In order to keep control of their wealth and secrecy the Order needed a police force and so the Azraels were created. For several generations the Role of Azrael was passed from father to son untill the Order perfected genetic engineering centuries before DNA was known to exist. The new Azraels were part animal and once their fathers had impregnated a female the foetus was surgically removed and placed in a tank filled with simian body fluids. The unborn child would then be subjected to regular electric shocks and tortured to instill "wrath". In child hood these born assassins were hypnotically trained with "The System" to turn them into the most effecient killing machines born.
Flash forward to the end of the twentieth century and an Azrael has been sent to "dispatch" a man named LeHah who had doublecrossed the order. This Azrael failed miserably and collapsed at the door of his sons room. What followed was the creation of the new Azrael, mandated with the task of seeking out and killing LeHah the new Azrael did not succeed, instead he rescued Batman and found a place as one of Bruce Wayne's protegés
This new student of Batmans was named Jean-Paul Valley and he wanted to be the best he could. This determination impressed Bruce and helped him choose Jean-Paul to stand in for him during the time he took to heal his back. However during his stint as Batman Valley suffered a nervous breakdown and two deaths resulted as a consequence of his inability to cope with events. After losing the Mantle of the Bat Valley was reduced to vagrancy and homelessness.
Batman felt responsible for Valley and persuaded him to take up his role of Azrael and seek his identity. Travelling with the Alcoholic Brian Bryan to the Ice Cathedral Azrael met Brother Rollo, the Order's leader, Sister Lilhy, a powerful member of the Order and his replacement Azrael. Lilhy enlisted Azrael's aid in assassinating Rollo but the gambit failed and Azrael Lilhy and Brian fled from the Ice Cathedral. Azrael followed the information he had and learned the truth of his creation. This horrific revelation and his accidental murder of his unborn brother forced him into a catatonic state. In his desert journeys he made an ally of Ra's al Ghul and an enemy of the Grey Abbot his "creator".
When Azrael returned to Gotham and regained full use of his mental facilities he was assaulted and kidnapped by LeHah who was quickly defeated and locked in his own meat locker. That was when things went from bad to worse in Gotham. The Clench a strain of Ebola Gulf-A was released in Babylon Towers by The Order. Azrael attempted to help by finding survivors who could help with a cure but instead had found the cure earlier and was instrumental in saving Robin(III, Tim Drake)'s life.
When the nefarious team of Nug and Kluber attempted to get payback for a previous defeat Jean-Paul inflicted serious injuries on them without wearing his Azrael costume, a development that worried Brian. Jean-Paul embarked on an oddessy that banished Azrael from him just in time to get into desperate trouble when Rollo ordered the death of Azrael and his friends. With Nomoz's help Brian reawakened the System in Jean-Paul and Azrael was reborn.
Realizing that the only way he could keep his friends safe was to destroy the Order, Azrael journeyed to Swizerland. After destroying the Ice Cathedral Lilhy set up a base in Mexico and sent Azrael on errands, becoming as domineering and manipulative as the Order had been. Jean-Paul left Mexico and went to the only other place he knew, the Batcave. Scince then he has embraced a quest to redeem himself in Batman's eyes fighting vampires, werewolves and parademons.
The most significant step in this quest was when he was delegated the task of capturing Bane. Things did not go well initially, and he was captured and addicted to Venom. Through sheer force of will Azrael endured withdrawl and beat Bane by outsmarting him. When bringing Bane back to Gotham, Azrael happened to turn Bane over to the police just as the quake struck and had to recapture him in the midst of chaos.
In the time during the quake Azrael tried to help as many people as possible but when events beyond his control caused a disturbing loss of life. Jean-Paul needed to escape Gotham and the memory of it. Azrael was reunited with Lilhy and Brian and had to contend with the sadistic Luc and the corrupt DEA Agent Vyce. After rescuing Lilhy, Azrael encountered Deathstroke and Calibax, and after Calibax's escape learned that Lilhy plans to rebuild the Order, he and Brian journeyed back to Gotham to prevent Calibax preying on the city's refugees.
Recently, Azrael was assigned the task of protecting a senator who would help rebuild Gotham. However, the senator was killed by Nick Scratch and Azrael was framed for the murder. Because of this Azrael was forced to give-up his old costume and wear a new one designed by Batman so that no one would go after him. This is turn made Azrael join the Bat-Family and has been given his own area to protect by Batman who respect Azrael now. Even more recently Azrael teamed-up with the new Batgirl and in the end managed to bring down Nick Scratch. Whether he will return remains to be seen.
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