Henri Ducard

From Batman Wiki

Henri Ducard
Real name:	Henri Ducard
First Appearance:	Detective Comics #599 (April 1989)
Created by:	Sam Hamm Denys Cowan
Affiliations:	N/A
Abilities:	Skilled Martial artist and detective
Portrayed by:	Liam Neeson - Batman Begins

In the comics, Bruce Wayne approaches Henri 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.

[edit] In Batman Begins

See: Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson)

[edit] Trivia

In the original draft of the 1989 film Batman, there is a large part of the film concentrating on Bruce traveling aboard and training with Ducard. Bruce would discover Ducard to be a criminal. Ducard was dropped from the original Tim Burton film. The draft was written by Sam Hamm, the screenplay writer of the film. Hamm was eventually invited to write for Batman comics where he incorporated his character into the comics.