Henri Ducard

Henri Ducard
Henri Ducard
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Detective Comics #599 (April 1989)
Created by	Sam Hamm (script) Denys Cowan (art)
In-story information
Full name	Henri Ducard
Abilities	Skilled martial artist and detective

Henri Ducard is a fictional character in the Batman comic book universe. Created by Sam Hamm, Ducard's first appearance was in Detective Comics #599 (April 1989), part of the "Blind Justice" story arc. Sam Hamm was the screenwriter of the 1989 Batman film and was asked by Batman comic editor Denny O'Neill to guest write a story arc in Detective Comics, within the arc he created the character of Henri Ducard. The name of the character would later be used as an alias for Ra's al Ghul, the main villain in Batman Begins, a reboot of the Batman franchise Hamm had helped originate.

Fictional character biography

In the comics, Bruce Wayne approaches Ducard for training in Paris, during his early days traveling the world. Ducard, a knowledgeable detective with excellent man-hunting skills, imparts much of his knowledge to the young, keen Bruce.

Later in the series, it is revealed that Ducard is largely amoral, working for criminals as often as he does the law. He deduces Batman's secret identity, but keeps it to himself, thinking, as he leaves, that Batman continues to exist because true criminals realize he distracts the people from the greater crimes by his public battle against lesser crimes.

Ducard has also worked with the third Robin, Tim Drake, who went to Paris during his training, as Bruce did. Unlike Bruce, however, Robin only encounters him in passing at the end of his training, in Hong Kong.

He also made a few brief appearances in the Suicide Squad book.

In other media

Film

Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard/Ra's al Ghul from Batman Begins

• Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins merges Ducard with Ra's al Ghul as the film's main antagonist. Ra's uses the name Ducard,^[1] pretending to be subservient to a decoy Ra's al Ghul for the first half of the film until he reveals that he is in fact Ra's al Ghul himself. He is portrayed by Liam Neeson.

Video games

• Liam Neeson reprised his role as Henri Ducard/Ra's al Ghul in 2005 Batman Begins game, in which he plays a role very similar to that in the film.

Parodies

• The Liam Neeson portrayal of Henri Ducard appears in the Robot Chicken episode "Password: Swordfish" voiced by Seth Green. In a segment that parodies Batman Begins, he trains Heimlich to save people who are choking on food.

References

1. ^ "In the beginning" http://media.www.kentnewsnet.com/media/storage/paper867/news/2005/06/15/UndefinedSection/In.The.Beginning-1517277.shtml (accessed 10th of Jan 2010)

See also

• List of Batman Family enemies