Lazarus Pit
A Lazarus Pit is a location that features in DC Comics.
Contents |
History
Origin
The Lazarus Pits
It was believed that all the Lazarus Pits came from an original source with this original 'prototype' being the Fountain of Life located in the Shifting City of Nanda Parbat. (Batman v1 #671) The group of immortal members of the Blood Tribe known as the Insiders went to great lengths to seek out and obliterate the Lazarus Pits. (Outsiders v4 #20)
Around 600 years ago, a young physician was tasked by his king to save his dying son. Despite his medical knowledge, he was unable to save the son's life and looked for another solution. One night, he had a dream that told him to dig a pit at a site where ley-lines converged where he had chemicals placed into the site. This led to his discovery of the Lazarus Pit and with it he saved the life of Prince Runce. However, the revival left him in a brief period of madness where in the state he attacked the physician's wife Sora. This saw him killing her but when the matter was brought before King Salimb he looked to defend his son and claimed instead that the physician killing his own wife. As a result, the man was arrested and sentenced to die in a cage alongside the body of his dead wife but he was freed. He then took his revenge against the king and his son where he took the name Ra's al Ghul. (Batman: Birth of the Demon v1 #1)
Feeling the effects of his advanced age again, Ra's collapsed with Talia arriving at the scene when he had met Batman over the theft of the Hatter formula. To restore her father, she decided to take him to the Lazarus Pit with the nearest one being within the Alps. (The Brave and the Bold v1 #159)
Jean-Paul Valley's travelling companion Brian Bryan was badly injured after a fall and due to his body suffering from alcohol abuse that he faced death until Ra's al Ghul placed him into the Lazarus Pit. (Azrael v1 #7)
As part of his scheme, Ra's al Ghul sought to release an aphasia epidemic around the world in order to cause the collapse of society. However, to succeed in his goals, he needed to eliminate the Justice League and managed to steal secret protocols made by Batman against his fellow heroes in case they ever went rogue. To distract Batman, Ra's exhumed the corpses of Batman's parents namely Thomas and Martha Wayne where he threatened to resurrect them as zombies with the Lazarus Pit. This caused a furious Batman to attack Ra's directly and thus be oblivious to his contingencies being used against the Justice League. (JLA v1 #44)
To accomplish his goals, Ra's sought to merge his spirit with the spirit of Gaia herself and sought to accomplish this through Enchantadora's magic with a Lazarus Pit. He intended to make use of the Crucible where he would transform from a man into a god. Ra's al Ghul would move into the pit to complete the merger when it was partly disrupted by Superman. During this attempt, Gaia rejected Ra's as the spirit of Earth saw him as empty and instead sought Superman but the Man of Steel refused Gaia's efforts to purge the planet of humanity. (Action Comics v1 #773)
After being diagnosed with cancer, the Riddler sought a cure before it came fatal and came upon one of the Lazarus Pits. Using its waters, he managed to cure himself of the terminal cancer and even received a moment of clarity as he came to learn that Bruce Wayne was Batman. With himself fully healed, he decided to sell the waters of the Lazarus Pit as a cure for cancer and approached Tommy Elliot whose mother suffered from cancer. However, Dr. Elliot had no interest in saving his mother and in fact wanted the family fortune passed to him. In fact, Elliot had more of a burning hatred of his childhood friend Bruce Wayne where instead of using the Lazarus Pit to heal he crafted a supervillain identity as Hush. Meanwhile, Ra's al Ghul had discovered that someone had been using the Lazarus Pits and went out in search for the culprit with him being uanware that this was Edward Nigma. (Batman v1 #619)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.
Den Darga and his family of immortals the Lu'un Darga claimed to had been the first guardians of the Lazarus Pits where they fought a war against Ra's al Ghul and his bloodline. (Robin: Son of Batman v1 #5) Each of the pits were believed to be remnants of a much older one that was as old as humanity itself. This one was known as the Well of Sins which served a the original Lazarus Pit. Since its creation, a group known as the All-Caste sought to guard it and protect it from their mortal enemies known as the Untitled. Around five hundred years ago, Ra's travelled to the Acres of All in order to learn the secret of the pits. Ra's al Ghul's clever tongue would gain him the favor of Ducra of the All-Caste who trained him and later charged him along with his League of Assassins with the protection of the Well of Sins. Thus, the assassin city of 'Eth Alth'eban grew around the Well of Sins with a powerful magical seal cast over it to protect it from abuse. (Red Hood and the Outlaws v1 #22)
Afterwards, Ra's al Ghul took the bodies of his daughter and grandson to the Lazarus Pit at Nishapur. (Batman and Robin v2 #32) One factory was attempting to synthesize the substance of the Lazarus Pits with this being targeted for destruction by an extremist splinter of the League of Assassins. This was because this break away group felt that the resurrection properties of the pits was a crutch for his men and intended to destroy it. (New Suicide Squad v1 #9) Damian later discovered that a Lazarus Pit was present at the sunken ruins of Alexandria that had been responsible for a number of medical miracles in the past. (Robin: Son of Batman v1 #4) Suren Darga travelled to Dinosaur Island in order to take destroy the Lazarus Heart and purge the world of life. (Robin: Son of Batman v1 #12)
General Zod sought to use the Lazarus Pits to restore the deceased inhabitants of Kandor City that were killed by Rogol Zaar. Thus, he approached Ra's al Ghul for access but the Demon's Head refused leading to a conflict between the two villains. Zod ultimately managed to find one of the hidden Lazarus Pits and used it to resurrect the Kandorians before he could be stopped by Ra's al Ghul, Batman and Superman. (Batman/Superman v2 #7)
Task Force Z was later established which used Lazarus Resin to resurrect various slain powered villains including Bane, the Man-Bat Kirk Langstrom and the Arkham Knight who were used as a covert black ops unit. The effects of the resin was monitored by the heads of this project who placed the Red Hood to oversee the squad. (Task Force Z v1 #1)
Overview
In appearance, the Lazarus Pits were pits containing a green liquid capable of resurrecting the deceased. (Batman v1 #244)
A substance referred to as Dionesium was said to be responsible for the life giving nature of Lazarus and the Pits were stated to be composed of a corrupted version of this material. (Batman v2 #38) Nishapur was the purest of all the Pits and was said to be even more so then the Well of Sin. (Batman and Robin v2 #32) Each Pit needed to be in contact with the Earth in order for it to work. (Action Comics v1 #772) Beneath Dinosaur Island, the Lazarus Heart resided that linked to the planet's core and was the reason why the Dinosaurs survived on that isle. (Robin: Son of Batman v1 #12)
Those that were exposed to the pit sometimes suffered from Lazarus fever that resulted in physical and emotional complications which could leave the subject insane. (Batman and Robin v2 #32) A person recently brought back from the pits was said to hold the strength of ten men. (Batman v1 #244)
A variation of the substance was Lazarus Resin which when injected into a dead body was capable of reviving a person but it left them in an undead-like state. (Task Force Z v1 #1)
Ra's al Ghul was never far from the live restoring energies of a Lazarus Pit. (Action Comics v1 #772) The temples containing the pits were guarded by a specially trained cadre of warriors called the League of Lazarus. (Batman/Superman v2 #7)
Users
- Ra's Al Ghul :
- Nora Fries :
- Riddler : Edward Nigma used the waters to heal himself from his terminal cancer. (Batman v1 #619)
Notes
- The Lazarus Pits were created by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams where they made their first appearance in Batman v1 #243 (August, 1972).
Alternate Versions
- In Robin Eternal v1 #1 (2021), an alternate version of the Lazarus Pits appeared in the possible timeline of Future State. It was revealed that residue from the pits was used to create a drug called Lazarus Resin that was being sold on the streets of Gotham City.
In other media
Television
- In the DC Animated Universe, the Lazarus Pits made a number of appearances in the shared continuity setting.
- In Batman: The Animated Series, two Lazarus Pits make an appearance in the two-part episode "The Demon's Quest". The first is present in Ra's Al Ghul's mountain base who uses it to rejuvenate himself after falling ill. A second one is shown in the desert and is the site of a battle between Batman and Ra's Al Ghul only for the latter to seemingly die by falling into the pit.
- In Superman: The Animated Series, a Pit makes a brief appearance in a flashback sequence in the episode "The Demon Reborn".
- In Batman Beyond, in the episode "Out of the Past", a young Talia Al Ghul appears and offers to make Bruce Wayne young again by placing him in a Lazarus Pit. Wayne agrees and is briefly made young again only to be captured as the entire plan was a ruse by Ra's Al Ghul who had transferred his mind into his daughter's body with the intention of moving his consciousness into Bruce's form. After Ra's defeat, Bruce reverts to his old age as its shown that he required multiple treatments within the Lazarus Pit to permanently become younger.
- In Arrow, the Lazarus Pit was named in the episode "The Fallen" where it was said to reside in pools at Nanda Parbat with the power to heal wounds, extend life to over a hundred years and even bring the dead back to life. It was said that the use of the waters to bring a person back from the dead changed them and distorted their soul. Ra's al Ghul badly wounded Thea Queen leaving her crippled and unconscious in the hospital in an effort to get Oliver Queen to take the mantle of the Demon's Head and thus his successor. His incentive for Oliver to accept the role was that he would help heal Thea of all her injuries. Oliver thus took her from the hospital on a plane for Nanda Parbat though Malcolm Merlyn opposed this move as he said he would rather see his daughter die than be subjected to the pit. In "Al Sah-him", Ra's al Ghul told Oliver Queen that during his own ascendancy to being the Demon's Head that his rival was a friend called Damien Darhk who needed to be eliminate. Ra's dueled his foe but hestitated in killing him leading to Darhk fleeing with his followers, some water of the Lazarus Pit and founded his organization known as H.I.V.E. that were enemies of the League of Assassins. After the disbanding of the League, Malcolm was shown to had discovered leylines that led to three other Lazarus Pits prior to his death. Nyssa al Ghul and Thea Queen along with Roy Harper sought out to stop these locations from being used by Merlyn's Thanatos Guild.
Films
- In Batman: Under the Red Hood, its shown in a flashback that Ra's al Ghul had retrieved the body of Jason Todd after he was killed by Joker. He placed the body of the dead Robin within the Lazarus Pit but the exposure brings back him "damaged" where he goes on a rampage after his resurrection and killing several of al Ghul's servants before escaping into the mountains. Afterwards, Batman arrives at Ra's base who confronts him on the identity of the Red Hood and al Ghul theorises that perhaps the Pit did not bring him back damaged but perhaps simply revealed Todd's true self.
- In Son of Batman, Slade Wilson decided to turn against his mentor Ra's al Ghul for his perceived betrayal in choosing Batman to be his successor. This saw a coup being made where Ra's was fatally wounded and died from his wounds before he could reach his Lazarus Pit. A second such pit was seen beneath the ocean's floor with the League gaining access to this one through an oil rig off the coast of Britain. An entire group of Manbat assassin's resided in this cavern when Batman and his son Damian Wayne as Robin arrived to confront Slade who had captured Talia al Ghul. Talia was fatally wounded but Batman managed to save her by placing her within the Lazarus Pit. A shaft leading to the rig was damaged leading to the cavern being flooded.
- In Justice League vs. Teen Titans, the Lazarus Pits were mentioned in the animated film. According to Ra's al Ghul, the power of the Pits were linked to that of the demon lord Trigon.
- In Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, the Lazarus Pit was referenced in the animated film where it was said that the wounded Slade was taken to it where it restored his body. With his injuries healed, he became addicted to bathing in it where it improved his strength and reflexes.
- In Batman: Hush, a Lazarus Pit briefly appeared in the setting of the 2019 animated film. After the League of Assassins fell into infighting, one faction was paid by the Riddler to allow him access to its healing waters. This was because Nygma was suffering from an inoperable brain tumour and in desperation he thought the pit could save him. The experience drove him insane and in that moment he came to deduce the secret identity of Batman. Afterwards, Lady Shiva came to learn of the theft of the waters where she approached Batman about it with the Dark Knight stating that he would look into the matter.
Video games
- In Batman: Arkham City, the League of Assassins accompanied Ra's al Ghul in his plans for Gotham City. They primarily consisted of female ninjas who were primarily the elite bodyguard of Talia al Ghul.
Appearances
- Batman v1: (1972)
- JLA v1 #43: "Tower of Babel"
- Batgirl:
- Batman and Robin v2':
- Robin: Son of Batman v1:
- Batman/Superman v2: (2020)
- Task Force Z v1: (2021)
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