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Henri Ducard was one of the teachers of Bruce Wayne before he became Batman. He is often credited in teaching him both detective/investigation skills and how to hunt enemies. Ducard's relationship with Wayne is often shown as strained, due to him being involved in the criminal underworld.

History

New Earth

Bruce Wayne approaches Ducard for training in Paris, during his early days traveling the world. Ducard, a knowledgeable detective with excellent man hunting skills, imparted 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 that 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.

Earth-Prime

Ducard also appears in Batman and Robin (Vol. 2) through flashbacks. The series also reveals he had a son called Morgan, who became Robin's enemy NoBody. Henri appears in Detective Comics #996 and the limited series Batman: The Detective. During both, he is killed or apparently murdered during the stories' events.

Background Information and Notes

Gallery

In other media

  • A version of Ducard appears in Batman Begins played by Liam Neeson. However, the character is later revealed to be a mortal who has inherited the title of Ra's al Ghul, the "Ducard" identity presumably being put on as misdirection. Neeson's hairstyle in the film is noticably more similar to Ducard's than the tradtional Ra's al Ghul hairsyle designed by Neal Adams.
  • A man named Ducard is briefly mentioned in the Gotham short "A City Gone Mad: Sirens" as an associate of the Court of Owls. Fans have speculated that this is merely a reference to Batman Begins, an alias assumed by the variation of Ra's al Ghul played by Alexander Siddig.
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