| Azrael | |
|---|---|
 The Jean-Paul Valley incarnation of Azrael as depicted inBatman: Sword of Azrael #1 (1992) Art byJoe Quesada andKevin Nowlan. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Batman: Sword of Azrael #1 (October 1992) |
| Created by | |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego |
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| Species | Metahuman |
| Team affiliations | The Order of St. Dumas The Order of Purity |
| Partnerships |
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| Abilities | The chief suit piece of Azrael, the arcane Suit of Sorrows, grants various abilities dependent on the continuity:
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Azrael is an alias used by multiplefictional characters appearing inAmerican comic books published byDC Comics. The original version,Jean-Paul Valley, was created byDenny O'Neil,Joe Quesada, andPeter Milligan, and debuted inBatman: Sword of Azrael #1 (October 1992). The second character to assume the alias wasMichael Washington Lane, inAzrael: Death's Dark Knight #1 (May 2009). Both iterations areChristian vigilantes and assassins created by theOrder of St. Dumas and its derivatives (i.e the Order of Purity), secretive religious organizations seeking to restore justice toGotham City through religiousextremism. They are typically portrayed asantiheroes and reluctant allies of the superheroBatman and theBatman Family, battling forms of manipulations employed by their respective orders, violent tendencies shaped by tragedies in their life, and proving themselves trusted allies to Batman.
Both Jean-Paul Valley and Michael Lane have appeared in associated DC media. Additionally, an original iteration,Theo Galavan, appears in thesecond season ofGotham, portrayed byJames Frain.
Jean-Paul Valley was introduced as the original Azrael in the 1992 four-issue miniseriesBatman: Sword of Azrael.[1][2]
He later briefly assumed the identity of Batman in the "Knightfall" story arc (1993–1994), after Bruce Wayne was severely injured in a fight withBane.[3]
Then, he starred in the subsequentAzrael series.
Michael Lane was originally introduced inBatman #665 (June 2007) as the alter-ego of the supervillain Bat-Devil. InAzrael: Death's Dark Knight #1 (May 2009), the character was re-introduced as Azrael, as part of theBattle for the Cowl story arc.[4][5]
A number of other characters besides Valley and Lane have assumed the identity of Azrael in theDC Universe:
An original incarnation of Azrael,Theo Galavan, appears in thesecond season ofGotham, portrayed byJames Frain.[8] He is a billionaire industrialist, heir apparent of the Order of St. Dumas, brother ofTabitha Galavan, uncle ofSilver St. Cloud, benefactor of a criminal group called the "Maniax", and later mayor of Gotham City. After being exposed and killed byOswald Cobblepot andJim Gordon, Theo is later revived byHugo Strange, but is rendered insane and amnesiac. Under the belief that he is Azrael, an ancient immortal warrior who vanquished the Order's enemies, Strange gives Theo armor, a mask, and sword and tasks him with killing Gordon, only for Theo to be killed by Cobblepot andButch Gilzean via anRPG.[9]
The Jean-Paul Ludovic Valley and Jean-Paul Valley Jr. incarnations of Azrael appear in theBatman: Knightfall audio drama.
Azrael, one of the most important characters of the modern Batman mythos, was dropped right under the noses of an unsuspecting reading populace in the debut issue ofBatman: Sword of Azrael by esteemed bat-scribe Denny O'Neil, talented young penciler Joe Quesada, and inker extraordinaire Kevin Nowlan.
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