Michael Lane

Michael Lane is the hero known as Azrael. At least, he's the current one. There have been many over the years going all the way back to the Crusades, and not all of them wore the Armor of Sorrows or wielded the twin swords of Sin and Salvation. The most recent was a man named Jean Paul Valley who had neither, but he's a different man with a different story. Michael has walked every side: he's been a soldier, a family man, a killer, a vigilante, and now he's walking the path of a hero.

Before the Cross: Michael's Background
Michael has lived most of his life in Gotham. He was brought up with a strict Catholic upbringing, but he always had a temper. His father was a cop, so perhaps it was fated that he would walk the path he did.

Michael's first near accomplishment was when he got a football scholarship to Gotham City University, this was blown however when he beat down his coach. This was what saw him in the Army where he excelled. Enlisting in the Infantry, he found what might have been his calling and earned his way into the elite ranks of the Green Beret. With this elite unit he served overseas in Iraq for two tours. Whatever else he may have done he's never spoken of or admitted to.

After returning home, he determined that he would settle down. His background made getting into the ranks of Gotham's finest a breeze. He could have done anything he wanted there but he wanted the comparatively easy life of a beat cop in his old neighborhood. With the money he had coming in from his separation from the service and a steady paycheck, he was able to settle down and get married and live the good life. He even had a son.

This life was not meant to last for him, and it fell apart tragically when his son at the age of three was struck by a car and killed. Soon thereafter, his wife committed suicide from grief. This left Michael crushed, but tragedy and fate still weren't finished with him. The Gotham Police Department approached him with an opportunity around this time. He jumped at it for a chance to bury himself in work and fight through his grief. It was a top secret program between the military and the GCPD and his background in Special Operations made him a prime candidate. It was a program ostensibly to create a suitable replacement for the Batman in case the worst should come to pass for the Caped Crusader, and it was headed up by a Doctor Abraham Hurt.

The truth of this program was that it had been coopted by the Court of Owls and the Black Glove to create assassins to take out the Batman. Michael was subjected to psychological manipulations intended to undermine his psyche while given specialized combat training for the unique assignment. Gradually and inexhorably, he and a handful of other candidates were molded into operatives with the task of first driving the Batman into despair, then killing him. Several didn't survive, but he was one of three and he was the best. During this time he had his first taste of madness however: His sisters had been kidnapped by a satanic cult. When news got to him about their offering as human sacrifice he went well and truly off the deep end. He quit caring and made the identity of Bat Ghost his own.

In time it was believed their assignment was a success. By this time, he was the only of the three operatives left under Dr Hurt and his handle as the sole agent had become Bat Devil. His assignments came to an end when they tried to flee Arkham Island and their helicopted crashed, killing Dr Hurt.

A Sign of Sorrows: Becoming Azrael
Michael recovered from the crash, having been thrown clear miraculously. In the days following his recovery he came to terms with the depths of his grief driven misdeeds. Looking for guidance, he went to the only place a man of the Catholic Faith with no family knows to go. He went to church.

The priest Father Day took his confessional, and within the week he was visited at his home by men of the cloth. They introduced themselves as representatives of the Order of Purity and he went with them to be initiated as an opportunity to atone. They presented him with ancient artifacts of their order, namely the Armor of Sorrows and the Sword of Sin. The former is a haunted suit of armor said to be possessed by the souls of everyone who has ever died wearing it, it also bears a connection to anyone who has ever worn it. The latter is an alchemically enchanted sword of fire with the power to reveal the sins of anyone it impales.

He would not have long to become acquainted with them as the League of Assassins came to collect these artifacts headed up by Talia al Ghul wielding the Sword of Salvation and claiming them as the stolen property of Ra's. This sword of hers was enchanted with alchemical ice and is able to compel truth from anyone impaled by it. Wielding the artifacts he had, he was able to not only defeat Talia but he relieved her of the Sword of Salvation thus proving himself in the eyes of his Order worthy of being called Azrael. He used this opportunity to confront the Order about the nature of these artifacts, so learning of the curse of madness associated with them.

His first order of business as the new Azrael would be gaining permission from Nightwing, who was still filling in for Batman, to operate as Azrael in Gotham. With this, the Order gifted the Brownstone to him so he would have a base of operations. Soon after, he would be shocked to discover the Batman alive when he went after an evil worshipping cult seeking to bring about the eighth deadly sin known as La Saglia. This would be his first investigation into occult criminal activity as well as his first foray with Batman, Robin, and the Question. Together they take down La Saglia, but not without tensions between Azrael and Batman. Assorted other adventures and traumas follow, including taking down an old buddy who had turned serial killer targetting Iraqi immigrants. The White Ghost decided to start testing him on behalf of Ra's al Ghul shortly after this.

Various adventures against the Religion of Crime and a foray with the Ragman coincide with Michael beginning his study of the Order itself through their text The Book of Purity. While they suspect he is beginning to go mad, he suspects they will eventually kill him. In fact, he suspects they killed many of his predecessors. After travelling to Paris in pursuit of the resurgent La Saglia, he gets captured and Ra's al Ghul's agent White Ghost has to come to the rescue. This would be proof positive of his fallibility for the first time. Shortly thereafter, the secret enforcer of the Catholic Church codenamed Crusader makes his appearance and soundly defeats Azrael with his incredibly potent telekinetic powers. During his ordeal with the Crusader, Azrael is forced to question his convictions as he discovers his personal faith to be at odds with both Catholicism and the Order of Purity when he discovers that the Order of Purity denies the divinity of Christ and the truth of the Resurrection, and that the Crusader's purpose is an instrument to destroy not only the Order but physical evidence contradicting or refuting Catholic doctrine. To this end, Crusader kills the Order's Keeper of Secrets Father Grieve by skinning him alive in a reenactment of the martyrdom of St Bartholomew.

Ra's al Ghul used his personal agents in the Order of Purity to modify Azrael's armor when they repair it from the damage caused by Crusader's incredible telekinetic assault. The modifications amplified the voices in his head causing him to snap and go well and truly insane but also granting him access to the fighting skills of every wearer who died before him. When he's found after his rampage, he's crucified in the church where his career started. Assaulted by visions for three days as he recovers in a coma, he awakens to find that he was liberated from the morgue by Ra's himself. In his dreams, Cantonna the first Azrael told him that the suit was literally a walking Lazarus Pit and that was why he still lived, but Batman believed something different. He invites Azrael to join Batman Incorporated so that he could keep a closer eye on him while fighting crime together, but Azrael turned him down with the reply that he fights sin, not crime.

Azrael had been haunted by the shade of Father Grieve for some time when Batman gets his help dealing with a terror cell in Afghanistan that has recruited a pyrokinetic metahuman called The Brotherhood of the Sword. Azrael easily cut through the mundane members of the group, but he and the metahuman battled to a stalemate before Ra's arrived to explain that he required them to bring judgement to Gotham. Thanks to everything that has happened, especially Ra's personal modifications to his armor, he believed Ra's and went with him along with the metahuman. Together, they also recruited Crusader using his swords. Travelling to Gotham, the trio are met with the Batman, Red Robin, and Catwoman and they are given the trial of Gomorrah. They are directed to find one good man in Gotham or Fireball and Crusader would destroy the city as the first step in creating a new, better world. One by one they fail their tests, until Catwoman brings Jenny and her kids who convince Azrael to turn his swords on himself to see the truth of his actions. With that, Crusader is commanded by him to stop Fireball when his powers start to fly out of control.

Azrael and Crusader left for some time, each doing their respective penance for their sins. Batman eventually tracked down Azrael though. They are well aware of each other's identities, and Batman saw the heart of Michael's tribulations. He saw that Michael had never been allowed to grieve for his family like he himself had as Bruce. He had tried to work through the trauma, but instead had only compounded it and hid from it. He also saw that it wasn't too late for him, and with that he persuaded him to return to Gotham and visit his buried family. Soon thereafter, Azrael put aside the Order as what was left of it had been proven by then to be corrupted beyond saving by Ra's al Ghul's Demon organization and took Brownstone for his own. Now, several months later, Azrael is an independant vigilante and steadfast friend of the Bat.

Returning to Gotham: Recent Events
Lacking the support of an organization with vast resources, Azrael is presently on his own and unable to keep up with Brownstone. He's taken to Burnlen Island and make a minor safe haven for himself there while he makes a reputation for himself. Since his return, he has crossed paths with Black Bat and earned her respect and approval as a Gotham Crime Fighter. He's working hard to clean up the part of town he's made a place for himself in, even more learning to do it with his hands rather than his swords so that he can earn the trust of his peers.

Personality, Ethics, and Goals
Michael is a man of faith who takes himself very seriously. He has navigated a rocky course that has at one time or another tested or taken everything from him that holds dear and yet he still stands firm. This resolve is born in part from the faith he holds dear, and a sense of duty that balances it.

He is brave almost to a fault. This bravery is a byproduct of his faith and sense of duty only in part, deep down he probably rationalizes away most dangers as opportunities to see his wife and son again. He spends a lot of time reflecting on those days, as well as his days in service. He doesn't believe he deserves to go to the better place with as much death as he's seen, consequently he still has a lot to put right.

His recent crises of faith have him at odds with most organizations. He's learned that he can't trust the church that he was raised in, consequently he was recently excommunicated. He's trying to sort out exactly what he does and can believe in, quandaries that have him floundering at the moment even as he sorts out how to get Brownstone back as well as earning the trust of the Gotham crime fighting community. He's figured out for himself that most crime is born of sin, therefore the ideals that he spoke of before in truth weren't so far as he thought from those of the Bat.

While he works out the truths of the things he holds dear, certain things he simply will not let go of or compromise on. He knows that the Church and Christianity are not the same, and there are certain tenets, places, and things that matter to all people of righteous faith. These things he will fight to the teeth to protect, including churches of any non-satanic sort. He holds a special hatred of them as his sisters were murdered by them. That is perhaps the only persecution or vandalism he is willing to tolerate of holy places or gatherings, but any other will be violently repelled especially where Christians are concerned.