Bane (comics)

Bane
Bane by Brian Bolland from Batman: Gotham Knights #34 (November 2002).
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (January 1993)
Created by	Chuck Dixon Doug Moench Graham Nolan
In-story information
Team affiliations	Suicide Squad Secret Society of Super Villains Secret Six
Abilities	Peak human physical condition Venom enhances his physical abilities to superhuman levels Genius-level intellect Photographic memory Expert strategist, martial artist, and escapologist Master of disguise

Bane is a fictional character who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (January 1993), and was created by Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, and Graham Nolan. Bane has been one of Batman's more physically and intellectually powerful foes. A virtually unstoppable juggernaut, he is best known for breaking Batman's back in the "Knightfall" story arc. IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time ranked Bane as #34.

Bane was portrayed by Robert "Jeep" Swenson in Batman & Robin, directed by Joel Schumacher. Tom Hardy is set to play Bane in the finale of the Christopher Nolan Batman film trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises.

Publication history

According to his creators, Bane was originally intended as a "dark mirror" of the highly disciplined and multi-skilled pulp hero Doc Savage.

Chuck Dixon, Graham Nolan, and Doug Moench 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 adaptation 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 trade paperback). 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.

Fictional character biography

Bane was born in the fictional Caribbean Republic of Santa Prisca, in a prison called Peña Dura ("Hard Rock"). His father Edmund Dorrance had been a revolutionary and had escaped Santa Prisca's court system. The corrupt government however decreed that his young son would serve out the man's life sentence, and thus Bane's childhood and early adult life are spent in the amoral penitentiary environment. Though imprisoned, his natural abilities allowed him to develop extraordinary skills within the prison's walls. He reads as many books as he can get his hands on, builds up his body in the prison's gym, and learns to fight in the merciless school of prison life. Despite his circumstances, he finds teachers of various sorts during his incarceration, ranging from hardened convicts to an elderly Jesuit priest, under whose tutelage he apparently receives a classical education. Bane murders this priest upon his return to Santa Prisca years later. However, he commits his first murder 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 carries a teddy bear he calls Osito (Spanish for "little bear"), whom he considers his only friend. It is 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 Peña Dura prison. The prison's controllers take note and eventually force him to become a test subject for a mysterious drug known as Venom, which had killed all other subjects; the drug is administered by a doctor who bears a passing resemblance to another Batman foe, Hugo Strange. Later, in Vengeance of Bane II the very same doctor encounters Bane again in Gotham and it can be confirmed that it is not Hugo Strange, who at that point in Batman continuity was a crazed psychologist and not a surgeon. The Peña Dura prison Venom experiment nearly kills Bane at first, but he survives and finds that the drug vastly increases his physical strength, although he needs to take it every 12 hours (via a system of tubes pumped directly into his brain) or he will suffer debilitating side-effects.

"The Man who Broke the Bat"

Bane breaks Batman's back in a splash page from Batman #497 (July 1993). Art by Jim Aparo.

Soon after the initial experiments, Bane escapes Peña Dura, along with several accomplices based on the Fabulous Five (his friends Trogg, Zombie, and Bird, all of whom are named after 1960s 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 turns to destroying Batman, about whom he had heard stories while an inmate. He is fascinated with Gotham City because, like the prison, it is a place where fear rules—but in Gotham, it is the fear of Batman. Bane is convinced that the demonic bat that haunted his dreams since childhood is a representation of the Batman. Therefore, he also believes that fate has placed the two on a collision course.

Aware that a direct assault on Batman would be foolish, Bane instead destroys the walls of Arkham Asylum -- allowing its deranged inmates (including the Joker, Two-Face, Mr Freeze, the Riddler, the Scarecrow, the Mad Hatter, the Ventriloquist, Firefly, Poison Ivy, and Victor Zsasz) to escape into Gotham City. Consequently, Batman is forced to recapture the escapees, a mission that takes him three months. Having run himself to exhaustion in the process of completing this mission, Batman returns to Wayne Manor where Bane ambushes him (having previously determined his secret identity). Bane attacks Batman in the Batcave, defeats him, and delivers the final blow: breaking Batman's back, leaving him a paraplegic. Bane thus becomes the only man to have "Broken the Bat".

While Bane establishes himself as the new ruler of Gotham's criminal underworld, Bruce Wayne passes the mantle of Batman to Jean-Paul Valley, also known as Azrael. As the successor/'new' Batman, however, Jean-Paul grows increasingly violent and ruthless, allowing the villain Abattoir to fall to his death. Valley also refuses to recognize Robin as his partner. Using a sophisticated, armored combat suit in place of the traditional Batman uniform, Valley fights and defeats Bane at the end of the Knightfall arc, severing the tubes that pump Venom into his bloodstream, causing severe withdrawal. Valley then viciously beats the now-weakened Bane, leaving him alive but severely injured.

Legacy

Further following the events of Knightfall, Bane recovers from his Venom addiction while serving time in Blackgate Prison, as seen in Vengeance of Bane II: The Redemption (1995). 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. Following a victory over the criminals (and the revelation that behind it is the same doctor that performed the surgery on Bane years earlier in Santa Prisca), Bane proclaims that he is "innocent" of his past crimes and urges Batman to stop hunting him. He then leaves Gotham (without fighting Batman) to begin a search for his father.

Bane's search brings him back to Santa Prisca. In search of leads, Bane questions the Jesuit priest who had taught him while he was in Peña Dura. The priest explains 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 man in Rome, Bane encounters the League of Assassins and eventually Bane impresses Ra's al Ghul so much that he chooses Bane as his heir (an "honor" he had previously bestowed on Batman).

Ra's al Ghul and Bane then launch a plague attack on Gotham in the "Legacy" storyline. Bruce Wayne, again costumed as Batman, gets his rematch with Bane in Detective Comics #701 and finally defeats him in single combat.

Following the "Legacy" storyline, Bane appears in a one-shot publication called Batman: Bane (1997) and fights Azrael in the "Angel and the Bane" storyline. He then surfaces in the story arc "No Man's Land", serving as an enforcer for Lex Luthor during Luthor's attempts to take control of Gotham under the cover of helping it to rebuild, but Batman convinces Bane to leave after a brief confrontation between Bane and the Joker. Following a fallout with Ra's al Ghul, Bane later embarks on a campaign to destroy Lazarus Pits around the world, and in the process, encounters Black Canary.

"Veritas Liberat"

According to the Jesuit priest that Bane speaks with, there is a possibility that Bane's biological father is an American doctor. In researching this issue, Bane comes to the conclusion that he and Batman share Dr. Thomas Wayne as their biological father, with Dr. Wayne allegedly becoming close to Bane's mother during his time in Santa Prisca. Bane alerts Batman to this possibility and during the time that the DNA tests are being performed, stays at Wayne Manor and fights alongside Batman on the streets of Gotham in the "Tabula Rasa" storyline. Ultimately, it is revealed that Dr. Wayne is not Bane's father, and Bane leaves Gotham peacefully (and with Batman's blessing and financial backing) to pursue leads in the snowy mountains of Kangchenjunga.

Bane eventually finds his father, who turns out to be the unscrupulous King Snake, and not El Jefe del País de Santa Prisca, in the "Veritas Liberat" storyline. Bane, with Batman looking on, helps 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 by bathing him in a Lazarus Pit, and leaves him with a clean slate and a new opportunity at life.

Infinite Crisis & One Year Later

In Infinite Crisis #7, Bane fights alongside the villains during the Battle of Metropolis. During the battle, he breaks the back of the hero Judomaster, killing him. No reason was given for his actions in #7, though in Infinite Crisis' 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 resurfaces in the One Year Later continuity of 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 and in the process discovered that a new, more addictive 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, and 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 sought Rex Tyler's expertise in chemistry, Rick lets him approach his father, only to discover that the story is a ruse. Bane, who had never truly been addicted to Venom, had in fact wiped out the drug lords, and destroyed every research note on Venom. He discovered in the process both strains of Venom derived from Rex Tyler's early research on Miraclo. He discovers from the Tylers that no written notes exist of Rex's work, captures Rex, and steals Rick's equipment, planning to kill Rex and force Rick to take the last of the new Venom, living forever as an addict. Rick manipulates Bane into using Miraclo and demolishing the building as he and his father escape, burying the mercenary in the rubble of the very same Santa Priscan penitentiary where his story began.

Eventually, Bane resurfaces in Santa Prisca and leads 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 who ordered him to rig the elections in exchange for their help to escape 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. He fights Bane in order to allow Fire to escape, defeating him easily, but chooses not to kill him.

At the end of the miniseries Suicide Squad: Raise the Flag, Amanda Waller recruits Bane into the Squad. In Outsiders #50, he appears once more to be wearing the tubing system to apply Venom.

In Salvation Run #2, Bane was tricked by his fellow squad members, and sent to the prison planet. In Salvation Run #3, Bane remains with Lex Luthor's faction after Joker's faction rebels against Luthor's leadership. He attacks Thunder and Lightning when they were attempting to feed Martian Manhunter.

Superman/Batman #53-#56 reveals Bane is trading his Venom supplies with drug lords across the globe. One of his shipments includes a trip to Gotham. Batman, who was temporarily endowed with Superman's powers, responded by attacking Bane at his home. Not only was the Dark Knight able to easily defeat the villain, the hero nearly killed him with his far superior strength. Bane survived his injuries due to the enhanced stamina from his Venom supplies. Whether these events are in continuity with the mainstream DC Universe is debatable, like much of the Superman/Batman book after Jeph Loeb left writing duties. Seeing Bane using Venom again after previously stating that he would sooner die than use it, as well selling it instead of actively seeking to rid the world of the drug entirely, lends credence to the idea that this story is not canon.

Secret Six

Since September 2008, Bane has appeared as a regular character in the ongoing Secret Six series. In the first issue, Bane is depicted as a stoic devil's advocate for the group, offering alternative points of view for both Deadshot and Catman on the subject of love. He is later shown to have an almost father-like concern for Scandal Savage's well-being. Although this is largely played for laughs in the early issues, the first arc's final issue displays the depth of Bane's affection. When the Six are attacked by an army of supervillains, a wounded (and seemingly dying) Bane's concern for Scandal results in temporarily breaking his vow to never take Venom again in order to save her. Bane is later shown to have recovered from his ordeal, appearing in Gotham City with Catman and Ragdoll in an attempt to stem some of the chaos caused by the apparent death of Batman. During the team's several escapades, Bane reveals both a deep respect for his onetime adversary and a painful yearning to assume the mantle of Batman, telling a trio of rescued citizens to tell people that it was the Batman who saved them. Bane ultimately gives his blessing to Dick Grayson, praying that "God help him." Following a near-disastrous mission, Bane assumes leadership over the Six. His first act as leader is to remove Scandal from active duty, not wishing for her to be endangered. In the latest issue of Secret Six, Bane's Secret Six and Scandal Savage's Secret Six finally square off against each other. Bane and Scandal engage in a one on one fight where he refuses to fight back until Scandal uses her Lamentation Blades to slash his throat. The card is ultimately used to resurrect Knockout.

Driven to near madness, Bane decides to lead the Secret Six to Gotham in an attempt to psychologically break Batman by killing several of his closest allies. The team kidnaps the Penguin, who Bane pumps for information about Batman's partners. In the final issue of the series, Bane ultimately decides on Red Robin, Azrael and Batgirl as his victims. Before the Six can make their move, Penguin betrays their location, resulting in a massive army of superheroes ranging from Green Lantern, Batman and the Superman family to the Justice League and Birds of Prey converging on Gotham. The Secret Six stage a desperate last stand, but are quickly defeated. With the fates of the other Secret Six members left ambiguous, Bane is last shown being driven away in a Gotham police van. The ending of the issue implies that he plans to escape.

New 52

In the company relaunch New 52, Bane is re-introduced in the DCnU by Paul Jenkins, and David Finch's run on Batman: The Dark Knight Volume 2. Here, he has a massive storage tank (very similar to his Arkham Asylum appearance) on his back and is still fighting his addiction to the Venom compound. As Bruce is unable to keep up with the various legal conspiracies involving Batman Incorporated, he decides to investigate a breakout in Arkham. There he finds criminals being fed a modified fear toxin that is mixed in with Venom which makes the criminals extremely strong and immune to fear. He finds it being given to criminals by a new foe named the White Rabbit, when Batman approaches her she quickly defeats him and injects him with the fear toxin which she then gives to the Flash. Bruce then finds Bane to be behind the new fear toxin and combats him, Bruce manages to burn the fear toxin out of his and the Flash's body's by getting pushed to the limit. Bruce manages to defeat Bane, but is left confused by the White Rabbit. Bane is later taken back to Arkham.

Powers and abilities

Bane is highly intelligent; 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 knows six active languages and at least two additional arcane and dead ones. Among these are Spanish, English, Urdu, Argh, Persian, and Latin. The Bane of the Demon storyline reveals that he has a photographic memory. Within one year, he is able to deduce Batman's secret identity.

He is also highly devious and a superb strategist and tactician. In prison, Bane also invented his own form of calisthenics, meditation, and a unique fighting style. Usage of Venom enhances his physical abilities, including his strength, and healing process to superhuman levels. Although Bane had sworn off using Venom in Vengeance of Bane II in 1995, and his character is actually written as having kept that promise to himself, it is still not uncommon for artists to draw Bane as still wearing the tube leading from his old wrist device to the back of his head, as well as almost all media adaptions of the character show him actively using the Venom compound. Writer Gail Simone explained these lapses in the continuity of Bane's appearance in an issue of Secret Six, in which Deadshot remarked that Bane merely kept his old Venom equipment with him out of habit, even though he states that he would sooner die than use it again.

In other media

Television

Bane attempts to break Batman's back in his (self-titled) debut episode, "Bane", in Batman: The Animated Series.

• Bane made his animated debut in Batman: The Animated Series episode "Bane", even though producers were reluctant to use him as they felt his comic incarnation was too gimmicky. Voiced with a strong South-American accent by Henry Silva, this Bane is an articulate professional assassin hired by criminal Rupert Thorne to assassinate Batman. Bane accepts the job as he believes defeating Batman will cement his reputation within the underworld, and aid in his own aspiration to take over Gotham afterward. Whereas Bane's mask in the comics completely conceals his face, this version sports openings for the nose and mouth in the style of a traditional professional wrestling mask. During the climactic battle, Bane was about to break Batman's back, but Batman manages to escape by causing Bane's pump module to malfunction with one of his batarangs. The subsequent overdose of Venom increases Bane's muscle size and heart rate almost to the point of a heart attack, but Batman removes the tube from Bane's head, leaving him severely weakened.

Bane's redesigned appearance in The New Batman Adventures episode, "Over the Edge".

• Henry Silva reprises his role as Bane for The New Batman Adventures episode "Over the Edge". After Barbara Gordon is killed in action as Batgirl, Batman's secret identity is exposed and he becomes a fugitive from the law, hunted down by her father, Commissioner Gordon. Unable to bring Batman to justice through traditional means, Gordon grants Bane an early release from prison in exchange for assistance in apprehending the Dark Knight. Bane and Batman have an especially brutal brawl on the rooftops of Gotham. The fight ends on the top of the GCPD headquarters, with Bane preparing to kill Batman. Gordon tries to stop him since killing was not part of their agreement, but Bane quickly turns on him. Before Bane can kill Gordon, Batman cuts Bane's Venom tube and attaches it to the previously broken Bat-Signal, which delivers a severe electrical shock. Batman reaches over the edge of the roof to save Gordon but Bane uses the last of his strength to knock them over the side with the Bat-signal before collapsing. It is then revealed that the entire episode was merely a Scarecrow-induced nightmare suffered by Barbara.

• Bane also appears in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Knight Time". Henry Silva reprises his role. When Batman mysteriously disappears, Superman travels to Gotham to find the Dark Knight. The Man of Steel ends up donning the Batsuit to keep everyone from realizing that Bruce Wayne and Batman are the same person as their disappearances are reported around the same time. Superman investigates the city with Tim Drake, the newest Robin. Their investigation brings them into an encounter with the Riddler, the Mad Hatter, and Bane, who were conspiring to take over Gotham. Bane gets into a fistfight with Superman, still dressed as Batman, which ends with Bane being pummeled by the latter.

• Bane makes an appearance in the Batman Beyond episode "The Winning Edge". When an influx of Venom hits the streets of future Gotham, Terry McGinnis, Wayne's successor to the Batman mantle, and the now-retired Wayne suspect that Bane is the supplier and track him down, only to learn that a lifetime of Venom usage has taken its toll on the once formidable villain; he's now a frail old man, using a wheelchair and reliant on an oxygen tank to breathe. Terry surmises that the new Venom supply did not originate from him. However, it was eventually revealed that Bane's addiction to Venom had become so extreme that he needed it just to survive; being too old and weak to make new batches himself, but still dependent on Venom to operate on even a normal level after so long on the drug, Bane was forced to give the Venom recipe to his nurse/caretaker, Jackson Chappell (voiced by Larry Drake), who subsequently began selling the Venom for himself. The Venom-induced Chappell was beaten by Batman, and was left brain dead, due to him overdosing on Venom while trying to bulk himself up to defeat Batman in battle only to be exposed to a large container full of Venom. Bane has no dialogue in this episode nor does he make any further appearances.

Bane and Batman from The Batman episode "Traction" (original air date Sept 18, 2004).

• A different version of Bane is depicted in The Batman (2004–08), voiced by Joaquim de Almeida in the first appearance, Ron Perlman in "Team Penguin," and Clancy Brown in "The Batman/Superman Story" Pt. 1. This version of Bane is seen possessing an athletic body before pumping himself with Venom. To access this, he turns a control on his right hand which pumps the serum into his body. After doing so, he transforms into a huge hulking brute with red skin. In "Traction," Bane was hired by three crime bosses to eliminate Batman. Though he managed to injure Batman, Bane was later defeated by Batman using the Bat-Bot. In the season 3 episode "Brawn", the Joker uses Bane's Venom to terrorize the city. The Batman and Batgirl manage to take out Venom-Powered Joker, and Batgirl uses the aid of the Batbot to do so. In "Team Penguin," Bane received an invitation from Penguin to join up with him only to be taken down by Batman, Robin, and Batgirl before he can reply. Bane is later seen as one of the many supervillains captured by the vigilante Rumor in the episode "Rumors" and again in "The Batman/Superman Story" as one of several villains hired by Lex Luthor to capture Superman. Bane ends up being defeated by Superman.

• Bane appears in the cold opening to the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Menace of the Conqueror Caveman!" voiced by Michael Dorn. This version of Bane is physically frail before pumping himself with Venom, much like his Batman & Robin version. When Batman and Wildcat find Bane at a train station, sans Venom, Wildcat quickly mocks the supposed menace for his scrawny physique and asks why Batman needed his help for such a weakling. Bane then activates his Venom pump and soon towers over the crime fighters before knocking Batman out. Wildcat manages to defeat Bane by grabbing a Batarang and cutting Bane's Venom tubes, which fall onto train tracks and gives him an electric shock. Bane subsequently appears in "Night of the Batmen!", where he, Solomon Grundy, Killer Croc, and Blockbuster try to topple a solid gold statue of Lady Justice in order to steal the rubble and sell it. Before they can accomplish this, Bane and his cohorts are defeated and captured by Captain Marvel. Additionally, Bane makes a brief, non-speaking cameo appearance, in the episode "Sidekicks Assemble!", as a holographic image of himself which serves as an opponent for Robin, Speedy and Aqualad, during their training.

Bane's appearance in the Young Justice episode "Drop Zone".

• Bane appears in the Young Justice episode "Drop Zone" voiced by Danny Trejo. Bane is in a small war against the cult Kobra over the production of his drug Venom. Here after losing control over the Santa Prisca prison to the cult of Kobra he agreed to fight their champion Mammoth (who had been infused with a Venom/Blockbuster formula) to get it back. Later the Young Justice team infiltrated the island to discern the reason why all Venom shipments have been cut off yet Venom is still being produced at full level. Bane quickly meets up with the team and proposes an alliance, and with Miss Martian unable to read his mind because he is reciting Spanish football scores in his head to protect himself, they agree. Later Bane revealed that he only needed help to get his factory back, and with the team apparently unable to do that, he had decided to kill them and frame Kobra for their deaths, with the knowledge that the Justice League of America would come to Santa Prisca and finish off the Cult in retribution. He is then soundly trounced by the combined powers of Miss Martian's telekinesis and Superboy's super strength, and is last shown tied up as he watches his factory being burned to the ground during the team's fight with the Cult. In "Usual Suspects", Bane allows Lex Luthor and Queen Bee to use Santa Prisca when meeting with Superboy, Artemis, and Miss Martian. He joins the other villains into attacking Young Justice and is defeated when Robin disconnects the tube that feeds Bane his Venom drug, and then electrocutes him through the point where it was attached.

Film

Robert Swenson as Bane in Batman & Robin (1997).

• Bane appears in the live-action film Batman & Robin (1997). Unlike the DC comics, this incarnation of Bane has a real name, Antonio Diego (portrayed by Michael Reid MacKay), a skinny serial killer serving life in prison. Somehow, Dr. Jason Woodrue (John Glover) acquired him for his illegal experiments in producing super-soldiers using Venom to sell to the highest bidder. Dr. Woodrue uses him as a test subject by injecting Venom into his body through tubes connected to his head transforming him into the muscular Bane (portrayed by Robert Swenson). Rather than being the devious, intelligent villain of the comics, this version is an inarticulate thug who serves as the bodyguard and assistant of Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman). Bane is barely even capable of speech and uses growls and roars for most of his communication. Despite this however, he is still muscular, wears a slight variation of his classic mask, and is still superhumanly strong; easily overpowering various thugs, cops, and holding his own against both Batman and Robin in hand-to-hand combat. Bane was defeated when Robin and Batgirl kicked the Venom tube in the back of his head and disconnected it from the rest of his body, which changed him back to his regular self. This depiction of the character was one of many aspects of the film which received negative criticism from fans and critics alike.
• Bane appears in Batman: The Animated Series spin-off direct-to-video animated movie, Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003), voiced by Héctor Elizondo. In this film, he is once again hired by Rupert Thorne along with the Penguin and Carlton Duquesne. This time, he is hired to kill Batwoman. Towards the end of the film, Bane falls into a pit of fire after having his Venom supply cut off during a fight with Batman.
• Bane appears in the animated movie Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, but has no dialogue and merely grunts. Bane, along with several supervillains, tried to collect the billion-dollar bounty on Superman. He briefly fights Batman but was defeated when Batman used his batarang to cut his Venom tube and knock him out with a single kick.

Tom Hardy as Bane in the upcoming film The Dark Knight Rises.

• Bane appears in Justice League: Doom, voiced by Carlos Alazraqui. He 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. He does so by stealing his parent's graves and informing Bruce Wayne of their disappearance, disguising himself as a worker at the graveyard. He then knocks out Bruce before putting him in one of his parent's coffins and burying him alive. Bruce manages to dig himself out and is the first League member to escape his death trap (Batman later remarks that Bane's mistake was burying him alive) and manages to save his fellow League members. 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.
• Tom Hardy will play Bane as the main antagonist in Christopher Nolan's third and final Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises. He can be seen briefly in the first teaser trailer for the film,although the first theatrical trailer as well as the second feature him much more prominently. Hardy has stated that he intends to portray the character as "more menacing" than in Batman & Robin and gained 30 pounds (14 kg) of muscle for the role, increasing his weight to 198 pounds (90 kg). In the prologue for The Dark Knight Rises, Hardy's voice has been criticized for being muffled and unintelligible, due to the mask that he wears. Skirting the issue in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Nolan said "I think when people see the film, things will come into focus. Bane is very complex and very interesting and when people see the finished film people will be very entertained by him." Hardy himself also commented on the voice in another interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying "It’s a risk, because we could be laughed at — or it could be very fresh and exciting," and that "The audience mustn’t be too concerned about the mumbly voice... As the film progresses, I think you’ll be able to tune to its setting." Hardy says the voice he had developed had several influences, including the comic book character's intellect and Caribbean heritage. Reports of footage from Cinemacon 2012 list Bane's voice as being much clearer than before, and such was the case for the third trailer of The Dark Knight Rises.

Video games

Bane appears as a villain in several Batman based video games:

• He is a boss character in the Batman & Robin video game adaptation, and Batman: Chaos in Gotham (2001).

• In Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu, Héctor Elizondo reprised his role as Bane.

• Bane also appears in Lego Batman: The Videogame (vocal effects by Fred Tatasciore) as an enemy of Batman and a follower of the Penguin. Ben of Game Informer writes that "this game is filled with cool playable characters... Nightwing, Joker, Killer Croc, Bane, Catwoman, and Man-Bat only scratch the surface of the game's catalog of great characters." He is a playable character and has the super strong ability, toxic immunity, and a special "back breaker" move. The player can gain an achievement on the Xbox 360 version of the game if the player, as Bane, uses the back breaker move on Batman, the player's human- or computer-controlled partner (a reference to the Knightfall storyarc).

• Bane is featured in the 2009 Batman: Arkham Asylum with Fred Tatasciore reprising his role. He is being used as a human test subject in the Medical Facility, and the Venom has been drained from his system, along with his muscles. After Batman rescues Commissioner Gordon, the pair discovers Bane strung up to several test tubes as he begs to be cut down. As Bane reveals that Dr. Penelope Young was behind this experiment, the Joker appears on a security monitor and pumps the Venom into Bane's body with a remote switch stating that Dr. Young will be eliminated by someone else. Enraged, Bane attacks Batman, who manages to defeat him by tearing the pumps from Bane's body, who then is seemingly crushed by the collapsing roof. He later charges out from the wall in a frenzy, but is hit by the Batmobile and sent into the river. Bane's character biography is unlocked by examining his teddy bear located in a room before the player enters the chamber to rescue Gordon from Harley Quinn. Bane's attack allows Harley to evade capture for the time being. His presence is explained with the discovery that Dr. Young was using Venom to develop the Titan formula (an enhanced version of Venom that triggers a Bane-like transformation without the need for the tank that Bane requires for the same purpose) when she worked for "Jack White" (one of Joker's aliases). Bane could be one of the possibilities that grabs the case of Titan floating in the water at the ending.

• Bane is featured in DC Universe Online voiced by E. Jason Liebrecht. He has been supplying a new type of Venom throughout Gotham City with his hideout being the Cape Carmine Lighthouse. If the player takes the hero campaign, he/she will be assisted by Nightwing. If the player takes the villain campaign, he/she will be assisted by Killer Croc. Bane's henchmen are referred to as Hoppers, Juicers, Lieutenants, Muscles, Razors, Retaliators, Splints, Street Soldiers, Strongmen, Venomized Dogs, Envenomed Hoppers, Envenomed Guard Dogs, Envenomed Juicers, Envenomed Lieutenants, Envenomed Retaliators, Envenomed Street Soldiers, Envenomed Strongmen, and Venom Supplier Diego.

• Bane makes an appearance in Batman: Arkham City, voiced once again by Fred Tatasciore. He forges a fragile alliance with Batman to destroy canisters of Titan/Venom extracts stored around Arkham City. While carrying out their plan, the two initially work together in fighting off Hugo Strange's Tyger private security force, but Bane reveals shortly that he was only using Batman as a tool to gather as much of the Titan formula as possible for his own use. Revealing that he anticipated Bane's double-cross from the beginning, Batman easily defeats Bane, without the player even having to participate in a boss fight, and locks Bane up in a storage unit before destroying the Titan formula once and for all.

• Bane will appear in Lego Batman's upcoming sequel.

Radio

Peter Marinker plays Bane in the radio adaption of Batman: Knightfall.

Toys

Kenner released different versions of Bane for each of its Batman: The Animated Series, Batman & Robin, and Legends of the Dark Knight action figure lines. D.C. Direct has released two Bane figures, one as the character appeared in the Batman "Knightfall" comic series as well as in the "Secret Files & Origins" series. Each came packaged with a figure stand specific to that particular series, with no other accessories. Mattel has included two versions of Bane in their D.C. Superheroes line of action figures. Both versions share the same mold and only vary in paint applications. The first version is set apart by black pants while the second (2007) version has pants decorated with a camouflage pattern. Both versions of this figure came with a small "Osito" accessory, although many of the first version seem to have been shipped to stores without. In 2007, LEGO released a Bane mini-figure in a Bat-Tank building set, alongside a Riddler mini-figure. In February 2009, Mattel released an action figure from The New Batman Adventures incarnation of Bane in the Justice League Unlimited toyline in a Matty Collector exclusive four pack along with Clock King, Harley Quinn, and Scarecrow. The figure comes with no accessories. Mattel also released Wave 16 of the DC Universe Classics Action Figures which includes the parts of Bane once you get Jonah Hex (left leg), Riddler (left arm with Venom tube), The Creeper (right arm), Robin young or old (lower torso and head), Mercury of the Metal Men (upper torso), and Azrael Batman (right leg). When put together they become a 7.5 inch tall Bane.

See also

• List of Batman Family enemies

External links

• Bane at the DC Database Project
• Bane at the Grand Comics Database
• Bane at the Comic Book DB
• Bane at the Internet Movie Database