Bane

Growing to adulthood, Bane established himself as the king of Peña Duro. The men who ran the prison noticed he was the strongest inmate and forced him to be a test subject for Venom, a drug that had killed its other subjects. Bane survived and found that Venom increased his strength, although he had to take it every twelve hours to avoid painful side effects. Prison officials implanted tubes into his body that injected the Venom directly into his system. Years later, Bane escaped Peña Duro with fellow inmates Trogg, Zombie, and Bird. Wishing to prove his dominance to the outside world, Bane went to Gotham to pit himself against Batman, whose legend had made it even within the walls of Peña Duro.

Bane broke down the walls of Arkham Asylum, releasing Batman's worst enemies into the streets, and watched as Batman attempted to round them all up. His observational skills were so strong that the first time he saw Bruce Wayne he recognized him as Batman. Finally, after Batman had exhausted himself bringing in the Arkham escapees, Bane ambushed him in the Batcave and defeated him, breaking his back over his knee, then throwing his broken body into the Gotham streets. Bane proceeded to take over Gotham, eliminating or absorbing all other criminal competition. But a new Batman (Jean-Paul Valley) who wore battle armor took the old one's place and challenged Bane. This time, Bane was defeated when the new Batman cut the tubes supplying him with Venom, weakening him.

While in prison, Bane overcame his dependence on Venom and came to see his reliance on it as a weakness. He escaped and returned to Santa Prisca to find his father. The Jesuit priest who had taught him in Peña Duro told him there were four men who could be his father. While tracking one, a Swiss banker, Bane encountered Ra's and Talia al Ghul. Ra's was impressed and chose him as a possible heir. Ra's and Bane launched a plague attack on Gotham. Batman (now Bruce Wayne again) opposed them and defeated Bane in combat this time. Following an earthquake that caused Gotham to be evacuated and nearly destroyed, Bane served as Lex Luthor's enforcer in the villain-dominated dystopian landscape until it was rebuilt.

Told that his father could have been an American doctor, Bane briefly felt Thomas Wayne was a candidate, as the elder Wayne had spent time in Santa Prisca. While DNA tests were conducted, he and Batman reached a sort of understanding, and when it turned out they were not half-brothers, they parted peacefully. Ultimately, Bane discovered his father was the mercenary turned gang lord King Snake. Bane called on Batman for help in stopping King Snake from using a deadly weapon on the world. While saving Batman from being shot by King Snake, Bane was mortally wounded, but Batman healed him in a Lazarus Pit, giving him a new start in life.

After spending time with the Secret Six, a group of villains turned anti-heroes, Bane returned to Santa Prisca to end the drug lords' rule and their trade in Venom. He succeeded, but in the process he once again became addicted to Venom himself. He took control of Peña Duro and began using it as a base of operations. He began trading Venom to Professor Hugo Strange in return for the services of the Psycho Pirate in helping him overcome his dependency on Venom. But when Batman needed the Psycho Pirate to help an ally, the war between the two men began anew. After a brutal battle, Batman barely emerged victorious, but the rekindled war between the Bat and the Man Who Broke the Bat shows no signs of ending any time soon.