Bane (Invasion of the Bane)


 * For other uses of Bane, see here.

The Bane were an alien species who attempted to conquer Earth in secret.

Biology
The Bane were split into two types, the children and the Bane Mother.

The Bane children were large, beige, vaguely cephalopod-like creatures. They had 7 ambulatory tentacles, 3 on each side and another on their end. They had a large, single eye on their head and rings of tentacles around their mouths. There were pads on the undersides of their seven tentacles which allowed them to walk across ceilings and floors, and a turtle-like shell on the back. The Bane children had the ability to read and modify the memories of Humans. (SJA: Invasion of the Bane)

The Bane Mother was much larger than her children and a blue-green colour. She showed none of the intelligence of the Bane children. She was the one who secreted the Bane chemical. (SJA: Invasion of the Bane) Mr Smith said the Bane reproduced by laying eggs. (SJA: The Lost Boy)
 * This suggests that Bane may live in colonies, and the Bane Mother is the only one in the colony who lays eggs, almost like an ant queen."

The Bane had a physical aversion to cell phone transmissions and even more so to a Butterfly Person's superluminal communications technology. They could also be injured by a spray Sarah Jane Smith kept in her attic. (SJA: Invasion of the Bane)

Culture
When individual Bane failed, they would be eaten alive. Predation was a major part of their culture. The Bane had a saying, "the sweetest delicacy is the tongue of an enemy who has looked at you and licked his lips". (SJA: Invasion of the Bane, Enemy of the Bane)

Technology
The Bane made use of image translators to appear as Humans (SJA: Invasion of the Bane) and phonic disruptors for defence (SJA: Enemy of the Bane).

History
Circa 2008, the Bane attempted to invade Earth. They developed a drink, Bubble Shock!, which was highly addictive due to the Bane enzyme. The Bane children took the form of Humans using image translators and ran the factories to produce the Bubble Shock!. Unfortunately for them, 2% of the population was immune to the enzyme. In order to combat this, they scanned all the people who came into the factory and created an archetype to experiment on.

Eventually, Sarah Jane Smith learned about the actions of the Bane. She confronted Mrs Wormwood in the Bubble Shock! factory and was able to escape with the archetype, despite several assassination attempts. The Bane were forced to step up their plans and took control of all the Bubble Shock! drinkers. Sarah Jane, the archetype and Maria Jackson stopped the Bane Mother, though Mrs Wormwood was able to escape. (SJA: Invasion of the Bane) Following this failure, Mrs Wormwood was held responsible and was hunted by the Bane. (SJA: Enemy of the Bane)

At some point after this, the Bane went in search of the remains of Horath, hiring the Sontaran Kaagh as a mercenary. When he encountered Mrs Wormwood in the Snake Tongue Nebula, they came to an agreement to join forces. Mrs Wormwood came back to Earth, asking Sarah Jane for help obtaining the Tunguska Scroll, which was kept in the Black Archives. At the same time, the Bane had followed her to Earth, with one even infiltrating UNIT. Though the Bane tried to stop them, Sarah Jane took the Tunguska Scroll and Mrs Wormwood and Kaagh were able to escape with it, taking Luke Smith with them. Using the Tunguska Scroll to track Horath's remains, they found a stone circle that contained a wormhole to Horath's body. When Mrs Wormwood tried to get Luke to join them, Kaagh and Wormwood fell out, leading to Wormwood betraying him. Seeing that he lost, Kaagh dragged her into the wormhole, shutting it down. (SJA: Enemy of the Bane)