Ibn al Xu'ffasch
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Ibn al Xu'ffasch (Arabic: إبن الخفّاش; literally "Son of the Bat") is a character in the Batman comic book series who is the biological son of Batman and Talia al Ghul. Multiple versions of the character have appeared under different names, most recently as Damian Wayne.
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[edit] Character history
[edit] Son of the Demon
In the graphic novel Son of the Demon, Ra's al Ghul enlists Batman's aid in defeating a rogue assassin who had murdered Ra's al Ghul's wife, mother to Talia al Ghul, with whom Batman has shared a stormy, on-again off-again romance. During the course of the story line, Batman has time to properly romance and marry Talia; the service is performed by Ra's. Talia soon becomes pregnant, and the prospect of a family has a profound effect on Batman's demeanor, making him more risk-averse and softening his typically grim outlook. Batman is nearly killed protecting the only-recently pregnant (and still very dangerous in her own right) Talia from an attack by the assassin's agents. Observing Batman's dangerous and overly protective behavior, Talia resolves that she cannot allow him to continue to act in such a manner, as he will almost certainly be killed. To that end, Talia claims to have miscarried. Crushed by the news, Batman returns to his typically grim disposition, and he and Talia agree to have the marriage dissolved. Batman returns to Gotham, never knowing Talia is still carrying his child.
The child, a boy, is born and left with an orphanage, and soon adopted by a western couple. The only hint of his impressive heritage is a jewel encrusted necklace, which had once belonged to Talia's mother. At some point, he becomes aware of the identities of his birth mother and father and adopts the name "Ibn al Xu'ffasch", literally, "son of the bat". (For many years this story was stated to no longer be in continuity, although two Elseworlds, Kingdom Come and Brotherhood of the Bat featured two alternate versions of the child as an adult, coming to terms with his dual heritage. Xu'ffasch's recent appearance as a child in an issue of Batman seems to indicate a change in policy.)
[edit] Kingdom Come
In the Kingdom Come continuity, he is sought out by the League of Assassins after his grandfather's apparent death to be their new leader. He later serves as part of the Mankind Liberation Front, a coalition of human villains seeking to win the Earth back from the superhumans.
In the The Kingdom: Son of the Bat, flashbacks shed new insights into his history: that he was reared by Ra's al Ghul to be the heir to his empire, that he eventually murdered his grandfather (cutting off his head to prevent yet another resurrection), and that he sought therapy from psychiatrist Dr. Gibson.
[edit] The Kingdom
He was eventually recruited to try and stop a madman named Gog from altering his history by Rip Hunter along with several other heroes of his generation - Kid Flash, the daughter of the Flash; Nightstar (Nightwing and Starfire's child) and Offspring, the son of Plastic Man - before discovering it to be unnecessary due to Hypertime.
He is romantically involved with Nightstar, and has described her as his "stabilizing element," who prevented Ibn al Xu'ffasch from becoming "him." Whether the "him" here refer to Ibn al Xu'ffasch's grandfather or his father is ambiguous; it is also worth noting that Nightstar reassured Ibn al Xu'ffasch that one day he would learn to balance his family legacies.
[edit] Brotherhood of the Bat
The unrelated Elseworlds Brotherhood of the Bat features a future in which Ra's al Ghul discovers the Batcave following Bruce Wayne's death, and outfits the League of Assassins in variant Batman costumes based on Wayne's rejected designs. Talia and Bruce's son, here called Tallant Wayne, joins the Brotherhood in the original Batman costume, to destroy it from within.
In the sequel League of Batmen, Tallant leads his own team of variant Batmen to combat the plague that was al Ghul's legacy.
[edit] Modern continuity
- In Teen Titans (vol. 3) #18, when the Titans were transported 10 years into the future, a graveyard full of deceased Batman allies and villains is depicted. One tombstone reads "Ibn al Xu'ffasch".
- Grant Morrison 's Batman story, titled "Batman & Son", expands upon the Son of the Demon storyline as part of a remodeling of Batman's personality after the events of Infinite Crisis. In Morrison's version, the child's name is Damian, possibly a play on the word "demon", or a reference to the child from The Omen. It is plausible that "Ibn al Xu'ffasch" ("Son of the Bat") is a title granted to the child by the League of Assassins, though this has not been confirmed.
In this version of the story, Damian is the result of a tryst by Batman and Talia, during which the Dark Knight claims he was drugged. The child is raised by Talia and the League of Assassins, becoming a talented martial artist at a young age. Years later, she reveals Damian's existence to his father and leaves him in Batman's custody in an effort to disrupt his work.
Precocious and spoiled, the violent Damian severely beats Robin (Tim Drake) and later escapes and decapitates the villainous Spook while wearing a variant Robin costume. Although misguided and malicious, Damian seems to genuinely want to aid his father's war on crime. Eventually, Batman confronts Talia during her latest world-conquering scheme. Both Talia and Damian are soon caught in an explosion. Their current fates are unknown.
