Origin

Basil Juris is the magistrate of the city of Bete Noire, appointed by the hierarchy. There are many people who work for him, but it is the hierarchy - a group of mysterious men - who pull the strings. Juris manages the city, but it's run by the hierarchy. Among his henchmen, the two most important are certainly Shadow Boxer, his bodyguard, and Slate, his private detective. Having a lot of leadership and persuasive skills, Doctor Juris never has trouble gaining respect. His mission may seem paradoxical: to keep vice and everything that is illegal rolling in Bete Noire, but in order and discipline.

He'll have a special relationship with Lee, whom he met by chance in New Orleans during the Mardi Gras celebrations a year ago. Lee joined him in Bete Noire and they will sleep together on occasion, despite the fact that at first glance they are not on the same side of morality. Lee acts as a savior and vigilante, and he as a bandit and tyrant. Lee is not in love with him, but Juris would like to get more from her, not just moments in his bed. For this reason, he will eventually end their relationship.

Character Evolution - DC

An old acquaintance, Azmil, goes to Bete Noire to meet Juris to help him track down his runaway son, Ezil. This one left a note in a hotel room that read Fallen Angel, Bete Noire. Juris fears that Azmil will cause trouble in his city and particularly in the Jurors bar, where Ezil may be. Azmil will reassure him by sending Ezil's fiancee to see if he’s there and convince him to come back. But Juris was right to worry, as soon as Azmil knew that his son was inside, he will arrive in the bar with his men. However, they will be quickly overpowered by Lee.

Later faced with an evil entity that is causing young women to implode in the city, Juris asks Lee to do everything she can to protect her city. With the help of Slate and Asia Minor, Lee will succeed in killing this entity.

A few weeks passes, and Juris receives an impromptu visit from Mr. Kind, a representative of the hierarchy. They are very concerned about the bad image the city is giving, because of Lee and the men she is putting out of action. They ask Juris to make sure that Lee leaves the city, dead or alive. To them it’s clear that Juris does not control her, and this must stop, if he wants to keep his position. Juris will remain perplexed by this request.

While Juris is talking with Shadow Boxer, the latter confides in her that he would have liked Lee to die when a bomb exploded in the college where she works. Lee is convinced that Boxer is the author of this attack and arrives in the office to attack him. Juris, who believes Shadow Boxer when he says he is innocent, will intervene and succeed in immobilizing Lee while she’s about to hit him because he prevented her from correcting Boxer. Juris has the power to immobilize people when they want to attack him. As he places the barrel of his revolver in Lee's mouth, he is surprised to see fear in her eyes for the first time. As she looks down at her belly, Juris understands that she is not afraid for herself, but for the baby she is carrying. He realizes that she is pregnant with him. He will free her from his hold and order her to leave, along with Shadow Boxer. And he’ll force them to stop fighting each other.

A few days later, sounds of explosions and screams attract Juris' attention while he is talking with Black Mariah in his office. Lee is causing trouble in the city, destroying everything in her path to attract the attention of the hierarchy. When she manages to bring Mr. Kind, from the hierarchy, Juris is worried about her and the child she is carrying. A historic fight takes place between the two powers, but Lee wins a few hours later.

After Mr. Kind's death, Juris is visited by Mr. Goode, another member of the hierarchy. Juris recognizes that he is responsible for what has just happened and is ready to suffer the consequences. Goode reassures him, Kind was not liked by others and did not have the same vision.

Shadow Boxer Revelations

Late at night, as Juris is getting ready to go to bed, Shadow Boxer shows up at his house. He tells Juris that he just attacked Lee at her house, without knowing that she was pregnant. After hitting her in the stomach, he saw the blood flowing between her legs and understood. He took her to the hospital but feared she had lost the child. Shadow doesn't know that Juris is the father and, without realizing it, he has just signed his death warrant. Juris will take out his gun and fire a first bullet.

While he is slowly dying, he tells him that he’s the father of the child that Lee was carrying and explains to him how important this child was to him. Juris is in fact cursed because one of his ancestors committed a heinous crime and all the male descendants of this ancestor are affected by this evil spell. Juris is therefore a prisoner of this city until he can find a worthy woman to produce an heir who will assume his curse in turn. Unfortunately, Boxer had just killed this expected heir. Juris will put more bullets in his chest and head to finish him off.

Character Evolution - IDW

Juris has been married to Xia for almost 20 years now, and together they had a child, Jubal. Believing Jubal to be his firstborn son, he eagerly awaited his 18th birthday, anticipating his long-awaited release from the burden of being the magistrate of Bete Noire. Unfortunately for him, when Jubal turned 18, the power transfer did not work. That was when Juris realized that Lee had lied to him all those years ago—her child had not died as she claimed.

Enraged, he stormed into the Jurors to demand where this child was. Lee refused to answer, and Black Mariah intervened to prevent Juris from striking her with an axe.

Frustrated, Juris cursed the hierarchy as he returned home. But upon arriving, he was met with a surprise—Jude was waiting for him. Juris then attempted to convince him that he had no choice but to take his place as the city's magistrate. Jude hesitated, but after speaking with his mother, days later, he returned to Juris and told him he accepted the role. Juris proceeded with the transfer, officially passing the responsibility of ruling Bete Noire to Jude, along with everything it entailed.

Finally freed from his duty as magistrate, Juris set out to leave the city. On his way, he saw Lee and stopped to ask her to come with him, to live by his side. Lee accepted and got into the car. However, as they reached the city limits, Black Mariah stood in the middle of the road. Juris accelerated, intent on running her down, but the car swerved and crashed into a tree. Lee had managed to get out before the impact.

All the years Juris had spent in Bete Noire caught up with him in an instant—his body aged rapidly, and he perished on the spot, crumbling into dust.