Bane (DC)

""First I'll break you, then I'll break the Bruja.""

- ~Bane to the Batman.

Bane is a villain from the Batman series. He is powered by a machine on his back that infects his body with Venom. He once managed to break Batman's spine. He was the only villain ever, to literally break Batman. He is Batman's most formidable foe.

Background
Bane was born to serve the life sentence of his father, so his childhood and early adult life are spent behind the walls of Peña Duro, an infamous prison in Santa Prisca. Although he is imprisoned, his natural abilities allow him to develop extraordinary skills within the prison's walls. He reads as many books as he can get, he trains his body in the prison gym, and he learns to fight in the merciless school of prison life. Despite his circumstances, he appears to have found various teachers during his prison time, ranging from hardened convicts to an elderly Jesuit priets. Bane commited his first murder at the age of eight, when he stabbed a criminal who wanter to use him to gain information about the prison.

During his years in prison, Bane always carried a teddy bear with him, which he called Osito (Spanish for "Little Bear"). He considers this teddy bear as his only friend. It is later revealed that Osito has a hole in his back to hold a knife that Bane uses against anyone who bullies him.

Bane ultimately establishes himself as the "King" of the Peña Duro prison. The prison's controllers notice this, and force him to become a test subject for a mysterious drug called Venom, which had already killed all the other test subjects. At first the drug nearly kills him, but he survives and finds it enhances his physical strength, although he needs to take it every 12 hours or he would suffer from debilitation side-effects. The drug gets pumped directly into Bane's brain.

Breaking the Bat
Years later, Bane escapes Peña Duro, along with several accomplices. His ambition turns to destroying Batman, whom he had heard tales of while serving his sentence. He is fascinated with Gotham City because it is a city where fear ruled, just like the prison he escaped from. Bane is convinced that the demonic bat that haunted his dreams since childhood is a representation of the Batman.

He is aware that a direct assault on the Batman would be foolish, so Bane destroys the walls of Arkham Asylum, allowing its deranged inmates (including The Joker, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, The Mad Hatter, The Ventriloquist, The Firefly, Black Mask and Victor Zsasz) to escape into Gotham City, where Batman spends three months rounding them up. Running himself to exhaustion, Batman returns to Wayne Manor, where Bane awaits him. Bane and Batman fight in the Batcave, and Bane wins the fight. He delivers the final blow: he breaks Batman's back and leaves him paraplegic, thereby being the only man to ever "Break the Bat".

Bane's Downfall
While Bane establishes himself as ruler of Gotham City's criminal underworld, Bruce Wayne passes the mantle of Batman to Jean-Paul Valley, also known as Azrael. Bein the new Batman, Jean-Paul grows increasingly violent, allowing the villain Abattoir to fall to his death. Utilizing a advanced combat suit instead of the traditional Batman uniform, he fights and defeats Bane at the end of the "Knightfall" arc, severing the tubes that pump the Venom into Bane's bloodstream, causing a severe withdrawal. Jean-Paul then gives the weakened Bane a vicious beating, leaving him broken, but alive.

Bane's Legacy
Bane recovers from his wounds and is sent to prison. While serving time, he recovers from his Venom addiction. He eventually escapes from prison and returns to Gotham, where he fights alongside Batman to take out a criminal ring that is distributing a Venom derative to street-level thugs. After their victory, Bane claims to be innocent of his past crimes and peacefully leaves Gotham City, in search of his father.

Bane's search for his father brings him back to the Peña Duro prison. He speaks to the Jesuit priest who had taught him while he was in prison. the priest tells Bane that there are four men who could be his father: a Santa Priscan revolutionary, an American doctor, an English mercenary and a Swiss banker. While searchin for the Swiss in rome, Bane encounters Ra's Al Ghul's daughter Talia Al Ghul. Talia introduces Bane to her father, and Bane impresses Ra's so much that he chooses Bane as his heir.

Ra's Al Ghul and Bane then launch a plague attack on Gotham City. Bruce Wayne, again costumed as Batman, gets his rematch with Bane and finally defeats him in single combat. Since then, whenever Batman and Bane fight each other, their fights usually end in a draw.

Veritas Liberat
The Jesuit priest that Bane spoke with told him there was a possibility that his biological father was an American Doctor. In researchin this issue, Bane comes to the conclusion that he and Batman share Dr. Thomas Wayne as their biological father. Bane alerts Batman to this possibility, and during the time that the DNA tests are being performed, stays at the 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 City peacefully to pursue leads in the snowy mountains of Kanchenjunga.

Bane eventually finds his father, the unscrupulous king snake, in the "Veritas Liberat" storyline. Bane and Batman foil King Snake's plans to unleash a powerfull weapon upon the world. Bane saves Batman from being shot by King Snake, but is mortally wounded in the process. Batman then saves Bane and leaves him with a clean slate and a new opportunity at life.

Batman: Arkham Asylum
In Batman: Arkham Asylum, Bane is a prisoner of Arkham Asylum. However, he does not reside in an cell, but in the medical facility. Doctor young secretly experiments on him with a new poison, called Titan. This makes Bane even more powerful than he already was. When Batman finds him, the Joker starts the machine on his back, thus making Bane dangerously strong. He breaks through a wall and starts fighting the Batman in the boiler room. When the boiler room starts collapsing, Batman escapes, but Bane follows him and grabs him from behind. Batman can only escape by remote controlling the Batmobile. He makes it hit Bane, who crashes into the water, along with the Batmobile. Bane calls Dr. Young "Bruja" which is Spanish for witch.

His profile in the character bios states:

Imprisoned from birth to serve his dead father`s sentence, Bane was raised inside the horrific environ of a Santa Prisca prison; his only friend in the hellhole was a teddy bear he named Osito. Finding solace in smuggled books and meditation, he developed incredible powers of concentration. When he was subjected to military experiments using a steroid codenamed Venom, his iron-forged will helped him survive when other test subjects had died, and he managed to escape. Determined to prove his worth, he sought out Batman and broke the Dark Knight`s spine. But Batman recovered and managed to best Bane, cutting of the precious Venom supply that transforms Bane into a superhuman.

Facts
Real Name: Unknown

Occupation: Professional Criminal

Base of Operations: Gotham City

Eyes: Brown (When on Venom: Green)

Hair: Brown

Height: 5 ft 6 in (When on Venom: 6 ft 8 in)

Weight: 140 lb (When on Venom: 350 lb)

First Appearance: Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (January, 1993)

Attributes

 * Master strategist
 * Intense focus
 * Abnormally strong reaction to Venom, giving him incredibly enhanced physical abilities
 * Determined to best Batman, and all others who challenge him