Bane (comics)

Bane is the DC Comics villain best known for breaking Batman's back.

Bane possesses peak human strength, enhanced by his use of the drug "Venom." He is also quite intelligent (having deduced Batman's secret identity) and devious (he crafted the escape from Arkham Asylum of all of Batman's enemies.)

History

Born to serve the life sentence of his father, Bane's childhood and early adult life were spent behind the walls of Pena Duro, an infamous prison located in Santa Prisca. He built up his body in the prison's gymnasium, and started taking Venom to enhance his physical strength.

Years later Bane escaped Pena Duro, along with several accomplices. His ambitions turned to destroying Batman, whom he had heard tales of while serving his sentence. Bane was convinced that the demonic bat that haunted his dreams since childhood was a representation of the Batman.

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, and then returned to Wayne Manor, where Bane awaited him. He fought Batman, defeated him, and delivered the coup de grace: he broke Batman's back and threw him to the streets of Gotham.

While Bane established himself as ruler of Gotham's criminal underworld, Bruce Wayne passed the mantle of Batman to Jean-Paul Valley (Azrael). As Batman, Jean-Paul grew increasingly violent, allowing the villain known as Abattoir to fall to his death, and refused to recognize Robin as his partner. "AzBat" (as comics fans refer to him) fought and defeated Bane at the end of the "Knightfall" arc.

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.

In other media

While Bane is one of the more popular villains in the comic continuity, he hasn't enjoyed as much visibility on television or the silver screen.

Bane has appeared as a villain on Batman: The Animated Series and its spinoffs (voiced by Henry Silva in all appearances but the direct-to-video Mystery of the Batwoman, in which he was voiced by Hector Elizondo), but in those depictions 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 characters. This explains his singular appearance in Batman: TAS and his small role in Batman: Gotham Knights.

Bane first appeared in Batman: The Animated Series as a muscular thug hired by the mobster Rupert Thorne to eliminate Batman. He ends up fighting Batman in the sewers, but before he can break his back as he did in the comics, Batman is able to use the controls that inject Bane with Venom to give him an overdose before pulling out the tube that sends the drug into Bane's body; this becomes a recurring theme in Bane's defeats when he does appear in the series. Bane notably appeared in a later crossover episode of the Batman/Superman Adventures, in which 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" beat him to a bloody pulp.

In Batman Beyond, the effects of Venom appears to have taken its 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.

In the 1997 movie Batman and Robin, Bane was played by the late wrestler Jeep Swenson (1957-1997). He was again a convict from a prison, but this time he was turned into Bane by a mad scientist who injected him with Venom. Rather than being the devious, intelligent villain of the comics, he was a mindless thug who served as the sidekick of Poison Ivy, one of the main villains of the film. His defeat came when his Venom tube was pulled out of his head. This depiction of the character was one of many aspects of the film which received harsh criticism from fans and critics alike.

In The Batman, a newer animated series, Bane also appeared as a hitman and professional thief. In this rendition, he was even more monstrous in size and, to defeat him, Batman had to utilize a prototype robot called the "Bat-Bot."fr:Bane (Batman)