I'm wondering who he was. Is he someone in the Batman mytho? He seemed superior in the hierarchy to Ra's. Why would Ra's make a setup only for Bruce, why would he cover his true identity. I never really understood that.

Now Where Was I ? wrote:I'm wondering who he was. Is he someone in the Batman mytho? He seemed superior in the hierarchy to Ra's. Why would Ra's make a setup only for Bruce, why would he cover his true identity. I never really understood that.

Someone as powerful as Ra's could be a target for many people. Therefore, he hid his identity. Ken Watanabe's character wasn't superior in the hierarchy to the real Ra's, he only appeared that way to hide Ra's identity.

Another reason that Ras hid his identity was in order to make himself "more than a man" and become a legendary figure. The reveal at the party scene implies that just as Bruce Wayne uses the Batman disguise and deceptive techniques to make himself appear unnatural and superhuman, 'Henri Ducard' uses similar methods as Ras Al-Ghul to hide his own identity. In Ducard's case this involves stand-ins and decoys that may create for him the illusion of immortality.

As for the Watanabe character's connection to the Batman mythos, he may have been partly inspired by the Sensei http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensei_%28comics%29:




Or possibly from Master Kirigi who taught Bruce ninjutsu. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirigi_%28DC_Comics%29