Bane (The Dark Knight Rises)

Bane is the main antagonist of the Dark Knight Rises. He was a masterminding, yet utterly ruthless terrorist who was determined to annihilate Gotham City as the field commander of the League of Shadows, and the protector-turned-accomplice of the other main antagonist of the film.

He is portrayed by Tom Hardy.

The Dark Knight Rises
Bane was said to have been born and raised in a hellhole of a prison called the Pit, where Talia al Ghul, the daughter of Ra's al Ghul, and her mother were imprisoned. After their cell was left unlocked, the prisoners attacked and murdered Talia's mother, but they would have also killed Talia if Bane had not intervened. He protected her, and was determined to ensure that the one form of innocence to exist in the Pit was kept alive as the prisoner's redemption.

Bane brought Talia to the wall that one could climb up to escape, though no one had ever succeeded. As the other prisoners attacked Bane, he watched as Talia managed to climb to freedom. Talia went to her father and the League of Shadows, who returned to the Pit to rescue her savior. But, by that time, Bane’s body had already been badly mutilated by his fellow prisoners and though the prison doctor had saved his life, Bane was left in constant agony. He was brought into the League of Shadows’ fold and was given a mask that was created by the League that pumped a constant stream of gas into his system which kept his pain at bay.

Bane and Talia were trained by the League, but to Ra's, Bane was a monstrosity and a constant reminder of the nightmare he had left his wife to die in. So, Bane was excommunicated from the organization and became a mercenary.

After Ra’s death, Talia inherited his mantle and brought Bane back to the fold to launch a multifaceted attack to destroy Gotham City and fulfill what Ra’s had failed to finish. Bane was also responsible for a coup in West Africa which brought John Daggett, Bruce Wayne's business rival, exclusive access to the resources there, brought his company into prominence, and lead to Bane attracting the attention of the Central Intelligence Agency. Their working relationship was later used to bring Bane and other League mercenaries to Gotham City.

Eight years following Harvey Dent's death and the Joker's arrest, Talia took on the identity of Miranda Tate, who funded Wayne Enterprises construction of a fusion core, which she and Bane planned to use to destroy Gotham. Bane went after a nuclear scientist named Leonid Pavel, who tried to escape him by turning himself over to government agents. However, Bane got himself captured, then had his men attack the plane that he and Pavel were in. He faked the death of the nuclear scientist and made it look as if the plane had crashed, and successfully escaped with Pavel. Bane then moved his army into Gotham and began working for Daggett under the pretense of helping him absorb Wayne Enterprises. However, Bane was just using this and Daggett’s resources as part of his own plans. He attacked the Stock Exchange and, using fingerprints obtained by Selina Kyle, Bane bankrupted Wayne. But instead of Daggett taking over, Bruce gave command of Wayne Enterprises to Talia. Bane then killed his “employer”, before he continued with his plans.

Bane had Selina lead Batman to him in exchange for his forces not pursuing her anymore. He revealed that he knew the Dark Knight's secret identity, before the two warriors fought. From the very first blow, Bane had the upper hand, and overcame every single attack Batman executed with absolutely no difficulty whatsoever. The fight took them off the barrier and into the bowels of the battleground, where they continued to spar. Batman used gadget after gadget against Bane, and every single time, Bane calmly eased through them while he calmly stated on how he sought revenge on Batman for betraying the League of Shadows - he would fulfill Ra's al Ghul's destiny.

The fight quickly became one-sided when Bane destroyed Batman's mask and easily beat him. Bane then revealed that he’d found the armory that Lucius Fox had been storing equipment that was meant for Batman and his men took it for themselves, before he broke Batman's back.

Bane delivered a crippled Bruce Wayne to the Pit and stated that he would never kill a man that did not fear death, as he intended to psychologically torture him by showing him the slow demise of Gotham City while Bruce was unable to do anything. Bane said that he would feed the people the hope that they could survive, before he destroyed the city and only when Gotham was ashes, did Bruce have his permission to die.

Bane returned to Gotham to begin his plans, and took Wayne Enterprise’s Board of Directors hostage so as to get the fusion core. He then made Dr. Pavel turn the core into a bomb and lured almost the entire Gotham City Police Department underground in search of him. Bane went to the occurring football game and set off a series of explosions throughout the city, by using concrete that he had laced with explosives, which trapped the police and destroyed most of the bridges that connected Gotham to the outside world. Bane proceeded to address the people of the city, declared martial law, told them they would claim what was rightfully theirs, and to take down their oppressors: the rich and the powerful. Bane made Pavel reveal himself to the people of Gotham to let them know that Bane had fabricated his supposed death and that the reactor was now an armed thermonuclear bomb. He asked Pavel if he was the only one who could disarm it and when the scientist confirmed this, Bane killed him by breaking his neck to ensure that the bomb couldn't be disarmed. Bane also told them that a citizen in the city (Talia) had been given the detonator to the bomb and any attempt to leave would result in it being detonated. However, the bomb was going to go off anyway in a few months: Bane simply wanted to torture the people with hope that they could survive, as he had in the Pit, so that they would struggle against one another to "stay in the sun," before he killed them all. Bane first headed to Blackgate Prison, where he read a speech that was written by Commissioner Gordon to the press and the prisoners of Blackgate, which revealed the monster Harvey Dent had become. Bane declared that Gotham would be taken from the corrupt who kept the people down with their lies of opportunity, then blew open the prison and released all the convicts, before he let the city descend into anarchy.

But as the time of the bomb’s detonation drew close, Batman returned, and escaped the Pit as Talia had. He coordinated with Selina, the GCPD, and Lucius Fox to free all of the police officers who were trapped underground. Batman led some police officers against Bane’s army while some other members of the police worked on stopping the bomb. Bane fought Batman personally. This duel took place in the center of the battle, and stretched to the doors of Wayne Tower. Both men were a completely even match - Batman did not bother using his gadgets, for he knew that Bane was immune to them, instead he focused on attacking Bane's mask knowing that it's his weak point. When it seemed that Bane was going to win, the Dark Knight commenced to destroying Bane's mask, and gradually weakened the herculean terrorist. Bane flew into a furious, incredulous rage - a villainous breakdown - and violently attacked Batman. Bane's fury was such that, when several of his shots missed, they shattered sections of the walls at Wayne Tower. However, when Batman destroyed the mask, Bane succumbed to the pain and was defeated. Bane was beaten and Batman demanded to know where the detonator was, but Talia then revealed herself, and stabbed the Dark Knight in the side. After explaining her and Bane’s stories to Batman, since he’d believed that Bane had been the child of Ra’s al Ghul, Talia then left to ensure the bomb’s detonation, and left Batman with Bane so that he would be killed in the nuclear blast along with the citizens of Gotham.

Bane decided that he was not going to wait until the explosion and that he was going to kill Batman now. Bane pointed a shotgun onto Batman's head and prepared to pull the trigger, telling him that he will "Just have to imagine the fire". Before this could be done, Selina arrived with the Batbike and shot Bane with it, instantly killing him.