The history of Bane from the Batman: Arkham series.
Early life[]
Bane grew up in the horrendous and violent confines of a Santa Prisca prison, having been imprisoned since childhood for his father's crimes. His father was a revolutionary mercenary who opposed the Santa Prisca government, but was eventually caught and sentenced to life in prison. The man died before his sentence was complete however, leaving his next of kin to be imprisoned; Bane. At the age of eight, Bane had committed his first murder with the use of a knife he kept in his teddy bear, Otis, whom he viewed as his one true friend, when a fellow inmate tried to use him to find out information on the prison.
Despite his violent surroundings, Bane would train his body and mind to perfection, reading any book he could get his hands on, toning his body in the prison's gym, and even receiving a classical education from some of the prison inmates, including a Jesuit priest. Due to the cultural and geographical location of the prison, Bane learned a variety of languages, including English, Latin, Portuguese, and Spanish. Before long, Bane is able to have complete control over the prison population and become its self proclaimed ruler. However, Bane would be plagued by intense nightmares that were centralized on a dark and shadowy creature that resembles a bat. Seeking to achieve his own sense of peace and conquer other territories and their population, Bane lusts to escape from the confines of the prison.
His ambitions would be set in motion when the prison owners and doctors sought to use Bane, having recognized his position as the prison's leader among the inmate population, to test out military experiments, primarily dealing with the chemical compound known as 'Venom', which could increase an individual's muscle mass, stamina, invulnerability, and adrenaline a great deal. Bane is then strapped to a storage unit that pumps the drug throughout his system and, much to the success of the experiment, the Venom is perfectly assimilated into his body. However, Bane uses this to his advantage, and violently slaughters his captors, building up an army of mercenaries from within the prison and escapes with his army in tow.
While having achieved his freedom at last, Bane is soon addicted to the chemical of Venom and would constantly create more batches of the drug to feed his appetite and addiction for it. Before long, Bane begins to despise his addiction, seeing it as weakness and begins tracking down and slaughtering its manufacturers; despite this, Bane would never break completely free of his addiction. Seeking more challenges to prove his own strength and skill, Bane begins to look for worthy adversaries and territories to conquer.
Hearing from his right-hand man, Bird, who previously worked with the Gotham criminal underworld, that there were rumors of a Bat-like creature protecting the city of Gotham, Bane believes this to be the same creature plaguing his nightmares and that it was fate that he and this 'Bat' creature would meet. Gotham City itself intrigues Bane because, like his previous environment in the prison, Gotham is ruled by fear; fear of The Batman. Bane then makes it his mission to not only conquer Batman, but Gotham itself, and build up his own criminal empire to achieve the peace he has longed for at last.
Batman: Arkham Origins[]
Bane, one of Black Mask's (Joker) eight assassins
| “ | You will fight me with all your resolve. Or you will die. Someone is going to die: You, me or the clown. The question of which one of us it is - is in your hands. | „ |
| ~ Bane |
Bane is one of the eight assassins that is hired by the city biggest mob boss, Black Mask, to kill Batman on Christmas Eve night. Having been smuggled into Gotham along with several of his fellow mercenaries courtesy of the crime lord, including his right hand man Bird, Bane was greeted by several of Black Mask's henchmen, with two being charged with ensuring Bane was as tough as he claims to be by engaging him in a brutal fight. Soundly defeating both men and breaking their necks in the process, Bane is presented with a contract for $50 million for the Dark Knight's head, though the mercenary is more concerned with killing the hero for his own grand plans and designs, with the bounty money simply being a nice consolation.
Bane's true objective is to kill Batman to achieve his own sense of peace, believing the dark knight to be a dark figment of his imagination as he rotted in his Santa Prisca prison, and then conquer Gotham city and forge his own criminal empire. To this end, Bane and his forces seize complete control over sections of old Gotham easily with a decreased amount of police activity in light of the destructive events occurring all throughout Gotham, and set up their headquarters within an old sewer network. Setting up multiple monitors and even a makeshift gym, Bane next strikes a deal with The Penguin to obtain immense weaponry and military grade equipment and firearms as his forces steal several choppers to expand their forces. Bane also takes full advantage of Bird's connections to the Gotham criminal underworld to smuggle in massive amount of Venom, the chemical that allows Bane to increase his strength and adrenaline.
Bane fighting Batman
Bane then begins not only selling Venom as a drug on the streets to find suitable followers and increase his numbers, but also experiments with the compound to create an even more potent variation of Venom known as TN-1, which would eliminate the need of a storage tank. Having tested it out on numerous followers, many of which horrifically mutate and perish, Bane learns that one of the side effects is severe memory loss. Despite having made great progress with his research, allowing his followers to assimilate the drug into their body without harmful physical effects, Bane has yet to find a solution to overcome this severe memory loss. Bane also pours much of his resources into uncovering Batman's true identity and studies the hero extensively within his research facility of his hideout, eventually coming extremely close to deducing who Batman really is.
While Bane remains in hiding for the first part of the brutal night, making his plans while Bird and his men seize control of various areas within the criminal underworld, he is called to a meeting with Firefly, Electrocutioner, and The Joker, the true mastermind behind the hiring of the assassins, who has been impersonating Black Mask for several days for his own agenda of chaos. Following the meeting, he waits at the hotel, knowing Batman would come for the Joker. When Batman is about to enter the penthouse, Bane tears him from an elevator and brings him to the Joker, reluctantly giving them one minute to talk (due to the Joker's threat of detonating the Royal Hotel first while Batman, Bane, and himself are still inside when Bane attempts to kill Batman first).
When their minute was up, Bane knocks Batman about the room and flings him through the window and down into another section of the hotel, before progressing to the balcony. Moments before Batman could defeat him, two police helicopters arrive, which are eventually blown apart by Bane army, using their own stolen helicopters. Bane and his men then leave, believing that the tides have changed too much after a stray bullet had grazed him and promising to return for Batman's blood. However, Batman places a tracer of him, seemingly going unnoticed by Bane initially. Joker then fires on his chopper after he boards out of irritation that Bane's calling a retreat, with Bane retaliating by shooting at the Joker with a rocket launcher, nearly causing Joker to be killed from being knocked off by the explosion.
After hearing reports that an individual with a description similar to Bane had been shot, Batman breaks into the GCPD'S morgue, where he discovers it was just one of Bane's henchmen who had been using the TN-1 compound. Attempting to block any angle Bane might have, Batman apprehends many of his mercenaries throughout the city, including Bird, who was previously attempting to seize control of "My Alibi", a well known establishment rifled with corruption and the Gotham criminal underworld. Following the tracer, Batman arrives at Bane's headquarters, where he finds the abandoned tracer beside some computers containing evidence that Batman and Bruce Wayne are one and the same. Batman destroys the computers and all other evidence, warning Alfred that Bane knows who he is and to remain hidden in the Batcave.
While Batman is busy stopping Firefly, from destroying the Pioneers Bridge, Bane targets and attacks Wayne Manor, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake, and locating the Batcave. Destroying the cave, Bane violently attacks Alfred and leaves enough life in him to say his final goodbyes to Batman. Bane plans to mold Batman into the perfect warrior in battle through the anger and hatred he would feels towards his fallen ally. However, Batman is able to save Alfred by jump-starting his heart with Electrocutioner's shock gloves, which were taken from him earlier that night after Joker murdered him.
TN-1 Bane
Bane next appears aids the Joker's siege on Blackgate Prison, bringing with him several of his own Venom and TN-1 powered henchmen. Making his way to the center of the prison, Batman finds Joker holding the warden hostage with Bane at his side. Joker reveals that he understands Batman and his code of ethics and has made it his new mission in life to make the hero give up his one rule by forcing him to take a life. Revealing that Bane holds a heart monitor that will charge up an electric chair, Joker sits in the chair and tells Batman that either he kills Bane to stop his heart from charging up the monitor and the chair or Joker will be electrified to death; either way, Batman will be responsible for someone's death.
Bane puts on the monitor, telling Batman to use all his hatred and anger from the loss of his ally in battle, as Joker's men strap him to the chair. To ensure that Batman and Bane do indeed battle, Joker has placed a bomb within the facility that will detonate and slaughter everyone if the heart monitor is removed from Bane. As Batman and Bane battle, Gordon arrives and shoots Joker's men who were holding Warden Joseph. As Joseph and Gordon attempt to get Joker out of the chair, Joker elbows both men, knocking out Joseph and holding Gordon at gunpoint with his own gun, putting the headpiece of the electric chair on Gordon, raising the stakes even higher for Batman.
Coming up with the plan to send Bane's heart in cardiac arrest, Batman uses his electric gloves to defeat Bane and stop his heart, making the Joker gleefully laugh. Joker then attempts to shoot Joseph dead when he awakes and stands up to the mass murderer, but Gordon jumps in front of him and takes the bullet instead. Joker continues to laugh and leaves the room to escape from the prison and continue his reign of terror and detonate the bombs he placed across Gotham with his forces and the escaping convicts. Batman reveals to Gordon, who is not severely injured due to his bulletproof vest, that Bane can still be revived and tells him and the Warden to arrest the Joker before he can escape. As they do so, Batman revives Bane, who is more infuriated than ever and resorts to drastic measures; using a sample of TN-1 on himself to become even more powerful. As Bane does so, he becomes a hulking mass of muscle with an uncontrollable urge to kill Batman. Batman sprays a string of explosive gel in a circle around Bane and detonates it, destroying the floor beneath them and dropping them into one of the prison corridors.
After one final, grueling battle, Batman is able to finally subdue Bane after strapping him to a pair of electrified pacification devices with his Remote Batclaw. Batman also realizes that Bane's memory has been left damaged by the extensive use of TN-1 one, securing his identity once again. After defeating Bane, Batman leaves the assassin unconscious and hanging upside-down where he is later apprehended following the Joker's own defeat.
Pre-Arkham Asylum[]
At some point over the next ten years, Bane is quietly brought from Blackgate to Arkham Asylum so that Dr. Penelope Young can study him and the effects of Venom on the human body, so that she can design a more powerful variant of the formula known as Titan, resulting Bane of calling Dr. Young as a "bruja" which is Spanish for witch. When discussing the Titan Project in public, Bane's involvement is kept secret, and referred to only as "Patient X." Officially, Bane is listed as an escapee from Blackgate Prison.
Batman: Arkham Asylum[]
Bane's venom drained.
| “ | I will break you, Batman! Then the bruja! | „ |
| ~ Bane's last words before his defeat |
Bane vs. Batman during the events of Arkham Asylum
Just before the Joker's takeover of the asylum, Harley Quinn makes her way to Bane's room and sedates him in order to keep him quiet when the "visitors" arrive. The Joker has Commissioner Gordon kidnapped and taken to the Medical Center where Bane is being held, drained of Venom and left withered and helpless. After rescuing Gordon, Batman enters Bane's holding room. Bane begs Batman to cut him down, in hopes of getting revenge on Dr. Young but, before he can do so, the Joker activates Bane's chemical storage tank, infusing him with the Titan strain of the Venom formula. Doing so returns Bane's immense strength to him but renders him feral so he attacks Batman and throws him through a wall into the Boiler Room. Bane and Batman battle it out with the interference of the Joker's goons.
Eventually, Batman cuts Bane's Venom supply as the room collapses upon itself. Batman escapes through a manhole to the surface where he reunites with Gordon but Bane manages to reattach his main valve and smashes his way to the surface, grabbing a hold of Batman and claiming that after he "breaks" Batman, the "bruja" (Dr. Young) will be next. However, Batman then summons the Batmobile by remote control to their position and kicks Bane in its path. The Batmobile crashes into Bane, hurling him into the sea. In one of the three post-credits scenes, Bane emerges from the water by the docks and grabs onto a floating case of Titan.
After being hit by the Batmobile and knocked into the dark waters surrounding Arkham Island, Bane swims to shore but is quickly recaptured and taken back to the Asylum. Weakened by his injuries and the experiments preformed by Dr. Young, he patiently waits, plotting his revenge.
Batman: Arkham City[]
Bane and Batman fighting the group of attackers.
| “ | TITAN is too powerful to be used against me. I needed it all for myself. Now do me a favour, and die! | „ |
| ~ Bane betraying Batman. |
During the Joker's takeover of Arkham Asylum, the Asylum was destroyed so it was shutdown and abandoned in favor of a new prison named Arkham City. Bane is forced to keep a low profile as he recovered and he was taken into Arkham City. Fortunately for Bane, the Krank Co. Toys building, one of his old safe-houses, is within Arkham City's walls and he finds a stash of Venom that he'd left there and hides there until the time is right to make a move on his own plans.
While investigating Arkham City, Batman discovers Bane hiding in an abandoned toy factory because he has released a flair. Bane has come to Gotham in search of the twelve remaining containers of the Joker's Titan drug. Rather than fight, Bane suggests that the two team in order to collect all the drug samples so that they can be properly disposed of. Dividing the containers equally, Batman and Bane both set out to find the drug. Later, after disposing of all containers of the drug with his explosive gel, Batman returns to the toy factory to check on Bane's progress. The two are quickly attacked by TYGER guards (replaced by Joker thugs if the main storyline is already completed) and easily defeat them. After the battle, Batman confronts Bane about the Titan and Bane reveals he never intended to destroy it, rather keep it. Bane had already acquired his six containers and was outraged that Batman had destroyed the ones he was sent for. Bane attacks Batman, but he is quickly disarmed and trapped behind a metal security fence. Batman then reveals that he was actually playing Bane, knowing full well that Bane would double cross him, he used this to his advantage so he could destroy the last six containers in one place rather than look for them all over Arkham City.
Bane is then left helpless as Batman destroys the last of the Titan. Bane then asks if he can be let out, but Batman refuses, citing that aside from Bane's attempt at double-crossing him, there's still several things for Batman to take care of in Arkham City. After somehow escaping his predicament Bane later appears at the Church, having been convinced by some of the inmates that there was Titan in the building. After breaking through the blast door, Bane is confronted by the guards who try to stop him but are unable to get past his bullet proof skin. Bane us then about to kill the officers but Azrael quickly comes to their rescue. After a brief fight, Azrael is able to stop Bane thanks to some assistance from Aaron Cash by cutting off his venom supply. Bane is then once again imprisoned, this time alongside Riddler who is rather upset with his new cellmate. Due to being imprisoned, Bane survives Protocol Ten and is rearrested when the GCPD storm and shut down Arkham City. However, Hugo Strange's mass murder of prisoners during Protocol 10 violates their constitutional rights and the GCPD are forced to release all of the prisoners which includes Bane but he has been humbled and leaves Gotham.
Batman: Arkham Knight[]
In the GCPD lockup, Bane's teddy bear and a Titan canister appears in the evidence room along with the other stuff used by Batman's foes. When inspecting the case, a recording of Aaron Cash will play, saying Bane hasn't been seen since Arkham City closed (also revealing that he had a serious case of withdrawal from Titan due to Batman's actions) and is likely off somewhere getting clean and when he returns he won't be happy.
According to Gotham City Stories, after he left Gotham City, Bane starts fighting his Venom/Titan addiction and returns to Santa Prisca looking for a new start. Upon returning to his homeland, he observes that his country is embroiled in a bloody turf war between the various cartels and drug lords (amped up on Venom), who had killed countless innocents including children. He eventually ends up killing the country's twelve most powerful drug lords, lining up their decapitated heads on the beach and his next objective is to destroy Peña Dura.