10 Things DC Comics Wants You To Forget About Ra's Al Ghul

7. He Abandoned One Of His Daughters In A Concentration Camp

Ras Al Ghul
DC Comics

Long before Talia was born, Ra's had a daughter in 18th Century Russia.

Nyssa Raatko grew up hearing stories of her father and, once she was an adult, she tracked him down in one of his bases in Africa. Impressed by her skills, Ra's made her his second in command and she accompanied him on his adventures. However, just like Talia eventually would, Nyssa became disenchanted with her father's cause and left to start a family.

Ra's was disappointed but accepted his daughter's resignation and even allowed her to keep using the Lazarus Pit to remain immortal.

Then, as is so often the case, the Nazi's ruined everything. Nyssa and her family were thrown into a concentration camp during World War II. She begged her father for help, but Ra's refused to involve himself in world politics even to save his daughter.

Most parenting guidebooks would probably list this as a "no-no".

By the time Nyssa was released, the rest of her family was dead and she had been rendered infertile by Nazi experiments. Her time in the camp left her pretty rightfully ticked off and she eventually managed to track down and kill Ra's. Then she and Talia took control of the League of Assassins.

It turned out that this was all part of Ra's plan to have his daughters come around to his way of thinking.

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I was just a mild-mannered NCTJ accredited journalist until one day I found out the truth... that I could share my nerdy ramblings with people on the internet! It's just like mumbling to myself on the train, but without all the strange looks.