While The Joker might be more sinister, and The Riddler more clever, few Batman villains are as terrifying as the musclebound brute that broke his back. Bane isn't one of the Caped Crusader's oldest adversaries, but he burst quickly on the scene and established himself as the only person who could truly break the Dark Knight.
Despite his prowess as a villain among villains, not every fan has taken a liking to the mask-clad goon. Though he has been involved in epic comic storylines, users on Reddit have taken to the site to lay out their unpopular thoughts on Bane.
Dirtiest Player In The Game
Bane's biggest claim to fame is that he was the first villain to truly defeat Batman, but some fans are still skeptical. User banthafodderr took another view of Bane's evil feat, writing "He only won because he played dirty. I mean Jean Paul kicks his a** immediately after so he's clearly not the best fighter".
The Knightfall storyline was a game-changing moment in the Batman comics, and his return meant that the fight was truly personal for Batman. Bane has gained a reputation as a super-strong adversary, but his cleverness is also an important asset. By "playing dirty" Bane was able to achieve his victory. Considering that he is a villain, it only makes sense that he would break the rules of engagement.
Confusing Motivations
Villains don't often need very strong motivations to commit their crimes, but the Batman comics have a reputation for giving their baddies a backstory. A deleted user was perplexed by Bane and his motivations, saying "The problem with Bane is that he really should have like no motivation to even be in Gotham...The whole 'I'm going to break this Batman because he's another hard man' makes no...sense".
Bane has a very interesting backstory, and though some versions have chosen to ignore it, it does go a long way to explain why he is who he is. That being said, while villains are often given motivations, they aren't always very logical. This critique could be extended to most comic book baddies, as their backstories don't usually match up with their level of villainy.
Not Well Written
Bane's backstory establishes his personality and character, but some fans find fault with the character that he ended up with. User Hello-Fennel gave Bane a rather literary critique when they said "Bane is the epitome of a '90s extreme Gary Stu. Sorry to use that lame term. An author trying to make the most best awesome character ever".
In some ways the critique is valid, but in a lot of ways, it also finds fault with a bulk of the superhero genre of comic books. While the best comic books ever are usually praised for their writing, even beloved superhero comics fall short of traditional literary expectations. Outside of that, it isn't necessarily an accurate representation of Bane, as he still must implement a clever plan to defeat his foe.
No Good Adaptations Of The Character
Batman has long since made the leap from the pages of comics into other forms of media, and with that leap, his biggest baddies have followed. Displeased with every Bane adaptation, user MaxRockatansky468 commented "It's such a shame that outside of Arkham Origins...we haven't gotten a good adaptation of the character like at all".
While Batman: The Animated Series was known for radically reinventing characters, some fans felt that Bane was reduced and not improved. Unfortunately for sinister characters like Bane, animated adaptations, until recently, were aimed at a younger audience and his dark origin wouldn't have matched a more cartoonish tone.
Boring Bane
Despite his gigantic appearance and evil deeds, some readers found that Bane elicited yawns, as opposed to screams. User journeyz1 found Bane dull when they wrote "It sounds like such an uncreative antagonist to Batman who's been disciplined and training for years. Most boring way to meet his doom IMO".
No doomsday scenario would ever please all fans of a beloved superhero, but writers saw Bane as an opportunity to mimic the recent Death of Superman arc. The only way to beat a superhero is to overpower them, and the result is that some of the villains begin to seem similar. For his part though, Bane was one of the more interesting big baddies, and his origins go a long way to explain his destructive power.
Bigger And Better
Comparing villains is a difficult task, and usually, it ends with one being judged unfairly to the benefit of another. User Yama92 made a stark comparison when they wrote "Unpopular opinion: Hardy's Bane was better than Ledger's Joker".
Heath Ledger's turn as The Joker in The Dark Knight is usually considered one of the best movie villains of all time, and few believe it could be topped. While Hardy's Bane garnered mixed reviews, the response wasn't nearly as positive as for The Joker. Quality wasn't necessarily the issue, but the overall presentation of the third film failed to live up to the expectations of The Dark Knight.
Bane Rises
Fandoms rarely agree on anything, but The Dark Knight trilogy fans usually come to the consensus that the third film was lacking compared to its predecessors. User RetroDualist09 had a different opinion when they wrote "I think Tom Hardy did a fantastic job portraying Bane...I understand that Bane's character in The Dark Knight Rises is not too 'comic accurate', but it feels like it fits perfectly into Nolan's universe".
Performance aside, many fans were simply perplexed by the choices made regarding Bane in the film. Previous installments in the series had brought villains down-to-earth, but it was strange seeing Bane in such a realistic manner. The character has all of the qualities of a comic book icon, and it was difficult for fans to see the comic aspects stripped away.
He Was Good... Once
While some villains live on in infamy for generations of great stories, others have a defining moment that characterizes their entire legacy. User Fenderboy771 saw Bane as a one-hit-wonder when they said "Bane has only been used effectively once in my opinion. That was in Knightfall".
Even though Knightfall is the story that put Bane on the map, he hasn't been relegated to the sidelines since then. Comics like Secret Six have allowed writers to re-contextualize Bane, and change him from being a simple villain-of-the-week, into a fleshed-out and interesting character.
Can't Be Big And Smart
The psychology of optics is an important part of character design, and some feel that it influences the way that readers see certain characters. In a somewhat psychological take, user TheBrownWelsh wrote of Bane "Bane is underused because people have a hard time relating to such a hulking behemoth being both strong and smart".
While that interpretation may hold weight when it comes to the comics, a lot of viewers' first encounters with Bane came in other forms of media. In both The Animated Series and Batman & Robin, Bane is a mostly silent brute. This reputation has stuck to the character, and it has therefore influenced future adaptations.
Nowhere Left To Go
Payoffs on storylines often work best when they stretch on for a while and allow readers to get fully invested. User GoldandBlue discovered a profound flaw with Bane when they said "The problem with Bane is the same that Doomsday had. When you beat the hero your first time out there is nowhere else to take you. Bane broke the bat, now what?".
Critiques of Knightfall are quite valid, and the story suffers much in the same way that The Death of Superman did. However, in terms of a character, Bane has lived on as so much more than the straw that broke the bat's back. While he languished for a while, more recent comic takes on the character have allowed him to grow in different directions, and prove to be a more rounded adversary.