10 Most Brutal Comic Book Villains
6. Bane
It's rare to see Batman ever truly bested, but Bane took things to an entirely other level when he not only got the better of Batman, he broke Batman.
Bane's arrival in 1993's Knightfall is one of the all-time greatest villain debuts in comics history. While his hulking size led readers to see him as a physical threat, Bane was quick to showcase that he was more than just your regular beefed-up bad guy.
To do that, he put a calculated plan together that would see some of Arkham Asylum's most infamous names released out into the wild - all with the intent of wearing down Batman by the sheer number of rogues that were now once more back in circulation in Gotham City.
Famously, this would lead to Bane confronting the weary, overworked Bat and breaking his back - in turn, forcing Bruce into (albeit temporary) retirement.
Of course, it's all well and good to have done one major act of brutality twenty-seven years ago, but more recent years have seen Bane's brutal edge well and truly brought back.
If manipulating the impending marriage between Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle wasn't enough emotional torment for the Caped Crusader, the masked madman went one further and snapped Alfred's neck last year.
Yes, as in Bane killed Bruce Wayne's long-standing father figure - which some would argue was far more brutal than Bane's more famous breaking of the Bat.