Batman characters | Bane

Shrouded in mystery, Bane appeared in Gotham City assigned to eliminate Batman for crime boss Rupert Thorne. Besides being a man of great physical size and power, Bane's strength is augmented by "Venom," a Super Steroid that increases his strength, physical size and durability for limited periods of time. It should be noted that Bane's strength is matched by his intelligence and cunning. He prefers to manipulate his target until they are most vulnerable, and then strike. After a short confrontation, Batman defeated Bane.

Powers and abilities

Bane is highly intelligent; in "Bane of the Demon", Ra's al Ghul says that Bane "has a mind equal to the greatest he has known." In prison, he taught himself various scientific disciplines equal to the level of understanding of leading experts in those fields. He knows six active languages and at least two additional arcane and dead ones, those mentioned are Spanish, English, Urdu, Persian, and Latin. The "Bane of the Demon" storyline reveals that he has a photographic memory. Within one year, he is able to deduce Batman's secret identity.

Although extremely dangerous at any and all times, Bane is perfectly sane and in control of his mind and actions—a trait that separates him from many of Batman's enemies. While he generally acts as a villain, Bane has worked alongside Batman at times and developed a great respect for the Dark Knight. He is also one of the few villains of Batman to have learned his true identity.

He is also highly devious and a superb strategist and tactician. In prison, Bane also invented his own form of calisthenics, meditation, and a unique fighting style. Usage of Venom enhances his physical abilities, including his strength, and healing process to superhuman levels. Although Bane had sworn off using Venom in Vengeance of Bane II in 1995, and his character is actually written as having kept that promise to himself, it is still not uncommon for artists to draw Bane as still wearing the tube leading from his old wrist device to the back of his head. This is likely due to the illustrators only being familiar with that early version of Bane's visual appearance. Gail Simone recently explained these lapses in the continuity of Bane's appearance in the pages Secret Six where Deadshot remarked that Bane merely kept his old Venom equipment with him out of habit, even though he states that he would sooner die before using any of it again. Regardless, Bane is depicted as physically stronger than Batman with or without Venom.

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