Among the Batman rogues, where do you rank Bane?

[kingaliencracker]

1.) Joker
2.) Bane
3.) Ra's al Ghul
4. Talia
5. Penguin
6. Black Mask
7. Hugo Strange
8. Scrarecrow
9. Poison Ivy
10. Catwoman

I have serious problems with your list excluding Two-Face...

[kingaliencracker]

As far as Bane, I usually try not to rank villains because it truly depends on the story and writer in terms of how good or bad he/she is.

I would say he would definitely rank top-10, probably top-5.

[Aahz]

This is his greatest flaw in Knightfall. His motivation, other than a few dreams that happen to have bat-monsters, is that Bird tells him about Batman and Gotham and Bane just kind of fixates on it. The parallels between Batman and Batman are there for the reader, but Bane really doesn't have any reason to go after Batman.

I always thought it was Hugo Strange that developed Venom in that prison, which could explain it better, but this was never picked up on again.

His motivation in Legacy is no better. Yes, the Bane of the Demon miniseries expands on it, but it falls down to either "I'll rule over the few survivors" (which is Ra's whole deal) or "I'm horny for Talia". It is especially problematic as this came out after Vengeance of Bane 2, which sets up a more redemptive direction for him.

His strongest motivation probably was finding his father, but unfortunately I didn't really enjoy the writing on that.

The problem has imo actually two parts.

1. Bane doesn't really have a goal appart from "Breaking Batman". Which makes it hard to wrote different kinds of stories for him.

2. His motivation for "Breaking Batman" is pretty weak.

On top of that bane doesn't really has the entertainment value of some of the more colourful Batman villains.

[mikelmcknight72]

Higher than he deserves, but the back breaking kind of keeps him elevated. I'd very roughly rank the top villains as follows:

Top Dog: Tie between Ra's and Joker. It isn't even a question with these two.
After that, flexibly in this order:

Riddler - Biggest cerebral challenge
Scarecrow - Villainous counterpart at using fear. I think a story with Crane and the Bat temporarily forced to team up while using yellow power rings could be a lot of fun.
Penguin - Fellow aristocrat
Bane & Killer Croc - Physical Challenges

Honorable Mentions: Talia, Hugo Strange, Lady Shiva

Everyone else comes after that. Of course, he has lots of rogues. I may be forgetting an important one! Catwoman and Catman were intentional omissions. They are more anti-hero and anti-villain and should be used as such.

Bane was much more interesting in Secret Six under Simone and away from the Batverse.

[Electricmastro]

Joker

Bane

Riddler

Scarecrow

Two-Face

Penguin

Poison Ivy

Catwoman

Mister Freeze

Ra's al Ghul

Harley Quinn

Deathstroke

Killer Croc

Red Hood

Deadshot

Clayface

Hugo Strange

Hush

Mad Hatter

Talia al Ghul

Black Mask

Victor Zsasz

Man-Bat

Solomon Grundy

The Court of Owls

[phantom1592]

I've always found him to be extremely overrated.

I loved Knightfall and was one of the first real Batman runs I collected (a few issues scattered around along with cartoons and movies and stuff... so I was a Bat-fan, but that was when I started hitting the stores religiously for the next issue), Bane was the weakest part of that story. It's his one true claim to fame... and he really did NOTHING!

He broke open Arkham setting everyone free. But he had no control over them. ANY of them could have (and almost did) kill Batman any number of times robbing him of his victory. He guessed Batman's identity.. that SOOOO many people over the years have tried and failed just by glancing at Wayne and say "yeah, that's him..." then waited and ambushed an exhausted man in his basement.

It's... just a weak claim to fame.

Hush wasn't much different of a story, but he pulled the strings and manipulated his pieces a lot a better than Bane ever did. Bane just... blew up a wall and waited till Batman was tired using information that he never earned for motivations that weren't important.

[Jcady59]

Higher than he deserves, but the back breaking kind of keeps him elevated. I'd very roughly rank the top villains as follows:

Top Dog: Tie between Ra's and Joker. It isn't even a question with these two.
After that, flexibly in this order:

Riddler - Biggest cerebral challenge
Scarecrow - Villainous counterpart at using fear. I think a story with Crane and the Bat temporarily forced to team up while using yellow power rings could be a lot of fun.
Penguin - Fellow aristocrat
Bane & Killer Croc - Physical Challenges

Honorable Mentions: Talia, Hugo Strange, Lady Shiva

Everyone else comes after that. Of course, he has lots of rogues. I may be forgetting an important one! Catwoman and Catman were intentional omissions. They are more anti-hero and anti-villain and should be used as such.

Bane was much more interesting in Secret Six under Simone and away from the Batverse.

You forgot Two-face probably one of Batman’s biggest foes

[kingaliencracker]

Higher than he deserves, but the back breaking kind of keeps him elevated. I'd very roughly rank the top villains as follows:

Top Dog: Tie between Ra's and Joker. It isn't even a question with these two.
After that, flexibly in this order:

Riddler - Biggest cerebral challenge
Scarecrow - Villainous counterpart at using fear. I think a story with Crane and the Bat temporarily forced to team up while using yellow power rings could be a lot of fun.
Penguin - Fellow aristocrat
Bane & Killer Croc - Physical Challenges

Honorable Mentions: Talia, Hugo Strange, Lady Shiva

Everyone else comes after that. Of course, he has lots of rogues. I may be forgetting an important one! Catwoman and Catman were intentional omissions. They are more anti-hero and anti-villain and should be used as such.

Bane was much more interesting in Secret Six under Simone and away from the Batverse.

Again, how do these lists keep getting generated without Two-Face on them?!?

[Buried Alien]

I like Bane as an enemy/foil to Batman. I rank him fourth or fifth in all-time greatest Batman enemies.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[BatmanJones]

Before King's run I had him as a bottom feeder. He's climbing the list as King's run continues and, as of now, I'd say he competes for top honors though the Joker will always be #1 to me.

[BatmanJones]

Again, how do these lists keep getting generated without Two-Face on them?!?

Agreed. Here's my top 20.

1. Joker
2. Catwoman
3. Two-Face
4. Ra's al Ghul
5. Bane
6. Poison Ivy
7. Scarecrow
8. Hugo Strange
9. Clayface
10. Riddler
11. Mr. Freeze
12. Man-Bat
13. Talia al Ghul
14. Penguin
15. Ventriloquist
16. Kite Man (thanks, Tom King)
17. Professor Pyg
18. Hush
19. Killer Croc
20. Maxie Zeus

[phantom1592]

Again, how do these lists keep getting generated without Two-Face on them?!?

I tend to think of two-face as pretty iconic... but he really isn't all that great. I'm hard pressed to think of any truly great Two-Face stories.. his schemes are pretty simple. His insanity isn't very compelling... really it's his look that pushes him into the top tier

[kingaliencracker]

I tend to think of two-face as pretty iconic... but he really isn't all that great. I'm hard pressed to think of any truly great Two-Face stories.. his schemes are pretty simple. His insanity isn't very compelling... really it's his look that pushes him into the top tier

Well, the Long Halloween is considered to be one of the greatest Batman stories of all time and the definitive Two-Face origin story. So there's that. And the episodes he was used in The Animated Series were some of the best episodes, not to mention his phenomenal use in The Dark Knight.

And I would argue that while you may feel there hasn't been any great Two-Face stories, I have never read a bad Two-Face story, as even the lesser Two-Face stories (at least in the modern age) have been good. At the very least, I can't agree with a list that ranks Killer Croc but leaves off Two-Face.

[phantom1592]

Well, the Long Halloween is considered to be one of the greatest Batman stories of all time and the definitive Two-Face origin story. So there's that. And the episodes he was used in The Animated Series were some of the best episodes, not to mention his phenomenal use in The Dark Knight.

And I would argue that while you may feel there hasn't been any great Two-Face stories, I have never read a bad Two-Face story, as even the lesser Two-Face stories (at least in the modern age) have been good. At the very least, I can't agree with a list that ranks Killer Croc but leaves off Two-Face.

It seems the best story he has... is the origin. They've retold it a few times and it's always good... but I do wish they could use him a little more varied. But again, he's not really a criminal genius or a master fighter... so he's not a HUGE threat to Batman. I have seen him used well when he turned his fixation on Robin and Dick Grayson as Batman... those were good. Also kind of liked his turn in No man's land... But yeah... he a pretty popular bat-villain who hasnt' really accomplished a whole lot.

[Batman Begins 2005]

Well, the Long Halloween is considered to be one of the greatest Batman stories of all time and the definitive Two-Face origin story. So there's that. And the episodes he was used in The Animated Series were some of the best episodes, not to mention his phenomenal use in The Dark Knight.

Half A Life as well.