From Nightwing to Batgirl to all of the Robins, Batman has a lot of allies. Each of them is a worthy successor to him in their own way, and they have all proven time and again that they would do well in a world without Bruce Wayne. However, one of Batman's most infamous successors wasn't even someone who wore the mantle of the Bat.

Before he replaced Bruce Wayne as Batman in "Knightfall," Jean-Paul Valley was Azrael, an assassin trained by the Order of St. Dumas, a religious organization with less than noble goals. But since his disastrous time as Batman, Azrael has spent years alternatively following the angel and devil on his shoulders, and his decision isn't helped by the continued existence of those who trained him.

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Azrael St Dumas

The Order of St. Dumas was formed during the Crusades. Originally a part of the Knights Templar, the Order was a subsect that eventually broke away from the Templars before the arrival of King Philip the Fair resulted in the suppression of the Templars. The order then devoted itself to following the teaching of "Saint" Dumas, eventually training a man named Stephen Forrest Lee to act as their champion under the moniker Dumas. However, his failure as their champion resulted in the group splintering even further.

One of the more extremist factions of the Order of St. Dumas eventually resulted in the training of Azrael, which became a hereditary title that was passed down to their perfectly trained assassins. Jean-Paul Valley debuted in Batman: Sword of Azrael #1 by Dennis O'Neil, Joe Quesada, and Ken Bruzenak, but was not technically the first person to bear the title of Azrael. He was, however, the Azrael who destroyed his splinter group of the order, after committing various crimes in their name.

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Azrael Batman DC Comics Order Of St Dumas

Part of the "training" to become Azrael is to be exposed to "The System," a regimen of deep psychological conditioning to ensure that the new Azrael would be completely loyal to the order. So when Azrael first met Batman, he was intent on following his masters' orders. But when he chose to rescue a kidnapped Batman instead of following his traditional mission of vengeance, he asked Batman for help in finding a better way and breaking free of his conditioning.

Azrael would fight alongside Batman for a time before being offered a position he could not refuse. After Bruce was paralyzed by Bane following their first fight, Bruce gave the cape and cowl to Jean-Paul. Unfortunately for all of Gotham, Azrael decided that Batman's methods were obsolete and became a much more brutal Batman. This forced Bruce to recover and reclaim his identity from Azrael, who surrendered it willingly after coming out of his conditioning. Batman then gave Azrael a new purpose by telling him to investigate the Order of St. Dumas.

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Azrael embarked on a quest to learn his origins and in the process destroyed the splinter cell of the Order that had created him. But like most villainous organizations in the DC Universe, it didn't stay dead for too long. One group was taken over by Sister Lilhy, who became drunk on her new power and tried to reestablish the order's power and dominance. And another, less financially stable group, the Order of Purity, tried to recreate the Azrael Program by forging the Suit of Sorrows, a chainmail outfit made from the armor of violent crusaders.

The last time the Order of St. Dumas was seen was in Detective Comics #961 by James Tynion IV, Alvaro Martinez, and Sal Cipriano, where the System had formed its own consciousness as Ascalon and attempted to take over Azrael's body. Fortunately, Jean-Paul Valley proved stronger and he was able to regain control over his mind. He has since joined the spacefaring team of heroes in Justice League Odyssey to investigate the mysteries of the broken Source Wall in the lead-up to Dark Nights: Death Metal.

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