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| “ | I choose to rule for all eternity as the ultimate tyrant. I can induce hatred and strife at my whim, and all will bow down before me while in my kingdom | „ |
| ~ Bane ascending to godhood. |
Bane, also known as the Black Hand, is one of the main antagonists from the Dungeons & Dragons world of the Forgotten Realms, as well as one of the overarching antagonists of the Baldur's Gate series.
The lawful evil god of tyranny, strife and hatred in Faerun. He used to be a mortal human fighter before ascending to godhood. He is the patron deity of the Zhentarim. He is also a member of the Dead Three, alongside his fellow death deities, Bhaal & Mykurl, and acts as the leader of the trio.
Watching from his personal plane of Banehold, Bane spreads his influence on the world of Toril through the actions of his clerics and cultists. His goal is to turn every mortal humanoid on Toril into his brainwashed slave.
Personality[]
Bane was a wholly malevolent, cunning, manipulative and brutal deity that distanced himself from mere mortals, preferring to command his followers from the safety of his interdimensional home. He savored the terror he instilled in others and the hatred that formed in mortals' hearts, utilizing this strife and warfare to gain greater control over the Realms.
He embodied the principles of ambition and control and believed that the strong had not only the right, but the duty, to rule over the weak. He favored those with a hunger for power and courage, often aiding those who sought to establish brutal order or conquer new territories. While he was seen as a savior in some regions, his teachings also led to dictatorships and the promotion of slavery.
Bane as he appears in the comics.
When confronted with a potential battle, Bane would possess an individual and force their body to take on a twisted and monstrous form with leathery black skin, two small horns on his forehead and powerful claws that could rend flesh and metal alike. He gained any powers they held in their life, and protected his host from mind control spells. His signature weapon is a punching gauntlet called the Black Hand of Bane that does extra damage to chaotic and good creatures.
Biography[]
Like many of the younger gods, Bane was once a mortal human. Little was known about the Black Hand's past as a fighter, not even precisely when it was he lived, but the evil adventurer became known when he forged an alliance with two other villains: Bhaal ( who became god of Murder) and Myrkul (who became god of death). Together, the three forged a pact of mutual aid and ambition: together they would conquer not just the mortal world, but the heavens, becoming gods unto themselves. They targeted specifically the powerful god of death, Jergal, who was among the most powerful of Toril's deities at the time.
The team, known as the Dead Three, soon became well-known to Jergal, surmounting every obstacle thrown at them. They obtained magical power and even destroyed a primordial in the Year of Sycophants. They served as generals to a great army comprising forces from three human nations, monstruos humanoids, and other races , slaying Maram of the Great Spear at the Monument of the Ancients in the Frozen Forest, taking the fallen primordial's essence, and dividing it up equally amongst themselves. Unbeknown to them, this was all Jergal's plan, for the god had grown tired of his crown, even allowing powerful magic weapons, gifted to Bane, to fall into the hands of the evil party.
When the time came to confront Jergal, the god of death tricked the Dead Three into turning on one another, each desiring the others' power. Jergal then intervened and proposed to divide up his portfolio for them, based upon a game of knucklebones, which Bane promptly won. Bane claimed for his prize governance over the sphere of tyranny, believing he would be able to rule over all of Toril in this way. As it turned out, however, Bane would not only have to be a rival to Bhaal and Myrkul, who became powerful gods in of themselves, but with the good gods as well, who would become his most hated foes.
Along the way, Bane sired a demigod son called Iyachtu Xvim, who serves his father faithfully despite disliking him.
Time of Troubles[]
Bane's human form during the Avatar Crisis.
In the year 1358 DR, Bane conspired with Myrkul to steal the Tablets of Fate from Ao, the overgod, and rewrite the rules of godhood in their image. This enraged Ao, who banished every god of Toril to live among mortals in de-powered form to teach the humility, starting the Time of Troubles (or Avatar Crisis). Ao hoped that the gods would learn to not be power hungry and be more respectful of their worshippers.
However, Bane, like the other evil gods, refused to learn his lesson and plotted to recover the Tablets in order to regain his godhood. He quickly became the ruler of Zhentil Keep and made Mystra, the goddess of magic, his prisoner.
Mystra sent her avatar, Caitian Moonsong, to recruit the adventurers Kelemvor, Cyric, Midnight and Adon in recovering the Tablets of Fate and free the goddess from Bane.
The party eventually manages to free Mystra who proceeds to defeat Bane in a magic duel. Mystra then tries to ascend to the gods' world to provide Ao with the names of those responsible for the theft of the Tablets of Fate, but she is destroyed by Helm by Ao's order, since the Overgod wants the Tablets themselves back. In her last moment, the goddess pleads for the adventurers to rescue the Tablets and to ask for Elminster's help on their quest.
The adventurers face a difficult travel to Shadowdale, home of Elminster. All the land is scarred and deformed by the explosive death of the goddess Mystra, making travel dangerous and deadly. The party manages to reach Shadowdale only thanks to the power Mystra granted to Midnight. Bane, alongside his high priest Fzoul Chembryl, leads an army against Shadowdale to eliminate the threat of Elminster. The ensuing battle was won by the force of Shadowdale, and Bane was destroyed by the teamwork of Elminster and Midnight.
This wasn't the end of Bane yet, as the god of tyranny's spirit was recovered by Myrkul, who then helps Bane's spirit to posess the body of Fzoul before looking for the Tablets once again.
One of the Tablets was located in the city of Tantras, under the protection of Torm, the god of loyalty and valor. To gain enough power to assault Tantras and fight Torm, Myrkul creates a new giant body for Bane with a ritual that kills all the assassins (save for Artemis Entreri) on Faerun. Torm, knowing of the coming of Bane, also gained a giant form by absorbing the souls of his priests, and the two gods engaged in a colossal fistfight over Tantras that ends with the destruction of both.
When the Time of Troubles ended and the gods returned to their celestial homes, Torm was ressurrected by Ao, while Bane was left for dead, as his portfolio was taken by the ascended Cyric (alongside Bhaal's and Myrkul's).
Bane Lives![]
Bane, however, was prepared for the eventuality of his death and chose his son Xvim to be the instrument of his return.
In 1372 DR, Xvim's body bursted in green flames, and from his burned corpse, the revived Bane emerged, partly thanks to a ritual made by the lich Szass Tam. Xvim was just a cocoon for the divine energy of his father, waiting to develop a new body. In the following days, Xvim's clerics returned to the service of Bane, and the God of tyranny resumed his goal of conquering Toril.
Bane rising from Xvim's body.
During the war with the Shadovar, Bane revived Fzoul and turned him into his immortal exarch to maintain order and unity in the ranks of the Zhentarim. Another exarch of Bane was Abbathor, the intermediate dwarf god of greed.
in 1385 DR, Bane was safe from the Spellplague and took advantage of the death of Mystra (Midnight) and the imprisonment of Cyric to forge an alliance with Maglubyet, god of Goblins and Hruggek, god of Bugbears.
Second Sundering & Baldur's Gate 3[]
In the late 15th century DR, following the events of the Second Sundering when most deities withdrew their direct influence from Toril, Bane along with the returned Myrkul and Bhaal somehow remained behind as quasi-deities. Though he was still able to influence events over Faerûn, Bane was essentially trapped in a mortal form once again.
At some point, Bane became the patron of weapons dealer Enver Gortash, impressed by the mortal's plan to take over the city of Baldur's Gate and the Sword Coast.
After the heroes of Baldur's Gate III killed Gortash, Bane possesses his dead body to congratulate the heroes for being worthy opponents.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In 4th edition, a new deity named Bane was introduced, an evil god of war and conquest, for the Nentir Vale/Points of Light setting. However, the "Deities & Demigods: Bane" article in Dragon #372 states in the "Bane vs. Bane" sidebar "The Bane of the core D&D setting is not the same god as the Bane of the Forgotten Realms setting!" and ends saying the article "shouldn't necessarily apply to the Bane of Faerûn." While it argues some similarities with the Forgotten Realms Bane, it misses key difference that the Points of Light Bane is a god of war, while the Realms Bane is a god of tyranny. The article gives the PoL Bane a very different backstory, as a brother to Kord named Achra, but still gives him a curiously familiar title: the Black Hand.
- There is a fan theory that Bane and Xvim are actually different aspects of the same entity rather than father and son.
- Bane is also the main antagonist of the old videogame Pools of Darkness, where his demonic minions take over the city of Phlan.
External Links[]
- https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Bane on Forgotten Realms Wiki.
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