I have knowledge which is alien to you, for I have tasted food fresh from dark fertile soil, and I have filled my lungs with untainted air, and I have quenched my thirst with water clear as the first day of creation, and you have not -- because you can not. Those things do not exist on this world any longer. They have been destroyed by man's lust for dominance -- a lust I know well, for at times it all but consumes me. All is corrupt, all is sick, all is dying. As am I. As are you. 
Batman: Birth of the Demon is a one-shot with a cover date of January, 1993.
Contents
Synopsis for "Batman: Birth of the Demon"
Three men were hired to dig at the site of the ruins of a church. They saw Batman nearby, who had warned them to leave. One of the excavators fired a gun at Batman, who quickly disarmed him. Then, the excavators attacked Batman with their shovels, only to be defeated, while all but one ran away. Batman walked away and saw a sign that said "DANGER TOXIC WASTE", standing it back up. Somewhere else, an ill Ra's al Ghul was being watched by his daughter Talia and treated by Dr. Flusser. In the Batcave, Bruce was telling Alfred of his plans to leave for North Africa, mentioning the excavation sites, as he suddenly started looking pale, gaining his butler's concern. Bruce refused treatment, claiming that he needed to put an end to Ra's al Ghul, once and for all. Bruce met with Talia in North Africa over an excavation site. They found a manuscript about a man who was in a horse race with Prince Runce. They were about to run into an old woman. The man got out of the way, while the prince ran over the woman. As the race finished, Sultan Salimb declared his son to be the winner. Afterwards, the man, who was a physician, went to treat the old woman who was run over. The physician told the woman's son that the treatment would not save her, but only lessen the pain of her death. Then, the physician was told to treat Prince Runce, who had fallen ill that day. The physician rode off into the night to think, leaving behind his wife. He stopped in the middle of the desert and slept, where he had a dream that he was fighting a dragon. In the morning, he returned to find that the prince was dying, so he told the kingdom that he learned from a dream to dig a pit, bring a tent, and various liquids. The sultan told the physician to join him at the altar of the demon Bisu. Later, the sultan's men placed the prince inside of the pit of liquid and he came out alive, but became insane and killed the physician's wife. The sultan was able to quickly restore his son's sanity, but declared that the physician had killed his wife, Sora, and ordered that he be imprisoned. The physician begged to place his wife in the pit, but he was dragged away. An army officer approached the sultan and told him that he had killed forty nomads and captured a dozen more. The prince suggested that instead of execution, they be used for something else. Later, at the sultan's palace, the physician was on trial, repeatedly denying murdering his wife. The sultan refused to admit that his son and killed Sora, so Prince Runce suggested that the physician be kept in a cage with Sora's corpse and lowered into a hole with other prisoners. That night, the prisoners broke out of the hole and the son of the old woman, who was also a prisoner, broke the physician from the cage, freeing him, before stealing horses and fleeing the city. They rode into the desert and encountered nomads, including the physician's uncle, who considered killing him. When the physician slept, he dreamt of the dragon and the pit that he placed the prince into. The next day, they set out for the site that the physician had his first dream. There, they left a note for the sultan's men to find, suggesting a truce. The sultan was able to bring the physician back into his palace in order to treat his son, who had fallen ill again. The physician ordered another pit to be dug, then place the prince inside, but when the prince emerged, he looked deformed, giving the nomads the signal to attack the sultan's men. Meanwhile, the physician killed the sultan by throwing a sword at him. Then, the physician and the nomads dressed as the sultan's soldiers and returned to the city, massacring everyone and setting everything on fire. The next day, the physician and the nomads returned to the pit, where he went inside and came back, having a brief moment of insanity. Then, he went to the statue of Bisu and took of its head, proclaiming himself to be above the demon, choosing a new name: Ra's al Ghul. Centuries later, in England, Ra's al Ghul was writing in the old language, which caused his companion to take his papers and burn them, only for him to kill the other man. Later, the man went to a Lazarus Pit within the Stonehenge to heal himself. In the present, Ra's al Ghul came upon his daughter and Bruce and fought against the latter, killing him, only for him to come back to life through the Lazarus Pit and throw his enemy inside. The next, morning Bruce took his Batsuit and cowl and picked up the head of the statue of Bisu.
Appearing in "Batman: Birth of the Demon"
Featured Characters:
- Ra's al Ghul (Origin) (Flashback and main story)
- Batman (Dies; resurrected)
Supporting Characters:
- Talia al Ghul
- Alfred Pennyworth
- Huwe/Hugh (Dies in flashback)
- Nomads (Flashback only)
- Ra's al Ghul's Uncle/Percival (Flashback only)
- Water-Finder (Flashback only)
- Sora (Dies in flashback)
Antagonists:
- Sultan Salimb (Dies in flashback)
- Prince Runce (Dies in flashback)
Other Characters:
- Hired Excavators
- Lonny
- Dr. Flusser
- Hermit (Flashback only)
- Huwe's Mother (Dies in flashback)
- Death (In a vision)
- Bisu (Statue only)
- Dr. Thompkins (Mentioned only)
- Bennet (Mentioned only)
- Springer (Mentioned only)
- Napoleon (Mentioned only)
- George Washington (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- United States of America
- Gotham City
- Wayne Manor
- Batcave
- Wayne Foundation (Mentioned only)
- New York (Mentioned only)
- Woodstock (Mentioned only)
- Gotham City
- North Africa (Flashback and main story)
- Unnamed Sultanate (Flashback only)
- Casablanca (Mentioned only)
- England (Flashback only)
- London (Flashback only)
- Wiltshire (Flashback only)
- Stonehenge (Flashback only)
- Church Ruins (Unknown location)
- Ra's al Ghul's Home (Unknown location)
Concepts
Items:
- Lazarus Pit (Flashback and main story)
- Batcomputer
- Giant Penny (Cameo)
- Mechanical T-Rex (Cameo)
- Giant Joker Card (Cameo)
- Huwe's Manuscript (Flashback only)
Notes
- This story features the definitive origin of Ra's al Ghul.
- This issue is reprinted in Batman: Birth of the Demon.
Trivia
- Ra's al Ghul met Talia's mother in a Woodstock festival and New York; she was of mixed Chinese and Arab ancestry and died of a drug overdose.
See Also
