WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Batman: The Adventures Continue #7 by Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Ty Templeton, Monica Kubina and Joshua Reed, available now.

In Batman: The Adventures Continue, Batman has faced several new threats that never showed up in Batman: The Animated Series. It all started with Lex Luthor and a giant, Superman-powered robot, which led to the assassin Deathstroke arrived in town looking to take out the Dark Knight. And now, another new character visits the DC Animated Universe's Gotham City in the form of Jean-Paul Valley, the violent vigilante Azrael.

However, the debut of Knightfall's Batman takes some surprising turns. In Batman: The Adventures Continue #7, Azrael first shows up in Gotham to go after Catwoman. Selina Kyle was hired to steal a priceless artifact for the Penguin, but it turns out this object belongs to the Order of St. Dumas, the zealous organization Jean-Paul is a part of. Azrael attempts to deliver his swift brand of unforgiving justice to Catwoman, but he is stopped by Batman. When the two fight however, Bruce recognizes his opponent's fighting style, which reveals that they already know each other.

When Jean-Paul talks with Bruce inside the Bat-Cave later on, the real surprise is that Bruce trained with the Order of St. Dumas.

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Batman The Adventures Continue Azrael

In the regular DC Universe, Bruce Wayne spent years traveling the world in his formative years, training to acquire the skills and resilience to become Gotham City's protector. Now, in Batman: The Adventures Continue #7, we learn that the Order of St. Dumas is one of the groups he trained with -- for a little while, at least.

In fact, when talking with Jean-Paul, we come to understand that Bruce joined the Order with the sole intent of learning how to fight. While Bruce had no interest in the organization's religious offerings, this is our first indication that the Order was part of Bruce's training in the DCAU, which already included studies under Sensei and Zatanna's escape artist father, Zatara. While most members of St. Dumas are devoted to their Order's beliefs and holy mission, Bruce apparently had no desire to take part in that side of the Order's teachings and eventually left them to continue his training elsewhere.

The case wasn't the same for Jean-Paul however. He and Bruce may have trained together but Jean-Paul stayed to become a devout member of St. Dumas. where Bruce ultimately left. Eventually, he was renamed Azrael and now, he is putting his skills to use in order to help his Order reclaim a sacred -- and potentially powerful -- artifact.

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In the DC Universe, the Order of St. Dumas is an ancient organization whose origins date back to the times of the Knights Templar. Created alongside Jean-Paul in  Denny O'Neil, Joe Quesada and Kevin Nolan in Batman: Sword of Azrael #1, their beliefs are sacred, and they are steadfast in taking out their enemies. They train their members to be lethal warriors, and they use the Azrael identity -- a mantle passed on from one to the other -- as their avenging angel. Although some heroes have emerged from there, the Order of St. Dumas is a villainous outfit, and it's not above brainwashing its subjects.

There is still a lot we don't know about the DC Animated Universe's version of the Order of St. Dumas, but it sure appears to have some nefarious inclinations. After all, Azrael wasn't above punishing Catwoman for stealing an artifact she simply didn't understand. Thankfully, Batman was able to talk him out of it. However, as Azrael  join forces with Batman, Jean-Paul could end up on the wrong side of the Order, which means that we just might see what it's really capable of.

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