The Daughter of the Demon

This character will be forever attached to a few other characters. However, Talia is as important to Batman and his character arc as the Joker, the Riddler, and Bane. She is Talia, daughter of Ra's al Ghul, who has his own post here. Sometimes she is given the surname al Ghul, or Head, but that doesn't seem to be necessary, as her father's name is more of a title than a formal name anyway. Also, mononyms are way cooler.

Created in 1971 by Dennis ONeil, Dick Giordano and Bob Brown for Detective Comics #411. She actually appears a month before her father, and returns in Batman #232 during Ra's Al Ghul's first appearance. Writers early on attempted to make her the next Catwoman, a femme fatale character worthy of Batman's new global, mysticism, macabre storylines. While her relationship with Batman is never truly romantically reciprocated, they are mostly amicable to each other. Her character is tied up pretty closely with her family.

Throughout her publication history, she is important only as the daughter of Ra's al Ghul, the ex-wife of Batman, or the mother of Damian Wayne. Her major story arc in the 70's involved helping her father manipulate Batman into becoming the heir of the League of Assassins. When that failed she was used as a vessel by Ra's al Ghul to breed his own successor grandson, Damian.

Talia shows up later as the new CEO of Lexcorp when Lex Luthor is elected president. Again, she is little more than Lex Luthor's sidekick. Eventually, she inherits the League of Assassins and raises her son, training him as an assassin. Damian will escape and become the new Robin. In retaliation, Talia embarks on a revenge plot, which somehow involves cloning and creating a worldwide criminal organization called the Leviathan. This plot ends with her killing her clone, after the clone kills the real Damian.

Talia appears in the Christopher Nolan Batman Rises film, closing the story arc began in Batman Begins, played by Marion Cotillard. This Talia has a relationship with Bane, which is an echo from an earlier comics story arc. She also appears in the Arkham videogames, her relationship with Batman in this continuity seems far more reciprocated, less one-sided than the forced arrangement in the comics. Damian Wayne is not part of this video game's storyline.

As a character from the 70s Batman, with grittier, suspenseful horror based storylines, Talia fits in well. When allowed to be her own character, separate from Ra's al Ghul, or another male lead, she can be her own kind of terrifying. The gilted obsessed lover, the manipulative mother figure, the calculating leader of a ninja cabal. She has the potential to be the black widow character. An assassin that strikes from the shadows. Over the decades, she has been woven into Batman's story in such ways as to not be easily removed. The way her relationships to other characters have weakened her potential as a character, are mirrored by the ways these same relationships give the character staying power and importance.