.•.⁺ ཐིVulture Venomཋྀ⁺.•.

He grew up in the poorer outskirts of Gotham, an area plagued by monsters and criminal low lives. His father instilled in him the fear of these creatures, the beasts that hunt their people. Both he and his brother were incredibly sheltered, told they would surely die if they ever left.

This mindset isn’t uncommon among the lower class of Gotham. They are left without protection, sacrifices to the fiends in their territory. It is a dismal town, and they are left with little choice but to leave or die. Few can afford to leave, though. And so they adopt these very cynical views of the world. Any progress their people might make is halted by this shared hopelessness. Few are brave enough to revolt against the elite that abandoned Gotham, or wiling to organize and help their neighbors in the midst of these monster attacks.

Jonah has some privileges that his brother doesn’t, being the elder and healthier of the two. Occasionally, he is allowed to go into town. To shop, mostly. And only for the necessities. On these brief trips he would hear in passing stories of an Outlaw Hunter—The Bat. At first he was skeptical, hunters never lasted long. They were all either turned, killed, or ran away. This rumored Bat would be no different. Of course, he has a shift in perspective later. Seeing The Bat changed everything.

During one of his very mundane market trips, he had witnessed a swarm of vampires heading into town just up ahead of him. He went to run, falling over himself as he tried to get away, but then a horse had sped past him. A dark stallion with a cloaked figure riding. The Bat Hunter. He effortlessly handled the hoard, not a single civilian casualty. He moved swiftly, beautifully. It wasn’t brutal like most other hunters. They were executioners, they relished violence. Batman laid the creatures to rest, it was as much for their wellbeing as it was the bystanders. It was inspirational to Jonah, it made him feel like there was hope for Gotham. For him and his family.

His hope was short lived, though. As Jonah saw a future for their people, his father fell into hysterics. Eventually, surrendering himself to a hoard to guarantee himself immortality, and turning the younger son. Jonah was forced to kill them both, and abandoned their home. He searched for The Bat, and begged to be his apprentice. Reluctantly, Bruce had accepted. He was reborn then The Crow, and promised himself to Bruce’s mission.

I’m still working on smoothing our details for some of the other Gotham Knights’ backstories, and toying with the idea of Gotham itself being supernatural, a “city of eternal night” kind of situation. Pieces are coming together slowly but surely… I am also finally figuring out some designs and aesthetic choices! Which I will hopefully post soon. Working on a lot of projects right now… Many Azraels in my future.

Some other small Azvamps things:

-Bruce’s horse is named Zorro 🐎 Bruce has had him for years. He took Zorro around the world when he studied under multiple masters in preparation for monster hunting.

-Harold Allnut plays a major role as their forge master supplying them with weaponry! He has made every Gotham Knight a signature weapon, as well as various other arms.

-Azrael muzzles himself. He knows he’s perceived as dangerous, and so he restrains himself for everyone’s safety. He has a problem with dehumanizing himself after being turned, which is due in part to how the other Gotham Knights treat him when he is first let into their ranks.

-Lesser vampires have varying degrees of awareness. Most of them have had their minds ravaged, overtaken by their bloodlust. The majority are hardly alive anymore, let alone the people they used to be. Even the sentient few usually don’t retain memories of their mortal lives. It’s like a disease that’s evolved into a state of being, whereas greater vampires are “true immortals.”

-The main (visual) inspiration for it is Vampire Hunter D with a touch of Hellsing

As for other AUs, I have manyy I have a lot of ideas all the time and often struggle choosing which I’d like to focus on. I’ve thought about Crow’s place within Dark Multiverse: Knightfall and actually written some of that out even though I dislike the comic itself. I’ve also thought about an AU that tries to restructure Karl Valley as a Post-Crisis character by making him the Faux-Azrael from early Az ‘95. And I have a semi-fleshed out Absolute Universe counterpart for Crow that I just haven’t mentioned here yet..