Jean-Paul Valley

Jean-Paul Valley is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. He is the first character to assume the identity of Azrael, a member of a group of assassins who were created by the Order of St. Dumas to bring justice in Gotham City. He debuted in Batman: Sword of Azrael #1 (October 1992) as an ally of the superhero Batman, after which he would go on to make appearances in a number of Batman titles, most notably Knightfall, where he took on the identity of Batman for some time. The character portrayed as a vigilante with good intentions, though he and Batman have also been at odds as a result of the Order's brainwashing of Valley.

Publication history
The character first appeared in the 1992 four-issue miniseries Batman: Sword of Azrael as Jean-Paul Valley.

He then became a supporting character in the monthly Batman titles, eventually taking over the role of Batman through the "Knightfall", "Knightquest", and "KnightsEnd" story arcs. One of the creators, Denny O'Neil, admitted to having difficulties with Azrael's transition from villain to hero: "If I'd known he was to become a monthly character, I might have set him up differently ... The problem is that I had to turn a bad guy into a real hero, not just an anti-hero or lead. It's possible to do that, but it's difficult to retain the original characterization. You almost have to change his personality."

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 to 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.

Fictional character biography
Jean-Paul Valley, a university graduate student of computer science in Gotham City, is unaware that he is the latest in a line of assassin-enforcers for "The Sacred Order of Saint Dumas", a sinister religious secret society. For most of his life, he has been brainwashed with The System, a deep level of psychological conditioning.

Valley only learned of his new status 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. When he was sent by the Order to kill weapons dealer Carlton LeHah, a rogue member of the Order who turned against the others and killed Valley's father, he crossed paths with Batman, who had been investigating the death. He worked with Alfred Pennyworth to find LeHah after he had captured Bruce Wayne, using the Batman costume to kill the other Order members. Valley worked with Alfred, demonstrating a detective's intuition in tracking LeHah's movements and later risking himself to rescue Bruce despite his traditional mission of vengeance. In doing so, he was shown the error of his ways and decided to fight alongside Batman against the criminals of Gotham, rejecting his "birthright" and seeking Batman's help in breaking his conditioning to forge his own destiny.

His name is not revealed to Alfred and Bruce until the end of the story, at which point he claims it also was his father's name (a later storyline in his solo series stated his father's name to be Ludovic Valley, however).

Valley is given a job as a security guard at WayneTech headquarters, and also becomes an apprentice crimefighter alongside Batman and Robin, learning basic detective work.

Valley plays a pivotal role in the Knightfall story arc (1993–1994), in which he stands in as Batman after Bruce Wayne is defeated and paralyzed at the hands of Bane. He decides that Bruce's tactics as Batman are obsolete and believes that he must fight criminals on their terms which makes him far more brutal and merciless, often even showing little regard for innocent bystanders. Against Bruce Wayne's orders, Valley fights and defeats Bane, wearing enhanced battle-armor he designed and built under the influence of the System after he was narrowly defeated by Bane in their first confrontation. His performance as Batman is influenced by his Azrael conditioning. He grows increasingly violent and delusional, allowing the mass murderer Abattoir to fall to his death, thereby also allowing one of Abattoir's still-living hostages to die. Valley also has control problems with Tim Drake's partnership, emphasized when Valley almost strangles him to death and bans him from the Batcave. He seals off the Batcave from Wayne Manor and the Drake property, and eschews working with Commissioner Gordon and the Gotham police. Valley also suffers from continuous hallucinations of both his father and St. Dumas who tell him that he is the real Batman and that he must avenge his father's death (having convinced himself that Lehah was just the man who instigated his father's death while one of the man's former henchmen actually pulled the trigger).

Initially, Wayne is impressed enough with Valley's results to let him remain as Batman, but when Drake tells Wayne of Abattoir's death, he resolves to reclaim the Batman mantle. With his back repaired thanks to the sacrifice of psychic healer Doctor Shondra Kinsolving, and his fighting instincts rehabilitated after lessons with Lady Shiva, Wayne goes after Valley to reclaim his identity. After a prolonged battle that stretches from a Gotham penthouse to a major bridge before culminating in a final showdown in the Batcave, Bruce tricks Valley into removing his armor, excluding his helmet (with night-vision lenses engaged), and exposes him to bright sunlight - the shock snaps Valley out of his delusional state. Acknowledging Bruce Wayne as the true Batman, Valley apologizes and asks for his forgiveness, which Bruce accepts, recognizing his own role in Valley's descent into madness during his time as Batman, but tells Valley to leave Wayne Manor immediately.

Valley lives among the homeless population of Gotham for several weeks, befriending an alcoholic former psychiatrist named Brian Bryan.

Valley is then sought out by Bruce Wayne, who feels responsible for his mental breakdown after attaining and losing the mantle of Batman. Bruce grants him a small fortune in money, information on the Order of St. Dumas' whereabouts, and resources to explore his origins. Along with Bryan, he discovers the evil conspiracies within the order of St. Dumas, and they help a nun named Sister Lilhy escape. With the help of Ra's al Ghul, Valley discovers that he is a genetically engineered test tube baby, and his genes have been spliced with those of animals.

He returns to Gotham for several crossover events, including Underworld Unleashed, Contagion, Legacy, and Cataclysm. He also discovers that his father's killer, Carlton LeHah, is still alive. Valley attempts to regain Batman's trust after the events of the KnightsEnd arc. Batman, who feels responsible for Valley, especially after realizing that he gave him very little training and support, decides to give Azrael missions to carry out as a test to prove himself. The first of these missions is to defeat a resurfaced Bane, but it is not until Azrael saves the lives of a group of U.S. Senators (one of which tries to plead to Congress for the funds to rebuild Gotham City after its devastating earthquake) that Batman begins to fully trust him again. Prior to those events, Batman sent Azrael after Nicholas Scratch, who was planning to kill another Senator who also wanted federal money to save Gotham City. While pursuing Scratch, Azrael was framed for the Senator's murder after he was strangled to death moments before Azrael arrived to save him.

After being framed, Azrael is given a new costume designed by Batman and uses it for a time, especially during the No Man's Land story arc. Azrael helps Batman maintain a chaotic Gotham City, often with the assistance of the new Batgirl, and protects Leslie Thompkins' medical clinic inside of No Man's Land. After foiling Scratch's plan of framing him for murder, Azrael returns to his original costume and battles hallucinations that represent both his father and St. Dumas himself. Toward the end of the series, Azrael is plagued by supernatural occurrences in the form of possible miracles.

Azrael is seemingly killed in the series' final issue, shot with two specially-coated bullets while battling Scratch and LeHah. Scratch is arrested, and LeHah falls into the river with Azrael. However, Azrael's body is never recovered, and his death went unconfirmed for several years. In Booster Gold (vol. 2) #10, a note can be seen written on time traveler Rip Hunter's chalk board reading "Jean-Paul Valley Lives!" In the following issue, another note says, "Azrael comes and goes." Azrael appears in Blackest Night #4 as an undead member of the Black Lantern Corps; although at first it had not been confirmed whether it was Jean-Paul Valley or another Azrael (such as Ludovic Valley, who died in Gotham City). The index section of the Blackest Night tabloid later indicated that it was in fact Jean-Paul.

Jean-Paul Valley makes a cameo at Batman's funeral service in Neil Gaiman's 2009 story Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? He is seen stepping up to deliver his own version of Batman's death as a background event, however his story is unseen and he has no lines. The story is metaphysical in nature, not affecting the overall status of the canon or Azrael's fate.

The New 52
In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Jean-Paul Valley reappeared as Azrael in an arc of Batman & Robin: Eternal. His design was updated, with his main weapon being his sword rather than gauntlets (although he was later shown to still possess the gauntlet blades). His character, however, was essentially the same, working as an enforcer for the Order of St. Dumas. In the comic, he defeated Bane and eventually turned on his handler and the Order to assist Red Hood and Tim Drake. This marked the first proper appearance of a living Jean-Paul Valley in the DCU in over a dozen years, with previous appearances relegated to either minimal cameos or the aforementioned Black Lantern revival of the character.

DC Rebirth
In 2016, Jean Paul made his post Rebirth debut in the first issue of the Detective Comics line, starting with issue #934. Jean Paul made a few cameo appearances in the first two issues before joining the roster fully in issue #943.

After something was done to his suit by Ascalon, Luke Fox gave him a new suit inspired by Batman and after the fight Azrael went back to his old suit. After Batwoman invited Azrael and Batwing to join her colony, they agree in hopes to reshape the colony.

Azrael has been confirmed to join the new Justice League team Justice League Odyssey in 2018.

Powers and abilities
As Azrael, Jean-Paul has enhanced physical abilities. He has been shown to fight at heightened levels even when fatigued, a fact exemplified when Azrael was able to defeat Bane, despite suffering from both extreme exhaustion and Venom withdrawal. He has also been shown to be able to resist an even more potent version of the Venom drug, having been able to break its vast addiction in only one night. Azrael is also a superior fighter; although he lacks technique and style in his fighting moves, he makes up for it with his inhuman speed, reflexes, and agility. Azrael has been able to match Deathstroke in a sword duel and has even defeated Batman in hand-to-hand combat. This is not only due to his martial arts skills, but also due to his inhuman physical abilities.

Equipment
The original Azrael costume worn by Jean-Paul Valley consists of red and gold armor. After becoming an "Agent of the Bat", he dons silver and black armor with a red cape and a stylized red bat symbol on the chest. Later on, he dons red armor with golden gauntlets, boots, shoulder pads and a blue cape. He sometimes carries a flaming sword, and also uses two retractable daggers hidden in the gauntlets of his costume that can be charged with thermal energy to increase their destructive power. In Batman: The Ultimate 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. The gauntlets were taken by Kate Spencer, the current Manhunter, and are used in her outfit. The New 52 version of Jean-Paul wears a similar costume, and his weapon is a flaming knight sword called Murasame. He also possesses the familiar gauntlet blades as well.

Other versions

 * Jean-Paul Valley appears Sean Murphy's Batman: Curse of the White Knight as the main antagonist. In the story he is a former United States Army veteran who has being diagnosed with terminal cancer, whom the Joker who claims that God has a mission for him. He then recruited two of his former squad mates and were hired by Ruth, a woman who served Gotham's Elites. When their backing he went on a rampage through Gotham City and murdered both James Gordon and Batman's entire Rogue Gallery.
 * The one-shot "Dark Multiverse: Knightfall" depicts a world where Jean Paul as Batman defeats Bruce Wayne, kills Gotham's villains, and keeps Bruce Wayne alive as a head and torso in Wayne Tower linked to a life support system, constantly visiting him to receive his approval of Valley's methods with Valley's regime lasting for thirty years. Bane's son and Lady Shiva rescue Wayne, providing him with a new nanotech body. Wayne kills his former successor, revealing that his years of isolation and torment have driven him to a point where he concludes that he can only rely on himself, then kills Shiva and strings Azrael up on a bat-sigil in the style of a crucifixion.
 * Jean-Paul Valley makes his DC Animated Universe debut on Batman: The Adventures Continue #7, a continuation of Batman: The Animated Series. While chasing Catwoman, Batman encounters Azrael. Azrael is in Gotham to retrieve the Shawl of Magdalene, which was stolen from his religious order, the Order of Saint Dumas. He joins forces with the Dark Knight in order to retrieve it.

Video games

 * The Jean-Paul Valley version of Azrael is a playable character in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.
 * The PlayStation 3 edition of Batman: Arkham Origins features the Knightfall downloadable content, which includes an alternate Batman costume based on Jean-Paul Valley's Batsuit, as well as challenge maps based on Batman: Knightfall.

Lego

 * The Jean-Paul Valley version of Azrael is a playable character in the Nintendo DS version of Lego Batman: The Videogame, unlocked after achieving "True Hero" on all levels. Additionally, LEGO pieces can be unlocked and used to build Azrael in the character creation feature of the main version of the game.
 * The Jean-Paul Valley version of Batman appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, via the 75th Anniversary downloadable content.

Collected editions

 * Batman: Contagion (Azrael #15)
 * Batman: No Man's Land Vol. 1 (Azrael: Agent of the Bat #51-55)
 * Batman: No Man's Land Vol. 2 (Azrael: Agent of the Bat #56)
 * Batman: No Man's Land Vol. 3 (Azrael: Agent of the Bat #58)
 * Batman: No Man's Land Vol. 4 (Azrael: Agent of the Bat #59-61)
 * Batman: Sword of Azrael (#1-4) [1993] - ISBN 1-56389-100-X
 * Knightfall
 * Azrael: Angel in the Dark (Azrael vol. 2 #1-6) [2010] - ISBN 978-1-4012-2874-3
 * Batman: Gotham Shall Be Judged (Azrael vol. 2 #14-18) [2012] - ISBN 978-1-4012-3378-5
 * Azrael: Death's Dark Knight (#1-#3)
 * Azrael Vol. 1: Fallen Angel (Batman: Sword of Azrael #1-4, Showcase '94 #10, Azrael vol. 1 #1-7)