| “ | I've long waited for this moment. With your death, I will find peace. | „ |
| ~ Bane to Batman. |
Bane was a minor antagonist in Batman Arkham Asylum and Batman Arkham City, and the secondary antagonist of Arkham Origins.
Overview
Bane was raised inside the horrific environs of a Santa Prisca prison. Finding solace in smuggled books and meditation, he developed incredible powers of concentration. When he was subjected to military experiments with the experimental steroid known as Venom, his iron-forged will helped him survive where other test subjects had died, and he managed to escape becoming a freelance assassin. Bane was hired by the Joker (disguised as Black Mask) to kill the Batman, but ended up failing and was defeated by him.
Determined to seek vengeance against him, he sought out Batman, this time with a larger amount of the Venom steroid and broke the Dark Knight's spine after causing a breakout that took Batman weeks to round up the escaped villains. But the Batman recovered and managed to best Bane, cutting off the precious Venom supply that transforms Bane into a metahuman. Bane continues to seek revenge against the Dark Knight and now and again manages to beat him, but always ends up being defeated by him. Though not at as close and disturbing as his relationship with Joker, Batman and Bane seem to have a relationship that goes beyond the hero and villain. They both seem to have a very intense rivalry, and Bane didn't even care about the 50 million bounty, just fixated on proving his power over Batman.
History
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 Prisco 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 their 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.
The 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, one of Black Mask's (Joker) eight assassins
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 was presented with a contract for $50 million for the Dark Knight's head, though the mercenary was 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 was 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, Bane 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 were still inside when Bane attempted 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 the assassin and pyromaniac, 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 was 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 and is later apprehended following the Joker's own defeat.
Fighting Batman in Arkham Asylum
| “ | I will break you, Batman! Then the bruja! | „ |
| ~ Bane's last words before his defeat in Arkham Asylum |
Bane's venom drained
At some point prior to the events of the game, Bane was quietly brought from Blackgate to Arkham Asylum so that Dr. Young could study him and the effects of Venom on the human body, so that she could design a more powerful variant of the formula known as Titan. When discussing the Titan Project in public, Bane's involvement was kept secret, and he was referred to only as "Patient X." Officially, Bane was listed as an escapee from Blackgate Prison. Just before the Joker's takeover of the asylum, Harley Quinn made her way to Bane's room and sedated him in order to keep him quiet when the "visitors" arrive. The Joker had Commissioner Gordon kidnapped and taken to the Medical Center where Bane was being held, drained of Venom and left withered and helpless. After rescuing Gordon, Batman entered Bane's holding room. Bane begged Batman to cut him down, in hopes of getting revenge on Dr. Young, but before he could do so, the Joker activated Bane's
Bane vs. Batman during the events of Arkham Asylum
chemical storage tank, infusing him with the Titan strain of the Venom formula, returning his immense strength to him. Bane then attacked Batman and threw him through a wall into the Boiler Room. Bane and Batman battled it out with the interference of the Joker's goons.
Eventually, Batman cut Bane's Venom supply as the room collapsed upon itself. Batman escaped through a manhole to the surface where he reunited with Gordon. Bane managed to reattach his main valve and smashed his way to the surface, grabbing a hold of Batman and claiming that after he "breaks" Batman, the "bruja" (Dr. Young) would be next. Batman then summoned the Batmobile by remote control to their position and kicked Bane in its path. The Batmobile crashed 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.
TITAN Containers in Arkham City
| “ | TITAN is too powerful to be used against me. I needed it all for myself. Now do me a favor, and die! | „ |
| ~ Bane betraying Batman |
Bane and Batman fighting the group of attackers
After being hit by the Batmobile and knocked into the dark waters surrounding Arkham Island, Bane swam to shore but was quickly recaptured and taken back to the Asylum. Weakened by his injuries and the experiments preformed by Dr. Young, he patiently waited, plotting his revenge. Bane was 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 safehouses, was within Arkham City's walls and he found a stash of Venom that he'd left there. He then waited there until the time was right to make a move on his own plans.
The first hint that Bane would likely return in the sequel was the end scene of Batman: Arkham Asylum were he rose out of the water and snatched a Titan Container (one of the three endings). The second hint was in the Catwoman Trailer where we see Osito, Bane's toy bear, in Hugo Strange's vault. He was just featured in the digital comics of Arkham City and is revealed to come back for another chance at the Batman's back. However, the comics also hint that he also wants to eliminate the Titan formula after an encounter with one of Joker's Henchmen who was injected with the formula and then died of a heart attack during their fight. While investigating Arkham City, Batman discovers Bane hiding in an abandoned toy factory. 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 attacked Batman, but he was 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 asked if he could be let out, but Batman refused, 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 appeared 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 was confronted by the guards who tried to stop him but were unable to get past his bullet proof skin. Bane was then about to kill the officers but Azrael quickly came to their rescue. After a brief fight Azrael was able to stop Bane thanks to some assistance from Aaron Cash by cutting off his venom supply. Bane was then once again imprisoned, this time alongside Riddler who was rather upset with his new cell mate.
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 started fighting his Venom/Titan addiction. He returned to Santa Prisca looking for a new start. But upon returning to his homeland, he observed that his country was embroiled in a bloody turf war between the various cartels and drug lords (amped up on Venom), which had killed countless innocent lives including children. He eventually ended up killing the country's twelve most powerful drug lords, lining up their decapitated heads on the beach. His next objective is to destroy Peña Dura.
Quotes
- He's mine, 'payaso'!"
- "No. He's coming for you now. And when he gets here, I'm going to kill him. So you wait."
- " I am in your house, Bruce."
- "But you will. 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."
- "You have one minute."
- I've long waited for this moment. With your death, I will find peace.
- "You leave me no choice, Mr. Wayne"
- (After defeat in TN-1 mode) "The Bat Man. I will... I must find the Bat Man."
- "Coward!"
- "I want more!"
- "Found you!"
- "Oh! So you hide in the vents!"
- "Are you in there?"
- "Not in here!"
- "You must fight!"
- "I kill you!"
- "You in the vent again?"
- "Is Batman in the grate again?"
- "No more hiding here!"
Game over lines
- Arkham Origins
- "I hoped for more of a fight."
- "That was......unsatisfying."
- "And I had such big plans for you...."
- "You've been...broken. (second boss only)"
- "I'm disappointed. I expected better from you." (second boss only)
- "So, this is how the bat finally falls...." (second boss only)
- "First I broke your spirit, now I break your back." (final boss only)
- "He is gone, Batman. Because of you." (final boss only)
- "I'm going to break your back" (final boss only)
- "After all these years claiming to be the best, you are beaten by my worst!" (to Deathstroke)
- "Defeated by my underlings *sighs*...not impressed." (to Deathstroke)
- Arkham Asylum
- "The bat is broken!" (breaking Batman's back)
- "Once again I have defeated you, Batman."
Trivia
- Bruja, the name he gave to Dr. Young, is Spanish for "witch". Similarly, he refers to the Joker as "payaso", which is Spanish for "clown."
- Despite having a major role in the Arkham Asylum, Bane is the only villain that doesn't have any interview tapes due to him not being a patient at the asylum and was only there due to the machinations of Joker while he was manipulating Dr. Young.
- In Arkham Asylum, Bane constantly shouts to Batman "I will break you!". This is a reference to his famous line in Knightfall where he broke Batman's back. If the player is beaten by Bane, a game over animation will play of Bane breaking Batman's back in the same fashion. He also does this to the Dark Knight in the third movie of Nolan's trilogy.
- In Arkham City, if you are Catwoman, you can speak to Bane when he is locked up after the Fragile Alliance side mission. He pleads with Catwoman to let him out and says he will kill her if she doesn't open the cage. Catwoman then replies "Will you really? See you later, Bane. Hopefully next time you'll know how to talk to a lady."
- If one talks to Bane after destroying the Titan before or during Protocol 10, he and Batman are attacked by TYGER guards. If after, they are attacked by inmates.
- When defending the Titan, Bane can be heard shouting "THE TITAN IS MINE!" This hints at his later betrayal.
- If you find the TITAN before talking with Bane, Batman will correct Bane on how many he believes are out there with how many he already had taken out. However, to make sure that you do not destroy them all before talking to Bane the TITAN container in the Steel Mill does not appear until after you talk with him.
- Bane is one of the only villains in Arkham City (the others being Killer Croc and Hush) who does not have a game over scene as you don't fight him directly.
- Inside the Confiscated Goods Vault a teddy that is commonly mistaken as Osito can be seen. The Osito that appeared in Arkham Asylum can be seen in the collapsed Wonder City Streets.
- In the Arkham Origins reveal trailer, Bane's list of associates includes Sergio "Trogg" Ortiz, Angle "Bird" Vallelungua and Diego "Zombie" Ortiz. These are his associates from the Knightfall story arc. Bird, however, is the only one of the bunch who actually makes an appearance in-game.
- Bane is playable in an online multi-player mode in Batman: Arkham Origins, making him the fifth playable villain in the Arkham franchise after Joker, Catwoman, Scarecrow and Deathstroke.
- In Arkham Origins multi-player, if Bane is in the map, Bird will be the one who talks with the elites by radio.
- Despite commonly being depicted as having advanced hand-to-hand combat skill in most of his incarnations, in both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, he lacks any noticeable skill in fighting, instead relying on his superhuman strength. It should be noted, however, that his size in the Arkham series is much more disproportional and large than in most of his depictions, which would make fighting more difficult.
- Bane's pre-battle appearance in Origins bears similarity to the clothes he wore in his portrayal by actor Tom Hardy in The Dark Knight Rises.
- Bane appears smaller and significantly smarter in the majority of Arkham Origins than that of the previous games, because he hasn't been injected with a stronger version of Venom known as TN-1. A known side effect of TN-1 is severe memory loss and gradually declining mental capacity, thus explaining why Bane is noticeably less intelligent in previous games as well as being unaware of who Batman really is, even though he is aware in Origins. But considering that in Arkham Asylum, Dr. Young's notes refer to him as a highly intelligent and strategic man, and in Arkham City, Bane speaks articulately and acts much more calmly, it's very likely that Bane recovered at least part of his mental capacity (if not his complete memory about Batman's secret identity).
- Bane's bio in Arkham City lists him as being 9 ft 2 and gives him a weight of 350 lbs, however his Arkham Origins bio lists him as being 7 ft 5 but gives him a weight in excess of 500 lbs which is unusual given that Origins features a pre TN-1 Bane. However, it should be noted that Bane's height and weight in the Arkham Origins bio is an estimate. It is most likely an in-universe mistake on the part of the GCPD. Bane's height and weight in Arkham Origins trailer bio lists him as 6 ft 6 and 285 lbs, which is more realistic.
- It is safe to assume that Bane lost his following of mercenaries after the events of Arkham Origins, since he has no henchmen of his own in later games.
- In Arkham Orgins, Bane regularly comments that defeating Batman would allow him to be free and grant him peace. This may be a reference to his comic counterpart's childhood dreams of a Giant Bat that has haunted him since. This only adds more to his motivation to kill the Batman.
- He does not look 5'6" in Origins when he's not on venom... He appears to be 6'7". Without it and 7'5" with it, However the TN1 might have stunted his growth.
- In Bane's character profile from Arkham Asylum, it is clearly stated that the events of the Knightfall Saga, including Batman's breaking and recovery, have already occurred in the Arkham universe. However, in Arkham Origins, Bane only destroys the Batcave and beats Alfred, being eventually defeated by Batman. This does not exclude though another encounter, before the events of Arkham Asylum, where Bane actually breaks Batman's back, even though he doesn't know anymore that Batman is Bruce Wayne. This was due to the TN-1 giving him memory loss, making him forget he knew Batman's identity.
Gallery
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