and his wife Iparraguirre were tried again, for the 1992 Tarata bombing in Lima in which 25 people died. On 11 September 2018, he was sentenced to a second life term in prison.

Guzmán was incarcerated in the maximum security prison of the naval base of Callao, the port of Lima, until his death in 2021. Fellow prisoners there include Víctor Polay, leader of the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, and Vladimiro Montesinos, the former head of the National Intelligence Service who supervised the construction of the prison and served under the President Alberto Fujimori.

Death
On 13 July 2021, he was attended by medical personnel of the Ministry of Health after he refused to eat. He was given blood tests and an ultrasound. A few days later, on 17 July, he was transferred to a hospital for further monitoring. He died on 11 September 2021 at the Maximum Safety Center of the Callao Naval Base, at the age of 86.

Guzmán's body was cremated on the dawn of 24 September 2021 and his ashes were dispersed in a secret location in order to prevent a monument honoring him from being created.

title: Abimael Guzmán


text:
K. T. Oslin

Kay Toinette Oslin (May 15, 1942 – December 21, 2020) was an American country music singer-songwriter. She had several years of major commercial success in the late 1980s after signing a record deal at age 45. Oslin had four number one hits and placed additional singles on the Billboard country chart during that timespan; in addition, she won three Grammy Awards and is an inductee of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Oslin moved to Alabama after the death of her father, then to Texas. She developed an appreciation for folk music while studying theater in college and later started a folk trio. In 1966, she returned to theater after being cast in the touring production of Hello, Dolly! She then moved to New York City, where she continued acting in Broadway musicals and television commercials. At the same time, she began songwriting as a hobby. After a demo recording was made of her music, Oslin briefly signed to Elektra Records in 1981 without much success. She later signed to RCA Records in 1986 and had her first major hit the following year with "80's Ladies". Her 1987 debut album of the same name would sell over one million copies and produce three additional hits, including the number one single "Do Ya".

Oslin released This Woman (1988) and Love in a Small Town (1990), which reached the top ten of the Billboard charts. The albums spawned hit singles including "Hold Me", "Hey Bobby" and "Come Next Monday". In the early 1990s, she left her recording contract and went into a hiatus following several personal setbacks. In 1996, she returned with the studio album "My Roots Are Showing..." and then in 2001 with Live Close By, Visit Often. Oslin released her final album in 2015 titled Simply.

Early years
Oslin was born in Crossett, Arkansas, in 1942 to Larry and Kathleen Oslin. When Oslin was 5, her father died from leukemia, leaving her mother widowed. His death resulted in her becoming shy and withdrawn. The family moved to Mobile, Alabama, following her father's death, which is where Oslin spent her childhood. When she was a teenager, her mother moved her family to Houston, Texas, where she would eventually graduate from high school. She became fond of music during her formative years in music inspired from her mother. Oslin's mother had once performed Swing music on local radio and also was offered a job singing in the Les Brown orchestra. She studied drama at Lon Morris College in Texas, where she also drew a deep appreciation for folk music.

While in college, Oslin formed a folk trio with David Jones and singer-songwriter Guy Clark. Together, they performed in local cubs, restaurants and other venues in Texas. The trio eventually recorded a song for a 1963 folk compilation titled Look, It's Us! On lead vocals, Oslin performed the tune "Brave Young Soldier". She would later form a folk duo with Frank Davis. In Hollywood, California, the pair—billed as "Frankie and Johnny"—recorded an album, which was not released. Oslin returned to Houston following the stint. In 1966, a touring production of the Broadway musical Hello, Dolly! came to the Houston area in search of "chorus girls" for their ensemble cast. Oslin auditioned, got the part and began touring the same year.

1966–1986: Broadway, commercials and beginnings in Nashville
In 1966, Hello, Dolly!'s national tour ended and Oslin moved to New York City to pursue acting. She remained in the city for 20 years where she got several small stage role parts. Oslin appeared as part of the ensemble in the Broadway shows Promises, Promises and West Side Story. She also found work singing commercial jingles. She was often cast in hygiene-product commercials. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Oslin recalled being cast in a hemorrhoid commercial: "Hemorrhoids! Lord! I had a hemorrhoid commercial that had people I knew from the 3d grade calling me up saying, 'Is that you?'" Oslin also developed an interest in songwriting after being given a piano. She taught herself chord patterns and wrote music that went along with it. Her interest in country music also developed after New York started their first country radio station. She found the music to be more sophisticated than what it previously had been and began writing country songs after that. While performing as part of a synthesizer troupe, Oslin was inspired to write her first country song from writing she saw on a bathroom wall. Written on the wall were the words, "I ain't gonna love nobody but Cornell Crawford." Oslin wrote the song with friend Joe Miller and she would later record it in 1990.

Oslin eventually made a demonstration tape of her compositions and brought them to the attention of the performance rights group SESAC. From there, it was brought to the attention of their Nashville executive, Dianne Petty. Petty encouraged Oslin's musical talent and helped bring her music to the attention of Nashville record executives. At the same time, Oslin also found work singing with Guy Clark on his 1978 self-titled album. Through Petty's assistance, Oslin acquired a "singles-only" recording contract with Elektra Records. Only two singles were issued on the label, "Younger Men" and "Clean Your Own Tables", the latter of which became a minor hit on the country chart. "My first record, 'Clean Your Own Tables,' managed to get on the charts for about 15 minutes," she recalled in 1987. Elektra ultimately dropped her from their label in 1982. She returned to New York where she went into a depressive period and gained 40 pounds. She continued commercial work, but found it unsatisfying. Yet Petty continued advocating for Oslin and her original compositions were recorded by Judy Rodman, Dottie West, Gail Davies and The Judds.

In 1986, Oslin decided to make a final effort to regain a recording contract. She borrowed seven thousand dollars from her aunt, lost 40 pounds, rented a Nashville nightclub and invited record executives to a one-time music showcase. "The next morning, I sat waiting for the phone to ring. It did not," she recounted. Yet, through her connections, Oslin contacted Nashville producer Harold Shedd, who had recently been successful recording Alabama. Shedd convinced Oslin to record three of her original tunes and he eventually became her full-time production collaborator. She also met RCA Records executive Joe Galante in 1986. Galante believed Oslin had potential and signed her to RCA in 1986 when Oslin was 45 years old.

1986–1993: 80's Ladies and commercial breakout
In December 1986, RCA released Oslin's first label single, titled "Wall of Tears". Despite breaking into the top 40, the song failed to become a major hit. In 1987, the label issued the self-penned "80's Ladies", which became her first major hit. Oslin had written the tune several years prior in small chunks over time. "I thought it was one of those show pieces. I never dreamed or thought it would be a single," she stated in 2011. The single peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in July and went to number four on the RPM Country Singles chart in Canada. It would later win the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Song of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards. Oslin became the CMA's first female artist to win the Song of the Year accolade. "80's Ladies" also received a positive response from critics. Steve Huey of Allmusic called the track "anthemic," while Mary Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann called it "the anthem of a generation." Bill Friskics-Warren of The New York Times compared its piano sound to that of Jackson Browne. In July 1987, Oslin's debut studio album of the same name was released on RCA. It became the highest-charting album by a female country artist in 20 years, topping the Billboard Top Country Albums chart in February 1988. It was also her highest-charting release on the Billboard 200 reaching a peak of 68 in March 1988. It would later certify platinum in the United States for selling over one million copies. Both of the follow-up singles to "80's Ladies" ("Do Ya" and "I'll Always Come Back") reached number one on the country chart.

Oslin's musical success allowed her to become more financially stable. By 1988, she purchased her first house, but was rarely home due to a demanding tour schedule. That year, she toured with Alabama and George Strait, and recorded her second album for RCA. In August 1988, This Woman was released. Oslin wrote (or co-wrote) all ten of the album's tracks. According to Oslin, This Woman reflected the modern thinking of middle-aged women of the eighties. The project received critical acclaim from various publications. Alex Henderson of Allmusic gave it a three-star rating, calling it "a generally appealing release that successfully balances commercial and artistic considerations." Rolling Stone named it one of their "12 Classic Albums" in 2018 and found it to define female independence. Rock critic Robert Christgau gave the album a "B" rating, praising the album's defiance of gender roles in the Nashville establishment. It produced the number one hit, "Hold Me", which would also win her a second Grammy award. It was followed by the top five hits, "Hey Bobby" and its title track.

Oslin had continued success into the 1990s. That year, she performed at Carnegie Hall alongside new singer Clint Black, who also served as the opening act of her newly established headlining tour. However, her constant road schedule was negatively affecting her mental health. She took several months off from appearances to refocus and readjust her mental health. "It took me months to become a human," she told the Chicago Tribune in 1990. Oslin also took time to write and record her third studio album. In late 1990, Love in a Small Town was released on RCA Records. The project peaked at number five on the Billboard country albums chart and spent 71 weeks there. Despite the album's first single becoming only a minor hit, the second single, "Come Next Monday", would be her fourth number one single on the country chart. It was followed by the top 40 hit, "Mary and Willie", and the charting singles "You Call Everybody Darling" and "Cornell Crawford".

Oslin spent more time away from music as the decade progressed. Her last album project for RCA would be the 1993 compilation, Greatest Hits: Songs from an Aging Sex Bomb. The compilation peaked at number 28 on the Top Country Albums list and number 126 on the Billboard 200. Along with eight of her major hits, Greatest Hits also included three new songs. Notably included was a re-recording of "New Way Home". It was later released as single and spent three weeks on the Billboard country chart. Jack Hurst of The Chicago Tribune found its new tracks to be "pop sounding" but also found it to blend effectively with her previous hits. Allmusic's Rick Anderson rated it four out of five stars, yet also observed it to have pop inflections. However, he found the quality of the writing and sound to be quite high: "This is great pop music, no matter what bin you find it in."

1993–2015: Acting transition, hiatus and return to the spotlight
Oslin began turning her career towards acting by 1994. This began with a guest appearance on the television western, Paradise. Oslin portrayed a mother living in rural America and performed the song, "Down in the Valley". She would also appear on a television special with Carol Burnett where she performed a duet version of her song, "New Way Home". In 1993, Oslin made her first appearance in a film called The Thing Called Love. She starred alongside Hollywood actors Sandra Bullock and River Phoenix. Directed by Peter Bogdanovich, the film's plot focused on Nashville and the main character's dream of becoming a country music songwriter. Oslin portrayed Lucy, a fictional owner of the Bluebird Café. Reviewers, including The Austin Chronicle, disliked the movie, but praised Oslin's performance. "She's so country and so good in her role, she reveals the rest of the movie to be as artificial as it is," Louis Black wrote in 1993. Also in 1993, Oslin appeared in the television movie, Poisoned by Love: The Kern County Murders. In 1994, she guest-starred in the Arkansas-themed series Evening Shade. Oslin portrayed one of three sisters headed to audition for the Grand Ole Opry.

Oslin would also take several years away from music during the mid 1990s. She faced several personal setbacks including a severe depression, side effects from menopause and quadruple bypass surgery. Following her recovery, Oslin was coaxed back into recording from former label-head Joe Galante. Teaming up with sound engineer Rick Will, she produced and recorded 1996's "My Roots Are Showing...", which was released on BNA Records. The album contained cover versions of lesser-known country and pop recordings. It was received unfavorably by Allmusic, which only rated it 2.5 stars. Bill Carpenter commented that "The only issue is that this was marketed as a country album when the Nashville element isn't terribly conspicuous." However, Robert K. Oermann of Music Row commented that the album showcased how Oslin was an example of the "emerging Americana music movement." "My Roots Are Showing..." reached number 45 on the Billboard country albums chart and spawned the charting single, "Silver Tongue and Gold Plated Lies".

After another hiatus, Oslin released her fifth studio album titled, Live Close By, Visit Often, in 2001. She co-produced the album with The Mavericks' lead vocalist Raul Malo. The album included a range of musical styles, such as country, electronic dance and Latin. Live Close By, Visit Often received mixed reviews. Allmusic's Maria Konicki Dinoia commented that the project was "too eclectic to call country [and] too divergent to call pop." Alanna Nash found the album to be "schizophrenic" in its musical diversity, but did praise Oslin's vocal performance throughout. Live Close By, Visit Often spent 11 weeks on the Billboard country albums list and peaked at number 35, becoming her final charting album. Its title track was released as the first single and reached a minor chart position on the country songs list. Its second single, a cover of Rosemary Clooney's "Come on-a My House" would make the Billboard dance music chart.

Oslin went into a third career hiatus after 2001. Speaking to Country Music Television in 2011, she explained that the decision to stop performing was conscious. "I asked my people, 'Do I have enough money to quit right now?' and they said, 'Yeah.' I said, 'Well, then, I quit!'" She spent frequent time at home and enjoying hobbies, such as painting. In 2008, she performed a one-woman show, which included a music and words. In 2013, she returned to the stage to perform at the Franklin Theater for the twenty-fifth anniversary of her studio album, 80's Ladies. In 2014, Oslin performed a live cabaret show, which would inspire the recording of her final studio album. In 2015, Simply was released on Red River Entertainment. The album contained re-recordings of her previous material and one new track titled, "Do You Think About Me". Simply contained a session band that consisted of only four players. According to a 2015 interview, Oslin stated she decided to make the album so that fans could buy new music at her shows. Oslin went into her final retirement following the record's release.

Musical styles
In a 1988 interview, Oslin described her own musical style as stemming from country, southern blues and R&B: "It's a mishmash of stuff. I'm surprised people like it. They should be asking: 'What is this stuff?' I ask that myself all the time." Oslin's musical style is rooted in country, but also incorporates elements of country pop, pop rock and adult contemporary. Examples of pop and "anthemic rock" can be found in her first two RCA albums, as noted by Steve Huey of Allmusic. When reviewing 1988's This Woman, Allmusic's Alex Henderson also drew similar comparisons, calling her sound "far from a honky tonker." Oslin incorporated more dance, traditional pop, Latin and Americana into her musical style after leaving RCA.

Her musical style can also be identified with her songwriting. As a musical artist, Oslin wrote most of her material. Many of her compositions centered on characters going through the trials and tribulations of middle age. According to Oslin, she developed songwriting inspiration from her friends who were going through martial difficulties. "I learn from watching people and try to put it in terms that music fans would find interesting," she explained in 1988. Bill Friskics-Warren of The New York Times wrote that Oslin "gave voice to the desires and trials of female baby boomers on the cusp of middle age." In Finding Her Voice: The History of Women in Country Music, Oslin "became the beacon of inspiration for every middle-aged woman who felt vibrant yet overlooked." Dennis Hunt of The Los Angeles Times called her writing "penetrating, vivid tales of women in turmoil."

Oslin was largely influenced as a child by traditional pop and country performers, notably Patsy Cline and Kay Starr. As she started performing folk music in the 1960s, Oslin's musical inspiration drew away from country and pop. Yet, once writing her own music, Oslin began finding connections back into country music despite not necessarily looking for it: "I was writing songs--country songs for some weird reason--even though I didn't want to be a songwriter," she commented.

Legacy and honors
Oslin's success helped give identity to strong, female women in their middle-aged years, according to several publications. Sarah Trahern, CEO of the Country Music Association remarked on her legacy in 2020: "K.T. Oslin had one of the most soulful voices in country music and was a strong influence for women with her hit '80's Ladies'...She truly had one of the best voices in the history of our format." Lorrie Morgan made a similar comment in 2020: "She was a big inspiration to me and her writing about the strength of women." Her artistry helped influence other female country singer–songwriters that followed such as Brandy Clark and Chely Wright. Mary Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann commented on her musical legacy in 2003: "K. T. was part of a 1980s invasion of female songwriting talent into Nashville. Today, virtually every major song publisher in [Music City] has female staff writers."

Oslin was part of a group of country artists who helped shift its musical sound in the late 1980s. Writers and critics have cited her as an innovator of Nashville's musical shift, along with Steve Earle, k. d. lang and Lyle Lovett. Bill Friskics-Warren of The New York Times commented that Oslin was "among a distinguished circle of thoughtful, independent female songwriting contemporaries that included Pam Tillis, Gretchen Peters and Matraca Berg." Oslin also received several honors for her legacy. In 2014, she was inducted into the Texas Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2018, she was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Personal life and death
Oslin never married. However, she did have several long-term relationships through her middle age. This included a several-year relationship in the 1970s with Alan Rubin, a musician and former member of The Blues Brothers. The couple lived for two years in upstate New York in a rural community. The relationship dissolved after two years and Oslin moved back to New York City. It was Rubin who gave Oslin her first piano following their separation. Oslin would dive into songwriting following her breakup: "That pulling back period is when I started to write." Oslin later dated record producer Steve Buckingham and drummer Owen Hale. However, these relationships eventually ended. "I'm alone, but I like my own company," she told People magazine in 1993.

In the early 1990s, Oslin revealed a battle with menopausal depression. This caused her to lose interest in creating music, including songwriting and performing. According to Oslin, she returned to normalcy after she stopped taking hormones prescribed by her doctor. Oslin's mother died around the same period, which caused further depressive episodes. In 1995, she began suffering from chest pain after spending a summer mowing her lawn. It was discovered after several examinations that she needed quadruple bypass surgery. Although making a full recovery, she had a permanent triangular scar that she refused to remove from promotional photographs.

In June 2015, Oslin was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and moved into an assisted-living facility the following year. She died on December 21, 2020. She was 78 years old. She was interred at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Nashville adjacent to fellow country music star Tammy Wynette.

Discography

 * Studio albums
 * 1987: 80's Ladies
 * 1988: This Woman
 * 1990: Love in a Small Town
 * 1996: "My Roots Are Showing..."
 * 2001: Live Close By, Visit Often
 * 2015: Simply

Awards and nominations
!Ref.
 * 1982
 * SESAC
 * Most Promising Country Music Writer
 * Won
 * rowspan="5"| 1987
 * rowspan="2"| Grammy Awards
 * Best Female Country Vocal Performance – "80's Ladies"
 * Won
 * Best Country Song – "80's Ladies"
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="3"| Academy of Country Music Awards
 * Song of the Year – "80's Ladies"
 * Nominated
 * Country Music Video of the Year – "80's Ladies"
 * Won
 * Top New Female Vocalist
 * Won
 * rowspan="12"| 1988
 * rowspan="2"| Grammy Awards
 * Best Country Song – "Hold Me"
 * Won
 * Best Female Country Vocal Performance – "Hold Me"
 * Won
 * rowspan="5"| Academy of Country Music Awards
 * Album of the Year – This Woman
 * Won
 * Country Music Video of the Year – "Hold Me"
 * Nominated
 * Country Music Video of the Year – "I'll Always Come Back"
 * Nominated
 * Single Record of the Year – "I'll Always Come Back"
 * Nominated
 * Top Female Vocalist
 * Won
 * rowspan="5"| Country Music Association Awards
 * Horizon Award
 * Nominated
 * Female Vocalist of the Year
 * Won
 * Single of the Year – "Do Ya"
 * Nominated
 * Song of the Year – "80's Ladies"
 * Won
 * Song of the Year – "Do Ya"
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="3"| 1990
 * rowspan="2"| Grammy Awards
 * Best Country Song – "Come Next Monday"
 * Nominated
 * Best Female Country Vocal Performance – "Come Next Monday"
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="2"| Academy of Country Music Awards
 * Country Music Video of the Year – "Come Next Monday"
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="6"| 1991
 * Country Music Video of the Year – "Mary and Willie"
 * Nominated
 * Country Music Association Awards
 * Music Video of the Year – "Come Next Monday'
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="4"| SESAC
 * Writer of the Year
 * Nominated
 * National Performance Activity – "Come Next Monday"
 * Won
 * National Performance Activity – "Mary and Willie"
 * Won
 * National Performance Activity – "Younger Men"
 * Won
 * 2014
 * Texas Songwriters Hall of Fame
 * Inducted as a member
 * Won
 * 2018
 * Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
 * Inducted as a member
 * Won
 * }
 * Song of the Year – "Do Ya"
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="3"| 1990
 * rowspan="2"| Grammy Awards
 * Best Country Song – "Come Next Monday"
 * Nominated
 * Best Female Country Vocal Performance – "Come Next Monday"
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="2"| Academy of Country Music Awards
 * Country Music Video of the Year – "Come Next Monday"
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="6"| 1991
 * Country Music Video of the Year – "Mary and Willie"
 * Nominated
 * Country Music Association Awards
 * Music Video of the Year – "Come Next Monday'
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="4"| SESAC
 * Writer of the Year
 * Nominated
 * National Performance Activity – "Come Next Monday"
 * Won
 * National Performance Activity – "Mary and Willie"
 * Won
 * National Performance Activity – "Younger Men"
 * Won
 * 2014
 * Texas Songwriters Hall of Fame
 * Inducted as a member
 * Won
 * 2018
 * Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
 * Inducted as a member
 * Won
 * }
 * Won
 * National Performance Activity – "Mary and Willie"
 * Won
 * National Performance Activity – "Younger Men"
 * Won
 * 2014
 * Texas Songwriters Hall of Fame
 * Inducted as a member
 * Won
 * 2018
 * Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
 * Inducted as a member
 * Won
 * }
 * Won
 * 2018
 * Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
 * Inducted as a member
 * Won
 * }
 * Won
 * }
 * }
 * }

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: K. T. Oslin


text:
Ra's al Ghul

Ra's al Ghul is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. Created by editor Julius Schwartz, writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams, the character first appeared in Batman #232's "Daughter of the Demon" (June 1971).

Most notable as the leader of the League of Assassins, Ra's al Ghul's name in Arabic translates to "Head of the Demon". He is the son of Sensei; the father of Talia al Ghul, Nyssa Raatko and Dusan al Ghul; and the maternal grandfather of Damian Wayne. Stories featuring Ra's al Ghul often involve the Lazarus Pits, which restore life to the dying. The Lazarus Pits have considerably prolonged Ra's' life, making him particularly dangerous as he has honed his combat skills for centuries. Though primarily an enemy of Batman, Ra's has also come into conflict with Superman and other heroes in the DC Universe.

Ra's al Ghul has been featured in various media adaptations. The character was portrayed by David Warner in the DC Animated Universe, Liam Neeson in the Dark Knight trilogy, Jason Isaacs in Batman: Under the Red Hood, Dee Bradley Baker in the Batman: Arkham video game series, Matt Nable in the Arrowverse television series, and Alexander Siddig in Gotham.

IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time List ranked Ra's as No. 7.

Publication history
Created by editor Julius Schwartz, writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams, he was introduced in Batman #232's "Daughter of the Demon" (June 1971). Adams discussed how he designed the character in a 2007 Wizard interview "First of all, Denny O'Neil started as a journalist, and so his experience with costume characters was always a forced experience. When the idea came to Julie Schwartz that "we're kind of reviving old characters. What do we want to do for a new character?" Denny's tendency - and I understood it totally - was not to go to a costumed character with superpowers, but to go to a Moriarty type.  When Denny presented it, here I was as a comic book artist who was used to doing fairly realistic stuff having to deal with, "Hey, no costume."  How do I make him unique?  Because after all, we are pandering to our audience a little bit.  How does he become unique?  So I sort of went down the list of things that I could do that didn't offend my sensibilities as an artist and as a person that lived in the world.  How do you make a person unique?  And then I realized there are people that look unique, that present their personality with their physiognomy - like Jack Palance, for example.  Jack Palance is incredible to look at."

Character overview
Raʼs al Ghul is an international criminal mastermind whose ultimate goal is a world in perfect environmental balance. He believes that the best way to achieve this balance is to eliminate most of humanity. Ra's usually tries to assault the world's human populace with a biological weapon, such as a genetically-engineered virus. He is aided in this quest by the Lazarus Pits, reservoirs of rejuvenating chemicals that restore the dead and dying to life; these pits have granted him a lifespan of several centuries. He regards Batman as his worthiest opponent, addressing him as "Detective" out of respect for his intellectual brilliance, and has frequently sought to make the Dark Knight his successor. He is one of the few criminals in Batman's rogues gallery to have deduced his secret identity as Bruce Wayne, but keeps silent on the matter due to the same sense of respect for Batman. For his own part, Batman's opposition to Raʼs is complicated by both his own respect for al Ghul's genius (if not his goals and methods) and his attraction to his daughter, Talia, which she reciprocates.

Origin
Ra's al Ghul's real name, early life, and exact age have been described differently by various writers. His Post-Crisis origin story is told in the graphic novel Batman: Birth of the Demon (1992) by Dennis O'Neil and Norm Breyfogle. This origin story is later revisited and amended in Batman Annual #26 (2007) by Peter Milligan and David López as part of the Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul story arc. Most recent retelling origin story, Batman and Robin (vol. 2) #23.3 (2013) by James Tynion IV and Jeremy Haun, references these prior iterations of al Ghul's origin while keeping common details that lead towards Ra's' adoption of the moniker (e.g. Ra's' occupation as a physician, his wife's death, and the annihilation of the Sultan's city).

As told in Birth of the Demon, Ra's al Ghul (known only as The Physician prior to adopting the moniker) was born over 600 years before his first appearance in Batman comics, to a berber tribe in eastern North Africa, near a city governed by a Sultan. Developing an interest in the sciences at an early age, Ra's abandoned his tribe to live in the city, where he focused himself on learning and experimentation. He subsequently trained as a physician and married a woman named Sora.

Upon discovering the healing properties of the Lazarus Pit, Ra's managed to save the Sultan's dying son by lowering him into it. However, he is unaware that use of the Lazarus Pit can induce insanity, and the prince (who is already sadistic and cruel), emerges as a mentally unstable sociopath. He proceeds to fatally strangle Sora, on whom he has already had his eye for some time. The Sultan, unwilling to admit to himself his son's culpability, accuses Ra's of poisoning his son's mind and sentences him to a slow, tortured death in a cage with Sora's corpse.

Ra's is set free by the son of a dying elderly woman, who Ra's had earlier treated. The son feels that he owes Ra's a debt for easing his mother's suffering during her last few hours. Ra's and the son head into the desert to seek the tribe of Ra's' birth. Ra's convinces the head of his tribe, his uncle, to follow Ra's in his quest for revenge by promising the downfall of the Sultan. By understanding the germ theory of disease hundreds of years before anyone else, Ra's is able to infect the prince with a deadly virus by sending him contaminated fabrics. When the Sultan once again demands that Ra's save his son, both men are killed by the former physician. Ra's then leads his tribe to raze the city to the ground and kill all of its inhabitants. Subsequently, Ra's declares himself "Ra's al Ghul", the "Demon's Head".

Batman: Birth of the Demon provides a rough figure of 500 years for Ra's al Ghul's age. Due to living so long and being so old, he is assumed to have lost track of how old he is. Azrael #6 (July 1995; written by Dennis O'Neil) places Ra's age closer to 450 years. As he tells Jean Paul Valley, "I appear to be a vigorous fifty. I am actually a very vigorous four hundred and forty-eight...or is it four hundred and fifty-three? I lost count during the Black Plague. No matter". In Batman Annual #25 (published in 2006), Ra's al Ghul is described as a "700-Year Old International Terrorist". The 700 year plus mark is used again in Batman and Robin (vol. 2) #23.3 (2013), followed by Issue #30 of the same series where over a 1000-year time span is also described in Ra's' pursuit of Themyscira.

Using the Lazarus Pits to extend his life, Ra's spends the next several centuries journeying the world. He fights in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars and becomes a formidable warrior. As the world entered the modern age and industrialization began to cover much of the Earth, Ra's grew to despise the humans who he believed were destroying the world's natural beauty, thus setting him on a path of eco-terrorism. Also during this time, Ra's, his uncle, and Huwe, the son who freed Ra's from the Sultan's initial execution are all using the Lazarus Pits to prolong their lives until an incident in London. Ra's catches Huwe writing his own memoirs in their original Chinese language, despite Ra's having forbidden him to reveal the secret of their immortality. During a battle, Ra's kills Huwe and flees to a Lazarus Pit, which he uses. When he returns to their home in London, his uncle has vanished with the remnants of their historical records.

Over time, he becomes a master of many forms of combat, notably fencing. He also builds up vast wealth and creates The Demon, a huge international organization. According to Justice League of America (1st series) #94: "It has been whispered in the darkest places for 500 years that a cartel of criminals has slowly sucked its way into the rich veins of the Earth. Many are its names spit from the mouths of men, but most often it is cursed only as. The Demon. It has a leader. A Head." The League of Assassins, one of the many smaller organizations making up The Demon, is thus sometimes called "The Demon's Fang" or "Demonfang".

In his earlier appearances, Ra's al Ghul's ethnic origins were subject to change depending on the depiction and writer. He is said to have East Asian ancestry in accordance to Birth of the Demon and Byzantine/Eastern Roman as addressed by Talia al Ghul in Batman Annual #26. The significance of al Ghul's Eurasian profile is attributed to his known paternal heritage whilst his ambitions for world conquest is often compared and traced to the likes of Alexander the Great; an influence too shared by other family members such as Sensei (Batman #671 (2007) by Grant Morrison and Tony S. Daniel), Talia al Ghul, and Damian Wayne (Batman and Robin (vol. 2) #0 (2012) by Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason) (the name "Damian" being derivative of "damianos", Greek for "to tame"). Most commonly depicted in source material with a dominant phenotype of fair complexion,   Ra's has also been able to opportunistically be involved in Western world global exploits such as the Age of Exploration (Year One: Batman/Ra's al Ghul #2 (2005) by Devin K. Grayson and Paul Gulacy) and the Third Reich (Batman: Death and the Maidens #5 (2004) by Greg Rucka and Klaus Janson). Ra's al Ghul's adoptive use of Arabic monikers and the language itself is a result of al Ghul's settlement and cultured history both in erudition and regional pursuit of Lazarus Pit/longevity sources most commonly unearthed throughout the Greater Middle East (e.g. The Well of Sins in the Arabian Peninsula, Red Hood and the Outlaws #22 (2013) by James Tynion IV and Julius Gopez) to East Asia (Peaches of Immortality, Year One: Batman/Ra's al Ghul #1). The use of Arabic monikers in particular (in regards to demons) is used as a scare tactic in Ra's' history promoting both his influence, and reign of terror throughout the Greater Middle East—his first eradication of a sultanate as described in Birth of the Demon, the same actions insinuated to have been repeated in Batman and Robin (vol. 2) #23.3, and direct depiction in Death and the Maidens #4.

Aligning with Ra's al Ghul's character overview as an international environmental terrorist, in conjunction with the character's background being subject to different renditions from multiple writers; co-creator of the character, Neal Adams, has stated that the character has no specific regional/ethnic representation of any kind, necessarily. "'...we created an equal to Batman, and that's what Ra's al Ghul is all about. He's not necessarily Arabic. He's not necessarily Eastern. He's not necessarily Western. He's not necessarily anything! He's just a villain and he's equal to Batman.' - Neal Adams, via SYFY WIRE Batman at 80: How To Craft The Perfect Batman Villain"

In the 21st century, Ra's has explicitly been established as being of Chinese (though this may no longer be canon) and Arab ancestry. In the 2007-2008 story The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul, his father was revealed to be the DC Comics character the Sensei, a warrior and combat instructor who is a member of the League of Assassins. The Sensei is a Chinese man originally from the Hong Kong region. However, Ra's' relation to the Sensei may no longer be canon due to the reveal of his father being a part of the Pre-Flashpoint/Post-Crisis DC continuity that ended in 2011. In 2021, DC introduced Ra's' mother Rúh al Ghul, an Arab woman. Ra's and the rest of the al Ghul's Arabic heritage and connection to Arabic culture has been given greater emphasis since the late 2010s.

Contagion and legacy
Ra's returns to prominence and comes dangerously close to realizing his dream of worldwide genocide in the "Contagion" story arc of the Batman titles. His organization unleashes a deadly virus known as Ebola Gulf A (a.k.a. "The Clench") in Gotham City, putting Batman in conflict with a force he seemingly cannot defeat. A cure is eventually located by Batman and his allies, though the mastermind behind the outbreak is not discovered until the follow-up story "Legacy".

Learning that the Demon's Head still lives, Batman and his team circle the globe, preventing further outbreaks of the virus. Ra's allies himself with Bane, the man who once crippled and nearly killed Batman. Ra's considers Bane a potential heir to his empire, despite his daughter Talia's distaste for the criminal mastermind. Eventually, Batman deduces a way to eliminate the Clench virus from an ancient "Wheel of Plagues" artifact whose knowledge has aided Ra's in the creation of the disease. The long-lived madman eludes justice again.

JLA: Tower of Babel
In the "Tower of Babel" storyline, in JLA #43–46, Ra's discovers Batman's contingency plans for stopping the other members of the Justice League of America, should they turn or be turned evil, and uses them to try to destroy the group. Meanwhile, Ra's steals the bodies of Batman's parents. This theft prevents Batman from realizing Ra's is using his traps until it is too late, as he is distracted by the search for the corpses of his parents.

Though defeated, Ra's does cause the temporary exit of Batman from the JLA, who now distrust the Caped Crusader. However, though some of the League resent Batman's plans, they eventually accept that the plans were created for the right reasons once Batman confirms that he trusts them by revealing his secret identity to the rest of the team.

Talia, disillusioned with her father, leaves the League to run LexCorp for former U.S. President Lex Luthor, before selling the company to Bruce Wayne for his Wayne Foundation to aid Batman and Superman's victory over Luthor. Ra's blames Batman for his failed relationship with Talia, and stages a plot where he tries to separate Batman from his heir, Dick Grayson, shortly before Wayne officially adopts his former ward as his son. The plan fails, and Wayne and Grayson go ahead with the adoption.

Ra's is also featured in Birds of Prey #31–35, where he has a romantic fling with the Black Canary. The superheroine is injured and healed in the Lazarus Pit, which also restores the Canary Cry she lost years earlier.

Death and the Maidens
In Death and the Maidens (2004), Ra's' other daughter, Nyssa Raatko, furious at her father for abandoning her in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II, begins plotting to destroy him, prompting Ra's to contact Batman to make a deal for access to a Lazarus Pit to give him the strength for a final confrontation with Nyssa; in exchange for the location of a Pit, Ra's provides Batman with a serum that will allow him to walk in the spirit world and speak with his parents. While Batman experiences his "vision", Nyssa befriends Talia and then kidnaps and brainwashes her. Nyssa plots to destroy all hope and optimism in the world by assassinating Superman with Kryptonite bullets she steals from the Batcave. While Batman stops Nyssa from killing Superman, he is unable to stop her from mortally injuring her father. A dying Ra's reveals that this is all part of his greater plan to ensure that his daughters will realize that he is correct in his perceptions about the world and what needs to be done to it, and that they would come to accept their destinies as his heirs. Ra's' plan works: both Nyssa and Talia become the heads of The Demon and the League of Assassins. Talia disavows her love for Bruce Wayne, and both sisters declare Batman their enemy. It is too late for Ra's, as Nyssa stabs her father through the heart, seemingly killing him for good. To ensure Ra's will not return, Batman oversees his nemesis' cremation.

The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul
In Batman Annual #26, Talia is prompted to read the history of Ra's al Ghul to her son Damian by a mysterious figure from Ra's' past: the White Ghost. Unbeknownst to her, the White Ghost plans to use Damian as a vessel for Ra's' return. However, mother and son escape before the plan is completed. After the escape, Batman confronts the White Ghost; he fights Batman, but accidentally falls into a Lazarus Pit.

As of Batman #670, Ra's al Ghul has returned, having evaded death by transferring his consciousness into the body of another. Because his host body is decaying from radiation poisoning, he needs to transfer his mind into another host body. His first choice is that of his grandson Damian Wayne, but Damian escapes to alert his father.

Upon taking Ra's to a "Fountain of Essence", which contains the qualities of a Lazarus Pit, Batman is confronted with the sight of the Sensei, who is revealed to be Ra's' father. After defeating Ra's, Sensei fights and impales Batman with a cane. Determined to win, Batman drags the Sensei into the Fountain, where he is killed for not being a pure soul. Ra's, meanwhile, has taken over the body of a Nanda Parbat monk and departs. Healed by the Fountain, Batman emerges and yells for Ra's.

Ra's attempts to make amends with Batman after his resurrection, but Batman responds by crushing his decaying fingers. Ra's accepts this latest rebuke and, with the help of his men, overpowers Batman and captures Damian, who has arrived to try to help his father. Ra's attempts to take over Damian, but Batman breaks free just as Robin, Talia, Alfred Pennyworth, and Nightwing arrive to save him. While the battle ensues at Nanda Parbat, the White Ghost takes Ra's to a secluded place, where he appears to accept the fact that his death is inevitable. The White Ghost is revealed as Ra's' estranged albino son Dusan, and offers up his own body instead. Ra's performs the transfer of souls, but the White Ghost apparently dies soon afterward. Ra's resumes the battle and attempts to kill Batman, but the monks at Nanda Parbat stop him and banish him from the temple.

Following his resurrection, Ra's al Ghul, in his new body, moves his base of operations to Gotham City where it is revealed that a remnant of his son Dusan's consciousness still remains within him. Since the White Ghost was his son, Ra's was able to use the resemblance between them to modify his new body's appearance to be more like his own, though he remains an albino. This arrogance contributes to the brazen move to Gotham and a subsequent ninja attack on Batman, which indirectly leads to the discovery of a map of all the known Lazarus Pit locations across the globe. Batman then infiltrates Ra's al Ghul's new Gotham penthouse headquarters and easily defeats his horde of ninjas and Ra's himself. To ensure Ra's is not a constant threat within Gotham City, Batman comes up with the false identity of "Terry Gene Kase", and plants it along with credible photos, medical records, and police records for both Blackgate Penitentiary and Arkham Asylum. Batman takes an unconscious Ra's directly to Arkham where it is believed he really is the prisoner "Terry Gene Kase", a criminal with multiple personality disorder who has just been transferred to Arkham to finish out multiple life sentences. Along with attaching false information and a false identity to Ra's al Ghul's file, Batman attaches a false prescription of potent medication that ensures slurred speech and next to zero mobility.

Despite these precautions, Ra's eventually escapes when the orderlies miss his dosage once, which allows him to become conscious enough to escape from Arkham.

The Return of Bruce Wayne
Ra's realizes that Batman has apparently died after Darkseid's invasion during Final Crisis. After confronting Nightwing with his knowledge, he and the hero eventually duel with swords. Nightwing defeats Ra's and earns the immortal's respect, signified by leaving his sword in the Batcave as a gift after their fight. Ra's refuses to believe his enemy's passing despite the evidence, leading him to be involved in the Red Robin's (Tim Drake) quest concerning the fate of the original Dark Knight. After Drake finds proof that Wayne is still alive but lost in time after his battle with Darkseid, the former Boy Wonder cripples Ra's' organization, the League of Assassins, from within. In response, Ra's returns to Gotham to begin his attack to destroy every legacy of the Wayne Family. While his men target everyone close to the Waynes, Ra's makes a pact with Hush as part of his plans. Unknown to both men, Lucius Fox has already given Tim power of attorney leaving him in control of the Wayne Family resources.

Enraged, Ra's then engages Tim Drake in combat, which ends with Tim mocking Ra's by saying that there's nothing he can do to harm the Bat Family anymore; in response, Ra's smiles and says "Well done. Detective" (a name he has only ever reserved for Batman, Nightwing and Red Hood once before). He then proceeds to kick him out of a skyscraper window and retreats from the battle. Later, in seclusion, Ra's reveals everything which happened was a test for Tim Drake, from the league, the council, the Men of Death, and the plot against Bruce Wayne.

Learning of Bruce Wayne's return, Ra's muses that his next confrontation with the detective will be particularly interesting as he believes that Batman has at last had a taste of the immortality that Ra's himself enjoys.

He goes after Vicki Vale and almost kills her. He spares her life only after she refuses to publish the identity of Batman and gets rid of all of the evidence she has to that effect. He also realizes that Vale may be a descendant of a French opponent, Marcel du Valliere, from centuries before; therefore, his business with her may not be finished.

The New 52
In The New 52 (a 2011 reboot of the DC Comics universe), Ra's al Ghul appears in a hooded robe at the League of Assassins' city of 'Eth Alth'eban. He enters the Well of Sins after an encounter with Jason Todd. When he emerges, Ra's is consumed by the evil that corrupted the Untitled centuries before, and he feels compelled to rid himself of the machinations of his daughter and Ducra by killing Jason. At Ra's' command, the prisoners are brought to him, and he promises to use his newfound power to destroy them. Red Hood engages Ra's, as Essence joins the battle. She insists that he will allow Jason and his friends to leave his realm, or he will be forced to die a mortal death just as he always feared he would. Despite having destroyed the All-Caste, Ra's al Ghul's actions have led to their eventual rebirth. Defeated, he swears that he will visit great agony upon Red Hood if he ever sees him again.

Batman and Aquaman head to an island, where the League of Assassins are located, after Ra's has the bodies of Damian Wayne and Talia exhumed. Ra's had ordered the hunt of whales, creating genetically altered super-humans in the wombs of sperm whales, part of a plan to rebuild the League of Assassins. Inside the compound, they find that Ra's is wiping the hard drives clean, preventing data recovery. As his parting gift, he has left Batman the Heretics to keep him entertained. Batman fights his way to Ra's escape aircraft. He sees Talia and Damian's bodies stored within it, and clings to the fuselage from outside as the plane takes off. Though Ra's plans to go to Paradise Island, he is nearly surprised to see Batman pounding on the cockpit's windshield. From outside, Batman screams for Ra's to give back his son, but Ra's responds that he is blood of Damian's blood and the boy is in good hands. He orders the plane to tilt its angle, causing the wind shear to rip Batman from his purchase and drop down into the sea, where he is caught by Aquaman.

Batman and Ra's then encounter Glorious Godfrey. Glorious Godfrey's reason to come to Earth is to retrieve the Chaos Shard, a powerful crystal once belonged to Darkseid which Ra's al Ghul revealed was hidden inside the sarcophagus he crafted for Damian.

During Batman Eternal, Bruce briefly speculates that Ra's is the mastermind behind most of the attacks against him that have left Wayne Enterprises bankrupt and Batman pushed to the limit. However, when he confronts Ra's, his foe reveals that, while he was invited to participate in the attack by the true mastermind, he rejected the offer as Ra's would prefer to destroy Batman when the Dark Knight believes that his legacy will be as eternal as Ra's, rather than tear him down in such a manner.

DC Rebirth
During DC Rebirth, Ra's al Ghul is featured in Detective Comics issues #953-956 as part of the "League of Shadows" story arc, which runs from issue #951-956 (April–July 2017).

Ra's al Ghul appears in Dark Nights: Metal issue #2 as a member of the Immortals, a group formed by the oldest beings in the multiverse. He participates in a discussion on how they will fight the Dark Multiverse invasion.

Skills, training, and resources
Due to his expanded life span and longevity, Ra's has accumulated vast knowledge and abilities which exceed those of Batman. These include detective skills, chemistry, physics, military tactics, economics, and martial arts, fully using his photographic memory to master all such skills. He has also gained many international contacts and an immense fortune over the course of centuries. When in combat, he favors more ancient weaponry (as he has had more time to master them than more modern weaponry) these weapons include scimitars, katanas, spears, staffs, bolas, shurikens, smoke pellets and miniaturized explosives.

Ra's' greatest tools are his green Lazarus Pits, which heal any injury including recent death and restore the user to the prime of life, but cause temporary insanity (or for those already insane like the Joker, sanity). His constant exposure to the pits has granted him slightly enhanced endurance, strength, and healing but also comes with the price of a gradual onset of insanity if overused.

Magical and unnatural powers
Along with his physical abilities and resources, Ra's al Ghul has been shown to possess a certain degree of proficiency with mysticism. In an effort to guarantee his continued existence, he has on several occasions demonstrated the ability to transfer his soul into the bodies of others, giving him a way to live on in the event that his physical body is destroyed and unable to be transported into a Lazarus Pit. The exact details of this process have remained inconsistent; at times it appears as though a complicated ritual is required to achieve this effect, while on other occasions he is capable of performing this feat on a whim, merely by making physical contact with his intended host.

In the New 52, Ra's temporarily gained vast magical powers after bathing in the Well of Sins, the first Lazarus Pit. He claimed he was gifted with true immortality and displayed powers such as levitation, energy projection and construct creation and matter manipulation. However, he lost these abilities following his battle with Jason Todd.

Family
The following are members of Ra's al Ghul's family:

Sensei
Created by Neal Adams in 1968, the Sensei was originally introduced as high-ranking member of the League of Assassins. He was portrayed as an aged but highly skilled martial artist. During the Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul storyline, he was revealed to be Ra's al Ghul's centuries-old father. He dies during the same storyline.

Mother Soul
Created by Joshua Williamson and Gleb Melnikov in 2021, Mother Soul is the mysterious head of the "League of Lazarus". In Robin (vol. 3) #7, she is revealed to be Ruh al Ghul (Soul of the Demon), Ra's al Ghul's mother.

Dusan al Ghul
Created by Peter Milligan and David Lopez in 2007, Dusan al Ghul (دوسان الغول) was Ra's' only known son. He was also referred to as Ash'Shabah Al-Abyad (الشبح الأبيض), meaning "the White Ghost". Though little is known about his past, it is stated that he was born out of a union meant to strengthen his father's hold over "some long-extinct people", suggesting that he was older than Ra's' other children. As an albino, he was never considered a potential heir to his father's empire. He ultimately sacrificed himself to ensure his father's survival during the Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul storyline.

Nyssa Raatko
Created by Greg Rucka and Klaus Janson in 2003, Nyssa Raatko (نيسا رعتكو) is Ra's al Ghul's oldest known daughter. She was born the only child to Ra's al Ghul's mistress Amina Raatko, also known as Lourdes in 18th century Russia. She would later become a Holocaust survivor. She is murdered by Cassandra Cain during the One Year Later storyline.

Talia al Ghul
Created by Dennis O'Neil and Bob Brown in 1971, Talia al Ghul (تاليه الغول) is Ra's al Ghul's daughter. Like Ra's, Talia's mother was a woman of mixed Chinese and Arab ancestry named Melisande, who met Ra's at the Woodstock festival.

Damian Wayne
Originally appearing as an unnamed infant in the 1987 graphic novel Batman: Son of the Demon, the character was introduced as Damian Wayne or Damian al Ghul (Arabic: دميان الغول) by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert in 2006. Damian is the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, making him the grandson of Ra's al Ghul. He is an Heir to the Demon Head and expected to one day lead the League. Ra's raised him to be the new Alexander the Great. He is bred from birth to take and rule the world by his mother Talia al Ghul. He was very aggressive until he met his father, Batman. Batman taught him how to calm himself and trained him to be the new Robin. His genetic perfection and genetic makeup unfortunately marked him as the ideal host for his grandfather who wants to take over his body.

Mara al Ghul
Created by Benjamin Percy and Jonboy Meyers, the character debuted in Teen Titans (vol. 6) in December 2016. Mara al Ghul is a granddaughter of Ra's al Ghul, daughter to the late Dusan al Ghul and a cousin to Damian Wayne. Introduced as an enemy to Damian she was also raised by the League of Assassins. She and Damian were both members of the Demon's Fist, an elite group within in the League. Damian was supposed to lead the Demon's Fist but Mara now leads the group since Damian's choosing his father over the League. Mara hates Damian since he left her with a scar across her right eye during a training session when they were younger. Mara has not inherited her father's albinism; she has black hair with red bangs. Like the rest of her family, she is a skilled fighter and is also noted to be a talented artist.

Athanasia al Ghul
Athanasia al Ghul is a character featured in the Injustice 2 prequel comics and does not appear in the Prime Earth continuity. She is the daughter of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, sister of Damian Wayne and granddaughter of Ra's al Ghul. Athanasia is the secret daughter of Talia and Bruce and raised by Talia without Bruce or even Damian's knowledge. While Talia allowed Damian to become a hero and work with his father for a time, Talia kept Athanasia a secret from her father and raised her as a member of the League of Assassins. Athanasia is first seen beside her mother Talia breaking her brother Damian out of prison. She is insulted by Damian's apparent rudeness and wants him to say please before letting him out. When Warden Dan Turpin tries to arrest them she kills him and the guards. While exiting the building Damian tells his mother to control her 'servant', Athanasia, who then assaults him. It is only then that Talia reveals Athanasia is Damian's sister and the "Daughter of the Bat". After the fall of Superman's regime Athanasia and the rest of the League come out of hiding. She works alongside her mother and grandfather in a scheme to reclaim the Earth from humans who were destroying it. During a fight with Batman in their secret base in the Amazon Rainforest Athanasia was seemingly killed when El Diablo exploded and Athanasia wasn't shielded from the blast. She later appeared again alongside her grandfather in Gorilla City as King Solovar's guests.

Others
Although he fathered children with several women, Ra's al Ghul has only two confirmed marriages. The first was to Sora, whose death set Ra's on the path to becoming the "Demon's Head". The second was to Melisande, Talia's mother.

Ra's also appears to have an unnamed sister or half-sister, a female assassin belonging to a group called the "Daughters of Acheron", whose members share the same father. Another member is a woman using the alias "Promise". It is unclear if their common father, "Acheron", is in fact the Sensei (making them all Ra's' half-sisters) or if Ra's only has one half-sister on his mother's side.

In Batman and Robin #12, it is revealed that Talia has cloned her son, Damian who's known as "The Heretic" The clone is, therefore, a grandson of sorts of Ra's al Ghul. Additionally, Nyssa once stated that she has given birth twelve times (only two of her children, Daniel and Hannah, are named), opening the possibility of Ra's having many other descendants, although most of Nyssa's family are murdered by the Nazis and Nyssa believes that her great-grandson Vasily (a Russian soldier who is reported to have been killed in the Middle East) was the last of her line.

The Birth of the Demon features Ra's' uncle, who helps him avenge his wife and found the League of Assassins before they go their separate ways.

Involvement with Batman
After Talia encounters and falls in love with Batman in Detective Comics #411 (May 1971), Ra's begins to consider Batman as a possible heir. Ra's first deduces Batman's secret identity when he reasons the Dark Knight has to be rich, and learns only Bruce Wayne has bought the equipment a crime fighter would have; he is then ready to put Batman to a final test.

Ra's surprises Batman in the Batcave, seemingly to enlist Batman's aid in rescuing both Talia and Dick Grayson, the first Robin, both of whom have apparently been kidnapped. Batman soon discovers the whole affair is a charade orchestrated by Ra's to test Batman, which he passes. Ra's asks Batman to become his heir, which Batman refuses, appalled by his genocidal plan to "cleanse" the world. This story was later adapted into a two-part story in Batman: The Animated Series during its first season under the title "The Demon's Quest".

Despite being mortal enemies, Ra's al Ghul and Batman maintain some level of respect towards one another. Similar to The Riddler, Ra's admires Batman's intellectual prowess first and foremost, regularly referring to Batman as "Detective" or "The Detective" when speaking to or about him. Despite being aware of Batman's true identity as Bruce Wayne since their first meeting, Ra's has never exposed that information to the public or Batman's other foes; Batman once attributed this to Ra's' personal code of honor, though Ra's has repeatedly used that knowledge to his own advantage when fomenting plans and contingencies against Batman.

In the story "Resurrection Night" in Batman #400, Ra's helps all of Batman's foes to escape from Arkham Asylum and the Gotham State Penitentiary, setting them on a plan to abduct certain individuals across Gotham City who are linked in one form or another to Batman. Ra's' true intent is to show Batman the folly of his efforts to protect a corrupt society which, to his mind, allows criminals to exist and flourish. Ra's eventually uses the Pit while still healthy, both increasing his strength and putting his life at risk, in an attempt to outmatch the Dark Knight. The plan backfires, as Ra's is left writhing in the pit, seemingly destroyed.

In Chip Zdarsky's 2022 limited series Batman: The Knight set in the DC Prime Earth (the mainline DC continuity post-Flashpoint) continuity, Ra's, as well as Talia, are rewritten to have first met Bruce prior to him becoming Batman, with Ra's being Bruce's final mentor in his journey to become Batman. Ra's meets Bruce and his companion Minkhoa Khan, the future vigilante Ghost-Maker, on their travels and tells him that he is trying to save the world like they are, although Bruce quickly turns distrustful of Ra's as he soon finds that Ra's trains assassins. Like his original origin, Ra's christens Bruce as his right hand man, though this time he does so after Bruce defeats Minkhoa in combat. Ra's later reveals to Bruce his true intentions to use missiles to bomb numerous cities around the world, but Bruce reveals to Ra's that Minkhoa had already discovered them and told Bruce about them during their fight, which allowed Bruce to destroy the League's arsenal before Ra's could use them to harm innocents. Bruce fights Ra's and defeats him, but Ra's is rescued by Talia, who stabs Bruce and escapes with Ra's to parts unknown. Minkhoa rescues Bruce and leaves him the desert, which leads to Bruce returning home to Gotham City and becoming the Batman.

Other versions

 * An alternate universe incarnation of Ra's al Ghul appears in Son of the Demon.
 * An alternate universe incarnation of Ra's al Ghul appears in Superman & Batman: Generations. This version sacrificed himself to give Batman immortality, with the latter using his resources to create an international humanitarian network.
 * Ra's Al-Apocalypse, a fusion of Ra's al Ghul and Marvel Comics character Apocalypse, appears in the Amalgam Comics universe.
 * Rash Al Paca, a funny animation incarnation of Ra's al Ghul, appears in Captain Carrot and the Final Ark.
 * An alternate universe incarnation of Ra's al Ghul appears in Kingdom Come. This version was killed under unspecified circumstances, leading his grandson Ibn al Xu'ffasch to revive him so he can help fight Gog. However, Ra's, Lex Luthor, and Brainiac all attempt to betray Ibn, leading him to kill Ra's again.
 * An alternate universe incarnation of Ra's al Ghul appears in Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham. This version is a member of a cult that worships the demon Iog-Sotha.
 * An alternate universe incarnation of Ra's al Ghul appears in Flashpoint. This version is a child and member of H.I.V.E.
 * Ra's al Ghul appears in Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
 * Quietus, a fusion of Ra's al Ghul, Batman, and Signal from the Dark Multiverse, appears in the Dark Nights: Death Metal tie-in Robin King.

Animation

 * Ra's al Ghul appears in media set in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU), voiced by David Warner.
 * Ra's al Ghul appears in Batman: The Animated Series. This version has a son, Arcady Duvall (voiced by Malcolm McDowell), who in 1883 met and battled Jonah Hex. He was defeated and imprisoned for 50 years, becoming unable to be healed by Lazarus Pits. In the present day, Ra's regrets abandoning Arcady, so Batman allows the two to spend time together before his son dies.
 * Ra's appears in Superman: The Animated Series episode "The Demon Reborn". As the Lazarus Pits have begun to lose their effect on him, he plots to siphon Superman's energy with a Native American artifact to rejuvenate himself. He ultimately fails and dies, though Talia revives him and the two escape.
 * Ra's appears in the Batman Beyond episode "Out of the Past". At some point prior to the original Batman's retirement, Talia assisted in defeating Ra's in the Near-Apocalypse of 2009. This battle left Ra's with irreparable injuries, leading him to transfer his mind into Talia's body. In the present, he manipulates Bruce Wayne into using the Lazarus Pit to restore his own youth before attempting to take over his body and control of Wayne Enterprises. However, he is thwarted by the new Batman, and seemingly killed when the Lazarus Pit explodes.
 * Ra's al Ghul appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by Peter Woodward.
 * Ra's al Ghul appears in Young Justice, voiced by Oded Fehr. This version is a high-ranking member of the Light. In the third season, Outsiders, Ra's is dismissed from the Light and loses control of the League of Shadows to Deathstroke, but gains custody of the supposedly dead, now-amnesiac Jason Todd and the newborn Damian Wayne.
 * Ra's al Ghul appears in Robot Chicken DC Comics Special III: Magical Friendship, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.
 * Ra's al Ghul appears in Beware the Batman, voiced by Lance Reddick. This version attempts to manipulate Katana into killing Alfred Pennyworth to avenge her father Edogawa's death. She refuses, and Ra's prepares to kill both of them, only for Tobias Whale to arrive with Batman. Batman breaks free and engages Ra's in combat, ultimately defeating him by using his weapon to release the vengeful spirits of his enemies, who drag him into a bottomless pit.
 * Ra's al Ghul appears in the DC Super Hero Girls episode "#LeagueOfShadows", voiced by Sendhil Ramamurthy, while Jason C. Miller performs his singing voice. This version is an evil rock singer who wants to eliminate all evil in the world, starting with bad music. He mind controls Kara Danvers using red kryptonite, but she is freed by Barry Allen, Garth, and Hal Jordan, and Ra's escapes.

Live action

 * Ra's al Ghul appears in series set in the Arrowverse, portrayed by Matt Nable. Liam Neeson expressed an interest in reprising his role from Batman Begins, but was unable to due to scheduling conflicts. This version also has a history with Batman prior to meeting Oliver Queen.
 * The character first appears in the third season of Arrow, after being alluded to in the previous two seasons. Ra's al Ghul is portrayed as a moniker passed between successors. As the League of Assassins' leader, and the father of Nyssa al Ghul and Talia al Ghul, the current individual eventually approved the training for both Malcolm Merlyn and Sara Lance (The Canary). Ra's later seeks to kill Merlyn for breaking the League's code after leaving Nanda Parbat. In season three, Malcolm tries to get Ra's off his back by having his daughter Thea Queen kill Sara to manipulate Oliver Queen into confessing the murder to protect his half-sister and challenge Ra's to a trial by combat. Oliver is defeated by Ra's, but narrowly survives thanks to Tatsu Yamashiro, leading to Ra's deeming Oliver as his prophesied heir. After Oliver declines to take Ra's al Ghul's place, Ra's systematically attacks Oliver's home of Starling City to pressure him into taking the title on. Finally, Ra's mortally wounds Thea so that Oliver will have to come to Nanda Parbat and accept Ra's offer in exchange for healing Thea with the Lazarus Pit. Desperate to save Thea, Oliver agrees to train as the heir Al Sah-him. In the season finale, Ra's plans to unleash a bio weapon attack on Starling City so Oliver will not feel the pull of his former home. However, Oliver reveals still being loyal to his friends. With help from Nyssa, Oliver foils the plan and duels Ra's again, this time killing him. In exchange for helping him with the plot to take down Ra's, Oliver surrenders the Ra's al Ghul title and the League of Assassins' control to Malcolm. In the fourth season, Malcolm and Nyssa start a League civil war when he uses the Lazarus Pit to revive her girlfriend Sara Lance, which corrupts her with bloodlust. Nyssa offers a cure for Thea's bloodlust in exchange for Oliver helping Nyssa overthrow Malcolm. Oliver duels Malcolm and defeats him. However, Nyssa declines the League's leadership and instead disbands it. In the fifth season, Talia seeks revenge on Oliver for killing Ra's and works with Adrian Chase to do so. Talia and Nyssa battle on Lian Yu with Nyssa defeating Talia.
 * Ra's al Ghul reappears in Legends of Tomorrow. In the episode "Left Behind", Sara Lance returns to Nanda Parbat after being stranded in 1958. Two years later, the rest of the Legends team travel to Nanda Parbat to recover Sara, but she turns on them and has them apprehended. Rip Hunter challenges Ra's to a trial by combat with the two sides nominating Kendra Saunders and Sara as their champions. The duel is interrupted by an attack from temporal bounty hunter Chronos, who kills several League members. Ra's frees the Legends to preserve the League and after they defeat Chronos, he releases Sara from the League, deducing that she is from the future and was taught by the League of her period of time. Before leaving, Sara advises Ra's al Ghul to ensure that his unborn daughter, Nyssa, be at Lian Yu in 2008 (to locate Sara the first time).

 * Ra's al Ghul appears in Gotham, portrayed by Alexander Siddig. This version, in addition to leading the League of Assassins, is also tied to the Court of Owls. He additionally attempts to manipulate the young Bruce Wayne into becoming his heir. He later forms an alliance with Jeremiah Valeska, who also has ambitions of 'transforming' Gotham. They destroy the bridges out of town, isolating Gotham from the rest of the world, but not before Ra's former lover and protégé Barbara Kean mortally wounds him with the dagger.

Live action

 * Liam Neeson portrayed Ra's al Ghul in the Dark Knight trilogy.
 * Ra's al Ghul first appears in Batman Begins. This version is based in the Himalayas of Bhutan and dedicated to keeping order and justice in a world which it views as decadent and corrupt. He initially goes by the alias "Henri Ducard", while the Ra's al Ghul name is instead used by a decoy (portrayed by Ken Watanabe). Ducard acts as Bruce Wayne's mentor, teaching the stealth and martial arts training that his protégé will one day use as Batman. He orders Bruce to execute a murderer as a final test, but Bruce refuses and burns down the League of Shadows' temple. Bruce saves Ducard's life while the decoy is killed by falling debris. During the film's climax, Bruce encounters another decoy (played by Jay Buozzi) before the identity as the true Ra's is revealed to his former protégé, and that he is the mastermind behind many of the ills that have been plaguing Gotham City with his final plan being to disperse Jonathan Crane's fear-inducing toxin into Gotham's water supply. Finally, he reveals to Bruce that the League of Shadows had tried to destroy Gotham via an economic depression that indirectly resulted in the murders of Bruce's parents. In their final confrontation, Batman defeats Ra's and leaves him on a runaway train which crashes off a bridge and explodes, killing him.
 * Ra's al Ghul next appears in The Dark Knight Rises.    Josh Pence plays the character's young depiction in flashbacks set 30 years before the film's events. In an ancient part of the world, Ra's was a mercenary who worked for a local warlord. He fell in love with the warlord's daughter whom he married in secret. When the warlord found out, the mercenary was condemned to a prison known as "The Pit". The daughter intervened on his behalf, so the warlord exiled him while sentencing the daughter to life in the Pit. Unbeknownst to Ra's, his wife was pregnant with his child. After his wife was killed in an attack by other prisoners, their daughter Talia was rescued by Bane and later escaped from the Pit and went to find her father. Ra's turned the League of Shadows on the prison, killing inmates in retaliation for his wife's death and freeing Bane. But even after Bane saved Talia's life, Ra's saw Bane only as a reminder of where his wife died and so excommunicated Bane from the group. During the film's events, Talia and Bane assumed leadership of the League of Shadows after her father's death, travel to Gotham to finish his work and avenge the death of Ra's, for which Batman is blamed and imprisoned in the Pit. Ra's appears in the Pit in a hallucination by Bruce, telling his former protégé that an heir is carrying on the League of Shadows' mission to destroy Gotham. Recited in the Pit, the prevalent chant deshi basara (دشي بسرعة) is of the Moroccan language.

Animated

 * Ra's al Ghul appears in Batman: Under the Red Hood, voiced by Jason Isaacs. This version is responsible for Jason Todd's resurrection. When Batman travels to his stronghold to question him, Ra's reveals that he had been planning to ruin Europe's economy by destroying its financial centers and had hired the Joker to provide Batman and Robin with a distraction, however, the Joker went rogue and killed Robin. Plagued with guilt, Ra's resurrected Jason via the Lazarus Pit, but the boy was driven insane and returned to Gotham City as the murderous vigilante Red Hood, intent on taking revenge on the Joker. Ra's is last seen watching the news bulletin about the Red Hood's disappearance and the Joker's return to Arkham Asylum.
 * Ra's al Ghul appears in Son of Batman, voiced by Giancarlo Esposito. This version is Damian Wayne's mentor and possible father-figure who is killed by Deathstroke.
 * A demonic impersonator of Ra's appears in Justice League vs. Teen Titans, voiced by Terrence C. Carson.
 * Ra's al Ghul appears in Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, voiced by Cas Anvar. He appears as a new partner of Shredder of the Foot Clan.
 * Ra's al Ghul appears in Injustice, voiced by Faran Tahir. After Damian Wayne joins Superman's Regime, he convinces the latter to ally with Ra's as they both share the goal of making the world safer. However, Ra's believes Superman to be unfit to rule and builds Amazo with the intention of killing and overthrowing him. After learning of this, Damian defeats Ra's with help from Dick Grayson as Deadman.
 * The Doom That Came to Gotham incarnation of Ra's al Ghul appears in the film adaptation, voiced by Navid Negahban.

Video games

 * Ra's al Ghul appears in Batman: Dark Tomorrow, voiced by Don Leslie.
 * Ra's al Ghul appears in Batman Begins, with Liam Neeson reprising his role as "Henri Ducard" while the decoy is voiced by Fred Tatasciore.
 * Ra's al Ghul appears in DC Universe Online.
 * Ra's al Ghul appears in Gotham Knights, voiced by Navid Negahban. This version previously killed Batman in a fight before being killed himself by the Batcave's self-destruct protocol. Following her father's death, Talia al Ghul takes over the League of Assassins and incinerates his body to prevent him from being resurrected.

Lego series

 * Ra's al Ghul appears as an unlockable character in Lego Batman: The Video Game.
 * Ra's al Ghul appears as a boss and unlockable playable character in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Steve Blum.
 * The Batman Begins version of Ra's al Ghul / "Henri Ducard" appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham via downloadable content.
 * Ra's al Ghul appears in Lego DC Super-Villains, voiced by JB Blanc.

Batman: Arkham
Ra's al Ghul appears in the Batman: Arkham video games, voiced again by Dee Bradley Baker.

 * In Batman: Arkham Asylum, Ra's al Ghul's body can be found zipped up in a body bag in the morgue part of Arkham Mansion near Dr. Penny Young's office. His character bio is gained after scanning the body. If the player returns to the morgue later in the game after completing the main story, the body is gone, most likely taken by the League of Assassins to be resurrected.
 * In Batman: Arkham City, after Batman is infected with the Joker's poisoned blood, he attempts to collect a sample of Ra's al Ghul's blood (which has regenerative capabilities) to find a cure. Heading to Wonder City's ruins built upon a Lazarus Pit, Batman and Ra's fight when the Dark Knight refuses to kill Ra's and take his place as the League of Assassins' leader. After a long battle, Batman eventually defeats Ra's and forcibly collects his blood, telling him that the Lazarus Pits has corrupted his mind and giving him one chance to end his crusade. Ra's is later revealed to be the power behind Arkham City's warden Hugo Strange, having seen the professor as a possible successor instead of Batman. He appears in Wonder Tower and kills Strange for failure when Protocol 10 was deactivated by Batman. However, the professor's dying breath activates Protocol 11 (a self-destruct protocol in Wonder Tower's command center). Saved from the explosion by Batman, Ra's (rather than be captured) stabs himself with his sword mid-fall before landing on Arkham City's gate. If the player returns to the gate later in the game after completing the main story, Ra's body is gone, and only his sword remains.
 * In Batman: Arkham Origins, after being defeated by Batman, Lady Shiva mentions Ra's, not by name but as her "Master", saying that Gotham "cannot be saved, only cleansed. And from the ashes, reborn".
 * In Batman: Arkham Knight, Ra's al Ghul's sword is placed in the GCPD evidence room prior to the game. Gotham's alleyways also have graffiti on them that says "The Demon's Head will return", likely written by the League of Assassins. Later, Ra's appears in the DLC side mission "Shadow War". While having survived his previous battle against the Dark Knight, Ra's is left sickly and barely being kept alive by having the remains of the Lazarus Pit pumped into him. This weakening of Ra's inspires his daughter Nyssa Raatko to form a rebel faction of the League of Shadows to take control of the organization, resulting in a war breaking out between them and Ra's loyalists within Gotham. As this ultimately draws Batman's attention, he soon discovers Ra's hideout under Elliot Memorial Hospital, and learns of his deteriorating condition. Appealing to Batman's sense of morality, Ra's followers tell him of another, purer Lazarus Pit within Gotham, and ask to use it to heal Ra's. Upon finding the second Lazarus Pit, Batman returns to Elliot Memorial Hospital, talking with Alfred Pennyworth about options. After Alfred observes that Ra's has lived for so long already that denying him the Lazarus Pit is essentially allowing him to die of natural causes rather than actually "killing" him, Batman returns to the chamber where Ra's is being kept, where he has two choices:
 * Batman gives the Lazarus Pit sample to Ra's, and is forced to fight Nyssa and her rebels. Not soon after, Ra's regains his former strength and fatally slashes Nyssa for her treachery. Batman tries to fight him, but Ra's steals one of his smoke bombs and disappears. Batman comforts Nyssa in her dying moments and closes her eyes before he leaves.
 * Batman decides against giving the Lazarus Pit sample to Ra's, and destroys the equipment keeping him alive. After he takes care of his loyalists, Nyssa arrives to see what her father has ultimately become. As she is about to strike him down, Batman stops her and says that he will take him to the GCPD. Nyssa is satisfied and lives up to her word, recalling all her forces from Gotham while Batman takes Ra's to a special cell at GCPD and straps him to a gurney, with Ra's telling the Dark Knight that he is proud of him for apparently breaking his code.

Injustice

 * Ra's al Ghul appears as an unplayable support card in the iOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us.
 * Ra's al Ghul makes a non-speaking appearance in Black Adam's ending in Injustice 2.

Miscellaneous

 * Ra's al Ghul appears in The Batman Adventures.
 * Ra's al Ghul appears in the Young Justice tie-in comic.
 * Ra's al Ghlu appears in the Arrow tie-in comics.
 * Ra's appears in a crossover story between Batman '66 and Wonder Woman '77.
 * Ra's appears in the Injustice 2 prequel comic as the leader of the Suicide Squad.

Collected editions
His stories have been collected into a number of volumes:

 * Batman: Tales of the Demon (1991), collecting the original 1970s Ra's al Ghul stories by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams
 * Batman: Birth of the Demon (1992) by Dennis O'Neil and Norm Breyfogle, giving the origin of Ra's al Ghul
 * JLA Vol. 7: Tower of Babel (2001), by Mark Waid, in which Ra's goes up against the Justice League of America (ISBN 1-56389-727-X)
 * Batman: Death and the Maidens (2004) by Greg Rucka and Klaus Janson, giving the ultimate death of Ra's al Ghul (ISBN 1-4012-0234-9)
 * Year One: Batman – Ra's al Ghul (2005) by Devin K. Grayson and Paul Gulacy, which takes place a year after Ra's' death in Death And The Maidens
 * Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul (2008) by Grant Morrison, Peter Milligan, Fabian Nicieza, and Paul Dini, chronicles Ra's al Ghul's resurrection.
 * Batman Arkham: Ra's al Ghul (2019) by various, an anthology of stories featuring Ra's al Ghul from throughout the DC Universe.

title: Ra's al Ghul


text:
Farmer (party)

In the 1920 Manitoba general election, a heterogenous grouping of "Farmer" candidates took 12 seats. Together they made up the second-largest caucus in the Legislature. Some of them went on to found the United Farmers of Manitoba in 1922.

In the 1930 federal election in Canada, five supporters of the United Farmers ran in Saskatchewan as "Farmer" candidates. None of them were elected. Additionally, in the 1925 federal election, one supporter of the Progressive Party of Canada ran in Quebec as a "Farmer" candidate.

title: Farmer (party)


text:
Trebatius Testa

Gaius Trebatius Testa (C.84 BC-AD 4, fl. 1st century BC,) was a jurist of ancient Rome, whose family, and himself, originated from Elea.

Friendship with Cicero and the Caesars
Some twenty years younger than Cicero, Trebatius was both a familiar friend and a protégé of the latter. Cicero dedicated his Topica to Trebatius, and recommended Trebatius as a legal advisor to Julius Caesar, calling him a thorough gentleman and a "leading light in civil law". Trebatius enjoyed Caesar's favor, making his fortune alongside him in Gaul, and supporting him in the Civil War.

Later he also worked closely with Augustus, and was subsequently described in the Digest as being of the greatest authority for Augustan law.

Character
A good-humoured man - Cicero wrote of sending him "badinage in your own style" - Trebatius was featured by Horace as a learned adviser in his Satires. As well as a fondness for wine, Trebatius also seemed to enjoy swimming as a hobby.

Legal career and influence
A pupil of Cornelius Maximus, Trebatius played a key part in the transfer of legal authority from the senate to individual jurisconsults under the Principate.

An expert on sacral law, Trebatius' writings included a de religionibus and de iure civili, but not even excerpts of these survive. He was, however, frequently cited by later jurists, and also had a high reputation as the teacher of Marcus Antistius Labeo.

title: Trebatius Testa