S.A.N.C.T.U.S.

S.A.N.C.T.U.S. is a criminal organization in the second season of ''Batman: The Telltale Series. ''They are a former branch of The Agency that split from them on the account of the former's viciousness and unethical experiments. From there, they went underground to continue their immoral experiments.

history
Little about the history of S.A.N.C.T.U.S. is known, but apparently they were once part of the greater government organization known as "The Agency". Specializing in scientific fields, S.A.N.C.T.U.S. recruited the Gotham City super-criminal known as "The Riddler" to their cause. They hoped to weaponize a virus known as "Project Lotus" to turn it into something that healed and strengthened the body rather than ravaged it. However, all of the attempts were initially failures...until Riddler himself was exposed to it.

Instead of dying like the others, Riddler survived, and his body became enhanced to possibly superhuman levels (explaining why even as an older man he could still contend with Batman in close quarters combat). Experimented on and turned into a guinea pig, Riddler eventually escaped, seething with hatred for S.A.N.C.T.U.S. but also blaming it's parent organization for it's actions. Thus, Riddler vowed to destroy the Agency while meanwhile, the doctors and scientists who made up S.A.N.C.T.U.S. went underground after being cut loose. From there, they became the organization they are as of the events of the games, continuing their work on the Lotus Virus and trying in vain to repeat their one-time success with Riddler.

Suffering from (respectively), an addiction to Venom, a herditary mental illness she did not wish to inherit, and a terminally ill wife in need of a cure, the supervillains Bane, Harley Quinn, and Mr. Freeze joined forces with Riddler to each get what they wanted; Riddler his revenge, and the other three the means by which to make a "miracle cure" using a combination of the Lotus Virus and Riddler's own blood. Little did any of them know that even the "success" of Riddler was in fact another failure: the virus, though indeed enhancing his physical abilities, also did irreparable damage to his mind, making him progressively abberant and psychotic and violent.

Ultimately, Bruce Wayne comes to join the Pact undercover at the Agency's request. During the time he spends with the Pact and working with Waller and the Agency, Bruce learns much of the above, before finally getting the rest of the story after the Pact assault S.A.N.C.T.U.S.' Gotham hideout underneath the seemingly ordinary Bodhi Spa. By this point, between the efforts of the Pact and also the Agency (especially if Bruce earlier broke his cover and thus caused the villains to get there ahead of him and slaughter the members of S.A.N.C.T.U.S.), the organization appears to be at last defunct (though Waller for her part intends to salvave their technology for her own ends).

trivia

 * As a criminal/terrorist organization involved in human experiments and unethical practices that create multiple supervillains who work for them before breaking away later, they could be likened to Weapon X from Marvel Comics. Both are also opposed by both government organizations (SHIELD and the Agency), and superheroes (Wolverine, the X-Men, and Batman).
 * Likewise, as a criminal organization once part of a greater organization that broke away from them and from there went on to perform many unethical and immoral experiments on humans that created at least one vengeful survivor, they are also somewhat similar to Cerberus from Mass Effect (especially since both are villainous organizations in role playing video games).