Jean-Paul Valley Jr. is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Denny O'Neil and Joe Quesada and debuted in Batman: Sword of Azrael #1 (October 1992) as an ally of the superhero Batman, after which he would go on to make appearances in several Batman titles. He is the first character to assume the identity of Azrael, a member of a group of assassins who were created by the Order of St. Dumas to bring justice to Gotham City. He is also the second character to take the Batman name for a short time during the Knightfall storyline, known to be a more brutal incarnation.

In the DC Universe, Jean-Paul Valley Jr. is a member of a long family line of assassin-enforcers of the Order of St. Dumas, which was once a faction of the Knights Templar and as a child, was artificially raised and brainwashed by the Order through a method only known as "The System", causing him to develop split personality between his Jean-Paul identity and Azrael, the latter personality more violent and dangerous; believing itself to be an incarnation of the actual angel Azrael. As an adult, he would learn of his heritage through his father, the Azrael before him. Over time, Valley would overcome his brainwashing and fight alongside Batman and his associates. The character is typically portrayed as a vigilante with good intentions, though he and Batman have also been at odds.

After the events of Flashpoint, a new main incarnation of Jean-Paul Valley would appear during Batman and Robin Eternal with a similar history to his previous counterpart although he is instead a clone of Jean-Paul Valley Sr. molded by Batman villain, Mother, into the ways of the Order of St. Dumas. The character once again realizes the corruptive ways of the Order and defects from them thanks to the intervention of Red Hood, Red Robin, and Dick Grayson. The character later becomes a member of the Batman Family, most notably under the Gotham Knights team led by both Batman and Batwoman. He would also join Justice League Odyssey.

Quesada spoke on the design process of the character:

"When I received the assignment I went that very same day to a military bookstore here in NYC called Sky Books, heck I don't even know if they're still around? Anyway, I picked up as many books as I could find on medieval warfare and knights and such and started my visual work there. All I was told by Denny and Archie with respect to art direction was that we needed an old Azrael and a new Azrael so when the son takes over the mantle. Oh, and Denny wanted a this guy to have a flaming sword!"

Writer Peter Milligan recounted about the creation of the character:

At that time I was writing the monthly Detective Comics title, and Alan Grant was writing Batman. For a number of reasons I wanted to come off Detective and [editor] Denny O'Neil and I had lunch together. I was just shooting my mouth off (as you do when someone's buying you lunch) and came up with a loose idea of what they should do. The story or character I came up with while stuffing Chinese food into my mouth eventually came to be Azrael. [...] Of course, it's one thing throwing some ideas around over lunch but another to fully realize a character and Azrael was ultimately the creation of those who came after me and are rightly credited with its creation.

The character first appeared in the 1992 four-issue miniseries Batman: Sword of Azrael as Jean-Paul Valley.