Damo
06-22-2006, 12:03 PM
I think I've got most of the big ones, but what am I missing?
The Illuminati - The immortal caveman Vandal Savage discovered Atlantis, a society that was incredibly advanced in technology and magic when most of the world was still at the "hunter gatherer" stage. He found allies in that society that wanted power, and under his leadership this group - The Illuminati - brought about the downfall of Atlantis in order to create new societies they could rule. The Illuminati has continued under his leadership ever since, and through it Savage ruled most of the world. Today the organization includes many of the world's leaders.
The followers of Ra's al Ghul - Ra's al Ghul was born between six to seven hundred years ago to a tribe of nomads in a desert somewhere in Arabia, (near a city whose ancestors had come to Arabia from China, explaining some of his influences). Genius, physician, alchemist, and warlord, Ra's' goal is to protect the world's environment. Seeing mankind as a threat to this, he habitually tries to eliminate most of humanity. His followers are mostly dedicated to his cause, often religiously so. One of his organizations is the League of Assassins. In the main DC Universe his main organization has no name. In Batman Begins it is the League of Shadows. In the Animated DC Universe it is the Society of Shadows.
The League of Assassins - A group made up of many of the world's greatest Assassins, traditionally controlled by Ra's al Ghul. It is not his main organzation, just a sub-organzation (this is obvious since he still has plenty of minions even when the LoA is periodically taken over by the people he puts in charge of it).
The next two have their roots in Christianity.
The Knights Templar - After the first crusade the Knights Templar, a "Christian Military Order" was founded (1096), made up of monks, soldiers, and the first "warrior monks" of the western world. The order was to ensure safety of pilgrims going from Europe to Jerusalem after its conquest. They played a key part in later Crusades, and amassed great wealth, founding much of modern banking. In our world they were disbanded in the 1300s, in DC they managed to continue in secret. There's a lot of legends about them (they found the true cross, they found the holy grail, the arc of the covenant, they play a part in the Da Vinci Code, they became the Freemasons etc.)
The Ancient Sacred Order of Saint Dumas - Originally part of the Knights Templar, they had a falling out with the other Templars and formed their own group, named for their leader Dumas ("who nobody else has ever accused of being a Saint"). Ra's al Ghul once had "an adventure" with Dumas and believes he was "A vicious man, an insane fanatic" The order got stinking rich off pillage in the crusades, then went into hiding, spreading out over the world and devoting themselves to the teachings of Dumas. They killed a whole lot of their enemies, horded knowledge, kidnapped some of the greatest thinkers in the world and essentially invented "disinformation", making the theories of those geniuses look silly so that nobody would miss them or look at their research. Their group is best known for Azrael, a herditary title given to the order's near superhuman enforcer and assassin. With a large amount of help from the current Azrael the group was apparently destroyed.
The next two have their roots in Hinduism, and are bitter enemies.
The Thugee/Thuggee Cult - Believed to be founded around 1200, the Thugee worshipped the Hindu goddess Kali - and their main method of worshipping her was ritualistic assassination. Each victim prevents Kali from appearing on earth for 1000 years. They believe that when Kali appears on earth the world enters the "Kali Yuga", a period of incredible suffering, when the world is chaotic and far from spirituality. In our world the British supposedly wiped them out in the 1830s (yeah, I don't trust the British to have wiped out a secret society of assassins that was over 600 years old...). In DC a man named Ravan was supposedly the last Thuggee and died recently.
Kobra a.k.a. The Cult of the Kobra God - Currently a terrorist organization with a religious bent, and a number of criminals have converted to its beliefs. It's ancient and extremely powerful. Their leader is selected at an early age and is supposedly the living incarnation of Chaos (although the fact that he's being raised to think that probably plays a role in how he acts). They're the opposite of the Thuggee, and want to start a world war or else kill off a large number of people, summoning Kali and starting the Kali Yuga. The Hindu scriptures state that the Kali Yuga is necessary, and that after it the world will enter into a better age.
Note: Most interpretations of Hindu scriptures believe that earth is currently in Kali Yuga. But there are a few that believe that Earth is nearing the end of the Dwapara Yuga, with Kali Yuga on the horizon, and that we are thus quite boned indeed.
The Illuminati - The immortal caveman Vandal Savage discovered Atlantis, a society that was incredibly advanced in technology and magic when most of the world was still at the "hunter gatherer" stage. He found allies in that society that wanted power, and under his leadership this group - The Illuminati - brought about the downfall of Atlantis in order to create new societies they could rule. The Illuminati has continued under his leadership ever since, and through it Savage ruled most of the world. Today the organization includes many of the world's leaders.
The followers of Ra's al Ghul - Ra's al Ghul was born between six to seven hundred years ago to a tribe of nomads in a desert somewhere in Arabia, (near a city whose ancestors had come to Arabia from China, explaining some of his influences). Genius, physician, alchemist, and warlord, Ra's' goal is to protect the world's environment. Seeing mankind as a threat to this, he habitually tries to eliminate most of humanity. His followers are mostly dedicated to his cause, often religiously so. One of his organizations is the League of Assassins. In the main DC Universe his main organization has no name. In Batman Begins it is the League of Shadows. In the Animated DC Universe it is the Society of Shadows.
The League of Assassins - A group made up of many of the world's greatest Assassins, traditionally controlled by Ra's al Ghul. It is not his main organzation, just a sub-organzation (this is obvious since he still has plenty of minions even when the LoA is periodically taken over by the people he puts in charge of it).
The next two have their roots in Christianity.
The Knights Templar - After the first crusade the Knights Templar, a "Christian Military Order" was founded (1096), made up of monks, soldiers, and the first "warrior monks" of the western world. The order was to ensure safety of pilgrims going from Europe to Jerusalem after its conquest. They played a key part in later Crusades, and amassed great wealth, founding much of modern banking. In our world they were disbanded in the 1300s, in DC they managed to continue in secret. There's a lot of legends about them (they found the true cross, they found the holy grail, the arc of the covenant, they play a part in the Da Vinci Code, they became the Freemasons etc.)
The Ancient Sacred Order of Saint Dumas - Originally part of the Knights Templar, they had a falling out with the other Templars and formed their own group, named for their leader Dumas ("who nobody else has ever accused of being a Saint"). Ra's al Ghul once had "an adventure" with Dumas and believes he was "A vicious man, an insane fanatic" The order got stinking rich off pillage in the crusades, then went into hiding, spreading out over the world and devoting themselves to the teachings of Dumas. They killed a whole lot of their enemies, horded knowledge, kidnapped some of the greatest thinkers in the world and essentially invented "disinformation", making the theories of those geniuses look silly so that nobody would miss them or look at their research. Their group is best known for Azrael, a herditary title given to the order's near superhuman enforcer and assassin. With a large amount of help from the current Azrael the group was apparently destroyed.
The next two have their roots in Hinduism, and are bitter enemies.
The Thugee/Thuggee Cult - Believed to be founded around 1200, the Thugee worshipped the Hindu goddess Kali - and their main method of worshipping her was ritualistic assassination. Each victim prevents Kali from appearing on earth for 1000 years. They believe that when Kali appears on earth the world enters the "Kali Yuga", a period of incredible suffering, when the world is chaotic and far from spirituality. In our world the British supposedly wiped them out in the 1830s (yeah, I don't trust the British to have wiped out a secret society of assassins that was over 600 years old...). In DC a man named Ravan was supposedly the last Thuggee and died recently.
Kobra a.k.a. The Cult of the Kobra God - Currently a terrorist organization with a religious bent, and a number of criminals have converted to its beliefs. It's ancient and extremely powerful. Their leader is selected at an early age and is supposedly the living incarnation of Chaos (although the fact that he's being raised to think that probably plays a role in how he acts). They're the opposite of the Thuggee, and want to start a world war or else kill off a large number of people, summoning Kali and starting the Kali Yuga. The Hindu scriptures state that the Kali Yuga is necessary, and that after it the world will enter into a better age.
Note: Most interpretations of Hindu scriptures believe that earth is currently in Kali Yuga. But there are a few that believe that Earth is nearing the end of the Dwapara Yuga, with Kali Yuga on the horizon, and that we are thus quite boned indeed.