 With the al Ghuls citing Bruce Wayne as the optimal successor to their empire, after a night of passion with the daughter of Ra's al Ghul, Damian was grown in an artificial womb, his existence being kept from Batman until "Batman" #656 (2006).In turn, the character is revealed to have originally been intended to "kill and replace his famous father," as well as serving as a host body for Ra's al Ghul, thus, in theory, unifying both Wayne and Demon factions as intended by the al Ghuls.A prototype of the character originally appeared as an unnamed infant in the 1987 story "", which at that time was not considered canon.