Cad Bane is
a pretty interesting character. What do you like so much about him?
-Well, as a
disclaimer, I've always admired the villains in a story, even when I was little
and growing up on dozens of Disney and Dreamworks movies. Cad Bane was no real exception there; as soon
as I saw him in action I was interested, the same way Maul got my attention
with The Phantom Menace and General
Grievous with Revenge of the Sith. Villains are generally complex and almost
always miserable, so I feel like someone's got to stand behind them!
But Cad Bane
especially stands out in the realm of Star Wars villains to me because of two
things: his apparel and his attitude.
His costume isn't just another sci-fi gadget-packed suit complete with a
helmet or the like--instead, he's decked up in a style that definitely screams
'gunslinger' or 'cowboy'. It really
brings you back to the Old West and the tough, hand-to-mouth, dog-eat-dog world
that was, and it's a realm you can tell a guy like Bane inhabits. And the hat, too--gotta love the hat! :P But besides his cool getup, you also
notice that unlike most villains, he doesn't yell or blow up on his minions or
tell the good guys all about his dastardly plans. No, he's real smart and thinks ahead. He knows how to manipulate people. and get
what he wants. He treats everything and
everyone like numbers on a calculator, adding here, subtracting there without
regard to any evil or injustice involved.
Again, he's like one of those western gunslingers - ain't taking no for
an answer, and doing whatever it takes to move from Point A to Point B. And those are traits I rarely see in a
villain, much less a Star Wars villain, and much
less on the cartoon!
Do you
think Cad Bane is the best Bounty Hunter out there in the universe?
-I would
say he's definitely a candidate for being the top dog. Though I can't say he wouldn't have a few
close rivals--Dengar, Sing, Durge, or Embo are all highly-skilled and dangerous
in their own ways. It's honestly hard to
say because there are so many traits that could make one the 'best' bounty
hunter. Is it forming a plan, or executing
a plan? Is it hand-to-hand combat, or a
large assortment of gadgets?
Though when
you boil it down I think Cad Bane could definitely be one of the few best, if
not the best. I have yet to see another bounty hunter take
on as many Jedi as he has and live to tell the tale. Plus, lots of other bounty hunters have one
or two major flaws (Aurra Sing is a loose cannon, Boba Fett has revenge
issues), and so far I haven't seen any show up for Bane.
Let me put
it this way...if all the Star Wars bounty hunters were forced to compete in the
Galactic Hunger Games, I'd bet on Cad Bane without hesitation!
To tell the
truth, I don’t really know much about Cad Bane since I haven’t been watching
The Clone Wars. Tell me a little bit about his history in The Clone Wars. What
were some of your favorite scenes with him?
-My
favorite scenes...wow!
He has a
lot of great moments in the Season One finale "Hostage Crisis", which
was his first appearance. My favorite is
when he and his posse enter the Senate Building and announce they're holding
the Senators hostage, and one Senator protests and begins to walk away. Bane, not even glancing up, lifts his blaster
and shoots the guy in the back the very next second, no hesitation. Right there you get the idea that he isn't
fooling around.
Another
great scene in the Season Two Holocron arc involves he and his little sidekick,
a droid named Todo-360, sneaking into the Jedi Temple through an air duct to
steal a Holocron (Sidious is his employer).
In that scene, he sends Todo through a secondary duct leading to a room
full of Jedi, upon which Todo detonates from a hidden bomb Bane, of course, had
planted inside him earlier. With the
Jedi distracted from the explosion, Bane takes the Holocron and slips out right
under their noses. Epic genius!
If I had to
pick my number one favorite scene
with Cad Bane, though, it must be his duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Quinlin Vos
in "Hunt for Ziro" from Season Three.
We had seen him briefly duel Anakin and Ahsoka before, but never a
full-scale battle against a Jedi. Much
less two of them. The scene is very intense and you see some
real action with the conflicting fighting styles. I think the whole thing stretched to almost
three minutes, which is big for a Clone Wars episode. You know a guy is not to be trifled with when
he can get out of a fight like with all his limbs still attached! Plus, he got to use Quinlin's lightsaber
against Obi-Wan...for about five seconds of course, but still, it was awesome!
One more
noteworthy mention is a scene from the Holocron arc. Bane has been captured and is interrogated by
Obi-Wan, Windu, and Anakin, but he doesn't give them anything. The three Jedi then decide to try all using
the mind-trick at once because Cad Bane's mind is too strong for just one of
them to do it. The brief but disturbing
scene that follows is for me actually "mind-blowing", pardon the
cliche. I can't imagine what it would be
like to have three Jedi, one of which is the Chosen One, all attacking your mental barriers at once. Watching Bane's struggle gives you the idea
that it's an extremely painful ordeal.
But even after that, the Jedi can't force information out of him. You cannot watch that scene without chills
going up your spine.
Who would
win: Cad Bane or Boba Fett? Why?
-Ah, the
age-old question...glad you brought it up!
My answer
is probably biased because I'm a huge Cad Bane fan and never did like Boba
Fett. But in this case, I honestly don't
think Fett could do it. He's got the
smarts and the gadgets, but again, he has that revenge issue that I think will
get in his way for a while. Even in the
original trilogy, Boba Fett never seemed to have the 'edge' that Bane has
maintained ever since his debut. I vote
Cad Bane would win, FTW!
How Boba
Fett turned out to be highest-ranking bounty hunter in Empire Strikes Back, I have no clue. I like to think that Cad Bane one day just
turned away and rode off on a speeder bike into the sunset, like the Man with
No Name in the end of The Good, the Bad,
and the Ugly. Wouldn't that make a
lot of sense? :)
Cad Bane
has a particular style of fighting that I find interesting. What are some of
Cad Bane’s fighting techniques that you find interesting?
-I like how
he uses a blend of three basic techniques--hand-to-hand combat, use of gadgets,
and blasters. Many bounty hunters only
seem to excel in one of those, but Bane knows how to and does put all three on
the frontline. He seems to have a strong
grasp on which to use, when and where, and on whom he is currently
fighting. For example, I think he caught
on pretty quickly that close combat is deadly with a Jedi. You can see that when he duels Obi-Wan and
Quinlin Vos when he brings on his flamethrower, rocket thrusters, plus
something on his gauntlet that electrocutes Obi-Wan. He doesn't go without the other two
techinques, of course, but you see slightly less of those. When he's up against another mercenary,
though, such as Rako Hardeen, you can tell Bane prefers to close in for the
kill. All in all, he can adapt to
whatever style of fighting the current situation calls for. Although I do notice he seems to enjoy using
his blasters quite often! :)
Stilwater's Bio...
I go by Stilwater
Rundeepo, or Stilwater for short. I love
to write and I do a lot of my own original work blended in with some fanfiction
here and there. I also like to make my
own fan art. My major interests are film
noir, psychology, World War II, and of course Star Wars and its host of complex
heroes and awesome villains. My favorite
Star Wars character of all time is Cad Bane, and I currently share a blog with
him, In the Shade of My Wide-Brimmed Hat.
If you like anything Cad Bane,
writing, fan art, or Star Wars, please check it out! God bless! :)
