Talia al Ghul

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Character
Name: Talia al Ghul; Talia Head
Occupation: Superspy; world leader
Relationships: Ra's al Ghul (father); Bruce Wayne (love interest, ex-husband); Damian Wayne (son); Nyssa Raatko (sister)
Fandom: Batman
Other:
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Talia al Ghul is a character who appears in the Batman franchise and other DC Comics media.

Canon background

Comics

Talia al Ghul is the daughter of the leader of the League of Assassins, Ra’s al Ghul, an anti-heroine with an on and off relationship with the superhero Batman and mother of their son Damian Wayne. She is often depicted as being conflicted about her morals, waring between following Batman’s strict moral code whilst fighting evil and injustice and her father’s morals of eliminating evil by any means necessary. Her love for her son and Batman has put her in danger multiple times, Tower of Babel (2000) and Batman Chronicles (1995). Post Flashpoint showcases her as a ruthless and malevolent leader of the villain organization Leviathan in Batman Inc. (2010).

DC Animated Universe

Talia appears in Batman: The Animated Series and its related comics, in Superman: The Animated Series, and in Batman Beyond.

Batman: Arkham City (2011) and the Arkhamverse

Nolanverse

Reception and meta

Definitive characterization

  • "Morrison Talia" vs other characterizations

Race/ethnicity

Talia is the most notorious example of orientalism, particularly in the modern era where she's been stripped of her positive qualities so they could be reassigned to the white love interest. It's also been pointed out, and it's blatant in the Batman comics, that if she's being portrayed as an irredeemable villain her skin is colored darker. If she has her older, sweet, noble and self sacrificing temperament and personality she's depicted with pale skin and hair. A striking example of this occurs in King's Batman story arc, The Rules of Engagement, where Talia is the darkest she's ever been portrayed as, has a haram of lovers, and is treated as a cold hearted bitch and an incompetent fighter. It aligns with how she's portrayed in The Silencer, aside from the being an incompetent fighter. These depictions are in direct contrast to how she is pale skinned and noble, focusing on the good of the world, in Red Hood and the Outlaws and Dark Knights: The Forging. The one example of a dark skinned non villainous Talia occurs in Robin: Son of Batman, but she's also treated as a villain in that book so it's questionable as a subversion of the racist trope. The most notable aspect of the racism applied to her is retcon of the consensual sexual encounters that had been canon into date rape. Note, Morrison had responded to the outrage initially by erasing the retcon by Batman 700, and it wasn't initially a part of the New 52 until editorial demand insisted that the rape be brought back into canon for Incorporated #2, which also showed several scenes of previous BruTalia stories but removed the mutual attraction and regret from all of the stories. Talia's also depicted as very Eurasian throughout the series.[1]

Fanon and tropes

"Baby Damian woke up and chose violence" by leendraws (28 July 2021)
  • Good Parent Talia
  • Evil Talia

Relationships

Fan Works

Meta

Fan Fiction

Fan Art

  • Talia al Ghul by doubleleaf (2012), depicting Talia as she appears in Batman: Arkham City

  • Talia by orange-mimosa (circa 2018)

Fan Vids

Fan Work Rec Lists

External links

Fan communities and archives

Fan pages and tribute sites

Resources

References

  1. ^ https://community.cbr.com/showthread.php?120777-Racist-Batman-comics&p=4175202&viewfull=1#post4175202
Related Concepts, Fandoms, Terms, Fanworks
See also
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