DC's former Batman, Azrael (aka Jean-Paul Valley), once created his own religious cult while under the influence of 'The System.' The cult disappeared soon after the Avenging Angel was killed off by his arch-nemesis Biis, and the 'Azraelites' were transformed into an intergalactic religion based within the enigmatic Ghost Sector.

The ultimate goal of The System was to assist the Order of St. Dumas in imposing its pious will upon the world. This often caused the former Batman to be tormented by psychotic bursts of rage'. However, when the Order of St. Dumas was destroyed in 1997's Azrael: Angel at War storyline (by Dennis O'Neil, James Pascoe, Barry Kitson and Demetrius Bassoukos), The System compensated by forcing manipulating the vigilante into creating his own 'Order of Azrael'.

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Azrael's Original Cult

After learning that Batman had supposedly murdered talk-show host; Vesper Fairchild in Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, Azrael lost faith in his ally. The System took advantage of this and manipulated him into rebuilding the Order of St. Dumas under a new guise. Valley enlisted the help of corrupt former US Senator Killigan O'Mara to use his political influence to validify the founding of his new "spiritualist movement" in exchange for Azrael assisting in his political machinations. O'Mara then used his resources to track down the famed criminal Two-Face, and Azarael publicly defeated him before officially announcing his quasi-religious movement as a stand against crime and immorality.

With Batman's reputation still recovering, Azrael became the public face of justice, persuading hundreds of untrained civilians to take up vigilantism. However, O'Mara believed that Valley's questionable mental health made him unfit to be the head of the movement and thus had him ousted from the Azraelites. The mind-controlling supervillain Nicolas Scratch then took Valley's place at the forefront of the movement, pretending to be Azrael. The Order then disappeared after the 100th issue of the Azrael series, not appearing again until 2019.

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The Order of Azrael's Reappearance as an Intergalactic Religion

When the Justice League Odyssey team ventured into the mysterious Ghost Sector, they discovered an alien warrior known as Rapture who wore the same costume as Valley. After the team was attacked by an alien faction that worshiped Cyborg, the group of heroes was rescued by Rapture, who declared to Azrael that the vigilante was his god.

While at first Azrael enjoyed the notion that he had his own worshiper and worked alongside Rapture to help his teammates, the crimson-clad vigilante soon learned that his so-called disciple had been traveling the Ghost Sector and murdering those who did not worship him. The Avenging Angel confronted his follower, causing an immense crisis of faith for the alien warrior. Rapture returned to his home planet where he informed the revived Order of Azrael that "their lord" had been corrupted by the other superheroes and shirked from his pious duty as the Angel of Vengeance. The Azraelite warriors then joined forces with the supervillain Blackfire against the League, only to be stopped in when Azrael unlocked his 'divine voice' and regained the loyalty of the Order.

After Justice League Odyssey concluded after its 25th issue as part of the lead up to Dark Nights: Death Metal , Azrael's space-faring cult once again disappeared into obscurity. But this may not be the end of the Azraelites as the Avenging Angel has recently gained new-found popularity thanks to his primary roles in both Sword of Azrael and DC vs Vampires: All-Out War. These appearances could spark more interest in the former Batman as the new Dawn of the DC Universe initiative begins in 2023.