Bane (Nolanverse)

Note: ''This page is for the incarnation of Bane from Christopher Nolan's movie. The mainstream version can be found here: Bane (DC)''

"When Gotham is ashes, you have my permission to die."

- Bane to Batman after initially defeating him, explaining why he does not kill him then and there.

Bane is a terrorist determined to annihilate Gotham City and the primary antagonist in The Dark Knight Rises.

Past
Bane was once a prisoner in a hellhole of a prison, where Talia al Ghul, child of Ra's al Ghul, and her mother were also placed. After their cell was left unlocked, the prisoners attacked Talia’s mother and would’ve killed the child if Bane had not intervened. He protected her, determined to ensure that the one form of innocence to exist in the prison was kept alive. Bane brought Talia to a wall that one could climb up to escape, though no one had ever succeeded. As the other prisoners attacked Bane, he watched as Talia managed to climb to freedom. She went to her father and the League of Shadows, who returned to the prison to rescue Talia’s savior. But by that time, Bane’s face had already been badly mutilated by his fellow prisoners and though the prison doctor saved his life, he was left in constant pain. He was brought into the League of Shadows’ fold and given a mask that relieved him of the pain. Bane and Talia were trained by the league and the two fell in love, but to Ra’s, Bane was a monstrosity and a constant reminder of the nightmare his wife had lived in. Finally Bane was excommunicated from the organization and he formed his own group of mercenaries. After Ra’s death, Talia took over the League of Shadows and invited Bane back to it. Together they planned to do what Ra’s had failed to, destroy Gotham City.

Preparing to Crush Gotham
Talia took on the identity of Miranda Tate, who funded Wayne Enterprises construction of a fusion core, which she and Bane planned to use to destroy Gotham. Bane went after a nuclear scientist named Leonid Pavel, who tried to escape him by turning himself over to government agents. However Bane got himself captured, then had his men attack the plane he and Pavel were in. He faked the death of the nuclear scientist and made it look as if the plane had crashed, successfully escaping with Pavel. Bane then moved his army into Gotham and began working for John Daggett, a business rival of Bruce Wayne under the pretense of helping him absorb Wayne Enterprises. However Bane was just using this and Daggett’s resources as part of his own plans. He attacked the stock exchange and using fingerprints obtained by Selina Kyle, Bane bankrupted Wayne. But instead of Daggett taking over, Bruce gave command of Wayne Enterprises to Talia. Bane then killed his “employer”, before continuing with his plans. He had Selina lead Batman to him in exchange for his forces not pursuing her anymore. Bane told the Dark Knight that he’d taken over the League of Shadows and he was continuing with Ra’s goal of destroying Gotham as he easily fought and beat Batman. Bane then revealed that he’d found the armory Lucius Fox had been storing equipment meant for Batman and his men took it for themselves, before he broke the Dark Knight’s back. Bane brought Batman to the prison he’d once called home, telling him that he would only die after he saw Gotham destroyed.

Launching Anarchy
Bane returned to Gotham to begin his plans, taking Wayne Enterprise’s Board of Directors hostage so as to get the fusion core. He then made Pavel turn the core into a bomb and lured almost the entire Gotham police force underground in search of him. Bane then set off a series of explosions throughout the city, using concrete that he’d had laced with explosives, trapping the police and destroying most of the bridges connecting Gotham to the outside world. Bane proceeded to address the people of the city, declaring martial law and telling them they would take down their oppressors, the rich and powerful. Bane also told them that a citizen in the city (Talia) had been given the detonator to the bomb and any attempt to leave would result in it being detonated. However the bomb was going to go off anyway in a few months; Bane just wanted to crush Gotham's soul. He first headed to Blackgate Prison, where he read a speech written by Comissioner Gordon to the press and the prisoners of Blackgate, revealing the monster Harvey Dent had become. Bane then blew open the prison and released all the convicts, before letting the city descend into anarchy. But as the time of the bomb’s detonation drew close, Batman returned, having escaped the prison Bane had left him in. He coordinated with Selina, the police, and Lucius to free all the police officers trapped underground, who he led against Bane’s army while some other members of the police worked on stopping the bomb. Bane fought Batman personally, but this time, the Dark Knight was able to match him, damaging his mask and weakening him. Bane was beaten and Batman demanded to know where the detonator was, but Talia then revealed herself, stabbing the Dark Knight in the side. After explaining her and Bane’s stories to Batman, since he’d believed that Bane had been the child of Ra’s al Ghul. Talia then left to ensure the bomb’s detonation, leaving Batman with Bane so that they could kill him only after he’d seen his city burn. However, Bane tried to kill Batman right away, but Selina arrived, blasting him with the Batcycle from point-blank range, killing him.

Personality
Bane is ruthless and cold, perfectly willing to slaughter millions of people as Ra’s al Ghul sought to and killing people with his bare hands without a care. Despite being cast out of the League of Shadows, he is fully immersed in Ra’s beliefs and ideals. Bane’s time in prison has affected him greatly, to the point that he seeks to make Gotham experience the same situation the inmates did. He commands absolute loyalty from his men and he is perfectly willing to kill them in pursuit of his goals.

Abilities
Bane has extremely high strength, durability, and reflexes and when combined with his League of Shadows training, he is a very strong opponent. He was able to take repeated punches from Batman with little to no effect and even outfight him. Bane is also extremely cunning and very intelligent, frequently misdirecting and tricking his enemies, and his combination of brains and brawn make him very dangerous.

His mask also functions as a breather that dispenses a type of anesthetic that keeps Bane almost completely immune of pain.

Trivia

 * Bane is played by Tom Hardy.


 * This incarnation of Bane does not use Venom, the steroidal compound Bane used in the comics to gain superhuman strength, most likely because the Christopher Nolan movies tried to be more realistic.
 * This version of Bane is very similar to Ubu.