His ambition turns to destroying Batman, whom he had heard tales of while serving his sentence. Years later, Bane escapes Peña Duro, along with several accomplices (his friends Trogg, Zombie and Bird, all of whom are named after 1960s rock bands: The Troggs, The Zombies, and The Byrds, and were designed to mimic three of Doc Savage's assistants Monk, Ham, and Renny). It nearly kills him at first, but he survives and finds its effects enhance his physical strength, although he needs to take it every 12 hours (via a system of cables pumped directly into his brain) or he would suffer debilitating side-effects. 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. It is revealed that Osito has a hole in his back to hold a knife that Bane uses against anyone who bullies him (this is spoofed in Italian superhero parody Rat-Man by Leo Ortolani where the titular bumbling and goofy superhero has constant and heated discussions with a stuffed teddy called Piccettino, whose voice only he can hear).īane ultimately establishes himself as the 'king' of Peña Duro prison. 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.ĭuring his years in prison, Bane carries a teddy bear he calls Osito (Spanish for 'little bear'), whom he considers his only friend. Bane murders this priest upon his return to Santa Prisca years later. Despite his circumstances, he appears to have found 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. He reads as many books as he can get his hands on, builds up his body in the prison's gymnasium, and learns to fight in the merciless school of prison life. Though imprisoned, his natural abilities allow him to develop extraordinary skills within the prison's walls. Born to serve the life sentence of his father, Bane's childhood and early adult life are spent behind the walls of Peña Duro, an infamous prison located in Santa Prisca. The origin of Bane has similarities with another fictional character, Alexandre Dumas' Edmond Dantes.

The link between Bane and King Snake was introduced by writer Scott Beatty.

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. O'Neil had previously created Bane's hellish birthplace of Santa Prisca in The Question and the drug Venom in the storyline of the same name (published in the pages of Legends of the Dark Knight #16-20, and later reprinted as a graphic novel). 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). Dixon wrote the character's first appearance (Vengeance of Bane), with art by Graham Nolan. In many adaptations he is more simplistic and thug-like than his comic book counterpart.Ĭhuck Dixon, Doug Moench, and Graham Nolan created the character for the Knightfall storyline, although it is unclear what elements were introduced by each of the two writers (Dixon and Moench). He returned to the silver screen in 2012's The Dark Knight Rises, portrayed by Tom Hardy, which has several influences from the Knightfall Story Arc. Pro-wrestler Jeep Swenson played him in the 1997 film Batman & Robin. Despite their history, he has sometimes had Batman's financial backing and direct assistance.īane has appeared in some other media adaptations of Batman, including Batman: The Animated Series, its sequels and spin-offs and its successor, The Batman. He is best known for breaking Batman's back in the 'Knightfall' story arc.Īlthough primarily a villain, Bane is a complex character and has worked to take down drug lords. Although his dependency on Venom is an immense weakness, Bane has been one of Batman's most intelligent and physically powerful foes. He develops super strength through a forced experiment involving the drug Venom. Originally intended as a 'dark mirror' of the highly disciplined and multi-skilled pulp hero Doc Savage, Bane spends his childhood in the hellish prison of Pena Duro on the corrupt South American island nation of Santa Prisca.

Bane with witchfire