Bane (comics)
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Bane is the DC Comics supervillain, and sometimes ally, best known for having broken Batman's back. Bane first appeared in Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (1993). The "Knightfall" story arc ran through Batman #491–500, Detective Comics #659–666, and Showcase '93 #7–8, with tie-ins appearing in several other titles published during that time.
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[edit] Publication history
Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, and Graham Nolan created the character for the Knightfall storyline, although it is unclear what elements were introduced by each of the two writers (Dixon and Moench). Dixon wrote the character's first appearance (Vengeance of Bane), with art by Graham Nolan. It is also unclear how much input was provided by Denny O'Neil (veteran writer of the Batman books, then Group Editor for the Batman family of books, and author of the novel adaption of Knightfall). O'Neil had previously created Bane's hellish birthplace of Santa Prisca in The Question and the drug Venom in the storyline of the same name (published in the pages of Legends of the Dark Knight #16-20, and later reprinted as a graphic novel). In the pages of Azrael, O'Neil introduced Bane's perception of Venom as both an addiction and the weakness responsible for his earlier defeats. The link between Bane and King Snake was introduced by writer Scott Beatty.
[edit] Fictional character biography
[edit] Origins
Born to serve the life sentence of his father, Bane's childhood and early adult life were spent behind the walls of Peña Duro, an infamous prison located in Santa Prisca. The writers created Bane as a dark mirror of Doc Savage.[1] Though imprisoned, his natural abilities allowed him to develop extraordinary skills within the walls of Peña Duro. He read as many books as he could get his hands on, built up his body in the prison's gymnasium, and learned to fight in the merciless school of prison life. Despite his circumstances, he appears to have found teachers of various sorts during his incarceration, ranging from the hardened convicts who were his company from birth to an elderly Jesuit priest, under whose tutelage he apparently received a classical education. Bane would murder this priest upon his return to Santa Prisca years later. However, he committed the first of his murders at the age of eight, stabbing a criminal who wanted to use him to gain information about the prison.
During his years in prison, Bane carried a teddy bear he called Osito (Spanish for "little bear"), whom he considered his only friend. It was revealed that Osito had a hole in his back to hold a knife that Bane used against anyone who bullied him.
Bane ultimately established himself as the "king" of Peña Duro prison. He had already developed a superior physique through bodybuilding, and used his physical and intellectual abilities to become the "king". The prison's controllers took note of this, and eventually, Bane was forced to become a test subject for a mysterious drug known as Venom, which had killed all other subjects. It nearly killed him at first, but he survived and found its effects enhanced his physical strength, although he needed to take it every 12 hours (via a system of cables pumped directly into his brain) or he would suffer debilitating side-effects.
[edit] The Man who broke the Bat
Years later, Bane escaped Peña Duro, along with several accomplices (his friends Trogg, Zombie and Bird, all of whom are named for 1960s British rock bands: The Troggs, The Zombies, and The Birds, and were designed to mimic three of Doc Savage's assistants Monk, Ham, and Renny). His ambition turned to destroying Batman, whom he had heard tales of while serving his sentence, becoming fascinated with Gotham City as, like the prison, it was a place where fear ruled—in this case, fear of the Batman. Bane was convinced that the demonic bat that haunted his dreams since childhood was a representation of the Batman.
Aware that a direct assault on Batman would be foolish, Bane destroyed the walls of Arkham Asylum, allowing its deranged inmates to escape into Gotham City, where Batman spent three months rounding them up. Running himself to exhaustion, Batman returned to Wayne Manor, where Bane awaited him. He fought Batman in the Batcave, defeated him, and delivered the coup de grace: he broke Batman's back and threw him off a building in Gotham Square so that all Gothamites would know that he had defeated their protector.
[edit] Downfall
While Bane established himself as ruler of Gotham's criminal underworld, Bruce Wayne passed the mantle of Batman to Jean-Paul Valley, also known as Azrael. As Batman, Jean-Paul grew increasingly violent, allowing the villain known as Abattoir to fall to his death. Jean-Paul also refused to recognize Robin as his partner. Utilizing a sophisticated combat suit in place of the traditional Batman uniform, "AzBats" (as comics fans refer to him) fought and defeated Bane at the end of the "Knightfall" arc, severing the tubes that pumped the Venom into Bane, causing severe withdrawal, and inflicted on Bane a vicious beating. Jean-Paul left him alive but broken, much as Bane had left Batman.
[edit] Legacy
Following the events of "Knightfall", Bane recovered from his Venom addiction while serving time in prison as seen in Vengeance of Bane II: The Redemption (1995). He eventually escaped from prison and returned to Gotham, where he fought alongside Batman to take out a criminal ring that was distributing a Venom derivative to street-level thugs. Following a victory over the criminals, Bane proclaimed that he was "innocent" of his past crimes and urged Batman to stop hunting him. He then left Gotham (without fighting Batman) to begin a search for his father.
Bane's search brought him back to Santa Prisca (shown in the Bane of the Demon miniseries published in 1998). In search of leads, Bane questioned the Jesuit priest who had taught him while he was in Peña Duro. The priest explained that there were four men who could possibly have been his father: a Santa Priscan revolutionary, an American doctor, an English mercenary, and a Swiss banker. While searching for the Swiss in Rome, Bane encountered Ra's al Ghul's daughter Talia. Talia introduced Bane to her father, and eventually Bane impressed Ra's so much that he chose Bane as his heir (an "honor" he had previously imparted on Batman).
Ra's al Ghul and Bane then launched a plague attack on Gotham in the "Legacy" storyline. Bruce Wayne, again costumed as Batman, got his rematch with Bane in Detective Comics #701 (September 1996) and narrowly defeated him in single combat. Since then, whenever Batman and Bane square off in battle, their fights usually end in a draw, as Bane's strength is now equal to Batman's (instead of vastly superior), because Bane no longer uses Venom.
Following the "Legacy" storyline, Bane appeared in a one-shot publication called Batman: Bane (1997) and fought Azrael in the "Angel and the Bane" storline in "Azrael" #36-40 (December 1997 - April 1998). He then surfaced in the story arc "No Man's Land", serving as an enforcer to Lex Luthor. Following a fallout with Ra's al Ghul, Bane later embarked on a campaign to destroy Lazarus Pits around the world, and in the process, encountered Black Canary in Birds of Prey #26 (February 2001).
[edit] Veritas Liberat
According to the Jesuit priest that Bane spoke with in "Bane of the Demon" #1, there was a possibility that Bane's biological father was an American doctor. In researching this issue, Bane came to the conclusion that he and Batman shared Dr. Thomas Wayne as their biological father, with Dr. Wayne having apparently become close to Bane's mother during his time in Santa Prisca. Bane alerted Batman to this possibility, and during the time that the DNA tests were being performed, stayed at Wayne Manor and fought alongside Batman on the streets of Gotham in the "Tabula Rasa" storyline (Gotham Knights #33-36, November 2002 - February 2003). Ultimately, it was revealed that Dr. Wayne was not Bane's father, and Bane left Gotham peacefully (and with Batman's blessing and financial backing) to pursue leads in the snowy mountains of Kanchenjunga.
Bane eventually found his father, the unscrupulous King Snake, in the "Veritas Liberat" storyline (Gotham Knights #47-49, January - March 2004). Bane, with Batman looking on, helped to foil King Snake's plans to unleash a powerful weapon upon the world. In the process, Bane saved Batman from being shot by King Snake, but was mortally wounded in the process. Batman then saved Bane by bathing him in a Lazarus Pit, and left him with a clean slate and a new opportunity at life.
[edit] Infinite Crisis and One Year Later
In Infinite Crisis #7, Bane was shown fighting alongside the villains during the Battle of Metropolis. During the battle, he broke the back of the hero Judomaster (similar to how he had broken Batman's), killing him. No reason was given for his actions in #7, though in Infinite Crisis's collected edition, one of the many changes made to the original series was Bane saying "I finally know who I am. I am Bane. I break people." while breaking Judomaster's back.
Bane resurfaced one year after the Crisis in JSA Classified #17-18 searching for the Hourmen (Rex and Rick Tyler), asking them for help. To win their trust, he tells them how, prior to the Battle of Metropolis, he returned to his homeland to put an end to the drug lords' government, in the process discovering that a new, more addicting strain of Venom had been created. In his furious carelessness to wipe out the drug trade, he was captured, and reimplanted with the cranial tubes, hooked to the new Venom, but now unable to shake off his addiction without dying from the withdrawal. Bane was forced to work as an enforcer for the drug cartel, unable to escape. Believing that Bane was searching for the chemistry expertise of Rex Tyler, Rick let him approach his father, only to discover that the story was a half truth, a clever ruse to allow Bane to get in close. Bane, never addicted to Venom, had in fact managed to wipe out the drug lords, and destroyed every research note on Venom, and had discovered in the process both strains of Venom derived from the early research of Rex Tyler on Miraclo. Discovering from the Tylers that no written notes existed of Rex's work, Bane captured Rex and stole Rick's equipment, planning to kill Rex and force Rick to take the last of the new Venom, living forever as an addict. With a clever plan, Rick and Rex managed to subdue Bane, burying the mercenary in the rubble of the very same Santa Priscan penitentiary where his story began.
Eventually Bane resurfaced again in Santa Prisca, leading the country to democratic elections. Upon discovering that the elections were rigged by Computron, he uses his influence to enforce martial law, plunging the country into a civil war. Computron offers information to Checkmate on who ordered him to rig the elections in exchange for their help in escaping the country. Fire and Judomaster's son, Thomas Jagger, are sent on the mission, with Jagger debating whether or not to seek revenge for his father's murder.
[edit] Powers and abilities
- Bane possesses Olympic-level strength that appears to be equal to or greater than Batman's. During the Knightfall storyline, when he used the "Venom" drug, his strength level was artificially increased to near-superhuman levels (strength level varies somewhat depending on the source). Even without Venom, his physiology appears superior to other normal human characters with olympic level strength such as Batman.
- Bane possesses a super-genius level intellect; in "Bane of the Demon", Ra's al Ghul says that Bane "has a mind equal to the greatest he has known". In prison he taught himself various scientific disciplines equal to the level of understanding of leading experts in those fields. He taught himself over six languages and at least two additional arcane and dead languages. In the "Bane of the Demon" storyline it was also revealed that he has a photographic (eidetic) memory. Within one year he was able to deduce Batman's secret identity. He is also highly devious (he crafted the escape from Arkham Asylum of all of Batman's enemies), and a superb strategist and tactician. In prison Bane also invented his own form of calisthenics, meditation, and a unique fighting style.
[edit] Other versions
Bane also appeared in the crossover comic, Marvel vs. DC, in which he confronted Captain America. During the fight, Captain America seemingly throws his shield away, spinning it out of frame. Bane then grabs him, raises him up, and prepares to break his back as he did Batman's in the "Knightfall" story-arc. As Bane taunts Captain America about his pathetic 'strategy' of throwing away his only weapon, the shield returns, slamming into Bane from behind and knocking him unconscious.
[edit] Other media
[edit] DC Animated Universe
Bane has appeared as a villain on Batman: The Animated Series and its spin-offs (voiced by Henry Silva in all appearances but the direct-to-video Mystery of the Batwoman, in which he was voiced by Hector Elizondo). In these depictions, Bane never achieved what his comics counterpart could: the defeat of Batman. The producers were reluctant to utilize him (along with Doomsday in the Superman Animated Series) because they felt that their comics incarnations were both gimmick. This explains his singular appearance in Batman: TAS and his small role in The New Batman Adventures.
Bane first appeared in Batman: The Animated Series as a muscular assassin hired by the mobster Rupert Thorne to eliminate Batman, and in turn by Thorne's moll to eliminate Thorne afterward. Bane fights Batman onboard the boat where Robin had been kidnapped and bound, but before Bane can break Batman's back as he did in the comics, Batman thrusts a crumpled batarang into the controls that inject Bane with Venom. This causes a rapid and uncontrollable feed into Bane's body before Batman pulls out the tube, stopping a fatal overdose of the drug, but leaving him thoroughly beaten.
Bane notably appeared in two episodes of the Batman/Superman Adventures. In the first one, "Knight Time," Bruce Wayne had been brainwashed by Brainiac, and in order to find him, Robin enlisted the help of Superman. To prevent anyone from determining Batman's secret identity by seeing the connection between the simultaneous disappearance of Bruce Wayne and Batman, Robin had Superman dress in Batman's suit and impersonate his voice. During the episode, they ambushed a meeting between Bane, Mad Hatter, and The Riddler, and Bane was quite surprised when "Batman" easily overpowered him.
The second episode, "Over the Edge", chronicled a dream story in which Batgirl was killed by the Scarecrow and Commissioner Gordon lashes out at Batman in grief, starting a war between the vigilante and the police. Gordon even goes to the lengths of contracting Bane to take Batman down. Bane, consummate criminal that he is, decides to restructure the deal once he is freed, preferring to kill the Batman rather than capture him. After a long, brutal fight, Bane dies due to wounds inflicted upon him when Batman electrocutes him by tying his Venom tube to a broken Bat Signal - but with his last ounce of strength, he rolls the Bat Signal at both Batman and Gordon, knocking them both off the building before Batgirl wakes up.
Bane later appeared in the animated movie Mystery of the Batwoman in which The Penguin hired him as an enforcer during an arms deal. Although Rupert Thorne appears as one of Penguin's partners in this movie, there is no reference to their previous meeting. At the end of the movie, Bane falls into a pit of fire after a fight with Batman, seemingly killing him, but somehow survives to appear alive in Batman Beyond.
In Batman Beyond, the effects of Venom appear to have taken their toll. By this time, Bane has become wheelchair-bound and almost in a vegetative stupor, needing the Venom which has ravaged his body just to stay alive due to constant use of the drug. He was under the care of a nurse, who was only using Bane so he could get the formula for Venom. Bane's caretaker sold Venom as a performance enhancer/recreational drug used by teenagers in the form of patches known as "slappers." The caretaker would later die from an overdose of Venom during a fight with Batman, caused by Batman hitting a box of the slappers, which fell on the caretaker and caused many of the "slappers" to stick to him at once until his body could take no more.
[edit] Film
In the 1997 movie Batman and Robin, Bane was played by wrestler Jeep Swenson (1957–1997). Unlike his comics counterpart, he had a real name, Antonio Diego. He was again a convict from a prison, but this time he was turned into Bane by Dr. Jason Woodrue, who injected him with Venom. Rather than being the devious, intelligent villain of the comics, he is an inarticulate thug who served as the lackey of Poison Ivy, one of the main villains of the film. Bane is barely even capable of speech and uses growls, roars, and snarls for most of his communication. However, he is superstrong and unstoppable, easily beating up several thugs, policemen and even holding his own against Batman and Robin in hand to hand combat. His defeat arrives when his Venom tube is kicked out of his head by Robin and Batgirl as Bane was attempting to strangle them. As the Venom leaves his body, it shrinks back to its 'original' size. He is not, however, shown to die. This depiction of the character was one of many aspects of the film which received harsh criticism from fans and critics alike, with many fans wondering why Bane was even included in the story at all, as he serves little purpose in the film other than as a muscle-bound henchman.
[edit] The Batman
In The Batman, Bane appears as a hitman and professional thief voiced by Joaquim de Almeida ("Traction") and Ron Perlman ("Team Penguin"). In this rendition, he is even more monstrous in size and strength and injured Batman in the first encounter. To defeat him, Batman uses the Bat-Bot, a prototype robot. Bane's steroid injection unit is a system of tubes which stretch around his body, activated by a dial on his hand. However, the steroid venom and his tubing system is perhaps a weakness, since on several occasions electrocuting the tubes causes Bane's defeat. In the episode Traction, Batman rammed an exposed eletrical wire into Bane's Venom applier. After the resulting electrocution Bane collapsed under the strain. In "Team Penguin", Batman's eletrocution of his tubes caused a chain reaction which shocked him senseless. He later gets an invitation to join this version's Injustice Gang, but gets taken down by Batman and Robin before considering the offer.
[edit] Video games
Bane's first video game appearance was in the video game adaptation of the movie Batman and Robin. Bane appeared in Batman: Chaos in Gotham and Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu. In the latter game, Bane appears in the Batcave and battles Batman. Rise of Sin Tzu also featured Hector Elizondo's first time voicing Bane, as it was released a month before Mystery of the Batwoman.
[edit] Misc
Bane is very similar to Crossbones (comics), a Captain America villian. Crossbones orginally wore a black muscle-type shirt similar to Bane's (albeit with crossbones on it), a black mask with a skull face (Bane's face design is similar), and black cut off gloves (like Bane). Crossbones also has no superpowers like Bane (when not using venom), and both are experts in hand-to hand combat. It should be noted that Crossbones was created in 1989, 4 years prior to Bane.
[edit] Quotes
- Bane: "Beg for mercy...scream my name!"
- Bane: "I will break you!"
- Bane: "I'm Bane. The last opponent you'll ever face!"
- Bane: "I am Bane, and I could kill you, but death would only end your agony, silence your shame. Instead, I will simply...BREAK YOU!!!"
- Bane: "Broken and done."
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Batman | |
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| Creators: | Bob Kane • Bill Finger • Other writers and artists |
| Supporting Characters: | Robin (Tim Drake) • Nightwing (Dick Grayson) • Batgirl • Batwoman • Alfred Pennyworth • Lucius Fox • Barbara Gordon • Commissioner Gordon • Harvey Bullock |
| Villains: | Bane • Catwoman • Clayface • Harley Quinn • Joker • Killer Croc • Mr. Freeze • Penguin • Poison Ivy • Ra's al Ghul • Red Hood (Jason Todd) • Riddler • Scarecrow • Two-Face • Other villains |
| Locations: | Arkham Asylum • Batcave • Gotham City • Wayne Enterprises • Wayne Manor |
| Miscellanea: | Batarang • Batmobile • Batsuit • Popular media • Publications • Storylines • Alternate versions of Batman |
