“ | I'm in control. I make the rules now. | „ |
~ Cad Bane's catchphrase. |
“ | Consider this my final lesson: look out for yourself. Anything else... is weakness. | „ |
~ Cad Bane to Boba Fett in their climatic stand-off. |
“ | I knew you were a killer. | „ |
~ Cad Bane's last words before apparently succumbing to his wounds. |
Cad Bane is a major antagonist in the Star Wars franchise.
He is a mysterious and ruthless bounty hunter hailing from planet Duro who rose through the ranks in his occupation throughout the Clone Wars, eventually becoming one of the most notorious in the galaxy. Bane is the archenemy of Boba Fett, to whom he was also an abusive mentor when training him after his father Jango's death.
In all his appearances, he was voiced by Corey Burton, who also voiced Lythos and Stratos in Hercules, Shockwave in Transformers: Animated, Malware in Ben 10: Omniverse, Brainiac in LEGO DC Super-Villains and Nitros Oxide in the Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled remake. In The Book of Boba Fett, he was portrayed by stuntman Dorian Kingi.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?[]
In General[]
- All throughout the galaxy, Cad Bane is infamous for being perhaps the most notorious bounty hunter in history.
- Unlike other bounty hunters such as Jango Fett (a former Mandalorian), Embo, Bossk, and Boba Fett, who while being ruthless, care for those closer to them as well as having a code of honor, Bane is all-around selfish, holding no genuine sense of loyalty to anybody but himself and claiming that looking out for anyone else is a weakness.
- Having already been a ruthless bounty hunter prior to his rise, Cad Bane was even then known for his willingness to betray his own side if a higher bid were offered to him.
- He has few if any comedic moments and is taken completely seriously, to the point even his soldiers fear him.
- Overall, he never shows any hint of remorse for his actions.
- He always abuses his service droid, Todo 360, who is nothing but loyal and helpful to him.
- Especially given his fairly low resources and how unfair it would be to compare him with Darth Sidious, Grand Moff Tarkin, Count Dooku, or Darth Vader, Bane well manages to stand out, passing the Heinous Standards with the magnitude and unique approach of his crimes.
Background[]
- Bane helps Maul kidnap a Jedi Padawan so he can kill her to satisfy his bloodlust.
- Bane also killed many crime syndicates to cover up Maul's identity as a Sith.
- He also didn't show any concern when Troo-tril-tek was left behind and left him for dead.
- At somepoint during the Clone Wars, Bane hunted a defected agent named Graygon Eckt.
- When Quinlan Vos refused to backdown, Bane sent the Bavana bounty hunters and other criminals on him. When the crimminals failed, Bane went after Vos himself but got blasted with the enginse.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars[]
Season 1[]
- Took the Galactic Senate hostage and murdered Senator Philo for defying him.
- Locked down the entire building to prevent anyone from escaping as means of coercion.
- Although he was attempting to negotiate Ziro the Hutt out of prison, it was clearly not out of an immediate desire to help out Jabba the Hutt.
- As a result of Ziro being broken out of prision, a chase happened and several speeders killed Trace and Rafa's parents. Making Bane indirectly responsible for their tragic past and mistrust of the Jedi.
- Upon noticing Anakin Skywalker, he attempted to shoot him dead.
- Attempted to kill the senate even after Ziro was handed over to him by Chancellor Palpatine (who was secretly his ally Darth Sidious, ironically).
- Immediately demanded payment from Ziro after liberating him.
Season 2[]
- Stole the Holocron from the Jedi Temple, endangering not only Jocasta Nu and Ahsoka Tano but also his own soldiers by forcing them to serve as distractions. Not helping his case is also having allowed some of them like Cato Parasitti to be taken into custody without concern.
- Tortured Jedi Master Bolla Ropal to death just so he could get the information on how to open the Holocron he just stole.
- He captured and sadistically tortured Ahsoka. He then threatens to throw her out of the airlock to force Anakin to open the Holocron. After Anakin opens it and tries to reclaim it, Bane delivers on his threat and nearly gets Ahsoka killed while he escapes.
- He killed Denal and Koho before disguising himself as the former to fake his death.
- Led a coup to kidnap numerous Force-sensitive children, intending to hand them over to Sidious, well aware of his likewise odious intentions, proving how far he's willing to go in his measures in order to receive payment.
- Although he did bring Mace and Obi-Wan to the holocron, he did leave them to die on a space station.
Season 3[]
- In the mission of freeing Ziro from prison, Bane is revealed to have captured C-3PO, intending to interrogate him for important information regarding the Senate Building.
- Deeming 3PO useless on information after he manages to hold out long enough on him, he proceeded to abduct and repeat the process on R2-D2's memory.
- Although he did release the other droids, it was out of pragmatic reasons to simply not inconvenience himself with needless conflict from another end, even erasing their memories in the process before releasing them.
- Although Ziro's death was well-deserved for his treachery towards his fellow Hutts, Bane immediately set back after him when given the word of approval. When he sees that Ziro was already killed off, he is only aggravated that someone else did it instead of him.
- Fought and evaded capture from Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Quinlan Vos when they attempted to take him back into custody for holding the Senate hostage and orchestrating Ziro's escape.
Season 4[]
- Staged a breakout alongside Moralo Eval, starting a mass riot to use for cover and manipulating Obi-Wan Kenobi—disguised as Rako Hardeen—into helping him. Moreover, he and Eval also killed several personnel on their exit just for sadistic enjoyment.
- Almost killed a Rodian pawn shop owner named Pablo with a toothpick when purchasing new parts to repair his ship.
- Murdered Bulduga the Ithorian bounty hunter in front of his brother and his comrades just to take his hat. Not helping Bane's case is him having first provoked the conflict.
- Attempted to hand over Obi-Wan to local authority for involvement.
- Participated alongside Eval, the disguised Obi-Wan, and several other contestants for who would lead the planned assassination against Palpatine.
- When captured again by the Galactic Republic, he spitefully swore revenge on Obi-Wan and the Jedi.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch[]
- Kidnapped Omega and attempted to hand her over to the Kaminoan Prime Minister Lama Su to personally have her terminated, only for his efforts to be impeded by another bounty hunter, Fennec Shand, who was hired by Nala Se to keep Omega safe until the Bad Batch came to rescue her.
- He was hired by the Galactic Empire on one such mission, in which he and Todo travel to the planet Caraad to capture a Force-sensitive infant named Bayrn after being tipped off by an informant. They easily incapacitated Bayrn's mother and delivered the captive infant to Dr. Emerie Karr and Commander Scorch at an Imperial Orbital Space Station over Coruscant.
- It is implied he may have been hired by Dr. Royce Hemlock to kidnap the three Force-sensitive children—Eva, Jax, and Sami—that were held inside a secured room within the secret facility Mount Tantiss on the planet Weyland as part of the top secret Project Necromancer overseen both by Hemlock and Emperor Sidious.
The Book of Boba Fett[]
- He is revealed to have been extremely abusive and cruel to Boba Fett when the latter was under his mentorship.
- Leading up to his faceoff with Boba Fett, he first shot and injured the Marshall of Freetown, Cobb Vanth, before gunning down his deputy, Scott.
- He revealed to Boba about the death of the Tusken Raider tribe he was once part of being caused by the Pyke Syndicate, simply to provoke him.
- Terrorized the residents of Freetown and Mos Espa and threatened them should they interfere with the Pyke Syndicate's spice trafficking.
- Used his flamethrower to frighten Boba's pet Rancor, sending the beast on a rampage amidst a battle between the citizens and the criminals.
- Attempted to kill Boba by shooting him in the head during their battle.
What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?[]
- He has a fair sense of honor, as shown by his belief in a fair and even fight, even calling out Eval for his cowardice and saving Obi-Wan for such sake despite having no reason to do so. His sense of fairness is also shown by him going out of his way to save "Rako Hardeen" from the unfair odds of a rigged round in The Box.
- He also fulfilled his deals, like not ratting out Sidious to the Jedi and also bringing the Jedi the holocron, not the children, so he almost never betrays his employers.
- He also pointed out to the Hutt’s that the Jedi didn't break out Ziro and was willing to leave peacefully until Obi-Wan provoked him.
- He also pointed out to Vos in Hyperspace Stories 9 that he always claims his bounty for his employer.
- He shows a rare sense of affability, most notably to others such as Count Dooku, Darth Sidious, Embo, and "Rako Hardeen," despite how much he disagrees with them on certain viewpoints. He also can be somewhat affable when he notices someone’s skill by complimenting them; this was shown when Ashoka tricked him; he then told her that she is “quite clever.” But him calling out his opponent's skill is sometimes obvious sarcasm.
- He was also disappointed that he never had a chance to properly settle who has the best bounty hunter title with Jango before his death, showing that he at least respects his mentor as a powerful bounty hunter.
- He also acknowledge Embo's skills, often tipping his hat to him.
- He also has several Pet the Dog moments, most notably when he saves Rako Hardeen. He also thanks the Aqualish villager who tipped him about Bayrn's Force-sensitivity by tossing some credits his way.
- When Emerie asks a few too many questions, he picks up on her empathy for the kidnapped children and warns her that such questions give away more than she thinks; a subtle warning to quit before she gets herself in trouble.
Trivia[]
- A planned Star Wars: The Clone Wars 4-episode arc that went unproduced due to the show's cancellation involved Cad Bane mentoring Boba Fett while rescuing a child from the Tusken Raiders, a mission during which Bane would explain how he met Boba's father Jango and which would have culminated with Bane and Fett engaging in a duel that Fett would have won. Had those episodes been produced, it's unknown how this would have affected Cad Bane's Near Pure Evil status.
- Despite this, Lucasfilm Story Group's Pablo Hidalgo has insisted that the events of most unproduced episodes remain canonical, and Cad Bane's subsequent appearance and interactions with Boba Fett in The Book of Boba Fett heavily imply this storyline is among those that canonically happened, albeit offscreen, though how much of the original plots for those episodes is still canon remains unclear.
- One of the inspirations that Star Wars creator George Lucas had in mind for the bounty hunter who became Cad Bane was Leef Van Cleef's gunslinger Angel Eyes, another Near Pure Evil character (though Pure Evil in the film's American theatrical version) who served as the main antagonist of the classic Western film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
External Links[]
- Cad Bane on the Villains Wiki.
- Cad Bane on the Magnificent Baddie Wiki.
- Cad Bane on the Star Wars Wiki.
- Cad Bane on the Star Wars: The Clone Wars Wiki.
- Cad Bane on the Disney Wiki.
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Near Pure Evils | ||
Disney Canon Legends Canon |
Near Pure Evils | ||
Live-Action Features Live-Action Television Animated Television Video Games See Also |
Near Pure Evils | ||
TV Shows Over the Garden Wall Codename: Kids Next Door Infinity Train Robotboy Samurai Jack Green Lantern: The Animated Series Batman: The Brave and the Bold The Powerpuff Girls (1998) Star Wars: The Clone Wars Ninjago Steven Universe Teen Titans The Powerpuff Girls (2016) Courage the Cowardly Dog Dodo DC Super Hero Girls (2019) Adult Swim/Toonami Final Space Rick & Morty Fanon The Legend of Team Brunette Ben 10 See Also |