Jean-Paul Valley

Note: This page describes Jean-Paul Valley, better known as Azrael, though due to his death (and recent return with Blackest Night) he is not the current Azrael. For the current Azrael, Michael Lane, go here: Azrael.

Origin

Several centuries ago, the Templar knight Dumas left his group to found his own Order of St. Dumas. They pillaged villages for their wealth, and came upon the fabled treasure of King Solomon. Using this capital, this secret society began collecting information for its personal agenda and researching technology that would advance beyond the rest of the known world. To guard this, the Order created Azrael, a legacy type agent coached to believe it is an actual Biblical angel of vengeance passed on from father to son.

Jean -Paul Valley

Jean Paul in university

Jean-Paul Valley, a university student in Gotham City, was unaware that he was the latest in a line of assassin-enforcers for "The Sacred Order of Saint Dumas", a sinister secret society, and had received training and mental conditioning to prepare him for his role since before he was born. He is a test tube baby, and his genes have been spliced with those of animals.

When Ludovic Valley had impregnated a woman, the Order of St. Dumas retrieved the fetus to develop it on its own which would grow to Jean-Paul Valley. For most of his life, he has been brainwashed with " The System", a deep level of psychological conditioning. The details of The System are never fully explained, but it is understood that training begins before birth and includes genetic modification, prenatal electric shock, and the use of gorillas as surrogate mothers. When he was sent by the Order to kill a weapons dealer who had killed his father (the last Azrael), Carlton LeHah who believed himself to be the idealistic opposite to Saint DuMas, his path crossed with Batman. After saving Wayne from an explosion set up by LeHah, Valley was shown the error of his ways, and he decided to fight with Batman against the criminals of Gotham, rejecting his "birthright" and seeking Batman's help in breaking his conditioning to forge a new destiny of his own choice.

A Darker, Dark Knight

A darker "Dark Knight"

Valley played a pivotal role in the epic " Knightfall" story (1992 - 1994), in which he stood in as Batman after Batman was defeated and paralyzed at the hands of Bane. Against Batman's orders, Valley fought and defeated Bane , but his performance as Batman was influenced by his Azrael conditioning; he grew increasingly violent, allowing the villain known as Abattoir to fall to his death, thereby also allowing one of Abattoir's still-living victims to die. Valley also refused to recognize Robin as his partner. Upon his return to fitness, the real Batman, Bruce Wayne, was forced to fight the technologically-enhanced Valley to reclaim his identity. After a prolonged battle on Gotham Bridge, when Azrael nearly killed Nightwing, he was defeated when Batman tricked Valley into removing the bat-Armour. Due to Valley's psychosis, once he removed the helmet, he also "removed" his version of the Batman identity he had built.

Angel of Death again

Following this, Valley became a homeless drifter in the streets of Gotham, unaware or unwilling to adopt his identity as Azrael once again. After being contacted by Bruce Wayne, Valley soon dons his Azrael costume once again

Azrael is born

and searches for clues to his past in the Order of St. Dumas, and ancient organization which had engineered Azraels throughout ages, passed from father to son. This was done through the use of deep hypnosis and genetic experiments.

Upon discovering The Order in Europe, Valley found he had been replaced by another man claiming to be Azrael, whom was quickly defeated by Valley. Eventually, after multiple contacts with the high-priests of the organization, soldiers and the impostor -Azrael, Ra's Al Ghul and the development of a relationship with a former priestess of the Order, Lihly, Valley was able to largely destroy the Order. During the No Man's Land saga, Azrael assisted Batman in the earthquake torn Gotham and eventually by attempting to contact a US Senator who would have been key to federal funding for Gotham.

Redemption and Death

Azrael's 2nd costume

The Senator was killed by a man known as Nicholas Scratch, a rock-star who was also involved with many terrorist ideals and attacks. Scratch was eventually involved in the apparent death of Valley when he disguised himself as Azrael and was confronted by Valley. LeHah reappeared and fired on Valley with an armor piercing bullet. LeHah and Valley toppled over a balcony; LeHah survived, Scratch was arrested and Azrael's body was never found.

A panel of the comic showing Batman holding an image of Azrael, sans mask, is meant to lead readers to believe he is dead.

Return as a black lantern in Blackest Night

Reborn as a Black Lantern

The alleged death of Jean-Paul Valley was confirmed as the Blackest Night swept over Earth. He rose as a member of the Black Lantern Corps and rampaged through Gotham City, harvesting the hearts of the living. Scarecrow crossed his path and lived because he was no longer able to feel the fear he so craved. With no emotional response to him, Jean-Paul ignored the Scarecrow's presence and moved on to other victims.

Skills and Abilities

Azrael's 3rd Costume

As a result of genetic engineering he has been greater strength than a normal peak level human; he is known to hurl large stone/steel altars/objects estimated at weighing one or two tons. This enhanced strength at first however is only available to Azrael and not Jean Paul.

At first his costume was a necessary trigger for "The System" to impart grant him with enhanced strength, reflexes and speed.

Right at the end of his solo series however, his strength, speed, and reflexes went into meta human levels and he no longer needed his costume to access "The System". Around this time he was able to lift tree trunks and large boulders weighing an estimated 7-8 tons.

As a computer science post graduate student his knowledge and expertise with computers surpasses those of Tim Drake 's and is closer in range to those of former Batgirl: Oracle. He has often been described as being an instinctive genius, though he is neither as smart or quick as Bruce Wayne/Batman. In addition he has a rather limited knowledge base with which to apply what would/could be a considerable intelligence.

The skills granted to him by "The System" are considerable, giving him access to acrobatic and martial arts skill rare for the most seasoned athlete. This makes him a highly skilled combatant. In addition to those talents he was honed by training with Bruce Wayne and thus is possibly as skilled as Batman yet his lack of experience and finesse would make him the weaker of the two.

In Other Media

-All of Azrael's Lego pieces can be unlocked for creating him in the character creation in the console versions of LEGO Batman: The Video Game, while he is an unlockable character in the DS version.

-Azrael is confirmed to make an appearance in the upcoming online game DC Universe Online.

Batman: Arkham city

The Michael Lane verson of Azrael appears in the game, however is character seems to be an algamtion of Jean-Paul and Lane's as is his costume. As part of the Order of St. Dumas he warns Batman of impeding doom for Gotham.