Bane (character)

Bane (pronounced Bein) is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Dennis O'Neil, Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench and Graham Nolan, made his debut in Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (January 1993). The character is usually depicted as an adversary to the superhero Batman and belongs to the collective of enemies that make up his central gallery of villains. Possessing a mix of brute strength and exceptional intelligence, Bane is often credited with being the only villain to ever 'crack the bat' in the history of the world. Both physically and mentally. He is also the son of another of Batman's enemies, King Serpent.

IGN's list of the 100 Greatest Comic Book Villains of All Time ranked Bane #34. And one of Batman's most evil villains. The character has been substantially adapted from the comics into multiple forms of media; He has been portrayed in live action by Robert Swenson in Batman & Robin by Tom Hardy in The Dark Knight Rises and by Shane West in Gotham.

Publication history

Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, and Graham Nolan created the character for the Knightfall story. Both Dixon and Moench wrote the character's first appearance in Vengeance of Bane, with art by Graham Nolan. They developed the concept for Bane after an initial idea by Batman editor Dennis O'Neil.

O'Neil had previously created Bane's birthplace of Santa Prisca in The Question and the drug Venom in the story of the same name (published in the pages of Legends of the Dark Knight #16-20, and later reprinted as a trade paperback). In the pages of Azrael, O'Neil presented Venom's perception of Bane as an addiction and weakness responsible for his previous defeats.

Character biography

About

Bane's origin story is set in the story 'Knightfall'. His father, Edmund Dorrance (better known as the Serpent King), had been a revolutionary who had escaped the Santa Judicial system. Prisca. The corrupt government decreed that his youngest child would serve the man's life sentence, for which Bane spent his childhood and early adult life in prison.

Though he was imprisoned, his natural abilities allowed him to develop extraordinary abilities within the prison walls. He read all the books he could, spent most of his spare time bodybuilding in the prison gym, developed his own form of meditation and learned to fight in the ruthless school of prison life. Due to Santa Prisca's supposed geographic and cultural location, Bane was able to speak English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin. Despite his circumstances, he found teachers of various stripes during his imprisonment, from hardcore convicts to an elderly Jesuit priest, under whose tutelage he apparently received a classical education. Bane murdered this priest upon his return to Santa Prisca years later. He committed his first murder at the age of eight, stabbing a criminal who wanted to use him to gain information about the prison. During his years in prison, Bane carried a teddy bear which he called "Bear", whom he considered his only friend. It is revealed that Little Bear has a hole in his back to hold a knife that Bane used to defend himself.

Bane is tortured by a terrifying, monstrous bat creature that appears in his dreams, giving him an intense fear of bats. Eventually, he established himself as the "king" of the city. from Peña Duro prison and became known as Bane. The prison controllers took notice and eventually forced him to become a test subject for a mysterious drug known as Venom, which had killed all the other subjects. The Venom experiment in the Peña Duro prison almost killed Bane at first, but he survived and discovered that the drug greatly increases his physical strength, although he needs to take it every 12 hours (through a system of tubes that are pumped directly into your brain) or you will suffer debilitating side effects.

Bane escapes from Peña Duro, along with several accomplices based on the Fab Five (their henchmen Trogg, Zombie, and Bird, all of whom are named after 1960s rock bands - The Troggs, The Zombies, and The Byrds - and are designed to imitate three of Doc Savage's sidekicks (Monk, Cam, and Renny). His ambition centers on destroying Batman, about whom he had heard stories from Bird. Gotham City fascinates Bane because, like Peña Tough, fear rules Gotham, but it's fear of Batman. Bane is convinced that Batman is an embodiment of the demonic bat that had haunted his dreams since childhood. Bane therefore believes that fate set Batman on a course of collision with him.

During the "Knightfall" storyline, Bane, wanting to reduce Batman to his weakest physical and psychological state, uses stolen ammunition to destroy the walls of Arkham Asylum, allowing its deranged inmates (among them: Joker, Two-Face, Riddler, Scarecrow, Mad Hatter, Ventriloquist, Firefly, Cornelius Stirk, Film Freak, Poison Ivy and Victor Zsasz) can escape to Gotham City. During this time, Bane assassinated Film Freak who acted as the Mad Hatter's mind-controlled assassin, unsuccessfully kidnapped and interrogated Robin who was spying on him, and had a bloody rematch with Killer Croc that ended in a stalemate when they were removed from the Sewer. Consequently, Batman is forced to recapture the fugitives, a mission that takes him three months and brings him to the brink of mental and physical collapse. Exhausted, Batman returns to his home at Wayne Manor, only to find Bane waiting for him.

Bane attacks Batman and beats him nearly to death, delivering a brutal finishing blow in which he picks Batman up and smashes him to one knee, rendering him a paraplegic. Bane thus becomes the only man to have "Broken the Bat." This iconic moment is embodied in The Dark Knight Rises, Robot Chicken DC Comics Special and referred to on numerous occasions at the UADC.

As Bane establishes himself as the new ruler of Gotham's criminal underworld, Bruce Wayne passed the mantle of Batman to Jean-Paul Valley, aka Azrael. Ignoring Bruce's warnings to stay away from Bane, Azrael attempts to confront the villain in his penthouse suite. Azrael has already added a set of high-tech heavy metal gauntlets to the Batsuit, and uses them to fire bladed projectiles at Bane. However, Bane is able to gain the upper hand in the fight after using Venom and taunting Azrael, angering him enough to lose focus and thus giving him a chance to beat him. However, Bane suffers deep lacerations in the battle and loses a lot of blood.

Unable to make it to the hospital, Bane increases his consumption of Venom to temporarily block the pain and buy time to defeat the new Batman. A humiliated Azrael returned to the Batcave and built an advanced metal combat suit, instead of the traditional Batsuit, with many chambers inside the suit that fire bladed weapons. Reduced to little more than a wounded animal fleeing for survival, Bane is no match for the "new" monster. Batman. Bane is finally defeated when Azrael cuts the tubes that pump Venom into his bloodstream, causing severe withdrawal. Commissioner James Gordon, Harvey Bullock and Robin watch in horror as this new Batman tortures a defeated Bane, who begs his opponent to kill him. However, Azrael denies his innate urge to kill Bane and leaves him to be arrested.

Mask

Following the events of Knightfall, Bane recovers from his addiction to the drug Venom in Blackgate Prison, as seen in Vengeance of Bane II: The Redemption (1995). Bane eventually escapes from prison and returns to Gotham City, where he fights alongside Batman to take out a criminal gang that is distributing a derivative of the drug Venom to street thugs. After a victory over the criminals (and the revelation that the doctor who performed Bane's surgery in Santa Prisca was behind it), Bane pleads innocence of his past crimes, and urges Batman to stop the pursuit. of the. After this he leaves Gotham to begin the search for his dead father.

Bane's search leads him back to Santa Prisca. Searching for clues, Bane questions the Jesuit priest who had taught him while on Peña Duro. The priest explains that there were four men who could possibly have been his father: a Santa Priscan revolutionary, an American doctor, an English mercenary, and a Swiss banker. While searching for the Swiss in Rome, Bane meets Talia al Ghul and the League of Assassins and ultimately impresses Ra's al Ghul so much that he chooses Bane to marry Talia and become her heir.

Ra's al Ghul then launches a plague attack on Gotham in the 'Legacy' storyline, with Bane at his side, posing as Ra's henchman. al Ghul, Ubu. Batman gets his revenge on Bane in Detective Comics #701 and finally defeats him in single combat.Disappointed by the failure of his protégé, Ra's calls off the engagement with Talia and disowns Bane.

Following the "Legacy" storyline, Bane appears in a one-off issue called Batman: Bane (1997) intent on destroying Gotham City using a nuclear reactor. However, Batman thwarts the plot. During the 'Angel and the Bane' storyline, Bane ambushes Azrael, brutally defeating and capturing him, before addicting him to an even more powerful form of Venom. Azrael eventually escaped into the jungle with Nomoz and successfully, albeit painfully, overcame his addiction. Azrael, weakened and wounded, managed to psych himself up and defeat Bane before escorting him back to Cataclysm-ravaged Gotham. Once in Gotham, Bane briefly escaped during an aftershock before being promptly recaptured by Azrael. Bane then appears in the 'No Man's Land' story arc, serving as Lex Luthor's enforcer during Luthor's attempts to seize control of Gotham under the guise of helping him rebuild, but Batman convinces Bane to leave after a brief confrontation between Bane and the Joker. Following the fallout with Ra's al Ghul, Bane embarks on a campaign to destroy Lazarus Pits across the globe, encountering Black Canary in the process.

"Tabula Rasa" and "Veritas Liberat"

In the "Tabula Rasa" story, Bane learns from the Jesuit priest that there is a possibility that his biological father is an American doctor. he and Batman share a biological father: Thomas Wayne, who had been close to Bane's mother during their time in Santa Prisca. Bane alerts Batman to this possibility, and during the time the DNA tests are being conducted, he stays at Wayne Manor and fights alongside Batman on the streets of Gotham. Ultimately, it is revealed that Dr. Wayne is not Bane's father, and Bane leaves Gotham in peace, and with Batman's blessing and financial backing, to search the snow-capped mountains of Kanchenjunga for clues.

Bane eventually finds his father, who turns out to be the rogue Serpent King, in the "Veritas Liberat" story. Bane, with Batman watching, helps thwart the Serpent King's plans to unleash a powerful weapon upon the world. Bane saves Batman from being shot by King Serpent, but is mortally wounded in the process. Batman then saves Bane by bathing him in a Lazarus Pit, leaving him with a blank slate.

Infinite Crisis and One Year Later

In Infinite Crisis #7, Bane fights alongside the villains during the Battle of Metropolis. During the battle, he breaks the back of the hero Judomaster, killing him. No reason was given for his actions in #7, although in the collected edition of Infinite Crisis, one of the many changes made to the original series was that Bane said "Finally I know who I am: I am 'Bane'. I 'break' people."

Bane reappears in the continuity One Year After JSA Classified #17-18 in search of the Hourmen (Rex and Rick Tyler) and asks for their help. To gain his trust, he tells them how, before the Battle of Metropolis, he returned to his homeland to put an end to the drug lords' rule and in the process discovered that a new strain of Venom more addictive. In his furious neglect to crack down on the drug trade, he was captured and reimplanted with the cranial tubes, hooked up to the new Venom and now unable to kick his addiction without dying from withdrawal. Bane was forced to work as an enforcer for the drug cartel, unable to escape. Believing that Bane sought Rex Tyler's expertise in chemistry, Rick allows him to approach his father, only to discover that the story is a ruse. Bane, who had never really been addicted to Venom, had in fact taken out drug lords and destroyed all research notes on Venom. He discovered in the process both strains of Venom derived from Rex Tyler's early research on Miraclo. He discovers from the Tylers that no written notes of Rex's work exist, captures Rex and steals Rick's equipment, plans to kill Rex and force Rick to take the last of the new Venom, living forever as an addict. Rick manipulates Bane into using Miraclo and demolishes the building while he and his father escape, burying the mercenary in the rubble of the same Santa Priscan penitentiary where he began his story.

Eventually, Bane resurfaces in Santa Prisca and leads the country to a democratic election. Discovering that the elections were rigged by Computron, he uses his influence to enforce martial law, plunging the country into civil war. Computron offers information to Checkmate, who orders him to rig the election in exchange for his help in escaping the country. Fire and the Judomaster's son, Thomas Jagger, are sent on the mission, with Jagger debating whether or not to seek revenge for the murder of his father. He fights Bane to allow Fire to escape, easily defeating him, but chooses not to kill him.

At the end of the miniseries Suicide Squad: Raise the Flag, Amanda Waller recruits Bane into the Squad. In Outsiders #50, it appears that she once again uses the tube system to apply Venom.

In Salvation Run #2, Bane is tricked by his squadmates and sent to the prison planet. In Salvation Run #3, Bane remains with the faction of Lex Luthor after the Joker's faction rebels against Luthor's leadership. He attacks Thunder and Lightning when they were trying to feed the Martian Manhunter.

Superman/Batman #53-#56 reveals that Bane is trading his Venom supplies with drug lords around the world. One of his shipments includes a trip to Gotham. Batman, who was temporarily endowed with Superman's powers, responded by attacking Bane in his home. The Dark Knight was not only able to easily defeat the villain, but the hero nearly killed him with his vastly superior strength. Bane survived being wounded by him due to the enhanced resistance of his Venom supplies.

Secret Six

Since September 2008, Bane has appeared as a regular character in the ongoing series Secret Six. In the first issue, Bane is depicted as a stoic defender of the devil of the group, offering alternative views to both Deadshot and Catman on the subject of love. He is later shown to have an almost paternal concern for Scandal's well-being. Savage. Although this is largely played for laughs in the early issues, the final issue of the first arc shows the depth of Bane's affection. When the Six are attacked by an army of supervillains, Bane's concern over Scandal's wounded (and apparently dying) results in him temporarily breaking his promise to never take Venom again to save her. Bane is later shown to have recovered from his ordeal, showing up in Gotham City with Cat-Man and Ragdoll in an attempt to stop some of the chaos caused by Batman's apparent death. During the team's various escapades, Bane reveals both a deep respect for his former adversary and an aching longing to assume the mantle of Batman, telling a trio of rescued citizens to tell the people that it was Batman who killed them. except. Bane finally gives his blessing to Dick Grayson, praying that “God help him.” After a near-disastrous mission, Bane assumes leadership of the Six. His first act as his leader is to remove Scandal from active duty, not wanting her to be in danger.In the latest issue of Secret Six, Bane's Secret Six and Scandal Savage's Secret Six they finally face each other. Bane and Scandal engage in a one-on-one fight where he refuses to fight until Scandal uses her Lamentation Blades to slit her throat, which is ultimately used to resurrect Knockout.

Driven almost insane, Bane decides to bring the Secret Six to Gotham in an attempt to psychologically break Batman by killing several of his closest allies. The team kidnaps the Penguin, whom Bane pumps for information on Batman's associates.In the final issue of the series, Bane finally decides on Red Robin, Azrael, and Batgirl as his victims. Before the Six can make their move, the Penguin betrays their location, resulting in a massive army of superheroes ranging from Green Lantern, Batman, and the Superman family to the Justice League, the Birds of Prey, and Booster Gold. converging on Gotham. The Secret Six put up one last desperate stand, but are quickly defeated. With the fates of the other Secret Six members ambiguous, Bane is last shown being driven away in a Gotham police van. The end of the issue implies that he plans to escape.

The New 52

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted the DC continuity. In this new timeline, Paul Jenkins reintroduces Bane in the DCU, and David Finch's run in Batman: The Dark Knight (vol. 2). As Bruce Wayne can't keep up Up to date with the various legal conspiracies involving Batman Incorporated, he decides to investigate a leak in Arkham. There, he finds the criminals fed a modified fear toxin that is mixed with Venom, making the criminals extremely strong and immune to fear. He finds that it is given to the criminals by a new enemy called the White Rabbit; when Batman approaches her, she quickly defeats him and injects him with fear toxin, which she then gives to Flash. Bruce then finds that Bane is behind the new fear toxin and fights him off. Bruce manages to burn the fear toxin from his and Flash's bodies by being pushed to the limit. Bruce manages to defeat Bane and take him down, but is left confused by the White Rabbit. Bane is then washed away by the tide.

Bane later appears in Detective Comics (vol. 2) #19, in the story 'War Council'. There, his appearance had been altered to include a vest and cargo pants, and now he has an army serving him. In the story, it is revealed in a flashback that prior to his appearance in Batman: The Dark Knight, Bane intended to steal a nuclear device to threaten Gotham City, only to have a confrontation with the Court of Owls, who prevented him to steal the device and he didn't want it to interfere with his plans. Later, after Batman defeats Bane, a mysterious figure confronts the villain, informing him that the Court of Owls had undermined his plans. Bane returns to Santa Prisca to lead his army against them.

During the Eternal Evil storyline, Scarecrow discovers that Bane may be the cause of Blackgate's uprising and will be their leader in the impending war and that the Talons were stored at Blackgate in ice. Bane, having escaped from Pena Dura prison in Santa Prisca, sends his Venom to Gotham City to be there when it arrives. While traveling to Gotham, he orchestrates the release of the Blackgate prisoners during the Crime Syndicate's broadcast to the world. Later, aboard his ship, he prepares his men for the impending war with the Scarecrow, and with Gotham in the distance, he claims that it will be his.Bane enters Blackgate through the sewers to join Bane. the prisoners there. While he is there, he comes across the place where the Claws are stored in hopes of turning them into his weapons. As the attack on Gotham City begins between Bane's men and the GCPD, Bane also approaches Professor Pyg, forcing him to join his cause and spreading the word that everything in Gotham is now controlled by Bane. Bane arrives at Blackgate while Man-Bat and his fellow bats are attempting to transport the Talons to Mr. Freeze and are able to stop one from leaving. Bane retrieves the Penguin Emperor for the Penguin as part of their deal.

When Bane brings Emperor Penguin to the Penguin, the Penguin tells him that the fighters of Arkham are not afraid of Bane, as he does not instill fear like Batman did. Realizing this, Bane builds himself a Batsuit and heads to Wayne Tower to confront Killer Croc. Bane fights Killer Croc and is able to defeat him, setting his sights on retrieving the Talons.Bane awakens the Talon William Cobb and leads him through Gotham, where he fights several Arkham Asylum inmates. Bane begins recruiting Gotham citizens to his side, offering his base at Wayne Tower as a haven for people to escape from Arkham's government inmates. He tells Cobb his plan to surrender the city to the Court, in exchange for the use of the Claws at his disposal to be powered by his Venom.The Talons attack Bane's men and eventually target him. in Bane. With Cobb's help, Bane is able to damage the Talons enough to activate their regenerative powers to remove the mind control technology.

During Batman: Eternal, after Alfred is attacked by Hush and infected with a fear toxin, he is briefly transferred to Arkham before being targeted as part of the conspiracy. However, Alfred manages to survive the asylum's explosion and tricks Bane into helping him reach an emergency cave Batman had set up beneath Arkham, the cave's defenses knock Bane out and allow Alfred to call for help.

DC Rebirth

At the start of DC Rebirth, Bane still lives in Santa Prisca. In Batman #6, it is revealed that he had been trading Venom with Professor Hugo Strange in exchange for the services of the Psycho-Pirate, who was helping him overcome his addiction to the substance. Strange then used the Venom to revive the corpses of several of his patients, as seen in the Night of the Monster Men crossover. In Batman #10, Batman, at the suggestion of Amanda Waller, undertakes a suicide mission to Santa Prisca with the help of Catwoman, the Bronze Tiger, the Ventriloquist and the clown couple Punch and Jewellee to take away Bane's Psycho-Pirate. Batman needs the Psycho-Pirate to undo the damage he did to Gotham Girl, and each member of the team will receive some kind of reward for his efforts. Bane captures Batman shortly after his arrival, then breaks his back again and throws him into the cell where he spent his childhood. Batman escapes, however, and fixes his back on his own. After allowing Catwoman to "betray on" and having the Bronze Tiger, Punch and Jewellee fake their deaths, Batman uses the Ventriloquist to incapacitate the Psycho-Pirate and tells Catwoman to break Bane's back. This act of humiliation and the loss of the Psycho-Pirate cause Bane to break down and scream for Venom from the prison guards.

In Batman (vol. 3) #16, Bane has recruited his old minions Bird, Trogg and Zombie in his quest to defeat Batman once and for all before recapturing the Psycho- Pirate from Arkham Asylum. Bane hangs Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Damian Wayne in the Batcave before leaving for the asylum, but all three survive. Bane's henchmen capture Catwoman, Duke Thomas, Commissioner Gordon, and the Bronze Tiger in order to isolate Batman from his allies. Bane savagely beats Batman in an alleyway and believes him dead, but discovers that Catwoman escaped, freed the rest of the hostages, and tied up Bane's henchmen, giving Batman a chance to flee. Enraged, Bane storms Arkham Asylum where Alfred is forcing the Psycho-Pirate to undo the fear he inflicted on Gotham Girl. Batman decides to free many of the inmates to fight Bane to buy Alfred and the Psycho-Pirate more time, but Bane easily defeats Two-Face, Solomon Grundy, Amygdala, Scarecrow, Firefly, and the Mad Hatter. among others, before having the Riddler open a door to Batman for him Bane and Batman then have another fight, with a bloodied Batman barely beating his nemesis.

Bane: Conquest

In the 12-issue miniseries Bane: Conquest, Bane is revealed to have survived his fight with Batman, while focusing on his criminal exploits outside of Gotham City. Bane and his trio Bird, Zombie, and Trogg learn of suspicious activity outside of Gotham and investigate. They discover a freighter and several mercenaries transporting nuclear warheads and other weaponry to Gotham, leading them to suspect a terrorist attack. Because they broke off the sale at sea, they suspect the buyer is still in Gotham. Close interrogations by local criminals point them to a warehouse that had already been raided by Batman, but they find the buyer Qurac indicates. Bane impulsively storms the compound the leader informed them of and easily overwhelms the armed resistance. Bane is finally subdued by a heavy-duty taser after fighting Damocles, the arrogant but highly-skilled leader mercenaries; Bane's trio narrowly escape their exploding van. Bane later finds himself unmasked and imprisoned with several other men, including Bruce Wayne. Batman had also been investigating Damocles before he was captured. The two put their feud aside to plan an escape. Bane is subjected to extensive torture during interrogation, but does not break. Later, Bane acts on a hunch by blocking an opening in his cell that was used to deliver food and water. He and Bruce escape and head off in separate directions. Bane goes on a rampage throughout the facility, eventually exacting bloody retribution on the arrogant Damocles. Bane later discovers a maze of technology beneath the facility controlled by the team's true leader: the subhuman Dionysus, who is little more than a head and two pairs of limbs.

Bane and his trio decide to take over Dionysus's vast criminal empire for themselves. After imprisoning Dionysus, they accept his challenge to destroy a formidable criminal adversary and target world-infamous thieves known as the Vor. As Bird watches over Dionysus, Bane and the others break into an apartment complex believed to be the heart of the Vor's operation due to its cache of weapons and money. Unfortunately, the careless Bird is incapacitated by the cunning Dionysus, who alerts the local Spetsnaz who claim to have discovered terrorist activity. As Trogg and Zombie help each other with valuables, Bane meets Catwoman, who had been forced by Russian police to hack into the Vor or face imprisonment. Catwoman gives Bane a slip and activates an alarm that alerts the Vor foot soldiers; Dionysus hacks into the building's security and initiates a lockdown that separates Bane from the others. Bane catches up with Catwoman and she fulfills her deal with the Russian police by using the USB stick they gave her to steal massive amounts of data from Vor's database. Catwoman shoots Bane and escapes, and Bane regroups with Zombie and Trogg to narrowly escape the oncoming Spetsnaz. Seeking a new challenge, Bane and his trio seek to shock Kobra by kidnapping its prophesied leader, the Naja-Naja. The present Naja-Naja, a spoiled young man, is kidnapped while he is attending a fancy party. Bane and his trio later find themselves ambushed by Kobra's forces and narrowly escape when Kobra retrieves the Naja-Naja. Tragedy strikes, however, when the Naja-Naja is killed in a freak accident while getting into his submarine. Led by Dionysus, Bane and his trio take advantage of Kobra's leadership vacuum to search for Naja-Naja's successor, who Kobra believes to be a baby with a snake birthmark who was born precisely at the moment the Dionysus died. predecessor of him. This quest takes the trio around the world and eventually to Bludhaven. Bane and the trio meet up with Kobra's agent Valentina, who has acquired the baby before an arriving Kobra airship forces Bane and the trio to make a painful and humiliating escape. To prevent the leaderless Kobra from fighting within, Valentina turns the organization's attention to the systematic dismantling of Bane's criminal empire. Bane is puzzled by his rapid losses of territory and capital, which worries Bird. The change in the global criminal empire catches Batman's eye, leading him and Alfred to plan a trip. Bane reveals to the trio and Dionysus that they need an army and a general to fight Kobra. His first stop is Russia to recruit the elderly but still deadly KGBeast.

In addition to KGBeast, Bane also recruits sharpshooter Gunhawk and his fellow Gunslinger, retired King Faraday, and two others to go to war with Kobra. Bane has his agents kidnap a high-ranking Kobra member for questioning. As this happens, Valentina becomes frustrated by the failed efforts of Kobra agents to capture Bane or confirm his death. Using Zombie's newfound power, Bane obtains the location of Kobra's stronghold from his captive. With this information, Bane and his team plan an assault on Kobra's stronghold. Bane's team questions his strategy of attacking Kobra's heart, because his stronghold is in a heavily guarded country, vaguely implied North Korea. To carry out his plan, Bane attacks a high-ranking military official to gain his trust and access sensitive information such as codes, passwords, and necessary military clearance. Bird begins to question Bane's reliance on Venom, believing that he has dulled his judgment. Batman, who has infiltrated Bane's operation, calls Alfred asking for a special shipment to be sent to him. Zombie hears the call and rats out Dionysus, who begins to decipher the call, already knowing that it was made to Gotham, which angers Bane. Armed with the sensitive military information, Bane, Gunhawk, and Gunslinger ride through a port checkpoint in a submarine containing weapons and Kobra disguises. Having split into two groups, Bane and his team infiltrate Kobra's stronghold. Valentina suspects a power outage and puts the complex on high alert, sending the brunt of Kobra's forces to protect Naja-Naja in her nursery. During the fight, Bane becomes suspicious of the missing King Faraday and finds him transmitting to a third party. Bane, believing Faraday to be a disguised Bruce Wayne, ambushes him and breaks his back. After realizing her mistake, Bane is attacked by Valentina in an exo-suit, but quickly repels her. Bane heads straight for the nursery, which is empty save for several fallen Kobra soldiers and a discarded mask once worn by the French mercenary Crow. Bane vows to finally kill Batman when they meet. Valentina chases after Batman and the baby before Bane interferes. Bane finally destroys the exo-suit before facing Batman once more. Bane demands the baby, which he plans to use to usurp control of Kobra when Batman appeals to his humanity; rationalizing that Bane would never allow an innocent to be raised the same way he was. Bane allows Batman to leave with the baby aboard the submersible 'Sea Bat', which was the delivery Batman asked Alfred to make. Bane escapes Kobra's wrath by boarding the Sea Bat. Faced with the loss of the Naja-Naja, Valentina and her companions decide to silence Kobra's elder, Rampo, who had been trying to rally all of Kobra's forces to retrieve the baby. The baby shows up at the door of a Gotham orphanage, his birthmark obscured/replaced with a skin graft. Some nuns take in the baby, who had been left with some money and Bane's childhood teddy bear, Osito.

Powers and abilities

Bane is very smart; In Bane of the Demon, Ra's al Ghul says that Bane 'has a mind equal to the greatest he has ever known'; (though he dismisses Bane's abilities as animal cunning rather than Batman's trained and cultured intellect). His strength gives her more ways to take on Batman. Bane has shown to be capable of lifting 15 tons. In prison, he taught himself various scientific disciplines equal to the level of understanding of leading experts in those fields, He knows ten active languages and at least four additional arcane and dead. These include Spanish, English, French, German, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Persian, Dari, Urdu, and Latin. The story of Bane of the Demon reveals that he has an eidetic memory. Within a year, he is able to deduce Batman's secret identity.

He is also highly devious and an excellent strategist and tactician. In prison, Bane also invented his own form of calisthenics, meditation, and a fighting style that he uses against other well-known martial arts fighters within the DC Universe. Bane creator Chuck Dixon's early short stories portray Bane as a very calm and focused warrior similar to Bruce Lee; while he draws strength from quiet meditation and the spiritual energy of the "rock itself of Peña Dura". Dixon imbued Bane with an almost otherworldly quality as he explained that Bane triumphed in all of his prison fights by employing these abilities, while his opponents had only rage and greed to fuel them. Various scenes from "Bane's Revenge" explore this aspect when he explains that Bane's mastery of meditative techniques "turned time and space into toys." A later scene that reinforces this ability comes when Bird first goes to Bane for help because he's heard from other inmates that Bane has "magic...the kind that allows him to travel beyond the walls of the prison & # 34;. Using Venom enhances his physical abilities to superhuman levels.In most incarnations of the character, Bane requires a specialized tank to help control the amount of Venom he injects into his body.

Although Bane had sworn not to use Venom in Vengeance of Bane II in 1995, and his character is written as if he had kept that promise to himself, it is still not uncommon for artists to draw Bane with the tube coming out of his old wrist device at the back of his head, as well as almost all media adaptations of the character show him actively using the Venom compound. Writer Gail Simone explained these lapses in the continuity of Bane's appearance in an issue of Secret Six, in which Deadshot commented that Bane simply kept his old Venom gear on him out of habit, despite which Bane states that he would rather die than use it again. However, he does use the poison to save his comrade and his daughter figure, Scandal Savage.

Other versions

Amalgam Comics

In the Amalgam Universe, Bane was conflated with HYDRA's Bane Simpson as Nuke from Marvel Comics. Another version of Bane was merged with the Punisher and called the "Banisher". He is described as a "drugged and armed anti-hero who broke Bruce Wayne's back."

Kingdom Come

In the Kingdom Come reality, an elderly Bruce Wayne mentions to Superman that Bane and Two-Face broke into Wayne Manor and destroyed it, after Batman's identity was exposed, leaving only the Batcave intact.

Elseworlds

Bane appeared in numerous Elseworlds including Batman: Nosferatu as a low-level criminal; a dead Bane appears in a brief cameo in JLA: Riddle of the Beast, killed by Green Arrow.

Smallville

Bane appears in the Smallville comic Smallville Season Eleven.

Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

In Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Bane was mutated into a humanoid mutant African elephant by the Shredder. Bane is ultimately defeated by Batman and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and returns to normal along with the other villains while in the custody of A.R.G.U.S. In the sequel miniseries, Bane is chosen by a faction of the League of Assassins to serve as their new leader., believing that only he has the strength to succeed where Ra's has failed, but when Donatello attempts to travel back to Batman's universe to talk to him about his current feelings of inadequacy, the transporter causes Donatello to switch with Bane, causing Bane to take over the Foot Clan and New York after developing an upgraded Venom produced by Baxter Stockman. He is eventually taken down by the Bat-Family, the Turtles, and the Shredder.

Injustice: Gods Among Us

Bane makes his first appearance in the Year Five of the Injustice: Gods Among Us comic book series. He decides to ally himself with Superman's regime which will give him a position of power, so he helps High Councilor Superman and Wonder Woman subdue Doomsday. Although he was initially suspicious of Bane's motivations, Superman is convinced that Bane could be a valuable asset to the Regime and agrees. However, this decision does not bode well for the rest of the Regime, who openly resent the idea of working alongside his former enemies.

Batman '66

The Batman '66 comic features a version of Bane in the universe of the 1966 Batman television series. This version is a professional wrestler and also the dictator of Skull City, Mexico. He allies with the Riddler, who stole an artifact from the Gotham Museum called the Crystal Skull. The Crystal Skull is the source of Bane's powers and creates a Poison similar to an ancient Aztec practice Batman researched. He imprisoned the Mayor of Skull City after the Mayor destroyed the first Crystal Skull and became the new leader of the city. In Gotham, he challenged Batman to a wrestling match and was victorious when he appeared to break Batman's back, but Batman had a batarang on his back to keep his spine from breaking. Batman challenged him to a rematch in Skull City and placed a device on Bane's face to prevent him from drinking the Venom. Batman gains the upper hand and allows Bane to be defeated by the Skull City fighters in order to reclaim his home from the tyrant.

Batman: White Knight

Bane appears in the 2017 series Batman: White Knight. Bane, along with several other Batman villains, is tricked by Jack Napier (who in this reality was a Joker who had been force-fed an overdose of pills by Batman, temporarily curing him of his insanity) into drink drinks that had been tied up. with particles from Clayface's body. This was done so that Napier, who was using the Mad Hatter's technology to control Clayface, could control them through Clayface's ability to control parts of his body that had been severed from him.

Appearance in other media

Television

• It appeared in an episode of the animated series Superman of the 90s: Superman disguises himself as Batman to help Robin find the real Murciélago Man (who was kidnapped by Brainiac), and wearing this costume has a confrontation against Bane. Although the villain believes he has crushed him by throwing a statue on him (since Superman contains his powers to "interpret" Batman better), the Steel Man does not delay in defeating him easily.
• Apparition in the "Bane" episode Batman: The Animated Series (when she had already been renamed Batman and Robin Adventures) in the third season. In this episode, it relates its origin, similar to that of comics although with slight differences, as are many references to its debut in the comic Batman: Knightfall. Unlike what happened in KnightfallIn the Bane series he arrives at Gotham at Rupert Thorne's request instead of arriving on his own. In addition, during his fight with Batman, Bane is about to break his back to Batman (like in the comics), being arrested for an overdose of Venom that almost killed him.
• Apparition in the sequel series The New Batman Adventures in the episode "Over the Edge". On this occasion, it appears with an appearance adapted to that of the film Batman and Robin. In that episode, Commissioner Gordon formed an alliance with him to kill Batman, because the Scarecrow had killed Batichica and Batman had not told him the truth about his daughter's alter ego. The deal was if Bane caught Batman, Gordon would reduce his prison sentence. However, Bane catches Batman, but he betrays Gordon and tries to kill him. Batman fights Bane until he cuts off his tube. Venom and entangle it to the destroyed Batseñal, so Bane gets electrocuted. Gordon repents, shakes his hand and becomes partners again. But Bane, in his last moments of life, starts the Batiseñal from his place and throws it against Gordon and Batman, and after that, he dies. The destroyed artifact rolled out Batman and Gordon and pushed them into the void. At this time of the comic Barbara Gordon (Batichica) wakes up, implying that everything has been a nightmare.
• Apparition in the futuristic series Batman Beyond in the "The Winning Edge" episode. This episode relates that Bane actually survived by falling off the ship (made that happened in the film Batman: the mystery of Batimujer) and was established in Latin America producing the Venom for its illegal distribution. However the years of addiction had left him in vegetative state, yielding his post to a new "Bane" called Jackson Chappel.
• Apparition in the animated series The Batman, in the "Traction" episode, where it considerably hurts Batman. Finally he defeats him with the help of a robot controlled from the inside. In the last season Bane makes an alliance with other Batman enemies and with Lex Luthor to attack Superman together and weaken him with lightning similar to that of a red Sun. But Batman comes to his aid and Superman regains his power and finally knocks Bane down.
• Bane appears in the fifth and last season of Gotham, played by Shane West. This version of the character is Eduardo Dorrance, former partner of Jim Gordon's army, who leads the military group "Delta Force" apparently to help Gordon and the GCPD in their war against Gotham's criminal element, after the city becomes "Nobody's Land." Reborn as Bane, he leads a mission to capture Gordon, Bruce Wayne and Barbara Kean. Later, Bane takes over the army and fights the GCPD, who are joined by Oswald Cobblepot and Edward Nygma. When Gordon and the others convince the military not to follow Bane's orders. Bane and Delta Force are arrested by the military.
• His last appearance was in the comic Young Justice, in the "Drop Zone" episode. In this, it establishes a temporary alliance with the members of the Youth Justice. Here you can see that it has Latin American features, since at the beginning of the episode it has a dialogue in Spanish.
• Bane appears in Justice League Action. In "System Hair", a robotic duplicate of Bane helps the robotic duplicates of other villains defeat Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg and Booster Gold.
• Bane is a recurring character in Harley QuinnWith the voice of James Adomian. While his appearance is based on the comics, his voice is a direct parody of Tom Hardy's interpretation on The Dark Knight Rises. In addition, it is depicted as dumb as compared to other incarnations and obsessed with exploding anyone or anything that antagonizes him for any reason, as an employee of a juice bar that was mistaken by the name in his orders. It makes smaller appearances scattered throughout the series, usually along with other villains and members of the Legion of Evil. In the second season, after the destruction of the Legion of Evil and Gotham, Bane became a member of the League of Injustice together with Riddler, Penguin, Two Faces and Mr. Cold to take advantage of the chaos and divide what remains of Gotham among them. However, despite being a member, others tend to treat Bane as a lackey. In "Batman's Back Man", he and Dos-Caras try to consolidate their power after Harley ends up with most of the League of Injustice, although the latter tries to make sure that only he succeeds. When Bane finds out about this and almost kills him, Dos-Caras gives him a well in a desert to appease him. In the episode, "There is no other place to go more than below," Bane turned the well into a rehabilitation center and became his guardian. When Harley and Ivy were transferred to their custody, they caused a riot to escape. Bane persecuted both of us just to fall into his apparent death. In "Lovers 'Quarrel", however, it is shown that Bane has survived, although stranded in the Pozo. In "The Runaway Bridesmaid", Bane escaped from the Pit and attended the Ivy and Comet Man wedding before participating in a fight between the other supervillains present and the GCPD.
• Bane appears in the episode DC Super Hero Girls"#AcceptNoSubstitute" with Eric Lopez's voice. He has assumed the civil identity of Diego Dorrance, an art teacher at the Metropolis High School, and is stealing chemicals from his science lab to increase his strength.

Cinema

Batman and Robin (1997)

A different version of Bane appears in Batman & Robin as portrayed by former WCW wrestler Robert "Jeep" Swenson in one of his last film roles before his death. Antonio Diego (played by Michael Reid MacKay) is an incarcerated serial killer who transforms into a "Bane" with an experimental drug called "Venom" by mad scientist, Dr. Jason Woodrue. This depiction shares more similarities with a character named Ivan/Ivor than the comic book incarnation of Bane, who he only resembles in terms of his mask and possession of superhuman strength. Like Ivor, he is an inarticulate thug who serves as Poison Ivy's bodyguard/henchman and is barely able to speak, communicating primarily with growls and roars. Bane is defeated when Robin and Batgirl disconnect the Venom tube in the back of his head, changing him back to his frail self. This character was one of many aspects of the film that received negative reviews from fans and critics alike.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Later, in 2012, he was played by Tom Hardy in the film directed by Christopher Nolan The Dark Knight Rises. In this film he is the main antagonist, presented as the leader of a group of mercenaries determined to wreak havoc on Gotham, before leading it to its destruction. His past is linked to the League of Shadows, from which he was excommunicated by Ra's al Ghul. He is a robust man with a mysterious respiratory mask, cruel and sadistic in nature, and prone to killing his victims with his bare hands. He is a character of great physical strength who feels no pain (even when facing Batman) thanks to the Venom painkillers provided by his mask. In the end he is killed by Catwoman.

Video Games

• Batman: Arkham Asylum
• Batman: Arkham City
• Batman Rise of Sin Tzu
• Lego Batman 1.2 and 3
• DC Universe Online
• Injustice: Gods Among Us
• Batman: Arkham Origins
• Injustice 2

Philosophy

Slovenian philosopher, sociologist and cultural critic Slavoj Žižek wrote a critical analysis of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, entitled Batman and the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. In it, Žižek refers to the symbolism present in Nolan's film and highlights Bane:

"(...) even if Bane lacks the fascination of the Joker of Heath Ledger, there is a characteristic that distinguishes him from the latter: unconditional love, the same source of his hardness. In a brief but emotional scene, we see how, in an act of love in the midst of terrible suffering, Bane takes care of little Talia, no matter what the consequences and paying a terrible price for it (he was beaten in every inch of his body while defending it)

.