Jean-Paul Valley

[Source]

"*Swear to me!*"
―Azrael[src]
**Jean-Paul Valley** (also known as **Azrael**, **Batman**, **Azbat**, **the Dark Knight**, **JP**, and **JPV**) was a Human assassin and vigilante affiliated with the Order of St. Dumas and Task Force X.

## Biography

### Early life

Jean-Paul Valley was born in Cardiff, Wales on January 17, 1974 to Siena Castle and Jean-Paul Valley Sr.. Jean-Paul's genetic structure was altered by scientists with Animal DNA, engineering him to be capable of feats beyond those of a normal human. However, he grew up oblivious to his intended larger purpose. When he was eight years old, Valley fell into a cave but was rescued by his father. He later told his son that "though people fall, they always have the strength to get up." By the age of fifteen, Jean-Paul and his family were living in the United States of America. Sometime after his family's relocation Valley became a fan of and looked up to the masked vigilante known as Batman. He would later come to emulate his hero and even briefly replaced him. Accounts after this period of Jean-Paul's childhood were sketchy as his mind was tampered with by the Order of St. Dumas, a sinister religious secret society, in his adulthood and believed he was even given some false memories.

It was during his time as a university graduate student of computer science that his life would change forever. He learned of his family's legacy when his father, the previous Azrael, crawled bleeding to his apartment one night in costume, having been mortally wounded. Before requesting that his body be dumped somewhere where the family secrets wouldn't be uncovered, his father supplied him with money, and the means to travel to Switzerland and meet with the Order of St. Dumas who would supply him with his training. It was later revealed that his father had actually been attempting to supply Jean-Paul with the means to escape the Order's influences, but his intentions were misread.

### Serving the Order of St. Dumas

In the Swiss Alps, a man named Nomoz, in actuality the Greek god Zeus who was responsible for his father's death, taught Valley of the responsibilities of Azrael, and revealed that Jean-Paul belonged to a long line of assassins modeling themselves after the angel of death. Nomoz introduced Jean-Paul to "The System," a hypnotic training method he had received since birth. Jean-Paul discovered he was a great fighter due to this sub-conscious implant, although his body was still weak. Batman's investigation of Nomoz lead him to Switzerland with Nightwing, where Nomoz shoots down their helicopter. Batman and Nightwing survived the crash, however, and catch Jean-Paul and Nomoz as they fled in a hovercraft. Nomoz sent Jean-Paul as Azrael to kill Batman, but loses and escapes, while Batman investigates the Order's headquarters.

Azrael and Nomoz later visit the first acolyte, but Nomoz killed this man and then shot Azrael and captured Batman, while Nightwing tended to Azrael. Nomoz suggested killing Nightwing, but Jean-Paul rebeled against the System and refused. Nomoz continued killing acolytes, but Azrael tracked him down and slaughtered his guards. Nomoz decided to reveal himself as Zeus before executing Bruce Wayne, but he short-circuited the security while tied up, allowing Azrael to enter. The facility caught fire and Azrael rescued Bruce Wayne, despite Zeus ordering Azrael to not rescue him and lambasted him for disgracing his mission as an angel of vengeance. Jean-Paul replied that he was not an angel, he was a man. The facility exploded soon after and Zeus was defeated. Already being aware of Wayne's secret identity, he traveled to Gotham and began working with the Batman clan.

### Becoming the Knight

"*It's not what I do that defines me, it's how much armor I wear.*"
―Jean-Paul Valley[src]
Bruce quickly sent his son, Robin, to train Azrael as a new vigilante and to control "The System". Valley was given a job as a security manager at Wayne Enterprises, where he also debuted as part of the selected group of vigilantes. Jean-Paul continued fighting crime, but it was obvious that the violent nature from "the system" wasn't going away. Jean-Paul did some work for Batman and after that, he saved Lucius Fox from a certain death. One night, Bruce was out of action and Jean-Paul took the mantle of the bat for the first time against Killer Croc and failed miserably. After the defeat, Jean-Paul's appearance and attitude changed to became more aggressive and he trained harder to increase his strength. In order to redeem his mistake with Killer Croc and to test the result of his training, Jean-Paul went out to the streets of Gotham to patrol all alone. He encountered a couple of common thieves and beat them to a pulp.

After Bane broke Bruce Wayne's spine, Jean-Paul joined Nightwing and Robin and rescued Batman from the streets. Later, he helped Robin get a special medicine for Bruce's recovery. With Bane rising to the power, Bruce felt the city was in need of Batman and asked Jean-Paul to fill in for him; a role that Jean-Paul accepted in a much more sinister way than expected. In his first exploits using the mantle of the Bat, Jean-Paul worked without Robin, unleashing his wrath on common criminals before learning about Scarecrow's latest activities. Jean-Paul located Scarecrow, but as he was about to capture him, he had to confront Anarky. Scarecrow used fear on Anarky and Jean-Paul, but because of the System, Jean-Paul was not entirely affected and he finally stopped Scarecrow. As he left with the madman to deliver him to the authorities, Jean-Paul threatened Anarky to stay out of his way.

Confident after his initial victory, Jean-Paul became a more brutal Batman and forced a confession out of the notorious gangster Tony Bressi, who provided some information on Bane. Jean-Paul used Bressi to lure Bane, but he was instead confronted by Bane's henchmen. Using his new metallic gloves, Jean-Paul brutally defeated the trio and couldn't get further information as the police arrived at the scene and he was forced to flee. After learning the facility where Bane's henchmen were locked, he released them and used them to get to Bane. The confrontation between the two was short as Bane got the upper hand in the fight. However, Jean-Paul managed to break free and both of them decided to retreat for the next confrontation. Jean-Paul was determined to take down Bane and with The System actively working on him, he designed and had Lucius Fox build him his own battle armor, which he used in replacement of the Batsuit. With his new gear, Jean-Paul confronted Bane and after a long fight, he managed to defeat him, barely sparing his life and earning the city's respect and rightful claim to the Batman title.

#### The Crusade

In his role as Batman, Jean-Paul started using a new method of transportation developed by Harold: the Tumblr. After this new development, Jean-Paul sealed every entrance to the Batcave that he knew about, effectively closing Wayne Manor and driving Robin away. He was also part of the Bloodbath mission launched by Amanda Waller against the Taker.

As Batman, Jean-Paul became unhinged and confronted several minor criminals, crippling them and hurting them beyond comprehension. Jean-Paul brutalized the Tally Man after the criminal tried to kill him, thinking he was the original Batman. Later, Jean-Paul tried to force an alliance with the organized crime by creating a gang war which resulted in his confrontation and brutal defeat of the mercenary Mekros. Afterwards, Jean-Paul stopped the Trigger Twins during a train heist and not long after this, he confronted Mister Freeze at the morgue.

After stopping a child smuggling racket, Jean-Paul stopped the serial killer Abattoir from killing his cousin, but was unable to capture the criminal. It was also around this time that Jean-Paul's delusions intensified and after a nearly fatal encounter with The Corrosive Man, he decided to upgrade the Batsuit for further protection. Jean-Paul later worked to recapture the serial killer known as Abattoir and he crossed paths with Ballistic, who was also looking for the killer. Together, they stopped the Malevolent Maniaxe from getting to Abattoir first and afterwards, Jean-Paul continued the search by himself. During this search, Jean-Paul was attacked by Lady Clay, but he soon learned that she had been forced to do so as Abattoir had kidnapped her newborn son, Cassius. Jean-Paul incapacitated Lady Clay and saved her son, allowing Abattoir to escape. Afterwards, Jean-Paul confronted Cassius' father, Clayface 3 and also incapacitated him, allowing the authorities to lock him and help his son. Afterwards, Batman was informed by Harvey Bullock about a certain super-sniper and Jean-Paul confronted Gunhawk and Gunbunny, but he was no match for their fire power and he ended up outgunned. Immediately after this encounter, Jean-Paul resumed his manhunt for Abattoir and managed to locate the killer's hideout. Jean-Paul chased Abattoir to a foundry, where Abattoir ended up hanging above a vat of molten metal as a result of their struggle. Abattoir asked for help, but decided to let Abattoir fall to his death while Robin witnessed the event. Valley also had control problems with Terry Wayne's partnership, emphasized when Valley almost strangled him to death and subsequently banning him from the Batcave.

When the news about his actions spread, Jean-Paul was confronted by former Police Commissioner James Gordon, but Valley was unapologetic, forcing Gordon to encourage the NYPD to break any connections with the vigilante. After Abattoir's death, Valley's mind changed and he assumed a more drastic attitude towards crime. Valley also suffered from continuous hallucinations of both his father and St. Dumas who convinced him that he was the real Batman and that he had to avenge his father's death. He also designed a yet another improved batsuit which not only provided further protection after the cape was replaced with metallic wings, but it also featured increased firepower, as he included a machine gun for the bat-shirukens and also a flamethrower. With all this arsenal at hand, Valley was finally able to defeat and kill Gunhawk, who had created a hostage situation at Mercy Hospital.

Initially, Bruce Wayne was impressed enough with Valley's results to let him remain as Batman, but when his son informed him of Valley's strangling of Terry, he resolved to reclaim the Batman mantle. Soon, Jean-Paul was confronted in the Batcave by Wayne himself, who had fully recovered from his injury and wanted to strip Jean-Paul from the mantle of the bat as he had learned of his harsh methods. Jean-Paul managed to overthrow Wayne and warned him to never return to claim what didn't rightfully belong to him.

#### Knights End

After the confrontation with Wayne, Jean-Paul's descent to madness worsened as the hallucinations haunted him constantly and he started a quest to stop Azrael's old enemy, Zeus, who was nowhere near Gotham. As Batman, Jean-Paul went on a brutal spree against criminals in order to find Zeus, while his hallucinations kept haunting him with more intensity, which in turn caused him to become even more ruthless.

His quest to find Zeus, brought Jean-Paul to confront corrupt businessman Penn Selkirk. When Selkirk couldn't provide him the answers he wanted about Zeus, Jean-Paul murdered one of his henchmen before he was stopped by Bruce Wayne, who had finally returned to claim the mantle of the bat. Jean-Paul would not give it away easily and the battle of the Batmen started. The struggle attracted the attention of the authorities, but when the building they chose to battle caught on fire, they escaped the place by attaching the Batrope to Selkirk's helicopter, which dragged them to the Brooklyn Bridge.

The fight continued on the bridge, but Jean-Paul was dowsed in flames because of his recklessness in the use of his flamethrower. After falling to the river, Jean-Paul pulled himself to the surface and realized that Wayne had fallen for his booby trapped Batmobile. He then confronted Robin and Nightwing with his armor Batsuit completely turned red. Nightwing attacked Jean-Paul, but after a long fight, Jean-Paul defeated Nightwing, almost killing him. Upon returning to the cave and thinking himself the victor above all his enemies, Jean-Paul was confronted by Batman, who had survived the explosion. The ensuing fight was short as Batman avoided violence and eventually tricked Jean-Paul into removing the armor, excluding his helmet, and exposed him to bright sunlight. The shock snapped Valley out of his delusional state. He admitted his defeat, apologized and asked for his forgiveness, which Bruce accepted, recognizing his own role in Valley's descent into madness during his time as Batman, but told Valley to leave immediately. Valley subsequently departed Wayne Manor after acknowledging Bruce Wayne as the true Batman and abandoning the mantle of the Bat.

He was known to have killed many enemies of the agency and met the scientist and long-time friend Solomon Grundy during his time there.

Sometime later, the hallucinogens that Pavan had been administered to him by Dr. Fischer began to wear off. At around the same time Banner transformed into a monstrous grungy green skinned giant, causing an explosion and massive destruction at the CIA building. In the midst if the chaos, Pavan caught a glimpse of the monster and decided to follow it. He learned not long after that the giant was actually his friend.

## Personality and traits

"*I stand alone. One man against damnation. Let them come.*"
―Jean-Paul Valley[src]

## Relationships

### Friendships

Though he once claimed that he "didn't have the luxury of friends", Jean-Paul Valley formed many friendships in his life.

#### Bruce Wayne

"*I'm not him. I'm a lot more... and a lot worse.*"
―Jean-Paul Valley[src]

#### Solomon Grundy

"*If I don't make it out of here... I'm passing on my legacy to you.*"
―The Dark Knight to 08 Hulk[src]

### Romances

Throughout his life, Jean-Paul Valley had a number of tumultuous and sometimes even tragic romances.

## Powers and abilities

"*I'm not wearing hockey pads!*"
―Azrael[src]