Bane (DC Comics)

Bane is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, and Graham Nolan, the character first appeared in Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (January 1993). He is regarded as one of Batman's most enduring enemies, part of the collective of adversaries that make up Batman's rogues gallery. In his comic book appearances, Bane is an international criminal with a combination of brute strength and exceptional intelligence. Born in captivity in the Peña Duro prison on the Caribbean island of Santa Prisca, where he served a life sentence for his father King Snake's revolutionary activities, Bane becomes a test subject for the super-steroid known as "Venom." After escaping from the prison, Bane travels to Gotham City, where he defeats Batman and breaks the superhero's back. This event is commonly referred to as the "Breaking of the Bat," and Bane is often regarded as one of the few villains to have significantly challenged Batman both physically and mentally. The character has been adapted in various media incarnations, portrayed in film by Robert Swenson in the 1997 film Batman & Robin, and by Tom Hardy in the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises. In television, Bane was portrayed by Shane West in the Fox series Gotham. Henry Silva, Héctor Elizondo, Danny Trejo, Fred Tatasciore, JB Blanc, and others have provided Bane's voice in animation and video games. IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time ranked Bane as #34.