50 Greatest Super Villains In Comic Book History

19. Bane

(Write-up by Eric Chrisman, Caped Crusades Editor)

I think a big reason Batman is so popular is because he’s human. Yet he’s often seen as unbeatable. Joker has never beaten Batman. Ra’s Al Ghul has never beaten Batman

Bane reminds us the Batman is truly human, and can be beaten and broken. Quite literally in his case, as Bane’s iconic moment is snapping the Dark Knight’s spine in half, putting Bruce Wayne out of action for months. Bane accomplished this with a rare mix of brawn and and a brain nearly equal to Batman, breaking out the most infamous residents of Arkham Asylum to exhaust Batman. Then, being one of a select few who actually figured out Batman’s secret identity as Bruce Wayne, Bane attacked him when we was at his most vulnerable, becoming the rare individual to claim a total victory in such a confrontation.

Sure, Batman gets his ass kicked all the time, but whether through resourcefulness, sheer ingenuity or just pure dumb luck, he always manages to win out the day. He didn’t win out against Bane; who simply set a plan in motion, picked his moment, and completely dominated the Dark Knight in way that hadn’t been done before and hasn’t been done since.

Unfortunately, when your first major accomplishment is putting Batman out of action for months, you might have nowhere to go but down. Bane has remained an important figure in the DC Universe, joining and eventually leading the Secret Six and being Ra’s Al Ghul successor for a time (until Batman beat him in a solo encounter), but nothing near the level of his first big accomplishment. Bane may never reach the peak of breaking the Bat again, but he’s accomplished a feat no other villain really has, and that earns him a pretty high spot on the all-time villains list.

Next: No. 18: Riddle me this ...