The Dark Knight Rises: Who Is Bane?

Bane

Bane was born in the fictional Caribbean Republic of Santa Prisca, in a prison called the Hard Rock. He was sentenced to life in prison as a result of a father who escapes the court system altogether.

Although in the penal system since birth, Bane's natural abilities allowed him to develop extraordinary skills within the prison walls. He read extensively, worked out extensively, and learned to fight for his life on a regular basis. Bane was educated under the tutelage of several convicts, killing some of them when their value was used up.

He ultimately put himself in a position of authority and respect in the prison, with little opposition. The prison controllers eventually recognized Bane's strength and intelligence, and inducted him into an experimental trial for a drug named Venom. Almost killing him, Bane found that the drug provided him superior strength. The downside was that the drug had to be administrated directly into his brain through tubes every 12 hours or else Bane would suffer debilitating side-effects.

Later, in the events that would encompass Batman: Knightfall, Bane escapes Peña Dura and traveled to Gotham City with several accomplices in the pursuit of the Batman who ruled the city with fear. Bane was plagued with nightmares of bats throughout his youth, leading him to believe that the Batman and he are on a fateful collision course.

Being an extremely meticulous, intelligent and strategic man, Bane set into motion a plan to wear down the Batman. Bane destroyed the outer walls of Arkham Asylum, allowing Batman's Rogues to escape out of the institution, including Joker, Two-Face, Mr. Freeze, the Riddler, the Scarecrow, the Mad Hatter, the Ventriloquist, Firefly, Poison Ivy and Victor Zsasz. Forced to recapture all of his enemies, the Batman, along with Robin and others, relentlessly pursued the escapees for over three months. Physically and mentally exhausted, the Batman returned to Wayne Manor one night where Bane ambushed him. Bane physically beat the weakened Batman, finishing him off by breaking his back across his knee.




From there, Bruce Wayne was left as a paraplegic, forced to select another to take up the mantle of the Bat. Bane eventually was defeat by the ruthless and increasingly violent successor to the cape and cowl, Azrael, beaten and finished off by the severing of the tubes that fed the Venom drug into his brain.

The character of Bane was created specifically for the Batman cross-over event of Knightfall by Chuck Dixon and Doug Moench with the design by Graham Nolan.

Forgot everything that happened before Christopher Nolan's interpretation of the Batman and his universe. Whatever Joel Shumacher did to ruin the franchise will be craftily undone by Nolan's series of Christain Bale's Dark Knight.