| “ | You see, it's the slow knife... the knife that takes its time, the knife that waits years without forgetting, then slips quietly between the bones... that's the knife that cuts deepest. | „ |
| ~ Talia to Batman |
Talia al Ghul is one of the two main antagonists (alongside Bane) of the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises, the final installment of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy. She is the daughter of Ra's al Ghul and succeeds him as the leader of the League of Shadows upon his death. Seeking to avenge his death and fulfill his goals of cleansing Gotham of corruption by wiping it out entirely. She is Bane's accomplice and close friend and the final enemy of Bruce Wayne/Batman.
She was portrayed by Marion Cotillard.
What Makes Her Magnificent?[]
- Has a tragic backstory, being born in a prison as her mother took her father's place to spare him from being imprisoned solely for their marriage, under constant threat from the prisoners, witnessing her mother killed by the prisoners when the doctor forgot to lock their cell, forced to see her protector, Bane, sacrifice himself to have her escape, and then eventually lose her father as well to Batman.
- Is very grateful to Bane for saving her life, following him to exile when her father excommunicated him for not approving them being friends as his existence reminded him of her mother.
- Despite not parting ways to her father in the best of ways, she still loved him and forgave him when saddened by his death when facing off with Batman. His death is what motivated her actions in the film, in which her cold, smug, and sadistic attitude is out of anger for causing his death and her plans revolve around finishing her father's work and making his goals succeed.
- As a child, displayed great tenacity and courage, managing to escape the Pit and took the risk of escaping without a rope.
- Through Bane, has Dr. Leonard Pavel kidnapped to transform the nuclear reactor into a bomb.
- She uses years to slowly manipulate Bruce into being an ally and invest in his nuclear reactor project to develop her bomb and then seduce him to earn his trust on inheriting his company when he goes bankrupt.
- Through Bane's help, orchestrates the bankrupting of Bruce Wayne in order to take over Wayne Enterprises and its access and provide the League a more easier access to the nuclear reactor they will use as a bomb, all the while playing the smug John Dagget like a chump and outgambit his attempt to sue the League as pawns for his scheme to absorb the company into his own.
- Using the bomb and wiping out the leadership of Gotham and stirring up class warfare in order to blackmail the US Government to take control over Gotham City.
- By having Bane as the face, she orchestrates the revolution that makes the city descend into anarchy.
- Unlike in most cases, her leaving Batman alive to force him to watch the city suffer as she destroys it doesn't fall under "Bond Villain Stupidity" as she then stabs him with a knife that cut so deep he couldn't stand up properly and weakened him too much, while leaving her under the protection of Bane. The only reason Batman managed to get out and stop her was not because of Batman using his wits and will that made other scenarios fall under that trope but because of Catwoman unexpectedly coming in and gunning down Bane to free him, a factor Talia could not have expected. If it were not for that, she would have actually won.
- Furthermore, torturing Batman to break his spirit was a central part of her main goal to begin with, so simply killing Batman early would not make sense for that objective. He still would have died anyway if Catwoman hadn't unexpectedly stormed in at exactly the right time.
- She floods the nuclear reactor room to sabotage all solutions for the heroes to deactivate the bomb, nearly winning in the process.
- Spends the final moments of her life gloating about her victory and that her father's work is complete before dying.
What Makes Her a Baddie?[]
- She attempts to destroy Gotham, that too in pretty sadistic methods as well, plunging it into chaos and orchestrating terroristic acts that killed people such as Gotham's leaders to hold the city hostage.
- Sadistically tortures Batman by stabbing him very deeply and twisting the knife before leaving him alive to force him to watch the city he swore to protect suffer in its final moments before detonating the bomb.
- Upon leaving to transport the bomb to the center of the city, she orders the deaths of multiple officers by shooting at them.
- Nearly kills Lucius Fox when activating the emergency flood.
Trivia[]
- She, Bane, and Ra's al Ghul are the only villains from The Dark Knight trilogy to count as Magnificent Baddies. They are the only villains form a live-action Batman film to count as well so far.
- She and her Arrowverse incarnation are the only incarnations of Talia to count as Magnificent Baddies.
External Links[]
- Talia al Ghul at the Villains wiki
- Talia al Ghul at the Near Pure Evil wiki
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 Magnificent Baddies
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