Rupert Thorne hires Bane to take out Batman.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Adaptational Wimp: A borderline case. In the comics, even without Venom, Bane was still much stronger than the average person and still capable of giving Batman and Killer Croc a hard time. Here, while he's strong enough to break down a brick wall even unenhanced, the battles with both Croc and Batman have him using the Venom all the way through.
- Anti-Climactic Unmasking: When Batman defeats Bane and does to him what he bragged he would do to Batman (remove his mask), underneath is... an average looking guy with no distinguishing traits.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: The suit is nice, Bane is a badass, but seeing as he wears his mask with it, he looks pretty ridiculous.
- Bandage Mummy: Killer Croc was so badly beaten by Bane that he was put in a full body cast in his prison cell.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Robin and Candice's interactions come across this way. Not helped by him being stripped bare chested, chained up by his wrists and her wicked, flirty smirk throughout until their watery slugfest ensues. Said tussle started by Robin who does so by inviting her in with an almost playful tone of voice. Before that you swear she was Eating the Eye Candy her young, buff captive was providing.
- Body Horror: Bane's defeat. After Batman breaks Bane's venom pump mechanism, his muscles begin to get enormously pumped while he screams in agony. It keeps going for quite a while until Batman severs the pump from Bane's head.
- The Bus Came Back: Thorne's secretary, Candice, who hasn't been seen since her boss's first appearance.
- Combat Pragmatist: Bane defies the trope, waiting until he knows exactly where Batman is and calling him to point out that, if he were a common sniper, Batman would be dead by then.
- Compressed Adaptation: Anyone who's read the original Knightfall will recall just how long of a story it is. Here, in Bane's first animated adaptation, only his battle against Killer Croc from the source material is kept. Bane freeing the rogues, wearing Batman down, and eventually breaking him are all left out. Additionally, other characters from the original story like Bane's lieutenants Trogg, Bird, and Zombie are all Adapted Out, as is Azrael who also doesn't make it into the story. Instead, Bane's story is put together into one episode which sees resolution, without Bane "breaking" the Bat.
- Death Trap: Candice and Bane put Robin in a pool gradually filling with water, while weights are tied to his feet. Before he can drown, he tells Batman to untie his legs before freeing his arms.
- Genius Bruiser: Bane is enormously muscled, and even more so with Venom, and also takes the time to study Batman's strategies and fighting style before taking him on.
- Gone Horribly Right: Bane is the result of a project by the Cuban government to make a Super-Soldier from convicts. You can tell exactly how well that went for them.
- Hoist Hero over Head: Bane almost gets to break the Bat like in the comics, but gets outsmarted by Batman at the last second.
- Hope Spot: Robin points out that Bane could be another vigilante, and they could do a team-up. Cue Batman finding the Batmobile smashed up.
- Kingpin in His Gym: Mobster Rupert Thorne is in his private gym, punching a bag while a henchman—named Dickie—holds it for him and urges him on. Thorne is clearly getting a little tired, but then Jake says, "Come on, boss! No wonder the Batman is runnin' circles around ya!" Thorne snarls and punches Jake in the face, knocking him out. Then he grabs a towel from another thug, mentioning before he leaves, "Oh, and when Jake comes to, tell him he's fired." Moments later Bane arrives, this episode being his first appearance. When Thorne threatens to withhold payment for Bane after a recent job was nearly bungled, Bane responds by punching the bag so hard it flies off its fixtures.
- Large Ham: Bane: "I must... BREAK YOU!!!"
- Laser-Guided Karma: After smugly going behind Thorne's back in an attempt to betray him to Bane, only to cowardly run back to the former after Batman defeats the latter, Candice finds her ploy exposed when Batman reveals to Thorne the recording he made of her throwing him under the bus.
- Loves the Sound of Screaming: Bane demands that Batman scream his name for him after he has him dead to rights. Batman doesn't give him the satisfaction.
Bane: SCREAM MY NAME! SCREAM!
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Rupert Thorne's moll, Candice, suggests that this might be a way of getting rid of her employer/lover.
Candice: With Batman out of the way, Gotham could be yours. So could I.
Bane: What about your employer?
Candice: Accidents do happen.
- Mythology Gag:
- Killer Croc wears a hat and trenchcoat, like in his first appearance in the comics.
- Not His Sled: Bane lifts the worn and tired Batman overhead and breaks his back over his knee! No, wait, that was Knightfall. To be fair, this version of Bruce hadn't been ran ragged by Bane's scheme. And had plenty of experience dealing with super villains by this point. And he didn't have a subtle death wish.
- Oh, Crap!: A rather magnificent use of this occurs when Batman unveils how Candice conspired with Bane to possibly get rid of Rupert, to which Rupert calmly turns to Candice as she becomes increasingly horrified, realizing she is screwed.
This is the last episode she appears in.- Croc gets one when Bane first injects himself with Venom and then manhandles him.
- Bane himself panics when he realizes that Batman has broken his Venom pump's controller.
- Papa Wolf: It's implied this is why Batman handed over the proof that Candice wanted to get rid of Thorne. No one kidnaps his ward and tries to drown them.
- Phlebotinum Overdose: Batman only defeats Bane by breaking the Venom pump, giving Bane a massive dose of his own "medicine". Literally. Bane's eyes looked ready to pop out of his head before Bats managed to pull the line out.
- Professional Killer: After breaking out of a Cuban prison thanks to the "enhancements" his jailers provided, Bane became an assassin for hire, charging $5 million per hit. Batman deduces Bane's employer fairly easily, realizing that not many of his foes can drop that much cash to take him out.
- Punch! Punch! Punch! Uh Oh...: Batman realises he might be in trouble when kicking and punching Bane does nothing to him. He switches tactics with dropkicks, headscissor takedowns, firing grapplers at him, and his own Venom pump mechanism.
- Shirtless Captives: Robin is kidnapped by Bane and his accomplice. He is stripped of his shirt and dangled by chains over a tank in which they intend to drown him. Justified in that Bane uses the uniform shirt to show Batman that he'd kidnapped Robin.
- The Starscream: Candice shows her true colors in this episode and plots with Bane to get rid of her boss, Rupert Thorne.
- They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: You'd think Bane's mask would be hiding hideous disfigurements, or at least something distinctive, but no. Without it, he just looks like a regular guy.
- Unwilling Suspension: Robin gets chained up this way above a rising pit of water after being kidnapped by Bane. For best effect, they chain his feet to a large weight.
- Villainous Breakdown:
Bane: YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!!! I AM INVINCIBLE!!! I AM BAAAAAAANE!!!!!!
- Happens to a lesser extent to Candice. While her usual demeanor is smug, haughty, and flirtatious, upon being beaten by Robin and seeing Batman defeat Bane, she weakly attempts to seek comfort from Thorne only to have it backfire when Batman reveals her plan to betray him in favor of Bane. Her expression upon hearing the recording says a thousand words.
- The Worf Effect: Killer Croc is trashed by Bane offscreen just so we know how tough the new guy is.
- Wrecked Weapon: Bane trashes the Batmobile, with his bare hands.
- Wrestler in All of Us:
