Bane (DC)

"I am Bane -- and I could kill you... but death would only end your agony -- and silence your shame. Instead, I will simply... BREAK YOU!"

- Bane Bane is a recurring nemesis of the superhero Batman, known for being augmented by a drug called Venom. He is most known as the supervillain who "broke that bat", as Bane once managed to break Batman's spine. Bane continues to be one of Batman's most physically and psychologically formidable foes.

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 priest. Bane committed his first murder at the age of eight, when he stabbed a criminal who wanted 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. Although, he is still a powerful giant of a man without the Venom.

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 Joker, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Mad Hatter, The Ventriloquist, 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. Being 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 derivative 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 searching 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 researching 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 powerful 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.

DC Rebirth
During the "Batman and the Monster Men" storyline, Batman realizes that Bane had been supplying Hugo Strange with Venom, which he used to help create his Monster Men. It is later revealed that Bane supplied Strange with the Venom in order to receive services from Psycho-Pirate, who used his power of manipulating emotions to help Bane overcome his addiction to the substance.

Later, during the "I Am Suicide" storyline, Batman, wanting to reverse the crippling fear Psycho-Pirate infected Gotham Girl with, hires The Ventriloquist, Bronze Tiger, Catwoman and Punch & Judy to help him infiltrate Santa Prisca and retrieve him from Bane. Later, after arriving in Santa Prisca, Batman is easily overwhelmed and captured by Bane's followers and brought to Bane himself, who beats Batman and greatly injures his back (not being strong enough to snap his spine without Venom) before tossing him in a cell slowly filling with water. After escaping and letting the others inside the prison, Catwoman betrays the entire team to Bane, seemingly killing Punch and Judy, and because of this, Bane is able to beat Batman again. However, Catwoman's betrayal was actually part of Batman's plan, and, after everyone is in their positions, she turns on Bane and breaks his back, allowing Batman and his team to escape with Psycho Pirate. With Psycho Pirate gone, Bane screams out, demanding Venom.

Following that, in "I Am Bane", Bane returns seeking vengeance against Batman. As a first act of vengeance, Bane attempts to have one of his men assassinate Batman while he is visiting Gotham Girl in Arkham, although he was stopped by Bronze Tiger. Knowing Bane is returning, Batman attempts to keep all of his allies far away from the conflict, however, Bane still manages to beat and (non-fatally) hang Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson and Jason Todd in the Batcave and later kidnaps Bronze Tiger, Catwoman, James Gordon and Duke. Only a short time later, Bane attempts to ransom Batman's allies in exchange for Psycho-Pirate, however, Batman refuses, resulting in Bane savagely beating him to near death whilst comparing himself to Batman's other enemies. After knocking Batman out, Bane orders for the hostages to be killed, only to realize that Catwoman escaped, freed the others and defeated his men. As a result of this, Bane furiously heads to Arkham Asylum where Alfred is forcing Psycho-Pirate to heal Gotham Girl. Upon breaking into the Asylum, Batman has all of it's inmates freed and offers to improve their stay there if they defeat Bane, however, Bane mercilessly beats his way through every single one of them except Calendar Man, who simply pretends to be knocked out after calmly telling him that, despite what he believes, he will never be done with Batman and vice-versa. After finally reaching Batman, Bane beats down on Batman yet again, who begins hearing the voice of his mother as he grows closer to death. As Bane is about to kill Batman, Batman manages to knock him out cold with a powerful headbutt.

DC Universe Online
Heroes side Batman wants to stop Bane from supplying a new type of Venom throughout Gotham while using Cape Carmine Lighthouse as his hideout. Batman enlists the help of the new Justice League recruits to defeat and interrogate Bane's dealers and then assist Nightwing in taking Bane down. In duo mode of the level, the players have to fight Killer Croc and Deathstroke before they can get to Bane.

Villains side Bane attracts the ire of the Joker when he moves into the Falcone family turf. The Joker wants this to cease and he commissions new recruits supported by the Secret Society of Super Villains to thwart Bane's plans and then join Falcone muscle Killer Croc in taking out Bane himself.

Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman
In this movie, Bane is the true main antagonist. He, Penguin, Thorne and Carlton plot to dispose of Batman and track down the three Batwomen.

Batman and Robin
in the live-action 1997 film Batman & Robin, Bane appeared as the tertiary antagonist and as the main henchman/right-hand man of Poison Ivy.

The Dark Knight Rises
Bane is the main antagonist in the 2012 live action film, The Dark Knight Rises. He was portrayed by Tom Hardy.

DCAU
Bane is a recurring villain in the DC Animated Universe. He made his debut in Batman: The Animated Series. This incarnation was an inmate of a Cuban prison meant to contain the most dangerous convicts ever captured. While in the prison, Bane gained genius level intellect by reading as many books as he could, eventually learning of Gotham's vigilante Batman. In the episode Bane, he is hired by Rupert Thorne to kill Batman, though he schemes with Thorne's secretary Candace to take Thorne's place after Batman is gone. Batman manages to defeat Bane in combat by turning up the device that supplies his venom, causing his body to swell beyond his control until he collapses from exhaustion. After his defeat, Bane makes it a personal mission to destroy Batman as revenge for his humiliation.

In the Batman episode "Over the Edge", Bane is released from prison by a revenge-crazed Commissioner Gordon who blames Batman for the death of his daughter Barbara. Gordon hires Bane to find and defeat Batman so that Gordon can arrest him and commit him to Arkham Asylum. Ultimately, however, Bane betrays Gordon, unwilling to give up his dream of killing Batman, and throws both of them over a building before the episode's events are revealed to merely be Barbara's nightmare.

Bane later appears in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Knight Time", where he returns to Gotham with a new, enhanced form of Venom. During Batman's mysterious disappearance (due to being brainwashed by the supervillain Brainiac), Bane conspired with the Riddler and the Mad Hatter to take over Gotham during the Dark Knight's absence. But when the villains met to discuss their scheme, they are interrupted by Superman (posing as Batman) and Robin (Tim Drake). At first, Bane managed to subdue "Batman" by burying him in a pile of rubble, though the hero surprises Bane by emerging and demonstrating superhuman strength. And although Bane was stronger than ever, the Man of Steel was ultimately able to pummel the villain into submission.

Bane makes his final appearance in Batman Beyond. Bane's Venom formula is delivered in patch form as an influx called 'slappers' and distributed on the streets of the future version of Gotham and even to given teenagers. Bane is initially suspected to be the supplier. But after tracking him down, Batman learns that a lifetime of Venom usage has taken its toll on the once formidable villain and that he's now a frail old man using a wheelchair and reliant on an oxygen tank and the support of a nurse due to years of substance abuse

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
Bane appears in the animated film Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. In film he is one of the dozens of villains after the 1 billion dollar bounty on Superman's head placed by President Lex Luthor. He gets knocked out by Batman after he cuts Bane's Venom delivery system.

Justice League: Doom
Bane is the first member of the Legion of Doom to be introduced, trekking through Slaughter Swamp to the Hall of Doom before being attacked by a giant alligator. He is dragged underwater, but manages to free himself and break the beast's neck. He meets Metallo, Star Sapphire, Ma'alefa'ak, and Cheetah on the way to the Hall of Doom before they are invited in. Bane is chosen by Vandal Savage to kill Batman. Bane stays with Vandal Savage after he revealed his true plans, and faces off against Batman when the Justice League storms the Hall of Doom. Despite overpowering Batman early on he manages to defeat Bane by cutting his Venom tube.

Batman: Assault on Arkham
Bane appears in the 2014 animated film along with many of Batman's notorious villains including the Joker, Harley Quinn, Deadshot. Bane was not one of the main characters who played in this film as a member of the Suicide Squad, but was introduced during a breakout at Arkham Asylum, along with many other villains. He was hooked up with venom tubes and was strong enough to flip over police cars, but was eventually defeated by Batman.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Bane appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Menace of the Conquering Caveman" having escaped prison only to be caught by Batman and Wildcat. In "Night of the Batmen" Bane is seen with Blockbuster, Solomon Grundy, and Killer Croc trying to steal Lady Liberty but are eventually beaten by Captain Marvel dressed like Batman. Unlike his comic book counterpart Bane is shown to be weak and skinny before taking venom.

Young Justice
see: Bane (Young Justice)

Bane appears in the Young Justice episode "Drop Zone", where he is the head of a drug operation on Santa Prisca, dealing the enhanced steroid Venom. Beaten by Mammoth, who is enhanced by a mixture of Venom project Blockbuster, he does battle with the Cult of the Cobra and later tricks the team to help him before attempting to kill them in a way that would make the Justice League come after the Cultists in a way that would allow him to take control of his drug factory, but fails and see's his factory destroyed. He later joins Lex Luthor as an associate of the Light.

Lego Justice League: Gotham City Breakout
In the Lego DC movie, Lego Gotham City Breakout, Bane teams up with Deathstroke and attacks a peaceful race known as Trogowogs, who Bane turned them evil after he used the Psyche Stone, their source of power, on them and after he killed their king, making himself the Trogowog's new ruler. As for the prince of the Trogowogs, Grungel, Bane imprisons him in the dugeons, along with Deathstroke's old master, Madame Mantis.

After Deathstroke and the Trogowogs capture Batman, Nightwing, and Batgirl, they bring them before Bane who they discover him as the ruler of the Trogowogs. Bane is about to unveil his plan to them until the heroes interrupt him as they predict Bane's plan is to rule the world with the Trogowogs, which they then assume he used the Psyche Stone on Madame Mantis to learn a technique called "the forbidden move" to teach to his Trogowog army, but failed. Bane mutters to the heroes they take the fun out of a villain as detectives, but remarks they do it sometimes.

Trivia

 * According to the Batman Arcade game, Bane serves as one of Batman's most infamous archenemies to date, alongside The Joker and Mr. Freeze.
 * In Mystery of the Batwoman, even though The Penguin is the one who drove the plot to catch Batwoman, Bane is the true main villain as he was a direct threat to Batman and had bigger plans than anyone else.
 * Bane fought Venom (the Marvel character) in the popular show DEATH BATTLE and lost.