History ComicBook / Bane

[[redirect:Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart1]]

[[redirect:Characters/BatmanBane]]

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1586464504086143900
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
%%
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batmandarkknightvol26teaserwithbane.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[Series/BreakingBad Breaking]] [[{{Pun}} Bat]]]]
%%
->''"I am not a ''[[ComicBook/TheJoker joke]]''. I am not a ''[[ComicBook/TheRiddler riddle]]''! I am not a [[ComicBook/{{Robin}} bird]] or a [[ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} cat]] or a [[ComicBook/ThePenguin penguin]]! I'm not a [[ComicBook/TheScarecrow scarecrow]] or a [[ComicBook/PoisonIvy plant]] or a puppet! I am not your [[ComicBook/TwoFace broken friend]]! I am not [[ComicBook/RasAlGhul your regretful teacher]]! I am not a [[TheMadHatter child's fairy tale]]! I am not a circus act here to amuse and frighten you! I am not another one of your madmen howling at the moon! And I... I am ''not'' some ''rich boy'' playing dress-up!'' '''I am BANE!'''''"''
-->-- '''''ComicBook/BatmanRebirth'''''

The man who broke [[Franchise/{{Batman}} The Bat]].

Co-created by Creator/ChuckDixon, Creator/DougMoench and Graham Nolan, Bane was first introduced in the 1993 comic ''Batman: Vengeance of Bane'' and his backstory was established in ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}.''

[[DarkAndTroubledPast Bane never had it easy.]] He was sentenced to life in the prison Peña Dura before he was even born, due to the corrupt government of his home country, Santa Prisca, punishing him for the crimes of his father. From early childhood, he was tormented of visions of a bat in his sleep. He developed his knowledge and skills in prison, learning how to defend himself, gaining a Classical education from a Jesuit priest, and mastering several languages. He slowly climbed up the social ladder of the prison, even committing his first murder at age eight, until becoming "king" of Peña Dura.

The people in charge noticed this and forced him to be the test subject for an experimental SuperSerum, Venom[[note]][[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant no]], not that [[ComicBook/{{Venom}} Venom]][[/note]]. The drug, which had killed every subject before him nearly destroyed him too, but he survived and discovered that the drug also increased his strength vastly at the cost of being highly addictive and dangerous to stop using.

He eventually escaped the prison with several others and set out for Gotham City because, like Peña Dura, it too was ruled by fear: the fear of The Batman, who Bane is convinced is the demonic bat from his nightmares.

Bane became one of many of [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGallery Batman's enemies]], but he was best known for snapping Batman's spine during the events of ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}''. Despite being a relatively recent addition to the Dark Knight's rogues, Bane quickly shot up to the A-List of Gotham's criminals and became one of Batman's most prominent foes ever since.

Bane was originally created in order to replace Bruce Wayne with a different character in the role of Batman, ComicBook/{{Azrael}}. This was all in an attempt to make [[NinetiesAntiHero Nineties Anti-Heroes]] less popular, and it worked.

He later weaned himself off the drugs and become something of an AntiHero himself, and was a member of the ''ComicBook/SecretSix'' until their dissolution shortly before the ''[[ComicBook/{{New52}} New 52]]'' initiative. In the New 52, he seemingly never underwent any of his character development, but ''did'' break Batman's back.

He has made appearances in many different DC adaptations, including ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' (played by Creator/TomHardy), and ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice''. His video game appearances include the ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries Batman: Arkham]]'' series, ''[[VideoGame/LegoAdaptationGame LEGO: Batman]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/BatmanTheTelltaleSeries Batman: The Enemy Within]]''.

----
!!Tropes which describe Bane

* AbortedArc: There were hints in his origin that he might have actually been Bruce Wayne's half-brother, as various passing references indicated that his father had been a foreign doctor who had fled the country. While Batman having to deal with the idea of the saintly image he's built up of his father being tarnished might have been interesting, it's pretty understandable why future writers [[ArmedWithCanon declined to follow up on this]].
** This was eventually resolved when Bane himself tracked down his father [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Edmund Dorrance]]. Thomas Wayne was floated as a possibility but blood tests disproved it fairly quickly.
* AdaptationalWimp / AdaptationalBadass: Different incarnations zig zag with his established physical capabilities and strategic mind. In several works he is largely impotent without venom, rendering his intake pump a huge weak spot. This is the default method of defeating him in works like ''Film/BatmanAndRobin''. In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' venom is replaced with an anesthetic gas in his mask to keep him stable from chronic pain, but otherwise meaning that his physical abilities are entirely him. In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' he's portrayed as a 7 foot tall, 500 pound monster who uses venom only after a lengthy fight with Batman where they seem evenly matched.
** In his ''Rebirth'' incarnation, he skews more towards the "Badass" aspect in that era compared to his Post-Crisis ''Knightfall'' counterpart who defeated and broke Batman only after he freed all the Arkham rogues and completely exhausted Batman in a chase to hunt them all down. In ''The Fall And The Fallen'', Batman again fights most of his rogues but this time beats them all up one after another at Arkham instead of separately throughout multiple tiresome nights. By the time Batman confronts Bane at his mansion, he wasn't in a state of exhaustion and this time, ''Rebirth'' Bane defeats and breaks Batman when he wasn't tired out and still around his rough physical peak.
* AdaptationDistillation: Is often applied to him when he appears in an animated show.
* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Many see him as the ComicBook/{{Venom}} to Batman's Franchise/SpiderMan; A larger, more muscular ShadowArchetype of the hero, GeniusBruiser and [[FreudianExcuse crappy life]] and all, who where TheDreaded in their debut, then suffered BadassDecay before being redeemed by later writers. They both are obsessed with defeating the hero (though for separate reasons) and both have had lengthy stints as anti-heroes. The fact that Bane's classic mask mildly resembles Venom and that Bane uses a drug called [[NamesTheSame Venom]] only adds to the comparison. ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' even pitted the two against each other, and as of 2018, they've both been portrayed by Creator/TomHardy.
* AndThenWhat: Bane really had no plans for what he was going to do after he broke Batman. Bird suggested he take over the city's crime families.
* AntiVillain: Varies DependingOnTheWriter, but often times is seen to have some sense of honour or at the very least PragmaticVillainy.
* AppropriatedAppellation: Bane got his name after a warden called him one after he killed while still a child, in prison:
--> "He is a bane to everything holy!"
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: How did Bane figure out Batman's identity? He spotted from a chance sighting that Bruce Wayne has the same body language.
* BadassBookworm: In prison, he read three books a day and became an expert in a variety of subjects at the same time as he became a physical powerhouse.
* BadassNormal: When he's not using Venom, he's this. Arguably, he's much more dangerous as Venom has mind-altering properties.
* BastardBastard: Born out of wedlock, abandoned by father before birth, and a terrifying monster to boot.
* BatmanGambit: Releasing every single inmate from Arkham Asylum allowed him to wear down Batman enough to confront him and break his back.
** UpToEleven in Tom King's run. [[spoiler:At first, he appears to be involved in "only" the minor role of the second and third storylines, "I Am Suicide" and "I Am Bane," and of the two, Batman is actually the aggressor of "I Am Suicide" by coming after Bane first. However, it is later revealed that Bane was orchestrating everything since the beginning of Rebirth in "I Am Gotham," carrying on well beyond his "defeat" in "I Am Bane." Not only had he fully intended for Batman to come after him AND planned it out to manipulate who Batman brought along for the mission, he also successfully planned how JOKER would subtly influence Catwoman's decision to abandon her wedding, despite Joker's tendency towards unpredictability AND without ever having Joker wittingly involved in his plan.]]
* BerserkButton: Do not, under any circumstances, threaten or attempt to harm Scandal Savage in his presence.
* BloodKnight: Befitting a prison born brawler, Bane loves a good fight and the opponents that he feel are worthy of his time.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Bane, essentially, has the morality of a prison yard and its weird rules as his guiding principles. He is offended and horrified at the revelation that the universe doesn't consider this ''righteous.''
* BoringButPractical: His first plan to break Batman. Bane broke more or less Batman's entire rogues' gallery out, handed them military-grade weaponry and just let them run loose with it. Then he simply waited until Batman ran himself to the point of utter mental and physical exhaustion before attacking himself. It worked.
* CatchPhrase: He tends to give out the phrase, "I WILL BREAK YOU!", quite a bit.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: The Bane that was originally introduced was much more cruel and petty than the version that has endured today. Though he was arguably portrayed as smarter than he often was afterwards, he also murdered prostitutes and was out to destroy Batman for little reason other than the "find the toughest guy in the place and beat him up" gambit. Flash forward to years later, after Bane has actually adapted to life outside the hellish prison he grew up in, and he's one of the few villains honorable and articulate enough that Batman will actually ''chat with him'' as they fight.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Even without Venom he is extremely durable and strong.
* TheChessmaster: Engineered the events in ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'' to defeat Batman. He also defeated another expert Chessmaster, ComicBook/RasAlGhul, in chess without ever having played it.
** Tom King played up this side of him particularly heavily during his run. [[spoiler:His scheme to break Batman mentally and take over Gotham required the exact actions of Hugo Strange, Gotham Girl, Psycho Pirate, Holly Robinson, the Ventriloquist, and additional villains to work together without giving away his involvement prematurely. It also required convincing Batman of Bane's own "defeat" multiple times, influencing Batman's own strategies for picking out his "I Am Suicide" team, correctly predicting how disconnected individuals like Joker and Booster Gold would react in the right situations, AND how Scarecrow's fear toxin would need to influence Batman's mind in a controlled way.]] Not only do the pieces fall into place successfully, he is TERRIFYINGLY effective all the while.
* CombatPragmatist: Given his upbringing in a brutal prison, Bane naturally had to become this just to survive. Additionally, in contrast to the also pragmatic Bat-Family and due to his rather villainous nature he isn't afraid to use lethal force or firearms if the situation warrants it. In fact, given his great strength, he can make use of [[BiggerStick much heavier artillery]] than most of Batman's other foes, who usually stick to handguns. Bane on the other hand has made use of a bazooka to blow Arkham wide open, a [[GatlingGood gatling gun]] to demolish Two-Face's army of goons, and a ''miniature nuke'' to [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill destroy some evidence]].
* TheComicallySerious: Much like Bats himself, he ended up as this in ''Secret Six''.
* CompanionCube: His only real companion while imprisoned as a child was a teddy bear he named "Osito", and in the ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'' at least, he kept it even long after he escaped.
* DelinquentHair: Underneath his mask, Bane styles his hair in a short mohawk.
* DestinationDefenestration: Used hilariously in one of the ''Secret Six'' books.
* {{Determinator}}: This is what makes him so dangerous, rather than Venom.
* DisappearedDad: His father was Edmund Dorrance, the British mercenary known as King Snake, who had worked for the failed revolution and fled the country afterwards, leaving his lover and unborn son to face the wrath of of the military goverment.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Bane's fate in ''Batman Beyond'' is that he's become a man trapped in an iron lung for the rest of his life in a crippled body. It's deliberately meant to invoke steroid abuse.
* TheDreaded: During ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}, not so much later.
* DrugsAreBad: He's been used a couple times to deliver AnAesop on the dangers of steroid abuse. [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond In the DCAU]], he's reduced to a vegetable who needs venom to stay alive - and still needs machines to breath for him anyway. In the comics, Bane has kicked his Venom addiction and relies on his natural strength--still way above average, but no longer quasi-superhuman.
* DumbMuscle: Far from it in the comics as he is able to go punch-for-punch with Batman at an intellectual level beyond his ability to do so (and more) at a physical level. However other [[AdaptationalDumbass adaptions]] tend to give him such traits (most notably ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'').
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: When he's using Venom, he's several times stronger than a normal man ([[BadassNormal even without it, he's already monstrously powerful]]).
* {{Expy}}: Bane was designed as an EvilCounterpart to Doc Savage, which is appropriate since Batman is an Expy of Doc Savage himself (as well as the Shadow). He can also be seen as a thematic equivalent of [[ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman Doomsday]], as his first appearance was to definitively defeat the hero, albeit Doomsday succeeds in killing Superman, whereas Bane simply cripples and demoralizes Batman.
* FantasticDrug: One of the foremost "fictional drug" users in comics, as he is almost always shown with his Venom super-steroid.
** He does have a replacement "drug" he abuses in the ''I Am Suicide'' storyline, complete with what appears to be addiction and a more laid-back complacency when using: [[spoiler:Psycho Pirate's mood-altering powers]]. He's so addicted that "withdrawal" leads to him taking up venom again for his RoaringRampageOfRevenge in the following arc, ''I Am Bane''.
* {{Flanderization}}: For a long while after ''Knightfall'', the writers forgot he was supposed to be a GeniusBruiser and wrote him as a DumbMuscle. This has since been thankfully [[CharacterRerailment fixed]] courtesy of Creator/ChristopherNolan's Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy and Creator/GailSimone's run on ''ComicBook/SecretSix.''
** Tom King writes Bane as almost obsessed with breaking backs, and Batman in turn keeps threatening to break Bane's back to the point where it starts feeling silly.
* {{Foil}}: To Batman himself. He is every bit as brilliant, skilled, strong, manipulative, and strategic as the Bat, but where Bruce Wayne came from privilege and uses his abilities for justice, Bane fought his way to the top from the darkest, most oppressive environment possible, and uses his powers to sow evil.
* ForceAndFinesse: His style of attack and action act in direct opposite to Batman's since he focuses on brutal physical force and vicious assault to get his way. Even lampshaded by Ra's Al Ghul during a sword duel which he used as part of a ReasonYouSuckSpeech to describe how despite Bane's strength he lacks the finesse and grace of the Batman.
* FreudianExcuse: He was born and raised in a maximum security prison which left him with a pretty dim view of the world.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: He was once just a young boy who was expected to die in prison but he survived to become one of the DC Universe's deadliest threats.
* FullFrontalAssault: He spends the entirety of ''I Am Suicide'' completely naked, and he's still no less terrifying.
* GenericDoomsdayVillain: He [[ComicBook/{{Knightfall}} started out as this]], (though he did at least get an issue to explain his backstory beforehand), rolling into Gotham, easily breaking Franchise/{{Batman}}'s RoguesGallery out of Arkham, quickly deducing Batman's secret identity, before ultimately breaking his back and, having served his purpose, gets thrashed by Azrael in what almost seemed like a bit of an afterthought. Eventually the writers fleshed Bane out more, giving him an identity beyond being "the guy who broke Batman's back once". Unfortunately, there is also a tendency for some of his portrayals (especially in adaptations to other media) to focus on the steroidal "Venom" aspect of his character and nothing else [[BadassDecay meaning that once someone cuts his tubes, he goes down quick.]]
* GeniusBruiser: Stronger than Batman and the 600-year old Ra's Al Ghul once said that he had a mind equal to the greatest he had ever known across history.
** In prison, he learned how to read six languages, he devoured every book in the library while training himself. All thanks to his Eidetic Memory.
* HeroKiller: The climax of ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'' sees him kill the original ComicBook/{{Judomaster}}.
* HoistHeroOverHead: It's his SignatureMove. The first time, he delivers the iconic back-breaker. The one pictured on the trope page is actually after that.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Twice in ComicBook/DCRebirth. First, Batman has Catwoman break his back, then Batman forces Bane to run a gauntlet of Arkham inmates to exhaust him and take him out.
* MachoLatino: Tall, muscular, intelligent, Hispanic- yep, Bane fits this trope down to a T.
* MaskedLuchador: His design evokes this image, especially with his mask. Whether or not it brings out the WrestlerInAllOfUs, is up to the writer. When Bane was brought to ''ComicBook/Batman66'', it did.
* MoralityPet:
** Scandal becomes one of these to Bane. He, essentially, adopts her despite her being a woman in her late-twenties to mid-thirties. Also qualifies as an OddFriendship given this comes out of nowhere.
** Subverted with ''The Dark Knight Rises'' as his similar relationship with [[spoiler: ComicBook/TaliaAlGhul]] damns him rather than saves him.
* MotiveDecay: Bane wanted to overcome his fear of bats by defeating Batman and taking over his city, which he did. After that, there was really no reason for Bane to want to go after Batman since it wasn't even Bruce Wayne who defeated him. Thus, the writers have often had to come up with rather oddball reasons for Bane to want to go after Batman since the former doesn't really have anything against the latter anymore.
* MrFanservice: Usually played straight, with the wide-open shirt and copious muscle, although sometimes subverted with emphasized green veins from his venom.
* NoSocialSkills: As a result of his upbringing, Bane has little understanding of how social interaction outside prison works.
* OffTheWagon: When he first appears ComicBook/BatmanRebirth he has weaned himself off Venom. Then Batman invades his home and Catwoman breaks his back. He immediately has a VillainousBreakdown and screams for Venom.
* OnlyOneName: Unlike many others in Batman's RoguesGallery, Bane's real name has never come up. The best his backstory can muster is his father's name, Edmund Dorrance, so it's safe to assume Bane shares the same surname. But as far as he's concerned, he is only just Bane.
* PapaWolf: Becomes this to Scandal as well as a substitute father figure. Which is, given their ages, rather strange.
* PhlebotinumRebel: A prison inmate used as a test subject for a Super Serum. Turned out the serum is good enough for him to break out.
* PoirotSpeak: While Bane often drops Spanish words into his speech in the various adaptations he appears in, he's almost always written with perfect English in the comics. If you only know him from there and don't know his origin, you might not even realize that he's supposed to be Latin-American.
** There is one instance in the original {{ComicBook/Knightfall}} storyline which can, due to the afore-mentioned confusion, stick out like a sore thumb: "'''[[SuddenlyShouting ANIMALÉ!]]'''"
* PragmaticVillainy: Bane's first plan to take down Batman was simple, brutal and effective: He arranged a mass breakout from Arkham Asylum, allowed Batman to run himself ragged taking down one dangerous psychopath after another, and came to deliver the finishing blow himself to a physically and mentally drained Batman.
* PrisonsAreGymnasiums: When Bane decides to get himself clean of Venom, he gets himself locked in solitary confinement in Blackgate and uses the time to rebuild his physique back till he is almost as tough as he had been on the drug.
** Essentially, Bane's entire childhood was this as he became a physical paragon in prison. Where he gained his extensive education and detective skills has never been touched upon. This may be FridgeBrilliance in that, while the prison he was brought up in ''was'' full of rapists and murderers, the government of Santa Prisca was clearly not picky whom it threw in there. No doubt plenty of intellectuals and (non-corrupt) cops found their way into the hole as well.
* RaisedByOrcs: Was raised and trained by the worst murderers, thugs and rapists in South America, eventually becoming one of the most dangerous criminals of all time.
* RatedMForManly[=/=]TestosteronePoisoning: [[DependingOnTheWriter Depending on the writer,]] Bane is surely large piece of meat. Thanks to his muscular and [[CarpetofVirility hairy body]].
* RecycledInSpace[=/=]ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs: Bane's was created as Franchise/DocSavage except [-EVIL AND ON STEROIDS!-]
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: The "I am Bane" arc of ComicBook/BatmanRebirth. After Batman invades his island, Bane returns to Gotham City, beats and lynches Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Damian Wayne in the Bat-Cave, abducts and tortures a number of Batman's other allies, and completely tears through every other member of Batman's rouges gallery in Arkham Asylum before finally facing Batman in a brutal brawl that leaves both men near death.
* SecretKeeper: One of the few villains to know Batman's SecretIdentity and the location of the Bat-Cave. Although he keeps it to himself in order to toy with Batman.
* SelfMadeOrphan: A major goal of his. The only time he wasn't interested in it was when he thought he was Thomas Wayne's illegitimate son.
** Bane gave a DisneyVillainDeath to his father, who turned out to be Edmund Dorrance AKA King Snake. This actually [[KilledOffForReal appeared to have stuck]] until the ComicBook/New52 reboot.
* ShadowArchetype: When he first appeared, the impression was given that he was comparable to Batman in terms of intellect and physical prowess; essentially, Batman if he had grown up hated, abused, and imprisoned rather than loved, privileged, and free.
* ShoutOut: Bane's three henchmen Bird, Trogg and [[Music/TheZombies Zombie]] are all named after British bands from the sixties.
* SignatureMove: HoistHeroOverHead, followed by cracking over the knee. He tried it on ComicBook/CaptainAmerica once, but was taken out by a boomeranging shield.
-->'''Captain America:''' Now, no more [[JustForPun back talk]] from you!
* SinisterShiv: Kept one inside his childhood teddy bear. Being born and raised in prison can do that to a kid.
* SinsOfTheFather: His mother was locked up while pregnant for him due to his father's crimes.
* SociopathicHero: At his best. Unlike Batman, he has no problem in committing murder.
* SuperSerum: The Venom formula, a military project to create a super-steroid that could be used to make [[{{SuperSoldier}} super soldiers]].
* SuperStrength: When juiced up on Venom, Bane's strength is beyond human, making him one of the most dangerous of Batman's opponents in hand to hand.
* SuperToughness: In his original appearance, part of the SuperSoldier project he underwent was implanting subcutaneous armor implants -- or, in layman's terms, peeling him open and inserting slabs of bullet-proof plastic into his flesh over his vital spots. This made him extremely resistant to damage, as most attacks would penetrate the skin and then be absorbed by the armor plating.
* SuperIntelligence: Of the super learning and PhotographicMemory kind. However, he doesn't boast on his intellect. [[InformedAbility Or apply the knowledge he has learned to practical use]], except strategic skills. [[{{Determinator}} Willpower and discipline]] are his more defining attributes anyway.
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Bane dislikes the possibility of the Joker-Scarecrow alliance defeating Batman, as the hero is his to break. Besides, he keeps Bruce's identity as a secret because he likes to have that trump card for his own use only. He beat the Joker to a pulp during the ''No Man's Land'' arc for possibly ruining his chance to confront Batman.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Bane had three very close friends in ''Knightfall'' who also acted as his lieutenants: Bird, Zombie and Trogg, who have hardly ever appeared since.
* WorthyOpponent: Bane considers Batman to be this. Batman zig-zags on this in reverse since Bane is a monster but has a crude form of honor. Ra's Al Ghul proclaimed Bane as the second most dangerous man in the world after his BatmanGambit to outwit Ra's to the point he declared Bane the only suitable mate for [[ComicBook/TaliaAlGhul Talia]] besides Batman himself.
* WrestlerInAllOfUs: It's a bit exaggerated with the Luchadore mask, but his signature [[HoistHeroOverHead Backbreaker]] is indeed a wrestling move.
----

Co-created by Creator/ChuckDixon, Doug Moench and Graham Nolan, Bane was first introduced in the 1993 comic ''Batman: Vengeance of Bane'' and his backstory was established in ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}.''

* MoralityPet: Scandal becomes one of these to Bane. He, essentially, adopts her despite her being a woman in her late-twenties to mid-thirties. Also qualifies as an OddFriendship given this comes out of nowhere.
** Subverted with ''The Dark Knight Rises'' as his similar relationship with [[spoiler: Talia al Ghul]] damns him rather than saves him.

* WorthyOpponent: Bane considers Batman to be this. Batman zig-zags on this in reverse since Bane is a monster but has a crude form of honor. Ra's Al Ghul proclaimed Bane as the second most dangerous man in the world after his BatmanGambit to outwit Ra's to the point he declared Bane the only suitable mate for Talia besides Batman himself.