Azrael (comics)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Azrael | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Azrael (Jean-Paul Valley) is a fictional character from DC Comics. He appeared originally in the 1992-1993 four-issue limited series Batman: Sword of Azrael, created by Dennis O'Neil and Joe Quesada, and later as a supporting character in various Batman-related titles, before gaining his own self-titled series (also by O'Neil). He is named after the the traditional Angel of Death and shares the name Azrael with a Teen Titans character introduced years earlier, making him the second Azrael in the DC Universe.
Contents |
[edit] Fictional character biography
[edit] The Sword of Azrael
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 was a test tube baby, and his genes had been spliced with those of animals prior to birth. Furthermore, for most of his pre-university life he had been brainwashed with "The System", a deep level of psychological conditioning. Valley only learned of this upon the death of his father, who was also his predecessor, at which time his conditioning was activated and he was called upon to take up the mantle of Azrael (named for the angel of death). When he was sent by the Order to kill a weapons dealer, his path crossed with Batman. He 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.
[edit] Knightfall
Valley played a pivotal role in the "Knightfall" story arc (1992 - 1994), in which he stood in as Batman after Bruce Wayne was defeated and paralyzed at the hands of Bane. Against Bruce Wayne'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, 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 Wayne tricked Valley into removing the bat-armor, forcing him to finally realize that Wayne was the true Batman. Valley, disgraced, left Gotham and became Azrael once more.
[edit] Azrael
As Azrael, Valley wore a costume in blood-red and gold coloring. He sometimes carried a flaming sword, but also used two retractable daggers hidden in the gauntlets of his costume. He unlocked his superhuman skills by tapping into "The System", which placed a serious strain on his mind, and at times seemed to be driving him insane.
[edit] Agent of the Bat
The subsequent Azrael series, chronicling Valley's battles against the Order of St. Dumas, ran for 100 issues between 1995 and 2003. Starting with issue #47, it was retitled Azrael: Agent of the Bat in an attempt to boost sales by tying the series in with the rest of the Batman mythos, including Azrael as part of the team of Batman, Robin and the new Batgirl (Cassandra Cain), and he also changed his costume considerably for a time (see Costumes section below), although this ploy ultimately failed. Azrael returned to his original costume and battled supposed hallucinations that were supposed to represent both his father, and the creator of the order which spawned him, St. Dumas.
Toward the end of the series, Azrael was supposedly having supernatural occurrences somehow influencing his life, sometimes seeming to be miracles. This, however, was never legitimately explained. He also seemed to be on the verge of physiological self-destruction and yet survived longer than it was presumed he should have been able to.
Azrael was seemingly killed in the series' final issue, having been shot with two specially-coated bullets while battling archenemies Nicholas Scratch and Carlton Lehah. However, his body was apparently never recovered. DC Comics have strongly emphasized on his character profile that his status is unknown, hinting he may return.
[edit] Powers and abilities
The source of Azrael's abilities is a post-hypnotic training regimen known only as The System. The details of The System are unknown, but it is understood that training begins before birth and includes genetic modification (and, in Jean Paul's case, prenatal electric shock). The end result is a human being who is inhumanly strong and fast and has a raging split personality triggered by the donning of the Azrael costume. The split personality is apparently coached to believe it is an actual biblical angel of vengeance. His weapons include wristmounted swords which ignite flames and can also be launched from the gauntlets. Azrael also dons a bullet- and flame-proof armor.
It is implied towards the middle of the series that all Azraels have been imparted with some form of The System, but that the training and genetic tampering have been updated and changed significantly in the Order's 500 year history. The System also somehow separates an Azrael's civilian identity from his powers, in that they are only super strong or super fast while in costume.
[edit] Costumes
Azrael's original costume consisted of special red and gold armor. After becoming an "Agent of the Bat", he donned silver and black armor with a red cape and a stylized red bat symbol on the chest. Later on, he donned red armor with golden gauntlets, boots, shoulder pads and a blue cape. On page 73 of the updated edition of Batman: The Ultimate Visual Guide to the Dark Knight, Scott Beatty implied that Azrael's changing costumes were reflections of the changes in Azrael's life from an agent of St. Dumas to an agent of the Batman to his own man.
[edit] Previous Azraels
Valley was also not the only Azrael. A Chinese man, supposedly given the same training as Valley, and an identical costume, was briefly under the control of a former member of the Order of St. Dumas. Earlier on in the Azrael series, another man, presumably either American or European in ethnicity, was supposedly selected and trained in the same way as Valley and the Chinese Azrael, to be Valley's replacement. He was defeated by Azrael, and supposedly fell to his death, only to resurface in Gotham at one point wearing one of Valley's 'Batman' armors and engaging in underground fights. The exact whereabouts of this man are unknown.
