Polite Dissent

There are quite a few comic characters who are animals raised up to human levels, but it rarely works the other way – there are only a handful of human characters who have truly taken on animal characteristics. Sure, there are those who dress up as animals (cough Wolverine cough), and the occasional lycanthrope, but few who are actually part animal.

Azrael was one of these characters, and a rather perplexing one. For those of you who may not remember, Azarael (real name: Jean Paul Valley) was a supporting character in the Bat-books of the ‘90s and even he had his own eponymous title for a number of years. Valley was a member of an obscure religious order — the Order of St Dumas — who had been trained and brainwashed since birth to become the ultimate assassin and “avenging angel” of the order. While investigating his origins, Azrael also discovered that he was more than human, or depending on your point of view, less than human. He was endowed with animal genes — strongly implied to be from the great apes — to increase his “physical prowess” and “cunning.”

Ras Al Gul gives Azrael the bad news in Azrael #30	The Gray Abbott explains what Azrael gains from his animal genes in Azrael #7

First of all, I was not aware that there is a gene for cunning. I’ve always thought intelligence was more multifactorial — definitely some genetic components, but with a great deal of experience and learning involved as well. (Or maybe he’s like the Tony Stark from Ultimate Iron Man with extra brain scattered throughout his body.) Regardless, I’m not sure there are any animals more cunning than humans — especially at Azrael’s chosen task — assassination (sure, other animals kill, but how many kill out of spite, or because someone else told them to?)

I’m no simian expert, but the great apes certainly do seem to have more “physical prowess” than humans — at least in their own environment. But replicating that is not just as simple as swapping muscle genes. Muscles don’t act alone; they need proper bone and nerve structure to function. It does little good to have “enhanced” ape muscles without the correct skeleton to support that – yet Azrael is always shown with a classic human build. I also question how much value animal genes would have in an urban environment (unless they were pigeon, cockroach, or squirrel genes).

The Gray Abbott explains how Azraels are made
(from Azrael #7)

It’s a little unclear how Azrael gained the animal genes. The Gray Abbott (the head scientist of the Order of St Dumas) explains that when an Azrael is created, a live human fetus is taken from its mother and gestated in a vat of ape amniotic fluid. That’s…rather disgusting, but amniotic fluid doesn’t transfer genetic material so it wouldn’t explain the animal genes.

Scott Beatty, in the Batman: The Ultimate Guide to the Dark Knight states “as a developing fetus inside a glass womb, Jean Paul’s brain and blood chemistry were genetically intermingled with animal fluids to enable greatly enhanced strength and agility.”

Again, that’s disturbing, but doesn’t explain how Azrael ended up with animal genes — but then a lot of it is technobabble…how exactly does one “genetically intermingle” fluids? There had to be more to it than just mingling amniotic fluid.