Damian al Ghul (New Earth)
From DC Database
Batman (alleged father)
Ra's al Ghul (maternal grandfather, deceased)
Nyssa Raatko (maternal half-aunt, deceased)
White Ghost (maternal uncle)
Contents |
History
Damian's existence is unknown to Batman. Genetically perfected and grown in an artificial womb, Damian was intended to be a formidable warrior. Damian is raised by Talia and the League of Assassins. Damian becomes a talented martial artist by the time he is a pre-teen, at which time Talia reveals Damian's existence to Bruce Wayne and leaves Damian in Batman's custody in an effort to disrupt Batman's work. Precocious, spoiled, and violent, Damian battles Robin (Tim Drake), whom Damian wants to replace as Batman's sidekick, and sucker punches him off the T. Rex model in the Batcave. Grounded by Batman, Damian escapes, dons a variant Robin costume made of Jason Todd's old tunic and assorted League of Assassin gear, and gets into a fight with and decapitates the villainous Spook. Although misguided and malicious, Damian seems to genuinely want to aid Wayne's war on crime as Damian sees himself as Wayne's true son though this remains unconfirmed.
Eventually, Batman confronts Talia, but both Talia and Damian are soon caught in an explosion. They survive the explosion, but a badly injured Damian requires transplants of harvested organs, which his mother orders her physicians to carry out. Damian made a full recovery.
Head of the Demon Talia takes Damian to the Australian Outback where he is tutored in the secret history of his grandfather, Ra's al Ghul. Talia is unaware that a former servant of Ra's, named White Ghost, plans to use Damian as a shell for the soul of Ra's to return to Earth. This process would, of course, kill Damian. Talia is able to save her son from his fate at the last minute.
However, Ra's is still able to return, as a rotting, shambling undead corpse, still needing Damian to stabilize his form. Damian flees to alert Batman, but he's still pursued by his evil grandfather. Upon entering Wayne Manor, Damian attempts to relay to Robin the fact that Ra's has returned. However, Robin, suspicious of Damian's intentions, does not believe his story and begins a fist fight. Damian flees and encounters Alfred. Before he can effectively relay his news he is attacked by Robin, who perceives Damian's attempt to help a tripping Alfred as an attack, and renews their battle. As they fight, members of the League of Assassins approach the manor with the intention of killing all others within and bringing Damian back to Ra's alive. Damian and Robin (Tim) fight side-by-side against Ra's and his minions. However, their collaboration is hindered by their very different philosophies of battle, not to mention their strong dislike - even hatred - of each other. Damian is willing to betray Tim at any moment for his own safety. Ra's captures the two and tells Batman that he will use one of them for his own body. Batman offers his own body instead.
Ra's refuses the offer, feeling that he needs someone of a younger age. The choices are Robin or Damian. Batman offers a third alternative: "Fountain of Essence," which contains the qualities of a Lazarus Pit. Batman and Ra's go in search of the fountain, leaving Tim, Damian, Nightwing, Alfred, and Talia to battle the Sensei. Damian leaves his mother and Tim to an unknown fate, while he goes off to be with his father. Unfortunately, he ends up captured by Ra's and nearly loses his life. Batman and the others manage to save him, and Talia takes her son and escapes.
A later talk between Drake and Alfred shows that Bruce Wayne had performed a DNA test on Damian to determine any blood connection between Bruce and Damian though the results of that test remain secret at present.[1]
Battle for the Cowl
Damian has returned to Gotham City after the physical body death of Wayne (same with most others, Damian is unaware that Wayne's mind still exists in the distant past despite the body's death) in his attempt to prove himself worthy of being Wayne's successor. Damian was last seen barely saving himself from Killer Croc while joyriding in one of the Batmobile while his foster brothers Jason Todd and Tim Drake are actively fighting to succeed Wayne as Batman.
Damian has been shown to be placed under the guidance of Grayson who has accepted the role of Batman. Grayson has appointed Damian as his Robin. It is unclear if Grayson accepted Damian in the role as a way to monitor and guide Damian or as a means to remold the angry boy into a more heroic person. As he has become the new Robin; he mocks Tim and sarcastically offers the position of Batgirl to him. Tim becomes the Red Robin and leaves to find Bruce who believes he is still alive.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
None known.
Abilities
- Skilled Martial Artist: exceptional martial artist, trained by the League of Assassins.
Strength level
Damian possesses all the strength of a normal human male who engages in intense regular exercise
Weaknesses
Damian possesses all the weakness of a normal human male though has been trained to resist them for longer than most pre-adult human males.
Paraphernalia
Equipment: None known.
Notes
- Damian is suggested to be the New Earth counterpart of Ibn al Xu'ffasch who is actually the biological son of Bruce Wayne and Talia Head, the daughter of Ra's al Ghul on alternate Earths.
- According to statements in the recent encapsulated "Origin of Ra's ah Ghul"[3] Damian is actually Bruce Wayne's biological son. However, no other source confirms this in the actual storyline and many of these compact origins in Countdown are told from the standing as a "general composite overview" of the characters they show, whereby they mix many elements of several differenct incarnations of the character. Thus this reference may NOT apply as actual reference of this specific incarnation of character.
Trivia
- No trivia.
See Also
- Discuss Damian al Ghul (New Earth) on the forums
- Appearances of Damian al Ghul (New Earth) (Chronological)
- Appearances of Damian al Ghul (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Damian al Ghul (New Earth)
- Quotations by Damian al Ghul (New Earth)
- Images featuring Damian al Ghul (New Earth)
Recommended Reading
Links and References
