of the White Knight, Murphy wanted to focus on Gotham City's past and how it came about, claiming that because the White Knight series is set in an alternate continuity unrelated to the main DC Universe, the Gotham presented in the books deserved a different origin in comparison to that of its original counterpart usually featured in the mainstream comics. Another plot point for the series was how the Wayne family has negatively affected the city throughout history, which he felt would have a detrimental impact on Batman (Bruce Wayne), their latest descendant. In early April 2019, Murphy, on coming up with a compelling story for Batman: Curse of the White Knight, explained to Joshua Yehl of IGN: "I wanted to do a historical story about the Waynes in Gotham. And talk about how deeply both Batman and Joker are tied to the city. Gotham seems to be perpetually cursed by crime–this story talks about that curse, and how it's linked to the founding of Gotham Village in 1665". The main antagonist of Batman: Curse of the White Knight is the Jean-Paul Valley incarnation of Azrael, a character who is typically portrayed in the comics as an antihero and ally of Batman. In an interview with Paul Shirey of JoBlo.com, when asked what inspired his choice to introduce Azrael to the series, Murphy stated: "For Curse of the While Knight, I wanted a villain that was ancient–someone who would not only upend Batman, but the entire Wayne legacy going back to the founding of Gotham. Azrael (and the Order of St. Dumas) checked all those boxes. I really wanted to get back to basics with Jean-Paul Valley, revive a lot of what made him so cool in the 90s (the fire, the sword, the over-the-top-Bible-stuff)". As inspiration for his version of Azrael, Murphy based him on John Rambo, giving Azrael a much older age and turning him into a special forces veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with Murphy feeling this would make Azrael a more compelling and empathetic adversary for Batman than most of his enemies. Design Over the course of the series, Azrael wears two different outfits: the first being red and gold, designed to resemble the character's original costume in the comics, while the second outfit is an armored Batsuit that is nearly identical to the one worn by Azrael in the classic Batman: Knightfall story