Jal

Jal is the main villain from the Valérian and Laureline 1988 album Over the Frontiers.

He is a former space-time agent from Earth's capital city of Galaxity in the 28th century. He was a friend of Valérian and, besides Valérian and Laureline, the only agent who survived after Earth's history was rewritten and Galaxity (as well as the entire future Earth civilization) disappeared from the Galaxy. Jal was, at the time, traveling through a mysterious nebula with strange temporal properties, which preserved his existence. He returned to find the cosmos devoid of humans. He later learned that the Earth's history had been altered, eliminating the nuclear disaster of the late 20th century which should have spawned the formation of what would become Galaxity.

Disguising himself as an alien, Jal seduced and murdered a psychic alien woman called Kistna to steal her powers and traveled back to the 20th century Earth in a space cruiser, using his newfound abilities to win money at the casino and fund a huge international terrorist organization. He planned to start a devastating nuclear war on Earth, that he hoped would recreate the events that led to the formation of Galaxity in the first timeline. He was stopped by Valérian and Laureline, who convinced him that the restoration of Galaxity (even if possible) wouldn't be worth all the death and destruction he was about to unleash upon the world. Already plagued by the guilt over Kistna, Jal eventually redeemed himself and went on to live on the abandoned Earth section of the multi-species space station Point Central: the closest thing to his former home that was available in his native century. He later appeared as a reformed ally of the heroes in The Hostages of Ultralum, in which he found that Kistna had returned to life and was forgiven by her.