The Ra's stuff developed much later than the Joker stuff, though, and nobody who doesn't read the comics knows about him. I'm not a fan of Talia, really, but I don't think Bruce ever had a love interest I really liked. I like Nyssa more than Talia; Talia spends a lot of storylines just being a pawn, but frankly, I was kind of happy that they didn't use his daughters :P

Aww, I like Tim and I love Dick as Nightwing. I also like the new girl. I think Jason didn't get killed off because he was lousy, I think he got killed off because of what was going on in comics at the time-- shrinking sales and a movement away from super-hero-dom in comics. Batman on his on is a much darker figure and doesn't have to be a superhero. With Robin, he's much more clearly a good guy; you can't drag the boyscouty kid into moral questioning. So Jason got killed so Batman could really be the Dark Knight. With Dick, you can give him enough of the same kind of fear and hatred Bruce starts with that it could work.