Valley is called up to active duty under the cowl sooner than expected, when the supervillain Bane breaks Bruce Wayne's spine, crippling him and forcing him into a wheelchair. Already being aware of Wayne's secret identity, he travels back to Gotham and begins working with the Batman Family.īruce quickly began to train Azrael as a replacement Batman, to protect Gotham City in the event that an emergency should prevent him from doing it himself. Although at first they are at odds with each other, Azrael is eventually forced to rescue Bruce from Biis (LeHah), and ends up rejecting the Order's violent and uncaring methods in favor of the more humanitarian efforts Batman encourages. His first time donning his costume, Azrael meets Batman (Bruce Wayne), accompanied by his butler Alfred, who had traveled to Switzerland investigating the mystery behind Azrael's father's death. His conditioning is the result of a process referred to as ' The System ', the full implications on the human psyche of which have never been fully explained. In the Swiss Alps, a dwarf named Nomoz taught Valley of the responsibilities of Azrael, and revealed that despite believing himself to be rather mild-mannered, he was in reality already a more-than-capable fighter requiring no additional training, having been already unknowingly suitably conditioned. It was later revealed that his father had actually been attempting to supply Jean-Paul with the means to escape the Order's influences, but his intentions were misread. Dumas who would supply him with his training. Before requesting that his body be dumped somewhere where the family secrets wouldn't be uncovered, his father supplied him with money, and the means to travel to Switzerland and meet with the Order of St. He learned of his family's legacy when his father, the previous Azrael, crawled bleeding to his apartment one night in costume, having been mortally wounded by LeHah. He grew up oblivious to his intended larger purpose, and became a student of Programming at Gotham University.

A test-tube baby from his conception, Jean-Paul's genetic structure was altered by scientists with Animal DNA, engineering him to be capable of feats beyond those of a normal human.

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