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The Order of St. Dumas had a falling-out with the Templars, and left the Templars before King Philip the Fair came and suppressed the Templars.

The Order of St. Dumas was a subdivision of the Knights Templar, a Catholic military order renowned for participating in the Crusades for the Holy Land.

History

New Earth

Origin

The Order of St. Dumas had a falling-out with the Templars, and left the Templars before King Philip the Fair came and suppressed the Templars.

The splinter group devoted itself to the teachings of "Saint" Dumas (who, according to Oracle, "no one else ever accused of being a saint."[1]) training an Asian man named Stephen Forrest Lee to be their champion under the name "Dumas", who fought Manhunter under that name. The failure of their champion again split the Order, allowing one extremist faction to train Azrael. Later, Mark Shaw took the Dumas identity, at the request of the main branch of the order.

Brother Rollo's Splinter Group

An offshoot group of the Order created a new champion called Azrael, a hereditary title given to this splinter order's near-superhuman enforcer and assassin.[1] Members of this new order enlarged the organization's power by killing their enemies, hoarding knowledge and kidnapping some of the greatest thinkers in the world. Their base of operations was located on a large castle known as the Ice Cathedral in the snowy mountains of Switzerland.[2] The Order also spread misinformation to ensure that the theories of the kidnapped geniuses would look so silly that nobody would miss them or examine their research. The most recent Azrael, Jean-Paul Valley, eventually destroyed the splinter group, which at the time was being led by one Brother Rollo, assisted by Sister Lilhy. Lilhy, however, left the order to help Azrael.

Lilhy's Order

Some time later, Lilhy stumbled upon another faction of the Order of St. Dumas based in the orient, which had a lot of money to its name. Lilhy, corrupted by her new found power, devoted herself fully to re-founding the order. In doing this, she recruited an Asian man who had been born, raised, and trained in the same manner as Jean-Paul, to be her new "Azrael."[3]

Lilhy continued to rebuild the Order while being opposed by Jean-Paul Valley as Azrael.

The Order of Purity

 Main article: Order of Purity

Another spliter group, the Order of Purity, was formed, but it did not have access to the main branch of the Order's financial assets or its political clout. Out of a desire to see their religion protected, the Order of Purity and its parishioners constructed the Suit of Sorrows: a chainmail tabard made from the armor of one hundred violent Crusaders, worn by the champion of the Order. Whether from the blood debt of its original owners, or the psychological weight it represents, most of its wearers have gone mad. The suit was stolen by Ra's al Ghul, who bequeathed it to his daughter Talia, who gave it to Batman.

In the wake of the Black Glove's assault on Batman, the Order of Purity stole the Suit of Sorrows from the Batcave, intending to equip a new "Azrael" to be their champion. Their intended subject, Michael Lane, has since take on the the role, and is currently active.

Prime Earth

Origin

The Order of Saint Dumas began during the Crusades. The Knight Dumas was traveling on the road to Jerusalem alongside other members of his order when they witnessed a great battle in the sky between what they believed to be a battle between an angel and a demon- in actuality, a clash between the New Gods Orion and Kalibak. In the chaos of the battle, one of the pair lost their Mother Box, which fell to the ground and was recovered by the knights, who believed it to be a gift.

They formed a splinter order, and using the technology of the Mother Box, turned a member of their order, Brother Ebner into an abomination, named for the angel whose biblical name meant 'Adversary'- the Satan. Their experiments on Ebner gave birth to what would become known as 'The System'.[4]

Avenging Angels

In time, the order used this knowledge to create the Azraels, a hereditary line of near-superhuman enforcers and assassins. One Azrael, Ludovic Valley seemingly fled the order, taking his son (a clone, created by the order to be the next Azrael) with him. They hid from the order, and the son, Jean-Paul Valley was raised without knowledge of his heritage, despite the System being implanted within him in-utero.

The Order sent their enforcers to eliminate his father for his apparent treachery, and he seemignly died bleeding out in Jean-Paul's dormitory. As he passed, he imparted Jean-Paul with the knowledge of his legacy. To his knowledge, this was the first time he ever heard the name 'Azrael'.[5]

At his father's request, he traveled to the Alps, where he trained with the Order of Saint Dumas, tutored by Nomoz. The order shaped him into the avenging angel 'Azrael', and, in this capacity, he eventually encountered Bruce Wayne in his guise as Batman and apparently impressed him; when Bane broke Batman's back, he asked Azrael to serve as Batman in his stead.[6] By Jean-Paul's own account, his attempt was an utter failure, and he bloodied Batman's symbol with his weakness. He was excessively brutal and overzealous, and eventually Batman reclaimed his mantle.[7]

The order would eventually seize control of the island of Santa Prisca. During this period, an amnesiac Jean-Paul returned to the fold as a member of the order for a time before once again breaking free.[8]


See Also

Links

  • None.

Footnotes

White Ghost 004
Azrael Villain(s)
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This character is or was primarily an enemy of Azrael. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Azrael Villains."

Batman Villains 0003
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Batman Villain(s)
This character, team or organization, has been primarily an enemy of the Batman, or the Batman Family as a whole. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Batman Villains."

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