Cad Bane


Cad Bane is a fictional character and an antagonist in the Star Wars franchise. He was introduced in the 2008 animated series , voiced by Corey Burton, where he is depicted as a cold and manipulative bounty hunter from the planet Duro.

Appearances

Television

''The Clone Wars''

Cad Bane made his debut in the first season finale "Hostage Crisis |Hostage Crisis" of the 2008 animated series , though this is not his first in-universe appearance chronologically. During the episode, he infiltrates the Senate building on Coruscant alongside a team of fellow bounty hunters. There he holds a group of senators hostage, and demands that Ziro the Hutt be released in exchange for their lives.
In the second season, set before all of the events mentioned previously, Cad Bane is contacted by Darth Sidious for a special assignment: the capture of a Holocron from inside the Jedi Temple. Bane finds himself in a massive struggle for the stolen Holocron as Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano attempt to take it back. He is briefly captured in the episode "Children of the Force" before leading Obi-Wan Kenobi and Mace Windu into a trap in his headquarters, allowing him to escape.
In the third season further details are revealed about Bane's attack on the senate building. The episode "Evil Plans" takes place before the events of the season one finale, and depicts Bane capturing the two droids R2-D2 and C-3PO who involuntarily give him the plans to the Senate building. Then in the following episode "Hunt for Ziro", which takes place after "Hostage Crisis", it is revealed that he was hired to extract Ziro from custody by Jabba the Hutt, due to an incriminating datapad the latter possessed. Shortly after Bane is congratulated by Jabba for his success, Ziro escapes and the bounty hunter is hired to track down and capture the rogue Hutt. He is eventually able to locate his target on the planet Teth but upon arrival he finds Ziro dead and the datapad missing. A short altercation between two Jedi who were also searching for the Hutt ensues but Bane is able to escape nonetheless.
During the fourth season episode "Deception", Bane has been captured and is currently being held in a Republic prison. He is hired by fellow convict Moralo Eval and Sith Lord Count Dooku to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine on Naboo. Unbeknownst to them, however, Obi-Wan Kenobi is posing as bounty hunter Rako Hardeen and seeks to gain the duo's trust. Following a successful prison break and chase throughout the Outer Rim, they finally reach the Box: a competition to decide which of a small group of chosen bounty hunters will participate in the Naboo plot. Bane, Kenobi and Eval all survive the events of the box and go on to kidnap the Chancellor. Not long after the kidnapping attempt, Kenobi's treachery is revealed and he manages to foil the plot, with both Bane and Eval being apprehended.
Following the series' cancellation in 2014, creator Dave Filoni confirmed that Bane's last appearance was supposed to be in an unfished story arc for the fifth season, which saw him mentoring a young Boba Fett. Bane was meant to die during a standoff with Fett, where he was mortally shot. Whereas, Fett was shot in his helmet, giving it its iconic dent.

''Rebels''

Years after the Clone Wars came to an end, Sabine Wren somehow heard of Cad Bane, and designed a graffiti image of him, inspired by his daring combat skills. This image can be briefly seen in the second episode of the first season of Star Wars Rebels, "Fighter Flight".

Comics

Bane also appears in the five-part Marvel Comics comic book miniseries Star Wars: Darth Maul, set before the events of the prequel trilogy, where he aides the titular character in kidnapping a Jedi Padawan.

Legends

In April 2014, most of the licensed Star Wars novels and comics produced since the originating 1977 film Star Wars were rebranded as Star Wars Legends and declared non-canon to the franchise by Lucasfilm. Bane additionally made several appearances in Legends.

Characteristics

Character creation

The character was created as a recurring antagonist for the 2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series set during the prequel trilogy. The season one finale "Hostage Crisis" director Giancarlo Volpe compared Cad Bane to another Star Wars bounty hunter Boba Fett stating,
Originally, supervising director Dave Filoni and series writer Henry Gilroy planned to create the Durge character that was already introduced in the. Durge would instead be redesigned as a human character but this exploration was short lived after the suggestion of series producer and Star Wars creator George Lucas to go Western. Lucas took inspiration from western film actors such as Lee Van Cleef's portrayals of Angel Eyes in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly and of Colonel Mortimer in For a Few Dollars More while Corey Burton uses Peter Lorre's voice as inspiration. These characters' Western influences help to bring Bane to life while still containing the features of the Duros species in the Star Wars universe with his own original characterization. Burton's voice would then be modified on the computer by the series' sound production team. While Filoni researched the character, he happened to come across an unlabeled concept art of a gun-toting bounty hunter with a wide-brimmed hat from the original trilogy and that concept helped bring the character to life. Filoni speculated on George Lucas' original idea for the character that became Bane:

Promotion and reception

Cad Bane has been featured in two Hasbro toys concerning himself, his blaster and his ship respectively, as well as one involving him merged with his ship in a crossover for Transformers. Both Cad Bane and his speeder were included as part of the Lego Star Wars toy line.
Cad Bane also appears as a playable character in two prominent Star Wars mobile games, both available for iOS and Android, ' and '.
In 2009, UGO Networks ran a feature on Cad Bane, noting his cool looks and calling him "quintessentially cold, cruel and calculating". IGN listed him as the 31st top Star Wars character, praising his first impression and saying his creators succeeded in introducing "an inarguably cool and effective villain". IGN also noted he "continued to be an excellent foil" to the main protagonists in his later appearances. IGN's Eric Goldman said that Bane was a successful attempt at creating a new ongoing villain, and later called him a "very cool and effective new villain". Goldman also called Bane's introduction and his torture of Bolla Ropal two of The Clone Warss darkest moments, adding that Bane lived up to the hype that surrounded him in his introduction. Christian Bauvelt, writing for Entertainment Weeklys PopWatch, said that one of the three top reasons the "Evil Plans" episode worked for him was because Cad Bane appeared in it, and noted Bane's similarities to Angel Eyes from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.