16. Bane's Death
Death by gunshot. How disappointingly conventional. Bane's death simply does not meet the established mythology of the character: he is supposed to be an impenetrable force, largely unharmed by Batman's best efforts when they first meet, even taking the time for some traditional super-villain grandstanding before breaking his back. But then, because Bruce Wayne has a revelation about hope and fear, Bane suddenly becomes a lot less God-like, and Batman bests him in hand to hand combat. That alone isn't at all surprising really - it's part and parcel of the traditional action movie arc (as well as the superhero vs supervillain clash) that the villain becomes a lot more defeatable for the final act, but it was the manner of his death that didn't really land the necessary blow. Considering how the story was developing, Batman should have defeated Bane in open combat - regardless of logic - and thus proving that his approach (i.e. not killing) was still the best approach. But because Nolan seems to have been more concerned with deconstructing the Batman character even that is undermined, and we are ultimately lead to believe that Batman's methods aren't right, hammering the final nail into the character's coffin. By the end of the third film, everything that made Bruce Wayne Batman - his history, his sense of duty, his emotional removal and his methods - have been destroyed or "fixed", and he appears to be unwelcome in his own film.