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Oh, god!

― Bane's final words as he is assimilated by Smith

Bane was a crew member of the hovercraft Caduceus and a member of the Resistance. He later became the Real World vessel for a Smith.

Biography[]

Crisis Meeting[]

Bane was first seen in the Crisis Meeting with his crew mates. When the Crisis Meeting was interrupted by Agents, he and Malachi went deep into the sewers to evade them. They fought through the deep abyss to find a safe spot for them to escape. Bane and Malachi found a bridge that would take them to the surface. They found out that the passage to the sewer exit was guarded by SWAT. He and Malachi came up with a plan to split up in order to sneak past the SWAT guarding the passage. The plan was that Bane would go below the bridge and Malachi would stay on top of it. Eventually, Malachi was discovered and forced to hide by an air vent. While Bane was silently taking out the SWAT guards on the lower level, he discovered that Malachi had been compromised.

Post-Meeting Ambush[]

Matrix Wiki Bane Loses to Smith

Bane defends himself against Agent Smith before Smith takes his body and turns him into a clone.

Luckily, Ghost came to their rescue just in time. Bane snuck up to the bridge level and gave a signal to Ghost to start shooting. Bane silently loaded his pistol and opened rapid fire on the SWAT closing in on Malachi's position. Elite SWAT snipers who were guarding the bridge opened fire on Bane. Ghost climbed up to the sniper nests and took them out. Bane and Malachi were outnumbered until Ballard came to the rescue of his crew. When all of the SWAT was taken out, Malachi thanked Ghost for his help.

An Agent who morphed into one of the SWAT members opened fire on the crew of the Caduceus. Ghost drew the Agent's attention away from the rebels and started chasing Ghost and Niobe. The crew of the Caduceus then reached the surface and began to wait for The Oracle's message. When Ballard volunteered to stay behind to wait for Oracle's message, he stayed behind with Malachi. After receiving the message, they were chased by clones of Smith. Just after Malachi jacked out of the Matrix, but before he could do so himself, Bane was attacked by a Smith.

Possessed by Smith[]

Matrix Wiki Bane Follows Group

Bane stops his attempt to kill Neo after he turns around before he enters the lift in Zion

Smith overpowered then possessed him, overwriting Bane's mind, effectively killing the real Bane, and taking his place in the Matrix. Bane, just before his mind was fully rewritten, proceeded to say "Oh, God...!" in horror at what was happening, prompting Smith to sarcastically reply with "Smith shall suffice." A prize opportunity was suddenly available: Smith had a mind in a Redpill's body, and a phone ringing next to him (the Caduceus still expecting Bane to pick up). He could now expand his reach beyond the Matrix, with a chance to destroy the Resistance as well as his nemesis, Neo. Smith picked up the phone and jacked out.

Now free to roam the real world, Smith walked among the citizens of Zion using Bane's body. During his time in Zion, Smith cut himself with a knife (thereby experiencing pain for the first time) and later approached Neo with the intent to stab him before he could board the Nebuchadnezzar. Smith aborted this plan when Neo's attention was drawn in his direction by the approach of Kid, who came to see Neo on his way.

Bane

Bane lies unconscious in The Hammer

During a Zion Council meeting, he tried to convince his captain to join in the search for the Nebuchadnezzar, but Ballard refused.

Smith later sabotaged the Zion counterattack against the burrowing Machine forces by prematurely triggering the EMP on the Caduceus. The blast disabled many of the other hovercraft in the counterstrike, just before the Machines hit their front line. Smith survived the attack and was later discovered unconscious by the crew of the Hammer. He was placed in their medical bay alongside an also unconscious Neo.

Ambush on The Logos[]

Bane holding Trinity

A possessed Bane holding Trinity while speaking to Neo.

After coming around and being asked about the failure of the counterattack and his self-inflicted wounds, Smith claimed that he could not remember what happened. However, just before Neo and Trinity left on the Logos for the Machine City, Smith murdered Maggie, the Hammer's doctor, with a scalpel and escaped, stowing away on the Logos.

Hiding in the engine rooms, Smith removed a couple of fuses to cause an engine failure, then took Trinity hostage when she turned up to fix it. During this time, Smith also vocalized his hatred for Trinity for her tendency to just avoid his lethal attacks at the last possible second. Using a lamp to stun him and repeatedly kicking him, breaking his nose, Trinity had managed to raise the alarm before Smith knocks her out, Neo rushed down to save her, armed with a Lightning rifle. After forcing Neo to drop the weapon, Smith threw Trinity into the fuse room so she couldn't interfere. He took the rifle, held Neo at gunpoint and revealed his true identity, but just as he was about to fire, Trinity pulled out another fuse, plunging the room into darkness.

SmithFire

Bane/Smith as Neo saw him after being blinded.

The shot missed as Neo grabbed the weapon, and the two struggled; Neo gained the upper hand and was choking Smith, but he used a power conduit severed by the rifle to cauterize Neo's eyes, blinding him. Smith hid in the darkness, wielding a pipe and taunting Neo. This was when Neo discovered that his new powers as The One allowed him to 'see' the golden auras of anything connected to the Source – while he could no longer see Bane's body, he could see Smith's code inside it.

It's not over, Mr. Anderson! It's not over!

― Bane/Smith before his death

Just as the unwitting Smith lunged forward, Neo disarmed Smith and struck him in the head with the pipe, killing him. This was seen in Neo's "Source vision", with Smith's head shattering, and his body also shattering when it fell to the deck. Smith was then disconnected from Bane's body as by then Bane was dead.

Trivia[]

  • Bane derives from an Old English word that originally meant death but which came to mean something or someone that causes death like a killer or a poison. As a word, it is rarified if not archaic. In this case, it means opponent, adversary, or enemy often as part of the common phrase, "X is the bane of my existence".
  • Bane's name can be understood to derive from either meaning. After being possessed by Smith, Bane causes death to many of Zion's defenders and has as his goal the death of Neo, making him a bane in the older sense of the word. Additionally, as an incarnation of Smith, Neo's great enemy, Bane is quite literally Neo's bane. Significantly, Bane/Smith identifies himself to Neo on the Logos as "your enemy".
  • While possessed by Smith, Bane maintains Smith's mannerisms and voice intonation. The Wachowskis were so impressed with actor Ian Bliss's impression of Hugo Weaving, that they hired him on the spot.
  • Bane is the second villain to be human, although unlike Cypher (the first villainous human who betrayed his team), he was possessed by Smith.
  • As revealed in The Matrix Resurrections, the Machines repaired the damage done to Neo's eyes by Smith/Bane when he was resurrected.

Appearances[]

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