Bane was born on the Carribean prison island of Pena Durowith not much of a chance in life. His father had died shortly after being sentenced to life in the prison. The island's archaic code of law stated that if a man dies while in prison, his son must serve his deceased father's life sentence. Bane was born a son, of course, and by the law, he had to serve a life sentence in the most brutal prison in the world, Pena Duro. During his second day at Pena Duro, the boy who would later become Bane fell over a railing and plunged to the concrete below. During his thiry day coma, the boy had a vision. In his dream a huge and great man stood before him and told the boy that he, the man in the vision, was what the boy would become. The boy awoke a man, and went on a killing spree in the prison. The warden sentenced the boy, now known as Bane, to fifteen years of solitary confinement. While in the hole, Bane grew strong and had to fight just to live. After fifteen years, he was released back into the prison, much to the warden's embarrasment.

The prison had been conducting experiments with a new super drug called Venom, which enhanced human's strength tenfold. After killing numerous test subjects, the warden decided to try the venom on Bane, whom he hoped would not survive the procedure. Once again, Bane proved his strenght by resisting the drug, and eventually his body accepted it. Bane's head was shaved, and ports were drilled into the back of his skull. He could now feed the venom directly to his brain through a button on his wrist. A janitor inmate named Zombie had been watching the experiments, and had stolen a sample of venom. An avid chemist, Zombie discovered the drug was easily duplicated, and he joined Bane.